Donington Park 15th September 2007

Saturday dawned sunny and warm; an absolutely perfect day for a motor race.  The FJ front engine cars were fighting for line honours with a very healthy grid of twenty eight cars, all of which survived practice to start the race.  There were seven different marques in the top ten demonstrating that it was not always the fastest car on paper that could put in a quick lap.  Robin Longdon in the Lola Mk 2 claimed pole with Stuart Roach’s Alexis Mk 2 0.93 seconds adrift.  First time out in the FJ race was Brendan Roberts in the Lola Mk 2, sympathetically restored by Tony Steele, who achieved third just one and a half-seconds behind pole.  Roberts, ex Classic Sports Car Champion 2003 in an Elite and Goodwood Revival 2000 Fordwater Trophy winner, took to his new steed like a duck to water.  Everyone looked forward to a serious battle in the afternoon race and agreed that a podium was going to take an exceptional drive as only 3.29 seconds separated pole from tenth.

Roberts made a good start and took the initial lead but was quickly swallowed up by Roach and Longdon, he managed to hold on to the tail of Tony Goodwin’s Gemini Mk2 but retired on the next lap with a broken throttle linkage.  The leaders tear side by side down the curves and Longdon bests Roach, with Mark Woodhouse (Elva 100) and Derek Walker (Terrier Mk IV) chasing hard.  All the way down the field there were gaggles of cars having their own race within a race, with everyone fighting for position.  Longdon outbreaks himself into the Chicane and drops down to fourth as Roach takes to the grass to avoid him before galloping off alone and pulling out a lead of 4.7 seconds as Longdon sets off in pursuit with Woodhouse and Walker between himself and Roach.  Lap six brings into play three backmarkers at the Chicane that slow Roach as he threads his way through allowing the chasers to close the gap.  Woodhouse doesn’t have the straight line speed of the Ford engine cars but his exit speeds are keeping him in the hunt, but he cannot keep Longdon behind forever and is taken also by Walker.  Longdon is now back on the pace as well as the tail of Roach; there is little between them in the closing laps as they constantly look for an advantage.    Behind, the battle for third continues between Walker, Woodhouse and Goodwin as they circulate with at times less than a second between them.  Not to be outdone are the three fighting for sixth, Clive Wilson (Lola Mk 2), Crispian Besley (Elva 100) and Andy Wolfe (Stanguellini).  A heart stopping moment as a car leaves the track in front of the leaders and then bounces back on but is avoided as Longdon and Roach speed on and into the chicane wheel to wheel.  Longdon runs wide but exits ahead and keeps Roach behind to take the win, with Walker third.  Woodhouse did not make the podium but drove faultlessly to snatch fourth ahead of Goodwin, despite his exhaust pipe coming adrift from the manifold.

Once again FJ came up with a crowd pleaser but more than that, they have demonstrated an attitude that should be admired; respect for their opponents, a desire to win with close but safe racing and well turned out cars. 

Thanks to Millers Oil for the use of their suite and to Sue and Robin Longdon for organising the hospitality.  Once again Crispian Besley arranged the Cobra to quench the thirst at the after race gathering, so thanks also go to Crispian.  A satisfactory end to a nigh perfect day.

Overall:
         1st Robin Longdon    2nd Stuart Roach  3rd Derek Walker
A1 Class:
                 1st Andy Wolfe          2nd Peter Mullen   3rd Gordon Wright
Fastest lap: 
  A1  Andy Wolfe                       Stanguellini                  1.26.28
  A2  Robin Longdon                  Lola Mk 2                       1.23.06       
  E    Jeremy Bouckley                  Smith F2                           1.39.86        

DNF’s:
Ian Robinson (Autosud) – lost all his gears                  Lap1
Brendan Roberts (Lola Mk 2) – broken throttle linkage Lap1         
John Truslove (Lola Mk 2)                                          Lap3
Bill Grimshaw (Moorland Mk 1) – blown head gasket     Lap6