.
THE
TOYO TYRES XJS CHAMPIONSHIP (formerly CLASSIC SPARES) page
updated 16th April. Click on link for Saloons,
PBJ
RACE
1 (Report by Mathew Jeffery, with some additions from
Stewert Lyddall)
PRACTICE/QUALIFYING
The Qualifying was shortened
due to a red flag in qualifying following Andrew Harrison's argument with
the tyre wall. Derek Pearce in his XJR-S was on pole, with Chris Palmer in
his 4 litre second, 3rd place was Paul Merrett (E) 4th was Cliff Ryan (G),
and 5th Stewert Lyddall with plenty of work to do!
Mark Russell had a frustrating
weekend when his head gasket failed in a spectacular way down the back straight!
Much work has been carried out improving the car over the winter period including
a new engine. Hopefully Mark and the car will be back on form at Brands Hatch,
giving Derek & Stewert some grief!
THE RACE
The track was dry and the sun
was out, excellent for XJS racing!
Roger Webster, Alex Harrisson, Graeme
Reynolds & Matt Skelton waiting for the lights to extinguish! Thanks to
Stewert Lyddall & the official Kutuka motorsport photography team for
supplying the picture!
At the start, Derek jumped at
his heels, giving the XJS a fantastic start. Stewart made up 3 places and
Chris was still in 3rd.
Having made up 3 places from the start,
Stewert hunts down Derek Pearce.
Lap 5 several changes taking place between
4th & 7th with Lawrence Ball leading the group!
Chris Palmer running in 3rd for much
of the race, but some way off the front two.
Having dropped back to 16th on the first
lap Cliff Ryan made it past Gary Hastings in 7th on lap 7
Unfamiliar territory for Gail Hill making
a move on Mike Sharman for 13th place! The above 5 pictures & 2 below
were all kindly supplied by Mathew Jeffery, many thanks!
.
Pic1&2 The Hail descends with Michael
Jobson bringing up the rear, and Stewert Lyddall now leading!
By lap 8 the heavens had opened
with a sudden rain storm soaking the track. The race carried on and the rain
stayed for the duration. The gap at the front had now narrowed to .5 of a
second and Stewert Lyddall made it past Derek and was now leading in his V12.
Cliff Ryan had a bad start and
dropped back to 16th. Amazingly he jumped back to 4th by lap 10!
It was a very "clean" XJS race.
The driver standards were much higher than usual.
(Thanks Mathew & Stewert)
Gail Hill had a miserable first
race of the season nursing the concours V12 throughout the race and retiring
on lap 9 with fuelling gremlins! Ian Drage must feel very pleased with himself
after an excellent first outing.
Alex Harrison on the other hand
had an early exit from his first race after an over zealous overtaking manovoure
on Roger Webster went somewhat pear shaped!
MOTORSPORT NEWS
A rare XJS feature report appeared
in the April 9th issue. Q&A featured Gail Hill wearing the trademark hat!
Nice picture of Stewert Lyddall hottly persued by Cliff Ryan, Derek Pearce
& Chris Palmer. Hopefuly this will encourage more people to take an interest
in Jaguar club racing either as a competitor or spectator!
Double race winner Stewert Lyddall.
Pic taken by Mark Stabler, many thanks!
RACE RESULTS BELOW More
details & Pics will follow shortly!
If anyone was planning to do
the TTRS as a second race
at Brands, your probably too late as they are now taking reserves. XJS drivers
Philip Comer, Roger Webster, & reserve Mark Russell. Cadwell Park is also
nearly full!
RACE 1 SATURDAY 5th APRIL 2008
|
POSS
|
NAME
|
CLASS |
SNETTERTON 1st
|
PICTURE / LINK
|
CAR No.
|
CC
|
QUAL
|
|
|
|
1
|
Stewert Lyddall
|
G
|
Congratulations
Stewert, as predicted a front runner in 2008!!! Click on Pic
for more details>>>>>>
|
|
23
|
5.3L
|
5
|
|
2
|
|
E
|
..Congratulations Chris (see
prediction)!!!
|
|
9
|
4L
|
2
|
|
3
|
Derek Pearce
|
G
|
. |
|
58
|
6L
|
1
|
|
4
|
Cliff Ryan
|
G
|
. |
|
44
|
6L
|
4
|
|
5
|
Lawrence Ball
|
E
|
..
|
|
63
|
4L
|
6
|
|
6
|
Gary Hastings
|
D
|
Contratulations Gary on
a first class win of the season.
|
|
2
|
4L
|
7
|
|
7
|
Andrew Harrison
|
D
|
Contratulations on second in class!
|
|
5
|
4L
|
9
|
|
8
|
Lawrence Coppock
|
D
|
.
