Calder's British Sprint hat trick

With Mark Smith and Craig Sampson sidelined, Colin Calder's only challenger for the British Sprint title was John Graham in his similar Gould but a mistake during the timed run on Sunday saw Graham fail to qualify.

Another win in the final event created a dramatic conclusion for Colin Calder. It provided him with the SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship for 2015 and, in so doing, created an almost unique achievement in it becoming the 3^rd year of a consecutive years hat trick of such Championships (something only achieved once before almost 40 years ago.) However there was more, it also enabled Colin Calder to create new record of 33 British Sprint Championship event wins.

The Sunday event took place with a brand new format, using a combination of a lap and half of the Coastal circuit combined with an element of the International circuit format.

Fifth place in the Championship went to Steve Miles with two good solid points scoring days. Also scoring well both days and enhanced his score in doing so was Bradley Hobday, enough to secure his 6^th place season end finish.

8^th & 10^th place in the Championship were shared by the Tony Jarvis & Martin Webb after a solid season long performance by the pair. They were separated by Championship sponsor Steve Broughton who finished strongly with a fine performance on the Sunday, in the same car driven by Hillam on the Saturday, and gave him “no 9” throughout 2016.

The standout performance on Sunday was that of Alan Mugglestone (featured in the next issue of Speedscene magazine) who has been assisting the SBD Dallara team and shared the car on both days. Although not registered for the 2015 Championship, Alan's 126.85s on the single timed run was not only second fastest but only a couple of seconds shy of the new British Sprint Champion.

PP

Results:

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 14 October 4th 2015

1. Colin Calder 126.35s

2. Nick Algar 131.29s

3. Steve Miles 134.44s

4. Steve Broughton 134.63s

5. Brad Hobday 136.66s

6. Scott Pillinger 137.00s

7. Matt Carter (1.3 Radical PR6) 139.03s

8. Jim Belt 139.67s

9. Martin Pickles (1.0 Jedi Mk 1) 140.91s

10. Martin Webb 141.55s

11. Graham Porrett (3.5 Lola Tegra Judd) 142.86s

DNS Tony Jarvis

FINAL 2015 SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Points:

1. Colin Calder 125pts

2. Mark Smith 110pts

3. John Graham 107pts

4. Craig Sampson 104pts

5. Steve Miles 95pts

6. Brad Hobday 71pts

7. Matt Hillam 67pts

8. Tony Jarvis 60pts

9. Steve Broughton 54pts

10. Martin Webb 47pts

11. Heather Calder 45pts

12. Jim Belt 44pts

Calder take the lead with a win at Anglesey

Colin Calder arrived at Anglesey for the final two rounds of the 2015 SBD British Sprint Championship needing two good results to overhaul Mark Smith and take his third consecutive title (something only achieved once before almost 40 years ago) in the Calder Engineering backed Gould GR55.

The first of the weekend’s events were achieved with a new outright record for the two lap National format of circuit. Runner up on the Saturday was John Graham leading to a 3 ^rd place finish in the 2015 British Sprint Championship. Mark Smith unfortunately broke a drive shaft during the Saturday Top 12 Run Off which broke much of that corner’s suspension. Nonetheless his performances throughout 2015 enabled him to hold on to his 2 ^nd place overall. His co-driver for the season, Craig Sampson, produced a 3 ^rd place finish on the Saturday which secured him 4 ^th spot in the Championship.

With a combination of some coaching from Alan Mugglestone, who was sharing the SBD Dallaras for the week-end, and testing a new Avon tyre compound?, gave Matt Hillam a good finish and score on Saturday, which gave him an overall 7th place.

PP

Results:

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 15 October 3rd 2015

1. Colin Calder (3.5 Gould-NME GR55) 91.20s

2. John Graham (2.8 Gould-NME GR55B) 94.26s

3. Craig Sampson (2.0 SBD Reynard) 95.34s

4. Matt Hillam (2.0 SBD Dallara F3) 96.31s

5. Steve Miles (2.0 Van Diemen RF96) 99.93s

6. Scott Pillinger (1.3t DSP SBD) 102.48s

7. Bradley Hobday (1.0 Jedi Mk4) 102.59s

8. Martin Webb (2.0 Dallara F399/00) 103.14s

9. Jim Belt (3.0 Juno TR400) 103.99s

10. Tony Jarvis (2.0 Dallara F399/00) 105.04s

DNF Nick Algar (1.3t D J Firehawk) & Mark Smith (2.0 SBD Reynard)

Calder holds off Graham in late run for Championship

With no extra points on offer on the championship's first visit to Blyton Park it came down to a straight power battle. Colin Calder took the upper hand as he held off the challenge of John Graham with both drivers moving up the points table. Nick Algar took third but his late start leaves him languishing down the overall places. Mark Smith failed to add to his points tally as he is dropping scores and his eighth place score was immediately dropped. 

Competitors enjoyed a warm and sunny Autumn day - perfect conditions in fact. The Calder Gould was present but again with only one driver as Heather Calder is sitting out the rest of the season. Father and (ex sim racer) son Roy and John Munro had also made the trip down from Scotland with their OMS. With championship sponsor Steve Broughton not present Matt Hillam was on his own in the SBD Dallara and Chris Jones once again joined the Nat A runners as he was sharing the Chris Bennett Force.

Being a new track to many drivers there were a few failed runs including Steve Miles (a spin in practice), Chris Bennett (an event ending spin on T1), Colin Calder (practice), Jim Belt (practice), Mark Smith (T1), Nick Houston (T1) and Martin Pickles (T2).

The Jarvis/Webb Dallara sat out the second practice runs with a fueling problem that turned out to be a faulty fuel pump despite it sounding fine. Although no longer a surprise, a few eyebrows were still raised when the Yuasa backed Jedi of Brad Hobday posted a 60.73s run (2nd fastest at that point) on its first practice run. This improved into the 69s on the times runs and finally the 68s in the Run Offs to earn Brad a fine sixth overall. John Munro consistently improved his times just behind Hobday to be the second fastest 1100 runner and earn a Run Off place.

