BRITISH SPRINT CHAMPIONSHIP REPORT ARCHIVE

Holmes survives the conditions as Calder becomes Champion

The Sunday event on the International course suffered variable conditions with heavy rain squalls and severe gales. Smith and Sampson were reduced to spectators when the repaired driveshaft shattered during the first qualifying runs. Terry Holmes, who was somewhat off the pace on Saturday’ stormed through to take the win in fine style. Steve Miles, who was nursing a twisted driveshaft both days, grabbed second when he threw caution to the wind and nailed the start for the first time all week-end.

John Graham again took third as he struggled with a lack of top end speed due to only being able to run hillclimb ratios. Steve Broughton and Matt Hillam followed in their shared Dallara which continues to run full circuit aero. The Sports Libres were well represented with Jim Belt in the Juno finishing seventh whilst the Radicals of Kurt Ramsden and Matt Carter were ninth and tenth. Also making it into the run-off was Roy Munro, John’s father, but he only took one run to avoid overheating the Suzuki motor and possibly robbing John of his second run.

Steve Wilkinson

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 15 Anglesey October 5th

1. Terry Holmes (3.5 Lola-Judd ERH V8) 78.83s
2. Steve Miles (2.0 Van Diemen-Duratec/SBD RF96/MM13) 80.79s
3. John Graham (2.8 Gould-NME GR55B V8) 80.96s
4. Steve Broughton (2.0 Dallara-Vauxhall F3RB) 81.26s
5. Matt Hillam (2.0 Dallara-Vauxhall F3RB) 82.01s
6. Graham Porrett (3.5 Lola-Judd ERH V8) 83.81s
7. Jim Belt (3.0 Juno-Jaguar TR400 V6) 84.57s
8. John Munro (1.0 OMS-Suzuki/RPE 2000M) 85.06s
9. Kurt Ramsden (1.5t Radical SR3) 85.10
10. Matt Carter (1.4 Radical PR6) 86.50s
11. Roy Munro (1.0 OMS-Suzuki/RPE 2000M) 88.51s
12. Grahame Harden (2.0 Dallara-Vauxhall/Harden F397) 90.03s

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Final positions:

1. Colin Calder 110pts
2. Heather Calder 101pts
3. Mark Smith 93pts
4. Craig Sampson 88pts
5. Terry Holmes 85pts
6. Steve Miles 77pts
7. John Graham 72pts
8. Steve Broughton 53pts
9. Graham Porrett 47pts
10. Matt Hillam 43pts
11. Mike Musson 38pts
12. Jim Belt 33pts
13. etc

Sampson's first Run Off victory at Anglesey

At just 16 year and 317 days John Munro became the youngest ever qualifier for any British Top Twelve Run-off. On Saturday he finished eleventh and broke the 1100 class record on each run and on Sunday he managed eighth and again broke the 1100 class record on each run. On Thursday, he starts in the Henry Surtees Challenge at Buckmore Park and the entire British Sprint Championship wish him well.

The Saturday event on the National course was run in near perfect if blustery conditions and the run-off was a cliff hanger. Mark Smith and co-driver Craig Sampson broke a drive shaft during qualifying and it was touch and go if they could get it repaired in time as they didn’t have a spare! After a mad dash to Holyhead Smith returned and the pair just beat the deadline to take their runs. Sampson ran first and a slow run to test the repaired shaft was the priority. Smith then charged into the lead only for Sampson to pip him to the win on his second run claiming his first ever round win. John Graham just held off Steve Broughton for third place as Steve Miles limped home ahead of Matt Hillam. Tony Jarvis and Martin Webb were once again on the pace with their shared Dallara.

Steve Wilkinson

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 14 Anglesey 4th October

Results:

1.Craig Sampson (2.0 Reynard-Duratec 903-DB) 48.25s

2.Mark Smith (2.0 Reynard-Duratec 903-DB) 48.44s

3.John Graham (2.8 Gould-NME GR55B V8) 49.08s

4.Steve Broughton (2.0 Dallara-Vauxhall F3RB) 49.17s

5.Steve Miles (2.0 Van Diemen-Duratec/SBD RF96/MM13) 49.39s

6.Matt Hillam (2.0 Dallara-Vauxhall F3RB) 49.86s

7.Terry Holmes (3.5 Lola-Judd ERH V8) 49.90s

8.Tony Jarvis (2.0 Dallara-Vauxhall/Connaught F399/00) 50.16s

9.Graham Porrett (3.5 Lola-Judd ERH V8) 50.53s

10.Martin Webb (2.0 Dallara-Vauxhall/Connaught F399/00) 50.77s

11.John Munro (1.0 OMS-Suzuki/RPE 2000M) 50.86s

12.Jim Belt (3.0 Juno-Jaguar TR400 V6) 51.43s

Rain stops play!

On the Sunday morning, after it had rained all night and continued that way, as competitors arrived (it being a customarily much later start to Sunday's Kirkistown, together with a far more modestly sized entry) there was shall we say "signs" of standing water. But not judged by large puddles, rather more in the form of small lakes! The circuit staff, aided by agricultural machinery with brushes attached and shovels, began to both move the water and dig holes that would aid the drainage process. By mid morning it was looking as though their efforts were proving to be worthwhile, as by then the rain intensity had lessened. However that was it was good as it was going to get, until the rain stopped in the evening. Competitors had driven many laps in road cars to judge track conditions but Graham Porrett summed the situation up best when he said he had suffered aquaplaning....in his Land Rover Discovery!

Paul Parker

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Points after Round 13:

1. Colin Calder 110pts

2. Heather Calder 101pts

3. Mark Smith 89pts

4. Craig Sampson 82pts

5. Terry Holmes 80pts

6. Steve Miles 71pts

7. John Graham 57pts

8=. Graham Porrett 40pts

Steve Broughton 40pts

10. Mike Musson 38pts

11. Matt Hillam 32pts

12. Jim Belt 23pts

A very mixed week-end

The weather forecast suggested that most of the day would continue the way it started. Well that was not untrue! Our number of starters had been reduced by one as Heather Calder was hoping to attend when her entry was submitted. Then her employer told her "no you'll be offshore that weekend" then "no you won't" and those changes took place right until the last moment, when ultimately she would be on her ship somewhere just into the North Sea. Although she suffered some pretty dire weather onboard shher ip, resulting in it losing an engine and heading to a Norwegian fjord for shelter so that the engine could be repaired. We were joined by her younger sister Louise, continuing her Junior Challenge campaign. We were also joined by our one Northern Ireland contender, Chris Houston, for his second outing of the season, this time in his own car. Until close to the last minute it appeared as though we might have registrations from over the border, however ultimately they failed to realise. All contenders had been to Kirkistown before

After the conclusion of the first two timed runs, it was pretty largely all of the SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship fraternity at the top of the tree. There were one or two exceptions. At the bottom end of the top 10 times were local Sprint regulars Andy & David Hawthorne in their Reynard FVL, who had divided the two members of our Sports Libre fraternity, Jim Belt and Kurt Ramsden. And just above our singular 1100 and 1600 runners was Michael Roche, from across the border, in his 2 litre Vauxhall engined Dallara. Even though the course used for the Saturday event was the "local friendly" version,  five of the top six cars were nonetheless unlimited class runners. In sixth, and only a few hundredths from top 2 litre runner Steve Miles, was Graham Porrett. Well clear of Smiles was Mike Musson, who was a second and a half shy of John Graham, still limited by a shortage of slightly longer legged upper gears. He was a little under three quarters of a second adrift of Terry Holmes, but Colin Calder was comfortably in front. Below Porrett in the list was the Tony Jarvis and Martin Webb pairing, just a second apart. The latter was only a little over three quarters of a second clear of Jim Belt, and he was a second and a half clear of Kurt Ramsden. About another second back was Chris Houston, who in turn was a couple of seconds clear of Louise Calder (but she was better than 2 seconds clear of her 2013 performance). Incidents were very few and far between thus far, so time was on our side. At this point the organisers indulged in a 3rd timed run for the local contingent. You remember that weather forecast? Well during the course of that 3rd timed run it began to rain. As this progressed it placed all of our runners in a quandry. Should it be "slicks " or "wets" for the Top 12 Run Off? Ultimately it was a wholesale movement to the latter.

