BRANDS HATCH 2005

THE JAGUAR WORLD MONTHLY/CLASSICS SPARES XJS CHAMPIONSHIPARE OF BRANDS HATCH RACE 2005

RACING

CHOOSE A TRACK MALLORY PARK SNETTERTON BRANDS HATCH CROFT SILVERSTONE DONINGTON

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JAGUAR

Please Note that all the pictures on this site are copyright and may not be used for any purpose without the owners permission!

All enquiries to: dave@jagracing.co.uk

RACE 1 RESULT

1 Gary Davis

2 Steve Davis

3 Sean Colin

4 Kevin Doyle

5 William Lynch

6 Paul Hands

7 David Eyles

8 Cliff Ryan

9 James Ramm

10 Gerald Webb

11 Lawrence Coppock

12 David Ball

13 Stuart Ulph

14 Lawrence Ball

15 Dexter Dimblebee

16 John Griffin

17 Simon Seath

18 Dave Robbie

19 Sam Clarke

20 John Hassell

21 Gordan Bobic

22 Mathew Wallace

23 Brian McMahon

24 Bob Beecham

25 Paul Reynolds

RACE 1 RESULT

1 Gary Davis

2 Steve Davis

3 Sean Colin

4 Derek Pearce

5 Cliff ryan

6 William lynch

7 David Eyles

8 Gail Hill

9 Martin Sutherland

10 James Ramm

11 Sam Clarke

12 Gerald webb

13 Lawrence Coppock

14 Gary Hastings

15 David Ball

16 Lawrence Ball

17 Stuart Ulph

18 Paul Hands

19 Simon Seath

20 John Griffin

21 John Hassell

22 Dexter Dimblebee

23 Mathew Wallace

24 Dave Robbie

25 Gordan Bobic

26 Paul Reynolds

27 Bob Beecham

28 Brian McMahon

 

 

Brands Hatch was to be the first race that I had competed in since the engine expired at Snetterton. No time for testing, only a few runs down a farmers track. I managed to keep up with a Hare, which was promising! Why don't they get out of the way?

Being such a prestigous event, the XJS's were oversubscribed and I was first substitute. Now I don't normally wish bad luck on anyone, but on this occasion I was hoping that someone didn't manage to get their car to the track for whatever reason, anyone would do! Being a good Christian obviously paid off, as I got to race!

SCRUTINEERING & QUALIFYING

What luxury having your very own garage next to the pitlane! Even the Scrutineers come to you! I felt like Royalty! It wasn't all good news though, as they discovered that my brake lights didn't work. Fortunately they agreed to let me go out to for qualifying/practice before fixing it.

1. 
2. XJ MOTORS TEAM GARAGE

I don't think I was fully committed at Paddock corner due to an off the last time I practiced there. This was made worse by the car hitting the deck at the bottom of Paddock, still the car and new engine performed OK. I qualified 23rd less than 100th behind John Griffin.

Fortunately, despite my notorious bad memory, I recalled having had this brake light problem before. Sure enough all the leads off the relay situated under the center armrest were dangling in the wind, (following the engine transplant) along with a plethora of other orphaned wires and connectors that I have no idea what they once did.

 

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Both ends of the Grid. Everything was getting hot, including the drivers.

RACE 1

I made a fairly good start but it was all in vain as I soon caught sight of Gail Hills blue and orange cat hissing, steaming, and rather misshapen at the top of Paddock after an argument with the Armco! If you make one good start, and the race is stopped you are never going to have such good fortune the second time around! (Or at least I don't) Still at least the car was in one piece!

It was a rather non eventful race for me, spending the whole 6 laps behind Simon Seath, trying frantically to get past, and finishing half a second behind! John Griffin made a blinding start, making up 4 places from the start, but eventually finished just under 3 seconds in front of Simon.

Whilst the Rich people had a posh dinner in the executive restaurant, myself Simon Newbury and Becky, had an instant barbecue in the rain! Down the pits a bit further Derek Pearce was busily dismantling his rear subframe, whilst Gail Hill nipped back to Coventry to pick up next years car for Sundays race.

RACE 2 GORDAN BOBIC (Class F) memories of Sundays Race:

The most memorable thing I remember about it is the first rush into Paddock Hill in the Sunday race. I hadn't realised that Derek hadn't finished the race on Saturday due to diff issues, so I remember being rather surprised when he shot post me. I remember thinking "What's Derek doing at the back of the grid?!". Then, a second or so later, Gail went past. I didn't know that was her new car, so it felt quite odd to have somebody in a car that quick at the back of the grid.

The rest of the race was pretty uneventful for me. It was nearing the end of the season, so I decided to push only as hard as I needed too to maintain my class lead.

<< Click pic for full page.

Cooper Straight, & Hailwood Hill

Steve Davis following Gary Davis at the exit of Graham Hill bend.

DAVE ROBBIE

Both myself and Simon Seath made a good start to the second race, getting up to 14th & 15th on the first lap! As with Gordan, there was a lot of fast people behind me and it was impossible to fend them off for long. Gail in her new V12, and Gary Hastings were past on lap 3 , and Dexter made it past on lap 4. Not very happy about that as he only had about half a second advantage over me! It shouldn't have happened!

Still, things were about to get a lot worse! On lap 8 I was coming under more and more pressure from Stuart Ulph and John Griffin, I made a small mistake coming out of Surtees, which resulted in the three of us being side by side down cooper straight. Something had to give as we approached Graham Hill bend, therefore being polite as ever, I elected to take a detour followed by a 180 degrees up towards Southbank! The engine had stalled, and it seemed like forever before it burst into life again! Back on the black stuff my nearest target was Matthew Wallace who had been about 7 seconds behind me prior to the spin, but was now 20 seconds in front! It wasn't possible with only 7 laps to go. I had to settle for 24th.

A few seconds after I had passed the chequered flag, unbeknown to me a catastrophe was about to unfold for Gail Hill and Paul Hands. A wheel had come off of Pauls car on the pit straight on the last lap, just before the exit for the pit lane, the car dug in, and veered towards the pit wall. Gail who had just crossed the chequered flag in 8th place T boned Pauls stricken car at high speed. As can be imagined, both cars were in a sorry state, but thankfully both lived to tell the tale. These Jags are very strong!

In conclusion, overall it was a very good weekends racing, with a record crowd. I was personally not happy with my performance on either day, and I cant really blame the car, or anyone else. Next stop CROFT!

Thanks to Trevor Thrower for providing most of the pictures on this page. Trevor can provide spares for Jaguars and Daimlers 1969 to 1999. Contact J&D Autos 0208 7780948. See links page.

More pictures from Brands Hatch will follow soon!

 

ANY INTERESTING PICTURES OR STORIES RELATING TO THIS MEETING OR ANY OTHER JEC RACE 2003 TO DATE, WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED. PREFERABLY MATERIAL NOT FEATURED ON OTHER SITES, AND WITH THE OWNERS CONSENT.