We would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a  Happy New Year

The Time Attack Team

7 classes had winners decided at the final round and this is a testament to the dedication of the drivers/teams and the competitive balance that the classes have within them.

A lot more drivers did not score any points in the 2010 season due to mechanical faliures and classes with high subscriptions but nevertheless everyone who competed thoroughly enjoyed themselves and more importantly in the spirit of Time Attack had fun and made new friends within the paddock.

We would like to say thank you to all the drivers, teams, tuners, sponsors and fans for their support throughout 2010 and we look forward to seeing you all again in 2011.

Below you will see the final points tally for all the classes and finally just be sure to check back after the holiday period to see the exciting news we will have in store for the coming 2011 season. 

Our stand will be in the main hall and clearly visible, please come along, we look forward to seeing you there.

For the Time Attack fans who attended the final round of the Championship at Snetterton there were thrills and spills galore as drivers throughout the Classes fought to end their seasons on a high. One of the most keenly anticipated contests was naturally the Pro Class where Steve Guglielmi’s Lotus and Gareth Lloyd’s Car Planet Racing EVO have been entertaining the crowds from day one. At the beginning of the final round they had both notched up two wins each and broken three Time Attack lap records between them in the process. That meant it was down to the wire, where their final positions on the day would dictate the Championship outcome, so there could be no errors. Surely enough, at the end of a long day the pair found themselves as the pace setters in the Super Battle. With the commentators keeping the crowds informed the tension rose as Lloyd and Guglielmi swapped fastest laps. Then on his sixth lap Guglielmi put in a storming 1:09.032secs time, only for Lloyd to shave tenths of seconds off that just moments later. With Guglielmi back in the pits, Lloyd went on to post a Time Attack record 1:08.299secs lap which not only handed him the Round 5 win, but also put the EVO driver into Time Attack history as the 2010 Pro Class Champion. As Guglielmi pointed out afterwards; the Lotus seems quicker through corners so the CPR EVO must be insanely quick on other parts of the circuit, something that Lloyd’s recorded 164mph top speed on the start/finish straight would perhaps only hint at.

The CPR EVO on the move

Guglielmi's Exige pushing for top spot

Elsewhere in the Pro Class Gavin Renshaw in his Lateral Performance Impreza notched an impressive 3^rd place with a 1:11.163secs time, while James Nicholls in the CPR EVO came 4^th with a best lap of 1:12.010secs. Despite Renshaw’s success at Snetterton though, Nicholls had done enough to secure the points to hand him a well-deserved top three finish in the Pro Class for the season. For Car Planet Racing that meant they had two cars finishing the year in the top three, while for EVO fans it also put and end to the recent dominance of Subarus in this class.

Nicholls; the third placed man

Third on the day for Renshaw's Lateral Performance Impreza

However, Subarus faired better in the Club Pro 4WD class with Paul Doyle in the Green Subaru Racing Impreza even beating Nicholls’ Pro Class time with a 1:11.581secs lap. The Scooby Clinic car driven by Kevin Horsley took 2^nd place for Round 5 while Simon Deaton in the pink Japdna.com EVO scored a 3^rd step on the podium. When it came to the Championship though, despite keeping the same drivers in the top three Horsley and Doyle swapped places. Horsley’s consistent driving and a clearly well set-up car have proven to be hugely competitive this year, so it will be interesting to see how the likes of Doyle, Deaton, Russ Paton, Michael Mahoney and Lee Broadhurst will push things on in this class during 2011 to try and take the crown from Horsley’s head.

The Scooby Clinic car - with Club Pro trophy!

Deaton; third on the day and overall in class

There was what Time Attack commentator Bryn called a “Supra Sandwich” in the Pro Class RWD category, the two Garage Whifbitz Supras finishing in 1^st and 3^rd with Jamie Wilson’s Lotus Exige the filling in 2^nd. There was virtually nothing to separate Steve Linton’s Supra and the Exige at Snetterton though, just 0.037secs the winning margin for the Toyota driver. In the Championship though, that win still wasn’t enough for Linton to keep Wilson from the top honours, which is no mean feat for a driver in his debut year of Time Attack competition. It’s likely that the capabilities of the Lotus Exige haven’t gone unnoticed, but you’re not likely to see Linton or Paul Whiffin swap any time soon.

