The second visit to Brands Hatch this year for both categories produced a packed grid. Prior to qualifying there was the normal noise check procedure but unfortunately this took rather longer than expected. The net result was that some drivers had a rather short session. An incident between Anthony Harrison and Glen Rossiter sadly saw both drivers out on the spot with a fair degree of damage. Chris Chadwick literally had a baptism of fire when his oil filter came loose.

In the first race Chris Brockhurst led away from pole position but he was soon overhauled by Steve Hall who proceeded to take his second win of the year. Keith White then moved into second place but Brockhurst retained third. In the tin tops it was Nick Young leading the way in his Seat, but as the race progressed he was joined by Dave Clark in the rapid Renault 5 turbo. Dave didn’t quite get the lead and he was slightly hampered by a clash with Malcolm Harding. The Cox brothers, Michael and Jason, disputed third in the tin tops.

The second race saw Hall and White run side by side all the way to Druids with White emerging in front. For the next 8 laps Hall searched for a way past but it was only when the BMW Z4 broke its gearbox that he was able to get past. Harding and Brockhurst disputed third which became second when White dropped back. In a daring move Chris snatched the runner up spot on the last lap. In the tin tops it was déjà vu with Young leading Clark and those battling Cox brothers.

The extra awards went to Clive Seer (Tiger) Nick Starkey (Caterham), Terry Searles (MG ZR) and the Cox boys who all won driver of the race awards. David Fuller (MG Midget) and Richard Carrison (Peugeot 309) won the best prepared car prizes. A more detailed report will appear in Brief Torque early next month.

The Dunlop Motorsport News Saloon Car Championship returned to Brands Hatch on Sunday and both classes A and B had several new drivers and cars to increase the opposition. With two new Escort Cosworths and monstrous looking Sapphire, Rod was Keen to see how they all shaped up. Qualifying saw a number of people having problems, Steve Dann’s new VW Golf crawled around on the edge of the track whilst Ashley Hargreaves parked on the slip road with his supercharged Peugeot 306 overheating. Barry Vincent had major engine problems with his Rover and Paul Nevill became the first class A casualty when his Escort Cosworth pulled off with an engine malady. Mark Biggars was struggling with a misfire on his Nissan although Darren Bly was quickly back into the groove in his version. Through all this Rod gained pole position with Nick Williamson alongside. Bly headed row two from Malcolm Wise and then there was a real surprise to see Bill Richards fifth overall in his KAD engined Mini. Andy Thompson was next followed by Richard Brent and James Lindridge.

Wise took the final podium spot, followed by Biggars and Brent. Bill Richards slipped back slightly to sixth but still had a good race with Ray Barrow, who was closely pursued by Peter Taylor. Thompson held off new boy Kevin Bird to take class B honours as Stephen King narrowly pipped Ken Welch for class E.

In the second race our man again made a perfect start and opened up an early lead. The challenge from Williamson ground to a halt when he accidentally selected first gear instead of third. Biggars led Wise for several laps before the Cossie squeezed by, although Rod was long gone and cruising to his second win of the day. Nevertheless Malcolm was easily voted best Ford driver of the day and collected a bag of goodies. Brent almost caught the slowing Nissan on the final lap. An entertaining three way scrap for fifth went to Peter Taylor as Bird took class B honours and held off Barrow. Richards was a bit breathless in amongst the big cars but still took eighth from the Seats of CrisHayes and Thompson. Yet again the two Minis battled all race long for class E and this time it went to Welch. King did take the best prepared car award from Quaife Engineering as Bird also took the VAG prize. Driver of the race went to Biggars.

This early success means that Rod currently leads the championship with four wins out of four. Battle will be resumed in three weeks time on May 31^st again at Brands Hatch.