MAY MADNESS

MAY MADNESS, MAY 26

Race Report by Marcus Pye

 

SOUTH CERNEY ENGINEERING SALOON CAR CHAMPIONSHIP:

MIXED BAGS FOR PREBBLE AND CHAMBERLAIN

Former champion Adam Prebble (Vauxhall Astra) and defending titlist Harrison Chamberlain (VW Golf GTi) won a race apiece as May Madness descended on the season’s second pair of South Cerney Engineering Saloon Car contests on May 26. But their prodigiously powerful but capricious turbocars each broke on the other outing.

With honours shared between Mark Wyatt (Astra) and Kieren Simmons (Ford Fiesta) in class B, Wayne Rushworth and breakthrough winner Nathan Sutton (MG ZRs) in C, and Mike Good (Vauxhall Corsa) the only D starter in father Roger’s absence, Good, Rushworth and Wyatt are looking strong atop the points table after four rounds.

Qualifying was wet, with the weather worsening, thus three of the top four – Chamberlain, Bill Brockbank (SEAT Leon Cupra turbo) and Prebble – posted grid times on their first flying laps. Harrison banged in a 1m13.906s (90.11mph) for pole, 0.441s quicker than Brockbank, with seasonal debutant John McMillan (Renault Megane turbo) third. Prebble sat in P4, his session curtailed when engine oil blew out onto the front tyres and screen, making visibility minimal in already sullen conditions.

Hadyn King put his supercharged King Lifting SEAT Leon onto P5, its vivid livery piercing the gloom for marshals, spectators and commentators. Simmons was delighted with a class-topping sixth in the black Hagerty Digital/ISC Banwell Fiesta, 2.7s quicker than the omnipresent Wyatt. Peter Elliston, going great guns in his hand-controlled Golf GTi turbo, lined-up eighth ahead of the 1800cc MGs of Sutton and Rushworth, a scant 0.169s apart.

Timetabling saw Kai Barker opt for Saloon rather than Hot Hatch action, his fluorescent green wheeled Fiesta third of the two-litre atmo runners, bucking the trend by setting his best time at the end. Former champions Good and James Keepin (MG ZR) were next, ahead of Tim Swift, whose Brooklands Autocraft/API Peugeot 106 was on double duty, with Scott Hughes out among the Hatches again. Two more MGs, James Blake’s and novice Oliver Sprague’s, completed the 16-car pack.

Prebble’s Interceptor Racing Astra hooked up perfectly at the lights, rocketing from fourth on the grid into a lead the combo did not relinquish. Second at the end of the opening lap, Chamberlain peeled off Westway into the pitlane next time round with the VW’s turbo pipe adrift. Brockbank and McMillan thus moved up to second and third, but the latter’s Renault expired after three laps. Blake’s misfiring MG had been into the pits, but resumed with the offending plug lead reattached.

Third, behind Brockbank for two-thirds of the duration, King sizzled past its more modern SEAT stablemate when a glitch in its DSG gearbox sent it into limp mode. “Third, fourth, fifth and sixth were all over the place,” said Bill, who nursed his steed home three seconds behind runner-up King. Wyatt was not close enough to snare the last podium place, but took a strong class win after Prebble lapped chaser Simmons on the penultimate lap.

Elliston started hard initially, but slipped six places to 14th on the opening lap, over which Sutton kept ninth and the class C lead. Rival Rushworth dropped to 13th initially, but was past Sutton on lap two and clung to his advantage, albeit by only 1.580s at the chequer which they took in sixth and seventh places. Good, Keepin, Elliston, Swift and the distant Blake, two laps down after his remedial stop, all finished. Barker and Sprague fell by the wayside. Prebble’s fastest lap was 1:11.230 (93.50mph), a second and a half outside his 1:09.663 record, set in 2024 on wider tyres.

All bar Swift made it out for the second race, run in rain. Barker was out after a lap, while McMillan made the first of three stops in an effort to get his Renault Megane turbo sorted. Chamberlain led from start to finish, pursued by Brockbank who was almost 24 seconds down at the finish. Prebble retired after 14 laps with a worrying misfire. “These engines are so expensive and I didn’t want to risk detonating it.”

Prebble’s demise promoted King to third, but Haydn was denied a second podium when he trickled into the pits on the final circuit and turned left, into the paddock, rather than crossing TSL’s timing beam. Simmons was thus elated to find himself third, more importantly ahead of rival Wyatt who was lapped, but again set best lap for an extra point.

