Round 2 of the 2010 Lotus on Track Elise Trophy held at Silverstone on the 17th April 2010.
Introduction
Round two at Silverstone coincided with the first of a series of high-profile support slots as the series joined the FIA Formula 2 championship, following guest slots at Brands Hatch and Donington Park last year. This meant the a large field would be taking to the newly-renamed Bridge loop, familiar to many as the GP loop up to last year.
With Brands victors Martin Donnelly and Mark Speller absent, returning to action would be James Knight, Ken Savage, David Skeggs and Gavin Kirby, now in a Production Elise amongst a capacity entry of nearly 50 cars. The two races, each open to all entrants, took place over one day under glorious skies.
Qualifying
Local driver Savage put his knowledge to good use with an early fast lap to head the field and was soon joined by Simon Phillips, Marcus Jewell and Adam Bewsey. Moving up the times were Steve Williams and James Knight as Bewsey put in a fast time that no-one was able to beat in the remainder of the session.
Lining up to have a go in the latter half of the session, Kirby was getting familiar with his new Elise as Williams and Jewell both pitted for final adjustments. Out on track, Andrew Dolan and Rob Austin hauled themselves into the top ten, together with Brands Hatch sensation Luigi Valentino Mazza.
At the end of the session, Bewsey held pole position from Kirby, Phillips, Mazza, Jewell, Greg Noble, Rob Austin, Andy Dolan, Knight and Stuart Kirkbride. However, Noble fell foul of the scrutineers, which promoted Martin Roberts up to tenth place on the grid.
Race One
It was the experienced Kirby who made the best start and he converted this into the lead out of Copse, with Mazza, Phillips and Jewell heading the chase. Austin had also jumped a rueful Bewsey, who was now in the clutches of Knight, Kirkbride, John LaMaster and Savage. Austin then had a moment out of the complex and dropped behind this pack.
With the field settling into the race, Jewell demoted Phillips, with Knight and Kirkbride also making places as they passed Bewsey. Whilst they chased down the leaders, Mazza was trying all he could to pass Kirby, the two ex-karters calling on their considerable racecraft as they circulated together.
Knight latched onto the leading group and with Mazza trying all he could to pass Kirby he left himself vulnerable to attack from Jewell, who was soon through into second. Not happy with this situation, Mazza was determined not to let Jewell get away and this now allowed Phillips to try and capitalise, whilst behind Knight kept a watching brief. A move that paid off as he pounced on Phillips after a failed overtaking attempt.
Behind them, Savage and Gary Broad both retired, whilst Bewsey attacked Phillips but got offline and nearly spun. Steve Williams was fighting his way up the field, passing Russell Hill and chasing Kirkbride, himself behind polesitter Bewsey.
Knight grabbed third from Mazza as Jewell put the pressure on Kirby and with a successful move he was into the lead. Whilst he set about extending this, Kirby was coming under pressure from Knight and Phillips, who had also found a way past Mazza. Out of Copse and into the esses, Knight thought he saw an opportunity to wrest second place but in the fast switchbacks the two made contact and both spun. Kirby, facing the approaching pack, was fortunate not to be hit but was stranded, whilst poor Phillips had nowhere to go and struck Knight. With a damaged steering rack and very little bodywork around the right-front wheel, his race was saved when there was little option but to call a red flag as Knight was also stuck, his right-rear wheel no longer pointing forwards.
With the majority of the race distance run, Jewell was declared the winner from Mazza and Phillips. Bewsey recovered to fourth from Kirkbride and Williams, whilst fastest lap was claimed by seventh-placed Hill, ahead of LaMaster, Paul Harding and Tom Chatterway. For causing the race-stopping incident, Knight was excluded from the results.
Race summary – 47 starters, 37 finishers.
| Overall | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Marcus Jewell | 2. Luigi Valentino Mazza | 3. Simon Phillips | 4. Adam Bewsey | 5. Stuart Kirkbride | 6. Steve Williams |
Race Two
With several retirements including Kirby and Knight, the reverse-grid start featured Roberts on pole, from Kirkbride, Austin, Jewell, Mazza, Phillips, Bewsey and LaMaster. As with race one it was the second-placed driver that got the best of the start as Kirkbride led Roberts, Jewell, Mazza and Phillips. These last two provided early action as an attempted move around the complex gave Harding and Williams a run on Phillips.
Jewell then set about taking another lead and by Stowe on lap two he had made it, to be followed, a few lengths back, by Mazza. Roberts had also taken Kirkbride and there were followed by Harding, Williams, Phillips and Hill.
In the pack, Bewsey’s promising weekend was ruined when he made contact with LaMaster and unable to avoid them, Pitch also connected on his way into the gravel. As he skipped across ready to rejoin, a little too much enthusiasm meant the rear wheels dug in and he was stranded inches from the tarmac.
Back at the front Mazza worked on Jewell’s lead as Harding popped up in fourth from Hill, Williams and Phillips. Harding then dropped out of this group as Hill took third from Roberts and began to chase the leaders hard. At first it looked as though he was catching but within sight of the flag the chasing Williams and Phillips started to close the gap, the pair also swapping places.
By now it was too late for any further changes to the order and Jewell picked up his second win of the day from the impressive Mazza with Hill delighted to be on the podium and Phillips happy to have a car to race at all after his earlier problems. Then we had Williams, Harding, Kirkbride, Roberts, Sean Nash and Stuart Rowland. Behind the top ten there was a fine performance from race-rusty Skeggs who started from the back in both races. Suffering a stuck throttle in race one, he fought his way up to 16th place.
Race summary – 40 starters, 32 finishers.
| Overall | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Marcus Jewell | 2. Luigi Valentino Mazza | 3. Russell Hill | 4. Simon Phillips | 5. Steve Williams | 6. Paul Harding |
Conclusion
Two action-packed races with no let-up throughout the field. Whilst it’s a pity that race one was shaping up for a thrilling finish, we saw a very strong entry in the races with almost everyone involved in fierce competition. Following the excitement of Brands Hatch there is much to look forward to this season.
The series returns to Castle Combe at the end of May but before then we have the opening round of the Lotus Cup Europe at the Nurburgring in two weeks’ time, plus coverage from this race can shortly be seen on www.elisetrophy.tv
Kevin Ritson Press Officer LoTRDC LtdRace Results in full
Download the official results & times
