BRITISH SPRINT CHAMPIONSHIP REPORT ARCHIVE

What a finish at Anglesey as Holmes wins

For Day 2 of the Anglesey Sprint week-end it was on to the International Course for the conclusion to the 2017 SBD British Sprint Championship year. John Graham & Terry Holmes managed to finish the timed runs just 2/100ths apart! Smiles was intent on retaining his "Red 5" and got into the 80s and 3rd qualifier. Behind him was Simon Bainbridge, again making a mockery of the existing Sports Libre category record. Chris Jones followed his practice of the day before and qualified just outside the 1100 racing car record. Graham Porrett continued his pleasing season closer, this time pursued by Matt Carter. Then came Nick Algar going through a process of changing everything, plugs, injectors the whole shooting match in an ultimately vain attempt to rediscover 4 operational cylinders.

The Jarvis/Webb Dallara suffered a misfire during practice which prevented Tony from taking his second run.. A quick change of plugs did not improve it and over lunch they were almost going home as they struggled to find anything wrong. The fuel seemed to be the problem so a strip and clean of the fuel system and hey presto, magic. Engine running extremely well, another top 12 run off and Tony jumped from 12th to 10th in the championship. “A brilliant weekend of sprinting!”. Just behind was Grahame Harden and final qualifier again was Bill Gouldthorpe.

Top 12 Run Off

Bill Gouldthorpe made real progress in his final Run Off of the season. Nick Algar however did not and unfortunately finished his season on a very negative note. Martin Webb finished off with a time with which he started the timed runs, but given the problems the pair faced in between that was heartening. Grahame Harden decided all was well with his engine and managed to get down into the mid 84s, just a couple of seconds adrift of the 1100 racing car record, which considering what was powering him was a result. Matt Carter produced two times within a tenth of each other, both under the Sports Libre record.

Tony Jarvis was at least able to conclude his season with a smile having cured the issues he suffered earlier. Chris Jones managed to finish on another positive note with another new 1100 racing car record. Graham Porrett finished up with an 80 second run and a 5th place finish which was his second best points haul of the season. Just pipping him was Simon Bainbridge taking the Sports Libre record into a whole new orbit! Steve Miles managed 3rd spot with a 78 second run, a PB “which was a great way to finish the season as without third in the run off he would have been bumped to 6th by Nick Algar and his only issues were wind and camera damage related!”. The top 2 set three 77 second runs between them. But the time that mattered was Terry Holmes' 76 second effort to take the victory.

PP

Results:

Anglesey International October 15

Longton & District MC

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 14

1. Terry Holmes(3.5 Lola Tegra V8) 76.27s

2. John Graham(3.5 Gould-NME GR55B) 77.68s

3. Steve Miles(2.0 Van Diemen RF96) 78.56

4. Simon Bainbridge(4.2t SBR Crono V8) 80.41s

5. Graham Porrett(3.5 Lola Tegra V8) 80.61s

6. Tony Jarvis(2.0 Dallara- Vauxhall F399/00) 81.95s

7. Chris Jones(1.0 Force TA) 81.61s

8. Matt Carter(1.3 Radical PR6) 82.30s

9. Grahame Harden (1.0 Jedi Mk6) 84.52s

10. Martin Webb(2.0 Dallara- Vauxhall F399/00) 84.68s

11. Nick Algar(1.3s DJ Firehawk) 87.47s

12. Bill Gouldthorpe(1.6 OMS-SBD Hayabusa CF08) 87.96s

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Final standings after Round 14

1. Heather Calder 111pts
2. Colin Calder 105pts
3. John Graham 98pts
4. Terry Holmes 90pts
5. Steve Miles 81pts
6. Nick Algar 78pts
7. Simon Bainbridge 77pts
8. Graham Porrett 58pts
9. Matt Hillam 51pts
10. Tony Jarvis 38pts
11. Grahame Harden 34pts
12. Steve Broughton 29pts

Graham wins at windy Anglesey

There were two common features throughout the weekend. The sky was grey constantly (although strangely enough, on leaving the island on Sunday afternoon, it was sunny all along the North Wales coast). The event organisation was first class with everyone having the opportunity of 4 timed runs both days, and the Top 12 Run Offs completed in about 25 minutes each day. Fortunately the track was only wet on Saturday morning, dry for the remainder of the weekend.

Welcome returnees consisted of Matt Carter (enjoying his final British Sprint Championship weekend before returning home to Australia), Tony Jarvis & Martin Webb, their gearbox issues now overcome, Bill Gouldthorpe and Carole Torkington made their return after missing the Scottish & Northern Irish weekends and were initially bothered by too much rear brake bias which caused Carole to spin. Championship sponsor, Steve Broughton, was around all weekend but his car was still away having a new floor developed and fitted while Mark Anson was back concluding his Junior Challenge rounds.

Terry Holmes topped the timed runs after fixing a loose gearbox shaft lock nut, pursued by Simon Bainbridge continuing his practice of re-arranging the nation’s Sports Libre category records. It was also good to see, like the previous two, Tony Jarvis in the 50s. Also in record breaking mode was Matt Carter under the existing Sports Libre record. Chris Jones was venturing toward the 1100 racing car category record despite it being his first visit to Anglesey and a spin in practice. Curiously back in 6th spot was John Graham. Next came two who were battling over the final British Sprint Championship number but Grahame Harden showed that the work he had carried out to the cylinder head of his antique Suzuki engine was having no derogatory effect.

