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Hooper & Ashby Super 75 Anniversary Meeting

Thruxton, Great-Britain

Date: 26/5/1986
Track length: 3.791 m
Attendance:
Entries accepted: 15
Starters: 14
Finishers: 11

Pole position: Rouse in 1.24,70
Fastest lap: Leech in 1.25,90 = 151,07 kmh

Distance: 20 laps
Average speed: 150,33 kmh
Weather:
Ruleset: Group A
Car info: 1986 Cars

 

The entry list for round 2 of the RAC British Saloon series boasted one more runner than had graced the Silverstone opener. New faces were Mike O'Brien in the Connells Rover Vitesse, Jon Dooley (partnering Rob Kirby in a pair of John West-backed Alfa 75s), Lionel Abbott with an Escort RS1600i and Alastair Davidson with his Fiesta XR2. Of those who ran in Northamptonshire, there was no sign of Barry Barnes, Peter Lovett or Geoff Kimber-Smith. Not surprisingly, Andy Rouse headed the times, his first session mark giving him the pole by almost 2s from Dennis Leech. Next up was Mike Newman with his 635 CSi. Mike had taken delivery of his newly homologated Schnitzer bits for the BMW, which he expects will give him an extra 40 bhp, but had not had time to fit them. Richard Longman was just a tenth slower with the rapid Datapost RS Turbo, pipping Pete Hall's ICS Vitesse by 0.01s. A gap of 1.5s then intervened before Mike O'Brien completed the top six, ahead of the second Datapost RS Turbo of Alan Curnow. Chris Hodgetts was next with the Corolla GT, heading the baby class by a country mile. The similar car of Tony Crudgington made a sorry sight, badly rumpled after its pilot lost it at Goodwood. Hodgetts was well pleased with the Corolla and reckoned there is still a lot more to come: "The most difficult part is simply getting it off the line. Too few revs and it just dies, while if you overdo it you're caught with wheelspin and just left. The Escort is much easier in that respect." Another man troubled by wheelspin was Mark Hales, the Motor man this time experiencing it in fourth and fifth gear during the course of the lap. The team stiffened the springs to try and keep the front wheels where they should be, and Mark hoped for the best... At the green Rouse and Leech stormed away, Dennis locking up into the Complex, Andy forced to accommodate him. Newman, Longman, Hall and O'Brien followed. Soon we were missing the latter, O'Brien gyrating over the chicane kerbing and trickling round to the pits to retire the Vitesse. And what was this? Rouse on the grass and spinning at Church...
Taking full advantage of this unexpected piece of good fortune, Leech really got the hammer down and claimed a new lap record. Rouse, recovering, had it all to do from sixth. It was not to be for Dennis though. With a healthy lead, the V8 suddenly expired and Leech pulled off on his ninth circuit. We now had Longman in front from Newman with Rouse up to third. The Sierra sounded dreadful, however, and was suffering a recurrence of the misfire which had troubled Rouse towards the end of practice. Hall was another A class man in trouble, limping round with a flat right front on lap 11. Just as Longman looked invincible, he began to experience a fuel pick up problem and Newman swept by. With Rouse unable to do anything, Mike kept everything together to record a tremendously popular win.
Curnow's Datapost car started to suffer the same problem as Longman and dropped back behind the scrapping Kirby and Hodgetts. This pair had been together for the duration with Chris just not able to mount a decisive attack, both took their respective class honours and were followed home by Taft and Dooley who completed the top half dozen. Although the action was not exactly close, it was certainly captivating. More of the same please. (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 5 Burlington Wallcoverings Ltd.
BMW 635 CSi		 Mike Newman, GB
 3475 L6 A 20 laps, 30.15,83 3   1.28,79  
2 2 1 Industrial Control Services Ltd.
Ford Sierra XR4 TI		 Andy Rouse, GB
 2320 tc L4 A 20 laps, 30.20,04 1 1.24,70 1.28,59 Spin, misfire
3 1 30 John West Foods - Alfa Romeo Dealer Team
Alfa Romeo 75 V6		 Rob Kirby, GB
 2491 V6 B 20 laps, 31.02,98 9   1.31,72  
4 1 66 Team Toyota GB / Duckhams
Toyota Corolla GT AE86		 Chris Hodgetts, GB
 1587 L4 C 20 laps, 31.03,17 8   1.31,61  
5 2 69 Brooklyn Motorsport / ECS
Ford Escort RS 1600i		 Paul Taft, GB
 1598 L4 C 20 laps, 31.17,47 11   1.32,69  
6 2 31 John West Foods - Alfa Romeo Dealer Team
Alfa Romeo 75 V6		 Jon Dooley, GB
 2491 V6 B 20 laps, 31.26,31 12   1.32,07  
7 3 44 Royal Mail Datapost
Ford Escort RS Turbo		 Richard Longman, GB
 1598 tc L4 B 20 laps, 31.28,71 4   1.28,56 Fuel pick-up
8 4 33 Royal Mail Datapost
Ford Escort RS Turbo		 Alan Curnow, GB
 1598 tc L4 B 20 laps, 31.38,50 7   1.30,09 Fuel pick-up
9 3 2 Industrial Control Services Ltd.
Rover Vitesse		 Pete Hall, GB
 3532 V8 A 19 laps, 30.33,97 5   1.28,03 Puncture
10 3    
Ford Escort RS 1600i		 Lionel Abbott, GB
 1598 L4 C 18 laps, 31.42,74 14     Including 1 minute penalty for a jump start
11 4    
Ford Fiesta XR2		 Alastair Davidson, GB
 1599 L4 C 17 laps, 30.22,56 15   1.44,45  
DNF   38 Terry Drury Racing
Ford Escort RS Turbo		 Mark Hales, GB
 1598 tc L4 B 10 10   1.32,22 Differential, puncture
DNF   4  
Rover Vitesse		 Dennis Leech, GB
 3532 V8 A 8 2   1.25,90 Blown engine
DNF   7 Linden Racing/Connels Estate Agents
Rover Vitesse		 Mike O'Brien, GB
 3532 V8 A 2 6   1.28,68 Spin
DNS   62  
Toyota Corolla GT AE86		 Tony Crudgington, GB
 1587 L4 C 20 laps, 31.03,17 13     Accident in practice