SNETTERTON 21st & 22nd April 2007

TOYO TYRES XJS CHAMPIONSHIP (formerly CLASSIC SPARES)

RESULTS

32 entries for the first XJS race, although only 28 made it to Snetterton! A good weekend was had by most, but there were a few disappointment's, but that's Motorsport! As usual there was plenty of action with 28 big Cats all trying to get round the first few corners 4 abreast!

6 of the 28 were new drivers to the XJS Championship.

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Two of the new drivers were Richard Crossley No.10 & James Quirke No.28

GETTING THERE

As usual the car was put into hibernation after the October track day, and little was done to it until a week before the race. Just to add to the stress the waterpump decided to spring a leak having sat there as good as gold for several months!

The intention had been to do the February track day to try out the new tyres, rebuilt shocks etc. Unfortunately work commitments and many other things conspired against me and I not only missed the February track day but also the March one! So it was off to Snetterton with the car too high at the back, shocks set halfway tyre pressures set to a nominal 30PSI and fingers firmly crossed!

Due to an evening class I had just started on Friday night it was impossible to set off until 3 o'clock Saturday morning.

SCRUTINEERING

By the time the car was unloaded from the trailer it was time to sign on, but I also needed to obtain permission for the onboard camera. No one ever hurry's themselves, and I had to wait patiently while the guy strolled around chatting answering phones and trying to get the photocopier to work! Rush over to sign on, fortunately they allowed me to jump the queue and I rushed over to the car and headed off for the scrutineering bay. With less than 30 minutes to go before practice, I was somewhat concerned at the lack of activity! Not only wasn't the queue diminishing much, but one bay was only looking at Porche's, the session after ours. Eventually it occurred to someone that it would be a great idea to concentrate on the XJS's!

My car, and several others did not go through smoothly, and no time to put the things right. Having been racing for five seasons with the same car, I felt reasonably confident that it would sail through. It was decided however that the angle of my seatbelt was incorrect. After much deliberation the scrutineer decided that I could go out and practice but would have to re site the anchors for the race. A few other drivers had problems with seized Fire and cut out pulls.

PRACTICE/QUALIFYING

On my return to the camper, Bernie (the Wife) told me I should relax for a while and have some Tea and toast etc. I could see the XJS's already filling the assembly area, so I had to put the relaxing bit on hold for a while!

Within a few minutes we were all out on the track. Even though I had not been aware of any rain the night before, there clearly had as there was a fir amount of water on the track especially at "Riches".

I took it fairly easy for the first few laps, as I had no idea how the car was going to handle, and Ray Ingman had warned me that the 40 profile tyres have a tendency to break away with less warning than 50's etc.

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Pic1 No.18 on track for the first time in 2007. Pic2 Cliff Ryan back in his old car with a few of the salvaged parts from the wrecked white car whilst testing at Mallory in February.

It was fairly busy for us all out there, with 28 large cars, and many that had never raced there or anywhere before. It was fairly incident free, with a few spinners and near misses, but nothing too serious. Myself and Roger Webster encountered a spinning Mike Sharman towards the end of the session on the exit of Coram. (Apologies for initially crediting Gordan Bobic with this spin)!

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Sorry about the quality. Mike Sharman goes for a spin in Gordan Bobic's old car. Just to avoid any future confusion with correct identification they are about to paint both cars black!

I, like many others found it difficult to find a clear bit of track to put a good time down. Considering the traffic and lack of setup, I was quite pleased to have qualified 11th.

RACE 1

Having satisfied the Scrutineer with my re-sited seat belt, it was very soon time for the first race. Unfortunately Andrew Harrison was already on his way home with a knackered engine! No oil pressure and loads of smoke!

Positioned on the grid just behind Simon Seath and David Ball, we waited for the lights to go out. The 3 of us all got off to a similar start, and then the chalk started rising as we negotiated Riches, it was somewhat difficult to see what was going on until we reached Sears. David Ball had the advantage on Revett straight passing Simon.

Simon Seath & David Ball were inseperable throughout the weekend!

Loz Ball, who must have had a good start, passed me before the Esses & then towards the end of the first lap Simon Seath spun at Russell alowing me past.

Things began to settle until lap 3 when Loz did a 360 on the exit of Coram. This may have been due to him spotting a spinning Derek Pearce just before Russell.

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Pic1&2. John Lock is the one going in the right direction, Derek had a spin in both races which helped the other front runners gain an early lead in the Championship! Thanks to Mark Stabler for the pics!

The remainder of the race was fairly uneventful for me, until I realised that Simon Seath was beginning to catch up with me with only a few laps to go. Hard as I tried I could not maintain the gap, and with backmarkers coming into play Simon had the opertunity to out brake me into the Esses and he was back in front! We ventually crossed the finish line about 200ths of a second apart!

Elsewhere Steve Davis romped home nearly 7 seconds ahead of Gail Hill, with Stewart Lydall another another 3 seconds down the road. A recovering Derek Pearce finally crossed the line in 4th.

