Legends: TWF1 Adelaide Report

With both championships essentially tied up the main battles in the final round were for the minor places and this was especially true of the tight Division 2 contest.

Ales made the best start from second on the grid and comfortably took the lead from champion elect Timo.  On Lap 2, however, Ales put the car in the tyres in the tricky left hander just after Adelaide and dropped to 3rd behind Paul Langford.

Ales wasn't the only visitor of the tyres as Rick Stratton removed his T4's nose and Nigel Metcalf somehow avoided damage as they both visited the tyres. Stratton retired on the spot with terminal damage but he was the second retirement.

On Lap 1 Rouke had made a very uncharacteristic error bouncing off Jef, the Barriers and Timo into Adelaide before retiring with  terminal damage.

So already the field was down to 10 cars, Langford finding himself under pressure from the recovering Ales with a gap back to Baz West who was under a lot of pressure from Ralph and Bret Metcalf.

Bringing up the rear was Jef, how had had to pit for repairs but he was soon on the moving catching a struggling Nigel Metcalf as he drove a superb recovery drive.

On lap 5 Baz became the latest victim of 'Ales Corner' as he spun and lost his rear wing. Pitting for repairs moving the charging Jef up the order.

Up front Langford seemed to outbrake himself a touch allowing Ales through into second on Lap 7 and able to chase down the champion. Behind the lead three Fulvio, Ralph and Bret continued to battle, the three running close changed places frequently and were soon joined around lap 15 by Jef.

He was in no mood to 'take any prisoners' as he neatly dealt with the battling trio over the course of the next three laps and by lap 18 past Ralph, just as the battle became for third as Timo made a very rare mistakes and crashed out at the end of the lap.

The impact with the pit entry removed a wheel and forced him to retire. The retirement didn't matter, however, as despite scoring zero points he still had the title 'in the bag'.

That left Ales in the lead and he cruised to the finish. With only seven cars left in the race, one final pass for position by Fulvio on Ralph on lap 23,  was the only pass for position as the race drew to a gentle close.

The top 5 is believed to be :-

Timo - 224
Ales - 220
Roberto - 195
Bret - 189
Fulvio - 165

Division two also had a champion but there was a ferocious battle for second place. Kat Scott held the place but, hindered by a poor Donnington result, this was far from secure. In fact Martin Cooper was 'in the box seat' for the position especially as Scott would not be able to race.

One driver with an outside chance at the position was Simon Baggett and he duly put his car on pole of the 11 car grid. Too much wheelspin left Fulghum in fourth off the grid after Marot made a superb start but by the laps end he was up to third. 

Martin Cooper took second from third on the grid while Pym had a disaster.  Battling hard with Tallini the pair approached 'Schumacher corner' - the pair touched, Pym spun and was collected by Hocq who had no chance of avoiding the McLaren.

He was soon on a charge passing cars on every lap until he had moved from 11th to 7th at which point he met a wall in the form of Marot.

Marot, driving well, took a few laps to pass by which time there was a gap to Tallini that would take him till about half distance to catch and pass.

Up front Bagget was fairly untroubled although Cooper was doing his best to keep the MaLaren under pressure. Cooper steadily fell back into the clutches of John Wallace, however, and on lap 17 the Bous car passed him for second.

Two laps later Eric was through too but then a battle Royale commences which saw the pair swap places two more times before the champion finally kept the final podium position. Pym rounded out the top five.

The final ( believed) championship top 5 positions are :-

Eric - 222
Martin - 193
Simon - 186
Kat - 186 (4th due to Simon winning more races)
Dave K - 181

Overall too keenly contested championships with some intense battles to the wire and highly memorable drives.

Legends: TWFA Adelaide Report

The Legends admin team threw up a huge challenge for the closing race of the TWFA season in the form of the challenging Adelaide circuit. Famous for the incident that deprived Damon Hill of a world championship, this circuit has numerous 'speed hump' curbs that threaten to send cars into wild spins at the slightest touch.

As such a high attrition rate was predicted as Paul Langford and Rouke vd Hoek fought tooth and nail for, what for now at at least, the first and final Legends TWFA Championship.

As always the meeting started with the sprint race and the field of 12 cars was lead away from Pole by Langford. Rouke lined up alongside him on the front row with, newcomer to this series, Simon Baggett lining up 3rd.

From the start Langford led with Rouke right behind as the field streamed through the tricky chicane that forms Turn 1 of this circuit.

Behind, Simon was slow away baulking the right side of the field slightly. The front of the field still got through the corner cleanly but Baz West locked a brake and collided with Graham Palferyman.

Kat Scott (pink car right) was forced to lift both for the yellow and the slow moving West. 

Ted Ball (green car) thus was able to pass Scott on the run to T2.

Scott would become the first victim of the curbs spinning down to last. She wouldn't be the last.

The Championship battle wasn't the points battle on with Bret Metcalf and Ralph Maiph also in a tight battle for a good championship finish. They both, ironically, had suffered qualifying penalties so start this race at the back.

By lap 4, with several drivers having spun, Maiph was making good progress and was up to 8th. Bret was just ahead as the pair ran nose to tail. 

Marcus Adams became the only retirement a lap later, crashing out, as the field largely settled down. That was until towards the end of lap 8.

Rouke had finally got within range of Paul and attempted to pass him into the hairpin. The pair touched and Paul was able to retain the position.

Then at the end of the lap Paul seemed to make a small mistake, the pair touched, Paul half spun. Rouke in a sporting gesture, having briefly passed the yellow car, returned the place as their head for the S/F line.

Roukes challenge in the sprint ended there and then so the championship came down to the final race of the season.

