Round 3- Results & Report
Yet again, all three Time Attack records were smashed this weekend, unbelievable!
The JTS show at Silverstone National Circuit was the venue for this weekends battle and battles there were, as, after such a small gap in between this and the last round, the teams were still charged up and ready for action.
The crowds started to arrive early and the paddocks were buzzing, a hot and humid Sunday morning saw a huge turn out of drivers from both Club and Pro and the spectators welcomed them with open arms, curious to see just how much quicker the boys would run this time around as the record here has stood since 2006 in Pro when Clive Seddon posted a 1:01 lap.
The warm up session were an indication of what we were in store for as the club challenge drivers made it out onto a dry track some started posting sub 1:10's on sighting laps, Pro was heading the same way, Guglielmi's Lotus tickling a 1:01.284 with the rest of the field close behind.
As the practice sessions got underway in Club, the true picture became much clearer, Horsley ran out for 6 laps in his GC8, posting a 1:01.958 on the third, some 2 seconds quicker than the closest car behind him, Jon Faull in his CT9A Evo and a 1:03.326 which was posted shortly before a wheel on the grass caused him a spin on the start finish straight prematurely ending his day, a barrage of 1:04's to 1:09's followed, 34 cars bridging that 5 second gap, extremely close with even the top 5 N/a cars slipping in sub 1:10!
(Above - Pro, Ready to roll!)
Pro rolled out at 11.30am for their practise session and it was Zen and Clark with their GC8 Imprezas that raised the bar and smashed Seddons 2006 fastest lap record of 1:01, practice laps saw both cars drop into 59 second territory, Ferrier slipping in a 59.266 in the Zen GC8, Clark just 0.455sec behind with 59.721, Guglielmi's Lotus just shy of a minute with 1:00.684, Phil Bennett chasing him in the GC8 of Autosportif with a 1:00.757
CLUB CHALLENGE QUALIFICATION
Lunchtime came and went and it was time for club qualifying.
For the Club Super Battle Final, the top 15 F/I cars are selected and the top 5 N/A, 20 cars against the clock for the final, in pro the top 20 drivers are selected, due to the misfortune of a large number of pro teams this meant that all the cars in Pro for this round would, as long as they kept it out of the wall, be taking place in the final.
In almost a carbon copy of Round 2, Club Qualifying saw some amazing performances, Kev Horsley again keeping everyone on their toes, 2 laps was all he needed to secure his number 1 spot with a 1:01.829, Barrie Rycroft was hot on his heels just 0.455 behind and a 1:02.284 closely followed by Kev Atkins who had suffered at Knockhill with spark plug issues, he managed to post a 1:03.600 and then just 0.257 behind and missing 5th gear was Sam Kerr and a 1:043.857.
Shane Smith was only slightly behind the top 4 and only slightly ahead of Jeff Mileham and Craig Winstanley, the N/A top boys, Smith hitting 1:04.039, Mileham's TVR roaring through in 1:04.548 and just 0.102 behind him Winstanley, 1:04.650!
(Darley - Club Car 6)
Terry Buckel (1:05.212) Mark Biggers (1:05.529) and Jamie Reynolds (1:05.772) made up the remainder of the top 10, 11th place and Steve Thorpe close behind with 1:05.902 after 8 laps, Steve Darley 12th (1:06.070) Searl in his Evo managed 1:06.312 before having to retire with mechanical issues, Scrapman Deaton took 14th with a 1:06.388after 3 laps, Payne with a 1:06.495, amazing to see how Payne has come on since last year!
Alex 'The taxi' Bruce 16th with 1:06.812 in his Evo 7,Mr Watt car 58 close to him with 1:06.847, that was where the F/I Class line was drawn however due to Searl's misfortune, Duckworth moved up a spot and his 1:06.964 went from doom and gloom to smile all round!
The last 3 N/A spaces were filled by the DC5 of Hughes (1:07.538) McDonald in the Cobra (1:08.646 and finally Tim praying for rain Chandler with a 1:09.181.
PRO CLASS QUALIFICATION
Again Pro qualifying spaces were guaranteed at this round due to mechanical issues with some of the teams after round 2, and again it was an awesome spectacle.
