Modified Ford Series Oulton Park 15th July 2023
DAZZLING DAVIES TAKES A DOMINANT DOUBLE
Another healthy Modified Ford Series entry arrived in Cheshire for a one-day meeting at the verdant Oulton Park on Saturday the 15th of July.
A pair of entries from Class SA were received, Joe Oates’ YB Turbo-motivated Focus was likely to have the upper hand on the Nissan Turbo-powered Mk1 Escort of Piers Warwick. The 2022 CTCRC Classic Thunder champion Jason Davies made his first appearance with the Modified Fords this season in Class A and was sure to be at the sharp end with his indecently fast Sapphire Cosworth. James Allen’s fleet Focus RS would be keen to stop the Sapphire from having it all its own way, whilst the Matthias brothers in their Sapphires and Ashley Shelswell’s XR4i would all be there or thereabouts. The Sapphire Cosworth of Malcolm Wise made up the contenders in the class. Piers Grange’s quick Mk2 Escort headlined the Class B+ entry list and came into the meeting on the crest of a wave after taking victory in all three races on Anglesey last time out. Paul Nevill’s smart RS2000, the Ecoboost Fiestas of Kester Cook and Anglesey podium finisher David Guthrie, plus the turbocharged Mk4 Fiesta of CTCRC BOSS front-runner Sam Daffin, would all be looking for a top result. Colin Robinson’s normally-aspirated YB-powered Mk1 Escort was another welcome addition, the Alan Mann-inspired red and gold car a regular in the CNC Heads NW Sports Saloons. Dan Cowan’s Ecoboost Fiesta completed the entry. A phalanx of Fiestas STs formed the bulk of the Class B field and would be looking to topple double Anglesey class winner Chris Baker’s Mk3 Escort, Oliver Bullion’s example chief among them. Jason Rudge’s Castrol-liveried Mk2 Fiesta was an interesting entry, whilst Paul Solbe’s Mk1 Focus would aim to get amongst the smaller hatchbacks. Class C contained four cars, of which three were the recently phased out-of-production Fiesta - the Mk1 of Jimmy Neophytou, the Mk4 of Dave Barrett and the pacesetting Mk6 of Alex Boam. Kevan Hadfield’s Puma would be looking to ensure the Fiestas didn’t hog the limelight in the results.
Qualifying: An unsettled day began with 28 cars taking to a greasy circuit for qualifying. At the end of the interrupted fifteen minutes, the session being red flagged after six minutes with Kester Cook in the gravel at Cascades, Jason Davies’ Class A Sapphire Cosworth had stolen a march on the field to snare pole position by 2.530 seconds. The nine minutes of running after the break weren’t without trouble for the Welshman as he finished the session stuck in the gravel too. Piers Grange set the second fastest time and headed Class B+, whilst the second row was an all-Ecoboost Fiesta affair with Kester Cook joined by David Guthrie. Another turbocharged Fiesta was next up in the hands of Sam Daffin and the Focus RS of James Allen would start alongside the Gulf-liveried car. Colin Robinson impressed on his second appearance with the Modified Fords to line up seventh and would have Alex Boam’s Class C-topping Fiesta for company. The top ten was completed by David Matthias’ Sapphire and Paul Nevill’s RS2000. The Focus Cosworth of Joe Oates was fastest of the Class SA runners in twelfth and Oliver Bullion’s Fiesta ST topped Class B in fifteenth from Chris Baker’s Mk3.
Another healthy Modified Ford Series entry arrived in Cheshire for a one-day meeting at the verdant Oulton Park on Saturday the 15th of July.
