Cadwell Park 13 May
The Arrowpak Eurosaloons Championship returned to the mini-Nurburgring that is Cadwell Park for the first time since 2007.
Qualifying:
Cadwell Park - one of the great UK circuits - a tight, twisty affair, full of undulation, technical cambers, and the superb Hall bends. Not a place you would expect the enormous Ford Falcon to thrive then, and yet Andy Robinson grabbed the V8 by the scruff of the neck to take pole. Vaughan Fletcher (Subaru Impreza) was an impressive 2nd, but the big surprise was Garrie Whittaker's Class D BMW M3 taking 3rd place on the grid, a stunning performance that had a few people scratching their heads!
On a good day for BMW, M3's also took class poles in C and B with Dennis Crompton and Kevin Wendt. The other class D cars were over 5 seconds off Whittaker's pace, but it was great to see such a healthy collection of Clios on display in Euro Saloons - Dan Croft out qualifying Andy Jordan, from Dan Thomas, Ian Jordan, Christopher Murray-Brown, and Jason Tarling. Chris Boon (Honda Civic) headed class E and showed he'd got enough pace to challenge the Clios.
Doug Ellwood (Marcos Mantis), Ian Frogatt (Subaru Impreza) and Barry Squibb (Mitsubishi Evo) filled the midfield class A cars, with Steve Putt still learning the circuit on his first visit to Cadwell in the Mazda RX7.
Race 1:
The unlucky Vaughan Fletcher would miss race 1: an electrical fault depriving us of the 570 bhp Scooby. Robinson exploited the gap on the front row with a super start, his 700 bhp Falcon charging away as the red lights changed. Crompton got the drop on Whittaker into the vacant 2nd position. The other "hold-your-breath" challenge was between Squibb's Evo and Andy Jordan's Clio, side-by-side, flat out through the first corner. Euro Saloons certainly cherry-picks some nice battles between different classes!
Crompton-Whittaker-Wendt, all three drivers committing their M3's to the Mountain, tenths of a second between each other, Crompton's M3 squirming for traction on exit and Wendt's V8 sounding glorious (in fact even better than the leading Aussie boom box). But Whittaker's M3 was handling beautifully, as demonstrated with a pass at Park to take 2nd place on lap 2.
"Here come the Clios" squealed an excited boy, peering over the fence... what a mid-field battle with Croft, Andy Jordan, and Thomas interchanging places, if that wasn't enough Putt's RX7 added a splash of tabasco between the Clios. There is no letting through different classes here - each of these cars were "fighting" for position (HARD). The battle continued through the entire race, lap 9 - Putt storming past on the pit straight, until the final lap when Croft ran wide at Mansfield trying to avoid the out of shape RX7. Andy Jordan, snatching the lead in their exhausting encounter. Not far behind, the other Clios were having a similar scrap, this time Chris Boon's Civic splitting the places.
The Marcos Mantis, another V8: Douglas Ellwood seemed to struggle a bit at first (maybe cold tyres) but was now in his stride, dispatching Froggatt's Impreza and gaining lap after lap on Cox's Seat Cupra. This wasn't frenetic Clio racing, the Mantis looked and sounded smooth and laid back, it suited Ellwood's style as he reeled in Cox, now struggling with her tyres. It looked like she may just hold off the Marcos, but despite sticking her elbows out a few times, Ellwood's Marcos just had enough in reserve to take the place on the last lap and finish 5th, Cox in 6th.
Bary Squibb's class-A Mitsubishi Evo looked out of position on the grid, scrapping his way through the "pesky" Clios, by lap 5 the bright white Evo had its nemesis in sight. It's clean, sharp lines (watch out for those front canards) were homing in on Froggatt's Impreza. Unfortunately, despite Barry's banzai laps it appeared battling through the traffic had taken its toll, the Evo now easing back to deny us the promised showdown. Froggatt finished ahead of Squibb in 7th and 8th respectively.
Back at the sharp end Robinson was passing backmarkers, Winnifrith's Mini politely making way, but the Falcon didn't clear all traffic as easily, at one point on the grass to avoid a crunch. The impressive Whittaker was now closing in fast: 4 sec, 3 sec, 2 sec - surely not? "I had to drive like ****" admitted Andy after the race, acknowledging Whittaker's sterling effort, but it was the Falcon that was triumphant.
