CTCRC Snetterton 16th & 17th September 2023
The Classic Touring Car Racing Club held their penultimate meeting of 2023 at Snetterton over the weekend of the 16th and 17th of September.
Classic Thunder/Jaguar Challenge
Qualifying: A bitty qualifying saw the session red-flagged twice before any times were set, with the exception of Colin Voyce’s newly-turbocharged Escort Mk1, and wouldn’t be restarted. To determine the grid, a single timed-lap session was later held at lunchtime and the Mk1 Escort of Voyce headed the times once more to snare pole position with a 2 minutes 05.156 seconds lap. Nick Vaughan held on to a lurid slide on cold rear tyres through Riches to join the flying Ford on the front row, 1.417 seconds down. A slender 0.066 seconds further back lurked the Gary Hufford E46 M3 and was joined by Malcolm Harding’s wild Mercedes SLK on row two. In fifth would be the M3 CSL of Ian Craig and vaulting up to sixth as one of the last cars to set a time was the Transpeed Firenza of Tony Davies. Chris McGinley’s M3 GTR, Oliver Owen’s BMW and Martin Reynolds’ musclebound Sierra XR8 completed the top nine. Missing from the weekend's action was the mighty Aston Martin of Sam Wilson, with the championship-leading machine forced out after cracking a cylinder head of the big V8 during Friday testing and blowing the title race wide open. In tenth overall, Colin Philpott bested Tom Lenthall’s similar XJS by 0.818 seconds as they headed the Jaguar Challenge field. Jack Robinson’s XKR and Andrew Harper’s S-Type were third and fourth fastest, whilst Chris Boon’s XKR and Guy Connew’s V12 XJS rounded out the top six.
Race One: Poleman Colin Voyce led the field away but came under pressure towards Riches as birthday boy Nick Vaughan's A3 Turbo powered alongside. The Escort clung on around the outside with the Audi driver maybe a little wary of rear tyre adhesion after his qualifying moment. Vaughan fell behind Hufford’s BMW at the Wilson hairpin too whilst he brought his tyres up to temperature, the A3 soon breezed back into second along the Bentley Straight. Vaughan swiftly caught Voyce once the Audi’s tyres came in and relieved the Escort of first place on lap two at the Brundle/Nelson complex. Consistent laps in the 2 minute 03s allowed Vaughan to open up a useful lead, whilst Voyce sought to see off the attention from the Hufford BMW. The M3 did breach Voyce’s defence in traffic on the penultimate lap but the Mountune touring car-spec engined Escort stormed back into second place starting the final tour, coming home 4.462 seconds behind the victorious Vaughan. The Jaguars put on an entertaining race as Guy Connew reeled in long-time leader Colin Philpott, the Group 44 XJS did get ahead in the closing stages but ultimately couldn’t hold off Philpott’s advances into Agostini for the last time. Tom Lenthall just held off Jack Robinson in their fight for third. Frontrunner Andrew Harper’s S-Type started to struggle in the later stages to reach the finish in eighth, having briefly led the Big Cats on the opening lap.
Race Two: Dark, rain-bearing clouds loomed overhead as Race Two for the Classic Thunder and Jaguar Challenge fields lined up and gave the entry uncertain conditions to deal with. A reduced amount of racing time would ensue after the grid was given an extra formation lap to get used to the greasy surface, eleven minutes remained when the race got underway. Nick Vaughan streaked into the lead before Riches and Gary Hufford went under Colin Voyce for second, before Ian Craig's BMW further demoted the turbocharged Mk1 at Wilson. The Escort then lost more places on the opening lap to the BMWs of Chris McGinley and Jonathan Olliff-Cooper. McGinley’s E36 M3 GTR completed the opening lap in third after a strong getaway and passing Craig's M3 CSL along the way. Throughout the race, Hufford’s BMW had the advantage in the corners but Vaughan’s extra straightline speed kept the A3 ahead. The BMW pressed Vaughan into Agostini on lap four, with only a couple of minutes remaining, but the Hampshire driver resisted all that Hufford and the weather could throw at the Audi to take his second victory of the weekend by 0.675 seconds and put an extra shine on his birthday celebrations. McGinley's M3 GTR took third well adrift of the front two and had Jonathan Olliff-Cooper's less-developed M3 in hot pursuit. Ian Craig's M3 slithered home in fifth ahead of the two leading Jaguar Challenge cars. Oliver Owen headed home Tony Davies’ storied Firenza, which won Class H3 ahead of the struggling Voyce Escort. Vaughan leaves Snetterton leading the championship heading to the final round at Donington Park in October. Among the Jaguars, Colin Philpott headed Guy Connew, Tom Lenthall and Jack Robinson on the opening lap until Robinson spun at Palmer and delayed Mike Seabourne too. Connew powered into lead down the Bentley Straight on lap two, with the two leading XJSs squirming and wriggling on the slick tarmac. Philpott got the lead back on lap three whilst they dealt with the Classic Thunder tailenders but Connew wasn’t to be outdone and sped back ahead on the fourth tour. The Group 44 tribute XJS then edged clear to a 3.397-second victory from Philpott. Tom Lenthall completed the podium finishers, with the recovering Mike Seabourne giving chase in fourth.
