Garland turns up the heat

Round 4, Snetterton, 20 July 1996

Round 4 of the Morgan Motor Company Challenge took place at Snetterton on Saturday 20th July. Only 19 of the original 23 entrants were out for practice at 10.10am and unfortunately one of the cars missing was the Class E Series V 4/4 of Rick Bourne which had developed problems during testing the previous day. The eagerly anticipated appearance of this car will now have to wait until later in the season. Making a welcome return though was Colin Treble in his Class E +8.

By the end of the third lap of practice, matthew Wurr was recording a time of 1:18.86 which was to place him securely on pole with Peter Garland alongside him. Clouds of smoke, resulting in the black and orange flag, indicated problems from a leaking rocker cover gasket for Grahame Walker. Meanwhile James Paterson was doing his bit for the local farmer by harvesting his sugar beet from a nearby field. The time between practice and the race was sufficient for most problems to be sorted out and much woodwork to take place creating spacers for bonnets to reduce the effects of the scorching heat.

The green lights signalled good starts for Peter Garland and Chris Springall but it was Matthew who led through the first bend. This remained the position at the end of lap one with Craig Jones in third, Malcolm Paul fourth followed by Grahame, Mark Baldwin and Chris Phillips. Chris Springall was first of the Class D runners with Martin Kurrein and James Paterson in 9th and 10th. Class E was being led by Jack Bellinger, followed by John Clarke and Peter Horsman. Chris Acklam was in front of Mary Lindsay with Simon Orebi Gann, Maurice Standish, Colin Treble and David James completing the field.

Lap two saw changes of positions for Chris Acklam, now ahead of Peter Horsman, and Martin who, in passing Chris Springall, set a new lap record for Class D. It was on this lap too that the Class B record was broken by the fourth placed car of Malcolm Paul. As the leaders crossed the line for the third time, Peter was closing on Matthew while nothing separated the 5th, 6th and 7th cars of Grahame, Mark and Chris Phillips.

By the halfway stage, Chris Acklam had passed John and was close behind Jack who was at the front of what had become a six car battle which included the cars of Simon, Mary and Peter Horsman, who was by now sporting a very modified front bumper. So close was their racing that it was not immediately clear how this had happened, however there was damage to the rear of John’s car and it was later rumoured that Mary’s towbar had done its job!

Peter’s assault on Matthew’s lead forced Matthew to run wide and spin on the 6th lap and Peter crossed the line for the 7th time at the head of the field. In spite of an almost total lack of rear shock absorbers, Grahame was maintaining his 5th position but a mistake from Mark let Chris Phillips through to take 6th on the 8th lap. On the same lap Craig limped into the pits with an electrical problem but was able to return to the track losing only three places. Unfortunately he was missing by the following lap having ground to a halt out on the circuit. Also missing on this lap was Colin who had retired with a faulty petrol pump. Mark meanwhile had retaken Chris and Simon had successfully passed both Chris Acklam and Jack to finish 10th behind James.

Matthew had tried in vain to retake the lead but it was Peter who took the chequered flag and an excellent third win of the season. Malcolm was third overall and won Class B while Martin secured another 11 points to maintain his lead on the Championship. Class E went to Jack but fastest lap and a new lap record to John Clarke.

Serena Aston, Race Series Coordinator