The day's events took on a sombre tone when championship co-ordinator, Paul Parker, was taken to hospital with suspected pneumonia. Happily we hear he is doing well and we wish him a speedy recovery.

Results:

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 14 September 12th 2015

1. Colin Calder (3.5 Gould-NME GR55) 54.77s

2. John Graham (2.7 Gould-NME GR55C) 55.13s

3. Nick Algar (1.3s DJ Firehawk-Suzuki) 58.12s

4. Craig Sampson (2.0 Reynard-Duratec 903SBD) 58.44s

5. Terry Holmes (3.5 Lola-Judd ERH Tegra) 58.55s

6. Bradley Hobday (1.0 Jedi-Suzuki Mk 4) 58.66s

7. Matt Hillam (2.0 Dallara-Vauxhall F302) 58.75s

8. Mark Smith (2.0 Reynard-Duratec 903SBD) 59.03s

9. Steve Miles (2.0 Van Diemen-Duratec RFMM) 59.35s

10. John Munro (1.0 OMS-Suzuki 2000M) 60.52s

11. Graham Porrett (3.5 Lola-Judd ERH Tegra) 61.74s

12. Jim Belt (3.0 Juno-Jaguar 400) 63.49s

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Points after Round 14:

1. Mark Smith 110pts

2. Colin Calder 103pts

3. Craig Sampson 101pts

4. John Graham 95pts

5. Steve Miles 91pts

6. Bradley Hobday 63pts

7. Tony Jarvis 60pts

8. Matt Hillam 57pts

etc.

Calder's double at Kirkistwown

The weather on Sunday turned out to be much the same as the day before. Sunday Colin Calder twice broke the outright record in the Calder Engineering Gould GR55, helping his score while Saturday's runner up John Graham had a driveshaft breakage which put paid to his efforts. Thus Michael Connolly became runner up as Terry Holmes broke 2^nd gear, which rather spoiled his weekend.

Steve Miles improved to be the final podium finisher on Sunday managing to break his category record in the process. Tony Jarvis topped his Saturday performance with a career best 4^th place finish on Sunday. Jim Belt just missed his category record by just hundredths as Nick Houston concluded a successful weekend for himself with 7^th spot. Martin Pickles had an 'off' and broke one corner.

PP

Results:

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 13 Knockhill August 9th 2015

1. Colin Calder 102.37s

2. Michael Connolly 109.23s

3. Steve Miles 114.03s

4. Tony Jarvis 118.71s

5. Jim Belt 119.87s

6. Martin Webb 120.10s

7. Nick Houston 126.09s

No other runners

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Points after Round 13:

1. Mark Smith 110pts
2. Craig Sampson 100pts
3= Steve Miles 91pts
     Colin Calder 91pts
5. John Graham 84pts
6. Tony Jarvis 60pts
7. Bradley Hobday 56pts
8. Matt Hillam 51pts
9. Steve Broughton 45pts
10. Heather Calder 45pts
11. Martin Webb 43pts
12. Michael Connolly 37pts

Calder back to winning ways at Kirkistown

Saturday began as a beautiful day, although it later turned both greyer and a wind emerged. Reigning British Sprint Champion, Colin Calder had managed to have his transmission rebuilt and rejoined the Championship for the Northern Ireland double header. 

Terry Holmes & Graham Porrett were troubled off the startline, but overcame this by switching off their traction control, while Michael Connolly was troubled with the same ill as at Anglesey, with a high revs misfire, which he had overcome by resorting to early upchanges. Jim Belt had his electrical issues from Knockhill resolved and Martin Pickles was looking forward to trialling a new non-works carbon fibre front wing.

Whilst many timed run times on Saturday were towards record pace only Calder was able to break the existing outright circuit record. However, he was unable to match that in securing the event as John Graham made yet further strides to take the runner up spot and was comfortable with his achievement. Michael Connolly missed completing one run but on his second completed the podium. Terry Holmes, sans traction control, was performing more reliable starts and his time, close to Connolly, yielded 4th place. Steve Miles managed 5^th just ahead of Tony Jarvis who was really pushing the Dallara hard securing the next spot. His co-driver Martin Webb also working hard, but the two were divided finally by Holmes’ co-driver Graham Porrett. Jim Belt was closing on his category record, but spun on his penultimate run, so his final time might have been better but it was still his best of the day.

English resident Northern Irishman, Nick Houston, was sharing his brother’s car for the weekend and was a tad rusty, not having competed for a few weeks, but nonetheless took tenth in the Run Off ahead of Martin Pickles who might have improved his time had he not spun during his final run.

PP

Results:

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 12 Kirkistown August 8th 2015

1. Colin Calder (3.5 Gould-NME GR55) 82.41s

2. John Graham (2.8 Gould-NME GR55B) 84.71s

3. Michael Connolly (4.0 Gould-Judd GR37) 86.02s

4. Terry Holmes (3.5 Lola-Tegra T90) 86.19s

5. Steve Miles (2.0 Van Diemen-SBD RF96) 90.24s

6. Tony Jarvis (2.0 Dallara-GM F399) 91.29s

7. Graham Porrett (3.5 Lola-Tegra T90) 92.31s

8. Martin Webb (2.0 Dallara-GM F399) 92.89s

9. Jim Belt (3.0 Juno TR400) 94.78s

10. Nick Houston (1.3 OMS Suzuki) 98.85s

11. Martin Pickles (1.0 Jedi Mk1) 99.00s

Graham from Sampson at Knockhill

For Sunday rain was promised by 4pm so a wet Run Off was expected, but this stayed away until after the Run Off!

The Sunday event, on the clockwise format, the whole picture changed. With the correct programme installed, John Graham had no more problems with his gear changing, so was on the pace all day. Calder was rather off the pace during the timed runs, Louise showing her Dad the way on times, but John Munro, as is often his way, making giant strides on his second day back in a single seater to be some way ahead of both of them. 