Classic Thunder/Jaguar Challenge
Qualifying: A bitty qualifying saw the session red-flagged twice before any times were set, with the exception of Colin Voyce’s newly-turbocharged Escort Mk1, and wouldn’t be restarted. To determine the grid, a single timed-lap session was later held at lunchtime and the Mk1 Escort of Voyce headed the times once more to snare pole position with a 2 minutes 05.156 seconds lap. Nick Vaughan held on to a lurid slide on cold rear tyres through Riches to join the flying Ford on the front row, 1.417 seconds down. A slender 0.066 seconds further back lurked the Gary Hufford E46 M3 and was joined by Malcolm Harding’s wild Mercedes SLK on row two. In fifth would be the M3 CSL of Ian Craig and vaulting up to sixth as one of the last cars to set a time was the Transpeed Firenza of Tony Davies. Chris McGinley’s M3 GTR, Oliver Owen’s BMW and Martin Reynolds’ musclebound Sierra XR8 completed the top nine. Missing from the weekend's action was the mighty Aston Martin of Sam Wilson, with the championship-leading machine forced out after cracking a cylinder head of the big V8 during Friday testing and blowing the title race wide open. In tenth overall, Colin Philpott bested Tom Lenthall’s similar XJS by 0.818 seconds as they headed the Jaguar Challenge field. Jack Robinson’s XKR and Andrew Harper’s S-Type were third and fourth fastest, whilst Chris Boon’s XKR and Guy Connew’s V12 XJS rounded out the top six.
Race One: Poleman Colin Voyce led the field away but came under pressure towards Riches as birthday boy Nick Vaughan's A3 Turbo powered alongside. The Escort clung on around the outside with the Audi driver maybe a little wary of rear tyre adhesion after his qualifying moment. Vaughan fell behind Hufford’s BMW at the Wilson hairpin too whilst he brought his tyres up to temperature, the A3 soon breezed back into second along the Bentley Straight. Vaughan swiftly caught Voyce once the Audi’s tyres came in and relieved the Escort of first place on lap two at the Brundle/Nelson complex. Consistent laps in the 2 minute 03s allowed Vaughan to open up a useful lead, whilst Voyce sought to see off the attention from the Hufford BMW. The M3 did breach Voyce’s defence in traffic on the penultimate lap but the Mountune touring car-spec engined Escort stormed back into second place starting the final tour, coming home 4.462 seconds behind the victorious Vaughan. The Jaguars put on an entertaining race as Guy Connew reeled in long-time leader Colin Philpott, the Group 44 XJS did get ahead in the closing stages but ultimately couldn’t hold off Philpott’s advances into Agostini for the last time. Tom Lenthall just held off Jack Robinson in their fight for third. Frontrunner Andrew Harper’s S-Type started to struggle in the later stages to reach the finish in eighth, having briefly led the Big Cats on the opening lap.
