Graham Wynne wasn’t there in his Vtech and with Chris Maries’ Monte Carlo being sold for hillclimbing in Austria there was just Chris Allanson racing his steel bodied Hayabusa Mini.
With limited opposition it was a chance to try some developments on the car. The back anti-roll bar has been disconnected for some time and so Chris was trying a new adjustable front anti-roll bar. The plan was to go out with it on the full stiff setting and change halfway through the session depending how things went. With only 10 minutes for qualifying by the time the tyres are warmed up and a flying lap is done there’s not much time available for a pit stop. All went well though and we changed to a full soft setting and out he went again.
The anti-roll seemed to be an improvement. It gave some understeer but also increased traction out of the corners so it got left on for the race. Any extra tenths gained might count at the end of the race you never know! There’s even a rumour that Chris switches his alternator off for extra power down the straight?!
It’s funny how after a good qualifying session people seem to start sticking their head in the back of the car in the paddock to see why it goes so well. Anyway Chris qualified 4th overall with only 0.6 of a second between the first four cars and they were a second and a half in front of all the rest.
Of the three cars ahead on the grid the big Lotus never made it due to suspected head gasket problems and despite everyones’ efforts to fix things in the paddock (friendly lot this bunch) Graham Taylor was still struggling with the engine in his Westfield. Guess where Chris was aiming to be into the first corner? And that’s pretty much what happened View Video
With only 1300cc’s those long straights were always going to be a struggle. Sure enough Mark Primett in the 2 litre Europa went past and then points leader Paul Dobson in the turbo rotary Mazda. They went on to have a fantastic dice for the lead with Mark just taking the win minus a lot of bodywork. Richard Winter also went well in another Europa.
Chris enjoyed an almost race long battle with Duncan Aukland in his big Rover. Who’d have thought two British Leyland cars would be doing so well after all these years? Chris went on to win that duel but only after Kevin Cryer had managed to get the water out of his Caterham ignition and come storming through from the back of the field.
So another Class win and points in the bag after an exciting and enjoyable day ending in the sunshine at Croft it’s on to Oulton Park again on August 4. It should be good.
Edited by crossed thread, 17 July 2007 - 08:37 PM.