Top 12 Run Off

Initially it had been suggested by all the runners that they would undertake a single run. Extraordinary how things change once that visor goes down and time progresses! The one exception was Chris Houston who, after his first Run Off run, called it a day suffering with a head gasket failure. The times for the first run were very roughly in the 20-30 second region slower than the best qualifying times of competitors. The course did rather improve as time went on, so with that one exception, everyone thought they could do better! Two competitors who have had few opportunities to get on top of their mount in the wet, since its acquisition, are Tony Jarvis and Martin Webb. The latter made a poor attempt on his first Run Off run, and although he improved on that substantially on his second attempt that was to leave him bottom of the pile. Next up was Chris Houston, who only had a single run in the worst of conditions to rely on. In her very first Top 12 Run Off, Louise Calder, proved to be six seconds quicker than the local man. Then came a number of competitors, who could be "grouped" together by time. In 9th spot was Kurt Ramsden, but he lay only a few hundredths adrift of Graham Porrett. But next up was Tony Jarvis, making a wholesale more significant improvement over his initial attempt, to leave him a second and quarter clear of Porrett.

Then, very strangely, came what I can only describe as a "subdued" Terry Holmes, but was nonetheless a second and three quarters clear of Jarvis. A second and half ahead was Mike Musson, always cautious in the wet by virtue of doubts about the effectiveness of his traction control. He was a tenth or so shy of John Graham, who continues his car's learning process apace. Then, shall I say, some surprises? In third spot, a few tenths clear of Graham, was Jim Belt, looking forward to his Ginetta/Juno day! And a little over a second quicker was Steve Miles in second place. Now I don't recall Smiles ever been seen praying before, but his second run was just a tad quicker than Colin Calder's opener, so you can imagine what he was praying for? It was all to no ado as Colin Calder performed, as Colin does, to produce the one sub-100 Top 12 time to capture another win, in a time incidentally just a few tenths quicker than junior daughter's best timed run, in the dry.

Paul Parker

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 12 Kirkistown August 9th

Results:

1 Colin Calder 3.5 Gould GR55 99.14secs
2 Steve Miles 2.0 Van Diemen RF96mm13 103.13secs
3 Jim Belt 3.0 Juno Jaguar 104.34secs
4 John Graham 2.8 Gould GR55 104.73secs
5 Mike Musson 4.0 Pilbeam-Judd KV4 MP97 104.85secs
6 Terry Holmes 3.5 Lola Tegra Judd 106.31secs
7 Tony Jarvis 2.0 Dallara Opel F399 108.14secs
8 Graham Porrett 3.5 Lola Tegra Judd 109.46secs
9 Kurt Ramsden 1.5t Radical SR3 109.52secs
10 Louise Calder 1.0 Jedi Suzuki 113.67secs
11 Chris Houston 1.4 OMS Suzuki 119.54secs
12 Martin Webb 2.0 Dallara Vauxhall F399/00 123.83secs

Thanks to Roy Dempster of roydempster.com for the images

Commonwealth games fever at Knockhill?

With the customary clockwise format in use, the weather had to be better, and it was. Practice showed most runners very much on the pace. There were just a couple of minor incidents and one time failed to be captured by the timekeepers. Nonetheless top of the pile was Heather Calder, who knew this weekend had to work for her as work commitments were threatening her appearance in Northern Ireland a trip offshore possibly interfering with her season. The "flying lap" time equated to a new outright lap record for the circuit, more than a second quicker than she had achieved in 2013.

During the timed runs Terry Holmes failed to finish on his opener, but ensured he put in a banker as his sole qualifier. Two runners failed to take a 2nd timed run. Heather Calder, who on her sole run set a new outright Sprint record for the Knockhill clockwise course, a time which remained outright the fastest for the day. Her father, on his 2nd run had a small part of the floor detach, so some repair work was required before the Run Off, and Heather was able to rest on her laurels. Tony Jarvis didn't take a 2nd run his back aching. Again close to "qualification" was younger sister Louise, just a few tenths away. Despite no 2nd run Tony Jarvis did enough to get back into the Top 12 again, after 2 weekends away with the engine undergoing some repair work. Jim Belt really was enjoying a trouble free weekend, being the fastest of the Sports Libre fraternity, and the only one of them to qualify. Martin Webb qualified having sunk into the double digit times. Mike Musson also qualified feeling he at last is getting the hang of his car, after all the woes he inherited with it (duff differential set up, flexible front wing and unsupportive nose box) now behind him. Both Terry Holmes & Graham Porrett qualified in times not too far distant from one another. Then ahead of them came Smiles and Craig Sampson, about a second apart. Ahead of them was John Graham, who made a discovery over the weekend. A speed trap was put on the cars on the start/finish line. At that point both his and Heather Calder's speeds were pretty much identical. However Heather just kept accelerating under the bridge to the Duffus braking zone whereas poor John had by then run out of gears and was flat in top (or at least the "top" he had). Mark Smith qualified third overall, with a time which was to become a new 2 litre Sprint record for the format. Finally 2nd qualifier was Colin Calder, after which floor repairs were immediately undertaken before the Run Off.

Top 12 Run Off

Tony Jarvis, on his opener, improved on his qualifying time, but spun on his 2nd run at the hairpin, returning the "scenic route" under the marshals instructions. Unfortunately co-driver Martin Webb also had an incident on his 2nd run and, although his "banker" was a little slower than his best qualifier, he was able to overcome Jarvis' time. Jim Belt took his customary sole Run Off run, but made it count with a new Sports Libre lap record for the format. Graham Porrett put in a safe banker but found a couple of seconds over his best qualifier to be next. Smiles "banker" turned out to be the one to count as he finished a second clear of Porrett. Craig Sampson, who was to miss the next weekend of events, and finished comfortably clear of Smiles' best. Only a few tenths better was his co-driver Mark Smith, on his sole counting run as he investigated the kitty litter on his 2nd. Finding time on each run all through the day Mike Musson overcame Mark smith's best by half a second. But finishing just ahead of him (by hundredths) was Terry Holmes. John Graham found two and a half seconds from somewhere to finish up in 3rd spot again. Colin Calder opened with a time a few hundredths slower than daughter Heather's best of the day, something Heather was unable to match on her opener. However the time he was given on his 2nd run I think was taken from Grimms Fairy Tales. However the car picked up a stone in its radiator duct, so Heather was unable to take her second.

So Colin Calder has not yet retained his SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship but......

Paul Parker

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 11 Knockhill July 20th

Results:

1 Colin Calder 3.5 Gould GR55 88.16secs
2 Heather Calder 3.5 Gould GR55 89.16secs
3 John Graham 2.8 Gould GR55 92.34secs
4 Terry Holmes 3.5 Lola Tegra Judd 94.26secs
5 Mike Musson 4.0 Pilbeam-Judd KV4 MP97 94.28secs
6 Mark Smith 2.0 SBD Reynard DBMH2 94.79secs
7 Craig Sampson 2.0 SBD Reynard DBMH2 94.91secs
8 Steve Miles 2.0 Van Diemen RF96mm13 95.85secs
9 Graham Porrett 3.5 Lola Tegra Judd 96.88secs
10 Jim Belt 3.0 Juno Jaguar 99.48secs
11 Martin Webb 2.0 Dallara Vauxhall F399/00 100.44secs
12 Tony Jarvis 2.0 Dallara Vauxhall F399/00 100.48secs

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Points after Round 11:

1. Colin Calder 110pts

2. Heather Calder 101pts

3. Mark Smith 88pts

4. Craig Sampson 82pts

5. Terry Holmes 79pts

6. Steve Miles 68pts

7. John Graham 48pts

8. Steve Broughton 40pts

9. Graham Porrett 36pts

10. Matt Hillam 32pts

11. Mike Musson 30pts

12. Matt Carter 22pts

Thanks to John Stewart of Flat Out Motorsport Photography for the images

Home Win for the Calders as Carter takes a podium

There is something about the SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship and anticlockwise format at Knockhill. It seems to matter not which day of the weekend we run, we seem to attract the worst weather conditions of the weekend. This time the visibility on the pit straight was far from perfect, but at least to begin with, visibility after competitors exited from the hairpin and throughout the remainder of the lap to the top of Duffus Dip was acceptable. The track itself was wet and remained that way throughout the day. However that visibility factor varied as the day progressed leading to changes in the timetable as the day progressed. This meant that both the SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship, and Super Lap Scotland, runners with whom the day was shared both ultimately lost part of their programme.