Come Run Off time and John Graham left many of the circuit locals open mouthed with his opening start. The Gould had a massive slide coming off the start line and somehow managed to avoid hitting the pit wall. He kept his foot down though and didn’t lift! "It must have been about 35 – 40 degrees from straight, heading towards the pit wall at about 60 – 70 mph" noted one onlooker. It was enough to secure the victory. The Sunday runner up was Craig Sampson with Steve Miles completing the podium, half a second back.

Terry Holmes took 4^th but Mark Smith was some way away in 5^th (and actually spinning at the chicane on his 2^nd attempt). John Munro again made mincemeat of the 1100 record to take 6^th just half a second ahead of Graham Porrett, despite struggling with the long uphill from the hairpin into a headwind. 8^th & 9^th went to the Tony Jarvis & Martin Webb (taking part just on the Sunday, having attended a wedding the day before) pairing. Colin Calder managed to scrape 10^th with a time just a few hundredths behind Louise’s best timed run.

PP

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

Results:

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 11 Knockhill July26th

1. John Graham 91.06s
2. Craig Sampson 92.88s
3. Steve Miles 93.37s
4. Terry Holmes 94.90s
5. Mark Smith 96.54s
6. John Munro 98.25s
7. Graham Porrett 98.77s
8. Tony Jarvis 99.38s
9. Martin Webb 100.55s
10. Colin Calder 100.98s
11. Roy Munro 102.29s
12. Richard Arrowsmith 111.57s

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Points after Round 11:

1. Mark Smith 110pts
2. Craig Sampson 100pts
3. Steve Miles 83pts
4. John Graham 73pts
5. Colin Calder 65pts
6. Bradley Hobday 56pts
7. Matt Hillam 51pts
8. Tony Jarvis 48pts
9. Steve Broughton 45pts
10. Heather Calder 45pts
11. Martin Webb 31pts
12. Jim Belt 24pts

Holmes returns with a win

Just for once Knockhill was the place to be weatherwise throughout the weekend. Saturday had some rain during early afternoon but this had dried come Run Off time. 

Saturday saw a pair of returnees.Terry Holmes & Graham Porrett having endured a winter and spring in efforts to get their engine rebuilt (a story all of its own) made their return in Scotland in a swish new colour scheme. Also father Roy and son John Munro made their first outing of the season, not being out since Anglesey last October, John having spent much of this season racing in Mazda MX5s. Holmes having flown in to Edinburgh only 20 minutes before the first practice session was given time to settle in, taking both his practice runs in the second mid morning session. His one unlimited class opposition, John Graham, was suffering both having to wear a cast after one of his sheep had managed to damage his left leg making launches slightly problematic, but also was battling with a corrupt programme which had its own ideas about when and how gear changes would happen. Colin Calder was present, although having been let down by his transmission supplier was not this weekend sharing the Gould with elder daughter Heather but was in the Jedi sharing with younger daughter Louise.

Terry Holmes secured Saturday’s Run Off victory a second clear of Mark Smith (despite his time being sub record pace), and Graham back in 3^rd spot who was chased hard by Smith’s co-driver Craig Sampson, who in turn only managed to overcome Steve Miles by a few hundredths. Then came the 1100s battle with Colin Calder just defeating John Munro by half a second at a venue which in some ways suits 1100s, with lots of turns, but in others does not being quite hilly. But the Saturdayevent, on the anti clockwise format, suits the 1100s best of all. Both these two managed to overcome Jim Belt in the lone Sports Libre present this weekend (Simon Bainbridge being a last minute pull out with a new engine that needed mapping).

PP

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

Results:

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 10 Knockhill July25th

1. Terry Holmes (3.5 Lola –Tegra Judd T90/50) 89.81s
2. Mark Smith (2.0 SBD Reynard DB Mk1) 90.80s
3. John Graham (2.8 Gould-NME GR55B) 91.59s
4. Craig Sampson (2.0 SBD Reynard DB Mk1) 91.74s
5. Steve Miles (2.0 Van Diemen RF96) 91.77s
6. Colin Calder (1.0 Jedi Mk1) 95.31s
7. John Munro (1.0 OMS 2000M) 95.97s
8. Jim Belt (3.0 Juno TR400) 97.98
9. Tony Jarvis (2.0 Dallara F399/00) 99.40s
10. Graham Porrett (3.5 Lola –Tegra Judd T90/50) 99.52s
11. Roy Munro (1.0 OMS 2000M) 102.45s
12. Richard Arrowsmith (1.0 Force PC) 110.50s

Three in a row for Graham

At round 9 of the 2015 SBD British Sprint Championship on the Anglesey National Circuit, John graham made it a hat trick of victories following his wins the previous day on the International track and a couple of weeks earlier at Pembrey. His final time in the Gould GR55B was just a few tenths away from, an outright record. Former champion, Nick Algar had suffered a broken exhaust manifold so he did not continue. 

Richard Arrowsmith was delighted to make the Run Off in his Force PC but was more than two seconds slower than his Q time and he slipped behind Guerseyman Scott Rayson’s Chevy Special who improved by a second to finish on 102.65s – an impressive run in such an unconventional car. Scott’s 6.8 litres was, however, insufficient to beat the 1-litre record-breaking Jedi of Bradley Hobday which got 4 British Sprint points with a stunning time of 101.98s. 

Martin Webb had qualified eighth. His Dallara sported brand new tyres for the run-off and he improved by half second from his Q time, but remained eighth. Steve Broughton’s first run was, uncharacteristically, slower – by 1.1 seconds than his Q time. He pushed hard on his second run, but too hard and spun his chances away so he finished in seventh place.Tony Jarvis, on the newly-shod Dallara, complained that the new tyres were worse than the old ones, but he still managed to do two runs in the 99-second bracket to finish an impressive and well-deserved 6^th.Matt Hillam was 5^th just half a second in front of Jarvis. Martin Connolly, after a failed first run, was circumspect in the GR37 to record 97.71s for fourth. Craig Sampson was third with a single run in his Reynard with the gear change apparently sorted out. Mark Smith was back where he should be in second place after the first runs on 96.21s and a new 2 litre record, half a second under the former time, which might have been better still. Perhaps he tried too hard on his second run, and he coasted to a halt very soon after the start with a suspected drive-shaft failure which was why Sampson had been unable to take his second run.But even Mark Smith and Craig Sampson were unable to provide any challenge John Graham and the Gould GR55B. John was in a class of his own, and after a banker of a first run in 94.27s, he went for it on the last run of the day to take another two seconds off and finish with FTD in 92.29s and a maximum score in the British Sprint Championship.