|
|
27
|
4L
|
8
|
|
9
|
Paul Merrett
|
E
|
.
|
|
73
|
4L
|
3
|
|
10
|
Matt Skelton
|
D
|
An.
|
|
25
|
3.6L
|
13
|
|
11
|
Jim Quirke
|
D
|
.
|
|
28
|
4L
|
11
|
|
12
|
Mike Sharman
|
F
|
Congratulations Mike
on the first class win of the season (see prediction)!!!
|
|
20
|
5.3L
|
12
|
|
13
|
Graeme Reynolds
|
E
|
.
|
|
48
|
4.0L
|
14
|
|
14
|
Roger Webster
|
D
|
Click
on Pic>>>>
|
|
42
|
4L
|
16
|
|
15
|
Ian Drage
|
D
|
Good first race!
|
 |
31
|
3.6L
|
17
|
|
16
|
Philip Comer
|
D
|
.Click on Pic
for more info>>>>
|
|
71
|
3.6L
|
19
|
|
17
|
Bob Beecham
|
D
|
.
|
|
34
|
4L
|
21
|
|
18
|
Paul Reynolds
|
F
|
.
|
|
47
|
5.3L
|
22
|
|
19
|
Mike Jobson
|
F
|
.
|
|
12
|
5.3L
|
23
|
|
DNF
|
Gail Hill
|
G
|
Click on pic for more details >>>>>
|
|
52
|
5.3L
|
20
|
| .DNF |
Alex Harrison
|
D
|
. |
|
..74 |
. |
15
|
|
DNS
|
Mark Russell
|
G
|
.
|
|
7
|
5.8L
|
10
|
|
DNS
|
David Ball
|
G
|
.
|
 .
|
4
|
4.0L
|
18
|
RACE 2 SUNDAY 6th APRIL
2008
The drivers awoke to a light
covering of snow across Snetterton, and temperatures hovered around zero for
much of the morning! (we don't do snow in April in southern England these
days, do we?)
As usual the drivers starting
position was based on their finish in race one. This was not good news for
Gail Hill, David Ball, or Alex Harrison. Mark Russell did not make the grid
at all. It was fingers crossed for Gail following some tweaking overnight
(the car)! David Ball was also hoping for better luck.
The assembly area. Gail, Alex, Robert,
& Dave prepare for battle at the blunt end of the grid!
Stewert Lyddall hotly pursued by Cliff
Ryan & Chris Palmer on lap 1.
Derek Pearce was not content
to settle for second, so quickly went about showing Stewert a clean set of
heels! Therefore lap 1 at the front was Derek followed by Stewert, then Clliff
and Chris Palmer. There was hardly a second between them.
Meanwhile Stewert is clearly determined
to make it back past Derek!
There was plenty of mid-field
fun with Andrew, Matt, & Mike Sharman all attempting to be first into
the Esses, Lawrence was a second in front, whilst Jim Quirke was more than
keen to join the party!
Andrew just ahead of Matt Skelton in
a three way battle of supremacy at the entry to the Esses
And so the struggle for 8th in
the midfield continued throughout the race between Andrew, Matt, & Gary,
with Lawrence Coppock & Paul Merret just having the edge for most of the
race.
Andrew Harrison locks up as he joins
the Lawrence Coppock mobile chicane at Russell!
Matt Skelton managed to pass
Gary Hastings briefly on lap 7 but by lap 9 Gary was back in front, just!
A bit further back Mike Sharman who had been part of the midfield battle earlier
in the race overcooked it at Russell doing a 360, but was quickly back on
track!
In the absence of Gordon Bobic, you
can always rely upon Mike Sharman for a spin or two!
The battle between Matt &
Gary continued both on & off the track, with less than a second between
them as they crossed the line for the last time!
.
The fierce battle between Gary Hastings
& Matt Skelton continues
Having watched the overtaking
techniques between between Matt & Gary at Russell, he clearly felt it
was worth giving it a bash himself! With the number of XJS's that negotiated
Russell side by side, it is amazing that they all finshed the race largely
unscathed! Great entertainment for the spectators though!!
Harrison goes for it!
Lawrence Ball managed to stay
out of trouble for most of the race, just a few seconds ahead of the midfield
battle. With only two laps remaining Paul Merrett snatched 5th place from
Lawrence Ball, leaving Lawrence Coppock free to put the pressure on!
Lawrence Ball loses his 5th place to
Paul Merrett, with Lawrence Coppock only seconds behind!
Dave Ball continued to struggle
with his recently aquired V12, philip Comer gave him a really hard time, and
briefly passed the yellow peril in the early laps. Dave eventualy completed
the race less than .5 of a second behind Philip! I suspect that some head
scratching and further testing will be taking place before Brands Hatch!