With the guaranteed Super Battle spaces in the back of their minds the Pro field drove hard but not on the knives edge they had earlier, even so Clark popped his head out of his garage for 3 laps and posted fastest qualifying time of 1:00.203 on the second lap, Same for Team Zen, Ferrier also stayed out for 3 laps and managed a 1:00.284.
RC Developments Yellow Evo driven by Stanley took third fastest lap with a 1:00.356 just in front of Guglielmi's Lotus and a 1:00.410. Phil Bennett found himself in the 1:00 bracket but only managed to russle up a 5th places closely followed by 'Pookie Power' Green in car 4 the orange Evo and a 1:01.319.
Tarzan Yamada, Japanese Time Attack legend took the Evo 9 of Norris Designs out on track and managed a 1:02.192 followed by HKS Hardcharger winner Broadhurst in his Evo 9GT setting a 1:02.250, fastest privateer of the weekend in Pro!
Extreme Motorsports Evo 6 ran behind Broadhurst, a 1:02.642 was all Swift was willing to wring out of it for 9th place, Baldy Harvey took 10th in the Scooby Clinic GC8 1:1:03.689, Darren Bly's R32GTR 11th with 1:04.387.
RSE Motorsport ran a new driver this weekend, Wilson managed to pilot the RSE weapon around Silverstone in 1:04.503, suffering from gearbox problems by all accounts..
(Hayward - APT CT9A Car 20 Pro)
Back after a fight with the wall at Donington Park at Round 1, APT's Evo 7 took 13th and a 1:05.651 followed by rear wheel drive powered Robinson in the Whifbitz RX7 a 1:08.095 was the best he could muster, Linton, a mover from Club Challenge and another Whifbitz car in the 1:08's, a 1:08.127 after 6 laps and finally GBH Motorsports S14 and a 1:09.740.
SUPER BATTLE FINAL CLUB CHALLENGE
Dry and cloudy and 5 minutes to 5pm, the club challenge warriors moved out of the pit lane, gladiators set to do battle, visors down, armed and ready.
Silverstone National is 1.6390 miles long and with a 20 minute window some drivers took every available second to get laps under their belts, some managing to squeeze 15 laps in!
Lap nine was a Kev Horsleys chosen moment, crossing the start finish line at 95.64 mph he managed to throw a 1:01.689 into the pot, Rycroft was hot on his tail, 94.41 mph, 11 laps, so close and yet so far, 1:02.493 saw the DCY Evo take second place grabbing a 54.073, suffering with a missing 5th gear, the man taking third place on his first lap out was Sam Kerr, he soldiered on for a further 10 laps but was unable to beat the 1:03.249 with just 4 gears!
Shane Smith in his GTR yet again missing out on the top three by 0.496 second this time, a 1:03.795 which would have seen a high standing in pro last year was good enough only for fourth this year. Kev Atkins managed to squeeze 14 laps in and despite flogging the life out of the Evo the best he could muster was a 1:03.745 although again this would have made pro top 10 previously.
N/A top Hotshot Jeff Mileham took 6th overall and 1st in class in his Tuscan with a 1:04.256 halfway through his 15 lap marathon, Biggers in his GTR Skyline 0.123 behind him with a 1:04.379 chased by second N/A Top Gun Craig Winstanley, he laid down a 1:04.448 on lap 2 enough to take 8th place overall .
Despite suffering with problems, Steve Thorpe managed to steal 9th place overall with a 1:04.855 from his Evo with the scrapman Deaton chomping at his heels with a 1:05.200.
Reynolds, another from the Guglielmi camp managed a 1:05.287 on his 15th lap which was enough to relegate Buckel back into 12th with his very respectable 1:05.878 just 0.199 seconds in front of pink shirt wearing Essex Scooby Crew Payne and his 1:06.077.
Darley seemed to reach a plateau with consistent 1:06's. a 1:06.280 was his best time after 11 laps in the Impreza wagon, followed by Taxi Bruce's Evo and a 1:06.339.
Don Watt managed a 1:06.776 on his second lap out of 11 and taking third place in N/A was paul Hughes with 1:07.289 followed by Duckworth who had originally managed to get in by the skin of his teeth and a 1:07.492.
McDonald (1:08.180) is his Cobra took 19th overall and 4th in class just ahead of Chandlers GT3RS and his 1:09.010.
