Round 1 of the 2011 Lotus on Track Elise Trophy held at Snetterton 300 circuit on the 19th and 20th March 2011.
Introduction
A winter season of changes brought in the new Lotus Cup UK Championship and with many of the frontrunners switching to the new series, we’re left with a very open field and plenty of new faces to fill the grid. Indeed, 41 cars lined up for the Free Practice and Qualifying sessions at this meeting. There are still some familiar names and Luigi Mazza must be hoping to build on a strong debut season.
Also new is the circuit configuration at Snetterton, a brand new infield section and changes to Coram and Russell now place greater emphasis on driver skill as well as more overtaking oportunities. However the vast majority of competitors barely need another reason to have a go!
Practice
Becoming the first the cars to lap the new 300 configuration in anger, Ken Savage set the fastest time in the very cold but dry and sunny first session, with a time of 2 minutes and 13.842 seconds. He was joined by another regular, Steve Quick living up to his name, a second back. Newcomer Mike Vase, an experienced racer already, was third, with Stuart Rowland also within two seconds of Savage’s time. Phil Stratton-Lake was within three seconds, with Ben Hyland, Neil Stothert, Adam Bewsey and James Knight in the next bracket. But these were very much learning laps, particularly for those not present at the pre-season shakedown just a week ago, and the qualifying session would be more telling.
Qualifying
Savage and Vase continued their good work into the afternoon, Savage out front and taking advantage of the clear track, visibly on the edge but unable to better his time from the morning, he was pipped by Vase, who was almost half a second quicker. In third and a second off the pace, Mazza would have been hoping that his racecraft would serve him well on Sunday.
Quick also carried forward his speed and would line up in fourth place, heading John LaMaster, Hyland, Rowland, James Knight, Noble, Denman and Bewsey. Newcomers Tania Mann, Steve Train and Chris Dunster qualified well within the top twenty on their debuts.
Race 1
There’s always a ‘first day back at school’ feeling at the start of a season and whilst Savage was holding off the attentions from a fast starting LaMaster, Mazza, Quick and Rowland, mayhem occurred behind. With the field compressed into the braking zone for Riches, Noble was left spinning wildly in the middle of the pack, Sean Nash rocketed into the barrier at frightening speed, whilst Bewsey completed a similar pirouette on the opposite side of the road. With many of the following drivers also having nowhere to go, the ensuing damage put paid to Hans Baumhardt, Seth Walpole, Peter Driver, Sean Winder, Lee Mowle and Mann.
Vase had not even started the race, his car withdrawn on the day, along with Knight’s. With a long delay to clear the track, everyone had a chance to focus on a clean restart, with the race length halved. Again Savage just held his lead, this time from Mazza, whilst LaMaster repeated his demon start from earlier to remain in contention, with Rowland once again threatening behind. Denman, Quick, Hyland and Stratton-Lake followed the leaders round the new complex of corners, however Denman didn’t make it out in one piece, spinning down the order.
Rowland passed LaMaster to take third place and with Mazza working on wresting Savage’s lead ahead, behind LaMaster was now under pressure from Quick, losing a place in the process. The pair enjoyed the luxury of this fight, for the pack behind them were sorting themselves out, Dunster getting the better of Stratton-Lake and Hyland.
Out of Murrays corner, Mazza was able to power past a struggling Savage and into the lead, with Rowland close enough to further punish him. However canny racecraft not only resisted this attack but won him back the race lead around the infield complex. Amongst the excitement, Quick and LaMaster caught up with the trio and sensing a chance to be part of this, Stratton-Lake demoted Dunster and set off in pursuit, followed by Hyland a lap later.
LaMaster dropped off the pace a little as the chasing pair of Stratton-Lake and Hyland started to catch him up. This left Quick to challenge Rowland and as they squabbled, Mazza focussed on retaking the lead. The final time out of Murrays he got a great run and had their been one more lap perhaps he’d have held on, however the finish line is only halfway along the Senna straight and so it was a victory for Savage.
With Hyland taking fastest lap from Stratton-Lake in their efforts to catch the cars in front, they dropped Dan Plant, Steve Train and Matt Bartlett, all promoted after a great debut for Dunster unravelled at the end of the race.
Race summary – 35 starters, 24 finishers.
| Overall | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Ken Savage | 2. Luigi Valentino Mazza | 3. Stuart Rowland | 4. Steve Quick | 5. John LaMaster | 6. Phil Stratton-Lake |
Race 2
The traditional reversed top-ten meant that Bartlett would start on pole from Train. It was the latter who would get the best start as Bartlett bogged down. Plant held second from Bartlett and Hyland, with LaMaster and Quick following. Plant then took the lead from Train, who started to hold up the field, giving him a useful lead at this early stage, whilst the faster qualifiers worked their way forward. Mazza was already up with Hyland, who had already been passed by Quick and Savage wasn’t far behind either.
A sideways moment for Bartlett at Agostini gave another place to Quick, and with Train already dropping down the field, only Plant was now ahead. Next time round a move was made on the inside of Riches and Mazza was by now in place to follow on. With Savage stuck behind Hyland for now, Mazza needed to pull a move on Quick to give him time to break away. However both Savage and Rowland were soon past Hyland and catching the leaders as Mazza struggled to make a move stick.
With Plant dispatched with, the closing threat perhaps forced Mazza’s hand and he attacked Quick at Riches. However there is always a risk with such tactics and they played into Savage’s hand as he stole second place. To add insult to injury, he took the lead further round the lap. Quick’s defence of second carried on but a more robust attack finally paid off for Mazza, taking a few corners to complete. Rowland took advantage of this to launch his own campaign moments later but perhaps it was the beginning of a problem for Quick, for he was soon parked up at the Montreal hairpin, smoke billowing from the car. Carrying on the momentum, Rowland then staged a successful attempt on Mazza’s second place.
With Quick out, LaMaster had taken Hyland but the pair remained close for the duration. Plant dropped some way behind them but still claimed a good finish to add to his earlier eighth place. Neil Livesey, Denman and Stratton-Lake battled hard in the top ten, some way ahead of Nigel Hannam, benefitting along with Dunster and Dave Carr from late spins by Bartlett and Train.
Savage, naturally, was delighted with his clean sweep of wins, as were his fellow podium finishers for the day Mazza and Rowland as they sprayed the first of the season’s champagne.
Race summary – 31 starters, 26 finishers.
| Overall | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Ken Savage | 2. Stuart Rowland | 3. Luigi Valentino Mazza | 4. John LaMaster | 5. Ben Hyland | 6. Dan Plant |
Conclusion
It could certainly be said that the series is certainly back with a bang but aside from the spectacular start to the season, some very promising debuts have been made. Good qualifying performances from Vase in particular, plus Mann and Train and a good race showing from Dunster stand out. Whilst Savage and Mazza were always going to be favourites the field was certainly as open as had been expected from round one. The circuit also provided great action, enjoyed by a good crowd.
The next race is at Silverstone in just under a month, meanwhile the races can be seen on Motors TV very shortly in a brand new format programme.
Race Results
Download the official results & times
