PORSCHE PAIRING TAKES ENDURO WIN

The 750 Motor Club kick-started its season with a rammed schedule at Donington Park.

The meeting brought old favourites and new starts. And it was a strong start for the new Club Enduro series in what was a race of attrition for most of its competitors. Ben Demetriou/ Jonathan Evans took the win in the Porsche 968 ahead of Andy Marston/brett Evans and Leighton Norris. Class C was won by Liam Crilly/jonny Macgregor in a Mazda RX-8 while Class I was taken by Paul Aram/ Rui Ferreira in a Caterham 7.

Ian Allee won the first of the two Locost races on Saturday. Allee was able to take the lead from Jack Coveney in the closing stages in the first race. In the second race there was a red flag on the opening lap due to a five-car pile-up at Redgate. At the restart, there was a closely fought battle to the end between Danny Andrew, Tim Neat, Allee and Coveney, but it was Andrew who took the spoils.

The Classic Stock Hatch race got suspended almost as quickly as it started when a red flag was brought out due to contact at Redgate between Stuart Place and Ryan Clarke. At the restart, Matt Rozier made a crucial move on the inside of Lee Scott into Redgate, which allowed him to stretch the gap until the finish.

The second race featured a reverse of that order when Scott managed to take the lead on the opening lap. Matthew Stubington also had a good run after starting from the sixth row of the grid, making it up to fourth before successfully challenging Andrew Thorpe for third on the final lap. Stubington was later penalised 10 seconds for a jumped start and dropped to sixth.

Adam Shepherd took double victories in the M3 Cup after managing to win the first by overtaking Brian Chandler into Redgate and controlling the pace in the morning race. In the afternoon, Shepherd pulled off a similar win, overtaking both Mark Anderson and Kevin Dengate at the start. Luke Sedzikowski was also making moves in the second race, getting into third after Dengate ran wide into the first corner. The next lap he went for second, making use of Anderson’s poor run out of Redgate to make the move stick into Hollywood.

James Bark won the first Clio 182 race on Sunday, after a late challenge from George Williams going through Old Hairpin and Mcleans. Bark was able to hold on though, with Williams dropping back after an opportunistic move from Philip Wright at the final chicane. In the second race Bark was on a comeback drive after losing positions in a scrap for second, managing to salvage second place behind Patrick Fletcher, who took the win, and ahead of Don de Graaff.

Paul Smith took two wins in Formula Vee. Smith won ahead of Graham Gant and Craig Pollard in the first race after controlling the pace from pole, while Pollard battled for second with Gant. In the second race Smith finished ahead of John Hughes and James Harridge.

In the Stock Hatch races, it was Paul Jarvis and Ryan Polley who took victory in the first and second races respectively. There was a nice scrap in the second race between the pair, as they ran nose-to-tail and pulled off aggressive defensive moves through Redgate and Mcleans.

It was Matthew Howarth who took the win from Neil Stringfellow by 8.9 seconds in the Hot Hatch race. In the second race however, Tom Bell was able to win from Alistair Camp and Howarth, after a nice comeback drive through the field.

Will Sharpe won the Super Cooper Cup ahead of Stephen Rose and Caroline Gilbert.

In the second race on Saturday it was again Rose from Gilbert, with Martin Hathaway taking the final top three position.

Jason Williams won the Armed Forces Challenge race ahead of Darren Howe after making use of track position during the pitstop phase as eventual thirdplaced finisher Ed Mckean lost the lead.

The Toyota MR2 grid was so large the entry had to split into three groups.

In the Group A v C race Kristian White won ahead of Jim Davies. Michael Wells took third position.

In Group B v C Davies won ahead of Alex Knight and Cam Walton, while the Group A v B race was won by White ahead of Ben Rowe and Mick Nicholls.

1 Ed Pither (PRS 1b) 13m13.67s (88.45mph); 2 Robin Gearing (Darvi P88) +13.94s; 3 Bill Cowley (Cowley MKIV); 4 Peter Bove (Darki Mk4/5); 5 Chris Gough (CGR2 Evo); 6 Bob Simpson (SS/ F 750F). Fastest lap Pither 1m16.75s (91.47mph). Pole Pither. Starters 14.

1 Pither 14m40.32s (87.72mph); 2 Cowley +16.12s; 3 Bove; 4 Gough; 5 Mark Glover (Racekits Falcon); 6 Simpson. FL Pither 1m17.72s (90.32mph). P Cowley. S 11.