This wasn't the only battle going on, however, as Scott had caught Ball. Her first pass on lap 7 had failed after a mistake two corners after she passed him. One lap later Ball repeated Scott's mistake and with Bret Also hitting late trouble she finished 8th.

Overall an intense fight was brewing, a superb drive by Ralph had put him in the 'box seat' in the battle with Bret while Langford led the battle for the championship.

In the feature a bit of scrabbling off the start left Langford taking to the escape route but the two championship leaders succesfully negotiated the corner in the lead.

Behind some things got a little close but there was no major problems as the field streamed through T1.

A couple of minor incidents happened down the field as it approached the long straight before the hairpin.

As a result Kat Scott was able to make good use of her lower downforce allowed her to move up to 7th.

Into Lap 2 Rouke worked his way past Langford and the championship was fully alive. 

Behind newcomer Baggett was all over the back of a fierce battle between Tallini and Palferyman. The Latter became a curb victim onto the main straight spinning into the concrete. Bagget was able to also get past moving up to a strong 3rd pursued by Marcus Adams.

Adams' season has been mixed and another promising run, sadly, would fall by the wayside a few laps later as he spun out of fourth and into retirement. 

The next victim of the curbs, on lap 8, was Salvatore Tallini, his stop dropped him down to eighth behind a battle Royale.

Kat Scott was driving smoothly, she'd put in a great start and had genuinely passed Baz West on lap for and was now running fourth.

She didn't have the outright pace of Baz West or Juan Carlos Huate (seen attempting to pass West Right) but her sheer straight line speed and decent lines made it impossible for them to pass her.

Tallini soon caught the battle, as did the hard charging Ralph Maiph. Thinking on his feet, and with a stop needed, the latter dived into the pits as he caught the battle. This gave him clear air and no delay and would pay him well later in the race.

By Lap 15 Tallini had worked his way onto the back of Scott and passed her with another great pass, the Second he'd done on her in two weeks. 

Then going into the fast kink Scott made a small error in line, slid into the barrier and lost her nose.

Unfortunately, in what could well have been the incident that settled the championship, her slower return to the pits meant Rouke caught up with her as she entered the pits. No Blue flags were shown as he caught up so quickly and unfortunately was forced to avoid the rear of the pink car and went off. (above). 

Shortly after the Ralph/Bret battle was essentially settled as Bret went off losing his nose and forcing a pit for repairs. Despite the problems, the championship battle wasn't over as after their stops Rouke was in sight of his challenger.

Meanwhile Baz and Huarte were still fighting together, now for 6th and 7th but that ended on lap 22 when West spun over a curb and had to pit.

Had Scott not been worried about fuel, he would have dropped to 9th. Scott however had fuel on her mind, West was able to retake the place.

Overall the battles went right down to the wire, passing didn't stop till almost the very end and two entertaining races provided a fitting end to the championship.

Well done to Paul and Rouke for an excellent, fair and clean battle and congratulations to Paul for taking the crown.

Legends - TWF1 Donington Report

(sorry this is late, University work first, racing second ;) ).

Technical issues struck during two entertaining races at the challenging Donington Park racing circuit.

In the Div 1 Rik Walker had his best qualifying after a slight handicap adjustment allowed him to use the improved M29 car. He was one the lead of 3 such cars lining up behind pole sitter Timo Peltola.

Timo had almost got the championship sowed up and led from his pole with Rik Walker making a poorer start and losing a place to Ronny on the run to Turn 1.

Rik made minor contact mid corner with the 'Players' M29, however, and retook the position. Feeling he gained it unfairly he returned the place as the field streamed down towards Old Hairpin.

Further back on the edge of the top 10 Berti had become the meat in a Brabham Sandwich. He got squashed by Bret and Allar and, as his BT49 became briefly airborne, he was forced off the track.

He rejoining narrowly behind Ralph and forcing Rick Stratton behind to slow early. This delay allowed Paul Langford to get alongside the bright yellow T4 Ferrari. Langford turned in a touch early, collided with him and the M29 was spinning onto the infield.

Stratton was unfortunately the first victim of technical issues and went off at the next corner as he struggled with lack of force feedback. Losing his nose, he would retire on lap 7 after struggling for a few laps.

Into the hairpin Bret and Ales had a slight collision as Bret tried to pass the dark grey Brabham. Bret lost several places as he fought to regain the track then also suffered a technical issue as he lost connection.

So at the end of lap one Peltola led from Rouke, Denis and Allar Foht. Allar had made the best start, leaping from 9th to 4th ahead of Ales.

Timo was already looking secure, but the rest of the podium was soon embroiled in an intense battle. Denis made a probably over-optermistic pass attempt on Rouke on lap 3 into Turn 1, he collided with Rouke, ran wide, and was fortunate not to lose a place straight away.

Shortly after, however, Allar was through and chasing after the Orange and Black car ahead. He tried.. and tried.. but Rouke was driving well and it took until lap 6 before he was able to pass.

By then Timo was clear and the pair would run uncontested to the flag. Rouke and Denis would have races to forget, however, as both retired by before half distance leaving Ales in Third.

Behind the drivers who were delayed early on were now making their way through the field. Rik Walker had been passing drivers at close to a rate of every other lap and was up to 7th by lap 12. Behind Paul Langford had made similar progress but as he had dropped further back with his spin, he was up to 12th and chasing Ralph hard.

Retirements then started to come thick and fast, by lap 19, 5 drivers were out and wouldn't score any points. This dropped to 10 when the battling Ronny and Roberto retired. Both crashed heavily on lap 29 after battling hard together for several laps.

Most drivers were running seconds apart on the track by now, but Fulvio and Ralph were embroiled in an intense battle. Twice they swapped places before finally on lap 34 Fulvio took the place.