Wilson on his way to Pro Class RWD title

Yet another Lotus was making a splash in the Club Challenge NA Class too, with Jeff Mileham piloting his Elise to a win at Snetterton. He pipped Mark Pollard in the Metro 6R4 and Daniel Gannon in his E36 M3 to the post, but it was a hard fought win. Just 0.156secs separated all three of the drivers in this Class with Porsche driver Tony Campbell not far behind either. However it was Pollard, Gannon and Mileham who returned to the podium to pick up season trophies for 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd in the Championship respectively.

The man to beat in the NA class

In the Club Challenge RWD class it was another mixed bag of cars to reach the podium. Matt Webb in his Dragon Motorsport RX7 finished 1^st in class (6^th overall in Club Challenge), with the R33 Skyline of Gordon Wright coming 2^nd and Ronnie Amis’ Sierra Cosworth finishing 3^rd. Just like in the NA class, the three podium finishers also returned to the fore to receive season honours, with Webb the RWD Champion, a popular Amis in 2^nd and Wright finishing up in 3^rd.

Matt Webb takes another win at Snet

There was more to celebrate for Cosworth fans in the Club Challenge 4WD class too. This class has been one of the most competitive of the year with a number of drivers entering Snetterton with their eyes on the top prize. Scott Robson in his Impreza was in pole position for the Championship but a blown engine halfway through the day opened the door for his rivals to take the crown. Fiona Kindness didn’t need asking twice either, putting in a storming performance in her R32 Skyline to finish in 2^nd on the day. Warren Kelly meanwhile went one better by taking his Escort Cosworth to a well deserved win, a result that leapfrogged him above Robson in the points standings. However, in her third year of Time Attack competition (and the only season she’s competed in all five rounds), Kindness’ result at Snetterton catapulted her to the top of the table and meant she could drive back to Scotland with the Club Challenge 4WD trophy to keep her company. Robson still made the top three, but it was Kelly who took the silver medal.

Kelly sets quickest time in 4WD Club Challenge

Kindness keeps her calm to win the CC 4WD title

The one remaining class, Club Challenge FWD, saw an interesting turn of events. Bo Nielsen looked like his seemingly safe 100points cushion may not have been enough after his engine gave up on him in an early session. Dave Ward in the MINI Cooper S could have stolen the crown had he scored points from qualifying well and winning the day, but there was a twist in the tale to come. Romain Levesque in the BuddyClub Honda CRX put in a fantastic drive to record a 1:18.936secs time, almost two seconds ahead of Ward’s quickest lap. While Nielsen hadn’t taken any chances, borrowing a friend’s Astra VXR with a near standard engine and standard suspension just to try and score some points, it wasn’t needed as Ward’s 2^nd place finish behind Leveque wasn’t to be enough to knock Nielsen from top spot. The pair were joined by another MINI driver, Nigel Brown, on the Championship podium but perhaps Levesque’s CRX may give the Astra VXR and MINIs a run for their money in 2011.

Nielsen as his engine lets go!

With the Time Attack season now over, the trophies handed out and the Champagne sprayed it’s clear that 2010 has been another vintage year for the series. Some incredible sponsors, fantastic drivers, talented engineers and of course the superb array of machinery that has taken part has kept crowds enthralled throughout the UK. There have been a number of One Hit Wonder drivers who haven’t received much coverage here plus plenty of rumours in the paddock about cars and teams gearing up for next year too, so while 2010 may have been one of the best yet make sure you brace yourself for more Time Attack action in 2011. And don’t forget, if you want to be on the track driving rather than at the side watching Time Attack remains one of the most accessible forms of motorsport…so what are you waiting for!