During practice John Munro experienced an issue with his engine which lead to the withdrawal for the remainder of the weekend, totally frustrating for both John and his father Roy as they had both been looking forward to "playing at home". Other Scots to join us for the first time this season included Louise Calder in her 1 litre Jedi and was looking forward to a performance that could secure her the Junior Championship. Also a Junior Championship runner was Lindsay Robertson. We knew before the event no more than the fact it was a car, it was 2 litre and it was a Renault Clio. Well the latter element was "sort of" the case - it looked like one - and that 2 litre engine was in fact a pair of bike engines side by side in the back of the car. It was something of a "Super Saloon" and Lindsay had little experience of the car, and none of that at a venue like Knockhill, only "home" type Sprint venues had been undertaken so far, so very many new experiences would be discovered (like flat in 6th, something totally new, and the width of track was something totally new) leading to finding handling tendencies which, with the helpful assistance of Mike Musson, would hopefully be at least partially eradicated. During the course of the single practice run only a couple of failures to finish occurred, everyone else completing their run, although one or two, Colin Calder included, failed to have times recorded. But it did lead to an interesting picture at the end of practice with Heather & Louise Calder 1-2!

Mike Musson endured a challenging time between practice and qualifying as he had backed the Pilbeam into the barriers on his practice run, damaging the rear wing, supports and undertray. The supports were badly buckled but a succession of fellow competitors wielding a variety of increasingly larger hammers managed to straighten them out so that they could be used again.

Then, what turned out to be the only, timed qualifying run took place. There was sadly one casualty of this when Martin Webb failed to complete his run. And shall we say some interesting times were displayed! Some as a result of some amazing efforts by some, as the TV screens of the circuit demonstrated, but others well...? Finishing as top qualifiers were Heather and Colin Calder, in that order, just a second apart, very little in a minute and three quarters? In fact from 3rd down to 10th it, very broadly, a similar interval between each competitor. The last few had a few more seconds between themselves and the rest (and Louise Calder would have qualified for the Run Off, had she been registered.) One or two others were a little more distant, in one case because they did not possess a set of wets for the car and in Lindsay Robertson's case, still learning the car in a very different environment to one he was accustomed to.

TOP 12 RUN OFF

In the Run Off there was one unfortunate casualty, Kurt Ramsden, who suffered a spin exiting McIntyres. He did manage to get back on track and complete the run, but the time was by now meaningless it turned out. In 12th place was Mike Musson who entertained the audience with a tank slapper on the pit straight, which made his hair curl! in 11th spot was Colin Metcalfe..... in 10th place was John Graham, who must have been experiencing weather he was used to on his farm in the Lake District, but not in his Gould! In 9th was Graham Porrett being quite sure he completed his run and secured points. Then there were three, all in the 114s, a few tenths apart. Jim Belt, taking part in a trouble free weekend for once, perhaps the first time this season. Just a few hundredths quicker was Craig Sampson and Steve Miles a few tenths farther away. Then Terry Holmes & Mark Smith, a few seconds clear of the rest, but just hundredths apart from each other. Perhaps performance of the day, in 3rd place, was Matt Carter. Watching his driving throughout his run it was clear he was very much on the edge and so to conclude his run only a handful of seconds shy of the Sports Libre record, set when conditions had improved latterly last year, was phenomenal. Then the Top 2, Colin and Heather Calder, just 6/10ths separating the pair, in that order.

Paul Parker

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 10 Knockhill July 19th

Results:

1 Colin Calder 3.5 Gould GR55 101.85secs
2 Heather Calder 3.5 Gould GR55 102.49secs
3 Matt Carter 1.4 Radical PR6 108.35secs
4 Mark Smith 2.0 SBD Reynard DBMH2 111.70secs
5 Terry Holmes 3.5 Lola Tegra Judd 111.77secs
6 Steve Miles 2.0 Van Diemen RF96mm13114.44secs
7 Craig Sampson 2.0 SBD Reynard DBMH2 114.85secs
8 Jim Belt3.0 Juno Jaguar 114.88secs
9 Graham Porrett 3.5 Lola Tegra Judd 119.36secs
10 John Graham 2.8 Gould GR55 123.46secs
11 Colin Metcalfe 2.0 Nissan Primera 124.28secs
12 Mike Musson 4.0 Pilbeam-Judd KV4 MP97 126.07secs

Thanks to John Stewart of Flat Out Motorsport Photography for the images

Calder family move inexorably on

With the day's entry rather lighter, courtesy of the Paul Matty fraternity making their customary return home on Sunday, the event was very swift from one run to another making matters very busy for most. Over the course of the delightful clear day, there were perhaps rather more spins than were customary, keeping the recovery truck busy bunnies. For this event on the National circuit the one change for the British Sprint Championship runners was Simon, replacing father Richard, in the Keen family Dallara. Although three timed runs were on offer only somewhat less than half of the contestants took up the opportunity.

During the course of the timed runs the times set were very closely bunched amongst the ultimate Top 12 Run Off contenders. Despite both Sports Libre runners, Matt Carter and Jim Belt, benefiting from re-runs, each having encountered debris in the middle of the pit straight on their second runs, neither was able to quite squeeze into the Top 12. Peter Howgate had to call it a day after his first timed run, his remote starter having become broken with a variety of different folk making attempts to start the Chairman, with varying degrees of success! Perhaps surprisingly only one third of the ultimate Top 12 runners made improvements on their second timed run. Indeed only a little more than a second bracketed most of the lower half of these. Graham Porrett and Terry Holmes had undertaken some overnight thinking, to very good effect, and the result was that Holmes was much more on his customary form, although strangely Porrett was not and was the final qualifier. The SBD Dallara pairing of Steve Broughton and Matt Hillam were in "tinkering" mode, after major changes to the car's suspension, compared with the previous weekend, in an attempt to try to retrieve the couple of seconds or so they were distant from the other SBD car of Mark Smith and Craig Sampson. Mike Musson was now beginning to display a degree of consistency, and was only a tenth away from Steve Miles. John Graham too was only a quarter of a second ahead of Miles. Then came Keen, who seemed to be struggling somewhat with differing elements of his power unit leaving some puzzled faces within the Keen family. Nonetheless he managed to find a second and half improvement on his second run to qualify 6th. Originally Mark Smith was credited with a time that Lewis Hamilton couldn't have achieved. The timekeepers recalculated his time manually, which left Smith a little perplexed and particularly disappointed, that he had qualified behind his co-driver and so not benefiting from having his tyres warmed by his co-driver. The impact of that would be demonstrated later, but not quite as he expected. The very much back on form Terry Holmes qualified third, just a second away from Heather Calder, with a second and half improvement on his second run. Both Calders set their best runs on their openers, although the intervals between each of their runs was modest.