Paul Parker & Jonathan Toulmin

Results:

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 9 Anglesey National June 14th

1.John Graham 92.29s

2. Mark Smith 96.21s

3. Craig Sampson 96.80s

4. Michael Connolly 97.71s

5. Matt Hillam 98.86s

6. Tony Jarvis 99.35s

7. Steve Broughton 99.52s

8. Martin Webb 100.70s

9. Bradley Hobday 101.98s

10. Jim Belt 102.65s

11. Scott Rayson (6.8 Chevy Special) 105.40s

12. Richard Arrowsmith (1.0 Force PC1100) 107.68s

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Points after Round 9:

1. Mark Smith 73pts

2. Craig Sampson 65pts

3. Steve Miles 62pts

4. Bradley Hobday 56pts

5. Colin Calder 52pts

6=. Matt Hillam 51pts

John Graham 51pts

8=. Steve Broughton 45pts

Heather Calder 45pts

10. Tony Jarvis 39pts

11. Martin Webb 27pts

12. Nick Algar 21pts

Graham wins at Anglesey

John Graham continued his fine form from a fortnight ago to secure his second win, this time on the Anglesey International circuit with a time might have been better, but a missed gearchange that was brought about when something caught the corner of his eye. Championship sponsor Steve Broughton had arranged for his car to spend some time on a chassis dyno, during which the shortcoming which had troubled him with the handling of the rear of the car was traced. The SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship had new members in Tom, and son Michael, Connolly from Southern Ireland this weekend. Unfortunately their engine had a small issue which held them back somewhat. 

Finally, some of the Guernsey sand racers with their strange and very long machines had turned up – a Jagernaught and a couple of Chevrolet specials, one of 7.6 litres!

TOP 12 RUN OFF

The first Top Twelve runs ran rather slowly – 32 minutes for 12 runs of a single lap event, the tardiness being on the part of the drivers who seemed also reluctant to bring their cars to the line, but once there decided to get on with the job as some rate. The second runs were completed in twenty minutes, and the meeting finished a few minutes after 5pm.Martin Webb in the Dallara F399 had just scraped into the run-off, but then found nearly three seconds from somewhere, whilst his co-drive Tony Jarvis was a further half second quicker still after their first runs at 81.01s.Webb then exactly equally Jarvis’ time and got the verdict as Jarvis’ second run was a touch slower than Webb’s first run. Jim Belt in the 3-litre Juno TR400 sports racer took just a single run which was an improvement of 0.5 seconds on the Q time at 83.88seconds but pushed down into 12^th for a single point. 

Bradley Hobday, with the remarkable 1-litre Jedi started with a 2 seconds advantage and kept it, finishing in a sensational 81.98s on this power circuit breaking the five-year old class record by half a second.Steve Miles improved by two seconds from his Q time to finish eighth just one second in front of the Redditch mafia. Matt Hillam (SBD Dallara F3RB01) finished one place better with a 79.58 run, 0.6 seconds behind Michael Connolly,’s very under-geared, 4-litre GR37. Hillam’s co-driver, Steve Broughton, was exactly one second quicker, and improved on his Q time by 0.9 seconds, but he slipped to 5^th. Craig Sampson (2-litre SBD Reynard DN Mk.1) improved to take 4^th in 78.01. Nick Algar (DJ Firehawk with supercharged 1340cc engine) found two seconds but stayed third on a 77.82 from his first run. Mark Smith, sharing his car with Craig Sampson, qualified a fraction under the 2 litre record and then took another tenth off on his first run to finish second.With the Calder family already well on their way home to the top of Scotland, all John Graham had to do was to cruise round to win by 2.5 seconds – although it certainly did not look like a cruise!

P Parker & J Toulmin

Results:

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 8 Anglesey 13th June

1.John Graham (2.8 Gould-NME GR55B) 74.27s

2. Mark Smith (2.0 Reynard DB Mk1) 76.80s

3. Nick Algar (1.3s DJ Firehawk) 77.82s

4. Craig Sampson (2.0 Reynard DB Mk1) 78.01s

5. Steve Broughton (2.0 SBD Dallara F3RB01) 78.58s

6. Michael Connolly (4.0 Gould-Judd GR37) 78.95s

7. Matt Hillam (2.0 SBD Dallara F3RB01) 79.58s

8. Steve Miles (2.0 Van Diemen RF96mm) 80.08s

9. Martin Webb (2.0 Dallara F399/00) 81.01s

10. Tony Jarvis (2.0 Dallara F399/00) 81.01s

11.Bradley Hobday (1.0 Jedi Mk4) 81.98s

12. Jim Belt (3.0 Juno TR400) 83.88s

Maiden win for John Graham

John Graham achieved his maiden win in the Sunday event with his Gould GR55B with a series of improving and very impressive times. His approach has been to slowly build up speed in the car step by step and this strategy has at last paid off.

Following some very heavy overnight rain the track was wet for the first practice runs and still damp for the second but the Calders only managed one run each in practice before they needed to pull their transmission apart, only to discover a seized bearing, fortunately discovered before any more major transmission drama. Craig Sampson improved on his third spot from Saturday to take an even better second on Sunday in a very impressive weekend. Craig’s co-driver, Mark Smith, also improved to take third spot on Sunday’s event.

