Round 6- Results & Report
2008 has been a corker of a year for Time Attack not only as a series itself but for the people along for the ride; drivers, teams, sponsors & fans, the Time Attack family just keeps on getting bigger and better.
This year we have been treated to what has to be the best track action the UK has ever seen meaning that those in for 2009 (there is a long list of hopefuls already) will have to step up their game and their machines if they want to take or get near to the records set so far!
Some of the drivers made it to Snetterton on Saturday before the big day for some last minute testing or to grab some seat time having not been here before, there were a few casualties and unfortunately some of the Club Challenge cars had problems which eliminated them from running at Modified Live / Time Attack Round 6 on Sunday.
The most frustrating message received was of one for drivers stuck in New York with his flight delayed by 24 hours knocking him out through no mechanical or personal fault.
After the sunshine having its hat on on Saturday, 0700hrs Sunday morning was a totally different story as a dense silent and eeire fog hung over he 1.95 miles of Norfolk tarmac, this was looking grim, surely we could not end the year with a 'fog stopped play' scenario, the clock ticked away, drivers suited booted and briefed sat patiently in pit garages waiting for the damp haze to lift.
Start time on the official time table was for 09.00 for the rumble of the pro cars for their warm up session, the long hand of the clock sweeping past 12 again as we saw 10am and still not action.
Finally the safety car was manned and it was agreed that sighting laps could take place behind its flashing ambers, pros & club challengers left the pit lane in a mother and duckling fashion which seemed to clear the air, remove some of the dampness from the track surface and allow the Alfa Racer series to get out for their first session of the day, the duckling sessions counted for the mornings Time Attack warm ups.
(Pro car - Lee Broadhurst)
The schedule was fixed, a demo run from the EDC drivers was aborted due to bad visability and 12.30 saw the pros out for practice followed by clubbers eager to get some laps in before it was the all important show time of qualifying.
Practice in Pro saw times ranging between 1:11's and 1:22's, the club challenge drivers not far behind with a range of 1:16's and 1:29's.
(Shane Smith suffered mechanical issues, his chances of series win smashed to pieces)
CLUB CHALLENGE QUALIFICATION
You would think that after all that sitting around the guys would be on for pounding away to get some laps under their belt, Kev Atkins steered his CP9A Evo 6 around the circuit for just one lap, posting a 1:15.781, one lap! that was cheeky but some awesome pedalling, Andy Forrest in his GC8 Impreza pushing 3 laps to take a 1:15.926, qualifying 2nd, a whole second behind him Mark Biggers R32 Skyline 3 laps also and a 1:16.872 on the board.
A man on a serious mission whenever you see or hear of him, Craig Winstanley behind the wheel of his V8 powered Mazda RX7 gradually whittled his times down over 13 laps, a 1:17.248 from the N/A V8 brute was slipped in on the 13th lap!
(Club 26 - Deaton)
Simon Deaton in the Impreza GC8 was looking on form, 10 laps from him and a 1:17.610 on the 10th, Jon Faull's Evo, back with a vengeance after his incident at Silverstone earlier in the year took 6th qualifying position with a 1:18.073, Terry Buckel making a Mitsubishi sandwich with his GC8 in 7th and a 1:18.116 he really has been a bit of a dark horse with his consistency this year.
The GC8 machine of Sam Kerr a little lower down the ranking than usual, was this team tactics or learning the circuit, we would have to see, a 1:18.140 on his 1st lap of 8 saw him settle in 8th position with the dog guard equipped GC8 wagon of Mr Darley chewing the bright tango orange bumper of Kerr, Steve hitting a very respectable 1:18.439, behind him the Lotus Elise of Jamie Reynolds 1:18.700 and 10th place, he had been playing with his stable mate Jeff Mileham behind the wheel of him noisy N/A TVR, Jeff taking 11th overall position but 2nd in class behind Winstanley.
