Heats
1986 Donington 2 
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Silverstone

Silverstone, Northampton, Great-Britain

Date: 5/10/1986
Track length: 4.718 m
Attendance:
Entries accepted:
Starters: 17
Finishers: 13

Pole position: Rouse in 1.36,56
Fastest lap: Brodie in 1.37,88 = 173,54 kmh

Distance: 15 laps
Average speed: 169,25 kmh
Weather:
Ruleset: Group A
Car info: 1986 Cars

 

Out of Sunday's early morning mist loomed the burly figure of Dennis Leech, striding forward. "Ha!" exclaimed Dennis. And greetings over, Leech explained his master plan. "You know what I want more than anything else today? The lap record. More than the win, I want Steve Soper's record. And," added Dennis sagely, "I bet Rouse is after the same thing too." But in the end neither man was to figure. Leech never made it to the start, while Rouse retired when a turbo shaft broke. Instead, the dapper figure of Dave Brodie nonchalantly walked away with the honours.
On Saturday, 'The Brode' put in the necessary laps to qualify before taking off to be best man at a wedding. This was followed by a marathon-type run in the afternoon. Victory on Sunday seemed to round the weekend off nicely.
QUALIFYING.
The final round of the RAC's saloon series, and the championship already decided. Still, it was mighty pleasing to see more entries: Leech and Brodie in the top class; Colin Pearcy weighing in for the middle division (and more of the same next year, apparently); while C-classing we had Barry Sheene and Richard Belcher.
But, not all things change. On the respective poles we had the usual three: Rouse, Longman and Hodgetts. For variety's sake, though, Leech qualified on the front row having enjoyed a brief second session 'race' with Andy. Squadron Leader Longman of the 'Red Devils' (so called after the red Datapost cars' flying exits from recent races followed by a white tracer) was hoping that the recent spate of turbo failures had been cured. Hodgetts, meanwhile, was to be found in Alan Minshaw's Demon Tweaks CHMS Corolla, and ex-motor cycle champ Barry Sheene in Chris' Team Toyota/Duckhams car. Barry, however, was unable to make the Saturday practice, but was allowed three laps on Sunday just before the supporting Metro race. He would be allowed to start from the back with a 10s penalty. Of the much vaunted Alfa turbo there was no sign. Instead Jon Dooley had a ventilated V6 block to keep him company. Still, these things are sent to try us. Twice if you're Paul Taft. An engine let go on the Brooklyn/ ECS Escort on Friday's unofficial practice, while on Saturday Paul switched off before things began trying to escape from the Ford's cylinder block.

RACE.
The prospect of TV coverage had everyone quite excited for the race, as they sat on the grid waiting for Leech's black and orange Vitesse to appear. The Rover, undergoing a handling modification, never made it, however. So off they went for the green flag lap. except Hodgetts. Gosh! Silly me, can't get the car started. Oh, there we go. Well, I'll just have to start at the back with Barry so we can go formation kerb-hopping. And make it a CHMS 1-2, to boot!
Well, it didn't quite turn out that way. Barry dutifully followed around, shadowing his leader's tyre tracks. But despite Barry's pace, this was not enough for Chris, and he eventually had to leave Sheene to go for the Class C spoils. The drive was quite breathtaking, Hodgetts' supreme confidence seeing him pass Tony Crudgington's Clausthaler Corolla, despite Tony throwing a wobbly in front of him at Woodcote. And then there was just Taft. "I could have cried when he passed me," said Paul later. "Of all places it had to be on the Stowe straight. There was nothing I could do to stop him." On the last lap, the 1986 champion snatched another class victory. Back to the green, though. Rouse tore away from pole, followed by a fast starting Brodie and - as always - the charging Mike Newman. Diving into Woodcote for the first time, Rouse led from Brodie, Hall, Mike O'Brien, Newman, Hales and Longman. Richard soon disposed of Mark, though, to take his familiar role as Class B leader before Hales retired a few laps later. "Bonfire," muttered Mark, pointing at the singed Escort...
At the front, the fight for first was becoming more serious, and Rouse and Brodie started to swap places as the pace increased. But suddenly it was all over, the Philips sponsored Starion out front with a healthy lead, the ICS Sierra retiring to the pits. And that was that.
The Alfas managed to entertain throughout, running head to fin to the end, while Newman (after a spin) just failed to catch Longman for third overall, Hall lying in a secure second, Not a scintillating race, then, but not bad. Let's hope the appointment of a full time championship co-ordinator augers well for next year's series. (MN)