Up front Peltola took a deserved win and it's believed a provisional championship. ( Last season, from memory, any penalties incurred in last race took points penalties as the licence is cleaned at the end of the season. So it's feasible to lose points ).

In Division two Simon Baggett and champion elect Eric Fulghum lined up on a M29 front row, matched by a similar pair of M29's behind. Two Renaults appeared on the grid for the first time with two new Frenchman joining the field. They lined up 5th and 8th out of a field of 11.

When the light went Green, L'il Miss superstarter was at it again, however. Yet again Kat got it all right at the start and as the field streamed towards T1 she was rapidly closing on the second and third rows on the grid from 9th.

Into T1 she was alongside Cooper's 'pig', she backed out on entry but mid corner David Pym slid wide slightly, causing Cooper and Kat to back up a little and minor contact made.

Eric had made the best start and was now leading ahead of Baggett, Pym and Cooper. Into the chicane Kat made an attempt to outbrake David. The maneuver was largely successful but unfortunately light contact was made with both cars ahead. Pym had turned in, seemingly not aware of Kat's attempt, he unfortunately spun.

Cooper was nudged slightly by the Ferrari but retained the spot without bother while Kat easily kept her car on track.

Now started a ferocious battle between V12 power and better handling cars. the FW07 of the hugely improving Sal Tallini was all over the back of the Screaming yellow car and for the next 3 laps he was unable to overcome the power deficite.

On lap 4, however, he pulled off the move of the day outbraking Scott round the outside of the chicane. She gave him the minimum of room but he calming slid his car through the gap and into fourth.

The Recovering Pym and John Wallace now had to contend with the bright yellow car. Once again Scott kept them at bay but a spin in T1 let the two recovering cars through.

Further back new driver Aymeric and Philipe were having a fun battle while up front Eric had, championship in mind, let Baggett back ahead and the two would comparitevly cruise to the finish.

John, Tallini, Martin and David were soon in their own battle. The 4 not swapping places much but running tightly together lap after lap even after Cooper had a brief off on lap 24.

Tallini unfortunatly retired, probably with technical problems on Lap 33 shortly before Scott also retired. She suffered a disconnect for unknown reasons robbing her of a secure 6th place and giving Cooper an excellent chance at second in the championship.

Eric's second place handed him the championship with the same proviso's as for Div 1.

Behind Scott got 22 points for being placed 9th after her retirement.

In Division 1, the top three are likely settled although a bat race for Ales will hand the place to Roberto.

Bret can, however, take the place after his zero points at Don he can still overhaul Berti.Third for Bret gives him equal points with Berti if the latter fails to finish better than 12th. A win for Bret gives him 205 points, 3rd for Berti gives him 206.

In Division 2, however, three drivers are battling hard for the position with Simon Baggett and Pym having outside chances.


Before dropped scores the position is :-

2 Kat Scott 186
4 Martin Cooper 165
3 David Kadlcak 157
5 David Pym 154
6 Simon Baggett 146

as such if everyone DNF's that is the finishing positions.

Both Pym and Baggett rely totally on bad results from all three ahead, and a win ( or second in Pym's case) to take second. While 8th for Kat would prevent Baggett taking second, she needs 3rd if Pym wins ( or 7th if second)

Cooper needs to finish 9th or better with Scott behind and David K less than 8 points behind. So if DK won, second would get him the place.

Scott will drop points ( the only one of the top 6 to do so ) so is effectively on 164 and thus faces the same maths as Cooper with the difference of needing to finish ahead of Cooper, if both are 9th or better.

For DK to take second he needs to get 29 points with Scott finishing 9th or worse and Cooper the same. Thus 3rd is his minimum.

TWFA: Donnington Park Report

The seventh round of the TWFA season saw the drivers take on the strangely challenging Donnington Park circuit. Why strangely challenging? Well it seems to be a circuit that some people just simply 'get' while others struggle like crazy. It's layout, however, looks deceptively simple with many corners being flat out.

Title contenders Paul Langford and Rouke vd Hoek locked out the front row with improving driver, Sal Tallini, lining up in 3rd.

Tallini was the first victim of a number of incidents as, going into Redgate, West appears to accidently 'get into' him and the pink TWFA spun onto the infield.

Several newcomers entered this race and exiting Redgate one of those drivers, Pierre was strangely slow and dropped two places.

Into Melbourne hairpin there was a bit too much pushing and barging. First Dominic made contact with Tomas pushing him wide and taking the place. Then Neill got into Huarte spinning him round as Tallini then made contact with the back of Johnson.

Into the final corner Dominic outbraked Maiph and ran wide while Tomas tried to slip inside the red car and the two made contact. They both spun.

Up front Rouke made his way past Langford and cruised away with Baz in a stable but lonely 3rd.

Behind Graham, Martin, Patrick Dobner and Bret were embroiled in a monumental battle. Over the 8 laps there were getting on for a dozen different position changes. Eventually Bret won the battle which became for 3rd when Baz West proved the adage "To finish third.. first one much have enough fuel in the car!!!" as he ran out on the last lap.

In the feature race Tallini made the best start but there was some rubbing between all three not helped by Tallini's technical problems that cause his car to warp.

Paul took second from Rouke as the field streamed down to the Old Hairpin.

The opening lap was rather cleaner although Ted did manage to get into the back of Katier. She spun, losing a place and suffering some damage. Ted's weekend had been a nightmare and in all he only managed 2 racing laps.

Up front Paul Langford was taking the lead with Rouke looking for a way past the bright yellow car. Sal Tallini was 3rd with West 4th ahead of another large battle.

For the second time in the day Martin Cooper found himself battling tooth and nail this time Chasing Patrick Dobner hard.