Race Two: Dark, rain-bearing clouds loomed overhead as Race Two for the Classic Thunder and Jaguar Challenge fields lined up and gave the entry uncertain conditions to deal with. A reduced amount of racing time would ensue after the grid was given an extra formation lap to get used to the greasy surface, eleven minutes remained when the race got underway. Nick Vaughan streaked into the lead before Riches and Gary Hufford went under Colin Voyce for second, before Ian Craig's BMW further demoted the turbocharged Mk1 at Wilson. The Escort then lost more places on the opening lap to the BMWs of Chris McGinley and Jonathan Olliff-Cooper. McGinley’s E36 M3 GTR completed the opening lap in third after a strong getaway and passing Craig's M3 CSL along the way. Throughout the race, Hufford’s BMW had the advantage in the corners but Vaughan’s extra straightline speed kept the A3 ahead. The BMW pressed Vaughan into Agostini on lap four, with only a couple of minutes remaining, but the Hampshire driver resisted all that Hufford and the weather could throw at the Audi to take his second victory of the weekend by 0.675 seconds and put an extra shine on his birthday celebrations. McGinley's M3 GTR took third well adrift of the front two and had Jonathan Olliff-Cooper's less-developed M3 in hot pursuit. Ian Craig's M3 slithered home in fifth ahead of the two leading Jaguar Challenge cars. Oliver Owen headed home Tony Davies’ storied Firenza, which won Class H3 ahead of the struggling Voyce Escort. Vaughan leaves Snetterton leading the championship heading to the final round at Donington Park in October. Among the Jaguars, Colin Philpott headed Guy Connew, Tom Lenthall and Jack Robinson on the opening lap until Robinson spun at Palmer and delayed Mike Seabourne too. Connew powered into lead down the Bentley Straight on lap two, with the two leading XJSs squirming and wriggling on the slick tarmac. Philpott got the lead back on lap three whilst they dealt with the Classic Thunder tailenders but Connew wasn’t to be outdone and sped back ahead on the fourth tour. The Group 44 tribute XJS then edged clear to a 3.397-second victory from Philpott. Tom Lenthall completed the podium finishers, with the recovering Mike Seabourne giving chase in fourth.
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Pre ‘66/Pre ‘83
Qualifying: A closely-fought session saw the Escort Mk1 of Stephen Primett take pole position by a slim 0.072 from the Datsun 510 of Jonathan Corker. Mark Cholerton’s Mk2 Escort was only 0.359 seconds away from Primett in third. Don Hughes’ Mk1 Golf and Jason Christie’s Mk1 Escort made up the first five qualifiers. In the Pre ‘66s, the big Ford Falcon Sprint of Alan Greenhalgh set the pace for the older cars in sixth overall by 0.736 seconds and had a Pre ‘83 car separating him from Tim Abbott’s Lotus Cortina. Piers Grange’s Mustang qualified just ahead of Ian Thompson’s red and gold Cortina but wouldn’t take the start with rear axle problems. The Mini Cooper S of Barry Sime completed the top five, Sime was just 0.011 seconds up on his chief pursuer from Croft, James Everard. The Swann family Ford Anglia pair both gridded ahead of Pat Kenneally’s Lotus Cortina, with the boy Jake’s newly-built black car in front of his old man Kevin’s white car.
Race One: Poleman Stephen Primett led off the line and held the lead for two laps in his Mk1 Escort but was under constant threat from Jonathan Corker’s Datsun and Mark Cholerton’s Mk2 Escort. Corker made his move for the lead up the inside into Agostini on lap three and the Datsun moved clear to triumph by 8.156 seconds, a long-overdue first win of 2023 despite consistently showing great speed. Primett slipped back to third after running wide through Palmer and chased Cholerton’s later Escort all the way to the end. Jason Christie, in another Mk1 Escort, took fourth ahead of Don Hughes’ Golf that completed a fine drive from the back of the grid to fifth after the VW had been found to be underweight after qualifying, besting Carl Shreeve's Dolomite Sprint late in the day. Alan Greenhalgh took the Pre ‘66s comfortably by 7.478 seconds from Tim Abbott’s Lotus Cortina and James Everard's Alfa Romeo, who led a big group home in third having survived a big grass-cutting incident at Murrays en route. Greenhalgh was briefly headed on the opening lap as Ian Thompson dived up the inside at Agostini but the Falcon soon powered back past the Cortina on the Bentley Straight. The big fight for the podium also included Thompson’s Cortina, the Minis of Barry Sime and Mike Davies plus the Billy Kenneally and the Kevin Swann Anglias. Pat Kenneally wouldn’t see the finish after a hub failure on lap four pitched the Cortina and its right front wheel into the scenery, ending his weekend.