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Pic1 John Lock, Gary Hastings and Lawrence Coppock keeping firmly in touch with Derek Pearce Pic2 Gail manages to keep Stewert Lyddall at bay. Pictures kindly supplied by Mathew Jefferey.

In Class D John Lock finished 7 seconds ahead of Gary Hastings, and is clearly going to be hard to beat. John is also likely to be giving the modified drivers a good run for their money, and finished in front of 4 of them..

In Class E Paul Merrett did well in his first race despite a poorly engine, and tyre wear problems.

Class F has a new driver this season (Mike Sharman) and looks to be a strong contender for the title judging by his first efforts, finnishing a very respectable 15th.

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Pic1 Fine first drive by Mike Sharman in Class F. Simon Seath and Dave Robbie approach back markers Bob Beecham & Ralph Hosier.

Full report and more pictures will appear in the next couple of days, including Powered by Jaguar & Saloons.

RACE 1 SATURDAY 21st APRIL 2007

POSS	NAME	CLASS	SNETTERTON	PICTURE / LINK	CAR No.	CC	QUAL
CLASS D.
.1	Steve Davis	G	After a break from the XJS Championship, Steve is back, and still winning!		15	6L	1
.2	Gail Hill	G	Only 2nd time out in Class G and a very good result! Click on picture for more details >>>>		52	5.3L	4
3	Stewert Lyddall	G	Good start to the season for Stewert! Click on Pic for more details>>>>>>		23	5.3L	3
4	Derek Pearce	G	Dissapointing result for Derek following a spin on Bruce's coolant!		58	6L	2
5	John Lock	D	As predicted John has come out tops in Class D		67	44L	5
6	Gary Hastings	D	A good start to the 2007 season!		2	4L	6
7	Lawrence Coppock	D	Good pace as usual		27	4L	8
8	Cliff Ryan	G	Slightly off the pace of the front runners in G but the car was hastilly prepared.		44	6L	7
9	David Ball	D	Good start in the new car.		4	4.0L	10
10	Simon Seath	D	An early spin made Simon work hard for 10th		17	3.6L	9
11	Dave Robbie	D	Failed to keep Simon Seath behind, again! "Click on pic for more info>>>>>		18	3.6L	11
12	Jim Quirke	D	Good first outing in the new car, and first time in a Jag for a while.		28	4L	18
13	Paul Merrett	E	Not a bad result considering a somewhat poorly engine!		73	4L	12
14	Lawrence Ball	D	..		63	4L	15
.15	Mike Sharman	F	Mike had some good pace in his first race in Class F		20	5.3L	19
16	Graeme Reynolds	E	First time out in Class E		48	4.0L	20
17	Philip Comer	D	Lost a few places.Click on Pic for more info>>>>		71	3.6L	14
18	Roger Webster	D	Good Qualifying result for Rogers first race! Click on Pic>>>>		42	4L	13
19	Phil Taylor	D	.		14	4L	21
20	Simon Isherwood	D	..		19	3.6L.	22
21	Paul Reynolds	F	.		47	5.3L	23
22	Ralph Hosier	F	Click on Pic for more info>>>>		77	5.3L	25
.23	Richard Crossley	D	On his first ever race, Richard was pleased to have made up a few places!		10	3.6L	28
24	Mark Russell	G	A few teething problems with the new car.		7	5.8L	27
.25	Bob Beecham	D	Bob was out in Tracey Barkers old car and was soon suffering from a rapidly failing engine!.		34	4L	24
26	Gordan Bobic	F	Gordan's first outing of 2007 was something of a mobile chicane!		24	5.3L	26
DNF	Bruce Cologne-Brookes	D	A rapid loss of coolant brought an early end to Bruce's race!...		41	3.6L	17
DNS	Andrew Harrison	D	Andrew did very well in qualifying , but engine failure wrecked his chances of starting his first race!		5	4L	16

RACE 2 SUNDAY 22nd APRIL 2007

Having investigated the nasty noises from the diff, I topped up the oil and lowered the rear springs a tad. I also adjusted tyre pressures to try and reduce the oversteer.

THE RACE

The start on Sunday was not all I had hoped for, and by the time I got to Riches Jim Quirke had appeared on the outside. I reached Sears before Jim, and had a good tidy exit, however Simon Seath was in front and slowing my progress, I could not get past as Jim was now to the left of me and I was boxed in! Once he was past I moved to the left when Loz Ball with a clear run shot past on the left of me, and managed to take Simon and Jim at the Esses. I also had a clear opening and made it past Simon and was side by side with Jim when he squeezed me onto the grass by the Marshals post at the Esses. It would appear by the look of my front O/S wing that we must have briefly touched.

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Pic1 Lawrence already struggling before his big engine failure on Lap1. Pic2 Mike Sharman and Paul Merrett Lap 5 exiting the Esses.

Philip Comer puts Roger Webster under pressure on Lap1!