Four of the five MG ZRs were next back, Sutton scoring an emotional first time class victory – and a second fastest lap bonus point of the day – in the lemon and lime hued #26 in which his late father Mark won the 2020 title. Nathan’s successes were well received in the paddock. Keepin finished eight seconds behind him, clear of Blake and Rushworth, whose best lap was quicker that the pair’s ahead of him. Good, Elliston and Sprague also splashed to the chequered flag.

 

 

MOTUL FORMULA FORD CHAMPIONSHIP:

COOPER ONE, SMITH THREE, BUT GAP NARROWS

Double Castle Combe champion Luke Cooper bagged his first Formula Ford victory on home soil since last August to stem Rory Smith’s run of six wins in Bank Holiday Monday’s May Madness opener on May 26. Last year’s runner-up retaliated through, making it three from four this term to maintain his title aspirations in the double-header’s concluding leg. Both fastest bonus points fell to Luke, however, thus the gap between them has narrowed to three going into the next pair of races on June 28.

From a drizzly start, with heavier rain imminent, the 15 competitors knew they had to make their first couple of flying laps count to secure qualifying positions. Smith duly snared pole with a 1m15.887s (87.76mph) shot, impressive in the conditions. Cooper ran him closest with a 1:17.229s in the factory Swift SC20. In fact, Swift pilots gridded second to sixth, with Dutch-domiciled Briton Miles Wragg (SC20), Class B leader Tom Hawkins (SC95) and hardy perennial Nathan Ward (SC92, following clutch failure in Thursday testing) all in the 18s. Sam Skellett (SC92) managed 1:19.846, heading off B points leader Richard Higgins (Van Diemen RF91), the other combo to break 80 seconds.

Class C pacesetter Bob Hawkins in the Springbridge Direct Van Diemen RF89 was next in a very blue section of the grid, with Easter Monday’s star Wayne Poole (RF89), WPR team mate Stephen Bracegirdle (RF01) and Dane Catanzaro (RF89) lining up ahead of Adam Higgins who had a miserable practice in his Beastworx Van Diemen JL15). Alicia Hamlen (Ray GR09), Historic category soloist Pete Lavender (Merlyn Mk11/17) and Michael Phillips (Swift FB87) completed the pack.

The races were remarkably similar in essence, with Smith and Cooper disputing victory and 2013-’14 champion Adam Higgins clawing his way through to third in both stanzas. Cooper made the better getaway in the opener and there was nothing Smith could do to redress the balance of power. Rory never stinted in his close pursuit, but Luke beat him to the chequer fair and square by 0.400s. Cooper’s fastest lap, 1:11.029 (93.76mph) was 0.115s quicker than his pursuer’s.

Hawkins Jr held third until he spun at Old Paddock, successor Ward ceding the place to Higgins after a brief tenure. Nathan was sufficiently ahead of rival Richard Higgins to secure class B from fourth overall. Wragg rounded off the top six in his A car. Tom Hawkins resumed seventh, clear of his dad who was relieved to win C in his second meeting with the ‘new’ Van Diemen. Following his Easter nightmare, even challengers applauded Bob’s 10 second margin of victory over Poole. Bracegirdle, Hamlen and Catanzaro all went the full distance, with Lavender and Phillips lapped. Skellett was the only non-finisher, retiring after four laps.

Second time out – from a grid formed by second best Q times – Smith got the drop on Cooper as the five red lights went out signalling GO on a damp track. “I knew it would be all down to the start,” said Rory, whose Medina shot out of the blocks with Luke’s Swift in tow. As conditions evolved, Cooper looked increasingly racy. “The track was coming back to me. Had it been like it was at the end from the start the result might have been different,” he said. Luke’s fastest lap, for the record, was 1:21.390 (81.82mph).

After a fine getaway, Ward led the chase until lap five when a grassy moment out of Camp on lap 5 – little did onlookers know that he was struggling with a punctured right front tyre – enabled Richard Higgins to bustle past, soon to be supplanted in third by brother Adam. Ward controlled his excursion well, breathed in sharply and found himself embroiled in a mighty scrap with Tom Hawkins and young Skellett. The teenager’s brave attempt to overtake them both round the outside at Camp, on the wettest part of the circuit, tested his reflexes and so nearly came off. Nathan was reprieved when Richard Higgins pitted after nine laps, but had Hawkins Jr and Skellett, both baying for the class win and fourth place, all over him at the chequered flag.

