08/06/2015
Round 9 Abingdon Saturday 6th June
13 SBD'ers assembled amongst the many 100s of competition cars for the Abingdon Motorsport CarNival- a unique event which not only provides two sprint courses but an Auto solo and a Rally on the Sunday. Also unique is the charity angle which manages to support two causes. Friends of Stowford House supports learning disabled Adults and the Army Benevolent Fund- clearly a great resource in the light of our recent conflicts- and £250,000 has been raised since the Carnival started- outstanding.
Abingdon traditionally supports large classes too and A2 had 12 contenders with Mike Stark in the Alfa 147 Diesel coming out victorious in a class he ,on paper, shouldn't have won! Against Clio 172 Cup and Honda S2000 Mike is clearly peddling the Alfa in a manner which its Italian forebears would have approved of to record a combined 110.71. Outgunned here, Steve Riddle's Puma didn't have the outright speed on the Abingdon Courses sweepers nor the torque required on Bentley slow corner exits for a 119.27
The 9 strong A6 class saw Justin Andrews in the Impreza once again coming out victorious on a 93.57 - a time that put him in the top 10 of all competitors on the day- another great result. Leo Martorana in the Alfa Romeo 155 Q4 did well to record a 8th place on 116.31 with Adriano Martorana in the same car car ending up one place better in 7th on a very tight 116.16 -a strong finish for the Martorana family!
A8 had 11 competitors and James Moreton in the Caterham CSR was the highest placed SBD runner in 4th place on a 98.28. Elen Worthington was back in the Elise now with new engine, gearbox and brakes and took 6th place on a 102.20 feeling a little more at home than last week's Davrian.. Simon Hamilton's Lotus 2 Eleven was more competitive here and pushed Elen hard on the Abingdon course with only a 10th between them. The tighter Bentley course threw up a gear change issue (known and the fix is easily done) which pushed Simon down to 9th on a 103.92.
B10 featured 13 runners and Paul Jaggard's Alfa Romeo Guilia did incredibly well to finish in the top half on 6th on 114.99. The class featured some hot cars and Paul's time must be considered one of his strongest drives this year- excellent.
B11 was going to be about horsepower (and the right foot to control it) so it was no surprise to see Geoff Kershaw's Sierra take the honours with a fast 45 on the Abingdon course as he totalled 97.11 for the class win. Jim Bridge's Nissan would be a little outgunned but held onto 4th place on 106.79.
In C12 Brian Jones in the Wesfield Sei held onto 2nd place for a 101.91- the theory was suggested that Brian had lost his map and after a few days after leaving Pembrey, turned up at Abingdon and decided to compete anyway...
C13 was 8 strong and Ian Parr in the outrageous Sylva Riot was putting Clive Wooster's Radical SR4 under severe pressure until P2 when Ian went off heavily on the last corner of Abingdon course damaging the Riot sufficiently to force a withdrawal sadly. This allowed Clive to post a PB on Abingdon of 43.41 and take the class on a 91.55.
And so after 2 convoy laps and 8 timed runs we wearily but happily retired to the awards Marquee for our prizes presented by 1960s Touring Car Champion Alex Poole.