Then on lap 7 Rouke went off, forcing a pit for repairs, then to compound matters he had a stop go. That dropped him way down the order but on the plus side would not need to stop again having topped his tank during the stop.

As the stops approached, therefore, Langford was secure out in front ahead of Tallini but the latter had a crash and retired at half distance. The handed Graham second and for a while he lead as Langfords stop dropped him to second.

Meanwhile Rouke was steadily climbing up the order. He past a struggling Kat on 10 and by the end had recovered to a handy 9th place. Metcalf took a smooth second ahead of Palfreyman and Rookie Dobner.

Of the other rookies, Pierre missed the sprint and Dominic's race was incident filled. He gad a number of off's between showings of pace. He would finish 11th.

With Berti missing this round the championship is essentially a two horse race.

After dropping their worst scores :-
(NOTE I believe that one of Roukes scores is missing on the official table)

Langford - 606
Rouke - 602
Berti - 568

Berti can still win it, if he takes both races that is 120 points. Putting him on 688 and requiring Langford to take no more than 61 points. Assuming he completes > 50% of the racing that is the equivelent of about 2 12th places. Rouke would need to do worse than something around 2 10th to give Berti a shot at the crown.

Legends TWF1 Jarama Report

An impressive 19 drivers turned up for the sixth round of the Div 1 championship. On Pole was the impressive Ales Simunek buy a substantial 0.457s. A guide of just how impressive that is was shown by the fact that Rick Stratton, in 16th, was 1.8s off from second place.

Ronny was impressive from the go, hounding Ales throughout the lap and taking the lead as the lead pair dragged towards the S/F line. Rouke, however, was the start of the first lap. Seventh on the grid he made the best start and squeezing inside Berti into the second part of T1 he came out 4th.

Bento also made a good start finishing the first lap 14th from the back of the grid. Biggest losers were Dave Hawt, who spun, and Rick Stratton who was unable to avoid the stranded Brabham. Hawt would lose his rear wing in the incident, pit, run last and ultimately be the first retirement on lap 9.

On Lap 2 Costa had an incident approaching the downhill hairpin, clunking the barrier and being forced to pit, dropping to last. A second stop a lap later relegated him to a lonely race at the back of the field.

Up front the front four were running in order, close together, but at this early stage not close enough to really attempt to pass. Further back Jef and Roberto were losing touch already with Bret and Mike Perray just behind.

With such a large field there were battles throughout the field. Paul Langford and Mike Perray were embroiled in the hardest battle, swapping placed regularly during the first 10 laps.

Up front, however, Ronny's race was about to fall apart, but not before Nigel Metcalf had made heavy impact with the T1 barriers. It appears he jinked to avoid the car ahead, spun and lost his rear wing on impact. He would lose two laps as a result of the impact spending the rest of the race on the same lap as Costa.

Further back Rik and Rick were now nose to tail and closing in on a big battle between Denis and Miguel. Miguel had tried to sneak inside Ralph as Denis put a neat pass on him but backed out and spin.

By Lap 10 the lead three were starting to spread a bit although Timo would keep Ales alert throughout the rest of the race. Behind Rouke looked secure but this soon changed as the recovering Ronny started to put intense pressure on the Black and Orange car.

On Lap 16, however, Ronny went missing to be replaced by Jef. For the rest of the race Jef would put intense pressure on the third place car. Going into the last lap he put a demon move on Rouke into Turn one. Sliding inside him between the two segments of the corner he took a deserved third place.

Drive of the day, though, probably should go to Miguel Bento who, despite a spin kept a pretty clean race and from 19th on the grid came home 8th.

The Div 2 race would also be a race in which the driver at the back of the grid, probably, drove the best race overall.

That driver was Ferrari Driver, Kat Scott, and from last on the grid where she was after cancelling her lap time she made a startling start. By the Start finish line she was already past two cars and on the drag to the first corner she was fourth.

This was 3rd by the exit after poleman John Wallace, who had been surprised by Baggett's excellent start from second on the grid then made a mistake into Turn one and ran wide.

In fact early on the grid got very mixed up. Martin Cooper, despite a nudge off Tallini who had made a very optomistic attempt into T1, was fourth with Dave Pym 5th.

Tallini seemed to really enjoy this track and had qualified very well in the FW07. His start, however, was shocking and almost caused an accident when Eric had looked to go round him just as Kat arrived alongside.

The first few laps were incident packed, Tallini spinning and Mark Abbot giving David K a love tap. The Latter, just like Rik Walker in Div 1, was really struggling with the BT48 and although he kept Mark back John Wallace was through.

Simon was looking clear out in front while Kat was holding station just behind Corrado. Then on Lap 3 he spun in T3, dropping down to fourth just ahead of David Pym.

It didn't take long for Simon to retake third and on Lap 5 that became the battle for the lead when Corrado, struggling with his brakes, spun in the downhill hairpin.

Kat now led, for the first time in her GP79 career, and despite unsurprising nervousness she looked fairly secure then. Simon was soon with the yellow Ferrari, but catching was one thing, passing another.

On Lap 9 he tried a pass into Turn 1 but just couldn't make it stick, then on lap 11 he was through. Kat's Ferrari was oversteering slightly, in a manner that she liked, but this possibly caused the rears to warm quicker than the fronts.

A bit of wheel spin and she lost traction, slide sideways into the barrier and he was through. A Second traction issue out of T1 on the next lap would drop her to 3rd.

So at the end of lap 12 Simon was leading by a couple of seconds from John Wallace. Kat first, under no real pressure from a battle between the recovering Tallini and Eric Fulghum.

Cooper had dropped back after Wallace had made a clean pass on him on lap then he spun after contact with Tallini. Tallini does warp a bit due to his ISP connection but seemed to cut back into Coopers line a bit early, he appears to tag the Brabham, lockup a front causing him to run wide.