Touring Cars class A-C
Pos Pos in class # Team / Entrant
Car- Engine		 Drivers, Nationality Engine
vol. (cc)		 Engine
Type		 Group Distance,
time		 Qualifying position Qualifying time Fastest lap Reason out,
remarks
1 1 3 BBW Motorsport
Mitsubishi Starion Turbo A183		 Dave Brodie, GB
 1998 tc L4 A 15 laps, 25.05,31 5?   1.37,88  
2 2 2 Industrial Control Services Ltd.
Rover Vitesse		 Pete Hall, GB
 3532 V8 A 15 laps, 25.20,17 4      
3 1 44 Royal Mail Datapost
Ford Escort RS Turbo		 Richard Longman, GB
 1598 tc L4 B 15 laps, 25.50,03 7 1.40,45 1.41,18  
4 3 5 Burlington Wallcoverings Ltd.
BMW 635 CSi		 Mike Newman, GB
 3475 L6 A 15 laps, 25.50,33 5      
5 2 33 Royal Mail Datapost
Ford Escort RS Turbo		 Alan Curnow, GB
 1598 tc L4 B 15 laps, 26.10,96 3      
6 3 31 John West Foods - Alfa Romeo Dealer Team
Alfa Romeo 75 V6		 Jon Dooley, GB
 2491 V6 B 15 laps, 26.20,18        
7 4 30 John West Foods - Alfa Romeo Dealer Team
Alfa Romeo 75 V6		 Rob Kirby, GB
 2491 V6 B 15 laps, 26.20,47        
8 1 66 Team Toyota GB / Duckhams
Toyota Corolla GT AE86		 Chris Hodgetts, GB
 1587 L4 C 15 laps, 26.34,64     1.44,19  
9 2 69 Brooklyn Motorsport / ECS
Ford Escort RS 1600i		 Paul Taft, GB
 1598 L4 C 15 laps, 26.35,41        
10 3 62  
Toyota Corolla GT AE86		 Tony Crudgington, GB
 1587 L4 C 15 laps, 26.45,23        
11 4 77 CHMS Team/Demon Tweeks Racing
Toyota Corolla GT AE86		 Barry Sheene, GB
 1587 L4 C 14 17      
12 5 55? Smith & Latimer
MG Metro Turbo		 Colin Pearcy, GB
 1275 tc L4 B 14        
13 5 74 North Essex Motorsport
Ford Escort RS 1600i		 Richard Belcher, GB
 1598 L4 C 14 16      
DNF   25 T.W. Robinson Demolition / SDC Builders
BMW 635 CSi		 Brian Robinson, GB
 3475 L6 A 14 8     Engine
DNF   1 Industrial Control Services Ltd.
Ford Sierra XR4 TI		 Andy Rouse, GB
 2320 tc L4 A 11 1 1.36,56   Turbo
DNF   38 Terry Drury Racing
Ford Escort RS Turbo		 Mark Hales, GB
 1598 tc L4 B 6       Turbo fire
DNF   7 Linden Racing/Connels Estate Agents
Rover Vitesse		 Mike O'Brien, GB
 3532 V8 A 4 3     Engine, driveshaft
DNS   4  
Rover Vitesse		 Dennis Leech, GB
 3532 V8 A   2     Oil pressure