MG Owners Club Racing Championship 2001

Round 12- Thruxton - 14th Oct




Picture Board
First lap front runners Midfielders first lap Kelly Mercer in her superb Midget Lorraine Clark title contender!
Well Thruxton is an airport too!! Mick Weidner in the MGF Dave Brown looking good!! Simon Byrne in his very smart MG Maestro
Robert Barnnard - a very competitive novice Harry Sinclair get up on the kerbs The Pink MGF now owned by Peter St. Barbe Wheel to wheel - Evans and Campbell
Lights ablaze in the gloom!! Gathercoles Midget flies too Andy Campbell leading James Perry with Paul Naish behind
Click on the small images to reveal full size picture



 Qualifying Session Results

It was an early start for both classes in the penultimate round of the 2001 MGOC Custom Lifts Championship. Early morning fog greeted the early risers. (and even the not so early risers!) It took several hours for the misty conditions to clear but track condition were fine and surpringly dry and grippy despite looking damp. Lap times could have been better, but by the time many realised how grippy it actually was the session was over!!



Class B and F Grid
Class A Grid
1 Nick EVANS
1:38.599 		2 James PERRY
+ 0.276
3 Andy CAMPBELL
+ 0.370 		4 Ian EVANS
+ 0.550
5 Paul NAISH
+ 0.604 		6 Nick GOLHAR
+ 1.098
7 John DEVINE
+ 1.127 		8 Nick ARDEN
+ 1.161
9 Doug COLE
+ 1.491 		10 Michael WEIDNER
+ 1.634
11 Robert BARNARD
+ 2.702 		12 Martin GILCHRIST
+ 2.867
13 Robin WALKER
+ 3.332 		14 Alan WHITTINGTON
+ 3.522
15 Peter ST BARBE
+ 4.774 		16 Steve GRAY
+ 5.557
17 Darryl DAVIS
+ 6.502 		18 Richard WATERMAN
+ 11.564
19 Philip COOK
+ 13.003 		20 Simon BYRNE
+ 3:09.162
   
1 Jim BAYNAM
1:40.612 		2 David GATHERCOLE
+ 0.590 1:41.202
3 Lorraine CLARK
+ 0.640 1:41.252 		4Gary SMITH
+ 1.089 1:41.701
5Christopher POLLARD
+ 1.162 1:41.774 		6Paul NAISH
+ 2.091 1:42.703
77Jonathan KIMBER
+ 2.196 1:42.808 		8 Rae DAVIS
+ 2.494 1:43.106
9 Ian MCCORMACK
+ 2.695 1:43.307 		10 Phil TROTT
+ 3.507 1:44.119
11 Kelly anne MERCER
+ 3.673 1:44.285 		12 Roy CLARKSON
+ 4.345 1:44.957
13 Dave BROWN
+ 4.852 1:45.464 		14 Tony ROBERTS
+ 4.939 1:45.551
15 Gerry THORN
+ 5.940 1:46.552 		16Harry SINCLAIR
+ 6.743 1:47.355
17 John robert KIMBER
+ 6.858 1:47.470 		18 Darren YOUNG
+ 8.656 1:49.268
19 Trevor DIXON
+ 8.752 1:49.364 		20 Sean CUNNIFF
+ 22.042 2:02.654
21 Jules SWAIN
+ 27.640 2:08.252 		22 Kelly ISHERWOOD
+ 39.725 2:20.337

 Class A Race Result

The Class A race is one that will be remembered for many years!
The race was dominated at the front by Baynam and Gathergole. Baynam (poleman) led all ten laps of the race except for short period on lap 6. As the pair entered the chicane complex in front of the grandstand Baynam just got his nose in front, but a tap from the back sent him flying (literally) overthe chicane kerbs to land once more on all four wheels. Pictured here on landing Other performances worth a mention include Dave Brown who finished tenth.
Dave recently accquired the MG Midget of Peter St Barbe (who has now moved to class F)
The class A title will be decided at the final round at Donington park at the end of the month, and its very close.
The points at the top look like this (drop score adjusted): 

Driver         Pts.
Lorraine Clark 174   
Gary Smith     163
Jim Baynam     161
Its going to be a nail biting finish, dont miss it!!
Full Championship table (external link)




 Class B & F Race & Result

Current Champion Andy Campbell looked to have the race win all sewn up, after a terrific front line battle with Nick Evans. The wet conditions finally got to Andy when he had a 'spin' at the chicane letting Nick Evans take the lead at the end of lap eight. (10 lap race). Nick was lucky not to collect Campbells Maestro on the way past as he had to make a split second decision as to which way the car was going to go, Nick made the right choice!! James Perry was another who threw away a hard fought position, when he too spun out to let Paul Naish pass to claim the 3rd place on the podium on the podium.
John Devine who has only made one or two appearance this season had qualified strongly, but lost a his wiper in the earl stages and was forced to retire. The wet conditions meant that there were plenty of spinners at differnt points arounnd the two and a half mile circuit, Robert Barnard seemed to at the top of the spinners list, with three at least three reported spins! Barnard is pictured here on a charge towards the chicane.




Timing By MST
MST has a comprhensive collection of results online


A Circuit Map
Circuit length 2.3560 miles miles

Credits - Text Compiled by Kelvin Fagan.

Photography by Kelvin Fagan, all images are copyright.

The author welcomes comments and contributions from competitors or spectators



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