Cooper tucked neatly back inside but Sal came back at him running into the back of the Brabham before taking the pass on the exit of T1. Cooper was bounced onto the curb and spun no damage was apparant but he was now 7th.

There were now three battles on track. Martin caught and would battle hard with Corrado over the next few laps, Eric and Sal were battling and while David K and Mark Abbot also had a battle going.

John Wallace was catching Simon but a mistake on lap 16, followed by a spin on lap 27, relegated him to having to settle for second place.

Eric and Sal were continuing to battle hard, closing down on the third placed Ferrari at the same time. They, however, weren't mistake free and everytime they got within about 4s one or both would make a mistake.

Katier finally made a mistake, herself, on lap 34 giving Eric hope. He was now clear of Sal, but Kat put her head down and ran 4 of her quickest laps of the race to put 3rd secure as Eric backed off on worn tyres.

Excellent drives from the top three with Simon's crew filling his car properly this time to allow him to take the win after Montreal's disapointment.

A superbly consistant run by Kat netting her probably Driver of the day and second ever Podium.

On the consistant front, the Average Deviation makes interesting reading. Both Simon and Katier registered 0.951 as their Av.Deviation (and unsurprisingly the top two spots. Five drivers were more consistant in Div 1 reflecting the higher standard at that level.

Simon's time would, incidentally, have placed him 9th overall in Div1 1m12 or so off the lead.

With just two rounds left the positions ( UNNOFFICIAL - RICK FEEL FREE TO CORRECT ) are :-

Div 1

1 Timo Peltola 184 (161 after dropping a score)
2 Roberto Berti 175 (155 after dropping a score)
3 Bret Metcalf 165 (147 after dropping a score)

Timo's second place gives him an excellent chance at the championship.

Div 2

1 Eric Fulghum 180 (156 after dropped score)
2 Kat Scott 162 (140 after dropped score)
3 David Kadlcak 156 (135 after dropped score)

Despite losing a few points to Kat in the last couple of races Eric is likely to win the championship. Behind DK will be hoping his BT48 can be made to work around the remaining rounds better than Kat's roaring Ferrari.

G1:GP Trucks update

Legends TWFA Jarama Report

12 cars took the trip to the Spanish racing circuit of Jarama for the normal two race event around the tight and twisting corners.

In Qualifying Rouke took pole ahead from Roberto and Bret Metcalf while at the back both Katier and Gary elected to cancel their times for safety to avoid a pitlane start.

For the sprint race Berti out dragged Rouke while further down Kat was making great strides. From 11th she was 10th by the exit of T1 and then slipped inside a tentative Ralph Maiph in T4 to move up to 9th.

Up ahead was Ted Ball who had put in a lot of practice and was looking might competitive. Meanwhile Tallini, who had won one of the club races, was also looking racey having jumped to 4th from 6th.

Paul Langford had also made a good start with Bret dropping two places to 5th. Langford was able to maintain position behind the lead pair, putting some pressure on them as they approached half way.

Starting lap 5 Berti made a mistake, slid wide in T1, Rouke and Langford both took advantage. Rouke was now able to pull away slightly while Langford was able to maintain position ahead of Berti.

Further back two battles were developing. First Kat was pressuring Ted Ball. The two swapped places twice before a mistake by the latter gave Scott a cruise to the flag.

Just ahead Gary was battling hard with Baz, on lap 7 he managed to work his way past to take 6th place.

Overall some exciting battles took place over the quick 9 lap race.

The second race was rather more controversial with some intense scraps causing tempers to flare.

Rouke again got beaten off the start and had to battle his way through past Berti in a close and fraught contest which unfortunately resulted in Berti spinning down the field on about lap 5.

Further back Katier again made a good start and with a mix of more bravery, controlled aggression and luck she was soon up to 5th with Baz West breathing down her neck.

Graham by contrast made a terrible start and was down in 11th and would have to start a battle up through the field.

Tallini had also made an awsome start and was soon in with the chance of a Podium. Just behind was an intense battle with Bret and Tallini. While Katier held Baz back with impecible lines Bret and Tallini were swapping places.

On Lap 7 Tallini made a mistake, though and dropped behind Langord who had been holding station in 5th place.

As the pitstops approached Katier, who had lost two places with a spun after accidental contact with Baz, had an off after a technical hitch. That put her down in 10th ahead of Gary and Ivor. The latter putting in one of his better runs having avoided trouble and kept in touch with the back of the field.

By the time the stops had finished on lap 21 Langford, with a cute strategy, was now leading while Rouke had worked his way past Tallini. Furthe down Graham had lost out in the stops while Ralph had worked his way up to about 5th with Baz just behind.

Further back Kat's race fell apart further when she tripped over Gary as she tried to lap him. He chose to go the wrong way after Kat had committed to a passing line and the collision damaged her car sufficiently for her to head straight for the pits.

That put her 11th with only Taylor behind her. She put in a charging recovery though and, aided by mistakes by Ball and Blackmore, finished in 8th.

Overall some exciting wheel to wheel action over both races produced some stirling drives.

While Kat made the most progress during the races. For me drives of the day would either be Tallini or, despite a couple of mistakes that hampered others races, Baz West.

Legends League - Mid Season.. How things Stack up.

Five races down, three to go.. but with dropped scores we're sort of at half distance and about the right level to see how the three championships are going.

