MMALLORY PARK SUNDAY 26th
MAY 2008
2008
XJS RACE
It was over to Mallory Park
for Round 3 (Race 4) of the 2008 Toyo Tyres XJS Championship. Rain
was predicted for most of the UK and the weatherman was right for once,
unfortunately!
The first Jaguar practice of
the day was the XJS's. The track was absolutely soaked and visibility was
fairly good even with the rain! It had actually just about stopped raining
for this practice.
PRACTICE/QUALIFYING
First casualty was Bob Beecham
on lap 4 when the back end came out on his Orange XJS running wide onto
the grass and unfortunately straight into the barrier with a huge force
spinning the car back around and to a stop. Luckily Bob was OK and the practice
was red flagged.
Bob Beecham's day got off to a very
bad start following an argument with the Armco! Pic Mathew Jeffery
On the restart, Kutuka Motorsport's
Andrew Harrison and Stewart Lyddall tagged onto each other in an aim to
get Andrew a higher grid spot. Andrew was going superbly fighting Stewart,
although Stewart was struggling to lay down any real traction in the monster
V12. The plan worked and Andrew found himself second on the grid point 6th
of a second behind Derek Pearce! What an achievement, he even beat his own
"leading" team mate!
Andrew Harrison plays follow my leader!
Pic Mathew Jeffery
Jim Quirke also seemed to
"tag" onto the back of Andrew and fantastically found himself in 3rd place!
Well Done!
Ian Drage had a superb qualifying
session qualifying in 6th place ahead of many Class E drivers.
THE RACE
19 XJS's lined up on the Grid.
It was still raining and the visibility was somewhat poor! Stewart Lydall
had a superb idea to change his back tyres (as they were completely bald
giving him a poor grid spot. He happened to borrow the tyres and wheels
off Chris Palmer who he eventually battled with for the win!)
Andrew Harrison leads the XJS race!
Pic Mathew Jeffery
Derek made a good start with
Andrew directly behind.
But not for long! Pic Mark Stabler
Plenty of spray, imagine what it looked
like inside one of the cars! Pic Mathew Jeffery
Into Gerrard's now and for
some reason unknown Derek dropped right down to about 3rd or 4th putting
Andrew into the lead! By this time, Stewart had jumped to about 3rd and
was chasing Andrew down for the lead. Stewart caught Andrew, overtaking
him putting him into the lead.
Any which way! Pic Mathew Jeffery
Andrew was still in second
when he braked far too late at the hairpin dropping to around 4th place.
He managed to get the car going again and was obviously keen to regain his
position!
Mike Sharman looking a rather damp
& lonely on what may be his last race! Pic Mathew Jeffery
At this time, Stewert was
leading, with Chris Palmer chasing him down for the lead, getting closer
each lap. This ended up with Stewert braking VERY late into Gerrard's in
an attempt to increase the gap between them. The plan worked but Chris found
himself closer and closer to Stewert each lap.
Chris Palmer stays in touch with Stewert
Lyddall. Pic Mark Stabler
Phil Taylor made a welcome
comeback after the incident at Cadwell Park in 2007. He qualified in 19th
place and by the end of the race he had overtaken 3 cars! Well done Phil
and welcome back!
Paul Merrett had an abrupt
end to his race when at Gerrard's he ran wide.
And Paul Merrett does some more off
roading! Pic Mark Stabler
A superb race, even in the
pouring rain! Stewert eventually won with Chris Palmer 2nd and Derek 3rd.
& the battle goes on. Pic Mathew
Jeffery
Many thanks to Mark Stabler &
Mathew Jeffery who have once again come up with some brilliant pics!
Please
note! A report and pictures from Rockingham will be at least two weeks after
the race. Many appologies!
RESULTS OF SUNDAYS RACE
|
POSS
|
NAME
|
CLASS |
MALLORY PARK
|
PICTURE / LINK
|
CAR No.
|
CC
|
QUAL
|
|
|
|
1
|
Stewert Lyddall
|
G
|
Click on Pic for more details>>>>>>
|
|
23
|
5.3L
|
4
|
|
2
|
Chris Palmer
|
E
|
...
|
|
9
|
4L
|
5
|
|
3
|
Derek Pearce
|
G
|
. |
|
58
|
6L
|
1
|
|
4
|
Matt Skelton
|
D
|
An.
|
|
25
|
3.6L
|
13
|
|
5
|
Jim Quirke
|
D
|
.
|
|
28
|
4L
|
3
|
|
6
|
Andrew Harrison
|
D
|
.
|
|
5
|
4L
|
2
|
|
7
|
Ian Drage
|
D
|
.
|
 |
31
|
3.6L
|
6
|
|
8
|
Lawrence Coppock
|
D
|
.
|
|
27
|
4L
|
10
|
|
9
|
Ray Hill
|
E
|
.
|
|
37
|
4L
|
12
|
|
10
|
Alex Harrison
|
E
|
. |
|
.40
|
4L
|
8
|
|
11
|
Lawrence Ball
|
E
|
..
|
|
63
|
4L
|
11
|
|
12
|
Gary Hastings
|
D
|
.
|
|
2
|
4L
|
9
|
|
13
|
Mike Sharman
|
F
|
.
|
|
20
|
5.3L
|
14
|
|
14
|
Roger Webster
|
D
|
Click on Pic>>>>
|
|
42
|
4L
|
17
|
|
15
|
Robert MacVicar
|
D
|
.
|
|
66
|
4L
|
15
|
|
16
|
Paul Reynolds
|
F
|
.
|
|
47
|
5.3L
|
20
|
|
17
|
Phil Taylor
|
D
|
.
|
|
14
|
4L
|
19
|
|
DNF
|
Mark Russell
|
G
|
.
|
|
7
|
5.8L
|
16
|
|
DNF
|
Paul Merrett
|
E
|
.
|
|
73
|
4L
|
7
|
|
DNS
|
Bob Beecham
|
D
|
.
|
|
34
|
4L
|
18
|
GOSSIP.
Mathew Jeffery hopes to be
joining his Father Andrew, racing Jaguars before the end of the season.
Watch this space!
The Kutuka class E hire car,
possibly with Alex Harrison on board is predicted to be going even faster
at Rockingham!
XJS Drivers page has been updated.
Chris Palmer is leading the Championship with 65 points, Stewert Lyddall
is the top Class G driver with 58 points, Mike Sharman Class F has 49.5,
& Andrew Harrison leads D Class with 52 points. see
full details.
PLEASE HELP!!
Can I please drag you away
from motor racing for just a few minutes? Mark Stabler who has provided
many of the brilliant pictures featured on this website is also a trustee
of East Anglias Childrens Hospice. This is not a plea for money, just a
click of the mouse!
The Charity is one of ten hoping
to get the considerable help of Radio Station KL FM 96.7 . This would be
worth a great deal to this charity that cares for children with life limiting
or life threatening conditions. If after visiting the website you agree
that they are worthy of support, I would be most grateful if you could cast
your vote for this great cause. www.klfm967.co.uk
Many thanks! UK visitors only!
EAST ANGLIA'S CHILDREN'S HOSPICE
Please see the bottom of this page
