Donington Park, 1 November 2008

The final round of the 2008 LMA Euro Saloon and Sports Car championship could have been anti-climatic as planning permission issues prevented the circuit from running the planned double header event. Instead of a four-way fight for the title, Rhys Lloyd was declared champion before the race started. But 30 drivers made their way to a wintry Donington Park to provide an excellent spectacle.

Qualifying:
The sky was overcast but the track was dry as the shortened qualifying session (just 10 minutes) took place. Richard Gould (Noble M12) won last time out at Mallory Park, and continued his good form to head the times by almost a second from Peter Challis (Nissan Primera). Class A champion Nick Williamson (Escort Cosworth) missed third place by a fraction from Stewart Whyte's similar car.

Rhys Lloyd headed the Class B drivers back in 6th place with a comfortable 2 second margin from Douglas Ellwood (Marcos Mantis), with Gareth Porter's Peugeot 205 Gti turbo 3rd in class in its first LMA race since Castle Combe in May. Ian Craig (BMW M3) headed the Class C grid from Lee Reynolds (Citroen Saxo) while Class D promised a close battle as Andrew Neal (Honda Integra) bettered Jim Mepham (Renault Megane) by less than 1/10 second.

Race:
By race time, the weather had changed, heavy rainfall had soaked the track, but the rain had stopped an hour before the race. Decision time for the drivers, most drivers went with wet tyres, the front row drivers Gould and Challis went with intermediates while the two (four wheel drive) Escort Cosworths went out on slicks. Williamson's challenge was effectively over on the formation lap, as he pulled to a halt on the grid, the clutch pedal went to the floor. He used the starter to pull away for the rolling lap, then 3rd and 4th gear only for the race, meaning he slowly fell backwards through the pack.

Rex Stamp (Lotus Exige) got a flying start and shot through to second place from 5th on the grid to follow Gould down Craner curves for the first time. Challis followed through in third place but his intermediate tyres were giving no grip on the slippery track and he would fall backwards rapidly - 15th by lap 5. There were spinners on lap 1, Dean Irving (Ford Sierra) spun at the bottom of Craner Curves, more seriously Ian Craig spun on the way up to Macleans, flying across the grass and barely slowly before hitting the tyre wall. On lap 2 Stamp passed Gould and was slowly building up a lead, to a little over a second by lap 5. At this point Gould came back and repassed Stamp on lap 8. The two leaders were in a class of their own, the gap back to Tim Evans (Subaru Impreza) increasing at a rate of 4 seconds per lap. At the start of the final lap, Stamp led Gould by just 3/10th, but was looking good value for the win. Disaster struck on the final lap, the Exige's supercharger belt snapping, the Exige slowed and Gould went on to record his second consecutive race win by 5 seconds. Although finishing some 48 seconds behind the winner, Tim Evans had looked comfortable back in third, but a late show from Whyte's slick-shod Escort Cosworth brought the gap down from 11 seconds on lap 6 to just 1 second at the finish. Angus Dawe had rebuilt his BMW M3 since his Silverstone crash, and was now running in Class A. Starting at the back of the grid, in 30th place, Dawe put in a storming drive to finish 5th, just 10 seconds adrift of the 4th placed Whyte.

Star turn from the start was David Pierce (Renault Clio) who jumped from 18th on the grid to end lap 1 in 5th place, and move up to 4th on lap 2. The following laps were spent battling for the Class B lead with Rhys Lloyd, the two swapping places many times before Lloyd finally made the break on lap 10. Douglas Ellwood had taken over the Class B lead on lap 3, passing both Pierce and Lloyd, but a spin on lap 10 gave the Class B lead, and eventually the win back to Lloyd.

With Class C favourite Craig out of contention on the first lap, Mike Hurst was left to take an easy class win in his Vauxhall Vectra, David Roberts (Rover Tomcat) had to work a lot harder to take 2nd in class from Lee Reynolds (Citroen Saxo). Jim Mepham always goes well in the wet and looked to have the measure of Andrew Neal for Class D, but Mepham was tapped into a spin on lap 10, and then went off again at Craners the following lap leaving Neal to take the Class win with Mepham 2nd. Simon Jackson enjoyed a good race in the MG ZR with its newly applied "Pongo" stripes, holding off Jason Newman (Peugeot 306) and Rich Ellingham (Fiat Tipo) to take the final Class D podium position.

Rhys Lloyd is the 2008 LMA Euro Saloon and Sports Car champion finishing with 276 points from Andrew Neal (254) and Jim Mepham (234). Class A was won by Nick Williamson (232) from Richard Gould (212) and Derek Hale (132), class C by Ian Craig (160) from David Roberts (140)and Mike Hurst (128), while Andrew Neal won Class D from Mepham and Simon Jackson (162). Lloyd won Class B from Douglas Ellwood (210) and David Pierce (148).

David Pierce was rewarded for his stunning drive with 8th overall and 1st in the Mark Fish Clio Cup Challenge from Mark Crook. This result ensured that Pierce won the 2008 Mark Fish Clio Cup Challenge. A good final score saw Renault hold off any possible challenge from Honda to take the MSE_Performance.com manufacturers' cup, with Vauxhall holding off a late challenge from Ford and Seat to finish 3rd.

Visit the LMA site for details of the LMA Euro Saloon and Sports Car championship and standings so far.

Check out the current points standing.

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