MAAAAAAAAALLORY PARK 2010

Wretched and tedious as this circuit may be, they keep making us come back here year after year to suffer the over-priced boredom that is racing at this excuse for a track, so we are obliged to write about it, as if anyone could possibly care.

And that's not sour grapes, Kutuka won every class and the race, but we were all fast asleep doing it. Seriously, someone add an extra mile to it and put some corners in it, 17 or 18 laps of this is enough to make you dizzy, and we only use one tyre...

With no testing and a Sunday-only race Mallory is unique in the calendar, in that drivers awake on a sleepy morning to the sound of church bells, and go out to qualify stone cold with a sense that the whole exercise is slightly unreal, almost a movie or video game, straight into the longest, fastest corner of the year. At least by the end of Gerrards they have woken up.

Quali, for once, was split. 17 XJS and 19 saloons had caused someone to work out we could have split races, and all hail the Morgan Club for it!

Pre-race predictions suggest a Bear v Palmer weekend on the front row. Although Lyddall has a good record here it’s never been particularly a V12 track, and without the R1R tyre to help it was inevitable that class E cars would dominate. Coppock’s mighty 6 litre car doesn’t quite have enough straight here to unleash enough torque to overcome cornering deficiency, expectation has a Noah’s ark approach to the grid and indeed class structure on the cards.

As quali progressed it was quickly apparent that two by two was indeed the way of things, Palmer and Bear trading laptimes. One quick, clean, clear lap would be all it took, and Palmer got it, one magical lap a clean 6/10ths faster than any of his others or Harrison’s. Despite this, the actual contest between the two looked pretty much like a dead heat, but with points at stake that one extra for pole could be crucial, and Palmer takes it. Turn 1 is sure to be interesting though!

Lyddall uses the old rubber to take p3, clear of Coppock in p4 by just three thousandths of a second as the V12 succumb to straight 6 handling.

Row 3 would perhaps usually be where the class D cars appear, but not today. An on-form Webster joins a faster Ramm for another close, tenth of a second in it class E fight.

Row 4, and perhaps the most unexpected result, as Drage takes class D pole from Harrison, his first ever, by three hundredths of a second. Dark mutterings about uncontrollable oversteer were heard leaking from a most-grumpy Harrison.

Seath takes 3^rd in D, under half a second back as D closes right up, with Ingham playing in the class G 6 litre car as part of an extended test session.

Comer, known for his fast starts, sits lower than he would like in 11^th spot, Nicholls for once not the first of the sane T1R runners, Crossley takes an impressive 12th, both leading Wood’s malfunctioning class G car, V12 numbers up again this meeting.

Beecham beats Gregory, whose return to Mallory to exorcise a few demons is rather spoilt by a head gasket impersonating a sieve after blowing a main water hose in qualifying.

Coppock2 last of the runners in his first appearance here.

RACE

For many drivers, lap 1 had to be the definitive move. It is not all that easy to pass here, so position by the time you reach the hairpin for the first time can be crucial. Palmer knows he has to beat Bear to the essess, Lyddall must beat Coppock to the exit of Gerrards and then block like crazy if he plans to win G, whilst Harrison has the same plan against Drage if he wants to achieve defeat in his broken car.

As it turned out, not only was lap 1 a definitive moment, but you can actually overtake here. As ever, the startline here was eventful, and not as expected at all.

Palmer and Bear launch well, but Palmer has the power and snicks into Gerrards first. The V12s astern make a much worse getaway, Lyddall is a cloud of smoke and two black lines, Coppock less dramatic but not much better. Ramm jumps the pair of them from row 3, Webster takes Lyddall and closes onto Coppock’s tail.

The roadblock of Lyddall’s car lets the fast-starting Harrison easily overtake Drage, who with Seath looking to the inside and nowhere to go ahead has to briefly hesistate, and watch the class lead take an instant 50 yard leap ahead of him. He does, however, just make it to Gerrards ahead of the incredible start from Felipe Comer, who slots between Ingham and Seath and runs into Gerrards alongside Drage, two places instantly.

Crossley and Nicholls are almost immediately into a hard-fought duel off the line, whilst astern, Beecham and Coppock Junior are likewise in a drag to turn 1, the orange peril’s older head prevailing.