Top 12 Run Off

It was so pleasing to see Bill Gouldthorpe (now in his 80s many/most will be surprised to learn) back in a Top 12 Run Off after the variety of negative issues that have impacted upon him. He achieved a time a second and a quarter better than his best timed run. Grahame Harden also found time (a second and three quarters) over his best timed run. Martin Webb managed to get into the 50s on his best run, seconds better than his timed run achievements. Then came Matt Carter having discovered a third of a second tucked away somewhere, then Tony Jarvis who was half a second quicker than he qualified.

Then Chris Jones also found more time to consign the 1100 racing car record to history. Graham Porrett enjoying his season closing weekend, but just failed to get out of the 50s. Steve Miles then got into the low 49s, but only barely in the 49s (meaning nearly the 48s) Simon Bainbridge produced another new Sports Libre record, sporting wool tufts in the process of testing his aerodynamics for much of the weekend. But four tenths adrift of the 2 litre racing car category record came Nick Algar. Terry Holmes was unable to better the 47s in either of his 2 Run Off runs, but down in the low 46s was John Graham and a new outright circuit record.

PP

Results:

Anglesey National October 14

Longton & District MC

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 13

John Graham(3.5 Gould-NME GR55B) 46.42s

Terry Holmes(3.5 Lola Tegra V8)47.49s

Nick Algar(1.3s DJ Firehawk)48.66s

Simon Bainbridge(4.2t SBR Crono V8) 49.02s

Steve Miles(2.0 Van Diemen RF96) 49.22s

Graham Porrett(3.5 Lola Tegra V8)50.19s

Chris Jones(1.0 Force TA) 50.32s

Tony Jarvis(2.0 Dallara- Vauxhall F399/00) 50.33s

Matt Carter(1.3 Radical PR6) 50.70s

Martin Webb (2.0 Dallara- Vauxhall F399/00) 50.98s

Grahame Harden(1.0 Jedi Mk6) 51.63s

Bill Gouldthorpe(1.6 OMS-SBD Hayabusa CF08) 52.73s

Colin Calder wins at Knockhill

Newly confirmed 2017 British Sprint Champion, Heather Calder, was on course to take the Round 12 win on the Clockwise Course with an intermediate time far ahead of her competition when a cable detached and denied her the win and another record within sight of the finish line.

Happily Sunday was dry throughout and Heather Calder continued her run of good form by completing the timed runs well clear of Father, Colin, in the Calder Engineering backed Gould GR 55, and John Graham’s similar car. Terry Holmes had fixed the problems from the day before and qualified fourth ahead of Steve Miles, the leading 2 litre runner, Nick Algar and Simon Bainbridge going well in the big SBR Crono.

Runner up that day was share driver Colin Calder (himself Champion 2013-2016) who managed to break a long-standing record to win on Sunday and final podium member both days was John Graham. Two litre runners Steve Miles and Nick Algar were surprisingly distant on Saturday, but Algar managed a new category record on Sunday and they were closely pursued by sports car driver Simon Bainbridge on Saturday but he was rather more distant on Sunday, after a moment on his first Run Off run upset his whole run Off performance (he was uncharacteristically quicker in the timed runs). Terry Holmes suffered gear issues on Saturday but was back on form on Sunday with a 4^th.

Top 12 Run Off

Heather Calder’s first run of 84.22s was over a second faster her team mate and well ahead of John Graham. But a two second improvement from Colin saw him take the win with John Graham in the final podium place. Terry Holmes was fourth ahead of Nick Algar who managed to put some distance between himself and Steve Miles.

Simon Bainbridge was rather more distant, after a moment on his first Run Off run upset his whole Run Off performance leaving him uncharacteristically quicker in the timed runs.

PP

Results:

Knockhill August 27

KMSC

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 12

1.Colin Calder (3.5 Gould-NME GR55) 83.70s

2.Heather Calder (3.5 Gould-NME GR55) 84.22s

3.John Graham (3.5 Gould-NME GR55B) 90.78s

4.Terry Holmes (3.5 Lola Tegra Judd) 91.59s

5.Nick Algar (1.3s DJ Firehawk) 92.56s

6.Steve Miles (2.0 Van Diemen RF96) 93.29s

7.Graham Porrett (3.5 Lola T90/50) 95.34s

8.Simon Bainbridge (4.2t SBR Crono V8) 97.82s

9.Graham Blackwell (1.6t Mygale Ecoboost) 99.64s

10. Graham Harden (1.0 Jedi Mk 6) 104.38s

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Points after Round 12:

1. Heather Calder 111pts

2. Colin Calder 105pts

3. John Graham 93pts

4. Terry Holmes 85pts

5. Steve Miles 77pts

6. Nick Algar 70pts

7. Simon Bainbridge 64pts

8. Graham Porrett 52pts

9. Matt Hillam 51pts

10. Grahame Harden 31pts

11. Steve Broughton 29pts

12. Tony Jarvis 27pts

Heather Calder wins at Knockhill and becomes 2017 Champion

August 26th was a significant day in the calendar of Scottish sport as it saw the crowning of the latest British Sprint Champion, Heather Calder, who achieved the accolade on the Knockhill Anti Clockwise course with her seventh win of the season (and 5 circuit records). She becomes the first lady to hold the title since the Championship’s inaugural Champion in 1970.

Saturday morning began with damp conditions which saw the retirement of local and former (2011/12) champion, Stuart Robb in his Pilbeam MP88, who found himself one gear higher than his traction control was prepared to co-operate with. By the time that timed runs came around in the afternoon the track had dried and Colin Calder let a trio of Gould GR55s with Heather second ahead of John Graham.