In TWFA on points Rouke leads Paul comfortably but Roberto has missed a race so is likely still in the hunt. After dropping their worst scores the scores on the doors ( prior to Jarama ) are :-

1 Roberto Berti 434 (loses no points as he missed Round 2)
2 Rouke vd Hoek 398 ( after dropping 70 points from Round 4)
3 Paul Langford 384 ( losing 76 from Round 4)
4 Martin Cooper 283 (61 From Round 1)
5 Ralph Maiph 279 ( 65 from Round 1)
6 Graham Palfreyman 276 (missed round 3)
7 Bret Metcalf 274 (54 From round 4)
8 Kat Scott 264 (Missed Round 1)
9 Ted Ball 229 (From Round 3) 
10 Neill Johnson 235 (Missed Round 5)
11 Baz West 232 (Missed two Rounds)
12 Juan Carlos Huarte 220 (Missed Round 5)

All the maths was done in my head so might be slightly off (plus I might have missed a 50% where someone dropped out early)  but it looks like right now Berti has a healthy lead in the championship over Rouke and Paul. Rouke is in good form, however, so the championship is far from dead. The battle for fourth is intense. Martin, Ralph, Graham, Bret and myself have had intense battles over the races and as such any of them can be expect to take that place.

I have left of drivers with more than one race missed apart from Baz as they aren't in any real fights plus their scores won't drop.

1 Roberto Berti 130 (Round 2)
2 Timo Peltola 126  (Round 3)
3 Bret Metcalf 119 (Round 4)
4 Ales Simunek 110 (Round 4 - failed 50%)
5 Denis Pampagnin 99 (Round 2 DNS)
6 Rik Walker 98 (Round 1)  
7 Fulvio Policardi 91 (Round 4) 
8 Ralph Maiph 89 (missed Round 4)
9 Paul Langford 87 (Round 1) 
10 Nigel Metcalf 84 (DNF Round 5)
11 Baz West 82 (Missed round 4)
12 Rick Stratton 76 (DNF Round 3)
13 Dave Hawnt 71 (Missed Round 2)
14 Costa Gozadinos 64 

As can be seen it looks like a three way battle for the championship and with the recent handicap changes things could change. Ales is certainly in the mix too with Rik and Denis having outside chances. Fulcio, Ralph and co. seem to be battling over 7th.

1 Eric Fulghum 129 (Round 2)
2 David Pym 126 (Round 4 DNF)
3 Martin Cooper 112 (DNS, Round 2)
4 Kat Scott 111 (Round 4) 
5 David Kadlcak 110 (Round 3)
6 Corrado Toxiri 89 (DNF, Round 2)
7 John Wallace 74 (DNF/DNS)

As can be seen the championship seems to be split into two. David Pym and Eric are likely to be the two to fight over the championship. Behind a ferocious battle for third place exists with it impossible to call between Myself, Martin and David.

Overall plenty to fight for and interesting to see how points change with dropped scores.

TWF1 - Montreal Report

It was a weekend that Gilles Villeneuve would have been proud of, coming just two weeks before the venue of one of his greatest drives, two of his beloved T4 Ferrari's put in seasons best drives around the circuit that bears his name.

While the recent handicap changes had aided the drivers of the bright yellow, Scuderia Giallo Ferrari's, both drives were top draw but they were not the only story of the weekend.

With many of the Lotus drivers in Division 1 finding themselves with improved handicaps the new chassis of choice was a Brabham. Two BT49's lined up on the front row of the grid ahead of Jef Vannijlen's McLaren and the T4 Ferrari of Rick Stratton.

Four more Brabhams, a mix of 48's and 49's filled the next segment of the grid with Timo and Rik lining up in 5th and 6th. Bret and Mike Perray, now running without his beloved Turbo, next up.

The field made a good start and although a few cars locked up or overshot chicanes no noticeable contact was made. At the end of lap one Jef and Roberto were battling over second with Ales already a few cars lengths clear. Rick was in fourth with Rik Walker in close attendance.

Further back Tim Peltota had lost a few spots and was now behind Mike Perray, the two BT48's ahead would prove to be a headache over the next 35 laps. Paul Langford was the only eone with any trouble on the opening lap, locking up and spinning just beside the wall of champions.

Paul was soon all over the back of Fulvio, in 15th while up ahead Bret Metcalf made a mistake in T1 chicane and was lucky to only lose 3 places overall. Bret was aided by a minor off for Rouke just after passing him.

Over the next few laps Bret dropped back, partly due to the damage, and partly down to losing his Rythmn. Paul Langford was now making progress, aided by Marcus' retiring on lap 4, while Rik Walker was about to hit trouble. First on lap 5 a trip over the curbs cost him a few places, then in T1 on lap 8 he did a Bret. Unfortunately his impact was higher and he turned his no-Front wing BT48, into a no-Wing one.

On his way back to the pits a mixup delayed him further when the rapidly recovering Langford collided with the crippled Brabham and lost his wing. About the incident Paul said "It looks like your instinct to get off the racing line took over mate, just one of those things, a racing incident and with a puncture and a missing rear wing they can kick to one side unexpectedly, I should have lifted a bit."

Meanwhile up front Timo was starting to get very familiar with the design of the rear wing of the Brabham. First Rik had proved impassable, and now he had the same problem with Mike Perray. In a problem that would be familiar to those following Villeneuve in the 1981 Jarama race, Perray was able to use the Alfa's power to pull away on the straights only to have the BT49 all over him in the twisty stuff.

On lap 17 Denis, who had caught the battling pair up earlier, got inside Timo with what was possibly a slightly optimistic attempt. Fortunately Timo gave him room, and deliberatly drove off the track, or a collision would probably have been unavoidable.

Rattled, Tim would drop back from the battle and even damage his car, but finished 7th. Denis caught Mike and on lap 27 he was through. Mike made the smallest of mistakes in a chicane, lost a bit of grip and momentum and Denis was through. 

