Round 8 – Sunday 30th September 2007.

The rain on Friday had made the track perfect for round 8 of the championship. The surface was soft enough to give the tyres a chance to bite but it was not so wet that there was standing water and little in the way of grip. Dust was also not going to be an issue.

A disappointingly low entry was not going to detract from a good days motorsport. Roy was first on the stages and everyone was keen to see how much grip was available. Roy isn’t the best person to watch in this situation as his neat smooth driving style can often hide the real conditions. Jim Hedgecock was next out and was going well until he entered the uphill hairpin left by the marshalling point on his second lap. The Escort deciding to go up on two wheels and very nearly go right over but luckily it dropped back onto its wheels. The compression strut had collapsed and Jim completed the lap with the front wheel pushed back into the wheel arch. Cue Baz and as he went off to his workshops to affect a repair the other competitors completed their first two runs. All agreed that if Jim and Hazels car could be repaired quickly they could complete their runs and stay in the event.

Within 20 minutes Baz had done the business and they were back running.

By the lunch time halt things had settled down and in Class B Darren had a 20 second lead over Jim in second and Hazel in third.

In Class A Alex Cannon had taken advantage of his starting position and managed to pull out 7 seconds from Roy Gravestock and a very impressive Cameron who was third in class on only his second event. After the lunch break Rou mounted his attack and squeezed one second back on stage 4, nearly 3 seconds on stage 5, it was all going to be decided on the last stage. Roy was first out and set a time of 4.11.94, a time only bettered by Jim and Darren. This was really going to be a test of nerve for Alex who could not afford to relax one bit and had to keep pushing. With everyone watching he set off and managed to get another good clean run bettering his previous time by 2.5 seconds but was also a similar amount of time slower than Roy, Alex stopping the clocks at 4.14.31. Had he done enough, yes he had but only by seven tenths of a second. It was a great battle of youth over experience and both drivers really did deserve to win, but it was good to see Alex get his first Class win after nearly two years of trying.

Cameron finished his second rallypsrint with a well deserved third place and Rob Moffit finished fourth in Class A. Pedor retired on stage 5 having had problems with his Escort all day, but it goes without saying he will be back.

In Class B Darren finished first in class and first overall with Jim and Hazel finishing second and third in class respectively. A good result considering their problems after stage one. Baz’s repair may prove invaluable at the end of the season.

The last round of the season is on October 14 2007. It would be great to get as many drivers as possible to attend. Hope to see you there.

Darren Knights

Club Chairman.

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