Tangerine Dream

Snetterton - 25 April 1999

Clear skies above and little prospect of rain made for a great day of waiting for the 24 cars and competitors as once again with a entry list larger than any other one make series, the Morgan event was sent to the back of the class and a qualifying slot at midday.

Having registered for the event Jack ‘Homer’ Bellinger was doubtful he could make Snetterton when the race was knocked back from event 6 to 8 and a consequent 5.30 start, but after a fortuitous downpour, the pitch at which he was due to manage his youth football team play their semi-final was declared waterlogged and the crucial match postponed.

The late start gave others the opportunity to eliminate themselves or have themselves eliminated before the main event. Practice would usually be the best place to start but Keith Ahlers went one better and during qualifying for a race against non-Morgans, his gearbox protested and he was forced to withdraw from the day’s events. So with one down, 24 cars left the assembly area for the practice session. First to crack was Chris Acklam who lost his throttle cable having only just completed the 3 laps required for qualification, he pulled onto the grass and spent the remainder of the session as a spectator.

Chas Windridge was next, a ‘monumental’ spin on oil in the Bomb Hole was followed by a mysterious fire on his left rear wing which ruined his tyre and with only an all weather spare and a trip to Spa in two weeks to think about, he decided to cut his losses and save his charred +8 from any further punishment. John Clarke was victim 3. Hammering down the straight his throttle stuck open, he switched off and regained control of his +4 Super Sport but when he returned to the paddock found that a collar had fallen off and into a valve damaging it and terminating his first foray of the year.

All the drivers were posting conservative times and all found the circuit to be not a little slippy. The creator of the Snetterton skid-pan and the day’s 4th casualty was local man Jim Deacon who had inadvertently deposited the liquid content of his +4 Super Sports’ engine while showing Mary Lindsay (who was behind him for much of qualifying) the racing line.

Up at the sharp end, Matthew Wurr took pole with a time nearly 1 second faster than Peter Garland who with a brake bias problem was worried he might repeat his balletic Castle Combe spin.

The 3 remaining class A cars were within 9 thousandths of each other and Simon McDermott was a little disappointed with 5th position. Still understandably paranoid after so many retirements, he had pitted twice during the session and it seemed he too was on his way home early but surprisingly his unscheduled stops were for refinement not retirement.

So now with 5 hours between qualifying and the race there was little opportunity for any further retirements from the main event. That was apart from Class A man Malcolm Paul, who had entered the same Sports and GT race which had earlier put paid to Keith Ahlers day. Whilst many of the other Morgan drivers enjoyed their lunch breaks relaxing outside Tyrrells in the cool sunshine, Paul was up against Cobras and Westfields. The race was billed as a battle between the 2 Cobras but in an astonishing drive, Paul made a cracking start from 5th to 3rd then out dragged one Cobra on the pit straight for 2nd. Under pressure from the recently rebuilt and freshly painted +8, the 1st place Cobra of Cheng Lim ran wide onto the grass into Riches and without any regard for Paul rejoined the track virtually sideways. Paul had nowhere to go and the huge collision which followed pulverised the +8, ended the race and left Malcolm nursing a cut lip.

Class A had been decimated and there wasn’t a Super Sports to be seen, so that by the time the drivers assembled for round 2 of the championship there were 19 survivors.

Matthew Wurr led the gleaming train of Morgans slowly round the assembly lap onto the grid and after a brief hold a magnificent growl drifted across the Norfolk countryside heralding the start of race 8. By the first corner Garland drove his grungy +8 round the outside of Wurr and held the lead as they crossed the line for laps 1 and 2. Behind them, McDermott had a bit of a moment through Russell on lap 1 but had recovered and was holding a steady 3rd from Lloyd who had passed Chris Springall. Next was James Paterson who had put one on Martin Kurrein for 6th. At the end of the 3rd lap things got a little chaotic. Garland, who still thought he had Wurr close on his tail, had failed to use his mirrors, didn’t realise that Wurr was dropping off his pace and charged down the hill into Russell where his brakes locked up sending him into a spin which was concluded atop the gravel trap at one of the most dangerous points on the circuit. As yellow flags were furiously waved, Wurr passed Garland for 1st but then, with a problem of his own, threw his hand up as he passed the pit lane. McDermott who was closing fast, thought that he’d better not overtake the new leader under caution, slowed dramatically and by the time he realised that Wurr was retiring, Lloyd and Springall had snuck past and demoted him to 3rd. This was academic, however, as shortly afterwards the marshals decided Garland’s position on the chicane was too silly and the race was stopped while the blue-ish obstacle was extricated. Always the optimist, Garland thought having been rescued he would re-start the race and put his fire proofs and helmet back on before he was reminded that when an oil tanker goes aground a public enquiry must be held before she is allowed back to sea.

The grid for a new 5 lap race was based on the positions after 2 laps which, with Wurr and Garland out, left McDermott on pole, Lloyd alongside and Springall 3rd, but as the 17 remaining Mogs left the grid for race 2, it was Lloyd who got a flyer catapulting himself past McDermott who had to wait until Sear to re-take his lead and head off for a convincing and well deserved win.

Lloyd and Springall meanwhile spent the race in a tight battle Springall having passed Lloyd on the 1st lap pulled away from him on the straights but lost ground in the corners to Lloyd who although he finished 3rd on the track but was 2nd on aggregate, winning class B and heading off to the Bank Holiday meeting at Brands with a joint lead in the championship.

Behind them, all hell broke lose in the class C battle. James Paterson led Martin Kurrein and Chris Acklam who had Grahame White all over him and at one point on him, rearranging his body work. Close behind were Paul Burry, Peter Horsman and Adrian Van de Kroft having a ding dong battle. As Van de Kroft went through Russell for the 2nd time, the crash catalyst lost it under braking yet again, cutting the tricky chicane in half. Horsman joined Jack Bellinger in the ‘It was necessary to avoid Van de Kroft’ Club and spun to evade torpedo 41. This allowed Bellinger (who still found time to wave as he passed the main grandstand) past and well clear of his adversary Lindsay who was the filling in a 3 way scrap for 12th, with Kelvin Laidlaw and Leigh Sebba who had held it together until the final corner of the final lap when he showed how close to the limit he had been and in a last lunge for glory joined the growing list of competitors to spin at Russell. Sebba’s loss was Philip McKelvey’s gain as shortly after passing the recovering Class D man the beginner crossed the finish line 14th elated having beaten another +8 for the first time.

Having had a great race together for the minor positions in the 3 lap sprint race, Peter Sargeant and David James both had a solitary time during the 5 lap feature. James’ misfire had deteriorated and he was unable to apply the same sort of pressure to Sargeant as he had done earlier finishing 17th and last but having only been lapped once.

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