By now Rick had really got into a Rhythm and, aided by Jef spinning in the last corner he was rapidly closing Berti and Jef down. 

By Lap 32 he was all over the back of the Brabham, taking a look inside him when he could and generally putting pressure all over the 3rd placed car. By Lap 34 he pulled it off, outbraking Berti under the bridge and taking the place despite a small wobble.

Overall an smooth drive from Ales for a well deserved win, a strong drive from Jef netting him second and excellent consistency and racecraft giving Rick an excellent third.

In Div 2 once again the best start was made by a T4 Ferrari. They seem to be able to get their power down better than the Cosworth cars and Kat is regularly making up places off the start. 

Like Rick, however, she had to back out but still gained a place as Eric to her right was baulked by Toxiri's Brabham.  Cooper then outbraked himself into the CoW chicane and dropped two places before David Pym also dropped back after a chicane mistake.

So at the end of Lap 1, Simon Bagget, up from second was leading ahead of John Wallace and Corrado. Pym was 10th out of 12th after qualifying on pole and would have a race to forget. 

Cooper was now to have plenty of time to become familiar with a Ferrari rear end as he started to pressure the yellow example ahead. At the back of the field there was a certain amount of banging and boring. Tallini seemed to make an optomistic pass attempt on Marot into the last turn. He spun and was lucky to rejoin with all wheels on his wagon. 

Ivor Blackmore also went off and for a moment Frank would have been tearing his hair out as both of the FW07's were recovering in Tandem at the tail of the field. David Pym therefore started a recovery drive which for a while looked to be promising.

Eric tried to pass Marot on Lap 2 under the bridge but spun and had to return the place denting his challenge for a decent finish.  Fulghum recovered but lost a place to his HMR teammate and almost lost a place to Pym who was also passing Ivor.

Marot became the first driver to crash heavily into the WoC, doing so on lap 3 and losing both wings and suffering a puncture in the process. He made his smokey way to the pits as another battle developed on the track.

We already had the lead pair, pulling away with Simon a touch quicker and thus building a gap. Kat was holding off Martin using her Ferrari power to good effect. These two were about 6 to 8s ahead of David Kadlcak who was the front running in a HMR sandwhich with David Pym, 7th, in the middle and Eric to the rear.

The two Davids were having a Battle Royale. Lap after Lap the McLaren, a car that seemed to suit this track, was putting pressure all over the back of the Brabham ahead. Like in the Div1 race, however, the Alfa seemed to make passing hard as it would pull away on the straights preventing Pym from passing under braking.

He finally got a better run on the BT48 through the WoC chicane and was able to slip through in the next one moving up to 6th but some way back from Cooper ahead.

Coopers Brabham seemed to lose out on the straights, the big Ferrari V12 pulling out quite a gap under acceleration only for him to close up in the twisty stuff, especially the corners that make the start of the current circuit.

Meanwhile Pym had a technical problem and dropped back before ultimately retiring after a promising and disappointing run.

The bit race now was for fourth, and this became third when two spins caused John Wallace to retire from the race. 

For the next few laps the gap between Cooper and Scott fluctuated and by Lap 15 the battle was a trio. Fulghum now pressurizing Cooper as much as the Brabham was pressurizing Scott. On Lap 16 Scott's slightly cautious line through the first two chicanes caught the Pink Pig out and Cooper nudged the back of the Ferrari. Cooper spun, lost the place while Kat carried on apparently unaffected.

Fulghum now put Scott under intense pressure, time and again he tried to pass the Ferrari but never managed to get into a position to make a pass stick.

Meanwhile up from things were happening. Carrado suddenly realised Baggett seemed to be in trouble. The gap, that had been steadily climbing, suddenly stabilised. Corrado, who at the time was lapping slightly inside himself safe, as he was, in second, therefore started to push. By Lap 30 he was into the 1m36's and the gap was collapsing like a pack of cards.

By Lap 34 the gap was down to nothing and on the last lap, as Baggett's McLaren struggled to pick up the last dregs of fuel the Brabham was through.

Katier thus took second, as the fuel ran out two corners from home ahead of Cooper who had inherited third from Eric who had beached himself two laps from home.

Overall two excellent races with a lot of close racing. 

G1:GP LMP Spa Report

Trailing sparks from his under tray with a deep growl from his normally asperated engine Championship leader blasts through Eua-Rouge with a slight lift as the car bounces off the tarmac. Behind, Katier, up from 4th on the grid is looking more secure, foot flat to the floor as she gains on the leader through this awsome test of commitment.

Behind Yuriko is also less commited than the second placed R8, already losing ground to the lead pair. Katier's commitment gives a noticeable speed advantage onto the long straight and she's already taking chunks of distance out of the lead car.

Alongside now, sparks flying from their undertrays as speeds approach 190 mph Katier calmly brakes for the approaching chicane.. Jafo a touch later.. too late and Yuriko also misses her point and the R8 is through into the lead.

Behind Suzy closes in on Yuriko's 3rd placed R8 with Crippy and Sulla not far behind. Nella is already some way back as the field heads for the twists and turns of the challenging 'infield' section of the track.

Katier quickly settles into a smooth line, opening up a few car lengths back to Jafo. Behind them Suzy is really harassing Yuriko, and into the bus stop she cuts the corner and slips into 3rd. 

At the start of Lap 2 Yuriko outbraked herself badly into the hairpin and shunted Suzy into Jafo. Yuriko came out of the mess just in second place with Suzy in third ahead of Crippy and Sulla.

Jafo, however, was now last having lost his rear wing. Suzy repassed Yuriko with a smooth pass in the same spot as Katier on the previous lap. Suzy was on a real charge at this stage and soon caught up with the Leader, the pair having already dropped Yuriko to the tune of a few seconds with Crippy and Sulla further back.

