Race Report - Brands Hatch Indy Circuit: Sunday 3rd September 5th September 2006
This autumnal meeting was graced by an entry of 11 Super Mighty Minis and 20 Standard Mighty Minis. For the first time in a while this meant that each class had its own race. Given the ensuing action this was no bad thing. Team BRMinis was confronted with grey skies and persistent drizzle on the journey down the M25 early on the Sunday morning. The promise of clear skies and warm sun by the BBC weather centre was met with derision, however proved to be correct, for once. One up to the Met Office! Arrival at Brands Hatch paddock seemed like luxury with clean and drying tarmac rather than the raging torrents of water and mud at Anglesey. Space was plentiful and the atmosphere relaxed. Timing of qualifying was equally laid back with the Mighties going out at 10:30 ant the Supers at a sybaritic 12:00. The Mighties qualifying was a relatively calm affair with only Mark Welsby in car 4 being unlucky enough not to complete the full quota of laps. Pole was claimed by James Lyford in car 48 with all the usual suspects behind him. The top eleven cars were covered by less than one second. The Supers qualifying was livened up by Mark Ditchburn in car 19 who ended up on his side in the gravel at Paddock Hill Bend following a suspension failure on lap 5. (This corner will make its presence felt later in this report). “I just posted my fastest lap” was his comment after the event. Phil Heatherington claimed his first pole position in car 14 on his first outing in the Supers this year, with David and Neven Kirkpatrick behind in second and third positions. Bob Bennetts was a close fourth and Peter Crewes eighth complaining of rear brakes locking. ("I backed them off for the race" - remember this for later). BRMinis car was going reasonably well for the first outing in the Supers, but was last man on the grid. Mighty Minis Race This was to be a race of two parts. In the first start there was a close tussle between James Lyford in car 45, David Berney in car 6 and Nigel Pike in car 90. Going down the Brabham straight these three cars were running nose to tail and James was pushed into a spin which ended his race with a large impact head on into the barriers. This brought out the red flags. The car was heavily damaged, but fortunately James emerged only with a sore ankle. Neil Walker had a short race pulling off on the first lap. The race was restarted in original grid order less the two front row cars. Nigel Pike grabbed an immediate lead in car 90 and held this until lap 2 when he was demoted to last man running. From this position he mounted a charge through the field for the rest of the race. There must have been something about Nigel’s name as this gave the regular Brands Hatch commentator many problems in getting it right. He was eventually referred to a Pikey! There was close racing and changes in position throughout the field. Chris Morgan was out of the race in car 8 by lap 3. At this stage David Berney in car 6 was in the lead, but was challenged regularly by Neil Slark in car 15, Richard Lockwood in car 50 and Ian Slark in car 11. Dave Rees in car 7 was staying close to this group, but in turn was being challenged by Adrian Tuckley in car 55. There was not much daylight between any of these cars. Full use was made of the track and the green stuff at the sides. It all went a bit pear shaped for Neil Slark on lap 13. He ended up on the grass at Hailwood Hill and with zero grip for braking at Druids went straight on , slid across the track, into the kitty litter and out of the race. In the ensuing confusion Dave Rees moved up to third place. By lap 14 the front three cars had broken away and over the next laps extended their lead over Ian Slark in car 11. On lap 15 there was a further incident, if there had not been enough already. Ian Critchley in car 23, who had been having good dices throughout the race, lost drive up Hailwood Hill and ran wide at Druids collecting Adrian Hollis in car 88 who was passing on the outside. Adrian stopped in the gravel with a punctured right front tyre and Ian pulled onto the grass at Graham Hill. Later examination of car 23 showed the front nearside stub axle had broken, but fortunately the wheel had not come off. Ian was luck that this had not happened through Paddock Hill Bend. The three leaders were still close together, with car 6 leading 7 and then 50. Whatever Dave Rees tried David Berney kept his nose in front. It came down to the last corner of the last lap. A classic Mighty Mini finish with the second car ducking out of the leaders slipstream and crossing the line 0.005 seconds ahead; one layer of the chrome plating on the front bumper! An excellent maiden victory for Dave Rees. Super Mighty Minis Race After the Standard Mighty Minis, how were we going to follow that? With eleven cars starting it was quality not quantity. One ex-champion and the current series leader on row 2 and the second place series man on the first row it was going to be close. The start was good and clean. Everyone survived Paddock Hill Bend, this time at least. At Druids Peter Crewes in car 77 went straight on and buried himself in the kitty litter. A victim of cold brakes and, perhaps, the decision to reduce rear brake bias. And then there were ten. BRMinis car 57 did not have long to gloat. Entering the aforementioned Paddock Hill Bend for the second time a surfeit of enthusiasm over grip resulted in a spin. The driver managed to avoid the gravel trap, but lost some 12 seconds on the leaders, and spent the rest of the race on his own. It can be lonely out there! Up at the front things were more interesting. The pole sitter Phil Heatherington in car 14 lost the lead on lap 2 to Neven Kirkpatrick in car 11 and on lap 4 Bob Bennetts in car 9 muscled his way past into second place. David Kirkpatrick in car 10 had lost several places and was in sixth place, however on lap five had moved back up to fourth. Things remained fairly settled until lap eight when an interesting moment at Druids resulted in Neven dropping back to sixth place from first. On lap ten car 14 fell back behind Andy Harrison in car 72 and Alex "Teenwolf" Comis in car 41. From lap thirteen Neven moved back up the field and on lap 19 passed brother David for second place. A classic green manoeuvre. During this time Bob Bennetts had extended his lead to more than two seconds, a country mile in Mighty Minis racing. Phil in car 14 was still in touch with the leading group, but a do or die passing attempt on the outside at Paddock Hill Bend, on lap 19, ended in spectacular fashion with a roll into the gravel, and out of the race. Nine finishers made it to the chequered flag. Both races put on a good show for the spectators, but a poor showing for BRMinis. Last race of the season is at Silverstone on the 7th and 8th October. Be there for more action, joy, tears and tantrums. [Ben]