1 Martin Depper (Centaur Mk4) 15m22.36s (68.50mph); 2 Trefor Slatter (Centaur Mk11) +14.04s; 3 Tim Grigsby (Merlin); 4 Chris Hopkins (HCS Trophy); 5 John Skeavington (Austin Ulster); 6 Ian Grant (Austin 7 Pigsty Special). Class winner Skeavington. FL Slatter 1m38.14s (71.53mph). P Hopkins. S 10.

1 Ben Demetriou/jonathan Evans (Porsche 968) 2hrs00m39.54s (82.42mph); 2 Andy Marston/ Brett Evans (BMW E46 M3) +57.70s; 3 Leighton Norris (Toyota Super GT); 4 Neville Anderson/allan Gibson (Toyota Super GT); 5 Steve Hewson/ Neal Martin (Peugeot 106 GTI/ VW Caddy); 6 Liam Crilly/jonny Macgregor (Mazda RX-8). CW Anderson/ Gibson; Crilly/ Macgregor; Paul Aram/ Rui Ferreira (Caterham 7). FL Anderson/ Gibson 1m19.66s (88.12mph). P Marston/ B Evans. S 22.

1 Ian Allee (Locost) 14m51.88s (78.71mph); 2 Danny Andrew +1.91s; 3 Richard Bradley; 4 Garry Brandon; 5 Steve Paddock; 6 Jack Coveney. FL Andrew 1m27.30s (80.41mph). P Coveney. S 35.

1 Andrew 10m34.77s (77.41mph); 2 Tim Neat +0.45s; 3 Allee; 4 Coveney; 5 Lee Emm; 6 Ben Powney. FL Andrew 1m28.21s (79.58mph). P Emm. S 30.

1 Matt Rozier (Peugeot 205GTI) 11m44.16s (79.75mph); 2 Lee Scott (Ford Fiesta XR2I) +1.98s; 3 Edward Cooper (Vauxhall Nova GSI); 4 Matthew Stubington (Peugeot 205GTI); 5 Benjamin Leach (Ford Fiesta XR2I); 6 Paul Thorpe (Ford Fiesta XR2). FL Rozier 1m26.47s (81.18mph). P Scott. S 23.

1 Scott 14m29.79s (79.79mph); 2 Rozier +0.16s; 3 Andrew Thorpe (Citroen AX GTI); 4 P Thorpe; 5 Cooper; 6 Stubington. FL Rozier 1m26.75s (80.92mph). P Scott. S 23. 6 Peter Isherwood. CW Sharpe (Mini Cooper S). FL Shepherd 1m17.95s (90.06mph). P Shepherd. S 15.

1 James Bark (Renault Clio 182) 15m28.52s (83.16mph); 2 Philip Wright +3.12s; 3 Patrick Fletcher; 4 George Williams; 5 Don de Graaff; 6 Trevor Gregory. FL Fletcher 1m23.42s (84.15mph). P Bark. S 21.

1 Fletcher 15m34.55s (82.63mph); 2 Bark +0.74s; 3 De Graaff; 4 Wright; 5 Williams; 6 Martin Ward. FL Bark 1m23.69s (83.88mph). P Bark. S 21.

1 Paul Smith (AHS Dominator) 14m54.28s (86.35mph); 2 Graham Gant (WEV FV01) +8.28s; 3 Craig Pollard (Bears GAC); 4 Paul Taylor (Bears GAC); 5 James Harridge (Maverick Vee); 6 Ian Buxton (GAC Daghorn). CW Harridge. FL Buxton 1m19.97s (87.78mph). P Smith. S 23. 1 Smith 15m04.53s (83.54mph); 2 John Hughes (Scarab Mk5) +9.38s; 3 Harridge; 4 Harry Webb (AHS Dominator); 5 Jack Wilkinson (Sheane Mk3); 6 Gant. CW Harridge. FL Buxton 1m19.57s (88.22mph). P Smith. S 22.

1 Matthew Howarth (Vauxhall Astra GSI) 10m04.90s (81.24mph); 2 Neil Stringfellow (Peugeot 206 GTI) +8.97s; 3 Paul Jarvis (Citroen Saxo VTR); 4 Ryan Polley (Citroen Saxo VTR); 5 Phil Law (Citroen Saxo VTR); 6 William Hunt (Citroen Saxo VTR). CW Stringfellow; Jarvis; Adam Read (BMW Compact). FL Howarth 1m23.64s (83.93mph). P Tom Bell (Ford Fiesta ST). S 17.