Race Two: Jonathan Corker launched into the lead from pole ahead of Stephen Primett, whilst front row starter Mark Cholerton was swamped off the line and was seventh into Riches behind Jason Christie, Don Hughes, early Pre ‘66 leader Tim Abbott and Carl Shreeve. The Escort quickly got past both the Mk1 Cortina and Dolomite Sprint at the Wilson hairpin after they arrived at the corner three-wide, before moving up to challenge the 1600cc Golf of Hughes into Agostini. Cholerton then breezed up to fourth along the Bentley Straight for the first time. Ahead, Primett attempted to wrest the lead on the outside of Riches on lap two but the leading Datsun fended him off. Cholerton's Mk2 relieved Christie's older Mk1 Escort of third at Wilson for the second time and straight away forced Primett to defend his second place into Agostini, which allowed Corker to break away in front. Cholerton then clung on around the outside of Hamilton to give him the inside of Oggies, and second place. Once Cholerton had reached second position, he couldn’t escape the attention from Primett and the pair reeled in the leading Datsun with successive fastest laps. Cholerton made a successful bid for the lead at the Wilson hairpin for the fifth time after Corker's Datsun slid wide. Corker soon regained the lead with a great run down towards Brundle but Cholerton tried again to steal away first place at Wilson next time around. However, Cholerton skated wide to put himself under pressure from Primett. The Escorts' fighting enabled Corker to escape to a 2.012-second winning margin from Cholerton and Primett. Christie’s Mk1 Escort exited fourth place on lap four and handed the position to Don Hughes’ Volkswagen, whilst Shreeve took his second top-six finish in his Dolomite Sprint. In the Pre '66s, early leader Tim Abbott lost out to the V8 grunt of Alan Greenhalgh’s Falcon on the run to Agostini for the first time. Ian Thompson, James Everard and Barry Sime contested third spot throughout, the Everard Alfa saw off the red Cortina at Riches on lap three but then fell back behind the Cortina and also fell victim to Sime’s Mini at Hamilton on lap five. Championship leader Billy Kenneally was also sat just behind them in his Anglia. Greenhalgh eventually thumped to a 7.453-second triumph ahead of Thompson and Sime, after Abbott's Cortina pulled out of second at Nelson on lap four.
Qualifying: A closely-fought session saw the Escort Mk1 of Stephen Primett take pole position by a slim 0.072 from the Datsun 510 of Jonathan Corker. Mark Cholerton’s Mk2 Escort was only 0.359 seconds away from Primett in third. Don Hughes’ Mk1 Golf and Jason Christie’s Mk1 Escort made up the first five qualifiers. In the Pre ‘66s, the big Ford Falcon Sprint of Alan Greenhalgh set the pace for the older cars in sixth overall by 0.736 seconds and had a Pre ‘83 car separating him from Tim Abbott’s Lotus Cortina. Piers Grange’s Mustang qualified just ahead of Ian Thompson’s red and gold Cortina but wouldn’t take the start with rear axle problems. The Mini Cooper S of Barry Sime completed the top five, Sime was just 0.011 seconds up on his chief pursuer from Croft, James Everard. The Swann family Ford Anglia pair both gridded ahead of Pat Kenneally’s Lotus Cortina, with the boy Jake’s newly-built black car in front of his old man Kevin’s white car.