Race Report - Brands Hatch Indy Circuit: Sunday 3rd September

5th September 2006

This autumnal meeting was graced by an entry of 11 Super Mighty Minis and 20 Standard Mighty Minis. For the first time in a while this meant that each class had its own race. Given the ensuing action this was no bad thing.

Team BRMinis was confronted with grey skies and persistent drizzle on the journey down the M25 early on the Sunday morning. The promise of clear skies and warm sun by the BBC weather centre was met with derision, however proved to be correct, for once. One up to the Met Office! Arrival at Brands Hatch paddock seemed like luxury with clean and drying tarmac rather than the raging torrents of water and mud at Anglesey. Space was plentiful and the atmosphere relaxed. Timing of qualifying was equally laid back with the Mighties going out at 10:30 ant the Supers at a sybaritic 12:00. The Mighties qualifying was a relatively calm affair with only Mark Welsby in car 4 being unlucky enough not to complete the full quota of laps. Pole was claimed by James Lyford in car 48 with all the usual suspects behind him. The top eleven cars were covered by less than one second.

The Supers qualifying was livened up by Mark Ditchburn in car 19 who ended up on his side in the gravel at Paddock Hill Bend following a suspension failure on lap 5. (This corner will make its presence felt later in this report). “I just posted my fastest lap” was his comment after the event. Phil Heatherington claimed his first pole position in car 14 on his first outing in the Supers this year, with David and Neven Kirkpatrick behind in second and third positions. Bob Bennetts was a close fourth and Peter Crewes eighth complaining of rear brakes locking. ("I backed them off for the race" - remember this for later). BRMinis car was going reasonably well for the first outing in the Supers, but was last man on the grid.

Mighty Minis Race

This was to be a race of two parts. In the first start there was a close tussle between James Lyford in car 45, David Berney in car 6 and Nigel Pike in car 90. Going down the Brabham straight these three cars were running nose to tail and James was pushed into a spin which ended his race with a large impact head on into the barriers. This brought out the red flags. The car was heavily damaged, but fortunately James emerged only with a sore ankle.

Neil Walker had a short race pulling off on the first lap.