Heading to the finish line...and the title

The end of a hard fought day

In the meantime, congratulations must go to the 2010 Champions once again. Gareth Lloyd, Kevin Horsley, Jamie Wilson, Mark Pollard, Matt Webb, Fiona Kindness and Bo Nielsen are not only all extremely worthy winners but they’ve also helped to raise the bar higher once more, so well done and hopefully they’ll all be back to defend their titles.

2010 Club RWD Champions: 1st Webb, 2nd Amis, 3rd Wright

2010 C Pro 4WD Champions: 1st Horsley, 2nd Doyle, 3rd Deaton

2010 Pro RWD Champions: 1st Wilson, 2nd Linton, 3rd Whiffin

2010 Club NA Champions: 1st Pollard, 2nd Mileham, 3rd Gannon

2010 Club 4WD Champions: 1st Kindness, 2nd Kelly, 3rd Robson

2010 Club FWD Champions: 1st Nielsen, 2nd Ward, 3rd Brown

See the full picture galleries of Snetterton and all the other 2010 rounds here

Picture galleries from Round 5, the finals at Snetterton 2010 are now live in our GALLERY SECTION

In theory four of the five Pro Class drivers could still take the crown, but judging both the maths and the season so far it should be a straight dogfight between Gareth Lloyd in the CPR EVO V and Steve Guglielmi in the Lotus Elise. In the four rounds this year these two drivers have shared the podium equally, which means Lloyd carries a miniscule 2 points lead into the final round. In fact, the two drivers have dominated this Class in 2010, setting numerous Time Attack records along the way, and it would be a shock if one of them doesn’t notch another victory at Snetterton. However, even if Lloyd scoops the maximum 5 points for fastest qualifier and Guglielmi scores nothing for qualifying, it could still be all about the final. Guglielmi would just need that 10 points difference by winning the event to pip a second placed Lloyd to the post so it’s going to be a tense affair for them…and an exhilarating final for the Time Attack fans.

Throw into the mix James Nicholls in the CPR yellow EVO and there could be another twist in the story. Nicholls has 322 points and should Lloyd or Guglielmi fail to score at all then he could leap frog both of them. Gavin Renshaw in the Lateral Performance Impreza on 298 points could also do the same, so the onus is on the top two drivers to keep their cars on track and make the final. Once they’ve put a lap in during the final though it will leave Nicholls and Renshaw scrapping for third place, offering spectators another juicy bit of Impreza/EVO rivalry.

Make sure you don’t miss out on the action and get yourself along to Modified Live at Snetterton this weekend. It’s going to be a high-revving, adrenaline rush of automotive action.

With a host of entrants in the Club Pro Class for 2010 it’s been a tough battle to get to the top of the Championship table. The Scooby Clinic Impreza, driven by Kevin Horsley and Andy Harvey during 2010, has edged the lead though, racking up a 348 points tally to date. That puts the Scooby Clinic team in pole position for the title as their nearest competitor is the ex-Zen Performance Impreza driven by Paul Doyle. Doyle has 274 points so far and with a large field of competitors there’s the remote possibility he could score 105 points and the Scooby Clinic car could end with zero points. However, on the flipside, no matter what Doyle does, so long as the Scooby Clinic car achieves 32 points (e.g a fourth quickest qualifying time and a seventh overall finish in the final) then the crown is theirs.

Russ Paton in the Wallace Perfomance EVO VI, the Japdna.com EVO VIII driven by Simon Deaton/Martin Byford, Michael Mahoney’s EVO VIII and even Lee Broadhurst in his EVO IX GT can all mathematically take second place from Doyle though. While none of them can hit the top spot, Paton is just 49 points off Doyle and, as an extreme outsider, Broadhurst could make up the 100 points difference too.

Whatever happens it looks like it will be a Subaru driver on the top step of the podium and there will almost certainly be an EVO driver joining them too. The question is; which EVO driver, and which step of the podium? It’s worth pointing out though that should all the EVO drivers fail to deliver at Snetterton and either Shane Smith’s R34 GT-R, Duncan Graham’s Impreza, Marcus Webster’s R32 GT-R or Richard Jones’ EVO VIII pick up maximum points, or close to it, then there could be a longshot standing on the final podium!