(Club 79 - Whiffin's JZA80 Supra)
12th place and his second time out in Time Attack, Paul Whiffin in his JZA80 Turbo powered Toyota Supra, a 1:19.082 on his 6th of 6 laps, John Begley breathing down his neck for 13th and a 1:19.329, a noticeable improvement from Begley and the GTR skyline, behind John Begley and also having his second outing this year driving an Escort Cosworth Warren Kelly, 14th place and a 1:19.565, just 0.109 seconds in front of our 15th position driver Duncan Graham in his blue impreza, back after his excursion at Oulton Park, a 1:19.674, enough to hold off Pual Hughes' N/A powered DC5 Honda Integra, 1:19.823 and3rd place in class.
Newbie for this round James Bowler in his immaculate white CT9A Evo took the 14th F/I superbattle place 1:19.920 after 9 laps with Donald Watt in his usual safe 15th and a 1:19.924.
(Olly Clark strapping in for another lunar mission)
PRO CLASS QUALIFICATION
Quite a few of the regualr faces were missing this round, Zen Performance Impreza was not ready to run, RC's yellow Evo up for sale, TEIN/Autosportifs Impreza sold, a couple of mechanical casualties and Adrian Smith Sunning Himself on the other side of the planet meant we were a couple down on out regular line up.
1:11.145 is Snettertons BTCC record which Jason Plato posted in July this year in qualifying, were the Time Attack boys going to make a mockery of the slick wearers yeat again?
(APT Evo 7 - Early bath)
A cloudy, dry afternoon saw the Pro cars rumble out onto the Snett tarmac for qualifying, James Kaye had been drafted in to drive the Auto Ergonomics CT9A Evolution, they had spotted oil issues on the earlier practise sessions which meant James could not hammer it around the track to see what it could do, the number 19 car of GBH Motorsport Bob Parker having similar issues and Bob trundled around to put his name on the qualifying board for the finals and the all important points for the series.
We had already lost the APT Evo being driven by Tim Marshal with oil issues, was Snetterton going to claim more victims??
(Jamie Stanley - CP9A Evo - Quick)
Out of the pit lane drew the bright orange machine of Jamie Stanley, one lap and POW, a 1:11.910 and it sisnt even sound stressed, Olly Clark and the RCM gobstopper burst into life and ran a total of 3 laps, the second being the quickest, a 1:12.402, was a scooby whipping on the cards?
Also doing his best as usual and strangling the little lotus to within an inch of its life, Steve Guglielmi took 2 laps to hit a 1:12.942, tucked in behind him the monster by comparison R32GTR of Darren Bly 8 laps in total but the 4th lap being his shining star and a 1:16.814, 5 seconds between 1st and 4th place, did we have some sand bagging?
(Norris - CT9A Evo 9GT, Quick but he will be quicker next year)
Simon Norris's CT9A Evo 9GT took 5th, a relatively basic machine compared to the short wheel base evo he has in the garage and one which which definately cause a stir next season, 1:17.847 for the little 4pot engine, the flat 4 of Andy Harvey ringing in his eardrums, on his tail with a 1:17.886 and 7th, less than a second behind him Privateer Lee Broadhurst's CT9A Evo 1:18.632 after 5 laps.
Ron Kiddell found himself in 9th with a 1:19.724 after 2 laps, Kaye behind in 10th, Parker 11th and Steve Linton out in 12th with a creep around lap of 2:19.584, a scenic Sunday drive by all accounts.
SUPER BATTLE FINAL CLUB CHALLENGE
Having done 1 lap in qualifying, was cheeky Atkins going to do it again? out of pit lane and his first lap, 1:14.756, that was quick, almost a second quicker than in qualifying and on his first lap, he made a few pitstops just to check his position and carried on hammering round for another 4 laps, 5 under his belt, was that good enough?
(Atkins - CP9A Evo Man on fire!)
Closest man to him had been Andy Forrest, a 1:15.833 after 5 out of 9 laps was the best he could squeeze out of the GC8 Impreza, a 1.077 second gap was a bridge too far for him although he managed to fend off the dynamo that is Sam Kerr, Kerr also putting in his quickest lap on the first a 1:16.058 6 more laps of Snett but he just couldn't quite make up the .225 deficit on Forrest.
