Introduction
The final race of the Elise Trophy season returns to Brands Hatch, the traditional venue for the end of year encounters. Often new drivers appear at this race and this is no exception, Warren Scott, Martin Wills and Andrew Wright amongst the newcomers.
However Ken Savage, Steve Quick and Stuart Rowland are the favourites for victory, whilst Phil Stratton-Lake, Chris Dunster and Dave Carr should all go well here.
Qualifying
Warren Scott was the surprise of qualifying, fastest for some time before being replaced by Jon LaMaster at the top of the table. Chris Dunster’s dreadful luck continued with a failure on the exit of Druids, which brought out the safety car.
Phil Stratton-Lake was next to go fast, before losing the place to Dave Carr. Scott then went quickest again, before Stuart Rowland closed on the 54 second barrier, beating it moments later. Stratton-Lake and newcomer Martin Wills were next to break into this bracket, then the former took provisional pole from Rowland.
Savage and Quick, perhaps with one eye on the imminent Lotus Cup UK title decider, were somewhat subdued. However Quick put in a lap quick enough for third, whilst Savage languished in tenth.
Rowland bettered Stratton-Lake’s time in the final moments and whilst the latter had time to respond, his efforts were not good enough, nevertheless a front row start was fine reward for his endeavours. Behind Quick in third, were Wills, Adam Bewsey, Scott, Andrew Wright, Carr, LaMaster and Savage.
Race One
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| Race 1 Winner, Stuart Rowland |
A superb start from Carr saw him gain many places at the start as Rowland led Stratton-Lake, Wills and Quick. Whilst Rowland started to make a break, Wills put Stratton-Lake under massive pressure. Under braking for Paddock Hill, Wills locked up and both cars ended up in the gravel. With Wills stranded, the safety car was deployed and the order was now Rowland, Quick, Carr, Scott, LaMaster, Neil Stothert, Wright, Savage, Matthews and Dan Plant.
A superb restart by Rowland left him with a comparable gap to before and Quick was left holding back Carr, Scott and the rest. A quartet behind formed, made up of LaMaster, Stothert, Wright and Savage.
Scott was just succeeding at making Carr show signs of stress when he made a move at Graham Hill but a wild fishtail that so nearly saw him spin, dropped him to eighth. However on his recovery drive, Stothert was easily dispatched, and Savage was his next target. The top three were now alone, so it was fourth place that received everyone’s focus. LaMaster was still holding back Wright, Savage and Scott and as they entered the final lap it was finely poised. Scott looked most likely to and on the final corner he had the run on Savage, salvaging sixth on his debut. Behind them, Savage, Stothert, Plant and Frank Matthews made up the top ten.
Race 2
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| Race 2 Winner, Ken Savage |
Savage made a good start from pole as LaMaster’s challenge faltered, losing out to Wright and then Bewsey but the latter spun his place away soon afterwards. As Scott also got through, the leading pair pulled away from the rest.
Wills further blotted his copybook with another spin on lap 4, meanwhile LaMaster was forming a group with Quick and Carr, who had been crowded out at the start. A little behind them Rowland was unable to make much of an impression on the leaders, but was faring better than Stratton-Lake, in tenth and behind Stothert and Dan Plant.
Scott caught Wright as the race was reaching its halfway point and the battle allowed Savage plenty of breathing space. The pair were also starting to come under attack from Steve Quick, who had cleared LaMaster, whilst Rowland made two superb moves at Druids around the outside of Carr and LaMaster.
A wild moment for Wright saw Scott and Quick through and two laps later, Rowland. As the race progressed towards its final moments, Savage held a four second gap to Scott, Quick and Rowland, with Wright and Carr lapping in close company. LaMaster was now under attack from Stratton-Lake, Stothert and Plant.
Scott ran wide at Graham Hill, now on his own but having lost the podium places to Quick and Rowland. His position became worse when he was distracted by a spinner at Paddock Hill, falling down the field.
As Savage took the flag, giving him some consolation on losing out on the Lotus Cup UK title earlier in the day, Quick and Rowland completed the podium unchallenged. Carr just missed out in the rostrum, ahead of Wright, Stratton-Lake, LaMaster, Plant, Stothert and Paul Baker.
Conclusion
The season-ending races produced a few surprises in the form of three newcomers who were immediately on the pace. A few errors clouded otherwise excellent performances but it was no surprise that the wins came from Rowland and Savage, whilst Quick was the most consistent performer with a brace of second places.
Whilst another great year of Elise Trophy action is over, look out for the Lotus 1000km at Brands Hatch in a fortnight – last year’s race was thrilling and this year’s promises to be even better!
Kevin Ritson Press Officer LoTRDC LtdPhotos courtesy of Chris Valentine, Hockeyphotos.com.
