No fools at all and lots and lots of horses!!
I think lots of people recall a certain “Trotter Trading” Reliant Robin, yellow and more than a little unloved iconic three-wheeler. Perhaps less well known, certainly to the younger generation, is the fact that Reliant made a number of very competent sports cars and there is today a healthy and active owners club running social and sporting events for these machines.
We were invited to one such event, run by the Reliant Scimitar Sabre Owners Club. The event was part of a full weekend festival of all things Reliant, other cars from classic Marques and our Porsche Drivers at the Curborough Sprint circuit near Lichfield.
The Sprint would be our penultimate round, number thirteen of fourteen, and final class positions could mathematically change dependant on drivers being fastest and/or breaking record times for bonus points. That would not be easy as the circuit being used was the figure of eight layout, so not just speed but rapid changes in direction left and right and a need to remember just where in the lap you are!
The weather was dry, the temperature at the beginning the day comfortable as against hot, but became much warmer as the later timed runs took place.
Practice
A single practice was called. Fastest overall again was David Dyson in the P2 class 991.2T. David always goes off like a firecracker on his first run preferring to test limits early and often getting quite close to his ultimate best time at the end of the day. His run of 62.46 seconds was quite brilliant and a tough target for the other driver in the P2 class Andy Fagan in his Boxster. Andy took the more gradual building approach and started the day with a controlled 66.58 second practice.
In P1 we were pleased to see Tim Barber and David Hilton sharing their GT3 again. Tim, recovering from an injury, was a little behind David who scored a 67.17 time. Clearly in the lead of P1 after practice was Nigel Watkins in his GT3 with a solid 64.45 run.
In P3 Jon Baldock started strongly in his Boxster with a very swift 65.32 practice time. Three others in the class were all in the 68 second band, Sam Rosenthal, another Boxster pilot, just ahead of the others with a 68.10.
Stephen Jory and his 944 are known for carrying speed through the corners so the twisty but short Curborough course had potential for him in P4. In practice Stephen was one of the quickest Porsche cars out there with brilliant 64.94 second effort. Jake Cartwright was a few seconds shy of Stephen’s time in his Boxster but with development and increased confidence to push the boundaries this year Jake has shown he can find that competitive time when it counts and so Stephen will have known he couldn’t relax!
Scoring Timed Runs
After a few delays only two scoring timed runs were possible, disappointing for those trying hard to capture better championship positions. The day had warmed noticeably as our contenders gathered in the collection area.
Nigel Watkins was always in control of the P1 class with two 62 second run times, never less than around a second and a half ahead of the other cars in the class. Nigel’s best of 62.53 took the P1 class win from Wayne Helme in his 718GT4 and Tim Barber in third place, a little sore perhaps but enjoying the return to being behind the wheel.
Andy Fagan was unlucky to miss out on that third scoring run. Even if not ultimately catching a super quick David Dyson he might have been able to reduce the winning margin and thus helping his Championship position. As it was David nibbled yet more time off his earlier practice attempt and recorded an excellent P2 class winning 61.75 second time, a new class record. Not to be too outdone Andy also beat the previous record and shaved half a second off his time to end the day runner up in P2 with a 63.56.
There were eight cars in P3 for the event, including a few that had driven the figure 8 layout before. Justin Mather had a few technical issues in his Supercharged 944 and made an attempt at a representative time but it was clear to all the car wasn’t happy. There wasn’t much distance between a handful of the other runners, all in the 66 second bracket. Ian Wadsworth had improved steadily and was around three tenths ahead of the middle runners with a very decent 65.75 time to head home runner up in P3 with Chris Milne third and going well again in his road going Boxster. But, taking yet another P3 class win in fine style, Jon Baldock’s 64.78 best was just 0.03 seconds slower than the previous class record, close but as the saying goes…no cigar!!
And so on to the final class, P4. With a set of three very quick for the class 64 second times Stephen Jory might have understandably started to feel a little comfortable. However, a clearly fired up Jake Cartwright put in a standout last run to end the day just 0.26 seconds slower than Stephen and second in P4. Stephen’s P4 class win in 64.73 seconds was fourth fastest overall, quite the performance for a P4 car and earning a welcome clutch of points towards the end of year tally.
The next and final (yes, it’s that time already!) round is at Shelsley Walsh Hillclimb on September 13th. We hope for strong turnout to celebrate another great year of friendly club motorsport.
See You There?
Simon Wilson
Championship Coordinator
Porsche Club GB
simonwilson@porscheclubgb.com