Dave Cutcliffe was a disappointed non starter with an oil leak while Tony Jarvis, sadly suffered the misfortune of a driveshaft breakage upon leaving the line for his opening Top 12 Run Off run. This was unfortunate since Tony was very happy with the car following some adjustments to the springing but at least co driver Martin Webb secured an encouraging 7th place.

Paul Parker

Results:

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 7 Pembrey May 31st

1. John Graham 92.17s
2. Craig Sampson 93.24s
3. Mark Smith 95.34s
4. Steve Miles 96.69s
5. Matt Hillam 98.78s
6. Bradley Hobday 99.34s 
7. Martin Webb (2.0 Dallara F399/00) 100.16s
8. Jim Belt (3.0 Juno TR400) 101.87s
9. Bill Gouldthorpe 107.24s 
10. Nick Houston (1.0 Jedi Mk1) 107.52s
11. Tony Jarvis (Fail)
12. Steve Broughton (DNS)

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Points after Round 7:

1. Mark Smith 73pts

2. Craig Sampson 65pts

3. Steve Miles 57pts

4. Colin Calder 52pts

5. Bradley Hobday 48pts

6. Heather Calder 45pts

7. Matt Hillam 37pts

8. Steve Broughton 31pts

9. Tony Jarvis 29pts

10. John Graham 27pts

11. Martin Webb 18pts

12. Jim Belt 12pts

A Calder one two at Pembrey

Colin Calder managed to overcome daughter Heather to secure victory in the Saturday event of the two day Pembrey Sprint meeting. Colin set a time to finish on top spot after the first of two runs, but then Heather found 2.5 seconds to go top on her second but then Colin also found 1.8 seconds to secure both victory and record. Craig Sampson concluded a very satisfactory day to take third spot and John Graham managed fourth spot. Mark Smith seemed to be having a day of days with a series of incidents and a second away from co-driver Craig. 

Just a couple of seconds away, on his sole run because of engine temperature, was Dave Cutcliffe in his first qualification for almost 10 years driving his elderly (95?) but highly developed Van Diemen, He was closely pursued by 4 other 2 litre engined runners, within little more than a second. The other record breaker was Bradley Hobday in his1000cc Jedi. The final spot was taken by veteran, Bill Gouldthorpe, in his SBD OMS CF08 very please to have made the Run Off.

Paul Parker

Results:

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 6 Pembrey May 30th

1. Colin Calder (3.5 Gould-NME GR55) 86.50s

2. Heather Calder (3.5 Gould-NME GR55) 87.48s

3. Craig Sampson (2.0 SBD Reynard DB Mk01) 94.28s

4. John Graham (2.8 Gould-NME GR55B) 94.81s

5. Mark Smith (2.0 SBD Reynard DB Mk0) 95.32s

6. Dave Cutcliffe (1.3t Van Diemen DC 93M) 96.99s

7. Steve Miles (2.0 Van Diemen SBD Duratec RF96) 97.26s

8. Matt Hillam (2.0 Dallara F3 RB01) 97.57s

9. Steve Broughton (2.0 Dallara F3 RB01) 97.60s

10. Tony Jarvis (2.0 Dallara F399/00) 98.14 s

11. Bradley Hobday (1.0 Jedi Mk 4) 98.88s

12. Bill Gouldthorpe (1.6 SBD OMS CF08) 101.77s

Another Calder One Two at Snetterton

Round 5 of the 2015 SBD British Sprint Championship took place on the same Snetterton 100 circuit as Round 4 the day before and the Sunday was a much more trouble free day. 

The Calders decided that one timed run each was enough to qualify in an effort to save both engine and tyres. Mark Smith put together two closely matched times for third spot. Steve Broughton's opener was better than both all his Saturday times and a few tenths better than Craig Sampson's best. A further few tenths back was Steve Miles, a tenth better than Matt Hillam and a further half second or so away was Nick Algar. Bradley Hobday now was into the 85s, despite still suffering with front end grip issues, and a tenth and half ahead of Tony Jarvis. Tony's co-driver was now coming to grips with the 2015 set up of their car and his times started to improve markedly on his Saturday ones. Martin Pickles also showed distinct improvement and commented that he was now beginning to enjoy Snetterton, having got the "hang" of the place, Bill Gouldthorpe was a second better than the day before and Nick Houston was streets ahead of his Saturday times, perhaps nipping off locally (he knows the area, having worked there) to get his front's balanced had some part to play? Chris Bennett too was now steadily settling into the Force and his times showed he was getting the hang of it.

TOP 12 RUN OFF

Jim Belt undertook just the one run on Sunday and secured his point with a time a full second better than the day before. Martin Webb managed both runs this time and concluded with a time over six seconds better than he had the day before, real progress. In tenth spot was Bradley Hobday who managed to dip into the 84s, something in the region of 5 seconds below the record for the 1100s! Just one spot ahead was Steve Broughton with two runs in the low 84s, not his best of the weekend, but heading the right way. 

Half a second better was Tony Jarvis, his Top 12 efforts both in the 83s and just one tenth better than the Feckenham Garage man was Steve Miles with his best of the day but a further half second behind Matt Hillam.

Another secondahead  was Craig Sampson, both his runs proving to be his best of the whole weekend and his co-driver Mark Smith found another second to gain fourth spot. On his final run, Nick Algar managed to get 1/100th under the 2 litre record to secure third spot. Heather Calder finished with her best of the weekend in the 76s but demonstrating how serious Heather takes her sport, her return to the paddock was accompanied by much head shaking, she was not a happy bunny, she knew there was more to come that she had left out on the track. Then there was Colin, I'm not sure what he had for lunch, but it obviously agreed with him as he concluded with a time a full two and half seconds inside the existing outright record, an astonishing performance in the Calder Engineering backed Gould.