Top 12 Run Off

For the Run Off Heather Calder took the lead on her first run with a 84.30s run and extend this on Run 2 to leave the record at 81.85s. Runner up was shared driver Colin Calder (himself Champion 2013-2016) ahead of John Graham.

Two litre runners Steve Miles and Nick Algar were surprisingly distant and were pursued by sports car driver Simon Bainbridge, half a second behind Miles. The Holmes/Porrett Lola T90 was suffering gear selection problems and only Graham Porrett managed to complete a Run Off run finishing in 9^th place.

PP

Results:

Knockhill August 26

KMSC

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 11

1.Heather Calder (3.5 Gould-NME GR55) 81.85s

2.Colin Calder (3.5 Gould-NME GR55) 82.98s

3.John Graham (3.5 Gould-NME GR55B) 85.86s

4.Nick Algar (1.3s DJ Firehawk) 92.21s

5.Steve Miles (2.0 Van Diemen RF96) 93.01s

6.Simon Bainbridge (4.2t SBR Crono V8) 93.59s

7.Graham Blackwell (1.6t Mygale Ecoboost) 98.13s

8.Graham Harden (1.0 Jedi Mk 6) 101.87s

9.Graham Porrett (3.5 Lola T90/50) 107.18s

10.Terry Holmes (3.5 Lola T90/50) DNS

A Gould GR55 1,2,3 at Kirkistown

The weather for the second day of the Kirkistown week-end interfered a little on Sunday with a damp practice.

Heather Calder continued her successful run of wins on Sunday making it 8 scores this year, 6 wins with 4 of those including new course records! Her father Colin was runner up again and John Graham completed the Gould GR55 podium lock out although he was a little further back than on the Saturday.

Terry Holmes was fourth, closer to the podium and despite having to replace a broken driveshaft before both he and his co-driver, Graham Porrett, could qualify for the Run Off. Simon Bainbridge (despite his engine cover making a bid for freedom) and Nick Algar produced record times for their classes (as they had done the day before) and Graeme Harden managing to do so too.

Eamon Matheson provided some local interest with his MM2 and would have easily qualified for the Run Off had he been competing in the Championship.

With less than 20 points separating the top 4 in the Championship at this stage of the season, the Knockhill event results could be significant for a number of drivers.

PP

Results:

Kirkistown August 6

500 MRCI

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 10

1. Heather Calder 102.63s
2. Colin Calder 103.20s
3. John Graham 105.32s
4. Terry Holmes 107.02s
5. Nick Algar 112.08s
6. Simon Bainbridge 113.55s
7. Graham Porrett 116.55s
8. Grahame Harden 120.14s

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Points after Round 10:

1. Heather Calder 98pts
2. Colin Calder 91pts
3. Terry Holmes 84pts
4. John Graham 79pts
5. Steve Miles 69pts
6. Nick Algar 53pts
7. Matt Hillam 51pts
8. Simon Bainbridge 49pts
9. Graham Porrett 46pts
10. Steve Broughton 29pts
11. Tony Jarvis 27pts
12. Grahame Harden 23pts

Heather Calder sprints ahead at Kirkistown

The British Sprint Championship made its annual visit to Northern Ireland and upon their arrival competitors learned that both days competition would be on the long course. Most of the ten runners who made the trip found it to be a fruitful excursion the exceptions being the unfortunate Tony Jarvis and Martin Webb. They suffered a broken selector during Saturday’s second timed runs which led to an early return trip home on Sunday morning.? The weather on Saturday was fine, only turning less clement after close of play.?

Heather Calder continued her successful run with wins breaking the outright circuit record on Saturday on her second run after trailing in third spot after the first run. Her father Colin was runner up, a couple of tenths ahead of John Graham who continued his progress to take the final step on the podium despite a fail on his second run.

Local drivers Peter & Robert Morgan (Pilbeam MP82), Michael Roche (OMS) and David & Andy Hawthorne (Reynard FVL) provided some variety and would have qualified for the Run Off had they been in the Championship.

PP

Results:

Kirkistown August 5th

500 MRCI

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 9

1. Heather Calder (3.5 Gould-NME GR55) 101.92s
2. Colin Calder (3.5 Gould-NME GR55) 103.64s
3. John Graham (3.5 Gould-NME GR55B) 103.83s
4. Terry Holmes (3.5 Lola-Judd T90/50) 106.94s
5. Nick Algar (1.3s DJ Firehawk Suzuki) 110.00s
6. Simon Bainbridge (4.2t SBR Cronos) 112.96s
7. Graham Porrett (3.5 Lola-Judd T90/50) 115.53s
8. Graeme Harden (1.0 Jedi Mk6) 126.71s

Colin's turn at 'new' Blyton

The Sunday part of the Blyton Sprint week-end was held on the Eastern Circuit and proved to be a newcomer to very many of the competitors and a challenging one at that!

Combined with a host of additional competitors this rather put the organisers under a degree of pressure. The new course was putting competitors under pressure too with more DNFs being posted that is normally the case. Fastest in the timed runs was Colin Calder followed Heather, Terry Holmes and Chris Jones who was finding the tighter parts of the course suited the smaller car quite well.

Top 12 Run Off

How long ago is it since I have been able to say this in July? Colin Calder comes out on top for only the second time this season. Heather, rather niggled with herself about her performance, was about three quarters of a second adrift. Terry Holmes managed to complete the podium this time just heading John Graham by half a second. Just another three quarters of a second away was Steve Miles (who found 1.4s on his second run) and Chris Jones only a further three quarters of a second distant after a fail on his second run triggered by a missed shift. The Eastern Circuit was demonstrating that engine capacity was a lesser important commodity than is often customary. Simon Bainbridge was only another quarter of a second adrift.Only a tenth divided the two Grahams, Porrett & Blackwell, then came Simon Boulter and Grahame Harden, seven tenths dividing the pair and this time bringing up the rear, after his own car was troubled (and his spares delivery service not providing all the necessary bit of kit for his own car) was Nick Algar, courtesy of a very generous share drive offer from Pete Goulding and his other Mygale Ecoboost who hopefully will join the British Sprint Championship in 2018.