Race One: Poleman Stephen Primett led off the line and held the lead for two laps in his Mk1 Escort but was under constant threat from Jonathan Corker’s Datsun and Mark Cholerton’s Mk2 Escort. Corker made his move for the lead up the inside into Agostini on lap three and the Datsun moved clear to triumph by 8.156 seconds, a long-overdue first win of 2023 despite consistently showing great speed. Primett slipped back to third after running wide through Palmer and chased Cholerton’s later Escort all the way to the end. Jason Christie, in another Mk1 Escort, took fourth ahead of Don Hughes’ Golf that completed a fine drive from the back of the grid to fifth after the VW had been found to be underweight after qualifying, besting Carl Shreeve's Dolomite Sprint late in the day. Alan Greenhalgh took the Pre ‘66s comfortably by 7.478 seconds from Tim Abbott’s Lotus Cortina and James Everard's Alfa Romeo, who led a big group home in third having survived a big grass-cutting incident at Murrays en route. Greenhalgh was briefly headed on the opening lap as Ian Thompson dived up the inside at Agostini but the Falcon soon powered back past the Cortina on the Bentley Straight. The big fight for the podium also included Thompson’s Cortina, the Minis of Barry Sime and Mike Davies plus the Billy Kenneally and the Kevin Swann Anglias. Pat Kenneally wouldn’t see the finish after a hub failure on lap four pitched the Cortina and its right front wheel into the scenery, ending his weekend.
Race Two: Jonathan Corker launched into the lead from pole ahead of Stephen Primett, whilst front row starter Mark Cholerton was swamped off the line and was seventh into Riches behind Jason Christie, Don Hughes, early Pre ‘66 leader Tim Abbott and Carl Shreeve. The Escort quickly got past both the Mk1 Cortina and Dolomite Sprint at the Wilson hairpin after they arrived at the corner three-wide, before moving up to challenge the 1600cc Golf of Hughes into Agostini. Cholerton then breezed up to fourth along the Bentley Straight for the first time. Ahead, Primett attempted to wrest the lead on the outside of Riches on lap two but the leading Datsun fended him off. Cholerton's Mk2 relieved Christie's older Mk1 Escort of third at Wilson for the second time and straight away forced Primett to defend his second place into Agostini, which allowed Corker to break away in front. Cholerton then clung on around the outside of Hamilton to give him the inside of Oggies, and second place. Once Cholerton had reached second position, he couldn’t escape the attention from Primett and the pair reeled in the leading Datsun with successive fastest laps. Cholerton made a successful bid for the lead at the Wilson hairpin for the fifth time after Corker's Datsun slid wide. Corker soon regained the lead with a great run down towards Brundle but Cholerton tried again to steal away first place at Wilson next time around. However, Cholerton skated wide to put himself under pressure from Primett. The Escorts' fighting enabled Corker to escape to a 2.012-second winning margin from Cholerton and Primett. Christie’s Mk1 Escort exited fourth place on lap four and handed the position to Don Hughes’ Volkswagen, whilst Shreeve took his second top-six finish in his Dolomite Sprint. In the Pre '66s, early leader Tim Abbott lost out to the V8 grunt of Alan Greenhalgh’s Falcon on the run to Agostini for the first time. Ian Thompson, James Everard and Barry Sime contested third spot throughout, the Everard Alfa saw off the red Cortina at Riches on lap three but then fell back behind the Cortina and also fell victim to Sime’s Mini at Hamilton on lap five. Championship leader Billy Kenneally was also sat just behind them in his Anglia. Greenhalgh eventually thumped to a 7.453-second triumph ahead of Thompson and Sime, after Abbott's Cortina pulled out of second at Nelson on lap four.
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BOSS/Pre ‘93/Pre ‘03
Qualifying: Pre '93 champion-elect Stuart Waite stormed to pole position in his BMW from AJ Owen, who was competing in his father's regular Sierra Cosworth and headed the BOSS entry. Martin Reynolds' Mk2 Escort headed the second row from Gary Prebble's Pre '03 Honda, with a barrage of Pre ‘93 BMW M3s filling fifth to ninth places in the hands of Oliver Owen, Clint Le Chalmers, Kevin Willis, Ian Bower - who lost the use of his regular car with engine failure in testing and borrowed Jonathan Olliff-Copper’s similar car for the weekend, and Mike Dugdale. The top ten was completed by the Pre ‘03 Civic of guest driver Scott Smith.
