VINCENT SURVIVES PENALTY TO TRIUMPH IN CLUBSPORT TROPHY AT SILVERSTONE

From one fully booked round to another – Silverstone saw us with another packed grid for our second ClubSport race of the season. It was fantastic to see a few familiar faces from our previous meeting at Cadwell Park and we were over the moon to welcome some new cars and drivers. With a total of 39 cars out on circuit, we were guaranteed to see some great racing.

Qualifying ended with David Vincent in the Honda Civic taking pole position and first in Class A, David Shead and Malcolm Edeson leading Class B in their BMW Compact, David May and Mark Skeats leading Class C in the BMW 330, Craig and Gary Butterworth taking first slot in Class D in the Renault Clio 172 Sport, with Bill Taylor and Paul King topping the timesheets in Class E with their Mazda MX-5 Mk1.

The first few laps went without a hitch and we witnessed some cracking close racing, however, we saw our first appearance of the safety car following a small incident between David Fender in the Caterham 21, and the Mazda MX-5 Mk3 of Darren Stapleton and Gary Mitchell. It was a shame to see the Mazda caught up in some drama after the Close Racing team had worked so hard to get the car out for the race following an engine change after qualifying. Both cars were able to carry on in the race, unfortunately for Stapleton and Mitchell, they were unable to finish the race following mechanical issues later down the line. 

Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be the last time we would see the safety car joining the race, after another incident saw the BMW 330 of David May and Mark Skeats pulling off the circuit after contact with the beautiful Ford Capri of Mark Thomas, with the resultant damage putting an end to the BMW’s race. The safety car did allow drivers to take advantage and make their mandatory pit stop whilst the circuit was cleared.

Back to the racing and the M3 engined BMW Compact leading Class B was having to defend against the Honda Civic of Jamie Tonks to maintain 1st in class. Following the mandatory pit stop, Tonks was leading the race, however lost this once he’d served his pit stop leaving him finishing the race in P8 and second in class B.

It was a similar story in Class C between Stewart Donovan in the Toyota Celica and Declan Lee in the Mazda MX-5 Mk3, Donovan lead for most of the race, with Declan getting a taste for 1st in class during the pit stop window. Declan will have to wait until our next outing to try and win the trophy for Class C.

Aside from the Mazda MX-5 Mk3 of Stapleton/Mitchell, the rest of Class D were able to keep themselves out of any incidents and made their way to the finish line whilst avoiding any drama on circuit with the Renault Clio of Craig and Gary Butterworth taking their second class win after triumphing at Cadwell Park several weeks ago.

And last, but by no means least, one of the larger classes, Class E. 5 of 7 cars in this class were the Mk1 Mazda MX-5s, these cars showed good pace and made sure they had to work for their finishing positions. It was a shame to see the stunning Rover Mini of John Cockburn-Evans having to head into the pits leaving unable to finish the race. The BMW 116 of Fareham College did finish the race, albeit with engine issues, so we hope they can get the car back on form and into our Donington Park round.

We can’t wait for the next round at Donington Park and hope to see another eclectic mix of cars joining us!

Charlotte White