Round 10 of the 2009 Elise Trophy held at Spa-Francorchamps on 2, 3 and 4 October 2009.
Introduction
Since its inception in 2007, the Elise Trophy has made an annual pilgrimage to the classic Spa-Francorchamps circuit deep in the Belgian Ardennes forest. Usually the sole non-UK round, this year it also forms part of Lotus Cup Europe and for many of the drivers, part of a busy late-season schedule that includes venues in and out of mainland Europe. With a mix of drivers, the overall win was expected to come from Europe’s Michael Damoiseaux as well as regulars Jamie Stanley, Chris Headlam and Ben Pitch. Steve Williams brought along his Production-spec car and would be favourite, together with Marcus Jewell and form men Ken Savage and Simon Phillips.
Practice and Qualifying
Taking place on Friday, practice took place early in a damp and misty morning. With the track still slippery, by the end of the 20 minute session Headlam headed the leaderboard, from Stanley and the 2-Elevens of Damoiseaux and Scott Cruickshank. Then we had Pitch, Sean Bicknell, Pat McBennett, Simon Deacon, followed by the Lotus Cup Europe drivers Harry Steegmans and Thierry Verheist. With honours even between the Modified and 2-Eleven runners, Production was led by Jewell in twentieth place, from Savage, Williams and Phillips.
The day looked to be brightening up but the clouds returned and small drops of rain were falling as the cars headed up Eau Rouge to start qualifying. The early afternoon session produced a stunning lap from Stanley, who claimed pole by 2.3 seconds from Damoiseaux, on only his second lap! In third was Pitch, followed by Bicknell, who only completed 4 laps and slowed considerably on the last. Headlam was in fifth, from Andreas Holzleithner, Cruickshank, McBennett, Christophe Lisandre and Mark Gooday.
Production pole was claimed by Michael Edwards, Jewell just a few hundredths behind. They had European runner John Rasse between them and Williams, on his own as Savage was three places further back, in front of Stuart Kirkbride, with the rest of the Production runners behind Phillips, in 28th place overall.
Race 1
After two years spoilt by the best of the Ardennes weather, we had light drizzle on Saturday morning, leading to a greasy track. Off the rolling start Stanley held the lead, whilst spinning at Eau Rouge were Headlam and Deacon, the latter ending with a heavy shunt into the barrier.
Stanley pulled away whilst Cruickshank fought to second, with Bicknell third, Pitch fourth, Damoiseaux losing out and falling to fifth. Meanwhile Jewell was leading Production from Edwards.
On the run to Pouhon, Verheist spun into the barrier ending his weekend and was later joined by Gary Broad, also falling foul of the slippery conditions. Scraping the barrier, he made light contact with Verheist before neatly parking in front of the 2-Eleven.
The first five remained constant throughout the early stages, then Damoiseaux started to make his moves, first demoting Bicknell, as up ahead Stanley continued to assert his authority. Damoiseaux then started attacking Pitch, who had earlier displaced Bicknell, and the two enjoyed a fine battle, the 2-Eleven driver taking the advantage as the three of them caught Cruickshank at La Source to start the final lap.
In a close tussle, Damoiseaux passed Cruickshank on the run to Eau Rouge, then Pitch also found a way past the Scotsman for third place. In the end Stanley’s advantage was only 10 seconds and behind the three-way battle for second, Bicknell confirmed fifth place. They were followed half a minute later by the European trio of Lisandre and the Rasse brothers, Gregory 8 seconds ahead of John. Close behind were Gooday, Headlam, Holzleithner and David Seear.
In Production, Jewell was dropping Edwards as they lapped amongst some of the Lotus Cup Europe cars. Edwards, however, would fall down the order, promoting Williams to second and Driver to third. The three finished close together and Peter Driver was only just ahead of Pete Storey at the flag.
After a couple of quiet rounds for the faster cars it was great to see them put on a show and whilst the lead was never in doubt, the fight for second stood up to some of the series’ best races.
Race summary – 40 starters, 37 finishers.
| Production | Modified | 2-Eleven | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|
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Race 2
If the drivers had been concerned about the conditions on Saturday, then Sunday was another matter altogether, as heavy drizzle drenched the circuit and showed no sign of abating. A rolling start was declared for the thirty minute race and Stanley converted pole once again into the lead as Bicknell and Damoiseaux disputed second, to be settled in the 2-Eleven’s advantage. Headlam, Cruickshank and Pitch tracked Bicknell closely as the leaders started to break away. Cruickshank and Headlam made it past by the end of the first lap, with Pitch ready to attack. In Production, Williams held a handy lead over Rob Myers and Phillips.
Clearly Bicknell was suffering and he lost several places whilst the others made inroads in the leading pair, themselves separated by several car lengths. Behind them, Gregory Rasse and Olivier Cunat were disputing LCE Exige honours and Production was still benefitting Williams, but with Myers and a fighting Phillips still keeping him honest. Jewell and Driver weren’t out of the picture at this stage either.
Headlam and Pitch were unable to make further progress, falling back into Rasse’s clutches as he dropped Cunat. Whilst Pitch was able to break away into a lonely fourth place, Headlam held off the Exige class leader, keeping just enough distance to save him from attack. Meanwhile up at the front Cruickshank was ready to make this a three-way fight for the lead as he was catching Damoiseaux. Production was a matter of Williams getting amongst the faster cars and using them as a buffer. By this point Jewell had dropped out of contention.
With ten minutes to go Cruickshank was right with Damoiseaux and we were in a close finish as they were also closing on Stanley. Cruickshank took a look at Pouhon, if nothing other than to signal his intent. They continued to battle and even Andrew Napier and Dan Norris-Jones spinning as they were about to be lapped failed to put the Scotsman off but clearly the additional minutes were taking their toll on some of the drivers.
On the last lap, Cruickshank backed off , whether he had a problem or was content with a podium, the net effect was that Damoiseaux was off the hook but that didn’t stop him posting his fastest lap, a second quicker than his pursuer. The pair finished behind Stanley, who paced the race well, never letting his challengers get close enough.
Some way back Pitch and Headlam followed them to the flag, then Gregory Rasse, Cunat and John Rasse, the three well-separated but taking the podium places in the Exige class. Seear finished in ninth and Robert Montgomery tenth and the third 2-Eleven home. Just behind him was Production winner Williams, two places ahead of his nearest class challenger, Greg Noble. Myers and Phillips had fought a fierce battle but they both suffered in the conditions, eventually switching order and finishing behind Driver.
Another entertaining race and one in which the drivers all displayed considerable bravery in the conditions.
Race summary – 35 starters, 30 finishers.
| Production | Modified | 2-Eleven | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|
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Conclusion
We may have been unfortunate with the weather but the action certainly made up for this, both races providing great entertainment in tricky conditions. With just a week to the next round at Silverstone, those who made it through Spa in one piece will be thankful and with the BBC’s Jake Humphrey taking part in one of next week’s races, there will be lots of interest generated. For those waiting until the next Lotus Cup Europe encounter, they have an extra fortnight to prepare for Le Mans, where hopefully we will see the best of the autumn weather.
