MG Owners Club Racing Championship 2000

Shown below are the top six positions in each class of the championship as they stood after 10 rounds, the last round being at Cadwell Park. As we approach the final 3 rounds, (which includes this one ) the points table begins to take on interesting scenarios! At the seasons end each driver will have drop their two worst scores, with only the best 11 scores counting. At first glance it appears that Julie Clark has a slender lead over rival Darryl Davis, but if you deduct Julies two lowest scoring rounds todate, this actually drops her to 148 points. Davis missed rounds 1 & 2 and failed to score, but two zeros from 151 still leaves him with 151 points! To be sure of winning the championship Julie really needs to score maximum points, and hope that Davis finishes well down the field!. Andy Campbell's lead in Class B looks a little more secure!

                   R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10    Points Total 
CLARK, Julie       21 21 16 18 18 12 14 18 15 21         174 
DAVIS, Darryl       0  0 20 20 21 15 20 21 18 16         151 
SMITH, Gary        12 16  9 17 14  9 18 14 16  0         125 
CLARK, Lorraine    16 10  7  9  0  7  3  8 10 12          82 
BAYNAM, Jim        18  0 18  0 12 16  0  0  0 14          78 
St.BARBE, Peter     1 18  1  0  0  0  0 16 20 18          74 

CAMPBELL, Andy     20 18 17 16 21 10 20 11 19 18         170 
EVANS, Nick         0 20 14 10  9 16 15 18 14 16         132 
GOLHAR, Nick       12 14 18 20  0  0  9  9 20 10         112 
PERRY, James        0  2  9 12 18 18  0 20 16  9         104 
COLE, Doug          7 10  7  8 12  9  3 14 12  8          90 
DAVIS, Darryl      10  0 10 18 16  0 16  0  0 20          90

Class A were first to practice, shortly before 9.30am. Conditions were officially described as dry/sunny, but in fact after speaking to a couple of drivers it was clear that it was quite damp and slippery on some parts of the circuit. A quick glance of the qualifying times and then the final race times will give you an indication of how slippy it must have been. Julie Clark was the fastest, taking yet another pole position. Nick Golhar, new to Class A in an MGF, posted the second fastest time. Nick Golhar who normally can be found behind the wheel of a Maestro and who made his debut in this car just a couple weeks ago, seems to be making good progress in his new race car! Darryl Davis however, who has ran the MGF throughout the season, found the damp conditions not to his liking, and found himself a couple of seconds off the pace! Darren Young qualified a respectable 8th in his white MGB GT, this I believe is Darrens best grid position to date.
This is how the top ten drivers in each class qualified for Round 11 at Oulton Park

Class A
1..Julie Clark      MG Midget  Lap time 2:08.175 @ 66.34mph
2..Nick Golhar      MGF                   +0.638
3..Darryl Davis     MGF                   +2.774
4..Lorriane Clark   Midget                +5.896
5..Gerry Thorn      MGB GT                +6.488
6..Jonathan Kimber  MGB                   +6.606
7..Dave Rees        MGB GT                +7.113
8..Darren Young     MGB GT                +9.342
9..John Kimber      MGB GT               +11.735
10.Gary Smith       MG Midget            +11.874

Class B - All MG Maestros
1..Nick Arden                  Lap time 1:51.502 @ 76.26mph
2..Andy Campbell                          +0.055
3..Nick Evans                             +1.515
4..Nick Golhar                            +1.532
5..Darryl Davis                           +1.598
6..Kevin Bull                             +1.598
7..James Perry                            +1.623
8..Robin Walker                           +2.273
9..Ian Evans                              +3.239
10.Simon Byrne                            +3.765

Class A lined up on the grid as the second race of the afternoon, the sun was bright and the track was dry! As the lights turned green Nick Golhar got a terrific start in his MGF and was the early leader as the cars thundered off the startline. The race was to be shortlived though! On the first circuit, Gary Smith not only ended up in the gravel at 'Cascades' but put the car onto its roof! The rest of the field did one more lap, but as the Marshalls tried to turn the car the right way up the decision was made to put out the red flag and stop the race!
On the re-start, which was now reduced to 8 laps, Golhar once more got a flyer. It was not long before Golhar, Davis and Clark pulled away from the rest of the field. In amongst the pack Peter St. Barbe made up some ground early on as did Chris Pollard. But Peter St. Barbe only completed one more lap, a misfire, possibly due to an alternator fault forced him into early retirement. Chris Pollard went on to make it through to 4th, having eventually got past a very determined Dave Rees. However, Pollard was to put a wheel on the kerb at Lodge, spun onto the grass -and couldn't get out of the mud! As he watched in frustration the pack streamed past before managing to rock the car onto a patch of grass withsome grip. Due to other misfortune Pollard managed to recover to a respectable seventh. There were many retirements, mostly amongst the Midgets, but none of them resulting from collisions. In fact , only Jim Gototbed failed to finish as a result of an accident - the rest were due to mechanical failures.

Results:Class A - 8 Laps
1..Darryl Davis   MGF      15:26.615 @ 73.41
2..Nick Golhar    MGF         +1.155 @ 73.32
3..Julie Clark    MG Midget   +1.393 @ 73.30
4..Dave Rees      MGB GT     +17.218 @ 72.07
5..Jon Kimber     MGB        +29.656 @ 71.13 
6..Darren Young   MGB GT     +40.847 @ 70.31
Fastest Lap: Darryl Davis 1:53.596  on lap 2 @ 74.85mph

A win here at Oulton Park should secure the championship for current points leader Andy Campbell. Due to some delays earlier in the afternoon, time was moving on and the Class B race was reduced to eight laps instead of the scheduled ten. With the sun low in the sky, and the shadows lengthening Campbell stormed off the line followed closely by Evans and Golhar. Nick Arden, the poleman, made a dreadful start and was quickly relegated to fifth. Doug Cole, who had qualified last, hit more trouble when he spun his car at 'cascades on the first lap. 'Knickerbrook' a favourite spot for the spectators saw plenty of action too, with Simon Byrne (96) and Kevin Bull (8) fighting over the same bit of road!. Doug Cole and Paul Stanworth also showed the crowd what 'close proximity racing' was all about!! Martin Gilchrist also had a moment at 'Knickerbrook' skidding onto the grass, but was able to continue. Up at the front Andy Campbell, Nick Golhar, Nick Evans and Darryl Davis broke away from the rest of the pack. James Perry was the nearest some five second behind, who in turn had ten seconds over poleman Nick Arden, who was to finish in sixth place. So it was Campbell who took the chequred flag, to secure him as class champion for the second time in three years!.

Results: Class B - 8 Laps
1..Andy Campbell MG Maestro 15:04.586 @ 75.20
2..Nick Golhar   MG Maestro    +1.527 @ 75.07 
3..Nick Evans    MG Maestro    +2.122 @ 75.02
4..Darryl Davis  MG Maestro    +3.445 @ 74.91
5..James Perry   MG Maestro    +8.489 @ 74.50
6..Nick Arden    MG Maestro   +18.957 @ 73.65
Fastest Lap: Andy Campbell 1:51.620 on lap 6 @ 76.18mph

Round 12 of the championship will be held at Brands Hatch on weekend of   30^th September / 1^st October