Race One: Bizarrely, the pole starter Waite drove straight through the grid at the end of the formation lap after spotting a green light, which made the BMW driver think they were being sent on a second green flag lap. The error resulted in a delayed start and a second formation lap was undertaken, with the clock counting down from the green flag. Waite started the formation lap at the rear of the grid but drove through the field to retake his pole spot. Waite leapt off the line to take the lead as Martin Reynolds got away into second, whilst AJ Owen held off Gary Prebble into Riches. An early three-way squabble over fifth between the BMWs of Clint Le Chalmers, Ian Bower and Oliver Owen saw the Fina car hold the place but a collision at Wilson put the two red cars of Owen and Bower out and elevated Kevin Willis, in another M3, up to sixth. Unsurprisingly, news soon came through that Waite had been given a ten-second penalty for an out-of-position start. Having lapped with the BMW from the get-go, Reynolds passed Waite for the lead during lap two on the Bentley Straight. Owen’s Sierra followed suit on lap three into Palmer but couldn't make any inroads on Reynolds, as the Mk2 Escort eased away from the Cosworth to take the victory by 2.803 seconds in a BOSS 1-2. Waite came home third on-the-road but fell behind Pre ‘03 winner Prebble when his penalty was applied, the BMW still took the Pre ‘93 win with the Le Chalmers and Willis battle for Pre ‘93 runner-up still eight seconds down on corrected time. Guest driver Scott Smith took second in the Pre ‘03s as he defeated Ross Craig’s similar Civic Type R in seventh and eighth overall. Third BOSS finisher James Dunkley barely crept over the line to win Class D after losing drive out of Murrays with a failing clutch on his Zetec-powered Fiesta, Ralph Higson’s Focus Turbo had held third among the BOSS cars for much of the race but was forced out on the final lap with a suspected shorting starter motor.
Race Two: Leading BOSS competitors Martin Reynolds and AJ Owen formed the front row, whilst the top Pre ‘03 runner Gary Prebble started alongside the penalised Pre ‘93 Race One victor Stuart Waite on row two. The closely matched Pre ‘93 BMWs of Clint Le Chalmers and Kevin Willis shared the third row, ahead of the Pre ‘03 Hondas of Scott Smith and Ross Craig on the fourth row. The two Pre ‘93 BMWs at the foot of the top ten are regularly found locked in combat, those of Andy Cripps and Mike Dugdale. At the start, Waite fired off the line to challenge Reynolds into Riches for the first time but the Escort kept first place. Owen's Sierra was steady away again and fell behind the fast-starting Willis BMW, with Prebble also threatening the Sierra towards Riches. Le Chalmers' BMW ran in an early sixth, ahead of a squabbling quartet comprising Cripps, Pre ‘03 championship leader Ross Craig, fellow Honda driver Smith and the E36 M3 of Dugdale. During the opening run down the Bentley Straight, Owen used his Cosworth horses to navigate his way into third at Brundle. The top two had opened a small gap out front going onto the second lap but Waite’s race would end when he pulled off at Oggies, promoting Willis’ BMW into the Pre ‘93 lead. The yellow BMW was coming under fire from Le Chalmers but a sideways moment for the works replica E36 put a little daylight between them. That pretty well settled the order among the top five cars, as Reynolds’ Escort sealed a 6.178-second victory from fellow BOSS runner Owen’s Sierra. Gary Prebble topped the Pre ‘03s and grabbed a podium in third, with Willis taking the Pre ‘93 spoils in fourth from Le Chalmers. After their collision in the first encounter, Oliver Owen and Ian Bower each came through well and both had reached the top ten overall by the end of lap three. Owen went on to finish sixth ahead of the Cripps BMW, whilst Bower’s bonnet became unclipped on one side as he fought with Dugdale and followed the similar car home in ninth. Ross Craig took second for the Pre ‘03 cars in tenth overall and retained his championship lead by a solitary point.
Qualifying: Pre '93 champion-elect Stuart Waite stormed to pole position in his BMW from AJ Owen, who was competing in his father's regular Sierra Cosworth and headed the BOSS entry. Martin Reynolds' Mk2 Escort headed the second row from Gary Prebble's Pre '03 Honda, with a barrage of Pre ‘93 BMW M3s filling fifth to ninth places in the hands of Oliver Owen, Clint Le Chalmers, Kevin Willis, Ian Bower - who lost the use of his regular car with engine failure in testing and borrowed Jonathan Olliff-Copper’s similar car for the weekend, and Mike Dugdale. The top ten was completed by the Pre ‘03 Civic of guest driver Scott Smith.
