Donington National Report 2017, Reprise IT TTC Rounds 1&2
Monoposto have been given a club stand at the Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show at the NEC in Birmingham on 9-11 November 2018.
Visit it us on Stand 8-350 in Hall 8.
The Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show, with Discovery, already the UK’s biggest indoor classic vehicle exhibition, is now even bigger for 2018! Adding an extra hall, the show is inviting even more clubs to display at the event to create the World’s biggest gathering of classic motoring clubs.
Held at Birmingham’s NEC from Friday 9 to Sunday 11 November, around 300 classic car and classic motorbike clubs will showcase vehicles owned by members, interpreting this year’s show theme of ‘Built to Last.’
We will have a display of cars on the stand and information about the club. Hopefully we will see some existing members there and hopefully get some more people interested in racing with us next year and beyond!
For more information about the show, please visit the show website: www.necclassicmotorshow.com
Monoposto members can get discounted tickets for the event, if you would like the link to buy discounted tickets, please email rachel@monoposto.co.uk
Ticket prices are: Adult £24.50 (£30 on-the-door) and Family, 2 adults and up to 3 children, £68 (£80 on-the-door)
The first two rounds of the Reprise IT Tiedeman Trophy Championship took place on 1st October with qualifying and two races held over the one day with all eight cars on one grid. All drivers score points in class, with an extra point for each car that qualifies in class. This points structure means that the champion of each meeting and the overall champion can come from any class.
Qualifying would set both grids, with the second fastest time setting the grid for the second race. The weather conditions were changing all day and for qualifying there was a debate about tyre choice, with everybody eventually choosing wets as the rain came in just before we were called to the assembly area. Matthew Walters retired after one lap due to an electrical issue; this meant that he would start from the back of the grid for both races. Andrew Barron retired after four laps with a fuel problem and caused a red flag which meant the session finished four minutes early. For the first race Neil Harrison set pole in his F3 Dallara with Andrew Gordon-Colebrooke second in his Moto 1400 Dallara and their places were reversed for the second race. Ewen Sergison qualified third for both races in his 1800 class Swift. Further down the grid, Eddie Guest out qualified Geoff Fern in the 1600 class and started ninth and eighth overall in the two races. Will Cox qualified well on his first race weekend, sitting eighteenth out of twenty six for the first race and twenty second for the second race.
The circuit dried up for the first race of the day, with most drivers choosing to use slicks. Only four were still on wets in the assembly area. James Drew-Williams broke a drive shaft on the green flag lap which saw him retire from the race. Chris Vosper pulled into the pits on the green flag lap with a vibration, fearing he had a loose front wing. After a quick check from his mechanic he felt more at ease and started the race from the pit lane. The start of the race was clean with everybody getting away well. Frazer Corbyn had a good start in his Moto 1000 Jedi, getting from sixth on the grid up to third.
Robin Dawe found his way up to fourth and Dean Warren in the Moto 1000 class made his way up from eleventh on the grid to take fifth overall and second in class on the first lap. Ewen Sergison, although now in sixth overall after losing places to Frazer, Robin and Frazer, was still leading the 1800 class. His teammate, Matthew Walters, traveled from the back of the grid up to seventeenth and third in class behind Phil Davis on the first lap. Matt got past Phil Davis on the subsequent lap and continued to climb places on the grid but couldn’t get up far enough to challenge Ewen so settled for second in class and twelfth overall in the end.
On the second lap of the race, Neil Harrison dropped from first down to fourth, having been overtaken by Andrew Gordon-Colebrooke, Frazer Corbyn and Robin Dawe. Andrew then disappeared into the distance to win the race by 21.5 seconds. A battle ensued between Neil, Frazer and Robin with the trio swapping places a number of times during the race. Frazer unfortunately retired from third place a couple of laps from the end. Neil came in second and Robin finished third. Dean Warren finished fourth overall and inherited the win of the Moto 1000 class after Frazer retired, however Frazer got the fastest lap in class. A close fight at the back of the grid between Dave Wheal, Ben McGhee and Len Turner saw Len take second in class and Ben third, with Dave unfortunately retiring on the fifth lap of the race.
