The boys had just two weeks to recover after Snetterton and the Challenge series moved further south to the Indy circuit at Brands Hatch for a double header and rounds 5 and 6 of the championship. For the northern drivers the Brands round is a sort of holiday in the warmer weather and the numbers are improving but are still lower than desired, so it was down to John Reid of Readman Racing, series grande fromage (sort of Bernie Ecclestone, but taller and wider) to again approach the BRSCC to modify the intended timetable to reduce the costs. This would allow for the drivers and sponsors to fund the TV Coverage, so the weekend for us was limited to Sunday only.

The trade off with the timetable adjustment was that we would run with the Quaife Intermarque League again but from a spectator viewpoint the prospect of a 29 car grid with the sort of speed differential between classes and car types on this type of circuit is mouth-watering.

The entry list had a few new names for this year, one that has been around a while in the shape of Pete Reeve who campaigns a Cosworth powered Tasmin in another series making a guest appearance at this his home circuit.

Billy Thompson on the other hand is a true rookie with his first outing this year in a very well presented 2.8 Tasmin.

With 29 cars on a track that is less than 1.2 miles round meant that finding some clear space to put together a decent qualifying lap was to say the least a little taxing. For Dave Stewart in Tasmin 98 he managed only 6 laps before depositing the car in the kitty litter at Paddock Hill. In a world full of classic race driver excuses, the gear lever coming of in his hand ranks fairly high. Hugh Marshall headed the TVR contingent on the 5th row.

Row 6 on the grid was shared by the Happy Endings Motorsport boys, Keith Vaughan-Williams using the class B Tuscan to just edge out Tim Davis. Kevan Gore, back with the blue Tuscan looking tidier than it left Snetterton but still not fully fixed was on row 7 complaining about a twitching rear end and Jamie Golby was row 9 in the last of the class A cars. Pete Reeve was on row 10 and the class C battle looked set to recommence with John Simpson on the 3000M just ahead of Dave Chant and the Tasmin on row 11. The series is starting to come together for Leigh Jones who found himself sharing row 12 with Dave Stewart. Richard Hewitt took row 13 and Billy Thompson, unsurprisingly for the first time out, faced with such a busy circuit was on row 14 all by himself.

Race 1

At the start the heat haze disguised the approach of the near capacity grid as the rolling start thundered them into Paddock Hill for the first time, somehow they all made it through and the racing began in anger. The Indy circuit accentuates the speed differential of the Intermarque Silhouettes’ as their cornering speed is awesome and it wasn’t long before they were passing slower cars on either side and sometimes on both sides.

Tim Davis was the first retirement on lap 5, early diagnosis was a camshaft problem. Sadly Billy Thompson followed soon after with a spin. Finding all sorts of ways to keep the crowd entertained Dave Stewart managed to spin three times, not collect anything or anyone and still finished the race, albeit in 22nd place. He got called to the clerk of the course where it is understood he was given an eight for style, a ten for artistic merit and a request to explain himself. The car is handling #@#@ was probably a close enough explanation and post race investigation identified a top differential mount broken in two places. We all knew he wasn’t that bad, really we did.

Richard Hewitt’s woes continued as the car finished the race stuck in 5th gear, a true demonstration of the torque of a RV8 if you know the Indy circuit. The class C tussle between Dave Chant and John Simpson continued until Dave took a wide line into Druids to avoid oil that John didn’t see resulting in a spin and recovery for John and the loss of three places. Keith Vaughan-Williams continued to mix with the class A cars and had the best of Kevan Gore and Jamie Golby with only Hugh Marshall in front of him. On his 100th race, Hugh was on the verge of lapping all and was clearly winning when a throttle pot sensor caused a misfire that had him into the pits. The problem cleared a bit to allow him to finish the race with a class A third but the disappointment was palpable. Keith went on to take his first overall win, hot on the heals of his first class win at Snetterton. (The first overall win by a GpB car since Marc Hockin won in the wet at Brands in 2006. Top Job – not jealous - Ed)

Results Race 1

Class A

1st        Jamie Golby - Tuscan
2nd        Kevan Gore – Tuscan
3rd        Hugh Marshall – Tuscan

Fastest Lap Hugh Marshall 51.973

Class B

1st        Keith Vaughn Williams - Tuscan RV8
2nd        Peter Reeve (guest no points)
3rd        Leigh Jones – Tasmin V8
4th        Richard Hewitt – Griffith

 
Fastest Lap Keith Vaughn Williams 54.491

Class C

1st        Dave Chant - Tasmin
2nd        John Simpson – 3000M
3rd        Dave Stewart  – Tasmin

Fastest Lap John Simpson 57.028

DNF

Tim Davis
Billy Thompson

 

Race 2

In race 2 Dave Stewart was slightly more in control of the Tasmin, but still clearly not comfortable and the other protagonists in class C set about the race with their normal approach but this time it was a very different outcome, John Simpson was the first to go when on lap 7 he pulled off between Druids and Graham Hill, believing he had sorted it he continued for a further two laps but was forced to withdraw with gearbox problems. This would leave Dave Chant with a short of clear run to take top honours in class C and all was going to plan until he was assisted off the track at Paddock Hill bend on lap 12. His version of events was that an Intermarque car had gone inside him while he was on the racing line and that the move was only ever going to end badly. The Archbishop was beached on the gravel and the Inter pulled off two laps later. There must be more than an element of truth in DC’s version as we understood the other driver was cited by the marshals and paid a visit to the clerk of the course.

Keith Vaughan-Williams is taking the class B Tuscan by the scruff of the neck now and was getting involved in a good tussle with Kevan and Jamie but this time round he couldn’t repeat the overall win.

With both John and Dave out, Dave Stewart quietly took a first in class C and debutant Billy Thompson kept out of trouble for a nice podium in only his second race.

The star of the race was Hugh Marshall finishing in top place of the TVR’s by a clear lap and a 5th overall. Jamie took second closely followed by Kevan.

The post race interview with the commentator was a pure pleasure. Brian Jones is an old friend of Hugh’s and was genuinely pleased with his success but it was when he asked Kev what he thought about the mixed racing that Kev’s face was an absolute picture and his silence said way more than words could have conveyed.

Results Race 2

Class A

1st        Hugh Marshall – Tuscan
2nd        Jamie Golby  - Tuscan
3rd        Kevan Gore

Fastest Lap Hugh Marshall 52.246

Class B

1st        Keith Vaughn Williams - Tuscan RV8
2nd        Peter Reeve (guest no points)
3rd        Leigh Jones – Tasmin V8
4th        Richard Hewitt – Griffith

 
Fastest Lap Keith Vaughn Williams 54.368

Class C

1st        Dave Stewart - Tasmin
2nd        Billy Thompson - Tasmin

Fastest Lap John Simpson 57.522

DNF

Dave Chant
John Simpson