THE JEC/CSCC RACES SATURDAY 9th MAY

 

A mixture of 36 Jaguars (XJS's and Saloons) took to the Indy circuit for qualifying. Due to the lower numbers this season, qualifying sessions are often combined. Numbers were down on last year but this was the healthiest showing so far this season with 17 XJS's & 20 Saloons! (Robert Macvicar was in both races which made qualifying two cars in one session difficult!)

Excellent weather helped to make this a great weekends racing for spectators and drivers (apart from those that can always be seen doing a rain dance at dawn).

XJS

QUALIFYING

Surprise of the morning was Alex Harrison putting his class E car on pole! Dermot of "Power for Peanuts has certainly worked some magic on the Kutuka team!

Qualifying was interesting with 36 jags on the circuit and fortunately it went the whole 15 mins without major incident. (which is unusual for a Jaguar race at Brands!)

Lawrence Coppock had problems with a head gasket which was fixed by the Kutuka boys and he would start at the back of the grid.

THE RACE

Alex leads the pack followed closely by Stewert Lyddall and Kevin Doyle (MJ)

Andrew Harrison loses a place to Ray Hill, however things were about to get even worse! (MJ)

Alex led from start to finish, Andrew went off on lap 2 at the exit from Druids and for the second time this year couldn't get the car restarted! (must remember that can of easy start for Mallory)

Good to see Kevin Doyle (red car) back in an XJS race again! (SR)

Lawrence Coppock locks up at Padock (MJ)

Also good to see Matt Skelton (25) back out on track (SR)

Miracle of 2009 is Paul Merretts car rising from the ashes after massive damage at Snetterton! (SR)

Stewert Lyddall is having a bit more competition this season, despite Derek Pearce's absence! (SR)

Kevin Doyle in the Hyper Engineering V12 went off at the top of Paddock but out of the way fortunately. Richard Crossley had a good race with Robert MacVicar and Lawrence, but couldn't keep up once they passed.

Roger Webster had a spin which allowed Richard to pass him briefly, as did Phil Comer (twice) and Richard managed to stay ahead of him to the end.

Simon Seath having made his full time return to the XJS Championship is struggling a bit with lack of power, but happy with another 3rd in class.

Thanks to Richard Crossley for much of the above report. Thanks also to Steve Redman & Richard Crossley for pics (SR) & Mathew Jeffery for (MJ).

XJS RACE RESULT

POSS	NAME	CLASS	BRANDS HATCH	PICTURE / LINK	CAR No.	CC	QUAL
1	Alex Harrison	E	First overall win for Alex!		.40	4L	1
2	Stewert Lyddall	G	Click on Pic for more details>>>>>>		23	5.3L	2
3	Chris Palmer	E	...		9	4L	3
4	Mark Russell	G	.		7	6L	5
5	Paul Merrett	E	.		73	4L	9
6	Matt Skelton	D	An.		25	3.6L	6
7	Ian Drage	D	.		31	3.6L	7
8	Ray Hill	E	.		37	4L	10
9	Roger Webster	E	Click on Pic>>>>		42	4L	12
10	Simon Seath	D	..		17	3.6L	13
11	Lawrence Coppock	D	.		27	4L	17
12	Robert MacVicar	D	.		66	4L	15
13	Richard Crossley	D	'		10	3.6L	14
14	Philip Comer	D	.Click on Pic for more info>>>>		71	3.6L	11
15	Bob Beecham	D	.		34	4L	16
DNF	Kevin Doyle	I	.		3	?	3
DNF	Andrew Harrison	D	.		5	4L	4

SALOONS

The following report was kindly supplied by Tim Morrant who was forced to be a spectator for this race due to an injury, Richard Morrant (brother) took over the drivers seat for this race!

QUALIFYING

It was a glorious day at the sunny Kent circuit for what would be an enthralling race! Qualifying was a frustrating time for most drivers due to the numbers on circuit due to the organisers merging the XJS and Saloon sessions, so a clear lap or two was hard to find!The star of the session however was Phil Woods in his class A XJ40 putting his car on pole ahead of all the faster class B cars. Local knowledge it seems does indeed give you an extra second or so, good work Phil. With Peter Dorlin 2nd and son Richard in 3rd. These two were split by a fast Gail Hill in the ex - Kirkham car. Simon Lewis was 5th (suffering from the crowded track) with Richard Morrant 6th (sitting in for brother Tim who was recovering still from a broken shoulder blade).

