MG Owners Club Racing Championship 2000

Introduction
Would this years trip to Thruxton live up to all of its usual expectations? It's a tricky circuit in that it demands commitment rather than outright technical; skill - most of it is long fast corners, with one or two twisty bits to moderate the speed. The lack of access around the back of the circuit for makes it a rather lonely journey for the competitors with only the marshals and other local wildlife for company!! As last year, the forecast was for it to be hot - only this year it was expected to be hotter!! Even at 9 in the morning, it was hot, and the temperature climbed steadily throughout the day. There was at times a fresh breeze which stopped it being intolerable.
In the points stnadings things are begining shape up. In class A Julie Clark has a 24 point lead over her nearest rival Darryl Davis, with Gary Smith just one point adrift of Davis. In Class B, Andy Campbell is emerging as favourite for the championship. See points table A recent development in Class A means that the MGFs are now carrying some extra weight. This should alay any fears that the MGF migh have an unfair power advantage, and make the racing at the front a bit more exciting!

Class B Practice
Class B practice qualifying was to throw up one or two surprises! The MG Maestros got out onto the circuit relatively early, so air and track temp wasn’t too hot though temperature were creeping up. I mentioned surprises, well two MG Maestro drivers who we do not normally see at every meeting took everyone, including themselves, by surprise. I am talking about Nick Arden and John Devine who qualified first and third respectively

Top Ten Qualifiers Calss B
1st Nick Arden 1:40.585 2nd Nick Evans 1:41.085 3rd John Devine 1:41.164 4th James Perry 1:41.179 5th Andy Campbell 1:41.248 6th Nick Golhar 1:41.470 7th Scott Tanner 1:41.743 8th Daniel Whittington 1:41.972 9th Ian Evans 1:42.043 10th Darryl Davis 1:42.436
The gap first to tenth place 1.851 seconds

Class A Practice
Practice for Class A was at around midday, and as high noon approached it was seriously hot! There was hardly a single competitor who was not worrying about tyres, brakes and engines. All of which would be adversely affected by the high temperatures. Qualifying for the MGBs, MG Midgets and the two MGFs was largely uneventful, with the only major casualty being Ian McCormack who broke an oil cooler line, depositing a handy slick at Church, which also put and him in the weeds. Some degree of caution had to be exercised during the latter part of qualifying. The Thruxton circuit has recently been resurfaced, the new tarmac giving many competitors improved lap times of up to 2 sec over last years times.

Top Ten Qualifiers Calss A
1st Gary Smith 1:40.556 2nd Julie Clark 1:40.753 3rd Darryl Davis 1:40.792 4th Adrian Olsson 1:41.099 5th Peter St . Barbe 1.41.694 6th Jim Baynam 1:42.415 7th David Amphlett 1:43.208 8th Alan Yeoman 1:43.337 9th Ian McCormack 1:43.512 10th Chris Pollard 1:44.195
The gap first to tenth place 3.369 seconds