As Lyddall gets the car finally moving he launches into his infamous assault round the outside, and this year it all goes belly-up. Stealing the place from Webster on bravery alone was fine, but trying to go for Coppock as well was greedy, and he pays the price, running out wide onto the grass at the exit of Gerrards. For many, that would have been a large bodyshop bill, but Lyddall’s long-standing desire to autograss his XJS – and God knows he does keep taking to the grass at very high speed – merely sees him drop a couple of places as he regains tarmac, class D cars scattering to leave room he rejoins behind Ingham and now last in class.

Not to be outdone, race leader Palmer flies into the essess a whisker ahead of the Bear, forgets how his gearbox works and claims to have grabbed second gear from fifth. Needless to say as the valves danced on the bonnet the rear wheels locked, and he was seen heading backwards into the scenery, amazingly not hitting anything at all!

This leaves the Bear suddenly with clear road, a small gap on Ramm already, and before you can say “let the Wookie win” the race is all over. Ramm has a very irked Coppock under half a second off his boot, Webster all over the back of him, and Harrison looking for a cheeky pass on Webster into the hairpin.

Loser into the essess is Drage, his opening lap is horrible as oversteer bites going in, and the loss of momentum sees Comer and Seath flash past in an instant into the hairpin followed almost immediately by Ingham’s V12 and a recovering Lyddall on the exit. First in class to 4^th, and 5 places down in one lap.

Through the spinning cars and grasstracking, Crossley v Nicholls is underway, a tight 5 lap tussle that beautifully illustrates that the hound is usually faster than the hare, but that the trend is reversed when they change costumes. Crossley leads, Nicholls in pursuit, the former with nothing but a shiny new race suit by way of car development, Nicholls clearly having spent much time developing the ex-Robbie shed into something more potent. Don’t worry, we’ll not tell him his rear wing gurney flap is as much use as a chocolate teapot.

Beecham v Coppock is also an interesting dice, as youth hunts experience, and Bob is weak at the essess, no doubt a remnant of his nasty 2008 crash there. The initial gap closes fast.

Dead last, Palmer, at the end of lap 1 some 15 seconds off the leader, and 2 behind Coppock2. Such is the pace of that car though that he will be some three seconds ahead of Beecham within a minute, and  climbing the order like a rat up a drainpipe. If you’re going to spin, do it on lap 1 when the field is tightly-bunched.

Lap 2, and the Bear is sizing up his opponent in the shape of Ramm, the gap is stable, though he later complains that understeer was the issue, rather than a deliberate attempt to go just fast enough. Indeed, lap 3 sees Ramm take 3/10^th off him, though thereafter the race leader mysteriously picks up his pace by over a second a lap and simply disappears. Quite what he was doing in that early phase of the race was a mystery to all, including the commentator, who by this stage was already telling the bemused spectators about a spider that had built its nest on the hairpin camera.

Comer’s pursuit of class leader Harrison is rather brutally cut short at the hairpin on lap 2. As he exits the corner a firm thump in the boot from Seath puts his front end into the very solid concrete wall, allowing Seath past, then Ingham, Lyddall’s insane V12 streaking through and taking the opportunity to pass Ingham at the same time into the Devil’s Elbow.

Comer is not out of the fight yet, and resumes with his bodykit dragging just ahead of Drage, who is unable to profit from the carnage. The commentator, still fixated on the spider, will tell the crowd that Comer has in fact rammed another car. He didn’t.

In this early phase of the race Coppock is not actually catching Ramm, the gap is growing. The Bearded Webster is just hanging on to the mighty 6 litre as well, clearly this is his track, by lap 5 he is still under a second adrift and the V12 looks vulnerable to attack.

Crossley’s defence of his position is finally defeated on lap 3 as Nicholls passes, and begins to claw a small gap, he’s three seconds clear within 3 laps, but then just as quickly, Crossley picks up his own pace, and the pair are back in line astern again before half distance.

The field would ordinarily settle into a series of discrete duels, but with so many cars out of position or off the pace it never happens. Lyddall is streaking back up the order, currently in the midfield and chasing the lead D cars, Palmer is charging through the tail enders, Harrison’s D class is a mobile roadblock, and we have three E class cars in the top 4, Bear disappearing into the distance whilst the other two harry the most potent car here.