Wragg did not appear quite as comfortable in the soggy conditions, but came home a solid seventh ahead of double C victor Bob Hawkins, with decades’ more FF experience under his belt. He finished with 10 seconds in hand over rival Poole, with Bracegirdle also on the lead lap in 10th. Hamlen and Catanzaro covered 10 and Lavender and Phillips nine.

 

NANKANG TYRES HOT HATCH CHAMPIONSHIP:

FIRST WINS FOR HATHAWAY AND FISHER

Cheltenham’s Joe Hathaway (JEH Racing Renault Clio) and Thornbury’s Julian Fisher (GAP Supplies Ltd Ford Fiesta ST150) qualified fourth and fifth for the first leg of Bank Holiday Monday’s May Madness Nankang Tyres Hot Hatch championship double-header, but their afternoon efforts brought joy as they recorded their first race victories on May 26. Fisher could hardly believe his first podium place, third behind Jason Stack (JS Engineering Honda Civic EP3), in the opener, but four hours later was celebrating with a gold of his own.

Scott Hughes (Peugeot 106) and Julian Ellison (Fiesta S100) scored a win apiece in the highly competitive class C, but the other divisions were reduced to single takers by day’s end, the BMW Mini Cooper S split after Nathan Nicholls – joint points leader after Easter Monday’s season openers – non-started after an incident in qualifying in which the left rear wheel of his Mini Shop Motorsport car was tucked under it.

A 20-strong pack, the strongest of four CCRC categories on the card, qualified on a drying track. Geoff Ryall (CPR Performance Peugeot 106 GTi) seized pole with a stout 1m15.188s (88.57mph) shot, 0.103s quicker than Stack. Corey Webber (Civic), Hathaway and Fisher all lapped in the 16s, heading off Justin Holloway (Clio). Hughes led the C brigade, his 1:18.142 good enough for seventh overall, three seconds clear of Citroen Saxophonists Michael Nunn and Jack Lovegrove, 10th and 12th respectively.

Between them were Lee Waterman (Civic), the sidelined Nicholls and James Dyer-Bufton (Civic). Benjamin Heywood in the surviving Cooper S, James MacGregor – in the Cardiosport Civic EP3 which has superseded the Integra he previously inverted – and Ellison were packed into the 22s. Daniel Roe (106), Sam Williams (Wiltshire College Civic), Jake Humphrey’s colourful Interceptor Racing Clio and the evenly-matched Saxos of Mark Culley and Steve Andrews rounded out the field.

The first race stampede saw a clash of flanks as front row men Ryall and Stack accelerated through Folly, but it was the blue Renaults of Hathaway and Holloway – who made up four places as the start lights went out, attracting a 10 second penalty – which led at the end of the opening lap, chased by Webber and Ryall, then Fisher and Stack before Hughes, Waterman and MacGregor.

Ryall was quickly in the ascendant. Second by lap 5 he traversed Camp abreast of Hathaway. When Ryall appeared from Bobbies in a dense white smokescreen next time round, following a major mechanical failure, Stack began to close in on Hathaway and Fisher rose to third. Stack locked up at Quarry in a bid to annex the lead on the final lap, but Hathaway held on and took the chequer by 0.334s. Nine seconds adrift, Fisher was delighted with third.

Holloway was fourth, clear of MacGregor, chattering bonet akimbo, and Waterman. The class-winning Pugs of Hughes and Waterman were next. A lap down, Lovegrove beat Humphrey, who had rounded Dyer-Bufton audaciously at Quarry. Heywood’s surviving Mini was 12th, shadowed by Williams’ 1400cc Honda. Ellison, Andrews and Culley completed the finishers. Nunn stopped just past the timing line, joining Ryall and Webber in retirement, Corey having flown in his four lap salvo.

Ryall’s 1:14.220 (89.73mph) fastest lap, incidentally, was three tenths shy of Shaun Deacon’s class B mark, set last August. Webber’s 1:14.285 (89.65mph) and Hughes’ 1:17.381 (86.06mph) reset the A and C targets, while Williams’ 1:21.395 (81.82mph) annihilated the old D standard.

Fifteen survivors made it out for the event’s damp finale, from which Hughes was absent. Poleman Fisher came round ahead of fast-starting Hathaway, Stack and Holloway at the end of the opening lap. Dyer-Bufton was up from 12th to fifth in his blue Honda, with Humphrey and Waterman in hot pursuit.