PP

Results:

Blyton Park July 9

WSCC

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 8

1. Colin Calder (3.5 Gould-NME GR55) 59.17
2. Heather Calder (3.5 Gould-NME GR55) 59.90
3. Terry Holmes (3.5 Lola Tegra Judd) 61.75
4. John Graham (3.5 Gould-NME GR55B) 62.28
5. Steve Miles (2.0 Van Diemen SBD RF96) 63.00
6. Chris Jones (1.0 Force TA) 63.71
7. Simon Bainbridge (4.2t SBR Crono V8) 63.96
8. Graham Porrett (3.5 Lola Tegra Judd) 65.82
9. Graham Blackwell (1.6t Mygale Ecoboost) 65.92
10. Simon Boulter (1.0 OMS 2000M) 66.75
11. Grahame Harden (1.0 Jedi Mk 6) 67.42
12. Nick Algar (1.3s DJ Firehawk) 67.98

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Points after Round 8:

1. Heather Calder 73pts
2.= Steve Miles 69pts
Colin Calder 69pts
4. Terry Holmes 66pts
5. John Graham 59pts
6. Matt Hillam 51pts
7. Nick Algar 35pts
8. Graham Porrett 34pts
9. Simon Bainbridge 32pts
10. Steve Broughton 29pts
11. Tony Jarvis 27pts
12. Simon Boulter 21pts

Heather takes BSC lead at Blyton

A gloriously sunny weekend greeted the large number of competitors arranged for the weekend at Blyton Park, starting on Saturday with its familiar Outer Circuit configuration.

Judging by the times set earlier in the day, even approaching the circuit’s existing record on Saturday was appearing to be difficult. John Graham, Colin Calder and Heather Calder topped the qualifiers with all three Gould GR55s stuck in the 56s bracket. The cars were fine but the times just weren’t there.

Top 12 Run Off

However, finally during the Top 12 Run Off, when British Sprint Championship points are determined, competitors really turned it on and in many instances on their second runs. Heather Calder, because of where she qualified was never going to set a time in reaction to that set by the opposition. Was that a hindrance? Not at all, she really turned it on with a new record (three quarters of a second under the former mark) of 54.00secs and enough points to place her at the top of the table for the first time this year with her 4^th victory out of her last 5 performances. John Graham was her runner up just over a tenth shy of her mark. With his early season problems now hopefully behind him more seat time at Aintree, this was perhaps his best performance of the series to date.

Heather’s father Colin completed the podium a little over a second back from her. Not too far distant, with the car on a consistent 8 cylinders throughout the weekend, was Terry Holmes who was little further away from Calder snr as Calder snr was from Calder jnr! Next was perhaps the British Sprint Championship’s quietest car, the SBR Crono V8, which on Saturday was absolutely flying and finished with a time almost 4 seconds under the Sports Libre record. Simon Bainbridge is really now coming to grips with his mount.

It’s not often that Smiles is overcome by a Sports Libre car but, for the want of a tenth and a half, he was this time! Then came Chris Jones, having upgraded from Junior Challenge to full status since Pembrey, he was just a full second back (and the final driver to get under 60s) from Steve Miles and that was some achievement given the differences between the two cars! After some initial teething issues with the new Force TA Chris felt he had found the right Sprint set up. Another three quarters of a second back was Graham Porrett who was half a second clear of Simon Boulter who was troubled by clutch issues for much of the weekend. Grahame Harden was a little over a second behind his class compatriot, albeit with his GX Suzuki out of the ark! These two 1100s split by the increasingly competitive Graham Blackwell with his Mygale Ecoboost. Finally was Matt Hillam with a change of mount for the weekend, appropriately enough for a Westfield Sports Car Club event he was mounted in a shared SEi model.

PP

Results:

Blyton Park July 8

WSCC

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 7

1. Heather Calder (3.5 Gould-NME GR55) 54.00
2. John Graham (3.5 Gould-NME GR55B) 54.11
3. Colin Calder (3.5 Gould-NME GR55) 55.05
4. Terry Holmes (3.5 Lola Tegra Judd) 56.32
5. Simon Bainbridge (4.2t SBR Crono V8) 58.53
6. Steve Miles (2.0 Van Diemen SBD RF96) 58.69
7. Chris Jones (1.0 Force TA) 59.70
8. Graham Porrett (3.5 Lola Tegra Judd) 60.49
9. Simon Boulter (1.0 OMS 2000M) 61.05
10. Graham Blackwell (1.6t Mygale Ecoboost) 61.49
11. Grahame Harden (1.0 Jedi Mk 6) 62.20
12. Matt Hillam (2.0 Westfield SEi) 67.67

Heather Calder takes third win of the season at Pembrey

There were two challenges facing competitors over the course of the weekend in Wales. One was the weather, with rain joining proceedings to make life challenging for everyone with a particularly heavy downpour during the morning. The other was the introduction of a new element to the track on Sunday which competitors needed to learn. This took the form of the track carrying straight on, at the exit of section where competitors join the inside of the course from the outside at the paddock entrance, rather than continue to curve left (on the now paved former section of the rallycross course) followed by a 90 left into a 90 right back on to the original course. There is a suggestion that something similar will be built at the exit of Brooklands. The modifications have been introduced to benefit those who test at the circuit 5 days a week, as F3 cars can take the whole section from Hatchets to Brooklands flat and also from Brooklands back to Hatchets again. So this adds a further braking section together with some further slower speed areas. That rather overlooks the arrival of some competitors battling against Champions League spectators arriving on Friday in the Cardiff area.