1 Bell 15m09.09s (84.94mph); 2 Alistair Camp (Ford Fiesta ST) +2.20s; 3 Howarth; 4 David Allen (Ford Fiesta ST); 5 Polley; 6 Jarvis. FL Bell 1m19.33s (88.49mph). CW Allen; Polley; Mac Mccarthy (Ford Fiesta ST). P Howarth. S 17.

1 Jason Williams (BMW M3) 40m42.71s (74.72mph); 2 Darren Howe (VW Golf) +48.79s; 3 Ed Mckean (BMW 325i); 4 Chris Wood (BMW 325i); 5 Grant Hatfield (Mini Cooper S); 6 Dan Tedstone (Honda Civic Type-r). CW Howe; Chris Slator (Peugeot 306 GTI). FL Williams 1m21.93s (85.68mph). P Mckean. S 25.

victories in the Michelin Clio Cup. In the first race, Brett Lidsey soon dropped back but retained second throughout, despite intermittent challenges from Samuel Randon.

Daniel Kirby and Luke Pinder had a good duel for fourth until Kirby got sideways at Cascades and Pinder picked up a track limits penalty, which handed the place to Tom Barley.

Lidsey was a solitary second again in race two once Dorlin was over the horizon, while Pinder completed the podium after Kirby ran wide at Old Hall on lap four.

Nick Dunn managed to consolidate his lead in the first Max5 race after sneaking ahead of Richard Breland. The lead quartet had paired off early on, which left Chris Webster defending third from Russell Tamplin after they had exchanged on lap two.

Dunn managed to hold his lead, while Breland, Webster and Tamplin all held station, leaving Steve Dolman to gain the upperhand over Geoff Gouriet for fifth with a lap to go.

Breland led again at the start of the second race but kept the door firmly closed as Dunn looked for the gap again. They were able to ease clear as Webster, again in third, had Dolman and Tamplin inches behind. But Breland’s reward for his race one defeat was complete. “His pace was relentless once he had beat me into the first corner,” said Dunn.

Tamplin was into fourth at Cascades on lap six and threatened Webster again, before Dolman briefly split them on lap nine. Webster just held on for his second podium, from Tamplin, Dolman and Gouriet.

From a four-car battle into the final stages, 2CV legend Pete Sparrow claimed another victory with a lap to go. Matthew Hollis had his share of the lead but had to settle for second, surviving late pressure from Thomas Perry, after Steven Walford had gone off at Knickerbrook on the last lap.

Kris Tovey led for most of race two and was declared the winner when a shunt at Druids brought an early end. Lien Davies and Mick Storey completed the podium.

Although Adrian Wray was a double winner in the MG Owners Club, his victories differed greatly. In race one he led from pole and spent most of the race with Andrew Rogerson inches from his ZR’S tailgate. They remained unchanged but Adam Jackson was allowed to close periodically too in third, leaving David Mellor to fend off Simon Kendrick and Mark Baker’s Fs for fourth.

It was Rogerson heading Wray from the start of race two, but a track limit penalty left Rogerson down in seventh, despite his ZR leading when the race was red flagged after a multiple shunt at Cascades.

Jackson and Martin Wills’ F were in the mix too, with Wills just gaining second place, only to lose it on countback at the red flag.

It was plain sailing for defending champion Joe Spencer as his Stuart Taylor Locosaki took a lights-to-flag win in the CNC Heads North West Sports/saloons race. Roddie Paterson’s Caterham had overheating problems and surrendered second to Dave Harvey’s Locosaki on lap four, but he soon recovered as both he and Nick Cresswell’s Caterham demoted Harvey to fourth.

Paterson was forced to retire on lap nine, leaving Cresswell to gradually consolidate his advantage over Harvey for second.

POS DRIVER /CO-DRIVER

Jock Armstrong/paula Swinscoe Garry Pearson/robbie Mitchell Shaun Sinclair/ Kirsty Riddick Mike Faulkner/peter Foy Mark Mcculloch/michael Hendry Bruce Mccombie/michael Coutts Dale Robertson/stuart Loudon Donnie Macdonald/paul Beaton Barry Groundwater/neil Shanks Andrew Gallacher/jane Nicol