Race 2:
Vaughan Fletcher's Subaru was now fixed and ready, the electrical fault found to be a melted loom below the exhaust, and then a cracked manifold needed welding. After all this Fletcher would still have to start race 2 from the back of the grid depriving the crowd of seeing the Falcon and Impreza battling together. Barry Squibb was absent due to not feeling well. The rolling start was dominated by a brilliant move from Wendt, getting the power down and passing the other M3s around the outside from 4th to 2nd!
Unfortunately, a difference of opinion between Clios, led to Thomas losing the subsequent "tank-slapper", and making a (very) big impact with the tyre wall. Thankfully, Thomas was unhurt, but an immediate red-flag was a wise precaution. Fletcher had made excellent progress, but would have to resume his place at the rear of the grid; likewise Wendt would have to start from 4th again.
Incredible! The restart would see Wendt do the same again - the other M3s tried to defend - but Wendt kept his foot in. The crowd winced, expecting the worst, but amazingly all M3s got through Coppice cleanly, Wendt returning to 2nd place. Fletcher's blue Scooby was baulked by Clios into Coppice, however, by lap 2 he’d cleared them all and was closing fast on Froggatt’s Subaru.
Schofield's Cappuccino was acting as an unlikely JCB, his front splitter lifting the concrete kerbs into the track as he passed Boon's Civic into the mountain. Amazingly the Suzuki continued - a section of the kerb had been thrown onto the racing line. A brave marshal struggled to lift the concrete slab, clearing the mess just before the roaring Falcon returned.
The out-of-sorts Tarling was now going better, initially holding onto Murray-Brown’s Clio, but it was still Andy Jordan and Croft heading the Clio pack, 0.3 seconds apart. The battle resumed, until on lap 5 Jordan and Croft came together, Croft retired from the race with a snapped drive shaft. Boon’s Civic had also taken a big shunt from behind, the missing bumper revealing a crumpled crash-bar.
Ilsa Cox was having a cracking race 2, up to 5th and closing in on the M3s ahead of her. It was a tight battle with the three M3s getting closer and closer to each other, Wendt still holding off the impatient Whittaker, until on lap 5 the inevitable happened - a lunge into Park and a trip over the grass for Wendt’s BMW - Crompton taking advantage of the incident moving past both into 2nd place.
Meanwhile, the charging Fletcher had now taken care of the Marcos Mantis and was heading for the M3/Cupra tussle. Sure enough a lap later Fletcher scythed his way through and was up to 3rd.
The released Crompton had stretched away, and was showing good pace, but was now defending from Fletcher’s Subaru - holding him at bay for 4-laps and allowing Whittaker’s M3 back into contention. The 2nd, 3rd, 4th train approached Hall just behind Tarling’s Clio, the speed differential wasn’t enough and all would exit Barn tucked up tight behind Tarling – now the power of the Subaru showed on the pit straight and Fletcher blasted into 2nd place.
However, the Subaru couldn’t catch a very fast Robinson, who had impressive pace throughout Race 2, not risking being caught this time. It would finish Robinson, Fletcher, Crompton, Whittaker and Isla Cox.
Most improved driver appeared to be Steve Putt, the RX7 now getting to grips with Cadwell and passing the midfield Froggatt (who’s gearbox now sounded OK), and closing in on Ellwood’s Marcos, the two finishing a second apart in 7th and 8th place.
Andy Robinson's double win takes him into the championship lead on 84 points from Chris Boon (72) and Ilsa Cox (70). Dan Croft and Ian Jordan lead the Mark Fish Renault Clio Cup Challenge with 56 points each, but Andy Jordan is just 2 points behind. Cox also leads the Arrowpak Super Touring Cup with 64 points to Derek Hale (38), while Renault soar past Seat (276 v 194) to lead the MSE_Performance.com Manufacturers Cup. The series now moves on to the next race at Brands Hatch on 9/10 June.
Read the official race report here.
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