Oulton Park 19 May 2007
Round 3 of the Elise Trophy held at Oulton Park on May 19th 2007.
For the 3rd round of the 2007 Elise Trophy series, we headed to Oulton Park in Cheshire, one of the UK's most challenging and rewarding circuits. Quite a few drivers hadn't driven the circuit before and they were in for a real treat, with some of the best racing so far!
The Elise Trophy drivers' devotion the series was demonstrated by Paul Harding, an avid Chelsea, who had given up FA Cup final tickets to race on Saturday!
| Class A | Class B | Class C | Handicap |
|---|---|---|---|
Qualifying
The International circuit at Oulton Park is pretty long at 2.7miles, so most drivers managed to find some space. Once again Chris Randall was the pace setter, putting his S1 Exige on pole with a time of 1:49.627. Andrew Walsh heroically drove round some major brake problems to take 2nd on the grid, just 0.13s behind Chris. Jeremy Braker retired about halfway through the session with steam coming out of his engine, while Gavin Kirby tripped his inertia switch exiting Knickerbrook and pulled off the circuit up Clay Hill. John Thorne continued to have problems with his VX220T, and qualified last.
As at both Snetterton & Brands Hatch, support from Lotus enthusiasts on the day was amazing, with hundreds of Lotus cars parked up, and the paddock constantly full of people showing interest and giving encouragement.
Race 1 - Class Race
Our first race was the 2nd race after lunch. At lunchtime the heavens opened and there were quite a few anxious faces in the paddock. Fortunately some sun and a stiff breeze meant that the race was dry. It takes a long time to do an out lap and a green flag lap at Oulton, but eventually we were all lined up on the grid, the red lights went out, and we were off!
The front half of the grid got away cleanly, with Randy in the lead. Meanwhile, in the midfield, Braker & Martin Roberts tangled on the exit of Old Hall, and their race was over. Fingers crossed they can get their cars sorted for the next race at Silverstone. Tess Howell in an S2 Exige also got a bit carried away on lap 1 on the exit of Knickerbrook and ended up in the gravel, Tom Chatterway in his red VX220 did well to avoid her spin. Sadly the eagerly anticipated battle between Randall & Walsh didn't materialise, as Walsh retired at the end of lap 1 with brake problems.
Russ Treasure started well and was running a strong 2nd, before retiring on lap 3. Meanwhile Scott Fitzgerald drove a clean race to take victory in class B and 2nd overall.
Behind him a fierce battle developed for 3rd place, between Steve Williams, Simon Scuffham and Andrew Kell. Eventually Williams dropped back with brake problems, and Scuffham made what the commentators called a "schoolboy error", when he outbraked himself at Knickerbrook, allowing Kell through to take 3rd overall (2nd in class C), 0.9s ahead of Scuffham, who finished 3rd in class C. Williams took 2nd in class B.
Behind them another scrap had developed, between Neil McKean, David Skeggs, Nick Kaye and David Harvey. They swapped places throughout the race and Kaye was penalised 4.5secs for gaining an unfair advantage at the Knickerbrook chicane. The 4 of them crossed the line separated by just 2.5s, with McKean taking an excellent 6th overall (3rd in class B).
The battle for class A honours was no less intense. Kirby was 22nd on the grid after his problems in qualifying, he made a flying start and battled for the class A victory all the way to the line with Hans Baumhardt & Michael Edwards. Finally Kirby crossed the line just 0.5s ahead of Baumhardt to complete his hatrick of class A wins, finishing 12th overall. Baumhardt took a fine 2nd in class and Edwards 3rd.
Further down the order yet another intense battle had developed, between Andrew Gordon (in his first ever race), Harding and James Knight, Gordon eventually coming out on top to take 15th overall and an excellent 4th in class.
Race summary - 34 entries (FULL), 27 starters, 21 finished and no red flags.
Race 2 - Handicap Race
The handicappers had once again applied their magic formula to work out (theroretically) how to get all the cars crossing the finishing line at the same time! To achieve this we started from the grid in 6 drops, with 90s between the 1st and 6th groups. The handicap was to be a 10 lap race, with 5 of the slower cars at the back of the grid given a 1 lap credit, so that they only had to complete 9 laps. As the lights went out it was each driver for him or herself! The handicappers had once again done a great job and some cracking chases & battles developed throughout the race.
Paul Golding, Graham Walsh, Tom Chatterway & Tess Howell battled for the lead for about 5 laps before the faster cars started to catch them.
Race 1 winner, Chris Randall, started in the last group and looked keen to take a double victory before retiring on lap 7.
Simon Scuffham found a lot more pace after the class race, and worked his way into the lead by lap 7, holding on to take the overall win.
Nick Kaye, following his victory in the handicap race at Snetterton, seems to be becoming a bit of a handicap specialist as he also found 2s per lap to take 2nd, with Neil McKean also improving his times to take 3rd.
The field really started to close up in the last couple of laps with several cars in close battles right up to the line: - Christian Watkins, David Harvey, Andrew Kell & Scott Fitzgerald crossed the line with only 1s covering them to take 4th, 5th, 6th & 7th respectively.
- Paul Harding, David Skeggs, Michael Edwards, Tess Howell and Graham Walsh were separated by only 2.6s as they crossed the line.
Race summary - 24 starters, 19 finished and no red flags.
Conclusion
Our best day's racing yet, at one of the best circuits in the UKSome great quotes from the marshalls on the day sum it up nicely:
"That last Lotus race was a real thriller, even from the poor viewing point of water-tower. It was fun to be able to put the blue flag down as being unnecesary and just concentrate on what was going on. Shame #88 went missing. Some great racing along the way too, and good grids."
"The Lotus' were spectacular! Thanks again for a great day on t' bank!"
"I agree very good racing some good overtaking good day on post. The lotus race was very good and the last race was entertaining. A very good day."
Look out for television coverage of the Oulton Park races on Motors TV over the next few weeks. For further details of our television coverage and to see a short promo, please check out the Race Television web site.
Our next race meeting is at Silverstone on 16th-17th June 2007. Bring it on!
Race Results in full
Official photos courtesy of TSU Photographic
Chris Randall heads the field in the scratch race
|
Gavin Kirby and Michael Edwards battle it out
|
Marshmallow anyone?
|
Drivers discuss the handicap race grid
|
Exige GT3
|
 |
||
Chris Randall scratch race class C winner
|
Lotus enthusiasts turned up in numbers to support
|
||
David Harvey's engine gets some attention
|
Jeremy Braker's wing gets measured - is that a genuine B&Q wing measuring device?
|
Start - scratch race
|
1st time through Old Hall - scratch race
|
Christian Watkins goes off-road
|
Vauxhall XV220
|
Tony Verrier leads the battle of the VXs
|
Jez Braker takes an early bath in the scratch race
|
Paul Harding wonders whether he should have gone to the cup final after all
|
 |
Simon Scuffham & Steve Williams battle it out in the scratch race
|
|
Andrew Kell & Steve Williams battle in the handicap race
|
Andrew Gordon tangles with Steve Williams in the handicap race
|
Simon Scuffham - handicap race winner
|
|
 |
- Oulton Park 19th May - runners & riders