TOP 12 RUN OFF

Graham Porrett maintained his 12th spot throughout unusually with an opener a little way away from the remainder, which he was unable to improve upon second time around. Simon Keen indulged in a spin on his opener, which unfortunately impacted on his second run, leaving him with a time almost two and a half seconds away from his qualifier. Both Matt Hillam and Steve Broughton found time on their second attempts to both set their best of the day but their times weren't quite enough to take them above their 9th and 10th finishing spots. Mike Musson likewise set his best time of the day, second time around, now demonstrating signs of real progress. Less than half a second ahead was John Graham, again on his second effort. Ahead of him was a delighted Steve Miles who managed to finish up with a sixth spot finish. Just head of him, by a tenth, was Craig Sampson. Bettering that time, by a second, was Terry Holmes with his opener. Then came Mark Smith who you'll recall had been puzzled and disappointed by his time run time. Well Mark managed, after a spin on his opener, a time three and half tenths better than Holmes and the only new record of the weekend. Heather Calder passed on her first run and found a good improvement on her second over her timed run times to finish a comfortable second. Her father set a time around a second away from the outright on his opener but, for one reason or another, aborted his second after the opening lap

Strangely, after the double Colin-Heather 1-2 both days, other daughter Louise managed a third place overall on Saturday....... at Golspie, beaten only by two other British Sprint Championship contenders in John and Roy Munro (the former securing his 3rd consecutive FTD on the bounce, in only his 4th event). On the Sunday she managed only a 4th overall and 2nd in class (beaten again by John Munro, who was 2nd overall).

Paul Parker

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 9 Anglesey June 8th

Results:

1 Colin Calder 3.5 Gould GR55 92.85secs
2 Heather Calder 3.5 Gould GR55 94.82secs
3 Mark Smith 2.0 SBD Reynard DBMH2 96.52secs
4 Terry Holmes 3.5 Lola Tegra Judd 96.87secs
5 Craig Sampson 2.0 SBD Reynard DBMH2 97.81secs
6 Steve Miles 2.0 Van Diemen RF96mm13 97.95secs
7 John Graham 2.8 Gould GR55 98.81secs
8 Mike Musson 4.0 Pilbeam-Judd KV4 MP97 99.25secs
9 Steve Broughton 2.0 SBD Dallara F399/01 99.35secs
10 Matt Hillam 2.0 SBD Dallara F399/01 99.78secs
11 Simon Keen 2.0 Dallara TKD F302 101.11secs
12 Graham Porrett 3.5 Lola Tegra Judd 101.96secs

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Points after Round 9:

1. Colin Calder 95pts

2. Heather Calder 90pts

3. Mark Smith 88pts

4. Craig Sampson 75pts

5. Steve Miles 64pts

6. Terry Holmes 63pts

7. Steve Broughton 40pts

8. John Graham  35pts

9. Matt Hillam 32pts

10. Graham Porrett 28pts

11. Mike Musson 21pts

12. Simon Keen 15 pts

Photos courtesy of Neil Lambert

Gould day at Anglesey

On occasions, albeit rarely, we suffer a variation from the sunny summer weather this weekend enjoys. This particular day was one such occasion. The day began with rain, to varying degrees, but it was fairly consistent. On arrival at the circuit the track possessed a good deal of standing water. That did however subside as the morning progressed, enabling competition to take place. Precipitation did however continue, to some degree or other, until lunchtime. When it did stop that was it, for the remainder of the weekend. For those many competitors that captured the opportunity of a garage slot, they were all grateful for that smart move.

This did represent qualification issues, as the first timed run took place immediately upon the conclusion of the two practice runs, meaning that represented ultimately a lost opportunity to everyone, as the lunch break took place just after it. Indeed those times set after the lunch halt in some cases showed some remarkable intervals, one with another. Those few runners who were amongst the fortunate souls who were the second driver in a partnership benefited noticeably. They were some distance away from the remaining runners.

So on this second timed run of the International circuit conditions had improved significantly and the times showed that to be the case. The event entry had benefited from the addition of "visitors" from Guernsey. They were experiencing Sprinting in a way substantially different from anything they had before. They all suggested that the combination of mileage and seat time they'd undertaken was in a different world to what they were used to....and they'd be back, with others! The background to this was that they had, in the past, done "away weekends" at Harewood and Gurston Down before, and more recently at St Goueno (but they've been denied that latter event by the organisers now) so they wanted something else different and this was what they had chosen. For other event entrants it was in most cases the first time they'd seen the Channel islands Sand Racers.

There were a few returnees, Martin Pickles coming back after a break and Peter Howgate benefiting from a new clutch delivered and fitted in the week and Richard Keen taking a turn in the family Dallara this day. The Chichester Mafia, Terry Holmes & Graham Porrett had undertaken their usual week off in Wales, between Pembrey & Anglesey. However the pair were experiencing handling niggles. So much so the Porrett failed to qualify. Although they did improve Timed run one over Timed Run two, both the Bill Gouldthorpe and Carole Torkington pair were just beaten to qualification. Out running them were the Sports Libre pair of Matt Carter and Jim Belt. The former opined that he had entered the British Sprint Championship this year in the hope of qualifying at least once, he'd already far surpassed that aim. Mike Musson was encountering starting issues, these had to be overcome before he was available to take just one timed run which was just enough to qualify. Then came three drivers whose second run times were only separated by small margins. Matt Hillam, Steve Miles and John Graham all were bunched together, but showing notable improvements over their pre-lunch efforts. Two first runners, in a partnership, then bracketed Terry Holmes, Craig Sampson that bit slower and Colin Calder that bit faster. The final runners were all second drivers and the times of Steve Broughton, Heather Calder and Mark Smith all benefited from a combination of both sunshine and sea breeze.

TOP 12 RUN OFF

Jim Belt undertook his now customary singular Top 12 run, to secure himself his point. Matt Carter took both of his, each a tenth apart from one another and that gave him a couple of points but he was some margin away from the remainder of the Top 12. Steve Broughton's pair were merely a couple of hundredths apart but this was only a modest interval away from much of the remainder. Mike Musson was next up, steadily improving as the day wore on, but above all discovering he has now to learn his car completely anew it being a quite different character now that his chassis modifications have begun to come into effect. Matt Hillam like his partner had discovered the car transformed with the installation of stronger springs in the week's interval. They both were now feeling they were making real progress, but still work still to do to get the car's handling where they want it. A few tenths quicker was Steve Miles managing to achieve what he thought possible on the day. Again a few tenths quicker was Terry Holmes disappointed with the result, some thinking to take place overnight. Less than a couple of tenths better was Craig Sampson but a second clear of his partner Mark Smith. He in turn was a quarter of a second ahead of a delighted John Graham. He managed his best ever British Sprint Championship finish in 3rd spot. Then the family one two as Colin Calder superseded daughter Heather by tenths to secure the win, the latter disappointed in her performance feeling there was more to come.

Paul Parker

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 8 Anglesey June 7th

Results:

1 Colin Calder 3.5 Gould GR55 73.35secs
2 Heather Calder 3.5 Gould GR55 74.05secs
3 John Graham 2.8 Gould GR55 77.35secs
4 Mark Smith 2.0 SBD Reynard DBMH2 77.60secs
5 Craig Sampson 2.0 SBD Reynard DBMH2 78.59secs
6 Terry Holmes 3.5 Lola Tegra Judd 78.77secs
7 Steve Miles 2.0 Van Diemen RF96mm13 79.01secs
8 Matt Hillam 2.0 SBD Dallara F399/01 79.85secs
9 Mike Musson 4.0 Pilbeam-Judd KV4 MP97 80.31secs
10 Steve Broughton 2.0 SBD Dallara F399/01 81.23secs
11 Matt Carter 1.3 Radical PR6 85.64secs
12 Jim Belt 3.0 Juno-Jaguar 87.43secs

Photos courtesy of Neil Lambert

Scot wins in Wales

On the Sunday drivers' times were generally improving steadily, with the benefit of a full day's competition behind them. The Calders putting in just the one timed run to qualify and passing on the 2nd timed run. Terry Holmes had a moment on his first timed run so had to put in a banker on his second to qualify. Jim Belt had the mother and father of incidents on his first timed run exiting Honda at 45 degrees to the pit wall but seemed to continue as if nothing had happened! His two sports racing compatriots set their best timed runs on their openers, demonstrating improvements on the day before and came extremely close to qualification in both their cases.

In all but one instance, all of the two litres enhanced their pace, compared with the previous day's Top 12 times, during qualification. That seemed to be less the case generally in the case of the unlimited capacity cars. In a wide range of instances attention was being paid to cleaning up tyres. Also help was being given to John Burton & John Opie who had, throughout the weekend, suffered difficulties in obtaining a couple of their 4 gears. It was thought, eventually, that the bottom of that problem had been reached and the organising club kindly allowed the pair one "untimed" shakedown run just to confirm that to be the case. Peter Howgate however suffered more difficulties when it was discovered what was considered a clutch issue had intervened. Ultimately the Top 12 qualifiers were identical to those of the previous day, and with two thirds of them in share cars it again made the construction of the Top 12 running order an "interesting" intellectual challenge!