A pair of entries from Class SA were received, Joe Oates’ YB Turbo-motivated Focus was likely to have the upper hand on the Nissan Turbo-powered Mk1 Escort of Piers Warwick. The 2022 CTCRC Classic Thunder champion Jason Davies made his first appearance with the Modified Fords this season in Class A and was sure to be at the sharp end with his indecently fast Sapphire Cosworth. James Allen’s fleet Focus RS would be keen to stop the Sapphire from having it all its own way, whilst the Matthias brothers in their Sapphires and Ashley Shelswell’s XR4i would all be there or thereabouts. The Sapphire Cosworth of Malcolm Wise made up the contenders in the class. Piers Grange’s quick Mk2 Escort headlined the Class B+ entry list and came into the meeting on the crest of a wave after taking victory in all three races on Anglesey last time out. Paul Nevill’s smart RS2000, the Ecoboost Fiestas of Kester Cook and Anglesey podium finisher David Guthrie, plus the turbocharged Mk4 Fiesta of CTCRC BOSS front-runner Sam Daffin, would all be looking for a top result. Colin Robinson’s normally-aspirated YB-powered Mk1 Escort was another welcome addition, the Alan Mann-inspired red and gold car a regular in the CNC Heads NW Sports Saloons. Dan Cowan’s Ecoboost Fiesta completed the entry. A phalanx of Fiestas STs formed the bulk of the Class B field and would be looking to topple double Anglesey class winner Chris Baker’s Mk3 Escort, Oliver Bullion’s example chief among them. Jason Rudge’s Castrol-liveried Mk2 Fiesta was an interesting entry, whilst Paul Solbe’s Mk1 Focus would aim to get amongst the smaller hatchbacks. Class C contained four cars, of which three were the recently phased out-of-production Fiesta - the Mk1 of Jimmy Neophytou, the Mk4 of Dave Barrett and the pacesetting Mk6 of Alex Boam. Kevan Hadfield’s Puma would be looking to ensure the Fiestas didn’t hog the limelight in the results.
Qualifying: An unsettled day began with 28 cars taking to a greasy circuit for qualifying. At the end of the interrupted fifteen minutes, the session being red flagged after six minutes with Kester Cook in the gravel at Cascades, Jason Davies’ Class A Sapphire Cosworth had stolen a march on the field to snare pole position by 2.530 seconds. The nine minutes of running after the break weren’t without trouble for the Welshman as he finished the session stuck in the gravel too. Piers Grange set the second fastest time and headed Class B+, whilst the second row was an all-Ecoboost Fiesta affair with Kester Cook joined by David Guthrie. Another turbocharged Fiesta was next up in the hands of Sam Daffin and the Focus RS of James Allen would start alongside the Gulf-liveried car. Colin Robinson impressed on his second appearance with the Modified Fords to line up seventh and would have Alex Boam’s Class C-topping Fiesta for company. The top ten was completed by David Matthias’ Sapphire and Paul Nevill’s RS2000. The Focus Cosworth of Joe Oates was fastest of the Class SA runners in twelfth and Oliver Bullion’s Fiesta ST topped Class B in fifteenth from Chris Baker’s Mk3.
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Race One: The track surface had dried out when the grid lined up for their opening race of the day in bright summer sunshine. Polesitter Davies used his 500+ of Cosworth turbo power to take the initiative into Old Hall for the first time from Piers Grange, the Sapphire then romped away to victory by 26.218 seconds. James Allen climbed up to fourth behind Kester Cook on the opening lap before displacing the Fiesta on lap two and set about reducing the six-second gap to Grange in second. The flying Focus soon brought the gap down to the Mk2 Escort before moving into second on lap six but Allen couldn’t shake off Grange until the last lap. Series co-ordinator Paul Nevill took fourth after making decent progress from a fifth-row start. The Sapphire Cosworths of the Matthias brothers came home in fifth and sixth with David besting Scott, David lost fourth to Nevill's RS2000 with a moment at Old Hall at the start of lap seven. David Guthrie and Ashley Shelswell enjoyed a late squabble as the race reached its conclusion, the Fiesta just hung onto seventh by 0.072 seconds as the Sierra drew alongside past the flag, with Shelswell coming back from a gravelly excursion at Cascades for the fifth time. Kester Cook had been running ahead of them in fourth but went out on lap six with a blown turbo, which ended his day. Sam Daffin and seasonal debutant Colin Robinson completed the top ten. Joe Oates’ Focus was also a late retirement after his turbo worked loose, which handed the Class SA win to Piers Warwick’s Mk1 Escort Turbo. Chris Baker’s free-revving Escort RS1600i took Class B, after gaining the class lead on lap one from class poleman Oliver Bullion, and Alex Boam led Class C throughout to head home Jimmy Neophytou.
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Race Two: A passing shower just before the Modified Fords were due out made for slightly tricky conditions as the race got underway without Race One podium finisher Piers Grange. Race One retiree Joe Oates was able to make the start, his turbo now hopefully secured in place. Davies stormed to his second win of the day by an increased margin of 34.580 seconds, after staving off James Allen’s Focus into Old Hall for the first time, and made the five-and-a-half-hour journey from Haverfordwest worthwhile. Allen was largely unthreatened in second until David Matthias closed right in on the Focus in the later stages but was unable to make a move. Ashley Shelswell had Paul Nevill’s Class B+ winning RS2000 harassing the Sierra all-race in a battle for fourth but V6 grunt held off the Escort. Chris Baker looked odds-on to prevail in Class B for the second time on the day but a penultimate lap off-track excursion at Druids knocked the dry sump belt off so Baker wisely switched the engine off before any serious damage was done, having been involved in a race-long dice for eighth with Colin Robinson’s Mk1 Escort. Class top qualifier Oliver Bullion's Fiesta retired on the opening lap so the class win went to John Sheridan's similar Fiesta ST in eleventh overall, with Sam Shimwell's example taking the runner-up spot. Alex Boam again won Class C in his Fiesta Mk6, whilst Jimmy Neophytou just held off Dave Barrett for second. Piers Warwick took his second Class SA victory of the day unopposed after Joe Oates' Focus failed to complete the opening lap.
