Article by Paul Edwards and Simon Cole, images courtesy of Steve Wilkinson Photographic

Everyone was enthusiastic as the soaring temperatures forecast would ensure hot sticky tyres (and drivers). Run-off areas were mostly safe, which was just as well as we were about to test most of them!   The 13 strong tvr class was represented by models from most all eras from early Vixens to one of the latest (and very pretty) T350c’s.  One strange contrast during the day was the sight of Alan Bankhurst’s historic lightweight Vixen sat on the start line with a state of the art computer controlled launch control system causing the engine to hold a constant misfire as it prepared to make the most of the available traction off the line.  Our three first-timers to the venue didn't find it difficult to start with, but to move up a gear to the best times is a different matter as it is quite a technical track, due to many camber changes and odd-shaped corners….

Charging away from the start leads into a long left hander, and a drift into a brief straight, as you line up to drift into the 70mph S-bend you run over a crest which unsettles the car - we saw Alan Bankhurst holding a good angle of attack on his last run until the crest tipped him even further into a crowd-pleasing pirouette.  The following short straight is covered in only a few seconds before hard braking on a tightening right into a very sharp left at the Molehill.  Braking while cornering is a particular challenge for the bigger tvr's, and Marcus Clay sent his Griff flying sideways in practice, across the grass and onto the straight, a useful shortcut that briefly awarded him a class-winning time!   A short straight then leads to a tightening right into a slow 30mph hairpin, exiting onto a long straight.   After a few uneventful runs, on his first visit here, Hugh Davies' Chimaera exited with an increasing amount of wheelspin and opposite steering lock until it finally got away from him (fortunately without damage).    After sliding skidding onto the straight it's foot down to 80mph or so, then hard late braking before a sharp off-camber right.   Another opportunity to brake far too late and create a smokescreen for spectators (demonstrated by Paul’s and Simon's 350's!)  then drifting on various creative lines and odd angles into a sharp right to rejoin the S-bend for our second lap, this time to a flying finish at end of the straight -  then full braking on a very short straight with a bump in the middle which caused lock-ups, a few skids and scattered cones to put off the next driver (a tactic employed by Simon on Marcus!)

The results were close, Simon Cole pushed the 4.8 Wedge to 62.29, below the previous class record of 62.89 set by Jes’ Cerbera, who unfortunately couldn’t attend.   Matthew Oakley’s monster 5.2 Griff chased hard in second with 63.06 and Paul Edwards’ T350 came in 3rd after not being able to repeat his faster practice time of 62.6.   On handicap Geoff Stallard's amazing 66 sec run in his 1690cc Vixen (with a stunning 64 ft time of 2.32 seconds) promoted him to a well-deserved 2nd place overall, demonstrating the potential of the Vixens on twisty tracks. Steve Dennis was the next closest Vixens (on List 1A tyres) at an impressive 68 secs.

Despite a fair few excursions, all tvr’s thankfully emerged unscathed, which is more than can be set for the Westfield that rather heavily impacted with the barriers on the exit of the second bend and resulted in a considerable delay during the second time runs as the wreckage was removed.  Fortunately the driver was completely unhurt and even still won his class as a result of his first run time.