Garland scoops to conquer

Mallory Park - 18 May 1997

Round 4 of the Morgan Motor Company Challenge took place at Mallory Park on Sunday 18 May. The weather was dry, but cloudy and humid. Eighteen cars were out for a late morning practice in which Peter Garland once again set up fastest time. Grahame Walker had a fairly big spin during the session but nevertheless managed to record second fastest to be on the front row of the grid. The hairpin at Shaws caught James Paterson out when over-exuberance put him into a spin on the exit. He controlled it well though, escaped intact and later in the session recorded best time for a Class D car and found himself on the third row of the grid! Far more heart-stopping was the moment, on the same corner, when Simon Orebi Gann failed to make it at all and went straight through the exit gates scattering marshalls and our resident film maker in the process. Fortunately he came to rest just before the second set of gates (you can’t escape that easily Simon!) and the damage to the car was repaired by Team Brands Hatch Morgans in time for the race.

Just 17 cars made the grid for the 10 lap race as Mike Fellows lost oil pressure in the assembly area and was unable to start. It was Peter Garland who got away first when the lights went green, while further back Chris Springall left the line sideways and briefly made contact with the Class E car of Peter Horsman. At the end of lap 1, Peter was leading from Craig Jones and Simon McDermott. The sole runner in Class B, Grahame Walker, was lying 4th in front of James Paterson, who was leading Class D ahead of Martin Kurrein, Simon Orebi Gann and Chris Acklam.

Class E was being led by Peter Horsman followed by Jack Bellinger. Chris Springall was 11th ahead of Colin Treble, David James, Mary Lindsay, Chris Phillips, John Clarke and Barry Sumner. The solitary Class C car driven by Peter Sargeant completed the field. Although Peter was leading the race Craig was keeping with him, while a real battle was developing in Class D where James was having his work cut out to keep in front of Martin. Chris Springall had moved up a place and was splitting the first two Class E cars and Chris Phillips had taken both Mary and David and was lying 13th at the end of the second lap. Simon Orebi Gann and Chris Acklam were behind Martin and James, although all four were so close that any one of them could have exited the hairpin in front. For the first three laps James remained ahead but Martin – looking more focused than we’ve seen him for a while! – was alongside James on the third lap and crossed the line in front on the fourth. By now Chris Springall had moved up to add his weight to the battle and Chris Acklam’s 8th place was coming under pressure. By the 5th lap Simon OG had passed James to become the new threat to Martin. Peter Horsman was dominating Class E, while Colin and Chris Phillips were having their own dice just ahead of the equally close battle of the +4s between John, Barry and David.

In 5th place Martin was succeeding in keeping Simon behind him, but on the 9th lap he had a fright as Simon passed him at the Esses only to be retaken again before the line. Chris Springall made the most of the situation and passed Simon and then went on to catch and almost pass Martin too. Martin was still in front at the flag to take a really well-deserved Class win after an excellently fought race-long battle. Grahame took Class B and Peter Sargeant Class C. Peter Horsman won Class E after a superbly spirited drive and Peter Garland safely extended his lead on the Championship after another excellent race.

Perhaps a ‘slow news day’ had left officials with little to do at Mallory but for whatever reason they made their presence felt throughout the day and unfortunately after our race as well. It was apparent that drivers from all championships were being randomly selected for alcohol and drugs tests and the Morgan Motor Company Challenge was no exception to this. A minor irritation in comparison to the fate which awaited Craig Jones following the race. Having passed the mandatory sound test prior to the race, council officials tested the car from the side of the track during the race and concluded that the level was in excess of that permitted and he was therefore excluded from the results. Similar tests on a Westfield in an earlier race resulted in a black flag and the leading driver’s exclusion from that race too.

On to Donington on June 8 and the biggest grid this year – 25 at the last count, including a greatly increased number of cars in Class A!