CNC Heads Sports/Saloon Car Championship – Cadwell Park - Rounds 1 & 2

Andrew Southcott's MG Midget Lenham cruised to a comfortable double victory in the opening rounds of the 2023 CNC Heads Sports/Saloon Car Championship, at a sunny Cadwell Park.

22 cars were out in qualifying, with Southcott comfortably on pole, 1.344 seconds up on Roddie Patterson's Caterham C400. "I had an off at the Gooseneck though trying to miss a slower car and went side on into the tyre wall. It damaged the rear wheel bearing seal and took the end plate off the rear wing," he explained. "I tried new treaded tyres, but had a misfire though,” Paterson added.

Jamie Cryer's Ginetta G20 was third best behind his new class rival Patterson. "It was a good session for me, as I was just getting used to the car again," he said.

He had Jon Curry's Caterham 310R alongside and heading Class C, with Class E poleman Ian Bamber heading row three in his Ginetta G20. "I was on some new to me, second hand tyres and was slipping and sliding around. Some of the new modifications we did helped too," Bamber added.

Sixth best was Steve Parker's BMW Compact. "I polished it and did an oil change over the winter, otherwise it's the same as last year. I went out on wet tyres and it dried, so I had to cool them and slow down a little," he explained.

Connor Harvey's Caterham and Marshall Groves' Vauxhall Vectra shared row six. "The brakes were awful, the handling, the clutch and the gear linkage was sticking, otherwise it was OK," said Groves.

Rob Wakelin had made massive changes to his Peugeot 205. "Less power than last year, but made quite a few changes. I pitted during the session for tyre pressures and got two decent laps in," he explained.

Mark Primett's Banks Europa was next up, before Riccy Walker in his new Mini JCW. "I'm getting used to the car as I have only done one test in it. Felt good though and quicker," he said.

Graeme Smith's Mazda MX5 was the only entry in Class F, but managed 12th overall, a fraction quicker than Thomas Frankland's Renault 5 GT Turbo. "I only did five laps, but the car is exactly the same as last year," he confirmed.

Tim Foxlow's Ford Escort RSR was back on the trailer after qualifying though, "it was mechanical malady," he explained.

Bod Buckby's Caterham was therefore next up, with Conor Modro's Ginetta G40, surprisingly down in 16th place, just ahead of David Green's Honda Civic.

Duncan Aukland was back for the first time for a while in his Proton Putra. "I last raced here in 2010 so I was cautious in qualifying. Then I got stuck in second gear, managed to clear it but only used third and fourth to be on the safe side," he explained.

Peter Koukoulas had to get the T-Cut out after a bit of contact with his Toyota MR2, while Tony Harman's Ginetta G20 was next, from the Ford Focus's of Matt and David Jones.

Both of the Jones' had problems however, Matt with a suspected head gasket problem, and David with a turbo pipe blown off.

Race One

With both Foxlow and Matt Jones casualties from the morning qualifying session, it was 20 cars that finally took to the grid as the sun began to fall over the Lincolnshire Wolds.

From lights out Southcott rocketed away into a dominant lead and by the end of the opening lap was already 6.383 seconds clear of second placed Patterson.

While Cryer was a comfortable third, Primett was up to fourth, with Bamber and Curry duelling for fifth. Groves was seventh, while Parker had Modro on his tail for eighth, as Wakelin completed the early top 10.

The top four all managed to consolidate their places on lap two, with Southcott doubling his lead, but Modro was on the move too, demoting both Groves and Parker for seventh, with Groves down to ninth.

Curry managed to fight his way past Bamber for fifth on the third lap, but the quartet ahead were long gone.

Wakelin had been fending off Frankland for the first couple of laps, but his race was soon over. "It all went wrong as there was a crack in the mount to the fuel rail. The injector popped out and fuel was leaking, so I had to pull off at Chris Curve on my third lap," he explained, as Frankland moved up.

It was all academic at the front, as barring problems, the lead quartet were well settled. Southcott took the flag over a minute clear of Patterson, with third placed Cryer the only other car remaining unlapped. "I led from the start, but thought it was closer. The hardest bit was getting through the backmarkers," said Southcott.

"I still had a misfire especially in long right-hand corners, maybe a fuel surge. I was on my own for the whole race and a bit slower than I thought," added second placed Patterson. "I managed to hold on to Roddie for a lap or two after a good start, but then he started to drive away from me," added third placed Cryer.