Top 12 Run Off

During the first runs Graham Porrett suffered a moment on his first run, but managed to restart the car to conclude the run to at least be sure of posting a point. His second run was perhaps a little conservative. The SBD pairing of Steve Broughton & Matt Hillam were both finding it difficult to find time. John Graham was too, his best Run Off time being a little distant from his best morning timed run time. Ahead of him Steve Miles improved noticeably on his best of the day before (all that time tending to his tyres paying dividends.) Mike Musson was now really beginning to make significant progress, perhaps confident that the car was not going to do anything unexpected. He must have gone home pleased with his weekend's work.

By contrast Terry Holmes was putting on, for him, a rather conservative display. It must be said that he and Graham Porrett did have the misfortune of experiencing more than their fair share of niggles over the course of the weekend, which must have put them both somewhat on the back foot. Ahead of him Simon Keen was displaying a smile that must have stretched from Carmarthen to Newport. He had experienced a track he'd never seen before and, over the course of the weekend, found huge chunks of time to finish on a time only a few tenths behind Mark Smith, the usual 2 litre standard bearer. Despite playing "at home" (in Wales) Mark was unable to better his co-driver Craig Sampson who enjoyed just about his best ever weekend. Craig's Run Off performances both being below the existing 2 litre record. Heather Calder's first Top 12 run was not far adrift of her previous day's best, but found another three quarter's of a second on her second. Colin Calder set an opener but with a small water leak and suspicions about the car's clutch left matters at that having secured the victory.

Paul Parker

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 7 Pembrey June 1st

Results:

1 Colin Calder 3.5 Gould GR55 88.32secs
2 Heather Calder 3.5 Gould GR55 89.36secs
3 Craig Sampson 2.0 SBD Reynard DBMH2 91.43secs
4 Mark Smith 2.0 SBD Reynard DBMH2 92.39secs
5 Simon Keen 2.0 Dallara TKD F302 92.75secs
6 Terry Holmes 3.5 Lola Tegra Judd 93.46secs
7 Mike Musson 4.0 Pilbeam-Judd KV4 MP97 93.61secs
8 Steve Miles 2.0 Van Diemen RF96mm13 93.93secs
9 John Graham 2.8 Gould GR55/td> 97.03secs
10 Matt Hillam 2.0 SBD Dallara F399/01 98.77secs
11 Steve Broughton 2.0 SBD Dallara F399/01 99.62secs
12 Graham Porrett 3.5 Lola Tegra Judd 100.26secs

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Points after Round 7:

1.Colin Calder 71pts

2=. Mark Smith 68pts

Heather Calder 68pts

4. Craig Sampson 59pts

5. Steve Miles 51pts

6. Terry Holmes 47pts

7. Steve Broughton 33pts

8. Graham Porrett 27pts

9. Matt Hillam 24pts

10. John Graham 19pts

11=. Martin Webb 13pts

       Simon Keen 13 pts

Flying Calder

BARC Wales organised their usual double header Sprint week-end at Pembrey on May 31st/June 1st. Weatherwise we were afforded dry conditions throughout competition all weekend, but without the overbearing temperatures competitors were confronted with on the last outing.

The weekend saw the welcome return of a competitor, Simon Keen, who had been absent from us for three seasons. He took this opportunity both to experience a new track to him and introduce the TKD V8 engine, which his Dallara F302 had acquired last year, to top-line Sprinting for the first time. Terry Graves remained absent, his new acquisition undergoing tender loving care from a number of different sources. Peter Howgate was back, his car's engine having returned from attention being afforded it. Mike Musson also returned, its nose and front wings now no longer made from the papier mache form they previously took. His target now was to learn the car all over again!

Most of the SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship entrants were sharing cars but amongst those who drove alone were the three sports racing car entrants. Matt Carter, Kurt Ramsden and Jim Belt battled manfully but were rarely far apart throughout the weekend and all of them on the cusp of qualification for the Top 12 Run Offs but never quite achieving it.

The development of the SBD Dallara continued, particular attention being paid to its suspension, and although upgrades in springs were installed, unfortunately it was apparent that area needed even stronger springs, which were not on hand. The Mugglestone family had come along with their new acquisition, an MSV F3 Cup Dallara, and the opportunity was taken to compare issues such as suspension as a guide toward future development. Such development is a particularly difficult task because, whilst comparable corner speeds may be known, they are of a car with many laps under its belt and so heat in its tyres. This being an explanation of the disparity between F3 lap records and comparable BSC lap times. The latter being available on occasions such as this weekend, when the timekeepers offer "split" times allowing full lap times to be calculated.

In the timed runs Colin Calder seemed to be in a class of his own, with the next four drivers being covered by a little over a second. Had this anything to do with him not having to drive from the very North of Scotland? After Snetterton he left both van and trailer close to Bristol Airport and flew home, and then flew back again on Friday. These four drivers being Mark Smith, Craig Sampson, Heather Calder and Terry Holmes. Then there was a gap before the next group of seven drivers were covered by 2 or 3 seconds, but battling. There were a number of factors, drivers becoming used to the circuit again, the track rubbering in (a significant factor as a fortnight before the circuit hosted truck racing!), that lead to times developing as the weekend progressed. Indeed strangely many of the 2nd timed run times were slower than the first.

Top 12 Run Off

Now times really began to make progress, as is customary. Only two drivers failed to improve on their second run. One was Terry Holmes whose second Top 12 run was one hundredth of a second slower, but that was to prove valuable ultimately. Mark Smith failed on his first run, so was under pressure come the second run. Matt Hillam seemed not to be making any significant progress, both his timed runs and his Top 12 runs all being covered by little more than a second. John Graham, as he learns the nuances of his Gould GR55, improved noticeably in the Top 12 Run Off, albeit with a thought in the back of his mind that he was, like Terry Graves earlier in the season, suffering the restriction of "hillclimb" ratios. Next up was the other driver not to improve in Run 2, Steve Broughton, but his first run nonetheless was his best of the day. Graham Porrett's wife was the fountain of all knowledge in the assembly area, having her ipad "linked" to the Championship Co-Ordinator's workbook, so had an update of times as soon as they became available. Graham finding a second and a half from his first run time on run 2. Then came Simon Keen, who had found it necessary to install different gear ratios during the day (to those he had used before at Loton Park & Curborough, which were far from valuable) was improving steadily as the day went on and seemed pleased with his day one result. Mike Musson was, over the course of the day, finding times in huge chunks, demonstrating the value of the chassis work the car had undertaken since its last outing. Steve Miles, in mid pack, was simply finding the benefit of his "run off" tyre set to find his improvements. Heather Calder was simply puzzled. She seemed unable to discover any time improvement at all, a matter she discussed with the Championship Co-Ordinator between runs. It was pointed out to her that she tended to make real progress on Run 2 customarily, but she retorted that generally she knows where time is to be gained but was pessimistic that would be the case today. She returned to the car and found five and a quarter seconds to finish as runner-up! One driver who was enjoying his weekend significantly was Craig Sampson who ultimately concluded on a time less than a tenth of a second outside the 2 litre record for the venue, which secured him third spot and his first top three finish. Then we had the unusual occurrence of a tie. The best times of both Mark Smith and Terry Holmes were the same, however as Mark Smith had posted a "fail" on his first run and Terry Holmes worse run was only 1/100th of a second slower than his fastest that secured him 4th place points. Colin Calder improved on his 2nd run, although he had already by that time secured the win, but the record he was after proved beyond reach.