Paul Parker

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 5 Snetterton 100 May 17th

Results:

1. Colin Calder - 74.56s

2. Heather Calder - 76.71s

3. Nick Algar - 80.17s

4. Mark Smith - 80.63s

5. Craig Sampson - 81.63s

6. Matt Hillam - 82.85s

7. Steve Miles - 83.40s

8. Tony Jarvis - 83.51s

9. Steve Broughton - 84.03s

10. Bradley Hobday - 84.78s

11. Martin Webb - 85.35s

12. Jim Belt - 87.96s

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Points after Round 5:

1. Mark Smith 55pts

2. Craig Sampson 44pts

3. Steve Miles 42pts

4. Colin Calder 39pts

5. Bradley Hobday 38pts

6. Heather Calder 34pts

7. Steve Broughton 27pts

8. Tony Jarvis 26pts

9. Matt Hillam 24pts

10. Martin Webb 12pts

11. Nick Algar 11pts

12. Martin Pickles 10pts

The Calders well ahead

A wonderful sunny weekend was only spoiled by the constant biting wind. It was a joy to once again return to this MSVR facility and the slick organisation provided by the Borough 19 Motor Club.

Saturday's event was the one where most of the difficulties were faced by the SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship contestants. Sadly we lost Simon Bainbridge in the SBR Chrono (Chrono is Italian for Time Trial) when the engine let go. The engine was that run in Simon's earlier car and it returned to the paddock covered in extinguishent. This was very sad as Simon had begun to get very much on the pace, getting closer to threatening the Category Record for the Sports Libre cars on this, the slower day of the two. Despite what I have just said however Mark Smith posted his fastest time of the whole weekend on his first timed run, half a second below the existing 2 litre record, helped perhaps by some new rubber? In doing so he managed to squeeze between Colin & Heather Calder during the timed runs. 

Steve Broughton's car was receiving a certain amount of tender loving care from the expertise of Alan Mugglestone over the course of the weekend in an attempt to make the rear of the car work as well as the front does. Tony Jarvis demonstrated how the winter work on the Dallara he shares with Martin Webb was paying him dividends, being only 5/100ths behind Broughton at the end of the timed runs. Bradley Hobday continued, in yet another venue he'd never seen before, to make the 1100cc record an historical issue, steadily enhancing it throughout the weekend. Nick Algar continued his learning process with the ex-Alex Summers DJ Firehawk. One observation being that the car's wish for upchanges bettered Nick's speed with the paddle. Interestingly Nick was also undergoing the "learning process" never having competed before on the 100 Circuit. It was good to have the Bill Gouldthorpe & Carole Torkington back with us.Chris Bennett was giving his Force its British Sprint Championship debut, so a learning process there too. Richard Arrowsmith had all repairs undertaken after Lydden with a new left upper wishbone, new front wing end plates, a new front wing mounting together with aspare front wing that Richard had.

TOP 12 RUN OFF

Throughout the Top 12 Run Off there was a series of "offs". Steve Miles, Steve Broughton & Nick Algar all suffered their times being discounted because of off course excursions. In Nick Algar's case there was no time set at all as a brake problem was discovered on his return to the paddock. Martin Webb took his initial run which was his "banker" but aborted his second attempt early, on the basis he felt he had made mistakes almost throughout his opening lap so felt that continuing was not worthwhile. Jim Belt uncharacteristically undertook both runs but concluded with a time 2/100ths slower than his opening timed run having conducted the necessary repair work after his last outing at Croft. Bradley Hobday finished with a time close to 3.5 seconds under the existing 1100cc record. Rather quicker was Steve Broughton three quarter's of a second ahead of Tony Jarvis. Co-driver Matt Hillam was however to conclude his efforts a couple of seconds quicker. A second better than that was Craig Sampson who was a couple of tenths shy of Steve Miles and better yet than Miles by a second or so was top 2 litre runner Mark Smith. Then came the top qualifiers in the Calder Engineering sponsored Gould GR55 and neither of the dynamic duo were altogether happy with their runs. Colin having bettered the outright circuit record on his first timed run, finally did so again on his last run, with Heather just a tad over a second short of that.

Paul Parker

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 4 Snetterton 100 May 16th

Results:

1. Colin Calder (3.5 Gould-NME GR55) 76.95s

2. Heather Calder (3.5 Gould-NME GR55) 78.09s

3. Mark Smith (2.0 Reynard-SBD Duratec DB Mk 1) 81.47s

4. Steve Miles (2.0 Van Diemen-SBD Duratec RF96) 82.74s

5. Craig Sampson (2.0 Reynard-SBD Duratec DB Mk 1) 82.96s

6. Matt Hillam (2.0 Dallara-SBD F399/01) 83.89s

7. Tony Jarvis (2.0 Dallara-Vauxhall F399/01) 85.10s

8. Steve Broughton (2.0 Dallara-SBD F399/01) 85.85s

9. Bradley Hobday (1.0 Jedi-Suzuki Mk 4) 86.05s

10. Jim Belt (3.0 Juno-Jaguar TR400) 88.84s

11. Martin Webb (2.0 Dallara-Vauxhall F399/01) 91.44s

DNF Nick Algar (1.3s DJ Firehawk)

The British Sprint beats the rain at Lydden!

Saturday morning opened a bright and sunny day, albeit a windy one and the rain stayed away until just after the Top 12 Run Off, after which it decided to offer a brief shower.

The one unfortunate casualty of the morning was Richard Arrowsmith. He spun exiting Devils Elbow and the end result was a bent upper left front wishbone and a bent front wing mounting both of which rather put paid to his hopes of British Sprint Championship points from the event

Simon Bainbridge suffered the misfortune of a water pump which was less than inclined to circulate, discovered fortuitously during the course of the post-practice noise test. He was aided by the assistance of Championship sponsor Steve Broughton, who happened to have a spare, and John Hansell who had built the car permitting access to many areas previously rather inaccessible and was consequently able to run.

TOP 12 RUN OFF

Oddly, in many instances, the timed runs produced the best times of the day. But that was fortunate for the many spectators present. Simon Bainbridge discovered that the adoption of a 2WD format, rather than the 4WD he had become accustomed to, warranted a modification to his driving technique. Nonetheless his opening Top 12 Run Off time was to become a new Sports Libre class record....getting the hang of it then?

