Round 2 of the 2009 Elise Trophy held at Brands Hatch GP on 1 – 3 May 2009.
Introduction
The second round for many of the Elise Trophy drivers also coincided with round one of the Lotus Cup Europe. Comparing the fortunes of the participants of both series would be a fascinating prospect. After a successful appearance on the A1GP support bill in 2008, the Elises had been invited back, this time with three mixed-grid races, a first for the series.
Qualifying
Late on Friday afternoon the cars joined the track in glorious spring conditions, Brands specialist Jamie Stanley returned in the modified class and set a scorching time but immediately afterwards spun at Paddock and threatened to neutralise the session. Thankfully he found grip and reversed out, albeit with damaged pride. He maintained his place at the top of the timesheets, running with a car previously campaigned by Nick Kaye.
2nd went to front row regular Chris Randall, some 1.7 seconds back, whilst Duratec-powered stalwart Steve Williams popped in a fine time to bag 3rd place in the dying minutes of the session, at the expense of newly-liveried Ben Pitch. Chris Headlam, Connaire Finn and Sean Bicknell took 7th, 8th and 9th places respectively.
Scott Cruickshank continued his astonishing form by taking 5th spot and top of the Lotus Cup Europe 2-Elevens. The flying Scotsman headed Jonathan Walker by almost a second, with the leading Elise Trophy 2-Eleven of Simon Deacon back in tenth, Mark Gooday 14th and Tom Chatterway 17th.
Jeremy Braker’s turbo powered Rover T-series car was smoking badly partway through the session and pulled out early, meanwhile Peter Trott also suffered engine woes soon after.
Fastest of the European Exige runners was David Seear in 11th, several places ahead of John Rasse in 19th.
In the Production class Marcos Burnett also joined the paddock spin club as he and the others attempted to match the pace of 2008’s star Michael Edwards. He set a strong time, placing him 16th overall and 5 places ahead of nearest challenger, Silverstone form man James Knight, himself putting several cars between his and Hans Baumhardt’s, in 25th place. Three places further back was Paul Harding, then the majority of the Production pack, led by Simon Phillips, Matthew Bartlett, Pete Storey and Tony Verrier.
Race 1 All Classes
Taking place early on a clear but chilly Saturday morning, all eyes were on the grid for the start. Chris Randall made the best of it, taking an early lead with pole sitter Jamie Stanley slotting into second but with Ben Pitch snapping at his heels and Steve Williams in third. However going out into the GP loop, Randall made an error which Stanley and Williams were happy to punish him for.
Scott Cruickshank assumed the lead of the European cars, whilst Michael Edwards took advantage of his qualifying position to hold a handy lead over Paul Harding, who was just ahead of James Knight.
Coming out of Druids for the second time Chris Baker got on the power too early and found himself in the barrier, which brought out the safety car. The field circulated for a lap, after which Stanley led the field followed by Williams, Randall, Connaire Finn, and Pitch. Behind them Cruickshank took a place from Chris Headlam going into Druids. This gave him the confidence to attack Pitch into the GP loop, however he tried too hard and fell back, whilst Pitch, now safe from attack, passed Finn into Druids on the following lap.
At this point Stanley was pulling out a huge lead on Williams, who was battling to keep Randall behind him. Meanwhile Cruickshank was trying a little too hard to make amends for his earlier error, putting him out of the Euro lead. Randall managed to find a way past Williams and at the same time Cruickshank just managed to retake the class lead, despite some hairy moments. In the closing laps Williams found himself under increasing attack from Pitch, using all his experience to stay in front.
In Production, Knight cleared Harding and tried to do something about Edwards’ lead. However, Mick had done enough to keep himself ahead, while Harding was coming under pressure from Hans Baumhardt, who would demote him another place. Shortly afterwards an ambitious lunge from Phillips spun Harding out of the race with a broken wheel after some contact. Once again the winner of the Paul Harding award for “almost doing quite well” went to the man himself!
So Stanley took a fine victory, with Randall some way behind but ahead of Williams and Pitch. Cruickshank maintained his excellent form, beating fellow Europe Cup 2-Eleven runner Jonathan Walker, who finished just in front of Elise Trophy 2-Eleven class winner Simon Deacon. Production fell easily to Mick Edwards, Knight maintaining second from Baumhardt.
Race summary – 44 starters, 41 finished.
| Production | Modified | 2-Eleven | LCE Exige | LCE 2-Eleven | Overall |
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Race 2 All Classes
Overnight rain didn’t spoil events on Sunday, with the cars heading out to a dry track, conditions being cool, breezy but the skies looked threatening. Added to this was the extra demands of the first rolling start of the series.