THE RACE

The cars lined up for the race and Phil Woods suffered from his lack of power against the class B cars around him when the lights went out, slipping down to 3rd by the first corner. Peter and Richard Dorlin took the lead in that order and Richard pushed his dad all the way and that was how they stayed until the last lap, when confusion and drama seemed to play a part at the top of Druids and it was Richard who emerged in front as they descended towards Graham Hill bend. Peter made a dive for the corner but eased when the door was firmly shut and son Richard went on to take the victory.

Peter Dorlin leads son Richard on first lap (All saloon pics thanks to Matt Jeffery)

Further down the field there was plenty to watch. Not least at the start when Richard Morrant got a storming start (in his brothers car)! and chopped across the front of SImon Lewis thinking he was far enough ahead to avoid contact and get inside Gail Hill. Regrettably he wasn't clear of the now recovering Lewis and slight contact followed with Lewis having to brake to avoid the pit wall!

Morrant mangaed to get up to the inside of Gail Hill by the first bend but a misfire, that blighted his qualifying, returned and he slipped back to 7th by the time he got round to cooper straight. Lewis was now chasing down Colin Mackay hard and was all over him for the majority of the race but the pace of Colin's original S type was enough to keep Lewis behind to the flag.

Howard Kirkham makes a move on Richard Morrant

.

Pic1 Gail Hill dispenses with Phil Woods Pic2 Andrew Jeffery tries to keep Patrick Doyle at bay.

Trevor Baines Robert MacVicar Dean Sewell

One of the best battles to watch was in fact between close friends and rivals Neil Taylor in his modern S type and Guy Connew in his class A XJ6. For many laps they were joined at the bumper and side by side for no less than three corners before Taylor managed to make it past exiting clearways and then set about chasing down Rik Walker. He was along side Rik's passenger door at the line!

Midfield Chris Boon & Rick Walker do battle

Phil Woods put up a valiant fight against the faster class cars and only lost out on 4th place due to a demon outbraking manoeuvre from Dave Bye into Paddock Hill bend and then lost 5th place to the charging Howard Kirkham in Chris Palmer's rental X300 cheered on by his posse of supporters from sponsors A PLAN.

All in all it was a cracking race to watch Next race is Mallory 24th June. It should be a cracker.

Many thanks to Tim for a great report! Tim is hoping to be back behind the wheel at Oulton Park on 13th June. Pics from this race should be arriving soon!

SALOON RACE RESULT

POSS	NAME	CLASS	BRANDS HATCH	PICTURE / LINK	CAR No.	TYPE	QUAL
.
1	Richard Dorlin	B	.		32	XJ6	4
2	Peter Dorlin	B	.		10	XJ6	2
3	Gail Hill	B	.		5	XJ40.	3
4	David Bye	B	. Click Pic for more info>>>>>>		57	XJ6C	8
5	Howard Kirkham	E	..		21	XJ6 X300	11
6	Phillip Woods	A	.		35	XJ6	1
7	Colin McKay	A	.		36	MK2	7
8	Simon Lewis	B	.		65	XJ6	5
9	Chris Boon	E	.		39	XJR	9
10	Rick Walker	B	.		54	XJ6	12
11	Neil Taylor	E	.		26	S Type	15
12	Trevor Baines	E	.		7	X Type	14
13	Robert MacVicar	B	. .		66	XJC	20
14	Guy Connew	A	.		72	XJ6	16
15	Patrick Doyle	A	Click on Pic for more info>>>>>>>		91	XJ6	13
16	Brian George	E	..		3	XJ6 X300	19
17	Andrew Jeffery	D	Click on Pic for more info>>>>>>>		12	XJ6	18
DNF	Dean Sewell	A	.		46	XJ6	17
DNF	Richard Morrant	I	.		62	XJ6	6
DNF	Robert Drewery	A	...		30	Daim Sov.	10

More to follow!

GOSSIP

Gail Hill has sold a yellow 3600 'E' car to Dave Ball. Seems like Dave is collecting yellow XJS's? Question is, where will he race it?