Article by Geoff and Alison Stallard

Round 5 of the Championship meant a visit down into deepest East Devon to the magnificent setting of Wiscombe Park.

Ten of our contenders made the trip.  The regulars, including Messrs Cole, Bankhurst, Oakley, Davies and Stallard were joined by their old friend Tony Bradfield and some new faces in the form of Peter Watson in an ex Guigelmi racing Griff 4.6, Paul Moakes in a V8S, Chris Gale in a 5000M and Trevor McMaster in a Chimaera 400 - all stepped up to meet the challenge.

Sunday morning arrived with much anticipation.  The drive down the hill to the paddock reminded us all that this venue is tricky and can bite!  The tarmac is narrow, passes through some stone gateposts, twists and turns up through pine trees and round two very tight hairpin bends.  Despite an excellent weather forecast with the possible threat of thundery showers towards the end of the day, we were initially greeted with a dull overcast and misty start with a very chill wind.

Practice commenced at a very leisurely pace but was quickly over, executed with great efficiency by the organisers, Woolbridge Motor Club.  A check on the times confirmed that we had all made a sensibly cautious start making due allowance for the cold and slippery track.  (Except that is, for that man Cole, who always seems able to put in runs during practice that the rest of us would be very happy with for our timed runs!)  There was also early promise of competitive times from Matt Oakley and Alan Davies.

With the sun fully out over an extended lunch break the scene was more akin to a summer afternoon village fete or garden party than a motor sport event, made even more complete with a beer tent (not of course frequented by the competitors). 

After lunch the relaxed atmosphere took on a distinctly different feel and we were ready to do our stuff!

First runs saw times begin to tumble.  Clear leaders on scratch, Cole and Oakley were locked in battle, quietly pursued by Davies.  Behind them, the Vixens of Bankhurst and Stallard were trading places only tenths apart closely followed by Bradfield in his 350i.  The newcomers were sensibly breaking themselves in and their times were also improving steadily.

A quick review of the times at this midpoint confirmed that things would be very tight following the application of algorithms!

Final runs saw caution tossed aside.  All of our contenders saw a further improvement in times with fortunately no significant incidents or “moments” to report (save for copious tyre smoke under braking or power slides from several of us).

Final placings saw Simon Cole take another maximum 25 points with Matt Oakley second, Geoff Stallard third and Alan Bankhurst fourth.

A chat in the beer tent after the awards ceremony confirmed that we had all had a terrific days motor sport and would be back to compete here again next year.

Full and detailed results can be seen on our website
http://www.tvrspeedchampionship.co.uk/