I was now firmly back behind Jim, and to make matters worse Mike Sharman shot past me on the Senna straight on lap 2. I managed to keep the inside line and get back past at Sears, but once again he out run me down the Revett straight! Just at the Esses Derek Pearce was desperately trying to get his cat pointing back in the right direction following a spin.

Derek Pearce making his way back up the grid

Derek had made up two places on lap1 but by lap 2 was down in 17th! Lawrence Ball's dream start also nearly came to an early end when he did a bit of off roading just before the Bomb Hole!

Lap 3 was quite uneventful, and I just could not get past Mike Sharman. Lap 4 was where Jim Quirke's race finished.

David Ball ahead of Simon Seath as Jim Quirke spins into the Armco. I am pleased to say that Jim is OK! The damage to the car looks a bit expensive however!

It would appear that he just braked to late at the end of Revett and colided with the Armco to the right of the Esses. This is pretty much where Derek Pearce had spun, and there were the yellow and red flags out indicating some spilt fluids etc.

By the time I reached Coram I had at last got back past Mike, unfortunately by now Simon, Loz & David were mere dots in the distance! The remainder of the race for me was a somewhat non eventful affair!

Elsewhere Stewert Lydall benefitted from Derek Pearce's spin, and made it past Gail to run in 2nd until lap 5 when Gail took the second spot back. Lawrence Coppock had a short race when his engine expired big time on lap 2 causing a serious smoke screen on the exit of Coram. Bruce Cologne-Brooke's race did not last much longer, but did manage to make up 10 places in the first 2 laps. Hopefuly a new head gasket will provide a cure!

Robert McVicar did well starting in 25th and finishing 15th, whereas Gordan Bobic had a bad weekend with reiability.

Drivers to watch, are Mike Sharman, and James Quirke. Hopefully the No.28 car will have been rebuilt for Brands.

John Lock and Gary Hastings give Cliff Ryan a tough time coming up to the Bomb Hole.

John Lock looks unbeatable in Class D this year, and Steve Davis is going to be hard to beat in Class G, although Gail, Stewert, and Cliff are all quite capable of winnining a race or two, and just because Derek has had a bad weekend doesent mean he's finished his winning streak! Mark Russell is an unknown quantity at the moment as the car was overfuelling, and not showing anything like its full potential!

Brands Hatch will be very interesting!

POSS	NAME	CLASS	SNETTERTON	PICTURE / LINK	CAR No.	CC	START
CLASS D.
.1	Steve Davis	G	& another Win!		15	6L	1
.2	Gail Hill	G	Another good result in the new Class for Gail. Click on picture for more details >>>>		52	5.3L	2
3	Stewert Lyddall	G	Click on Pic for more details>>>>>>		23	5.3L	3
4	John Lock	D	Looks like John will be a regular at the front end in 2007		67	4L	5
5	Cliff Ryan	G	.		44	6L	8
6	Derek Pearce	G	Not the start to the season that Derek would have liked, but he is likely to be back at the top next meeting!		58	6L	4
7	Gary Hastings	D	Another good result.		2	4L	6
8	David Ball	D	.		4	4.0L	9
9	Simon Seath	D	..		17	3.6L	10
10	Lawrence Ball	D	.		63	4L	14
11	Dave Robbie	D	Click on pic for more info>>>>>		18	3.6L	11
12	Paul Merrett	E	..		73	4L	13
13	Graeme Reynolds	E	.		48	4.0L	16
14	Roger Webster	D	Click on Pic>>>>		42	4L	18
15	Robert Mac Vicar	D	.		66	4L	?
16	Philip Comer	D	.Click on Pic for more info>>>>		71	3.6L	17
17	Simon Isherwood	D	..		19	3.6L.	20
18	Phil Taylor	D	.		14	4L	19
19	Paul Reynolds	F	.		47	5.3L	21
20	Ralph Hosier	F	Click on Pic for more info>>>>		77	5.3L	22
.21	Mike Sharman	F	.		20	5.3L	15
.22	Richard Crossley	D	.		10	3.6L	23
23	Mark Russell	G	.		7	5.8L	24
DNF	Jim Quirke	D	Jim unfortunately had a nasty shunt with the Armco at the end of Revett Straight. Jim is OK and hopefully the car will be fixed soon.		28	4L	12
DNF	Lawrence Coppock	D	Engine failure stopped play!		27	4L	7
DNF	Gordan Bobic	F	Not a good weekend for gordan!		24	5.3L	26
DNF	Bruce Cologne-Brookes	D	.Another two laps and the hose let go again. Off with the cylinder head!!!..		41	3.6L	DNF
.DNS	Bob Beecham	D	Engine failure forced an early trip home on Saturday!.		34	4L	24
DNS	Andrew Harrison	D	Andrew went home on Saturday following an engine failure!		5	4L	DNS

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Pic1 Steve Davis Winner of Saturday & Sundays race, picture thanks to Mathew Jeffery. Pic2 Gail Hill 2nd in both races, picture thanks to Mark Stabler.

I will be adding another page with more pictures from the XJS races.