Despite Holloway, Stack – between a couple of hairy grassy exits from Camp – and most consistently Hathaway having goes, nobody could depose Fisher who punched the air in disbelief at the chequered flag having outrun Hathaway by 1.209s. To complete his joy, Julian was named CCRC Driver of the Day by the commentators. “Off the start I was just trying to keep it together,” he said. “When I looked behind and they were not all coming at me I thought what’s going on. I had a few moments, but kept it on. That was one hell of a day!”

Hathaway was relieved to see the chequer, having opted for full dry suspension settings. “It was very, very spicy at the rear,” said the man whose 1:21.173 (82.04mph) fastest lap reflected the lack of grip. “Justin and Jason had a few wobbly moments but we got to the finish.

Stack had a monumental fright while jousting with Hathaway on the penultimate lap. The violence of a “quintuple pirouette” at 110mph between Folly and Avon Rise stretched his rear hatch’s retaining springs and wrenched it open like an air brake. Having gathered his thoughts, the Devonian was powerless to not stop Dyer-Bufton from taking third, thus crept home fourth.

Ellison, Humphrey and Heywood finished a lap down, one tour ahead of Andrews, Culley and Waterman, who resumed after an early pit stop. Williams, Lovegrove, MacGregor – after an off at Old Paddock – and Holloway did not go the distance.

 

AVON TUNING GT CHAMPIONSHIP:

POPOVIC WINS AFTER TIM ADAMS SPINS

The decision to offer a 40 minute pitstop race, for double points, rather than the regular two sprint race format, unfortunately hit the entry for round three of the Avon Tuning GT Championship. Only four of the seven starters finished and – as he did in Easter Monday’s Dave Allan Trophy mini-enduro – Dylan Popovic ran out victorious in his seven-litre Ginetta-Chevrolet G50.

From double figures, late withdrawals included ever enthusiastic class lap record holder Alan Hamilton, who tested his  2.3-litre Ford Ecoboost turbo powered Vauxhall Tigra Silhouette on Thursday, but discovered that its fuel tank’s capacity was insufficient for the longer distance. Keith Butcher (Lamborghini Huracan Evo GT3) and local man Angus Fender (Ligier-Ford JS2R) were also missing from the programmed entry.

Lad and dad Tim and Nick Adams topped the qualifying order on a damp track in their Cataclean/Walker Freight Logistics Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car. Their 1m13.080s (91.13mph) best snared pole position by 0.747s from the indefatigble Chris Everill. Having rewired his 6.2-litre Ginetta-Chevrolet G55 over the winter chasing an elusive electrical gremlin, looked to be back on form after a run-out at Mallory Park.

Dave Scaramanga/Will Powell gridded third in the 5.2-litre Avon Tuning Audi R8, pursued by Josh Smith in his rapid Caterham RLM 260 also in the 15s. Quick here last August, Jordan Billinton returned with the ME7 Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo Evo and lined up sixth, outpacing Popovic who qualified gingerly after his left rear wheel worked loose. Philip ‘Mr Cheese’ Young was on P7 with his two-litre Vauxhall red top-engined Mitsubishi Colt silhouette – for which a refuelling station was set up as a precaution – followed by Doug Forbes’ 1700cc Ginetta-Ford G20. Alas Forbes was rendered a non-starter after an eagle-eyed Motorsport UK scrutineer spotted a broken wheel stud in the assembly area.

Seven cars thus came under starter’s orders, which became six within a lap when Billinton smote the barrier at Bobbies, bringing out red flags. Jordan was taken to the medical centre for a thorough checkover, but the Lambo was unfortunately hors de combat.

Tim Adams made the running, pursued by Everill, Smith, Scaramanga, Popovic and Young. After a brief safety car interlude, the Audi and the Mitsubishi clone headed forlornly into retirement – the former with engine failure – leaving just four cars running. Popovic had rumbled up to second when Adams spun on the exit of Quarry – an action replay of Easter Monday’s gyration – before pitting to put father Nick in.

Any chance the 1989 World Group C2 sportscar champion had of a podium finish was torpedoed when officials noticed that his helmet’s HANS device was not strapped down correctly, thus Nick was obliged to stop. Popovic, Smith and Everill duly claimed the top three places, with the Adams family a lap down. Sarajevo Scorcher Dylan was back down to his regular race pace, setting best lap of 1:06.810 (99.68mph).

 

MARCUS PYE

Ends