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Croft is one of the most demanding circuits on the calendar and their first visit since September 2005 was eagerly anticipated by the Porsche 924 drivers.
Qualifying
Practice started under overcast skies and the pace was warming up when, on lap 5, Martin Hall's engine deposited a big slick of oil at the chicane. There was a moment of excitement for Martin and Jonathan Ramsay who also spun, but contact was avoided. With the oil down there were few personal best laps set until the very end, when Paul Pattison, Steven Brown and Simon Resliz jumped up the order. The top three were Will Penrose, Steve Cheetham and Richard Mowbray. Will's best of 1.40.688 almost four seconds up on the fastest lap in 2005, set on Colways.
Race 1
Will Penrose led from pole to flag from Steve Cheetham, both cars on the ragged edge all the way. Will gradually eked out his lead to just under a second only for Steve to reel him back in.
Jonathan Ramsay had to work hard for 3rd, fending off Graham Heard initially then Richard Mowbray, after the latter pair had contested the same piece of tarmac. The fast-improving Matt Davies was 5th, equalling his best-ever finish while an unusually subdued Graham Heard rounded out the top 6.
Further down the order, Alistair Kirkham with a down-on-power engine held off Paul Pattison for almost the whole race, only losing out late on, while Alec Fraser had close attention from Simon Resliz after Steven Brown had slipped back following a courageous dive down the inside at Tower.
It was a good effort and a fine way to mark Will's birthday and Will's dad spent the afternoon in celebratory mood. Former Champion Steve Cheetham was well impressed.
The usual tall tales were exchanged by some of the drivers spotted dining at Chequers, across from the circuit entrance on Saturday evening. Chequers is one of the highlights of a weekend at Croft.
Race 2
After a morning spent shivering in a stiff east wind waiting for the action to begin, the sun broke through as the 924s lined up.
Will Penrose initially got the drop on Steve Cheetham but there was mayhem down the left hand side of the grid as Richard Mowbray got out of shape in a big way. Alec Fraser was 6th into Clerveaux following a good start but was swamped by the midfield after trying to come back at the impressively quick Gareth Broadbent at Tower.
Steve Cheetham was through to lead by the end of lap one and controlled the race from there, Will Penrose and Jonathan Ramsay not being able to stay with his pace on this occasion. Regular for the past three years, Martin Hall retired early with a blown cylinder head gasket on a frustrating one-off outing.
Paul Pattison initially held sway in a lengthy battle for 4th place with Matt Davies and Gareth Broadbent before Richard Mowbray joined the fray. Mowbray was a man on a mission throughout. Last after the start, he carved his way through the field to finish 4th, but clearly the body shop at Victoria Garage is going to be busy before Anglesey.
Gareth Broadbent, Graham Heard and Alec Fraser all had the chance for good placings, but were sidelined by mechanical problems before the end, leaving racy new boy Simon Resliz to take an excellent 7th. Still down on power, Alistair Kirkham held on to 8th to gather points which could be important at the season's end.
So on to the new circuit at Anglesey, with the Championship looking very open.
Report by Alec Fraser |