At the other end of the grid Philip
Comer & Dave Ball had a close race from start to finish.
A brilliant but somewhat lonely
win for Stewert Lyddal, with second placed driver Cliff Ryan over 12 seconds
behind! This will no doubt give Derek Pearce something to think about for
the next outing! Other than Derek, I think that without Steve Davis, Stewert
has the next few races pretty much sewn up! Please someone, prove me wrong!!
Sundays winner! (& Saturday's)
Having read the Motorsport News
article, Derek Pearce apparently blames the wrong set-up for his lack of pace,
perhaps Stewert won't find round 3 at Brands such a breeze?
|
POSS
|
NAME
|
CLASS |
SNETTERTON 2nd
|
PICTURE / LINK
|
CAR No.
|
CC
|
START
|
|
|
|
1
|
Stewert Lyddall
|
G
|
Click on Pic for more details>>>>>>
|
|
23
|
5.3L
|
1
|
|
2
|
Cliff Ryan
|
G
|
. |
|
44
|
6L
|
4
|
|
3
|
Derek Pearce
|
G
|
. |
|
58
|
6L
|
3
|
|
4
|
|
E
|
...
|
|
9
|
4L
|
2
|
|
5
|
Paul Merrett
|
E
|
.
|
|
73
|
4L
|
9
|
|
6
|
Lawrence Ball
|
E
|
..
|
|
63
|
4L
|
5
|
|
7
|
Lawrence Coppock
|
D
|
.
|
|
27
|
4L
|
8
|
|
8
|
Gary Hastings
|
D
|
.
|
|
2
|
4L
|
6
|
|
9
|
Matt Skelton
|
D
|
An.
|
|
25
|
3.6L
|
10
|
|
10
|
Andrew Harrison
|
D
|
.
|
|
5
|
4L
|
7
|
|
11
|
Gail Hill
|
G
|
Click on pic for more details >>>>>
|
|
52
|
5.3L
|
20?
|
|
12
|
Jim Quirke
|
D
|
.
|
|
28
|
4L
|
11
|
|
13
|
Graeme Reynolds
|
E
|
.
|
|
48
|
4.0L
|
13
|
|
14
|
Mike Sharman
|
F
|
.
|
|
20
|
5.3L
|
12
|
|
15
|
Roger Webster
|
D
|
Click
on Pic>>>>
|
|
42
|
4L
|
14
|
|
16
|
Ian Drage
|
D
|
.
|
|
31
|
3.6L
|
15
|
|
.17
|
Alex Harrison
|
D
|
. |
|
..74 |
. |
21?
|
|
18
|
David Ball
|
G
|
.
|
.
|
4
|
4.0L
|
23?
|
|
19
|
Philip Comer
|
D
|
.Click on Pic
for more info>>>>
|
|
71
|
3.6L
|
16
|
|
20
|
Robert MacVicar
|
D
|
.
|
|
66
|
4L
|
?
|
|
21
|
Bob Beecham
|
D
|
.
|
|
34
|
4L
|
17
|
|
22
|
Paul Reynolds
|
F
|
.
|
|
47
|
5.3L
|
18
|
|
DNS
|
Mike Jobson
|
F
|
.
|
|
12
|
5.3L
|
19
|
|
DNS
|
Mark Russell
|
G
|
.
|
|
7
|
5.8L
|
22?
|
PRE-RACE PREVIEW
Class D numbers are down by 5
for the first race of the season compared with Snetterton 2007. A couple have
migrated however into other Classes i.e the Ball brothers, plus there may
be some late entries. F is down by one, G is the same, & E is up by two.
Total 23 2008, 27 in 2007. There are two newcomers to class D, Andrew Harrison's
younger brother Alex and Ian Drage, who was seen testing at Brands Hatch recently.
JAGRACING
predicts a closer than ever battle at the front end. Stewart Lyddall &
Chris Palmer will be giving Derek Pearce a very hard time. Gail Hill is a
bit of an unknown as we were led to beleive that her car would not be competetive
due to keeping many of the heavy bits i.e. glass, but who knows? In theory
Mark Russell should also be right up there after a year of sorting the car
& learning the tracks. Paul Merrett may also trouble the front runners
after a few good drives last season.
Class D drivers will be releived
to see that John Lock is not on the list. JAGRACING
predicts that Matt Skelton, and Andrew Harrison will be the ones to beat this
season. Don't discount Lawrence Coppock & Gary Hastings though!
Mike Sharman will be the Class
F front runner, but Paul Reynolds has just shoehorned a 6 litre lump in the
engine bay!
Now all they have to do is prove
me totally wrong, please!!!!!
