BRANDS

Testing

Relatively few Jags, Harrisons x 2, Lyddall, a late-afternoon Skeletor, and Doyle in the Hyper XJS. A momentary Palmer and a smattering of saloons but overall very few Jaguars. Testing is costly, but far cheaper than racing.

A wet morning showed the usual story, heavy road cars are quick in the wet, powerful race cars have to watch themselves. Clear and dry in the afternoon, the usual spectacle of Harrison’s D class trying to hang on to Lyddall’s V12, helped by the green track and Lyddall’s recent history of only instructing at the Brands Rally school, forgot to change back to tarmac mode. Alex Harrison finally cures the season-long misfire and in 15 minutes of testing figures he’s cracked this circuit.

Skeletor nips round to remind himself where the wheels go, and Palmer breaks a rear hub after only a couple of laps, day over. But once again, it’s a problem in testing, not race day!

QUALIFYING

Mixed grid, 37 Jaguars. 37! That’s 3, with a 7 after it. To put it in perspective, that’s about 60 tons. If they line up nose to tail they’ll take up a tenth of the entire track. In motion you get a car every second and a half.

How anyone thought this was a good plan we don’t know. Brands quali is tight at the best of times, a tenth can drop you half a dozen places, there isn’t enough circuit to be far off the pace, so no shock that the grids were a funny sight. Finding air to set a time was nigh-on impossible, most drivers got only one try at it, slower cars so disadvantaged by blue flags that they never got chance to set a hot lap at all. Poor idea and not to be repeated please at these short circuits, the slower cars are not getting what they’ve paid for.

Two minor offs at Paddock, Alex Harrison gets it completely broadside in the gravel, but keeps his boot in and never stopped, whilst Walker does spin it completely and there’s another M25 moment as the next 20 cars slow to a crawl at the top of the hill.

Despite the gravel it’s Alex Harrison with his first pole position. The top 4 cars are split by 4/10 second, Lyddall second by a gnat’s cock, Doyle in the monster I class in 3^rd, with Andrew Harrison alongside.

Favourite Palmer is far down the order in 8^th, the crowded quali claiming a big scalp. Mark Russell also a little further down than expected, Merrett strangely anonymous, class E generally should have been the cars stealing the front rows, but the Ds are amongst them from that stupid qualifying session.

RACE

With a lightning start from his first pole position Alex Harrison and Stewert Lyddall drag race to turn 1, and the V12 fails to make it past, both brake deep into the corner and Harrison holds the lead. Doyle onto Lyddall’s boot, the other Harrison drops 4^th to Palmer before Paddock, and then 5^th to Russell at Druids.

Palmer flies from 8^th to 4^th before the first corner, low diffs apparently the way forward for that startline launch. Ray Hill also powers through to climb to 7^th, pushing Skelton backwards, and then powers past Harrison down the start/finish line, E vs D no contest.

First casualty of the race as Harrison fights back against Hill, round the outside at Clearways, then Paddock, then Druids he drops the rear running wide on the exit and parks it gently in the tyres at Graham Hill, the car refusing to restart and his race over.

Alex Harrison extends his lead as Lyddall fights off a marauding Doyle, all three formation showboating through Clearways, Harrison in error, Lyddall with ruined tyres and Doyle on sheer horsepower.

Something has to give, and it’s Doyle who makes the move stick on Lyddall into Druids, a masterful squeeze and he steals second. It’s short-lived though as that Clearways powerslide this lap gets out of hand, and round the car goes, he rejoins far down the pack.

Down amongst the dead men there’s an unremarked but remarkable thing going on in Lawrence Coppock’s car. The head gasket has let go again and he’s driving a very lumpy 4 cylinder straight 6. But he’s lying 4^th in class. 4^th!

Having started dead last MacVicar blitzes Beecham on lap 2, , but his attack on Crossley is interrupted by the arrival in the mix of a recovering Webster, who has lost ten seconds with a piece of driving we won’t talk about and needs to make a fast recovery.

The E class pace advantage punches Webster back up 2 places immediately, passing Coppock's 4 cylinder, and he gradually hunts and kills Seath’s class D car by lap 13 to close right in on Ray Hill’s bumper as the Beard makes his charge from the back.