The race was restarted in original grid order less the two front row cars. Nigel Pike grabbed an immediate lead in car 90 and held this until lap 2 when he was demoted to last man running. From this position he mounted a charge through the field for the rest of the race. There must have been something about Nigel’s name as this gave the regular Brands Hatch commentator many problems in getting it right. He was eventually referred to a Pikey!

There was close racing and changes in position throughout the field. Chris Morgan was out of the race in car 8 by lap 3. At this stage David Berney in car 6 was in the lead, but was challenged regularly by Neil Slark in car 15, Richard Lockwood in car 50 and Ian Slark in car 11. Dave Rees in car 7 was staying close to this group, but in turn was being challenged by Adrian Tuckley in car 55. There was not much daylight between any of these cars. Full use was made of the track and the green stuff at the sides. It all went a bit pear shaped for Neil Slark on lap 13. He ended up on the grass at Hailwood Hill and with zero grip for braking at Druids went straight on , slid across the track, into the kitty litter and out of the race. In the ensuing confusion Dave Rees moved up to third place. By lap 14 the front three cars had broken away and over the next laps extended their lead over Ian Slark in car 11.

On lap 15 there was a further incident, if there had not been enough already. Ian Critchley in car 23, who had been having good dices throughout the race, lost drive up Hailwood Hill and ran wide at Druids collecting Adrian Hollis in car 88 who was passing on the outside. Adrian stopped in the gravel with a punctured right front tyre and Ian pulled onto the grass at Graham Hill. Later examination of car 23 showed the front nearside stub axle had broken, but fortunately the wheel had not come off. Ian was luck that this had not happened through Paddock Hill Bend.

The three leaders were still close together, with car 6 leading 7 and then 50. Whatever Dave Rees tried David Berney kept his nose in front. It came down to the last corner of the last lap. A classic Mighty Mini finish with the second car ducking out of the leaders slipstream and crossing the line 0.005 seconds ahead; one layer of the chrome plating on the front bumper! An excellent maiden victory for Dave Rees.

Super Mighty Minis Race

After the Standard Mighty Minis, how were we going to follow that? With eleven cars starting it was quality not quantity. One ex-champion and the current series leader on row 2 and the second place series man on the first row it was going to be close. The start was good and clean. Everyone survived Paddock Hill Bend, this time at least. At Druids Peter Crewes in car 77 went straight on and buried himself in the kitty litter. A victim of cold brakes and, perhaps, the decision to reduce rear brake bias. And then there were ten. BRMinis car 57 did not have long to gloat. Entering the aforementioned Paddock Hill Bend for the second time a surfeit of enthusiasm over grip resulted in a spin. The driver managed to avoid the gravel trap, but lost some 12 seconds on the leaders, and spent the rest of the race on his own. It can be lonely out there!

Up at the front things were more interesting. The pole sitter Phil Heatherington in car 14 lost the lead on lap 2 to Neven Kirkpatrick in car 11 and on lap 4 Bob Bennetts in car 9 muscled his way past into second place. David Kirkpatrick in car 10 had lost several places and was in sixth place, however on lap five had moved back up to fourth. Things remained fairly settled until lap eight when an interesting moment at Druids resulted in Neven dropping back to sixth place from first. On lap ten car 14 fell back behind Andy Harrison in car 72 and Alex "Teenwolf" Comis in car 41. From lap thirteen Neven moved back up the field and on lap 19 passed brother David for second place. A classic green manoeuvre. During this time Bob Bennetts had extended his lead to more than two seconds, a country mile in Mighty Minis racing. Phil in car 14 was still in touch with the leading group, but a do or die passing attempt on the outside at Paddock Hill Bend, on lap 19, ended in spectacular fashion with a roll into the gravel, and out of the race. Nine finishers made it to the chequered flag.

Both races put on a good show for the spectators, but a poor showing for BRMinis.

Last race of the season is at Silverstone on the 7th and 8th October. Be there for more action, joy, tears and tantrums.

[Ben]

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Race Report - Brands Hatch Indy Circuit: Sunday 3rd September