TrackDay Trophy Race Report
22nd May 2018
Race 13 Classes S and A:
Qualifying showed a return to form for the Frugal Racing Caterham as it took pole, ahead of Donington pole sitter RJ Developments. Third on the grid was the Autorevive BMW ahead of the first of the Seats, Mangoes racing Mark Nenadic. The Class A Pole was captured by Goblin Motorsports Martyn Culley, with the Porsche Boxster of Team Bacon Butty splitting the two Goblin Seats to take second in class.
At the start the Caterham and the BMW’s got a characteristically good start. The Seat of Mangoes Racings Mark Nenadic managed to hold off the sister car of Darren Goes as he fought the Porsche Cayman of Team ALN. This lasted a lap however as next time round the door was open into Richies corner and Goes was coming through.
The drama in Class A started before the race start as on the green flag lap the Barton Motorsport VW Cup lost a boost pipe and had to retire to the paddock. From the start Martyn Culley managed to hold the class lead with Rich Hughes in the Team Bacon Butty Porsche just able to hold off Barrie Culley in the sister Golbin Racing Seat.
As the Mangoes Racing Seats battled it out, the BMW’s of RJ Developments and Autorevive London were in their own fight for second in class and overall. The two battles for second and fourth, allowed the Frugal Caterham to gap the field as the pit stops loomed near With the pit window in sight, the lead Class A car of Martyn Culley managed to maintain the gap to the Bacon Butty Porsche in second and Barrie Culley in third.
After the stops, the Caterham was still in the lead but it was the AutoRevive BMW who emerged in second, able to jump but not gap the RJ Developments car in the pits. The Mangoes cars, now inseparable having pitted together and emerged from the pits still together, were still fighting hard for fourth.
Martyn Culley managed to maintain the Class A lead during the pit stop window, with the sister Goblin car of Barrie Culley falling behind the Bacon Butty Porsche, having made a very late stop.
With three laps left to go, drama ensued in Class S as the Frugal Caterham retired from the lead, this sparked the change as a lap later the RJ Developments BMW took the AutoRevive London BMW for the lead. The pair fought to the line, but a 30 second time penalty for an alleged short pit stop relegated the AutoRevive BMW to fourth. The Seats of Mangoes Racing finished as they started with Darren Goes crossing the line to take an eventual second place ahead of the sister Seat of Mark Nenadic in third – just four tenths of a second behind.
Over the line it was a lights to flag victory for Martin Culley, and a strong second place for Team
Bacon Butty. Confusion on a pit stop infringement lead Barrie Culley to retire from third in class just
before the flag.
Race 21 Classes B, C and D:
Qualifying painted a familiar picture, with GNB Motorsport taking the pole and the Tylah Motorsport BMW of John Lyne in third. This time however they were split be the Apple Car Centre Clio, which was absent from Donington.
Class C was topped by the DLR Motorsport Clio of Griffiths and Rogers, by just one tenth of a second ahead of the Deadslow Fiesta of Denslow. Dean Hyde in the E30 BMW from Tylah Motorsport took third in class, just ahead of G&M Motorsport in fourth and Driven Motorsport in fifth – with the top five covered by just under a second.
The top three in Class D were also covered by a second, with the Indygo Refinishing Fiesta topping the class, followed by the Supatune Motorsport Fiesta and the 93R Motorsport Fiesta. Tom Starkey was best of the rest in fourth in the Supatune Puma. When the lights went out fast starts from both the BMWs of GNB Racing on pole and the Tylah Motorsport BMW of John Lyne from third, saw them take first and second just before the first corner. A good start also saw the Class C Fiesta of Lewis Denslow jump to third ahead for the Apple Car Centre Renault Clio. This was short lived however as the Class B Clio held it round the outside of Brundle to retake the Fiesta. Denslow still pushing hard was able to keep the Apple Car Centre Clio honest for the next few laps although ultimately not having the speed of the Class B car down the straights.
Further down the field, the PSR Clio bogged down off the line with technical gremlins which lead to its retirement. The pack scattered but all made it past unharmed. This jumbled the field as they looked for clear passage past the PSR car. It was the Class B Norfolk n Chance Clio and the Tylah Motorsport Fiesta that gained the most, with lightning starts getting the pair up from 21 and 22 to 14 and 16 respectively.
In Class D it was the 93R Motorsport Fiesta of Jack Youhill that had the best of the start, up from third in class to class leader in the first lap, closely followed by the Indygo Refinishing Fiesta of Robbins and Horrobin.
As the pit stops drew close, the Tylah BMW in second on the road, was just able to maintain the gap to the Apple Car Centre Clio, as Honeybone concentrated on the thread from behind. This battle allowed GNB’s Gary Burstow space in free air to pull a gap to the Tylah BMW in second and the Clio and Fiesta battling for third on the road.
In Class D the lead battle was still raging. The Indygo Refinishing and 93R Motorsport were still trading lap times but now joined by the Supatune Fiesta, who was keeping a watchful eye, and slowly taking tenths out of the lead pair.
As the dust settled after the stops, the layout for the lead was much the same. The GNB Racing BMW had managed to maintain the lead following a late stop and the Tylah Motorsport BMW was still able to maintain the gap to the Apple Car Centre Clio, albeit under increasing pressure. When the flag came out it was Burstow who took the win, overall and in Class B. With the Apple Car Centre Clio able to close the gap to the Tylah Motorsport BMW to just half a second on the line The lead in class C was tight after the stops. An early stop from Tylah Motorsports Dean Hyde in the BMW had allowed him to jump the previously leading car, the Fiesta of Denslow. The Class C leading pair traded lap times over the remaining laps before, a late move into Brundle saw Denslow take the class lead. The battle for the Class win was far from over however with Denslow and Hyde battling to the line to finish just two tenths of a second apart. Third in Class C was the DLR Motorsport Clio of Rogers and Griffiths, who finished in clear air after a great race with the Class B cars.
Further down the field it was all change, an early stop for the Supatune Motorsport Fiesta and Puma saw them jump the Indygo Refinishing car, and in the case of the Supatune Fiesta the 93R Motorsport Fiesta as well. The fightback was on, with the Indygo Fiesta pushing hard to close the gap before having to retire due to technical difficulties. At this point the run into the Bombhole corner had become particularly slippery and the 93R Fiesta of Jack Youhill span off on the oil. This and the retirement of the Robbins and Horrobin car gifted second in class to Tom Starkey in the Supatune Puma. With the Fiesta of Burden now set for the win, the battle was on for second in class. The recovering Youhill was able to chase down the Supatune Puma and passed it for second with just 4 laps left to go finishing in second in class with the Starkey Puma taking a strong third in class.
Pictures by Lloyd Horgan
