Garland back to front at Brands

Brands Hatch - 4 May 1998

Round Two of the Challenge took place at Brands Hatch on Bank Holiday Monday May 4th. On arrival at the circuit the weather conditions were good, sunny, dry and rather warm which bade well for a good race after last week.

We fielded an amazing twenty seven cars – truly superb for the second race of the season. We had yet another two new competitors whom we would like to welcome. Graham White usually prepares Chris Springall’s car but, as Chris was unable to race at this event, he very kindly lent his car to Graham – how about that! Our second newcomer is Adrian Van de Kroft who came over from the Netherlands. Adrian owns many Morgans including the 1996 factory works GT race car amongst selected others. We also had three contenders who have all raced previously but not this season, Tony Dillon who raced in the championship seven years ago, Steven Lockett who won Class C two years ago and the inimitable Rick Bourne, owner of Brands Hatch Morgans, racing in Class C in a car lent to him by Jack Bellinger.

Practice started well for Mary Lindsay when she achieved her fastest time on only her second lap with a 59.21. Peter Garland took pole position with a truly superb 50.21 being 1.18 seconds in front of Simon McDermott. Simon though retired with a broken gearbox flange after overtaking Simon Orebi Gann on what he believed would have been his fastest lap. Terribly bad luck.

Malcolm Paul initially failed scrutineering owing to an empty fire extinguisher – his mechanic was to be seen returning from Rick’s garage with a new one just in time. He was also late for practice after having to get out en route to shut a door and an ajar bonnet – one of those days!! Despite his problems, Malcolm still managed a good session with a 53.65 putting him 3rd on the grid.

Chas Windridge, who had managed to repair the damage sustained at Snetterton within the week, also retired after producing a 53.06 with a crank sensor problem. Rick Bourne was seen scurrying back to his garage in order to get a new part in order to try and repair Chas’s car in time for the race, unfortunately this was not possible – again terribly bad luck. At this stage Class A was looking seriously depleted with only two cars racing, those of Peter Garland and Keith Alhers. Jeremy Holden had repaired his clutch problem of last week by some minor adjustments. Peter Horsman had a superb session putting in a 55.84, which was much quicker than expected. Unfortunately Peter had a small altercation with Adrian Van de Kroft at Graham Hill bend causing slight damage to the rear wing of Adrian’s car. David James had an electrical problem but with a push from his friends managed to get going and attained 21st on the grid with 59.85. Jack Bellinger ran a very light fuel load causing a slight starvation problem when cornering hard on the bends of the circuit. Class D runners James Paterson and Rick Lloyd fought the closest contest of all with a wonderful battle qualifying seventh and eighth with 53.46 and 53.65 consecutively. Class C runner Rick Bourne, driving a relatively unknown car, achieved tenth place on the grid taking complete control of his class some five places over his nearest rival Tony Dillon.

As the cars were being set up on the grid the Marshalls spotted Class C runner Doug Taylerson’s car dropping a little oil. He was withdrawn from the grid but, as luck would have it, had enough time and banter to convince an amiable Aston Martin owner to lend him a set of spanners in order to fix the leak. The only drawback being that Doug had to start from the pitlane

The grid was set and from the green light Peter Garland made a great start, almost instantly pulling away from third and fourth placed Class B runners Malcolm Paul and Graham Walker. Class E runner John Clarke picked up three places with Mary Lindsay making up four. James Paterson dropped nine places after an overtaking manoeuvre led to to an excursion across the grass at Cooper Straight (full credit to him for excercising some excellent control to bring the car back on line and for pulling back an amazing five places on arrival at the top of Hailwood Hill by the next lap). By the second lap Peter had pulled out a good seventy yards over Malcolm and Graham and even at this early stage was looking completely dominant. Class D runner Chris Acklam had made up three places along with Simon Orebi Gann, both cars moving ahead of Rick Bourne. Jack Bellinger also tended the garden at Clarke Curve losing one place to arch rival John Clarke, but staying ahead of Mary Lindsay whilst having a super battle with both cars. Class C runners Tony Howard and Chris Dady were separated by Class D runner David Sherman who in turn was challenged by Class E runners Adrian Van Der Kroft and David James. Running slightly back but not out of contention were Class C runners Peter Sargeant and Doug Taylerson.

As the raced progressed Peter Garland continued to stride out and barring disaster looked set for his first win of the season. Class D runners Richard Lloyd, Chris Acklam, Simon Orebi Gann and Graham White continued an intense race being joined by James Paterson on the fifth lap after a super fight back. Peter Sargeant was having a super race picking up four places by the fifth to challenge Tony Howard in the SLR. CIass E runner Peter Horsman and Class C runner Rick Bourne enjoyed a good battle that lasted some five laps only ending when Peter came up behind Adrian Van Der Kroft, and declined to overtake on having flashbacks to the incident in practice. Class D runner Leigh Sebba gained a place over Mary Lindsay with Jeremy Holden driving very defensively and staying constantly in touch despite taking a short cut at Surtees bend. Class D runner Steven Lockett lost a few places at the start of the race but, by driving steadily, was successful in regaining a couple of places to finish behind Class C runner Tony Dillon, providing a positive first outing despite a couple of problems with his car. Leigh Sebba and John Clarke provided some thrills in a closely-fought contest as each driver gained a place and then lost a place on successive laps. Tony Howard just kept control of the SLR at McLaren Curve avoiding a spin to finish in nineteenth place and third in Class with a pleasing performance. Grahanie Walker out performed himself on lap ten going off and losing a place to arch rival Malcolm Paul. Graham was able to regain control, although not position, to finish behind Malcolm. Keith Ahlers finished second in Class with a wholly satisfying performance, being a full two seconds a lap quicker than last year.

Peter Garland deservedly won Class A with an outstanding performance. Class B went to Malcolm Paul, Class C to Rick Bourne, Class D to Rick Lloyd and Class E to Peter Horsman. Well done to all the winners.

Jon Hopkins