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2009 SMRC Championship - Round 5
Ben Mason & Ross Marshall at the forefront
but result of final race not declared so no overall results available
Again a relatively short interval and Round 5 beckoned as one of the support events at the now annual Scottish Speedfair. And weren’t we fortunate with the weather. A strongish westerly wind ensured that the couple of short heavy showers which dampened the track soon dried it off - apart from our last race which still had a slippery section from Leslie’s to Butcher’s. Car 10 (the Oggs) were again not out and this time neither was Lance Gauld, Mike Hogg, Aly Hunter or Ali Thom. But we were joined again by Martyn Lyell. And Ben Mason was at the helm of Car 22 for this round. 21 cars should have been on the grid but, very sadly, Pat Hynds’ engine "blew up" in practice so he was unable to make it. So down to 20 cars but then Scott Hynds’ car’s misfire could not be cured and he did not make the start either. |
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| Heat 1 |
The first attempt lasted an even shorter distance than at the previous meeting being red-flagged before the end of the first lap after Chris Hynds touched the pit wall at the start and tagged Ericco Palazzo sending them both across the track and into the tyre barriers, catching Alex Knight who was in turn unavoidably hit by Andrew Donald. Fortunately no-one was injured but the damage to Chris’, Andrew’s and Ericco’s cars ruled them out for the rest of the day. The re-start, over full race distance, saw Ben Mason take up the running and hold off a rapidly closing Ross Marshall for a lights-to-flag win. Tony Caig, from pole position, was comfortably home 3rd by a considerable margin from a trio of cars led by Ross Mickel from Alisdair Gauld and Nick Brace, under a second apart. A little gap and home came Alex Knight and then another small gap to another trio of cars led by Colin Atkinson from Martyn Lyell and Gerard McCosh, barely half a second separating these three. Non finishers were Billy Wait (with damage to a front corner following a coming together with Frank Hynds) and Frank himself (an oil pipe coming loose). It is interesting to note that 10 drivers are now running with lap times consistently in 61 second bracket. Heat 1 - 8 laps 1st Ben Mason 8m 19.54 secs (73.80 mph), 2nd Ross Marshall, 3rd Tony Caig, 4th Ross Mickel, 5th Alisdair Gauld, 6th Nick Brace, 7th Alex Knight, 8th Colin Atkinson, 9th Martyn Lyell, 10th Gerard McCosh, 11th David Hunter, 12th Stevie Coull, 13th Mark Lees, 14th Murray Ford. DNF Frank Hynds, Billy Wait. DNS Ericco Palazzo, Chris Hynds, Andrew Donald. Fastest lap: Ross Marshall 60.62 secs (76.01 mph) |
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| Heat 2 |
This race also did not last the full distance when on lap 5 a brake failure approaching the hairpin saw Alisdair Gauld pitched into the tyre wall. The impact looked huge but the gravel had done its work and slowed him down enough so that he was unhurt and the damage to the car was surprisingly light. A determined Frank took the win but not after a spirited tussle with Ross Mickel, the pair just 2/10th of a second apart at the line. Alex had held third until demoted by Ross Marshall on lap 3 but he wasn’t for giving up and stayed with him to the line. Next up came Ben, working his way through from well down the grid with the battling duo of Nick and Tony behind him. And then a quartet led by Martyn from David Hunter, Colin and Gerard, just a second separating these four. For some reason known only to the officials, although the red flag was thrown on lap 6, the race result was declared by the positions at the end of lap 4. Heat 2 - 4 laps 1st Frank Hynds 4m 14.29 secs (72.49 mph), 2nd Ross Mickel, 3rd Ross Marshall, 4th Alex Knight, 5th Ben Mason, 6th Nick Brace, 7th Tony Caig, 8th Martyn Lyell, 9th David Hunter, 10th Colin Atkinson, 11th Gerard McCosh, 12th Billy Wait, 13th Mark Lees, 14th Stevie Coull, 15th Murray Ford. Fastest lap: Ross Marshall 61.03 secs (75.50 mph) |
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| Final |
I am afraid that the report on this race will have to wait as, following a coming together between Frank Hynds and Ross Marshall which resulted in Frank barrelling at speed into the tyre wall near the finishing line at the end of lap 8, the red flag was thrown on lap 9 and a formal protest was lodged by a driver which automatically suspends any formal result being declared until the protest has been heard and decided upon. Additionally the initial result sheet showed a "countback" to the end of lap 7 whilst the general view was that the "countback" should have been to the end of lap 8. Final - ? laps Fastest lap: Ross Mickel 62.91 secs (73.28 mph) |
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With no result being declared in the final, it was not possible to work out the overall positions for the day and so it was decided to postpone any presentations until the next meeting at which time the officials will have dealt with the protest and made a decision on the "countback" issue. And the next meeting is a double header on Saturday and Sunday, 15th & 16th August as support races at the Knockhill round of the British Touring Cars. Not one to be missed. |
Championship Positions
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