Both Martin Webb and Martin Pickles found time during the Run Offs, in the latter case certainly, by the simple adoption of run-off tyres. A distinct advantage in his case as, in recent years at this venue he had too often ended up facing the way he had come, but he overcame this particular issue and only suffered that experience during one run. Both Martin Webb and co-pilot Tony Jarvis made noticeable improvements during the Run Off runs, the latter resulting in a time he could leave the venue rather proud of! He managed to set a time half a second better than SBD co-pilot Matt Hillam had during his opener. For some quite unaccountable reason, Matt did not manage to complete his full number of laps during his second run. 

Bradley Hobday arrived at the venue, as will become common during 2015, never having seen it before. Benefiting from a recently completed support arrangement with Yuasa Batteries, Bradley had to learn the nuances of Lydden Hill and enhance his time all day long. However, this proved difficult to accomplish in the Run Off having set a quicker time in only his 2nd timed run, but nevertheless was able to set the 5th fastest time of the day and 5th in the Top 12 Run Off. The proximity of his time, to that of the ultimate class record, would be something many competitors could be proud of....not Bradley, hunting for improvements in his times, he felt more was to come, this indicative of a driver to watch in the future!

Then came the top 4 battle. Steve Broughton sensed the car was steadily coming towards him, the front end pointing just as he wanted, the rear taking a little while to follow still. His final results being a 69.05s, but the remainder where very tight. Craig Sampson finishing with a 66.85s run, but Steve Miles mamnaged to top that with a storming 66.70s, but Mark Smith maintained his phenomenal start to the season with a closing second timed run in 66.26s followed by his two Top 12 Run Off times at 66.30s pipped by his final effort in 66.26s.

Paul Parker

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 3 Lydden Hill May 9th

Results:

1. Mark Smith 2.0 Reynard-SBD Duratec 66.26s

 2. Steve Miles 2.0 Van Diemen-SBD Duratec 66.70s

 3. Craig Sampson 2.0 Reynard-SBD Duratec 66.85s 

4. Steve Broughton 2.0 Dallara-SBD Duratac DBMk1 69.05s 

5. Bradley Hobday 1.0 Jedi-Suzuki Mk 4 69.95s 

6. Matt Hillam 2.0 Dallara-SBD Duretec 70.63s 

7. Tony Jarvis 2.0 Dallara-Vauxhall F399-025 70.10s 

8. Simon Bainbridge 4.2T Crono-SBR 71.82s 

9. Martin Pickles 1.0 Jedi-Suzuki Mk 1 72.17s 

10. Martin Webb 2.0 Dallara-Vauxhall F399/025 72.23s

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Points after Round 3:

1. Mark Smith 36pts

2. Craig Sampson 28pts

3=. Bradley Hobday 27pts

Steve Miles 27pts

5. Steve Broughton18pts

6. Tony Jarvis 15pts

7. Colin Calder 12pts

8. Heather Calder 11pts

9=. Matt Hillam 10pts

Martin Pickles 1pts

Matt Carter 10pts

12. Martin Webb 8pts

Normal service resumed as Calder wins

Colin Calder (having repaired his broken rocker arm after Castle Combe) and Mark Smith had both enjoyed a week in Tenerife. They joined the remainder of the competitors on Easter Monday indulging in the most glorious sunshine at the SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship’s annual visit to the North of England at Croft.

Some North of England based competitors were making their seasonal debut. They included John Graham, out once again in his Gould GR55B, Jim Belt in his Jaguar engined Juno, Colin Birkbeck (back after a couple of years away, now armed with a supercharged Force PT, in the 1600 class), Nick Algar with his supercharged DJ Firehawk, Colin Metcalfe, back for some more action in his ModProd Nissan Primera and debutant Mark Dempster in his Sports Libre Imagination. Missing was casualty Matt Carter after a motor cycle accident.

The Calder’s took things (for them) fairly gently in practice, but confident all was well then were straight on the pace. John Graham was not far adrift of them. Mark Smith lost time in the final sector of his 2^nd timed run, but his first run was only a tenth away from Graham’s. Bradley Hobday had taken advice from Tom Potter (flat everywhere); never having seen the venue before, on the basis of which he took pretty literally and proceeded to take Potter’s class record apart! Steve Broughton demonstrated that all was well with the SBD Dallara, Birkbeck demonstrated his car to be well suited to the Sprint environment and that he’d lost nothing in his absence. Both Miles & Hillam were on their usual pace, although Craig Sampson appeared (for him) off his usual pace. Belt too doing enough to make the Top 12, Tony Jarvis did require a greater effort on his 2^nd timed run to squeeze into the Top 12 pipping two or three others who were closely separated by just tenths.

TOP 12 RUN OFF

Tony Jarvis opened with a standard banker, but did not undertake his 2^nd run having discovered a fuel leak after his opener. Jim Belt was unable to complete his 2^nd run. Colin Birkbeck lost a bunch of time as he came to the end of his opener, and didn’t undertake his 2^nd effort. Matt Hillam was a few tenths off his best timed run, and was unable to improve on his 2^nd attempt, Bradley Hobday found a couple of tenths on his opener and produced a time he was unable to improve upon. John Graham looked on his opener to be pressing Heather Calder, but unfortunately spun in the closing complex. On his second attempt he could muster no more than a banker to secure his points. Craig Sampson made distinct progress from his timed run efforts battling closely with Steve Miles over the 5^th & 6^th spots. Steve Broughton also made notable improvement, over his timed run times, and showing the car now to be everything he has really always wanted! Mark Smith demonstrated that, despite being hobbled by a foot injury, once inside the cockpit it appeared not to hinder progress with two sub 2 litre record times. Heather Calder, opening with a banker but finding a second and a half on her second run was not enough to beat her father Colin who was, as usual, disappointed not to make record times.

