Another Good Day For Linton at Vaucluse
Mixed fortunes for fastest man Manning
RallySprint returned to the Vaucluse Raceway on Saturday (April 14) and, despite a reduced entry, some hard-fought battles were enjoyed in round two of the 2007 Vaucluse Raceway RallySprint Cup. For the second time this season, Adrian Linton was the big winner, adding victory in the Group Winner's Handicap KnockOut to his fastest time of the day in last month's RallyChase.
Back at VRW for the first time since last year in the Shell V-Power/Simpson Motors/Garbage Master Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII, Trevor 'Electric Micey' Manning set the fastest lap - an impressive 2m 09.77s, bearing in mind the extremely slippery conditions - but had a day of mixed fortunes, otherwise.
On his first qualifying run, he pulled into the pits one lap early, saying afterwards that he thought he had seen a chequered flag; thereafter things looked set to improve, his best qualifying time 2:10.32. There were only two four-wheel-drive cars entered, so the Group winner would be decided by a 'best-of-three' run-off between Manning and Kirk Watkins (Abacus Builders Inc Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V).
In the first of these, Manning was the winner by around seven seconds, and looked set to repeat the result until mid-way through the second run, when the Evo VIII suddenly faltered, and he came home two lengths behind Watkins. The fans were enjoying this, and welcomed a third showdown . . . but it did not materialise. As Manning and Watkins rocketed off the start pad, the newer car hesitated again, and Manning drove back to the pits and parked up.
Manning said afterwards: "The car suddenly lost boost, we don't know why yet, possibly something in the software. It was disappointing, because I really enjoy driving it; the track was very challenging with the sand down, particularly in the first turn off the start straight, which felt really narrow."
There was disappointment also for teenagers Dane Skeete and Conor Roach, whose anticipated debuts were thwarted by clutch spring failure as Skeete left the line for his first qualifying run in their Peugeot 106 Rallye; along with Bradley Weekes (Datsun 120Y), they had each been allowed an unofficial practice run to check out the track, but that was to be all the driving they would do.
Weekes acquitted himself well in Group 1, coming through his first day of racing without incident; he finished third behind Spencer Hutchinson, who repeated his Group victory of last month's RallyChase in his Peugeot 306-S16, and Andrew Skeete, who survived a spectacular grass-cutting moment, then a brush with the tyre wall in his Hitachi Power Tools Mitsubishi Lancer.
Driving the Ravensden/Crane & Equipment Vauxhall Astra GSi, Linton first beat Freddie Gale (Gale's Hatcheries Toyota Corolla RunX) in his heat, then William Branch (Automotive Art Toyota Corolla) in the Group final; Gale beat Greg Cozier (Citgo/Hyundai Commercial & Industrial Ford Escort RS2000) into third place.
Triple RallySprint Champion Sean Gill (Simpson Motors Suzuki Swift) defeated Nicholas Gill (Castrol/Hennessy/McEnearney Quality Mazda 3) in their heat, then finished inches ahead of Jonathan Still (Hitachi Power Tools/Philips Lighting/Warrens Motors/Crane & Equipment/VP Racing BMW M3) in the Group final. Kristyl Branch (Toyota Corolla) was the surprised winner of the third-place run-off, after Nicholas Gill made heavy contact with the tyres at the southern hairpin, causing front- and rear-end damage to the Mazda.
The final round of the 2007 VRW RallySprint Cup will be the opening event of the Barbados Rally Carnival, the VRW International RallySprint on May 19.
VRW RallySprint Cup, round 2
Vaucluse Raceway, St Thomas
Results
Group 1 1st Spencer Hutchinson (Peugeot 306 S-16); 2nd Andrew Skeete (Hitachi Power Tools/Rent-a-quip/Quality Tyre Mitsubishi Lancer); 3rd Bradley Weekes (Datsun 120Y)
Group 2 1st Adrian Linton (Ravensden/Crane & Equipment/Garbage Gobbler/West Coast Garden Centre/Edwin Clarke Furniture Vauxhall Astra GSi); 2nd William Branch (Automotive Art/ImitationTrees.com Toyota Corolla); 3rd Freddie Gale (Gale's Hatcheries/NASSCO/Nitrous Formula Octane Booster/Nishikoi Fish Foods Toyota Corolla RunX); 4th Greg Cozier (Citgo/Hyundai Commercial & Industrial Ford Escort RS2000)
Group 3 1st Sean Gill (Simpson Motors/Shell V-Power/VISA Suzuki Swift); 2nd Jonathan Still (Hitachi Power Tools/Philips Lighting/Warrens Motors/Crane & Equipment/VP Racing BMW M3); 3rd Kristyl Branch (Automotive Art/ImitationTrees.com Toyota Corolla); 4th Nicholas Gill (Castrol Syntec/Hennessy/Vita Malt/Lysol/Listerine/McEnearney Quality Inc Mazda Genuine Parts Mazda 3)
Group 4 1st Kirk Watkins (Abacus Builders Inc Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V); 2nd Trevor Manning (Shell V-Power/Simpson Motors/Garbage Master Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII)
Group winners' KnockOut Handicap
Semi-finals: Linton beat Hutchinson; Gill beat Watkins
Final: Linton beat Gill
Fastest four-wheel-drive time of the day: Manning, 2m 09.77s
Fastest front-wheel-drive time of the day: Sean Gill, 2m 12.07s
Fastest rear-wheel-drive time of the day: Still, 2m 18.87s |