Race One: Bizarrely, the pole starter Waite drove straight through the grid at the end of the formation lap after spotting a green light, which made the BMW driver think they were being sent on a second green flag lap. The error resulted in a delayed start and a second formation lap was undertaken, with the clock counting down from the green flag. Waite started the formation lap at the rear of the grid but drove through the field to retake his pole spot. Waite leapt off the line to take the lead as Martin Reynolds got away into second, whilst AJ Owen held off Gary Prebble into Riches. An early three-way squabble over fifth between the BMWs of Clint Le Chalmers, Ian Bower and Oliver Owen saw the Fina car hold the place but a collision at Wilson put the two red cars of Owen and Bower out and elevated Kevin Willis, in another M3, up to sixth. Unsurprisingly, news soon came through that Waite had been given a ten-second penalty for an out-of-position start. Having lapped with the BMW from the get-go, Reynolds passed Waite for the lead during lap two on the Bentley Straight. Owen’s Sierra followed suit on lap three into Palmer but couldn't make any inroads on Reynolds, as the Mk2 Escort eased away from the Cosworth to take the victory by 2.803 seconds in a BOSS 1-2. Waite came home third on-the-road but fell behind Pre ‘03 winner Prebble when his penalty was applied, the BMW still took the Pre ‘93 win with the Le Chalmers and Willis battle for Pre ‘93 runner-up still eight seconds down on corrected time. Guest driver Scott Smith took second in the Pre ‘03s as he defeated Ross Craig’s similar Civic Type R in seventh and eighth overall. Third BOSS finisher James Dunkley barely crept over the line to win Class D after losing drive out of Murrays with a failing clutch on his Zetec-powered Fiesta, Ralph Higson’s Focus Turbo had held third among the BOSS cars for much of the race but was forced out on the final lap with a suspected shorting starter motor.
Race Two: Leading BOSS competitors Martin Reynolds and AJ Owen formed the front row, whilst the top Pre ‘03 runner Gary Prebble started alongside the penalised Pre ‘93 Race One victor Stuart Waite on row two. The closely matched Pre ‘93 BMWs of Clint Le Chalmers and Kevin Willis shared the third row, ahead of the Pre ‘03 Hondas of Scott Smith and Ross Craig on the fourth row. The two Pre ‘93 BMWs at the foot of the top ten are regularly found locked in combat, those of Andy Cripps and Mike Dugdale. At the start, Waite fired off the line to challenge Reynolds into Riches for the first time but the Escort kept first place. Owen's Sierra was steady away again and fell behind the fast-starting Willis BMW, with Prebble also threatening the Sierra towards Riches. Le Chalmers' BMW ran in an early sixth, ahead of a squabbling quartet comprising Cripps, Pre ‘03 championship leader Ross Craig, fellow Honda driver Smith and the E36 M3 of Dugdale. During the opening run down the Bentley Straight, Owen used his Cosworth horses to navigate his way into third at Brundle. The top two had opened a small gap out front going onto the second lap but Waite’s race would end when he pulled off at Oggies, promoting Willis’ BMW into the Pre ‘93 lead. The yellow BMW was coming under fire from Le Chalmers but a sideways moment for the works replica E36 put a little daylight between them. That pretty well settled the order among the top five cars, as Reynolds’ Escort sealed a 6.178-second victory from fellow BOSS runner Owen’s Sierra. Gary Prebble topped the Pre ‘03s and grabbed a podium in third, with Willis taking the Pre ‘93 spoils in fourth from Le Chalmers. After their collision in the first encounter, Oliver Owen and Ian Bower each came through well and both had reached the top ten overall by the end of lap three. Owen went on to finish sixth ahead of the Cripps BMW, whilst Bower’s bonnet became unclipped on one side as he fought with Dugdale and followed the similar car home in ninth. Ross Craig took second for the Pre ‘03 cars in tenth overall and retained his championship lead by a solitary point.
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The final meeting for the Classic Touring Car Racing Club's 2023 season takes place on the Grand Prix circuit at Donington Park over the weekend of the 14th and 15th of October, with more than one championship yet to be settled.