Matthew Bromage won the Classic class and came sixth in the race overall. His car was running well all weekend, having sorted the problems that he experienced on his first outing with Monoposto two weeks earlier. For the Tiedeman Trophy Terry Clark swapped his trusty 2000 class Van Diemen for his Classic Formula Vauxhall Lotus and after qualifying third in class and twentieth overall, he managed second in class and tenth overall in the first race, earning him one of the AViT Motorsport Driver of the Day awards. He gained positions quickly at the start of the race, got past classmate Andrew Barron by lap 5 and maintained a comfortable gap from him for the remainder of the race.
Eddie Guest took the win of the 1600 class as well as the fastest lap, with Will Cox coming in second in class. Geoff Fern had a good start to the race, getting past Eddie on the first lap, but car troubles during the race saw him drop to the very back of the grid, being lapped by the leaders three times and travelling very slowly. He did, however, manage to finish the race to take the all important championship points for third place in class. In the 2000 class, Mark Smith took the win and fastest lap, with James Gordon-Colebrooke struggling further down the grid after opting to use wet tyres for the race.
The second race saw damp conditions on track with all the drivers on slicks, this caught some out as a few spun on the green flag lap and Chris Vosper went off and couldn’t get going again. The rest of the grid was given a second green flag lap as he was cleared off the circuit. On the first lap of the race, Neil Harrison got past Andrew Gordon-Colebrooke for the lead and Robin Dawe got past Ewen Sergison for third. Neil stayed in the lead for the whole of the race, whilst Robin and Andrew battled for second. Unfortunately, Andrew had a trip into the gravel at Old Hairpin on lap 5 which saw him retire from the race and left Robin free to claim second overall. Martin Wright took the win of the Moto 1400 class after Andrew’s retirement.
After starting in third, Ewen Sergison crossed the line in sixth at the end of the first lap, but a throttle cable break saw him pull onto the grass and retire before the first corner of the second lap. Matthew Bromage got up from tenth place to fourth on the first lap and was again running well until he went off at Craner Curves on lap three and became beached on the gravel. Terry Clark stormed through the pack, having started twenty first on the grid, to take a win in the Classic class and fourth place overall, with Andrew Barron behind him fifth overall and second in class.Chris Kite enjoyed a good race in the invitation class; having started eighteenth on the grid, he came sixth overall in the second race.
James Gordon-Colebrooke enjoyed his racing much more the second time around, taking the win of the 2000 class, fastest lap and finishing seventh overall. He was the recipient of the Driver of the Day cap for the second race. In the 1800 class, Matt Walters drove from the back of the grid to eighth overall and took the win in class ahead of Phil Davis in second. Further down the grid, Steven Griffin took third in class and Jonathan Baggott came fourth in class, having solved his car troubles that saw him retire in the first race. Dean Warren won the Moto 1000 race and was third overall after climbing up from twelfth on the grid. Dave Wheal, who was competing for the first time that weekend, was running well but a trip to the gravel on lap six saw him retire from second in class. Ben McGhee ended up taking second in class, ahead of Len Turner in third.
Geoff Fern had another bad race in the 1600 class; he couldn’t get past Eddie Guest for the lead of the class, although he wasn’t far behind. But then on the fifth lap he lost a wheel and was out of the race. Will Cox also had bad fortune in this race, when the live feed to the high pressure fuel pump came off on lap five and he also had to retire. Eddie took another class win and fastest lap, which saw him take second place overall for the day. He was tied on points with Matt Walters, but Matt had to settle for third overall having a first place and a second place versus Eddie’s two wins. Dean Warren was awarded Champion of Donington and sits at the top of the points table as we head to Castle Combe for rounds 3 and 4 of the championship on 14th October.