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The next event for the Modified Ford Series is a two-day meeting at the sinuous Cadwell Park circuit In Lincolnshire on the 12th and 13th of August.
Other Highlights
The afternoon was dominated by a four-hour Fun Cup endurance encounter, which featured YouTube luminary Jimmy Broadbent among the entries. The #267 Team Olympian entry of Chris Dovell, Riley Phillips and Kristian Rose beat the #170 Team Viking car of Mark Holme and Colin Kingsnorth to the win, the top two were split by 26.873 seconds after completing 109 laps, with the victors setting the fastest lap of the race with a little over three minutes remaining! Jimmy Broadbent and partner Ellis Hadley came home sixth in a race punctuated by several sharp showers. Irish FF1600 veteran Morgan Dempsey twice sped to the Pre ‘99 Super Classic spoils in his ’works’ Duckhams-liveried Van Diemen RF92, Richard Higgins’ RF91 went with him early in race one before Dempsey moved steadily away. Higgins made the better start to race two and tangled with Dempsey on the run to Old Hall, which allowed Richard's father Bob Higgins into second. Higgins Junior led by three and a half seconds at the end of the opening lap but Dempsey soon moved into second on lap two and began his pursuit of Richard, catching the leader on lap six. Dempsey tried this way and that to pass the defensive Higgins before contact was made around the lakeside section for the final time, which saw Dempsey come home alone to victory with a skewiff nose. Multiple Castle Combe FF1600 champion Bob Higgins' RF88 Van Diemen prevailed in a tough fight with the Reynard FF89 of Andrew Schofield and the Van Diemen RF92 of Richard Freye, which became the battle for second upon Richard’s elimination. A second enduro was contested by the Clubsport Trophy competitors and featured Phiroze Bilimoria's VW, Benjamin Griffiths' Honda and Richard Bliss' Audi lapping together until breaking apart after the pitstops, with the Scirocco running out a comfortable winner from the Griffiths Civic and the early race-leading TT which finished the 45 minutes in the hands of Andrew Dyer.
Other Highlights
The afternoon was dominated by a four-hour Fun Cup endurance encounter, which featured YouTube luminary Jimmy Broadbent among the entries. The #267 Team Olympian entry of Chris Dovell, Riley Phillips and Kristian Rose beat the #170 Team Viking car of Mark Holme and Colin Kingsnorth to the win, the top two were split by 26.873 seconds after completing 109 laps, with the victors setting the fastest lap of the race with a little over three minutes remaining! Jimmy Broadbent and partner Ellis Hadley came home sixth in a race punctuated by several sharp showers. Irish FF1600 veteran Morgan Dempsey twice sped to the Pre ‘99 Super Classic spoils in his ’works’ Duckhams-liveried Van Diemen RF92, Richard Higgins’ RF91 went with him early in race one before Dempsey moved steadily away. Higgins made the better start to race two and tangled with Dempsey on the run to Old Hall, which allowed Richard's father Bob Higgins into second. Higgins Junior led by three and a half seconds at the end of the opening lap but Dempsey soon moved into second on lap two and began his pursuit of Richard, catching the leader on lap six. Dempsey tried this way and that to pass the defensive Higgins before contact was made around the lakeside section for the final time, which saw Dempsey come home alone to victory with a skewiff nose. Multiple Castle Combe FF1600 champion Bob Higgins' RF88 Van Diemen prevailed in a tough fight with the Reynard FF89 of Andrew Schofield and the Van Diemen RF92 of Richard Freye, which became the battle for second upon Richard’s elimination. A second enduro was contested by the Clubsport Trophy competitors and featured Phiroze Bilimoria's VW, Benjamin Griffiths' Honda and Richard Bliss' Audi lapping together until breaking apart after the pitstops, with the Scirocco running out a comfortable winner from the Griffiths Civic and the early race-leading TT which finished the 45 minutes in the hands of Andrew Dyer.
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