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Home Race Results 2009 race 5 - Cadwell Park
2009 race 5 - Cadwell Park PDF Print E-mail

The 2CV racing circus had not put an appearange in at Cadwell since 2006, but the track remained much the same. The "almost" flat out Gooseneck, the ridiculous rise of The Mountain and the constant direction changes of Hall Bends, were all present and correct, along with all the other corners, which is always helpful when trying to run a race. Some of the newer drivers had never seen the track before, and whilst the likes of Lien Davies were fortunate enough to be able to make Saturday testing, others like Nick Roads were more reliant on computer games in trying to learn the twists and turns of the Lincolnshire circuit.

 But as the Sunday Sun rose, all 19 cars that had entered assembled, quite fittingly, in the assembly area for first qualifying, including that of the Foxes, who had done a great job of repairing the car after the Mallory shunt. Derek Coghill made his first racing appearance of the season with a revolutionary new exhaust system that had been painstakingly manufactured by hand (although some tools must have been used as well).

He didn't really get much of a chance to test it as the engine went pop within a few laps, though not before he had managed to set a time that was good enough for 13th on the grid. Up at the front it was Phil Myatt just ahead of Martin Hindley, with Wayne Cowling and Matthew Hollis making up row 2. Simon Pearson got 5th despite an impressive 360-degree spin out of the last corner. In fact, so impressive was it that Aubrey Brocklebank immediately imitated it in a sincere form of flattery. Trevor Williams was going a bit better than of late, lining up 9th, just behind Sandro Proietti and Alec Graham. Lien DAvies secured his best position of the season so far in 12th, but Michael Fox was less chuffed in 19th and last, over 30 seconds off the pace and at a loss to explain the exact cause of the sudden lack of pace the car was showing.

A little bit of tinkering here and there could be seen in the paddock in the build up to the first race (quite a lot in the case of Coghill), but all was well as the cars lined up to take the start. Hindley got away well, but it was Hollis who led onto the back straight, before Hindley resumed the lead halfway round the lap. Across the line for the first time it was Hindley from Hollis, Proietti (up from 7th), Myatt, Cowling and a hard charging Williams. One driver's gain is another's loss however, as Alec Graham dropped from 8th to 11th behind Davies (in the top 10 for first time) and Helen Deeley lost 5 places, crossing the line last, a position she demoted Fox to on the next lap. Up at the front, there was already a 5 car group pulling away consisting of Hindley, Proietti, Myatt, Cowling and Hollis. Behind them were another 6 cars in close company - Pearson, Brocklebank, Williams, John-Paul Wilkinson, Grahaam and Anthony Robinson, with Lien Davies grimly trying to hang on to their bootlids.

He would find it pretty hard to hang on to Alec Graham's bootlid, however, as this parted company with the car after a few laps. It had clung on for a while, which had caught the attention of race control and so began a slightly farcical situation, as the black and orange flag was shown to Graham for the first time. Having not come into the pits for a couple of laps (to be fair, the bnumber that was shown with the flag was written on a chalk board which had ovbiously been used several times before, so it wasn't massively clear which number the flag was for), the bootlid fell off, and the flag was withdrawn. Next time round however, the flag was shown again, which the officials claimed was the 3rd time, and therefore warranted a black flag. Graham Harper in the pits (running Alec's car), pointed out however that there had been a one lap gap and so therefore this was the first time it was being shown! Eventually Alec came in, the hole where the bootlid should have been was inspected and found to be little more than a hole, and he was sent on his way again, now down to 11th.

He should have been 12th, but on this same lap, Hindley retired. The leading 5 had built up a good lead by this stage, and into The Mountain on lap 8 it was Myatt in front from Hindley, Cowling, Proietti and Hollis. An ominous smoke trail from Hindley's car had appeared halfway around the lap, and at The Mountain the oil that was causing it deposited itself on the track and Hindley's tyres as the sump plug parted company with the sump. As he half-spun up the hill, Myatt was clear, but Cowling, Proietti and Hollis were all delayed as they skated onto the grass. Hindley got going again, and unaware of the slippery trail he was leaving behind, drove back to the pits to investigate what had happened. Seeing oil pouring out like a mini Niagara Falls spelt the end of his day. It also accounted for Steve Chappell, who spun off on the oil at Barn and into retirement. It was lucky that nobody else hit the tyres, especially as most of the cars on the track were unaware of the impending oil trail that covered the twisty parts of the track.

A couple of laps later, Brocklebank spun at The Mountain. losing 15 seconds and rejoining in 8th, behind Williams but in front of Wilkinson, who was off the pace compared to qualifying. Myatt now had a lead of over 7 seconds from Proietti and Cowling, whilst Hollis had lost the tow when Proietti had passed him and was now in 4th, slowly dropping back. Robinson (whose car was starting to smoke profusely) and Pearson were battling for 5th, and Williams was a lonely 7th. Trevor didn't stay there much longer however, as out came the black and orange flags for a loose front wing A-penale, which cost him a lap, dropping to 16th. By this stage, the race would normally have been over, but the BARC had lengthened the Cadwell races to 35 minutes to make up for the shortening of the 2nd Mallory race.

One man who had probably wished it had finished now was Myatt, who despite having a big lead was being caught, fast! Proietti and Cowling were working together and with just a few minutes remaining, Sandro forced his way past Phil, with Wayne following in the process! And that's the way it stayed, with Proietti claiming his first win, ahead of Cowling and Myatt. Hollis was a solitary 4th, ahead of Smokey Robinson and Pearson. Alec Graham had made a spirited comeback to catch Brocklebank on the last lap, and tried a kamikaze manoeuvre at the Hairpin, which only resulted in him, T-boning Aubrey. However, he very kindly slowed and allowed Brocklebank back through on the line, much to the consternation of Graham Harper on the pit wall! Wilkinson was next up, and Coghill completed the top 10, just ahead of Helen Deeley and Christine Thompson. Davies held off Roads and James for 13th, whilst Williams was way back after his enforced pitstop. He was however ahead of Fox, who despite lowering his lap times by some 19 seconds, was still just as much at a loss to explain the pace of his car as he had been after qualifying.

 

Report by the Hollis family.