Primett retained fourth, but had Modro considerably closer, after the Ginetta driver’s recovery drive took him past the Bamber and Curry duel on consecutive laps.

There was just 0.474 seconds to spare though for Bamber as he clinched Class E, with rival Curry taking the Class C spoils. "He was quicker in the corners, but I got him back on the straights and could drive past him. I had to be defensive when I saw a corner coming, but finally got him on Park Straight," said Bamber.

Parker had a fairly solitary race once he was up to pace. "I had very old slicks on and they took a while to warm up. But the guys in front were too quick and the ones behind weren't quick enough to catch me," he explained.

Groves and Frankland completed the top10, with the Vectra driver holding on for a win in Class D. "I had managed to adjust the handling after qualifying and sorted the brakes too. But I had a big scare at Hall Bends and just held it," said Groves.

"I had a space in front with Riccy going from the pitlane. I stayed with Groves, Parker and Wakelin for a few laps, but then got backed up. Then I was chasing Rob still, but he was spraying me with fuel until he pulled off," Frankland added.

Class F winner Smith was next home, after another solitary race, while Walker's cautious start finally netted him 12th. "I had a bit of a driveshaft issue so wanted to play it safe and opted for the pitlane start, as I didn't want a problem on the grid. It was useful for me though catching and passing and I got Koukoulas and Harman fairly quickly, then had a bit of a race with Green," said Walker.

Harvey had trailed Caterham rival Buckby for most of the race, but they finally swapped on the last lap. Green had led Harvey too, but fell back in the closing laps, as Aukland came by three laps from home.

Green finally finished 16th, with Harman, Koukoulas and Jones completing the finishers.

Race Two

Groves was already absent from the grid for the second race, with his clutch having expired and Walker had opted for a pitlane start again

The red flags were soon out though, when Primett cut left and put Wakelin into barriers, both cars were out and there was substantial damage to the Peugeot.

As the grid started to reform, Southcott was in the pitlane too, "it wouldn't restart so I got pushed away," he said. But fortunately he was restored to pole position before the race was restarted.

From the restart it was Patterson that led though. "I gave it more revs and it was a much better start," he said. "Too much wheelspin and Roddie got me," Southcott replied.

But down Park Straight on the opening lap, Southcott surged ahead, while behind them it was Cryer, Bamber, Curry, Modro and Parker in contention.

Curry was soon dicing with Bamber again and went by on lap two, but the lead trio had already spread out and well in the clear. Modro took Bamber for fifth as they charged down the Park Straight and was soon closing in on Curry too, going by as they passed the pits to start lap five.

It was all cut and dry at the front again though, but Southcott's second win of the weekend was only just over 19 seconds on this occasion. "I tried to hold on, but still had fuel starvation in fifth and sixth gears," said second placed Patterson.

Despite being a solitary third again, Cryer was delighted with his weekend. "Over the moon, I got my fastest lap ever around here, so great," he concluded.

Once ahead of Curry, Modro soon consolidated fourth, "I had started near the back in both races as I didn't get the laps in qualifying as smoke was coming out of the dashboard , so I stopped," he explained.

Curry managed to keep Bamber at distance this time too, "I missed a gear but the other cars in front were just too fast for me," said Curry.

"I had oversteer and the brakes kept locking up. I could see Parker closing too and he nearly got me at Barn," Bamber added.

Parker had closed the gap to 0.872 seconds, but had his own problems. "I ran out of braking space and no straight line speed," he said.

Frankland, Harvey and Buckby completed the top 10 and remained unlapped. "It was really good racing with the Caterhams, sliding about and they just stuck with me to the end," Frankland explained.

Harvey had been behind Buckby again until the last lap. "I thought he had an issue and then he got me at Mansfield on the last lap," said Buckby." I did back off as I thought I had done some damage hitting a bollard as there was tyre smoke," Harvey replied.

Smith was 11th, "we just need more Class F cars," he said after going solo. Walker, Aukland, Koukoulas, Jones and Harman were the final finishers, with Green having pulled out after seven laps.

The next rounds of the Championship are the triple header at Anglesey on June 3rd/4th.

Results at https://www.tsl-timing.com/file/?f=BARC/2023/231521nws.pdf

Published by Peter Scherer for BARC North Western, April 17th 2023