Paul Parker

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 6 Pembrey May 31st

Results

1 Colin Calder 3.5 Gould GR55 87.30secs
2 Heather Calder 3.5 Gould GR55 89.59secs
3 Craig Sampson 2.0 SBD Reynard DBMH2 92.22secs
3 Terry Holmes 3.5 Lola Tegra Judd 93.12secs
5 Mark Smith 2.0 SBD Reynard DBMH2 93.12secs
6 Steve Miles 2.0 Van Diemen RF96mm13 95.80secs
7 Mike Musson 4.0 Pilbeam-Judd KV4 MP97 96.02secs
8 Simon Keen 2.0 Dallara TKD F302 96.45secs
9 Graham Porrett 3.5 Lola Tegra Judd 97.77secs
10 Steve Broughton 2.0 SBD Dallara F399/01 98.57secs
11 John Graham 2.8 Gould GR55 98.76secs
12 Matt Hillam 2.0 SBD Dallara F399/01 100.69secs

More heat at Snetterton as Smith keeps lead in Championship

Much the same weather as the previous day led to the same difficulties for everyone on the Sunday. Consequently both Calders and Terry Holmes managed to qualify on their openers, and left it at that, as did Mark Smith. Sadly although they had both qualified a failure at the top end of the engine meant that Martin Webb and Tony Jarvis were unable to take up their position in the Top 12. They were succeeded by the top 2 non-qualifiers Kurt Ramsden & Jim Belt in the Run Off. The other difference, from the Saturday Run Off, was that Graham Porrett this time made no mistakes to qualify midfield.

Top 12 Run Off

As is customary both Kurt Ramsden & Jim Belt conducted just one run each and concluded with very closely matched times. In his opener, Colin Calder made the same mistake that he did at Croft. He was after record bonus points, but unfortunately failed on his opener, so had to be rather more conservative on his second run to ensure he went home with points at all! So next up was Steve Broughton, as ever spending another day "tinkering" with his settings to enhance his handling. Just a way ahead was Graham Porrett a tad behind the SBD boss' co-driver Matt Hillam. Managing to find a little more time, from the day before, next up was John Graham, to conclude his opening weekend in his new acquisition - the right way with more points. This time Steve Miles managed to just better him and finish his day just 1/100th behind Craig Sampson. Mark Smith made sure of more points in this Run Off by a gentle qualification ensuring a Run Off position but ahead of his co-driver to benefit from cooler tyres. This helped his points score. Terry Holmes improved his time on his opener, compared with the day before, which he wasn't able to improve on his second run. Heather Calder too set her best on her opener to ultimately conclude just a few tenths behind her father, who managed the 2nd win of the weekend.

Paul Parker

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 5 Snetterton May 25th

Results:

1 Colin Calder 3.5 Gould GR55 78.90secs
2 Heather Calder 3.5 Gould GR55 79.24secs
3 Terry Holmes 3.5 Lola Tegra Judd 80.15secs
4 Mark Smith 2.0 SBD Reynard DBMH2 81.75secs
5 Craig Sampson 2.0 SBD Reynard DBMH2 82.28secs
6 Steve Miles 2.0 Van Diemen RF96mm13 82.29secs
7 John Graham 2.8 Gould GR55 82.52secs
8 Matt Hillam 2.0 SBD Dallara F399/01 83.05secs
9 Graham Porrett 83.98secs
10 Steve Broughton 84.36secs
11 Kurt Ramsden 1.5 Radical SR3 turbo 88.75secs
12 Jim Belt 3.0 Juno-Jaguar 88.92secs

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Points after Round 5:

1. Mark Smith 51pts

2. Colin Calder 47pts

3. Heather Calder 46pts

4. Steve Miles 39pts

5. Craig Sampson 37pts

6. Terry Holmes 31pts

7. Steve Broughton 28pts

8. Graham Porrett 22pts

9. Matt Hillam 20pts

10=. Martin Webb 13pts

  John Graham 13pts

12. Kurt Ramsden 11pts

Tyre scorcher at Snetterton

What a contrast in weather conditions, compared with the weekend before, this weekend at the Borough 19 organised Snetterton Sprint was to bring. The constant sunshine and the temperatures this was to bring to the track, meant that most competitors were faced with the same hurdle to overcome. That hurdle was keeping their tyres alive.

Making his debut for 2014, in his new mount, was John Graham. He had acquired a 2.8 Gould and had the car's former owner Karl Davidson along for the weekend to help him settle in to his new acquisition. Unlike his previous attempt at upgrading from the 2 litre class to the unlimited class, this time the whole task appeared to be almost seamless. Indeed phrases involving ducks and water sprung to mind. Planned to be present, but had failed to be so, was Graham Harden (in John's previous car) it having been discovered that a differential failure had stymied him the weekend before. He nonetheless visited the event, the venue being relatively close to home for him. Only managing one timed run each were the pairing of Bill Gouldthorpe and Carol Torkington, a transmission failure ending their weekend early. Newcomers (well in the Junior Championship anyway) were John Burton and John Opie in their Ralt, never having seen the circuit before.

Times were fairly tight amongst the whole field of British Sprint Championship contenders as they undertook their timed runs, as the VW Funcup got underway on the Snetterton 200 circuit....for 6 hours! Although most British Sprint Championship runners didn't take advantage of the opportunity, three did take up the third timed run which was offered. Pretty well the majority of the remainder just rested up, and allowed tyres to cool, before the Top 12 Run Off. The usual top 3 runners, father and daughter Calder and Terry Holmes qualified as the three fastest. The next fastest qualifier was top 2 litre runner Mark Smith, but was to regret that qualification position later discovering the last thing he wanted was a tyre warming co-driver, who qualified just behind him. Steve Miles was next up with John Graham a little way behind. Martin Webb was on his coat tails and Matt Hillam next up, albeit a little way behind but he was very closely pursued by Tony Jarvis and he in turn was very closely pursued by Steve Broughton. Final qualifier, was sports racer Kurt Ramsden but closely matched, as is customary for them, was Jim Beltin his Juno who missed out by tenths.

Top 12 Run Off

This was to prove very unusual in that in almost half of the instances competitors' openers were to prove to be the one to count. Taking just the one run was Kurt Ramsden, and that was enough to earn himself a point. The next two up were Steve Broughton & Tony Jarvis, these two being closely matched on both opening and second runs. These two in turn were hotly pursued by their co-drivers Matt Hillam and Martin Webb. Next in line were two sole drivers with John Graham comfortably heading Steve Miles on both his runs. However the next two were to demonstrate an unusual state of affairs Craig Sampson setting his best time on his opener, a time which co-driver Mark Smith was unable to match on either of his runs (albeit there was only about a tenth in it). Then came the 3 unlimited cars, Terry Holmes' opener proving to be his best with Heather Calder setting her best on run two a little over a second away from her father.

Paul Parker

Round 4 SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Snetterton May 17th

Results:

1 Colin Calder 3.5 Gould GR5577.84secs

2  Heather Calder 3.5 Gould GR5578.70secs

3 Terry Holmes 3.5 Lola Tegra Judd80.54secs

4 Craig Sampson2.0 SBD Reynard DBMH281.76secs

5 Mark Smithv2.0 SBD Reynard DBMH281.88secs

6 John Graham2.8 Gould GR5582.76secs

7 Steve Miles2.0 Van Diemen RF96mm1383.15secs

8 Martin Webb2.0 Dallara F39985.18secs

9 Matt Hillam2.0 SBD Dallara F399/0185.70secs

10 Steve Broughton 2.0 SBD Dallara F399/0186.19secs

11 Tony Jarvis 2.0 Dallara F39986.57secs

12 Kurt Ramsden 1.5 Radical SR3 turbo88.15secs

SBD Territory, first to fourth!

The weather forecast did not bode well for this event organised by the Tunbridge Wells Motor Club. However the strangest happening lead to the second timed run and the Top 12 Run Off taking place in far better weather conditions than were feared. The weather forecast rather suggested a damp (at best) event. And that was how the day began. However a most unfortunate happening enabled us to enjoy far better weather than was feared. One of the event's Roadgoing fraternity had an incident on the exit from Paddock Hill Bend. This led to a recovery flat bed truck being mobilised to effect the retrieval of the unfortunate soul. However during the course of the recovery the truck managed to offload much of its hydraulic fluid on to the track. Ordinarily this would be a most unfortunate incident. However, in view of the time taken to repair the damage that this had caused to the track, the wet weather had gone away! Dry (and sunny) weather then took its place for the remainder of the event.