Class B Race - 10 Laps Andy Campbell took the victory in an 'most excellent' MGOC Class B race which was only settled at the final corner when contact between Nick Arden & Nick Evans slowed them up. Andy Campbell secured victory, while Nick Arden recovered to take second. I wonder if the team motto is 'ARD 'N Fast!' ? In the the Moto-build Racing MaestroDarryl Davis must have been a contender for the most places made up in the race award, after starting tenth on the grid and moving up through the field to take third. Nick Evans a one time leader of the race, had to settle for fourth.
Paul Naish almost great progress, finishing fifth. Naish had to the start race from the back, along with a 10 second penalty. (He had missed his allotted practice session)
For Simon Kendrick he was to earn his best placed finish.... After a typically fraught start from 12th on the grid, things were really tight by the time he went round Church for the first time.
Due to traffic Kendrick found himself on the slippery outside of the corner, in 5th gear, and going rather quickly for the grip available on that part of the circuit! Having realised he was going to slide off, his only option was to go in a straight line, through the tall grass and hope that I made it back to the circuit without causing too much damage As it turned out he was extremely fortunate and the only result was a a few lost places. During his excursion he picked up vast amount of grass the radiator and I started to overheat - luckily the electric fan managed keep the engine cool enough to finish. As the race drew to a close, there was more drama for Kendrick who was by now having a good clean scrap with Nick Golhar. This is Nick Golhar As a result of the pressure from Golhar, Kendrick misjudged his entry speed into the chicane and took off from the immense curb, eventually getting all for wheels off the ground, having received take off clearance from air traffic control!! When he landed again on the other side of the corner Kendrick was still ahead of Golhar and went on to clinch sixth place, his best finish to date.
Paul Roberts, in his Netcom Maestro had a depressing weekend, having to compete with an almost standard engine ! Race engine is having a rebuild) Roberts qualified a disappointing 18th, but went 3 secs quicker in the race and finished 14th, behind Doug Cole. (It was still worth a couple of points) As you can see from the results a number of others didn't even finish mostly due to "cooking" their Maestros in the heat. The No.33 Maestro of Vince Hunt may have come home in last place, but at least he finished.

Class A Race - 10 Laps Darryl Davis took his MGF to victory in this race, but it was no easy win! At first it was Davis that applied the pressure, but as the race progressed he was on the recieving end himself as the likes of Gary Smith and Julie Clark looked for a way past, in what was to be a very tight race. Julie Clark had led the race initially, after getting one over on polesitter Gary Smith. Then Peter St Barbe took the race by the scruff of the neck , and took the lead on lap 3 of this 10 lap race. St Barbe led then a five car queue, which included Darryl Davis, Gary Smith, Julie Clark and Adrian Olsson. Peter St Barbe seemed to have secured victory by breaking away. But St. Barbe slowed and pulled into the pit lane. The engine temperature on the little red midget had risen too high, so as a precaution the car was given a chance to cool down. Davis was now in front, but could not shake off Gary Smith, who in turn was closely followed by Adrian Olsson and Julie Clark who was now down in fourth. Using almost every defensive trick in the book to stay in front of Gary Smith, Davis clung onto the lead. The gap as they crossed the line was just 0.288 sec

Elsewhere, Dave Amphlett who's MGB hooked up well on the start line did not want to be a hero as he got boxed in towards the first corner, let his discretion win over valour, as both Ian McCormack and Chris Pollard came up on the inside. McCormack was forced to retire after just two laps, his repair to an oil line failed, and dumped oil all the way through Seagrave. Chris Pollard managed to get on this oil sidelining him until he could reverse back onto the circuit. Pollard now had some work to do!! Chris Pollard and his hard work were to be rewarded by recording the fastest lap, which as it happened was faster than both the MGFs, so he establised a new lap record for the class at Thruxton! Alan Yeoman (No.32) and Dave Amphlett (No.14) were have a great battle, with Mick Hopkins hovering just behind the two of them waiting for either of them to make a mistake Yeoman did get past Amphlett once but just about a third of a lap later Dave Amphlett snatched his place back before on the start/finish straight.

If there was to be a man of the race award then surely this must go to Peter St Barbe who wrote off his his car earlier this season at Pembrey. Encouragement from his on track rivals (and friends!) made him do a U turn on his original decision to retire:"the others cajouled me into it really" he told a motoring news reporter. "I saw this Racing Midget in need of restoration for sale in the MG press for 250 quid. I still had my engine so we put the two together and managed to lead our first race with it. It is incredible!" In this race the extreme heat forced St Barbe to pull off the circuit on lap 9 St. Barbe now looks forward to a cooler day so he can go the full distance!

In you want to see the next round, then it is at Castle Combe Circuit - Saturday 1st July
This particicular weekend there is a celebraition of 50 years of racing at Castle Combe 1/2 July