MacVicar slices past Crossley on lap 4 and sets off in pursuit of Coppock, fiercely close racing at times under 1/4 second ahead, but Coppock knows his way round a corner and at Brands that's enough for him to defend lap after lap against those with all 6 cylinders actually operating.

Ray Hill gets some unwanted assistance at Druids on lap 9 and backs it into the wall but rejoins, though losing places to the rest of class E and setting off after Webster. The extra power in the black machine will count here though, by lap 10 he's back ahead. The Bearded one doesn't give up easily though, and the subsequent pursuit will last to the flag.

Hill passess Seath, leaving Webster no option but to give the same thing a go, the racing as ever just as competitive for 9th place as it is for the lead. Webster makes it past Seath on lap 12 and closes on Hill again, but there isn't enough time to make it count, they will finish in this order. 

Inspired by this Filipe Comer drops it at Graham Hill as he staves off Drage and spins out of class D 2^nd place. Matt Skelton, serenely cruising to class victory with Harrison out of the way, is never troubled by either of them, Paul Merrett as usual his on-track nemesis but in a different class.

Doyle’s recovery is short-lived, into Paddock at the right speed for the brakes rather than the alien tyres he heads for a gravel nap a long way into the kitty litter and out.

Drage is circulating on his own in a big cushion of time, 7 seconds adrift of Skelton, also now having a gentle and lonely cruise to the flag with Merrett having scampered off into the distance. Indeed from p4 to p8 there are 4 cars unable to close on the XJS ahead and rueing the low numbers.

Alex Harrison staves off an early challenge from Lyddall into Mcleans, but by half distance is now clearly pacing himself and measuring the gap to Lyddall, Palmer in pursuit but not really in the fight, Lyddall not pressured by him and free to chase he will now set fastest lap, but can’t make any headway on the class E leader.

Comer has another go at crashing at Graham Hill and fails again, but kudos for using much more grass this time and getting it some way up the banking before rejoining. Marshalls at Druids out offered an opinion that it was the equivalent of an aircraft stall-turn and the idea was to use the hill for gravity-assisted launch down Cooper straight.

Harrison wins the race by a comfortable margin, taking fastest class lap on his way to a full set of points and his first finish of the season.

Lyddall takes class G but can’t catch the red leader, his rear tyres shedding chunks of tread and down to the canvas at race end.

Palmer a quiet 3^rd, believed to be the first time he’s ever been beaten in class E, Russell a distant and unusually anonymous 4^th for 2^nd in G.

Merrett takes 5^th and 2^nd in class E.

XJS WINNERS AND LOSERS

Winners

Alex Harrison. No question, what a way to silence your critics, naysayers and your own father but to put the car on pole your first time out at the circuit and run from lights to flag leaving the lead V12 coughing in your dust?

Matt “Skeletor” Skelton – first race of the year, class D win. Can’t argue with that.

Marshalls at Druids – entertained by Harrison backing it in and Ray Hill trying to copy the trick a few laps later.

Kutuka Motorsport – 2^nd ever 1 – 2 finish, and maintaining their result of a race win at every track, a return to form for the team at last.

XJS racing – 4 races, 4 different winners, every class has won a race so far.

Lawrence Coppock – fastest 4 cylinder XJS ever seen on track, didn’t come last despite running a 2.7 litre AJ6!

Losers

Mixed qualifying – it doesn’t work here. 37 cars in 1.2 miles is why you have the weird grids. Much as Phil Woods likes the place he wouldn’t claim his car should have pole, and a class D XJS doesn’t belong in 4^th, it’s the traffic jam lottery at work and it leads to some very desperate racing. Better for the spectator than the competitor being denied a fair crack of the whip.

Kevin Doyle – brakes far more capable than the tyres.

Andrew Harrison – 2^nd DNF in 4 races with a car that won’t restart. After crashing it. D’oh.

Filipe Comer – 2 spins from what was 2^nd in class. At the same damned corner. Bad boy.

XJS driver’s rep – no bugger’s seen one all year, where is this mythical creature?

Race 4, and the 4th different race winner! For great racing, follow the Bear.