SUPER BATTLE FINAL PRO
The final battle of the day was the Pro class, 15 cars made the grade and were still in the game, with the points table so tight, the dog fights were on!
Earlier in the sessions, 59 seconds from Clark and Ferrier were awesome, pit garages were busy with the hussle and bussle, people trying to squash themselves around tv screens to catch a glimpse of the latest times and these mentally high powered Pro cars thundered across the start line in excess of 90mph, Clark and Guglielmi smashing the 100mph speed trap on the start line, Clark being clocked at over 160mph down the straight before Copse.
It was 9 laps in for the Clark team which saw the back and forth 1st / 2nd place battles take a turn in their favour, the white GC8 piloted by the fastest parts manager in the UK screamed through with a 58.877 lap, obliterating any previous Time Attack record at Silverstone, Just 0.034 behind him adding to the obliteration was Guglielmi's Lotus 58.911 having taken the first place position from Ferrier in a nail biting battle, Ferrier posting a 59.068, an awesome result for the Zen team considering how new this build is and how little time they have had to practice!
Autosportif's Impreza with Phil Bennett behind the wheel was quick, sub minute in the death, driven hard on the 4th lap but not quick enough to take a podium place settling for 4th.
Stanley took 5th place with a 1:01.171 not fast enough to beat RC Boss Seddons previous TA Silverstone record from 2006 of 1:01.140; Darren Bly pulling not far behind the Evo pulling a 1:01.749 on his 6th lap, followed by Broadhurst beating his previous best of 1:02.250 with a 1:02.422!
Whifbitz's RX7 found a new breath of wind and took 8th place after posting a 1:02.753 much quicker than his earlier 1:08's, RSE's gear troubled Evo with Wilson behind the wheel ran 1:02.820, Swifts Evo had gone as fast as it was going to go after the second lap a 1:02.992 was 10th position in the bag.
Harveys GC8 popped a 1:03.400 again on his second lap and he continued to thunder round for another 11 laps after that but was unable to better the 1:03, Hayward in 12th, 1:05.243, struggling maybe with power or maybe with set up after his accident at Donington, time will tell, Steve Linton took 13th and would have won a prize for largest grin of the day if there were such a prize, a 1:07.256 bettered his earlier 1:08's.
Norris and Parker both suffered mechanical problems and retired after one lap, Norris beating Parker to 7 points for his series campaign.
An absolutely fantastic event yet again, our thanks go out to everyone who made it possible, teams, drivers, sponsors and staff!
Roll on Round 4 at Oulton Park July 5th!.
Report: Rob Barnes / Pictures : Ed Fahey & Rich Sams
Pro Class Winners
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(Above -Lee Broadhurst far left HKS Hardcharger)
Club Challenge Forced Induction Winners |
| 1st Place | Subaru Impreza - Kev Horsley (Car No.2) |
| 2nd Place | Mitsubishi Evo - Barrie Rycroft (Car No. 15) |
| 3rd Place | Subaru Impreza - Sam Kerr (Car No.3) |
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Club Challenge N/A Winners |
| 1st Place | TVR Tuscan - Jeff Mileham (Car No.4) |
| 2nd Place | FD3S RX7 - Craig Winstanley (Car No. 39) |
| 3rd Place | DC5 Integra - Paul Hughes (Car No.91) |
Fastest Lap on the day regardless of session
| Club Challenge | 1:01.689 - GC8 Impreza - Kev Horsley (Car No.2) |
| Pro Class | 58.877 - GC8 Impreza - Roger Clark Motorsport (Car No.2) |
Mitsubishi Lancer Register fastest Evo of the day
| Club Challenge | 1:02.284 - CT9A Evo - Barrie Rycroft (Car No.15) |
| Pro Class | 1:00.171 - CP9A Evo - RC Developments (Car No.4) |
SIDC fastest Impreza of the day
| Club Challenge | 1:01.689 - GC8 Impreza - Kev Horsley (Car No.2) |
| Pro Class | 58.877 - GC8 Impreza - Roger Clark Motorsport (Car No.2) |
HKS Hard Charger Award
Lee Broadhurst - CT9A Evo - Edgehill Motorhomes (Car No.14) Pro Class.
Be sure to check the points table to see how your favourite team or driver are shaping up.
Timings from the day are available [Download]
Visit the Gallery for pictures of the days events.
See you all at Round 4
