The Zolder Circuit
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Introduction
Over the weekend of Saturday/Sunday May 20th/21st, the British Automobile Racing Club organised a unique away weekend for a number of British race championships at the famous Zolder circuit in Belgium. For many of the competitors, this was their first experience of racing outside Britain, it promised to be an excellent advertisement for British club and national racing. Each championship scheduled to enjoy two races, these included:
"Zolder, what a circuit!" Set in picturesque woodlands, many drivers felt the same.
The track has two fast straights, the back straight 100mph + 5th gear with
short braking leading into a 3rd gear fast chicane (chicane), then uphill
and diving down again with a camber change to a fast sweeping 4th gear
corner (Villeneuve) then again a short braking to a 2nd gear narrow chicane,
opening out and again uphill, camber change then diving down hill to a sharp
2nd gear right hander (Jochen)- next a shortish straight going up the box to
4th gear before braking and down the box again to 2nd for the chicane before
the start/finish (Jacky) Hard on the loud pedal, 3rd, 4th and close to the
pit wall ! Leaving the braking as late as you dare a late turn in (3rd by
now) to the 1st part of Sterrennachbocht, exiting using all the track and a
straight braking before taking 2nd gear and the next part, then onto the
power, 3rd gear for the sweep into Kanaalbbocht keeping the power on all the
way, 4th gear then either a slight lift or brake before the last corner,
leading onto the back straight again.
(Paul Roberts - MG Maestro)
Test Day Friday - 19th May
Quite a few cars had arrived by Friday midday Some had arrived erly to do some testing,
(a few had arrived Thursday and had already tested) but not all took the oppotunity.
Those that had tested on Thursday gained some extra and valuable experience in dry conditions.
For Friday testing the track was damp but not raining, the conditions though were very slippy!!
One competitor remarked "the track seemed to be coated with teflon". (or was this a poor choice of tyres?) Several cars went off several times!
Qualifying Saturday
MGOC Class B we were out 1st & on the track by 9.05am !! (a struggle for some drivers!!)
Again a wetish track provided no end of amusement with one or two drivers taking unscheduled tours of the areas surrounding the track, perhaps to pick some wild woodland mushrooms !!
Saturday was to be a very critical qualifying as it was the only one for
both races - result for race 2 being determined by the result of race 1.
Qualifying looked like this for Class A, on a drying track
Darryl Davis 130.06,
Julie Clark 130.34,
Nigel Woolcott 132.89 on lap 2 (Clutch failure),
Dave Amphlett 135.11,
Jim Baynam 135.50,
Gary Smith 136.87,
Chris Pollard 137.97,
Paul Naish 138.08,
Lorraine Clark 138.78.
The weather which had been very wet suddenly dried and a circuit that was damp when the cars were called to the assembly area was dry by the time practice commenced and those caught on wet tyres , notably Lorraine Clark and Chris Pollard lost out considerably.
Saturday Class B Race
A scheduled ten 10 Laps around Zolder would mean a race of more than 20 minutes, which for racing MG Maestro is a lifetime. The highly tuned engines can suffer from overheating.
But it was Andy Campbell who kept his cool finishing the race ahead of a very fast James Perry.
Both Dave Mellor and Nick Golhar failed to finish. For Nick Golhar it would mean an early ferry home as the blown engine meant his weekend was over! Dave Mellor however did sort his problems and would return to the grid on Sunday
Class B Race One 10 Laps
1 Andy Campbell 22m 21.850s @ 69.75mph
2 James Perry 22m 22.660s
3 Darryl Davis
4 Ian Evans
5 Doug Cole
6 Nick Arden
Fastest Lap Andy Campbell 2m 11.39 @ 71.24
Saturday Class A Race
The race was hot and track bone dry. Dave Amphlett in his black & white MGB got an absolute flyer off the line and went through into third which he held for about two laps before being
passed by Nigel Woolcott (Yellow MG Midget)
On lap 3, with Amphlett defending hard, Jim Baynam finally got passed,
but it had been a struggle for Baynam.
Amphlett continued to loose places after losing his momentum. First Gary Smith passed him, then Chris Pollard pushed passed at the Villeneuve chicane.
Amphlett yielded without too much fuss (self preservation perhaps?)
No such self presevation for Chris Pollard, whilst everyone
else was breaking for the sharp right hander before the penultimate
straight Pollard charged down the outside through the gravel trap cut across the bow of Jim Baynam's B'with less than six foot grace, where upon he threw the Midget into a spin and barrel rolled through the gravel. Quite spectacular, by all accounts! (Chris Pollard was unhurt)
A couple of laps later, the middle order cars were turning into the final
chicance, Lorraine Clark came flying down the inside on
the grass at a phenomenal rate of knots.
Dave Amphlett who witnessed it said "I slowed and Lorraine flew into the gravel trap, the nose dug in and it almost went end over end and barrel rolled at least twice. Looked very
frightening"
With two stricken cars and yellows at two very critical corners the race was red flagged.
Darryl had won by 7 seconds but only because Julie Clark was lifting, due to overheating!
It took a while to get Lorraine Clark out of her car, the Marshalls and doctors worked carefully but efficiently, and as usual doing a great job. Once out of the car Lorraine was taken to the medical centre for observation and although slightly bruised and subdued was OK.
Lorraine Clark would like to thank everone who helped to rebuild her car for sunday.
