Race 9 at Lydden Hill October 4th

Last visit of the year to Lydden Hill, as usual the weather was unsettled and continued to cause problems with making the right tyre and car setup choices.

As qualifying got underway, both Nick and Cris managed to put some respectable lap times in straight away. Unfortunately half way through the session Cris’ car developed a misfire and cut his session short. Thankfully the team got to work on it, fixed the problem and it was back on song.

Qualifying positions saw Rod Birley , Escort Cosworth WRC 1st, Malcolm wise, Escort Cosworth WRC 2nd, Ron Kiddell, Nissan Skyline 3rd, Andy Thompson, Seat Cupra Cup 4th, Cris 5th, Nick 6th, both in their Seat Cupra Cup cars and John Cross in another Seat Cupra Cup 7th. With a whole load of other super cars behind them it was a great achievement to see the lower powered Seats at the top end of the pack. So Cris and Nick would start race one 1st and 2nd in class respectively and as the race got close, tyre choices had to be made and it was going to be slicks even though there was a strong chance of showers.

As the lights went out the race was go go go, Nick got the jump on Cris and tucked in behind Andy Thompson. For the first part of the race Cris struggled to stay with Nick and Andy but as the tyres got up to temperature he started to pull Nick in for several laps thereafter, without passing until a daring move up the inside at the hairpin but Nick wasn’t giving up without a fight and held Cris side by side through the hairpin, down the hill, round paddock bend and along the straight, but by the end of the straight Cris just managed to get ahead. With only a few laps left, Cris and Nick held there original positions, Nick started to experience braking problems but Cris was making an impression on Andy Thompson.

Race 2 and even more bad weather but still very changeable. The cars lead out onto the circuit to form the dummy grid but Team Westlake cars were still on the air jacks…oh dear!! Cris and Nick were running to get belted up, Dave, Mark, Karl and John were frantically getting wheels on the cars, with engines started and air jacks dropped the cars sped out on to the grid, only just making it before time out. Tyre choice, slicks on front, wets on the rear.

It was a great choice, the weather continued to worsen but on this setup the cars were doing great. That was until Nicks car started to suffer with gearbox problems, something that Cris had experienced at Caste Combe. Unusually, race leader Rod Birley had a major set back when his offside rear wheel left the car as he was coming out of the hairpin, this was the result of a rushed tyre change before the race started. This left the running order Andy Wickens in a cosworth, Andy Thompson in his Cupra and Cris then in 3rd, but as the cosworth, on full wet tyres started to go off the boil, the Cupra’s passed the cosworth. With a few laps left, Cris started to challenge for the lead, only able to pull along side before the door was slammed shut each time but Andy Thompsons greatly experienced driving. Andy just pipped Cris to the post but it was a great achievement, 1st in class and 2nd on track and with several cars with twice as much power finishing behind.

Nick managed to bring his car home 3rd in class, 6th on track, which all in all added more great excitement when we counted up the awards again. Two 1st positions, one 2nd and one 3rd in class and Cris took home driver of the day award. Great team effort kept the cars on the track again so a big thank you once again to Mark, Karl, Dave and John. Dave’s wife Sue keeps them all re-fuelled with her BBQ skills (even in the rain!) so thanks to her for all her efforts too.

This round secured Cris’ second place in class championship title and fifth overall and Nick 1st in class, 4th overall. A magnificent Class ‘B’ honour. A whole heap of hard work but an amazing year of racing.