Round 3 of the 2008 Elise Trophy held at Brands Hatch 2nd-4th May 2008.
Well this was the big one, this round had been oversubscribed for months and the drivers were really looking forward to racing on the historic GP circuit at Brands Hatch, supporting A1GP at the second biggest race meeting in the UK, after F1. Early forecasts indicated a showery weekend with some thunderstorms, although in the end the weather was great (mostly sunny and warm) over the whole weekend. With a full grid of 44 cars (plus up to 8 reserves who would take part in qualifying) this really was set to be a great weekend’s racing. A number of the drivers needed to finish both races to get the vital 6 signatures that would allow them to upgrade to a National ‘A’ license and race at Spa in June, so it was an important weekend in a few respects.
Friday 2nd – Qualifying
The GP circuit at Brands Hatch is pretty big but 40+ cars is a lot of cars in a qualifying session and it was a challenge to find clear laps. Michael Edwards was the front runner in class A, with a time of 1:46.057 putting him 12th overall, with Paul Quinn close on his heels just 0.1s behind. James Knight put in a good qualifying performance to be 3rd in class, followed by Martin Roberts, Hans Baumhardt and BJ Chong. Stuart Mason failed to qualify after his cut-out switch killed his engine on lap 1 of qualifying
In class B Chris Randall (who had dropped down to class B from his all-conquering class C car for this weekend) was once again the pace-setter, taking overall pole position with a time of 1:39.812. Gavin Kirby, David Skeggs and Steve Williams qualified 3rd, 4th and 5th overall with just 0.3s separating them. Ben Pitch qualified well in 5th in class, followed by Andrew Walsh (also driving a class B car for the weekend). Rob Beves suffered driveshaft issues and qualified 15th.
In class C Andrew Kell was on the front row of the grid with a time of 1:41.664, with Chris Headlam in 7th and Doug Setters getting his best ever qualifying result in 11th. Unfortunately Setters had to retire after only 4 laps during qualifying and played no further part in the weekend’s racing due to a mechanical failure.
Sean Bicknell and Mark Peasey failed to get out during the Elise Trophy session due to mechanical gremlins, but were able to qualify in another session, thanks to Heritage and would start from the back of the grid.
For a number of drivers, including Graham Walsh, qualifying was the first time they’d driven the GP circuit. The imprtance of circuit knowledge is demonstrated by Graham going 3secs a lap quicker in race 1, then 2secs quicker again in race 2. A few more races over the weekend and who knows where he’d have ended up!
Saturday 3rd – Race 1
| Class A | Class B | Class C | Overall |
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Randall made a clean get away from pole position and took a lights-to-flag class B and overall victory. In an incident filled race with two safety car periods there were close battles throughout the field.
In class A Edwards led throughout to take the class win and 11th overall. Baumhardt and Paul Harding had a good battle to finish 2nd and 3rd (13th and 14th overall). Chong and Knight scapped right up to the end, crossing the line in 4th and 5th in class (15th and 16th overall) with just 0.005s separating them!
In class B Randall took a comfortable victory, followed home by Skeggs in 2nd (3rd overall), Kirby 3rd, Walsh 4th, Pitch 5th and Gooday 6th, with just 3s covering the 5 drivers across the line. Willaims retired on lap 1 with mechanical problems. Martin Johnson retired on lap 2 when he spun his 2-Eleven at Hawthorn, collecting Quinn. Chris Pearson spun out of contention on lap 7.
In class C Kell had a relatively comfortable (apart from a shocking start which saw Skeggs get ahead briefly) run to take the class win with 2nd overall, although he was kept honest throughout by Kirby in his 2-Eleven. Headlam spun out of contention at Druids on lap 1. Bicknell battled his way through the field from 43rd on the grid to take 2nd in class with 9th overall.
As an extra bonus for the race 1 class winners ex-Formula 1 World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi took time out from his role as A1 Team Brazil seatholder to present the trophies. Fittipaldi won the Formula 1 world championship in a Lotus 72 at the age of 25 – the youngest in Formula 1 history at the time. He won his 2nd championship with McLaren in 1974.
Race summary – 44 starters, 33 finished.
Sunday 4th – Race 2
| Class A | Class B | Class C | Overall |
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Randall made it a clean sweep in race 2 with another faultless drive from pole position to take the class B and overall victory. Kirby made a great move into Westfield on lap 1 to get past Kell into 2nd place, only to throw it all away when he put his 2-Eleven in the gravel at Paddock on lap 2. The front of the field was all about class B, with Skeggs driving a great race to take 2nd overall and in class. Williams and Walsh squabbled throughout the race over 3rd in class, Williams finally crossing the line just 0.2s ahead. Pitch rounded off a good weekend with 5th overall and 4th in class B. Harvey got his own back on Gooday in race 2, crossing the line 0.4s ahead to take 6th in class. Beves drove a good race to record his first top 10 finish with 9th overall and 8th in class B.
In class A Quinn was the pace-setter, taking the class victory with a fairly comfortable 12th overall. Harding and Baumhardt drove strong races to take 2nd and 3rd in class, with Knight, Broad and Kirkbride rounding off the top 6 in class A.
After a good battle with Skeggs for most of the race, Kell was in a strong 2nd overall and 1st in class C when his engine let go with less than 2 laps to go. Bicknell also retired on lap 9 with a misfire. Headlam benefitted and took the class C victory with 6th overall. Pearson had mysteriously moved from class B to class C overnight and took 2nd in class C with 11th overall (maybe not so mysterious after all!).
Race summary – 41 starters, 38 finished.
Conclusion
A great weekend’s racing on the GP circuit at Brands Hatch. 44 starters in race 1 is the biggest grid of Elises yet and supporting a prestigious event like A1GP was a real bonus. Congratulations to class winners Michael Edwards, Paul Quinn, Chris Randall (is the man unstoppable?!), Andrew Kell and Chris Headlam.
Look out for television coverage of Elise Trophy races on Motors TV. For further details of our television coverage and to see a short promo, please check out the Race Television web site.
For round 4 we’re off to Spa Francorchamps on the 1st June, probably the best circuit in the world, where we hope to have over 45 cars on the grid!