"The kindness of everyone, drivers (both class A and B), their partners and friends, marshals and officials was truly overwhelming... Thankyou!"
Class A Race One 6 laps (red flagged)
Top 10 finishers were:-
1 Darryl Davis MGF 13m 19.920 @ 70.21mph
2 Julie Clark MG Midget 13m 27.760
3 Nigel Woolcott MG Midget
4 Gary Smith MG Midget
5 Jim Baynam MGB
6 Dave Amphlett MGB
Fastest Lap: Darryl Davis 2m 11.54
Sunday Class B Race
Sunday saw a complete turnaround with the weather as it was pouring with
rain which lasted pretty much the whole day, so away went the dry tyres from
Saturday's race and out came the wets! Nick Golhar, who blew his engine in a big way on Saturday, was on his way back to England.
(with a conrod showing through a broken block for all to see!!)
This meant the grid was now down to 18. Saturday afternoon had seen repairs carried out by David Mellor & Nick Evans (Engine swap !!) amongst others. The grid for Sundays race was calculated from the finishing position on Saturday.
David Mellor had an incredible race, starting at the back of the grid and
finishing 1st ! This rapid progress through the field gained the attention of the race officials and after the race Mellors engine was sealed, pending inspection.
The Roberts/Cole battle that had been a feature in earlier rounds was not to be continued at Zolder as Roberts spun on the 2nd lap, going from 7th (gaining 7th from a flying start down the middle of the track) to 18th - but battled through the field, headlights blazing for
the remaining 6 laps, drawing the attention of the commentator - his charge
being held up by Kevin Bull (who was later cautioned for excessive blocking
and contacting Roberts) - to finish 9th, just 2.5 secs behind Cole
Newcomer and novice Martin Gilchrist finished a very credible 11th in the ex
Edwards car, this his best result so far this season. As already mentioned it was pouring with
rain, the conditions put sevral driver in a spin, this included Andy Campbell, Robin Walker, Doug Cole & Paul Roberts. Simon Kendrick, retired with a complete lack of electrical power. Having gone from 12th on the grid to 9th, his windscreen wipers stopped working sometime toward the end of the first lap.
Two drivers failed to finish the race, Darryl Davis and Simon Kendrick.
Top 10 finishers were:- lap time speed
1 David Mellor 2000cc 147.97 61.75mph
2 Ian Evans 2000cc 148.99 61.71mph
3 James Perry 2000cc 150.14 61.45mph
4 Nick Evans 2000cc 149.10 61.04mph
5 Paul Naish 1600cc 147.87 61.00mph
6 Nick Arden 2030cc 150.19 60.54mph
7 Andy Campbell 1640cc 150.47 60.47mph
8 Doug Cole 2000cc 152.84 60.06mph
9 Paul Roberts 1600cc 148.53 59.93mph
10 Kevin Bull 1600cc 152.28 59.60mph
Sunday Class A Race
After a fine days racing on Saturdays there had been some overnight rain.
As the cars went to the assembly area the weather was lifting and there was
only a slight drizzle.
As the competitors waited their turn to go out on the circuit, down came the rain - and it got worse - and worse.
By the time they finally went out to form the grid it was most definitely a
wet race - with many still on dry tyres!!
Visibility was very poor.
At the Villeneuve chicane, Paul Naish and Gary Smith touched and span enabling Dave Amphlett to move up to fifth.
Amphlett then threw away the places he had gained when on the approach to that final chicane he locked up badly and the car pulled to the right. he was not going to make it round the corner and escaped up the pit lane, and into the pits - ********!!!
(a double for letter word from Amphlett)
After passing through the pits at a sensible speed, he rejoined in last place.
Up at the front it was Darryl Davis, who even surprised himself at the MGFs ability in the wet. But somewhere about mid race Davis heard some noises from the rear of the car which led him to believe that perhaps a wheel had come loose. So Davis made an unscheduled stop in the pits where upon he got out kicked his wheels and tyres. After re-assuring himself that he was not about to loose a wheel, he rejoined the race and drove back up to 4th place!!!
The wet conditions and wrong tyres meant there were lots of spinners.Lorraine Clark who amazingly made the start after the car had been rebuilt, moved up from 16th to 9th. Her softly softly approach certainly paid dividends!
The MGOC's very own Jonathan Kimber had a misfire in both races. He did a total of 8 laps all weekend and will have to find a solution to his electrical problems before the next race at Thruxton in a few weeks time.
So! the winner, totally surprised - was Mick Hopkins. He had driven from the
back of the grid after he had lost the bonnet of his car on the green flag lap due to the clips not being attached correctly. It was a well deserved win and a stunning drive in the conditions.
Class A Race Two 8 Laps
1 Mick Hopkins MG Midget 21m 34.900s @ 57.83mph
2 Nigel Woolcott MG Midget 21m 49.910s
3 Jim Baynam MGB
4 Darryl Davis MGF
5 Julie Clark MG Midget
6 Chris Pollard MG Midget
Fastest Lap Davis 2m 31.87 @ 61.63mph
Report compiled by Kelvin Fagan, with particular thanks this week to Paul Roberts, Dave Amphlett and Lorraine Clark
Also a big thankyou to Peter St. Barbe for the photos.
Some Sad News!
It is with deep sadness that I report former MGOC champion Terry Farman has passed away peacefully, after a long illness. On behalf of all the racers and followers of MG racing may I extend their deepest sympathies to Terrys wife and family.