The event suffered from its usual shortcomings in British Sprint Championship entry, being short of a number of North of England and Scottish entrants in addition to which there were three further entrants who were missing (one engine, one electrical and one chassis). So it would have been expected that Terry Holmes would benefit. However, incidents during both his timed runs meant he failed to qualify and thus benefit from the entry shortfall so sadly becoming the only non qualifier amongst the entry. The bottom qualifier was Tony Jarvis who had taken things gently thinking that the Top 12 Run Off wouldn't materialise at all. After a first run spin, Graham Porrett corrected matters in his second run to qualify. Graham wasn't alone during the first runs as Craig Sampson must have thought he was rallycrossing as he went off course on the infield of the Paddock Hill bend exit and then the Championship sponsor joined him in facing the way they had come on both their first runs. However in both instances they corrected their shortcoming on their second attempts to comfortably qualify. In fact everyone made significant improvements on their times during the course of their second runs

TOP 12 Run-Off

The bottom scorer was Richard Arrowsmith, his engine deciding to let go shortly before the finish line. Next up were the two sports racing cars with Matt Carter just easing himself ahead of Jim Belt, the latter relying just upon his first run time. Then came a couple of two litre runners, closely matched and separated only by 1/100ths - Grahame Harden & Matt Hillam, the former suffering a transmission breakage. Next up was Tony Jarvis, the last of the runners in the 70s. Then there were a bunch of closely matched runners all in the 69s. These were headed by Steve Broughton, closely pursued by Martin Webb who in turn had Graham Porrett chasing him. Then came the top 3. All closely matched, and all powered by SBD engines (making it an SBD 1-2-3-4) as Craig Sampson was pipped by Steve Miles, who in turn but more comfortably was headed by the ultimate winner Mark Smith.

So an unusual day both in terms of the weather but also by the Top 12 Run Off taking place before a larger than customary audience, who were greeted to a drifting demonstration after the conclusion of the Top 12 Run Off. So plenty of variety for them.

Paul Parker

Results:

Round 3 SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Lydden Hill May 10th

1Mark Smith (2.0 SBD Reynard DBMH2)66.26secs

2Steve Miles (2.0 Van Diemen RF96mm13) 67.42secs

3Craig Sampson (2.0 SBD Reynard DBMH2) 67.61secs

4Steve Broughton (2.0 SBD Dallara F399/01) 69.43secs

5Martin Webb(2.0 Dallara F399) 69.48secs

6Graham Porrett (3.5 Lola Tegra Judd) 69.93secs

7Tony Jarvis (2.0 Dallara F399) 70.44secs

8Grahame Harden (2.0 Dallara F397) 71.70secs

9Matt Hillam (2.0 SBD Dallara F399/01) 71.77secs

10Matt Carter (1.3 Radical PR6) 72.33secs

11Jim Belt (3.0 Juno-Jaguar)73.29secs

12Richard Arrowsmith(1.0 Force PC – Suzuki) 76.70secs

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Points after Round 3:

1. Mark Smith 34pts

2. Steve Miles 26pts

3.Heather Calder 24pts

4. Colin Calder 23pts

5. Steve Broughton 22pts

6. Craig Sampson 20pts

7. Graham Porrett 18pts

8=. Matt Hillam 11pts

Terry Holmes 11pts

10. Matt Carter 9pts

11=. Tony Jarvis 8pts

Martin Webb 8pts

Kurt Ramsden 8pts

She did it again!

The event unfortunately had a few folk missing. Peter Howgate (dropped valve guide) was awaiting his engine rebuild, John Graham had planned to start his season at Croft but was also awaiting the completion of the engine rebuild of his new mount, Terry Graves had his gears on order to enable his new car to attain Sprint speeds and Mike Musson had discovered shortcomings in the nose and front wing of his car which had to be attended to before re-appearing.

Amongst the Sports Libre family it was a Radical battle during practice, half a second splitting Kurt Ramsden and Matt Carter. Mike Manning was amazing all present, on his first British Sprint Championship outing (although he had planned to start at Castle Combe but a problem after his winter engine rebuild meant his engine couldn't be fitted), with his "launches", although the nature of the car prevented him being quite at the level of the pure Sports Racers. In the 1100s John Munro lead the way, with Richard Arrowsmith close on his heels, and Roy Munro, despite years of Speed Event experience, was enjoying a whole new element of experience, Sprints on a Race Circuit, he was like a kid with a new toy! Among the 2000s all the usual runners were on the pace, but Nick Algar and son Luke, were struggling with the car proving unwilling to provide outright pace. All the unlimited runners were on the pace during practice.

In the timed runs Jim Belt produced a quick run on his sole run (enough, it proved, to qualify for the Top 12 Run Off) but the car came back to the paddock making some strange noises and a damaged diff was provisionally diagnosed. Kurt Ramsden was enjoying the benefit of a winter engine rebuild and was very quick, and Matt Carter was not a huge amount behind him. John Munro proved comfortably quickest of the 1100s and Roy Munro and Richard Arrowsmith were separated by mere tenths. Bill Gouldthorpe & Carole Torkington were discovering an historic March 79B to be one hurdle too difficult to overcome. Nick Algar had a rear wishbone fail on his only timed run attempt (although he did participate in the 3rd timed runs later, once a replacement set of wishbones were collected from their workshop). The Redditch duo of Martin Webb and Tony Jarvis both qualified for the Top 12 but were unable to take part as a 10mm piece of the gearchange mechanism had failed! Mark Smith qualified fastest of the 2000s but got carried away with himself and spun at the chicane during his 2nd timed run. Graham Porrett also mirrored that self same shortcoming during his second timed run.

Top 12 Run Off

Sadly Roy Munro only undertook one of his runs as the exhaust manifold failed during his run (it was hastily repaired to enable Roy and son John to undertake 3rd timed runs later), but he completed the run in a hindered time. Mike Manning on his second run made his quickest time on his second run, albeit slower than his first time run, but all of his times in timed runs and run off were only about three quarters of a second apart. Graham Porrett, aided by a part spin, was hindered on his first run, and having had 2 of them side by side seemed more than conscious of the experience which rather tainted his 2nd run off run. Matt Hillam on his 2nd run off run set his best time of the day. Matt Carter managed to better that on his final run off run....by four hundredths! Kurt Ramsden set his quickest time of the day on his opener and gave him points for 7th. Steve Broughton did likewise, and improved his time over his timed run ones by a significant margin, but on his second attempt tried the novel concept of a Sprint and Autotest combined, which did nothing at all for his time.

Then the 2 litre boys undertook their battle with Steve Miles bettering Mark Smith (cautious after his 2nd timed run spin?) on their openers, but they then both turned it on in their second runs with Mark Smith having to better the 2 litre record to overcome Smiles the pair finishing just a quarter of a second apart. Amongst the three unlimited runners both Heather Calder and Terry Holmes opened in the 69s, but Colin Calder opened with a 67. But Heather Calder came back on run 2 with a mid 67, the fastest up to that point. Terry Holmes responded also with a 67 that bettered Colin Calder's first run time. So we were left with just the reigning Champion's final run. It was apparent, from the outset, that he was after not only the win but a new outright record too. Everything looked promising...until the final corner, when in an attempt to hold it in tight to the finish line he spun, so had to rely on his first run off time. So a third of a second covered the top 3 and Heather Calder had win number 2 under her belt!