By lap 5 Lyddall has cruised past Seath and Harrison, and lies 5^th, his next target Webster, but 6 seconds up the road. Achievable, but the laptimes for the R1R cars are not far off race-winning pace last year, and Lyddall apparently has last year’s tyres. He might have mentioned it.

Seath has closed in on Harrison, who is wholly without traction, and being saved from persistent attack only by the other classes coming up through the order. Lyddall’s pass, later Palmer and finally Ingham, disrupt the chase enough to keep his very wide car in front by just enough, but the tangible sense amongst the pursuing D cars is that for the first time in many races the chance is there to topple the blue car from the top step, and the class battle is fierce.

At the front by half distance the Bear has it totally in hand, three seconds clear and seemingly unable to decide how hard to push, despite clear air his laptimes are fluctuating by up to a second per lap, and only post-race will the explanation become clear.*

Ramm has Coppock covered, another three seconds back and still falling back slowly, Webster starting to drop off slightly, now 2 seconds back but still giving chase. Lyddall is closing, but only slowly, it is only as Webster moves to clear backmarkers that he starts to reel him in, passing Beecham costs nearly 2 seconds!

Behind and Harrison has Seath all over the boot, the gap shrinks lap by lap, Seath is the faster car, and the blue roadblock is causing a scrap astern as Ingham tries to pick his way through the D cars with a recovering Comer still dragging his torn bodykit along the road, with Drage half a second behind.

Palmer comfortably slices his way through this melee, taking places like party favours even from the class G car, and for his encore he goes for the brave outside move at Gerrards on championship rival Harrison, the two protagonists showing each other plenty of respect as they round the 90mph+ Gerrards only inches apart, Palmer’s power making the move stick into the essess, an overtaking move taking some 20 seconds to complete! Make no mistake, this was a very brave move, one glint of evil from the inner car and Palmer would have been heading for the medical unit, but it is not the way we have come to expect them to play and the outcome was an impressive, ballsy move.

Seath is still on the attack, and it gets a little too close at the hairpin as he hits another car, minor damage to Harrison’s rear end as he accepts a green paint donation, but it is Ray Ingham gradually stepping up the pace, he passes Seath on lap 11, and lap 12 sees that big engine count to soar past Harrison along the pit straight, he is now up to 7^th.

At the tail end Coppock2 and Beecham have been trading laptimes all race, never more than tenths in it, and as ever they have the toughest job of the lot, trying to race, defend, and allow lapping cars past. It is a testament to their generosity that the leaders never have a word of complaint about backmarkers disobeying blue flags.

Crossley has closed on Nicholls and their own personal battle still rages, albeit quietly, no modified exhausts here! Again, they trade laptimes, and it is Crossley the faster, up to the moment that Lyddall and then Palmer come upon them. Crossley gets out of the way first, and he loses seconds as they encounter him at inopportune moments, Nicholls gets the best of it and is away, game over!

The order does begin to settle somewhat, but only for the leaders. The Bear is 7 seconds clear by lap 14, and just keeps going. Despite backing off the pace in the closing laps his margin of victory will be a calm and collected 9 seconds.

Ramm is the man under pressure, because on lap 10 Coppock decides now is the time to make some progress, and picks his pace up as Ramm’s times begin to become a little inconsistent, and the comfortable 3 second gap shrinks rapidly, by lap 13 there is three tenths of a second in it. Having hooked onto his target, it is only a matter of time until Coppock streaks past, and as they flash across the start finish line Coppock pulls to the inside and storms past into second place. Unfortunately, with his attention on the mirrors and Ramm looking to come back at him, he brakes desperately late for Gerrards and drops the rear end, running out wide for a gravel nap, a spray of stones and dust as the big V12 expends its momentum, race over.

This promotes Webster up to a career-best 3^rd place, but his pursuit of the leaders has flagged in the mid-race boredom, and he now has the recovering Lyddall cruising up behind hi, and by lap 14 as he gains his podium place the mirrors are full of white V12 shark mouth. This pair now settle into a very close, tight duel. E class handling and a decent dollop of power, against the inferior rubber but all-conquering torque of the 5.3.

Lyddall is known for his sideways antics, but he can tidy it up when required, and his pursuit of Webster, initially nothing more than a formality, suddenly becomes much more serious as he realises that without the traction to launch from the hairpin or dive into a braking zone, getting past a class E car is not straightforward at all. This epic duel, side by side several times, is robustly defended by our resident Beard, and for that final 4 laps it is as close a race as any, but the Bearded Wonder holds on, putting in one of his most impressive drives to retain that precious 3^rd place overall.