On the new track, Heather Calder got back to winning ways with a new circuit record. Her father, Colin, however had much to smile about with not only senior daughter Heather winning but news emerged of junior daughter Louise becoming the fastest racing car driver both days of the weekend in the Golspie Sprint, closer to home.

John Graham & Terry Holmes again took 3rd and a 4^th but the 2 litre runners changed their order a little with Matt Hillam leading Steve Miles and Steve Broughton in 5th to 7th places. These results meant that Steve was able to stay a few points ahead of Matt at the top of the BSC leader board. Sunday was a total nightmare for the Midland pairing of Tony Jarvis & Martin Webb, so the former was unable to reproduce his 8^th place Saturday finish. Their car’s behaviour in the wet develops a mind of its own, so practice times were totally unrepresentative (and didn’t help the learning process for the new layout) and the only meaningful run was the second timed run which was insufficient for either to produce a time to their customary standard.

Matt Carter during his first timed run on Sunday managed to break his chain, but repairs were conducted and all was well for the remainder of the day. Simon Bainbridge was kicking himself on Sunday, his best run showing a very promising time at the “split” ruined by a spin later in the run, denying him an opportunity to qualify for the Top 12 Run Off and no points for Sunday unlike his Saturday exploits. In the Top 12 Run Off Nick Algar’s transmission contents made a bid for freedom from its casing.

Losing both Tony Jarvis & Simon Bainbridge from the Top 12 qualifiers left space for the introduction of Graham Blackwell who improved throughout the weekend and Grahame Harden who picked up more points.

PP

Results:

Pembrey June 4

BARC Wales

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 6

1. Heather Calder 97.73s
2. Colin Calder 98.34s
3. John Graham 101.72s
4. Terry Holmes 103.54s
5. Matt Hillam 105.22s
6. Steve Miles 105.96s
7. Steve Broughton 107.32s
8. Graham Porrett 111.22s
9. Matt Carter 111.93s
10. Graham Blackwell (1.6t Mygale) 113.88s
11. Nick Algar 114.61s
12. Grahame Harden (1.0 Jedi Mk 6) 115.76s

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Points after Round 6:

1. Steve Miles 53pts
2. Matt Hillam 50pts
3. Heather Calder 49pts
4. Terry Holmes 47pts
5. Colin Calder 46pts
6. John Graham 38pts
7. Nick Algar 34pts
8. Steve Broughton 29pts
9. Tony Jarvis 27pts
10. Graham Porrett 24pts
11. Simon Bainbridge 16pts
12. Simon Boulter 14pts

Time runs out at Pembrey

The first day of the BARC Wales was largely fine apart from a brief shower mid morning which led to a few difficulties.

One early casualty was Dave Cutcliffe who seems rather unable to complete a full weekend at Pembrey without some mechanical issue intervening, this time not managing anything beyond an incomplete Saturday practice. Rain intervened during second practice and as lunchtime approached unfortunately the wrong announcement was made leading to some competitors, who had avoided an earlier second run on wets, taking an outing on slicks as weather conditions improved. The afternoon presented a dilemma for many. Would there be a Top 12 Run Off? Might the Top 12 Run Off be delayed until the following morning (as has happened before) when the possibility of further rain existed? Would the Top 12 Run Off be delayed until Sunday afternoon, when weather would be better, but cars would be probably too hot with back to back Top 12 Run offs of 4 runs? Eventually the decision was taken to discard Saturday’s Top 12 Run off entirely.

Heather Calder was beaten for the first time this season. The circuit curfew prevented a Run Off, so results were determined on the basis of timed runs and she was beaten by 4/100ths of a second, by father Colin!

John Graham & Terry Holmes took 3rd and a 4^th and the top 2 litre runners Steve Miles, Steve Broughton, Matt Hillam and Tony Jarvis took a share of 5^th to 8^th honours.

Simon Bainbridge had the SBR Crono V8 running well to take tenth ahead of Graham Porrett and Matt Carter.

PP

Results:

Pembrey June 3

BARC Wales

1. Colin Calder (3.5 Gould-NME GR55) 87.90s
2. Heather Calder (3.5 Gould-NME GR55) 87.94s
3. John Graham (3.5 Gould-NME GR55B) 93.87s
4. Terry Holmes (3.5 Lola Tegra Judd) 94.78s
5. Steve Miles (2.0 Van Diemen RF96) 95.94s
6. Steve Broughton (2.0 SBD Dallara F3) 96.33s
7. Matt Hillam (2.0 SBD Dallara F3) 97.66s
8. Tony Jarvis (2.0 Dallara- F399/00) 98.53s
9. Nick Algar (1.3s DJ Firehawk) 98.93s
10. Simon Bainbridge (4.2t SBR Crono V8) 100.46s
11. Graham Porrett (3.5 Lola Tegra Judd) 100.72s
12. Matt Carter (1.4 Radical PR6) 101.33s

Heather Calder does the double at Snetterton

In contrast to the day before, Sunday just got warmer and warmer as the day progressed and as the heat warmed the track this was to help times no end.