Stanley wasn’t going to let this faze him, however, and he rocketed off into another lead. This race was clearly going to be all about second place. The main protagonists here were once again Williams and Randall but Cruickshank and Pitch were holding on, if not close enough to challenge. But it wasn’t to be another dream race for Cruickshank, having made adjustments to his car following his race one issues, whatever he’d done hadn’t worked as entering the GP loop early in the race, the car swapped ends and he was so very lucky not to be collected by the chasing pack.
Edwards enjoyed another lead in the Production pack, his closest challenger Harding, without the attention of Knight, who was grounded with Clutch troubles. However as with race one Harding was to fall back, first Phillips taking second, then Bartlett passed him. He was holding off Rob Myers when the two collided, ending Harding’s race.
The European classes were led by Walker, inheriting the lead after Cruickshank’s episode and Seear was the leading Exige. The Elise Trophy 2-Eleven lead was just behind Walker, Gooday following Deacon but never quite able to get stuck in.
Attention in the final laps was focussed on Williams’ attempts to hold back Randall and the veteran campaigner used all his considerable experience and race craft to successfully avoid being overtaken for the second race in succession. So Stanley took a dominant victory from Williams and Randall, with Pitch closely behind, then Finn and Walker, the Euro overall and 2-Eleven victor. Gooday took Elise Trophy 2-Eleven honours and Seear the Lotus Cup Europe Exige top spot. Production was another Edwards win, Phillips and Bartlett following.
With some drivers able to relax whilst enjoying the A1GP sprint race, others prepared their cars ready for the final race two hours later.
Race summary – 40 starters, 37 finished.
| Production | Modified | 2-Eleven | LCE Exige | LCE 2-Eleven | Overall |
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Race 3 All Classes
The clouds had all but disappeared for race three, however conditions remained chilly. With a reversed top ten, Stanley had the opportunity to prove that he could win from further back, however a strong Modified and 2-Eleven entry would also be determined to prove him wrong.
Bicknell got the jump at the start, his Audi Turbo car rather subdued on the twisty Brands Hatch circuit. Behind him, however, three cars contested the entry to the Druids hairpin and the almost inevitable result was Walker’s 2-Eleven spinning as the rest of the field tried to avoid it. Unfortunately not everyone did and with half of the field stationary waiting for a clear way through the debris, the Red Flag came out.
As we waited for the track to be cleared, the stricken cars appeared on the back of trailers. Headlam would not be taking the restart, nor would Randall, his Europa looking very sorry. Also in trouble was Stanley, with a loose diffuser, he entered the pitlane rather than taking his place on the grid and would start dead last. Despite the reduced field, we looked to have an entertaining race.
15 minutes later the grid toured round on the parade lap and Bicknell needed no further invitation to repeat his start and he led the field round on the first lap. Challenging for second place and without Stanley and Randall to battle, Williams looked to be a favourite for the win but it wasn’t to be. Entering Paddock Hill, poised to pass Finn, the Duratec car spun into the gravel and retirement. Thankfully the marshalls were able to recover the car under waved yellows and the race continued.
Production was going the way of Edwards again, with Harding once more leading the challenge and Bartlett heading up a good battle for third with Storey, Phillips and Myers. This scrap ended in tears on the last lap when Phillips and Myers collected each other on the way into Paddock, ending their race in the gravel.
Whilst all this was happening, the real excitement was provided by Stanley. Fighting his way through the field in a dramatic fashion, he showed what could have been by tagging onto the back of the leading cars. Attempting to overtake Finn for fourth place, he ran wide but continued the fight. Nearer the front, Finn, Ben Pitch, and a resurgent Cruickshank heavily disputed their places.
So Sean Bicknell took the flag, a fine victory to add to his Silverstone trophy, from Cruickshank, Pitch, Finn and Stanley. Edwards claimed a hat trick of wins in Production, followed by Harding (very pleased to finally “do quite well”), then Bartlett. With Cruickshank’s Euro victory, Seear won the Exige class and 2-Eleven honours went to Deacon.
Race summary – 41 starters, 33 finished.
| Production | Modified | 2-Eleven | LCE Exige | LCE 2-Eleven | Overall |
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Conclusion
Three exciting encounters, and with both series up and running, we focus next on Anglesey on 16 May, a new circuit to the calendar.
Look out for television coverage of Elise Trophy races on Motors TV. The first races of the season from Silverstone will be transmitted on Friday 12th June. For further details of our television coverage and to see a short promo, please check out the Race Television web site.