Paul Parker 

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 2 Croft April 6th 

Results:

1. Colin Calder (3.5 Gould GR55) 67.01s

2. Heather Calder (3.5 Gould GR55) 68.32s

3. Mark Smith (2.0 Reynard DB Mk1) 70.16s

4. Steve Broughton (2.0 Dallara F3RB01) 71.61s

5. Steve Miles (2.0 Van Diemen RF96mm15) 72.17s

6. Craig Sampson (2.0 Reynard DB Mk1) 72.73s

7. John Graham (2.8 Gould GR55B) 72.92s

8. Bradley Hobday (1.0 Jedi Mk4) 73.08s

9. Matt Hillam (2.0 Dallara F3RB01) 76.76s

10. Jim Belt (3.0 Juno-Jaguar TR400) 78.02s

11. Colin Birkbeck (1.1s Force PT) 78.29s

12. Tony Jarvis (2.0 Dallara F399/00) 78.61s

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Points after Round 2:

1. Mark Smith 24pts

2. Bradley Hobday 19pts

3. Craig Sampson 18pts

4. Steve Miles 16pts

5. Colin Calder 12pts

7. Heather Calder 11pts

7. Matt Carter 10pts

8. Steve Broughton 9pts

9. Tony Jarvis 8pts

10=. John Graham 6pts

  Martin Pickles 6pts

12. Martin Webb 5pts

Smith wins as Hobday stars at the Great Western Sprint

This was the opening round in the 2015 SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship and the circuit had been resurfaced over much of its length over the winter, added to which a solar farm had been built in the centre (which made course control’s task of viewing the far side of the circuit more difficult than hitherto).

Unusually there was only one unlimited class car entered, that of 2014’s top pair of Colin & Heather Calder. Terry Holmes & Graham Porrett had an as yet incomplete engine rebuild, Mike Musson had a variety of work still to be achieved and Peter Howgate had work still to accomplish with an on board starter motor. The 2 litre class had the usual contestants of Mark Smith, paired with Craig Sampson; Steve Broughton, paired with Matt Hillam; Tony Jarvis, paired with Martin Webb and Steve Miles, the only sole runner. Bill Gouldthorpe was again paired with Carole Torkington in the 1600s, joined on this occasion by “local” (he only lives just down the road) Chris Bennett, this time having an outing in his FF1600 Van Diemen as his Force is still being prepared. In the 1100s we had Richard Arrowsmith in his Force, newcomer Bradley Hobday moving on from winning the ASWMC Sprint Championship, replete with re-engined Jedi (now a K8 GSXR, rather than the K2 the car had in 2014) which had had its chassis set up by John Corbyn over the winter and these two were joined by another pair of Jedis, in the form of a returning Martin Pickles and Northern Irishman Nick Houston (now nestled in the Cotswolds). The Sports Libre fraternity was headed by Matt Carter, in one of his later outings in the Radical, before moving on to something else (bigger and better we hear!), and an opening outing for the brand new 2WD Audi R8 based “SBR” (which arrived in the biggest transporter in the whole paddock!) a car in carbon fibre throughout its chassis and bodywork, with brand new suspension (unlike the production based versions that its TT predecessor had) – the whole car built by John Hansell.

Over the course of the day there were the rather inevitable problems. The Calder family suffered a broken rear rocker which gave Heather a rather “interesting” journey at Folly but reflecting that it could have been worse. A new rocker and pushrod are on their way from Gould! This meant that the Smith/Sampson partnership finished one/two after the timed runs, with Steve Broughton on Craig Sampson’s tail, and Bradley Hobday not far adrift. Steve Miles and Matt Carter were very closely matched, after timed runs, with Tony Jarvis closely pursuing them after his single completed timed run (his second run was incomplete) and Heather was close by, although that would be the last run of the Calder pairing. Broughton’s co-driver Matt Hillam was a couple of seconds further adrift (having failed on Timed Run One) with Pickles, Gouldthorpe and Martin Webb within a few seconds.

So we were left with a Top 12 Run Off which contained 3 Jedis (it’s been nearly 10 years since there was last 3 1100s in the Top 12) plus Matt Carter, Bill Gouldthorpe and the other runners all 2000s. The Hillam/Broughton Dallara had left rear wheel problems. A spin for Matt on his first run casued by a loose wheel nut was thought to have bent a stub axle so the team withdrew only to find back at the factory that the problem was with the studs working loose.

Nick Houston (puzzled that he was even able to make the Top 12) finished 10^th and Bill Gouldthorpe was a few seconds ahead in 9^th just shy of Martin Webb by a couple of tenths after overcoming p[addle shift problems in the morning. Another second and a half ahead was Martin Pickles, with Tony Jarvis a further 2 and half seconds clear. But a comfortable 6 seconds clear again was Steve Miles, a second and a half adrift of Matt Carter. Then came perhaps the surprise of the day…..the podium finisher was Bradley Hobday over two and half seconds ahead and just two seconds shy of Craig Sampson (in a time just one tenth adrift of Tom Potter’s Jedi 1600 class record….with a “blown” GSXR)! His two runs both being sub-record times earning himself a pair of bonus points. Mark Smith was comfortably clear of his co-driver.

Paul Parker

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 1 Castle Combe March 21^st

1. Mark Smith2.0 SBD Reynard DB Mk1117.44s

2. Craig Sampson 2.0 SBD Reynard DB Mk1120.08s

3. Bradley Hobday1.0 Jedi GSXR K8 Mk 4122.08s

4. Matt Carter1.4 Radical PR6124.62s

5. Steve Miles2.0 Van Diemen-SBD126.02s

6. Tony Jarvis2.0 Dallara F399/00132.27s

7. Martin Pickles1.0 Jedi GSXR K4 Mk 1134.86s

8. Martin Webb2.0 Dallara F399/00136.09s

9. Bill Gouldthorpe1.6 OMS CF08136.20s

10. Nick Houston 1.0 Jedi GSXR K2 Mk 2140.56s

Matt Hillam 2.0 Dallara F3RB1 DNF

Steve Broughton 2.0 Dallara F3RB1 DNS