Article by Steve Cox

I enjoyed Sunday's event at Cadwell Park more than any other this season. The track is beautiful, tempting and challenging and bites very hard if you get it wrong as I found to me cost when following Ian Bannister's advice received earlier in the week - his guidance went
something like this: "You can carry all the speed from the straight through the left hander and up the hill because it will all be scrubbed off by the curve and the gradient before you reach the top" - this maybe so if you are a big guy in a Vixen, but my V8S was carrying over a
ton up the hill and we left the tarmac before being given the opportunity of entering Charlies 1! Somebody told me later (unkindly I thought) that Ian had deliberately given me duff information so that Steve Dennis could take home the prize money for yet another week,
after which he would generously buy Ian half a pint of bitter as a reward. I digress...

There were some brilliant performances at this jewel of a circuit, most notably from Paul Edwards whose T350c clocked 93.00 for its second practice with the next placed car a whole 9 seconds!! behind. That must be nearly half an hour in sprint time. But this is a handicap
championship so you have to look at the net times for those showing promise early in the day. Wily Coyotes Tony Bradfield, Alan Bankhurst and Steve Dennis (whose aggregate age must be more than Murray Walker's) were already showing how experience counts - and just a teeny bit behind them, Adrian Duggleby, Stewart Lobley and Tim Scrivens were amongst it as well. Others completely new to the circuit were wisely a little more circumspect (whatever that means).

Then, it was time for lunch. Some made microscopic adjustments to their cars, tyres to be checked (yep, still got 4) it was a hot day, so check the water (yep, still enough to make some tea), and lastly, ensure that the oil has not run low (yep, enough to make sure my neck
won't burn). All checks done, time for the important stuff.

The first timed run of the afternoon saw that man Edwards put in a frantic 92.81 which shouldn't really be possible in a tvr around a track this long and difficult. I knew it was a good one because he came back all pale and trembly, which (in the absence of Mrs Edwards) I took to mean his achievement of a certain oneness during the previous minute and half. I am not going to comment further on the type of oneness or the minute and half for fear of misquotation at a later date.

In handicap terms, next up were Tony Bradfield and Steve Dennis both of whom are low on handicap and high on skill which is the optimum combination in a championship like ours. The middle order was much the same as 2nd practice, but another scrap had broken out in the chimps pen. All of the Chimaeras (Mike Horn, Dave Jenkins, Richard and Andrew Blacklee were a handicap second apart as they battled to get to grips in Lincolnshire's outdoor playground. One other mid-order tussle I hadn't spotted saw new boy John Carter's beautiful 5 litre V8S only a few handicap hundredths away from Geoff Stallard's pretty red Vixen.
The only real disappointment was Pete Sims' time of 118.nn which I soon learned was as a result of he and SYD taking a wayward excursion at the Gooseneck - definitely one to avoid.

The day continued to warm and laptimes fell as the tyres became increasingly tactile during the second timed runs. Paul Edwards came back with some ridiculous story about missing a gear change on the final straight but his closing 92.74 very nearly saw him moving into
the British Sprint Championship which was also in attendance on the day. Bradfield and Dennis held onto P2 and P3 whilst Cox and Duggleby (whose rivalry I have deliberately excluded from this piece in order to keep the china intact) were 0.11 handicap seconds apart (again). The Vixens of Bankhurst and Lobley were next but I must put in a word for novice Timski Scrivens whose run of 100.99 should have been beaten on his second run if only he'd got round the course as published. He will definitely be sub-100 when we go next time.

The more intelligent amongst us were making the best use of their first outing at Cadwell by learning the nuance and making notes for next time - Geoff Stallard was taking whole seconds off every run and the Chimps of Mike Horn, Richard and Andrew Blacklee and Dave Jenkins kept the scrap going to the very end with Mike Horn just shading the rest at
the final curtain. John Carter is showing real promise and I just love the sound of that V8S (don't know why!?) Simon Smith's B list shod Cosworth powered S put in a very respectable 104.70 for a last run although Simon tells me the car is for sale to make way for something
different. I'm sure it will be beautifully prepared whatever it is.

I have written to Neil Benfield at Borough 19 Motor Club to thank him and his team's efforts - it was a superbly organised event at a brilliant track and we all hope that Motor Sport Vision in the guise of Jonathan Palmer will allow us to do it all over again next year