Results:

1.Heather Calder (3.5 Gould GR55) 67.49s

2Terry Holmes (3.5 Lola Tegra Judd) 67.70s

3Colin Calder(3.5 Gould GR55) 67.83s

4Mark Smith (2.0 SBD Reynard DBMH2) 70.33s

5Steve Miles (2.0 Van Diemen RF96mm13) 70.57s

6Steve Broughton (2.0 SBD Dallara F399/01) 73.53s

7Kurt Ramsden (1.5 Radical SR3 turbo) 74.45s

8Matt Carter (1.4 Radical PR6) 76.73s

9Matt Hillam (2.0 SBD Dallara F399/01) 76.77s

10Graham Porrett (3.5 Lola Tegra Judd) 78.17s

11Mike Manning (2.0t Ford Puma) 81.73s

12Roy Munro (1.0 OMS Zoom) 84.23s

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Points after Round 2:

1. Heather Calder 24pts

2. Colin Calder 23pts

3.Mark Smith 22pts

4. Steve Miles 15pts

5. Steve Broughton 13pts

6=. Terry Holmes 11pts

Graham Porrett 11pts

8. Craig Sampson 10pts

9. Kurt Ramsden 8pts

10. Matt Hillam 7pts

Calder Family Dominate

The opening round of the SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship at Castle Combe was run in bitterly cold bright spring weather. On track Colin Calder finally laid to rest the demons that have meant zero points from two previous visits to the track. However there was a hiccup when the dashboard on the Gould stopped working leaving the Calder’s to drive ‘blind’.

In the Racing Car classes and it was Bradley Hobday who took the win even though his second run was first baulked and on the re-run the Jedi cried enough. Richard Arrowsmith finished second with Nick and Chris Houston next up. In the 1600 class Simon Clemow took the win and would have qualified for the run-off if he had bothered to register! Bill Gouldthorpe and co-driver Carole Torkington were second and third. The two litre class was a real battle. Mark Smith emerged victorious with Scott Pillinger second in the home-brewed DSP. Steve Broughton, Craig Sampson, Steve Miles and Matt Hillam followed them home in an SBD convoy. In the Over 2 litre class the Calders dominated. Colin led home Heather whilst Terry Holmes grabbed third after a first run fail. Graham Porrett was fourth ahead of Terry Graves and Peter Howgate. Mike Musson trailed home seventh due to a massive lock up entering Bobbies on his second run left him with nowhere to go but up the escape road.

TOP 12 Run-Off

Tony Jarvis led the way but there was a problem. A broken throttle cable meant that the Dallara failed to make the finish. Tony Jarvis and Martin Webb replaced the throttle cable which enabled Tony to take his second run. Conscious of needing to get a time to get at least a point he took it easy and slotted into 11th. Matt Hillam was next to the line and he put in a banker some 1.2 seconds shy of his Q-time. He picked up the pace on his second run and improved but would remain in 10th. Steve Miles then seemed to struggle off the line but it was the trick launch system. As usual Inspector Gadget brought his A-game to the run-off. He hammered round nearly three seconds quicker than in qualifying. On his second run with the temperature falling he couldn’t match his earlier pace but sixth was good considering he only qualified 10th. Terry Graves then brought the Gould forward however he was hampered by having to use ‘hillclimb ratios’ he would take just the one run but it was an improvement of over a second and a half compared to his Q-time. Craig Sampson then brought Smitty’s Reynard forward. He was rapidly into his stride and through Camp he was so quick. All round the track the youngster pushed hard and as he crossed the line he had clipped nearly four seconds off his Q-time. On run number two he was even better than before clipping another two seconds plus of his time and moved up to fourth.

Heather Calder was next and there was an air of anticipation that this could be something special. Her start wasn’t the best but at the split she was easily the fastest so far. The flying lap was stunning and as she crossed the line the clocks indicated it was a new FTD. Could she move into the lead on her second run? Off the line and she was 0.17s quicker to 64 foot. Down to Quarry and all the way to the exit of Bobbies the engine was singing. Through the split and she was over a second faster than on her first run but just behind Colin. The flying lap was another stunner falling just short of the outright circuit record! As she crossed the line Heather went into the lead by a full second. Graham Porrett was up next, off the line the garagiste was electrifying posting a 2.48s, by the split he was down to second and despite clipping close to three seconds off his Q-time he was over 4 seconds behind Heather Calder. Graham’s second shot was more of a test run after Terry’s problems and with no improvement he had to wait to see what others did.

Steve Broughton then brought Matt Hillam’s Dallara forward. I thought Graham Porrett had nailed the start but Broughton put him and everyone else in the shade with a stunning 2.24s first 64 foot. Then it all slipped away as by the end he was exactly one second slower than in qualifying. On his second run Broughton clipped over two seconds off his first run time to move up the order. Next was another SBD engined racer, Scott Pillinger in the DSP. He like Hillam and Broughton was slower, was this a tactic to put in a banker run? On his second effort Pillinger was three tenths quicker to the split but he slowed on the flying lap and dropped back down the order as a result. Mark Smith was next and the top two Litre man from 2013 didn’t disappoint. 2.28s launch and by the split he was he was snapping at Heather Calder’s heels. He was mighty through Camp and he braked late for quarry but his efforts still left him over two seconds adrift – just a lack of pure grunt was the problem. His second effort was again to the ragged edge and he clipped a few more tenths off.

Next should have been Terry Holmes but he was missing from the pit lane. After Graham’s run the pair noticed that there was a slight delamination of the rear wing elements from the end plate on the right hand side. As Graham was ‘hot gluing’ the wing Terry was rooting round in their trailer for some wing stays. The CoC duly gave them the two minute grace period and despite the best efforts of Terry, Graham and Peter Howgate the car couldn’t be readied in time so Holmes missed his first run. Holmes was in the car in plenty of time for his only run. Off the line he posted a 2.30s, the fastest launch for an over two litre. Down to Quarry and round to Bobbies he was two seconds up on his Q-time split. Through Camp he was mighty but as he headed out of Old Paddock Bend the car staggered and started to misfire. He ground to a halt midway through Bobbies. As he climbed out of the car smoke was seen coming from the cockpit. The battery had shorted out and the car was now in the middle of the track stuck in gear. With no time Holmes was out of the points. Fastest qualifier Colin Calder was calmness personified. On his first run a 2.31s launch set him on his way and the run to the split was stunning as he was 1.59s up on daughter Heather! Through Camp he was slow to get on the power but still sparked all the way from Folly to Quarry! As he blasted through the finish he had just set another FTD with 1.36 seconds in hand. His second run was delayed whilst the Lola and Holmes were brought back to the Paddock. As he rolled forward for the final run of the day the long wait and the falling temperatures would have an impact. The launch was slower (2.43s), by the split he was over a second quicker than on his first Top 12 run. The car was sparking as he exited Camp and then all the way through Folly and all the way up Avon rise and into Quarry! As he charged through Bobbies and headed for the line it looked close. The time to beat was 112.75s and Colin stopped the clocks at 112.61s – now that was too close!

Steve Wilkinson

Results: Rd 1 Castle Combe, Saturday March 22nd

1.Colin Calder (3.3 Gould-NME GR55 V8) 112.61s – Outright Course Record

2.Heather Calder (3.3 Gould-NME GR55 V8) 112.75s – New Ladies Record

3.Mark Smith (2.0 Reynard-Duratec/SBD 903) 116.27s

4.Craig Sampson (2.0 Reynard-Duratec/SBD 903) 117.90s

5.Graham Porrett (3.5 Lola-Judd ERH) 119.37s

6.Steve Miles (2.0 Van Diemen-Duratec/SBD RF96/MM13) 122.47s

7.Steve Broughton (2.0 Dallara-Vauxhall/SBD F3RB01) 122.78s

8.Terry Graves (3.5 Gould-Cosworth HB GR55B) 123.27s

9.Scott Pillinger (1.3t DSP-Suzuki/SBD) 123.28s

10.Matt Hillam (2.0 Dallara-Vauxhall/SBD F3RB01) 127.70s

11.Tony Jarvis (2.0 Dallara-Vauxhall/Connaught F399/00) 134.98s

12.Terry Holmes (3.5 Lola-Judd ERH) Failed Run

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Points after Round 1:

1. Colin Calder 13

2. Heather Calder 12

3. Mark Smith 12

4. Craig Sampson 10

5. Graham Porrett 8

6. Steve Miles 7

7. Steve Broughton 6

8. Terry Graves 5

9. Scott Pillinger 4

10. Matt Hillam 3

11. Tony Jarvis 2