V8 N/A power was next, Winstanley actually breaking his gearstick off, he had an excursion, did a bit of lawn mowing after ripping the gearstick out and being unable to change down for the corner, even so a 1:16.557 on the first lap out was also good enough for him to take 4th spot, Biggers thrashing his R32GTR for all it was worth but Winstanley had the better of him by a measly 0.238 second keeping him down in 5th.
(Duncan Graham -Hawk eye Impreza)
Jon Faull had found his mojo and on his 7th lap drove his CT9A into a 1:17.102, imporving on his qualification time of a 1:18 earlier in th day, rear wheel drive Supra pilot Paul Whiffin had his flow going, 11 laps in total with a 1:17.375, Wagon man Darley nudging his numbers a 1:17.813 on his 11th lap was very impressive.
Jeff N/A powered Mileham in 9th place overall, stealing 2nd place in class behind Winstanley with a 1:17.979, Simon Deaton hammer 11 laps out of his GC8 Impreza, a 1:18.069 saw him in 10th with fellow Milehams partner in crime Jamie Reynolds hacving 11th place taken care of with a 1:18.293 on his 8th.
New boy James Bowler and one to watch in 2009 came home in 12th, his 09 car being built as we speak today was a test for him to get used to the event format and competition, keep your eyes open for that name for sure next season, a 1:18.942 was his best on the scoreboard.
(Hughes N/A DC5)
In the point scoring zone for his first time was Duncan Graham, 1:19.229 was enough to grab him 8 points on the day, Donald 'trousers' Watt tagging along behind him with a 1:19.246 and 14th. Paul Hughes in the N/A Honda Integra behind Mr Watt, a 1:19.448 on his 7th lap gave him 3 points in N/A class.
Mr Consistent, Terry BUckel managed 6 point from todays proceedings, a 1:19.471 on his 3rd lap kept John Begley at bay, John hitting a 1:19.555 in his R32GTR.
Tim 'the film star' Chandler took 4th in N/A class in his GT3RS Porker, a 1:19.819 on the 2nd shut the door on Cossie powered Kelly who managed a 1:19.977.
What a tight tight run, fractions of seconds between each place now where before you had valleys, we now have cracks, things are going to be hot next season!
(Chandlers N/A GT3RS)
So it was Kev Atkins who was untouchable today a well deserved win 1:14.756 being the time to beat, Forrest being forced to stay in 2nd, Kerr 3rd, Winstanley 4th,Biggers 5th, then Faull, Whiffin, Darley, Mileham, Deaton, Reynolds, Bowler, Graham, Watt, Hughes, Buckel, Begley, Chandler and in last place.
SUPER BATTLE FINAL PRO
Just when we thought we had seen some quick time, the best was yet to come.
Stanley out for one lap taking a 1:12.274 he was looking good, James Kaye pushed the Auto Ergo Evo for 2 laps in an all out point gathering mission, 1:14.412 on the 1st lap before it retired back into the pits, still running but grabbing all important points and with a still running machine.
(James Kaye debut Time Attack outing, back for 2009?)
Bob Parker too in the same boat, a 2:08.272 meant he still took some points home with him even though a 12th place standing in the session saw him last he and the team were happy to have came, saw and finished without complete self destruction, keeping quiet was Clarks Gobstopper, consistent laps, fast laps but surely more to come, Simon Norris driving the wheels of the por Evo he hammered hard for 5 laps, the 5th being fruitful a 1:14.221 seeing him finish above Kaye in 4th place.
Steve Guglielmi and Olly Clark were still running, very quick times but were they holding out for that last minute burst on adrenaline?
Darren Bly was running extremely well, 7 laps under his belt but he couldnt beat his 2nd lap time of 1:14.844, that was 5th place taken care of, where were Kiddell, Robinson, Broadhurst and the gang?
