Cadwell Park 17 August 2008

08 Sept 2008

Round 7 of the 2008 Elise Trophy held at Cadwell Park 17 August 2008.

Qualifying

A wet Lincolnshire morning meant a delayed start and a class A qualifying session held behind the safety car. Grid positions were determined from previous race results, which put Paul Quinn on pole, followed by Michael Edwards, Hans Baumhardt, Simon Deacon, Martin Roberts and Gary Broad.

Ben Pitch continued his recent domination of class B, taking the class pole and an excellent 2nd overall with a time of 1:41.780, followed by Steve Williams and Andrew Waters in 5th and 6th.

In the 2-Eleven class, Dominic Jackson got the better of Gavin Kirby, qualifying in 7th and 8th respectively, with just 0.002s separatying them (Jackson’s time was 1:44.066 in damp conditions).

In class C ex Lotus F1 driver Martin Donnelly dominated in the slippery conditions, taking overall pole with a time of 1:40.961, followed by Andrew Walsh and Chris Headlam in 3rd and 4th.

Race 1 Class A

Class A
  1. Paul Quinn
  2. Michael Edwards
  3. Simon Deacon
  4. Stuart Kirkbride
  5. Martin Roberts
  6. Russ Treasure

Quinn and Edwards resumed their rivalry with a titanic struggle for the lead, swapping places several times until Edwards had a spin at the borrom of the Mountain on the penultimate lap, gifting the victory to Quinn. Deacon took 3rd, with Stuart Kirkbride 4th, Roberts 5th and Russ Treasure 6th with a typically entertaining drive from 14th on the grid.

Race summary – 26 starters, 24 finished.

Race 1 Class B/2-Eleven/C

Class B 2-Eleven Class C Overall
  1. Ben Pitch
  2. David Harvey
  3. Rob Beves
  4. Andrew Waters
  5. Phil Chatterton
  6. Chris Fella
  1. Dominic Jackson
  1. Martin Donnelly
  2. Andrew Walsh
  1. Martin Donnelly (C)
  2. Andrew Walsh (C)
  3. Ben Pitch (B)
  4. David Harvey (B)
  5. Rob Beves (B)
  6. Andrew Waters (B)

Pitch was unchallenged in class B, briging his Elise home in 3rd overall to take the class victory, followed by David Harvey and Rob Beves in 4th and 5th.

In the 2-Eleven class Kirby was ahead of Jackson when he retired on lap 5 (dumping coolant all over the approach to the Mountain, which was most entertaining for a few laps!), gifting the class victory to Jackson with 7th overall.

In class C Headlam made a flying start and was challenging for the lead before retiring with mechanical problems on lap 5. Walsh gave Donnelly a pretty hard time, getting past him at one point to take the lead but getting tangled up with some back markers. Donnelly took advantage and the overall and class win, with Walsh 2nd.

Race summary – 17 starters, 10 finished.

Race 2 Class A

Class A
  1. Paul Quinn
  2. Stuart Kirkbride
  3. Simon Deacon
  4. Ken Savage
  5. Russ Treasure
  6. Gary Broad

We were denied a repeat of the Quinn/Edwards battle from race 1 as Edwards did not start race 2 due to mechanical problems. This left Quinn with a relatively straightforward victory, with Kirkbride 2nd, Deacon 3rd, Ken Savage 4th, Treasure 5th and Gary Broad an excellent 6th from the back of the grid.

Race summary – 24 starters, 19 finished.

Race 2 Class B/2-Eleven/C

Class B 2-Eleven Class C Overall
  1. Ben Pitch
  2. Rob Beves
  3. Andrew Waters
  4. David Harvey
  5. Steve Williams
  6. Phil Chatterton
  1. Dominic Jackson
  1. Andrew Walsh
  2. Martin Donnelly
  3. Chris Headlam
  4. Doug Setters
  1. Andrew Walsh (C)
  2. Martin Donnelly (C)
  3. Ben Pitch (B)
  4. Rob Beves (B)
  5. Andrew Waters (B)
  6. David Harvey (B)

Ben Pitch once again took a fairly easy class B victory and 3rd overall, with Beves and Waters 2nd and 3rd in class with 4th and 5th overall.

Jackson was the only runner in the 2-Eleven class and unsurprisingly took the class victory with 7th overall.

In class C we were treated to an epic battle between Walsh and Donnelly throughout the race, with the 2 of them swapping places (and some paintwork!) several times. In the end Walsh crossed the line just 0.9s ahead to take the class and overall victory, with Donnelly 2nd and Headlam 3rd in 9th overall.

Race summary – 14 starters, 13 finished.

Race Results in Full

Image:Icon pdf.jpg
Download the official results & times

Official photos courtesy of TSU Photographic

Keith Hurford‘s Exige S2
Class A grid
Michael Edwards & Paul Quinn resume their rivalry
Damian Murray finding thr limit under braking
Edwards & Quinn
Mark Wilson & Murray
Edwards loses it approaching the Mountain
Class A two-time winner Quinn
Simon Deacon takes the chequered flag
This looks like a comfy spot
“So is it left left right or right right left?”
Class B/2-Eleven/C race start
Dominic Jackson’s and Gavin Kirby‘s 2-Elevens in close formation
David Harvey‘s 340R
Chris Headlam comes under pressure from Andrew Walsh
Jackson gets it all wrong approaching the Mountain
Anthony Clark goes off-road
Martin Donnelly takes the race win in race 1 (class C)
You’d get a bus through there…
Peter Driver under pressure
Class B/2-Eleven/C race 2 start
Ben Pitch dominates class B
Walsh and Donnelly in race 2 (class C)
Chris Fella discovers there really is less grip on the grass
Walsh, Donnelly & pitch take the chequered flag in race 2
Edwards
Pitch
Kirkbride
Quinn
Walsh