By this point Palmer has made 5^th his own, but the law of diminishing returns applies, the class D car of Harrison was his last victim, and his progress will go no further. Strangely, despite clear air, he will not match the race leader for fastest lap, demonstrating that the lead pair are closely matched these days, and that after a lap 1 scare perhaps our reigning champion’s nerves need a little time to calm themselves!

Class D still has it all going on. With Ingham’s V12 out of the way and serving as a bookend to prevent escape, the class D battle is now a straight 4-car fight. Harrison leads Seath and Comer from Drage. It all kicks off on lap 12 though, as the lap ends the trailing trio lay into each other with a vengeance, Comer gets the drive he needs out of the hairpin, Drage coming with him, and both mug Seath for his position. The three are separated by two tenths of a second at they enter lap 13, and Seath immediately fights back to retake Drage.

This scrap has allowed Harrison to escape slightly, and he is having a play with Ingham, neither one needing to race the other, but with such similar lap times it was rude not to. Playtime however means that Comer, now free to charge, can close in on Harrison to challenge for the class win. The gap is under a second by lap 15, and now going defensive Harrison is a sitting duck, the only thing saving him from a late dive on the brakes by Comer is the fact that Seath is in turn trying to overtake Comer, and Drage is getting out his dustpan and brush ready to sweep up the pieces.

Despite a wild slide on the final corner, Harrison successfully defends Comer to win the class by a scant 7/10^th from Comer, the smallest margin of victory in the class since Snetterton 2008!

It would be easy in all this to think that the Crossley/Nicholls battle ended when the leaders appeared. In fact, although the pair were split by that, their laptime battle never ceased. Nicholls has gained the advantage from the front-runners, but consider that on the very last lap of the race their pace was still only 11/1000ths different.

Unsung amongst the chaos is the fight between Beecham and Coppock2. Coppock made it stick on the more-experienced driver on lap 4, and the gap between them has fluctuated all race. Coppock, definitely showing signs of progress, has the edge. In his first outing here he inexorably draws out a gap on Bob’s orange machine, only tenths at a time, but consistently and despite the leaders interfering. He takes a solid and deserved finish ahead of Bob at the flag.

As the chequered flag signals the end of the Mallory snooze-fest, it is the Bear winning his second of the year, by his most comfortable margin yet.

Ramm takes a career-best, with Webster a thrilled third, three class E cars in the top 3, rather spoiling the argument about whether E and G should combine classes.

Lyddall 4^th, Palmer 5^th, Ingham 6^th from a relieved Harrison in 7^th, first of the D cars home.

Comer a spirited recovery from lap 2 assault, Seath takes 9^th from Drage’s dispirited tenth.

Nicholls first home of the sane T1R cars, leading Crossley, with Coppock and Beecham the final placed finishers. Despite all the chaos, only one DNF.

WINNERS AND LOSERS

WINNERS

Alex Harrison – probably had the pace to make this an epic 18-lap nose-to-tail race, but pressured Palmer off the track within 30 seconds and never looked back, a serene cruise to victory.

Stewert Lyddall – we don’t often praise failure, and his pathetic start and wild grasstracking are certainly errors, but to keep it on the road after 200 yards on the greenery at 100mph, and to win the class, well, that’s a win.

Class E – Ramm and Webster both with their best ever results, clearly a class E circuit, and more of them to come in the form of Silverstone’s tiny National circuit.

Andrew Harrison – a sitting duck for anyone in class D to shoot, but saved by the hunters fighting over the gun.

Ducks – several close-fought fowl races entertained, the TwoLake relay race a highlight.

Crossley and Nicholls - You can never be sure your opponent isn’t going to make a mistake, and there is much to be praised about any driver whose pace never drops off no matter where he might be in the race, we only criticise those who aren’t trying. This pair clearly are.

LOSERS

Palmer – span out of the lead. It is a trait we’ve noted, time and again, just needs to calm down for those first three corners. He’ll be back.

Coppock – unfortunate. The pass was done, he was through, but it’s proof that some mistakes can be made by even the most experienced drivers.

Philip Comer – denied a real shot at the class win by getting torpedo-ed at the hairpin early on, and with a blameless repair bill to pay.