(Robinson RX7 from Whifbitz)
Our questions were answered, Robinson on his 9th lap pulled out a 1:15.906 enough to how Mr Broadhursts Evo at bay, Lee managing 1:17.317 on his 4th lap closely followed by Baldy Harveys Impreza fractions behind with 1:17.366, yes that 0.049 behind, how close!
Was Ron Mixing it up top, we hadnt heard from him, out he came, 3 lapsm 1:18.860 on the 3rd landing him behind Harvey and in 10th place, Steve Linton pushing his Toyota Supra around hard all day but 11th was his fate and a1:19.133 after 10 laps.
But what about Clark, what about Steve Spaghetti?? what was going on, what was happening in the top 3, it would come out soon enough...
(Steve 'Spaghetti' Guglielmi's flying machine)
Jamie earlier 1:12.274 was looking very quick but Mr Guglielmis Elise put pay to that, get down Evo, Elise coming through, 1:10.456, just under 2 seconds shaved off, thats Bic Razor shaving for sure but..... Clark? Impreza? we had been seeing 1:12, 1:13, 1:14 was the gob stopper beat??
BANG 7th lap, the loud pedal must have been pushed through the floor as the RCM Impreza crossed the line in 1:09.834, 0.622 seconds quicker than Steve Guglielmi, 2 second quicker than Plato, ladies and gents we have our winner!
So Snettertons final positions Clark, Guglielmi, Stanley, Norris, Kaye, Bly, Robinson, Broadhurst, Harvey, Kiddell, Linton and keeping the rear warm, last but by no means least Parker!
(The champ - Olly Clark, RCM Gobstopper)
What a day, what an event, what a series, what a year!
We will be releasing information on 2009 very soon, if you think you have what it takes to beat our 08 champs then get on touch via our contact page.
Report: Rob Barnes / Pictures : Ed Fahey/Rich Sams
Pro Class Winners
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Club Challenge Forced Induction Winners
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| 1st Place | Mitsubishi Evolution CP9A Evo 6 - Kev Atkins (Car No.1) |
| 2nd Place | Subaru Impreza GC8 -Andy Forrest (Car No. 70) |
| 3rd Place | Subaru Impreza - Sam Kerr (Car No.3) |
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Club Challenge N/A Winners
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| 1st Place | FD3S V8 RX7 - Craig Winstanley (Car No.39) |
| 2nd Place | TVR Tuscan -Jeff Mileham (Car No.4) |
| 3rd Place | DC5 Integra - Paul Hughes (Car No.91) |
Fastest Lap on the day regardless of session
| Club Challenge | 1:14.756 - CP9A Evo - Kev Atkins (Car No.1) |
| Pro Class | 1:09.834 - GC8 Impreza - Roger Clark Motorsport (Car No.2) |
Mitsubishi Lancer Register fastest Evo of the day
| Club Challenge | 1:14.756 - CP9A Evo- Kev Atkins (Car No.1) |
| Pro Class | 1:11.608 - CP9A Evo - RC Developments (Car No.4) |
SIDC fastest Impreza of the day
| Club Challenge | 1:15.833 - GC8 Impreza - Andy Forrest (Car No.70) |
| Pro Class | 1:09.834 - GC8 Impreza - Roger Clark Motorsport (Car No.2) |
Clearcut Engravers sponsored 2 trophies for this year, Best newcomers for Club Challenge, these went to:-
F/I - Simon Deaton - Subaru Impreza & N/A - Craig Winstanley - V8 RX7 FD3S
Being that this was the last round for 2008 we now have new series Champions.
Please check out the 2008 champions page for just who did the biz in 08.
Be sure to check the points table to see where your favourite driver finally ended up.
Timings from the day are available [Download]
Visit the Gallery for pictures of the days events.
More pictures from the event can be found in the Modified Live Gallery.
Thank you for following the series this year, we are sure that 2009 will be something very special , stay tuned and thanks for the support!
See you all next season!