John Graham's electrical fault on the fuel pump relay appeared to have been overcome on Saturday evening but on Sunday the pump moved in its mounting, the terminals touched the body and this resulted in a small fire on the insulation around the pump control relay melting the adjacent electric cabling. So that was end of play after Sunday's first timed run. To add insult to injury the event was one chosen by his son to visit, being closest to his Milton Keynes base (he works for Red Bull!)

Graham Porrett aborted one of his Top 12 runs on Sunday, and then set to with his "magic wand" to try to discover which of the 8 cylinders had gone missing. he found it, corrected it, and off Terry Holmes went with the car singing on 8 cylinders again. Nick Algar got the DJ Firehawk running well and took the final podium spot with his first run while a consistent Steve Miles again finished fourth to maintain his position at the top of the British Sprint championship leader board. Tony Jarvis improved by almost three seconds on his second run to take seventh just a hundredth ahead of Simon Bainbridge who was proving that the Crono V8is as fast as it looks.

So what was the highlight of the Snetterton weekend? The answer to that is easy. Following her Saturday win, Heather Calder only needed the one Top 12 Run Off run to secure her second outright victory of the weekend. That wasn't enough though for Heather, she took her second run and managed to secure a new outright circuit record. Even though he had been beaten by his daughter twice over the weekend, it was a joy to see the delight on Colin's face at his daughter's achievements. Now to maintain that for the remainder of the season.....

PP

Results:

Snetterton May14

Borough 19 Motor Club

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 4

1. Heather Calder (3.5 Gould-NME GR55B) 74.43s
2. Colin Calder (3.5 Gould-NME GR55B) 76.26s
3. Nick Algar (1.3s DJ Firehawk) 78.88s
4. Steve Miles (2.0 Van Diemen RF96) 80.12s
5. Terry Holmes (3.5 Lola Tegra V8) 80.43s
6. Matt Hillam (2.0 SBD Dallara F3) 80.63s
7. Tony Jarvis (2.0 Dallara F399/00) 82.00s
8. Simon Bainbridge (4.2t SBR Crono V8) 82.01s
9 . Steve Broughton (2.0 SBD Dallara F3) 82.88s
10. Matt Carter (1.3 Radical PR6) 83.27s
11. Graham Porrett (3.5 Lola Tegra V8) 84.95s
12. Martin Webb (2.0 Dallara F399/00) 86.05s

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Points after Round 4:

1. Steve Miles 38pts
2. Matt Hillam 35pts
3. Terry Homes 29pts
4. Nick algar 28pts
5. Heather Calder 25pts
6= Tony Jarvis 22pts
Colin Calder 22pts
8. John Graham 18pts
9. Graham Porrett 17pts
10. Steve Broughton 16pts
11. Simon Boulter 14pts
12. Simon Bainbridge 13pts

The Calders return at Snetterton

An odd sort of weekend weather-wise. It had rained over Friday night and bits and pieces of drizzle seemed to be about for some parts of Saturday. That was less of an issue as the very nature of Snetterton meant that the course dried in no time. There was a suggestion from some that that the less frequent use of the 100 circuit (even though it forms part of the 300 circuit) meant that Saturday was not the best day for chasing record times.

It appeared that, over the course of the day, it was to be the Gould GR55s that would be the subject of any ill fortune over the course of the weekend. John Graham suffered with an annoying fuel pressure issue which was attributable to either the fuel pump or an electrical fault on the fuel pump relay.

The Calder family, in their first outing of the season, were not short of their woes. During Colin''s second Top 12 Run Off run the exhaust system came apart, an issue solved overnight. Matt Carter also suffered on Saturday (annoying too, because he was only half a second shy of Colin Calder''s time in the first timed runs). In his case spinning in the midst of a run which would have comfortably qualified him in the midfield of the Top 12. Simon Boulter must have had an issue with the timekeepers during his Top 12 participation as he had to take so many re-runs he eventually had to return to his paddock space to refuel - but he still managed to finish 11th, score points and be the fastest 1100.

Getting an inaugural outing, at long last, was the Simon Bainbridge SBR Crono V8. The issues faced in this instance with MIRA and MSA before the team sees its MSA Vehicle Passport must take them into their own league! Much of the weekend was spent making the existing Sports Libre record a matter of history. It was also good to see the return of Bill Gouldthorpe for a whole weekend.

It was a pleasing supplement to the weekend to see two of our past competitors within the Formula Ford Festival field in the shape of Keith Sollis and Iain Houston. Added to that too was the presence of one of our past British Sprint Champions in the form of Mark Harrison who was racing on the 200 circuit in the F3 Cup field.

Heather Calder only got the one Top 12 Run Off run on Saturday, but that was enough to take the outright win by three tenths from Father, Colin in the Calder Engineering backed car. Continuing their good starts to the 2017 season, Steve Miles took fourth thanks, in part, to improving by three seconds on his second run and Graham Blackwell who again got his Mygale into the Run Off.

