Round 1 of the 2008 Elise Trophy held at Brands Hatch 23rd-24th March 2008.
For the opening round in our second season we were looking forward to returning to Brands Hatch to race at MSVR’s Lotus Celebration and supporting the Easter Monday Truck Superprix. With over 60 entries we were going to start 2008 with our biggest entry list yet, allowing us to run 2 separate grids, one for the class A (production) cars and one for the class B (modified) and C (super modified) cars. One of the main talking points at last year’s Lotus Celebration at Brands was the temperature, this year it looked like we were going to get the same again, but with the added bonus of snow! Come Sunday morning, the forecasters were proved unpredictably accurate, as temperatures plummeted and the snow started to fall. It wasn’t just the 17 new drivers who looked understandably nervous.
Sunday 23rd – Qualifying
Qualifying in the snow was a new experience for most of us, making conditions very slippery indeed and times were typically 8-9 seconds off those in the dry. In the class A qualifying session BJ Chong took pole with a time of 1:03.780, closely followed by Paul Quinn and newcomer Marcus Jewell. In the class B/C session ex Lotus F1 driver Martin Donnelly took overall pole in his class B 2-Eleven with a 1:00.239. Steve Williams and Gavin Kirby took the next 2 class B slots with 4th and 6th on the grid respectively. Andrew Walsh and Chris Randall looked set to continue their class C battle from last year, with 2nd and 3rd on the grid. New driver Guy Wolpe put his class B car an excellent 7th on the grid.
Race 1 Class A
| Class A | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Paul Quinn | 2. Martin Roberts | 3. Hans Baumhardt | 4. BJ Chong | 5. Stuart Kirkbride | 6. Gary Broad |
Quinn took the class A lead from pole man Chong on the run to Paddock Hill, taking Paul Harding with him from 4th on the grid, only for Harding’s car to suffer an electrical failure a lap later. This left Quinn with a handy lead over Chong, followed by the pack headed by Martin Roberts. However, by the midway point Chong had been reeled in by the chasing pack, with Roberts making a successful lunge into Druids. Whilst Roberts set about making inroads into Quinn’s lead, Chong was left to defend from an attacking Hans Baumhardt, who got past two laps later. Also pulling clear, Baumhardt caught Roberts, their subsequent battle for second giving Quinn a chance to peg the gap. By the flag he was 2 seconds clear to take an excellent victory, with Roberts (who recorded the fastest class A lap of the day with a 55.430) and Baumhardt 2nd and 3rd respectively. Other notable performances included Paul Pattison, who finished 8th from 32nd on the grid (after some problems in qualifying), crossing the line just 0.2s behind Tom Chatterway. New drivers Jewell, Ian Berry and Andy Dolan had a great first race, finishing 9th, 10th and 11th (in fact Dolan had never driven Brands Hatch before and qualifying was the first time he drove his car!). Other newcomers Joanna Hoddinott and Damian Murray battled throughout the race, finishing 23rd and 24th and crossing the line just 0.6s apart.
Race summary – 31 starters, 27 finished.
Race 1 Class B/C
| Class B | Class C | Overall |
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
By the time the class B/C cars lined up on Sunday the skies had cleared and the sun even made a brief appearance. More importantly the track was now dry and Class C cars were soon able to stretch their legs as Walsh took an early lead. This was not to last as his front splitter collapsed and he retired on lap 3. Randall took the lead and pulled out a useful gap to second placed Donnelly. However, the focus of attention was on the battle for third as Class B debutant Gavin Kirby, in another 2-Eleven, was being hounded by last year’s Class B standard-bearer Williams. Halfway through the race Williams made a daring manoeuvre into Druids, however Kirby stuck it out and when Williams ran wide at Graham Hill, the pressure was off. Only for a couple of laps though, as Williams came back with a similar move but this time on the outside. Again the two sat side by side through the corner, however this time Williams spun on the exit of the hairpin and was collected by the barrier, ending his race.
Randall took overall and class C victory, followed home in class C by Andrew Kell and Nick Kaye in 6th and 8th overall. Donnelly took class B honours, with Kirby 2nd (3rd overall) and Chris Pearson 3rd (4th overall). Four class B cars in the top 5 (with Anthony Clark in 5th) was an excellent result for the lower powered cars.
Race summary – 30 starters, 24 finished.
Monday 24th Race 2 Class A
| Class A | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Paul Quinn | 2. Paul Harding | 3. BJ Chong | 4. Hans Baumhardt | 5. Stuart Kirkbride | 6. Ian Berry |
A start line incident at the back of the grid involved 3 or 4 cars and put Pattison out of the race. Quinn again got the jump at the lights, with Harding grabbing second again but this was not to last as a hard charging Steve Wentzell soon claimed second place as his own. Chasing down Quinn, his challenge lasted until a moment at Paddock Hill sent him into the barrier and out of the race on lap 14. Quinn held on to take his 2nd victory of the day, followed home by Harding and Chong, his first podium and reward for taking pole position in difficult conditions. New driver Ian Berry finished an excellent 6th.
Race summary – 30 starters, 26 finished.
Race 2 Class B/C
| Class B | Class C | Overall |
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
In the second class B/C race Donnelly got off the line quicker than Walsh. Kirby ran wide at Graham Hill, followed by Nick Kaye, who went even wider losing control as he came back onto the circuit hitting Williams, both then hitting the barrier and out of the race. Whilst Walsh soon passed Donnelly’s class B for the lead, Randall wasn’t far behind and on lap 9 he got past and into the lead. They both pulled clear of Donnelly in 3rd. Behind the top 3 a good battle developed between Kirby, Kell, Pearson and Sean Bicknell. Kell got to within 0.2s of Kirby and looked keen to get past, but he was soon getting some close attention from Bicknell, who overcooked it into paddock on lap 8 and put his class C car into the gravel. Kirby’s respite continued as Kell then came under pressure from Pearson. Randall held on to take class C and overall victory, with Walsh and Kell 2nd and 3rd in class C. Donnelly once again won class B, with Kirby and Pearson 2nd and 3rd.
Race summary – 26 starters, 22 finished.
Conclusion
Despite the arctic conditions, the season opener was a great success, with over 60 drivers taking part. Congratulations to Paul Quinn, Martin Donnelly and Chris Randall, who took 2 class victories apiece. With all drivers braving conditions that ranged from blizzards to low sunshine, there were great drives throughout the field in all four races.
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 2 we’re off to Donington Park on 12th-13th April, let’s hope for some decent Spring weather!