Paul Parker (and Andy Leivers for the images)

Results:

Snetterton May13

Borough 19 Motor Club

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 3

1. Heather Calder (3.5 Gould-NME GR55B) 77.39s
2. Colin Calder (3.5 Gould-NME GR55B) 77.68s
3. Terry Holmes (3.5 Lola Tegra V8) 80.45s
4. Steve Miles (2.0 Van Diemen RF96) 80.70s
5. Matt Hillam (2.0 SBD Dallara F3) 80.87s
6. Nick Algar (1.3s DJ Firehawk) 80.99s
7. John Graham (3.5 Gould-NME GR55B) 81.51s
8. Steve Broughton (2.0 SBD Dallara F3) 84.00s
9. Simon Bainbridge (4.2t SBR Crono V8) 84.07s
10. Tony Jarvis (2.0 Dallara F399/00) 85.25s
11. Simon Boulter (1.0 OMS 2000M) 88.78s
12. Graham Blackwell (1.6t Mygale Ecoboost) 88.94s

Graham from Holmes at Croft

Despite weather forecasts suggesting the contrary the Easter Monday Croft was greeted by dry weather throughout the day, although not altogether warm. John Graham arrived replete with a brand new wing, much narrower than its predecessor recognising that the previous version was too large given the speeds it was being faced with now, compared with those for which it was designed originally. For much of the day it was apparent that both Terry Holmes and Graham Porrett were able to enjoy 8 cylinders again, Terry Holmes being fastest of all throughout the majority of the day. Steve Miles was troubled during the timed runs his car coming to a halt after only a few corners in his first timed run. He then spent much of his time, under instruction from the SBD fraternity, armed with various tools, correcting the shortcoming. Nick Algar too was troubled by a variety of ailments which eventually were overcome. Grahame Harden spent much of his day troubled by his clutch, having partly repaired the item between events, but still awaiting some new springs (which were apparently in the post!) for it.

Terry Holmes was a second and three quarters clear during the timed runs. John Graham following was another second clear of a bunch of five who included Steve Miles, Matt Hillam, Graham Porrett, Nick Algar and Steve Broughton who were all covered by little more than the interval that Terry Holmes was clear of the whole field. Another relatively packed bunch consisted of Simon Boulter, Tony Jarvis, Martin Webb and Graham Blackwell. The only isolated member of the family was Grahame Harden with his clutch slipping terribly, he was just left to bed in new tyres for Snetterton!

Top 12 Run Off

Sadly the electronic maladies of the Chichester Lola made a return. Graham Porrett stalled on the line and, although the rear wheel centres crossed the start line, he restarted and completed his run so if the worst came to the worst he would at least have a time set to determine points for himself. Terry Holmes, conscious of the difficulty experienced by his co-driver, was more aggressive in the revs he used on the start line. It produced what, for him, would best be considered an indifferent start but was nonetheless the 2nd fastest time of the day. Grahame Harden, his clutch behaving itself rather better than earlier in the day, managed to find more than three seconds on his second run.

Graham Blackwell, spending much of his day learning many of the bells and whistles his car had acquired, produced the best run of his day to manage a point. The times of both Martin Webb and Tony Jarvis were not far apart, Martin's best time being his final run, the pair separated by under a second while Tony’s two Run Off runs were only 6/100ths apart. Graham Porrett followed the example of his co-driver on the startline of his second run. It also was far from his best launch but got him away and ultimately produced a time not too different from that earlier in the day. Simon Boulter's target was to get close to the times of Tony Jarvis and Martin Webb. His best Run Off time managed to beat both of them. The best car engined two litre cars' times were fairly close together. A second covered Matt Hillam, Steve Miles and Steve Broughton who finished in that order. Somewhere or other, despite suffering various glitches over the day, Nick Algar found a best time which matched that of Terry Holmes' best, but his second best time was a handful of seconds away whereas Holmes second best was only a tad over a second away which succeeded in determining the tie break between the pair. Finally, finding almost a second and a half on his final run, victory went to John Graham although the track temperature impacting his ultimate time, compared with the year before.

PP

Results:

Croft April 17

Darlington & District Motor Club

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Round 2

John Graham (3.5 Gould-NME GR55B) 70.84s
Terry Holmes (3.5 Lola Tegra Judd) 71.45s
Nick Algar (1.3s DJ Firehawk) 71.45s
Matt Hillam (2.0 SBD Dallara F3) 72.54s
Steve Miles (2.0 Van Diemen RF96) 72.67s
Steve Broughton (2.0 SBD Dallara F3) 73.55s
Simon Boulter (1.0 OMS 2000M) 76.21s
Graham Porrett (3.5 Lola Tegra Judd) 76.72s
Tony Jarvis (2.0 Dallara F399/00) 77.16s
Martin Webb (2.0 Dallara F399/00) 78.04s
Grahame Harden (1.0 Jedi Mk6) 78.86s
Graham Blackwell (1.6t Mygale Ecoboost) 80.03s

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Points after Round 2:

1.= Matt Hillam 20pts
Steve Miles 20pts
3. Graham Porrett 15pts
4. Tony Jarvis 13pts
5.= Simon Boulter 12pts
John Graham 12pts
7. Terry Holmes 11pts
8.= Martin Webb 10pts
Nick Algar 10pts
10. Scott Pillinger 8pts
11.= Steve Broughton 7pts
Grahame Harden 7pts

Smiles all around

Season opening events, particularly this early in the year, can have a tendency to not going according to plan for some competitors. However, despite predictions over the winter concerning ROPS no competitors were faced with any difficulties, on that front, at Caslte Combe for the first round of the SBD British Sprint Championship. One competitor, who has battled with the subject for the past year, in a bid to have his passport released for a car that has been built totally from scratch, had decided to follow the route of certification involving MIRA and hoping thereby to be able to open his season, MUCH closer to home for him than at Croft over Easter. It would seem that the Scrutineers only became troubled with one issue and that was a car that possessed a banned steering wheel (look at Drawing 5.7 on page 155 of your Blue Book, the one with the big cross across it!) - an issue ultimately solved by the loan of his spare by a fellow competitor.

Fortunately it was a sunny day throughout, albeit with a biting wind. The whole SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship field were pleased to see the return of Bill Gouldthorpe. Unfortunately car problems in practice (coil/wiring related) led to a short day for him and co-driver Carole Torkington. Another returnee, also in the 1600cc Racing Car class was Scott Pillinger. However the car never performed properly throughout the day because of an electronic shortcoming. Matt Carter's Radical was making noises from its transmission it was never intended to, meaning that it managed practice and a timed run, but that was it. Also misbehaving at various stages through the day were the electronics of the Chichester pairing of Terry Holmes and Graham Porrett. They stuck with it, and indeed they were out the following day at Rockingham. Perhaps the most worrying incidents impacted upon John Graham. As he approached Avon Rise on his first timed run the upper elements of his rear wing made a bid for freedom. This lead to a big spin as he cross Avon Rise and approached Quarry. Very fortunately he conducted this exercise without touching anything solid. He attempted to undertake his second timed run armed with only the lower element of his rear wing. As he passed the pits at the end of his first lap the right hand half of that element was at an angle of 90 degrees to the left hand element, and for his safety, the organisers decided to switch on the red lights to halt any further progress.

A great deal of time was lost when Jeff Wiltshire's car attempted to perform the impression of a steam railway engine. It appeared that the engine let go approaching the finish line, and an oil slick was laid from Bobbies all the way into the pit lane supplemented by a great deal of smoke. The car continued its path under the Avon Bridge and then set fire to itself. The clean up operation rather put paid to the second Top 12 Run Off Run, although, of course, the damage to Jeff's car was of far greater concern.

When it came to the second timed runs the SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship contenders found themselves in something of a quandary. Would their points be based only upon the timed runs, because the amount of time lost during the day could mean no Top 12 Run Off? Would there maybe enough time left at the end to cater for maybe just a single Top 12 Run Off run? Because, as with many race circuits, Castle Combe has a fixed curfew matters really depended on how the remainder of the timed runs took place. Matt Carter managed his first timed run, sufficient to qualify comfortably, but not his second and sadly his day was done with a damaged diff. In the 1100s Grahame Harden, proudly displaying his "permanent number" for the first time battled with Simon Boulter, a newcomer to the British series. these two were joined by Martin Pickles who was displaying an "interesting" colour display having discovered the weight of many layers of paint in the car. Scott Pillinger's time was demonstrating all was not right, his best timed run some way distant from fellow Bristol MC member Simon Clemow's Force. Among the two litres the SBD pairing of Steve Broughton & Matt Hillam, their car demonstrating an interesting new colour for 2017, by means of a "wrap", led with times on a par from 2016. Steve Miles passed on his first timed run battling with a small problem, but managed an acceptable time on the second runs, which was his only run. Dave Cutcliffe seemed slightly off the pace, perhaps no more than "rust" having competed so infrequently. Tony Jarvis & Martin Webb started their season apparently untroubled. John Graham's issues have already been mentioned. Terry Holmes best timed run stood as FTD for the day with shared driver Graham Porrett a little distant.

Top 12 Run Off

Ultimately the organisers decided that sufficient timed remained for a single Top 12 Run Off. Matt Carter had qualified, but sadly was unable to run. Terry Holmes time was denied when all four wheels were reported to have departed the black stuff in favour of the green at Bobbies. Steve Broughton, uncharacteristically had an off at Quarry, although it was difficult to identify damage by eye when the car had returned to the paddock under its own steam. Dave Cutcliffe too was unable to post a time. Grahame Harden set a time with which he must have been disappointed, as it was many seconds shy of his best timed run, but at least his first 2017 points were posted. Simon Boulter posted a sensible time on his first ever British Sprint Championship Top 12 Run Off within a few hundredths of his best timed run. Likewise Martin Webb also followed suit with a time just hundredths away from his best timed run. Scott Pillinger improved his timed noticeably from the timed runs to the best 1600 single seater time of the day, but nonetheless the car was not right. Beating him by a few tenths and also improving his time from those of the timed runs was Tony Jarvis to just miss out on a podium place. Graham Porrett battled manfully with a car which had an engine operating on a questionable number of cylinders, albeit certainly not eight as intended, his time almost mirroring that of his best timed run. Also within a few tenths of his best timed run was runner up Matt Hillam concluding the day with an eleven points haul. Finally with his third ever event win was Steve Miles who was ever so slightly pleased with his day's outcome!

PP

Results:

Casdtle Combe March 25

Bristol Motor Club

1. Steve Miles (2.0 Van Diemen-SBD RF96mm) 120.00s
2. Matt Hillam (2.0 SBD Dallara F3) 121.41s
3. Graham Porrett (3.5 Lola-Tegra Judd T90/50) 126.69s
4. Tony Jarvis (2.0 Dallara F399/00) 129.76s
5. Scott Pillinger (1.3 DSP-Hayabusa) 130.36s
6. Martin Webb (2.0 Dallara F399/00) 133.80s
7. Simon Boulter (1.0 OMS 2000M) 134.72s
8. Grahame Harden (1.0 Jedi Mk 6) 140.08s
Terry Holmes (3.5 Lola-Tegra Judd T90/50) Fail
Steve Broughton (2.0 SBD Dallara F3) Fail
Dave Cutcliffe (1.3t Van Diemen DC93M) Fail
Matt Carter (1.4 Radical PR6) DNS

SBD Motorsport British Sprint Championship Points after Round 1:

1. Steve Miles 12pts

2. Matt Hillam 11pts

3. Graham Porrett 10pts

4. Tony Jarvis 9pts

5. Scott Pillinger 8pts

6. Martin Webb 7pts

7. Simon Boulter 6pts

8. Grahame Harden 5pts