Sulla seemed curiously a little slow at this stage, making no inroads into Crippy ahead and maybe even seeming content in her place.

On Lap 4 Yuriko once again braked way too late, but this time just sailed past the lead two cars and onto the grass. She rejoined behind the pair who were now not far behind the delayed Jafo, almost a lap down.

Start of Lap 5 and Suzy was through, slipping neatly inside Katier into T1. Katier wasn't about to give her lead up so easy though and with the part of the track ahead that she excelled at, it was no surprised to see her coming right back at the Black and Red car.

In a near copy of the Lap 1 pass she retook the lead from Suzy who unsurprisingly continued to harass the R8. She tried to slide inside through the challenging pouhon corner, got up on the curb, spun and lost her wing.. challenge over.

At this stage Katier now looked settled, holding her lead back to Yuriko at about 3s with Crippy and Sulla further back. Then on Lap 10 Katier approached the 80-90mph chicane just as Nella was going through. Nella seemed to go left, so Katier lifting slightly in response to the slow car, went right. Nella then changed line and Katier couldn't avoid the back of the tail ender.

The Half spin was fortunately light as Katier had scrubbed her speed down to 63mph, about 30mph slower than normal.. but it still delayed her to the tune of several seconds and Yuriko was through into the lead.

Katier and Crippy then pitted and unfortunatly for Katier she made a hash of the exit, crossing the white line two fast and getting a stop-go..

She then repeated the crime a lap later forcing a 3rd stop on the next lap.. but not before - fuming and confused at how her race  had fallen apart she missed the turn-in near the end of the lap and crashed heavilly.

Little damage was done but she was sufficiently delayed to be left out of the battle for the lead.. and what a lead battle it became.

The reason for Sulla's early lack of pace was soon obvious, she wasn't stopping. Yuriko came out just ahead of Crippy and the two set to work battling hard.

Over the next few laps Crippy and Yuriko swapped place before on lap 19 she made it stick. By now it was obvious the race would run to 21 laps. One less than predicted by Katier, and it was also obvious Sulla was in severe trouble. She was losing time hand over fist to the chasing pack, doing 2m09 and 2m10s laps against Yuriko's 2m04's and 5's...

RACE ON!!! One lap to go and Yuriko was right with her and on the very last lap she slipped through to gain her first ever win. Overall an action packed race with mixed fortunes for three drivers who'd got their cars dialed in very well for this circuit. Yuriko winning, Katier fourth and Suzy fifth. Sulla's one stop strategy was aided by the latter's two's misfortune or perhaps she would have struggled to finish in the top 5. Crippy's smooth run netted the final podium position.

Grats to Jafo for winning the championship with an impressive five wins.

Legends TWFA : Montreal Report

A disappointing field of only 10 cars turned up to the chicane central layout of Montreal. Racing at the layout that was used back in 1979 showed that, in the reverse of current trends, Montreal has actually see a reduction in chicanes. 

Despite that the layout was still fun with some challenging high speed chicanes and the general feel of the place wasn't much different to the modern layout.

During Qualifying Berti lined up on pole just ahead of Paul Langford and a hugely impressive Sal Tallini. At the back of the grid Katier lined up last with a qualifying penalty meaning a back of grid start for the sprint and pitlane for the feature.

Paul made the best start and was soon pulling away from Roberto with a series of impressive laps.  Behind him, with Tallini missing due to technical issues, Bret slotted into third but not without contact with Marcus Adams. 

Adams was forced to retire when contact sent him into the famed 'Wall of Champions'. A lap laters Rouke made his way past after a mistake.

At the back of the field Ralph Maiph had a bad first lap but a series of competitive laps allowed him to close in and pass Ted Ball. Over the first couple of laps Ted had looked like he might challenge Katier who had dropped back a bit from Graham. She was, however, just easing herself in with one 'eye' on her licence points. 

She soon increased her pace and soon her chase became the main interest of the race. She closed the gap to 6th with a series of good laps culminating with a personal best lap before a slide on lap 6 ended her charge and forced her to settle for 7th.

An impressive win for Paul ahead of Roberto and Rouke. Rouke had become under pressure from Bret in the last couple of laps but held on for the final podium spot.

The feature race started shortly after with Tallini back in the field, all be it at the back, and Marcus Adams now absent. Rouke made the best start and was soon pulling slightly away from Berti. 

First race winner, Langford, however was soon in trouble though and had to limp round and pit for repairs. Katier, heavy on fuel, was thus not running last, but was also not running fast. For some reason, possibly the fuel load, she was struggling to make inroads into Ted Ball ahead.

This was strange after the way she had pulled clear of him in the sprint. The main battle, therefore, was for third place. Martin Cooper, Tallini, Palfreyman, Maiph and Bret all running close together.

By Lap 6 the battles separated slightly with Graham and Bret dropping back slightly. Then on Lap 8 the battlers lost two drivers. Both Bret and Ralph crashing and ultimately retiring, Bret just making half distance before he was forced to pull out with an ill handling car.

Katier and Ted both pitted around lap 14 with Scott's strategy ending up with her crew unable to fill any fuel. Therefore her stop was lightning quick and she was able to leapfrog a surprised, and confused, Ted Ball up to 7th.

Up Front the pitstops caused Rouke to lose the lead, he would chase hard but be unable to record the win. Berti holding on well especially over the last few laps. 

Cooper and Tallini had continued their battle and on lap 23 Tallini got into third place. A mistake on the following lap, however, forced him to settle for fourth ahead of Graham who had had a lonely end to the race after an impressive start.

So Berti took the win ahead fo Rouke and Cooper. Tallini finished with a consolation 4th after missing the sprint while Graham made it into 5th. Langford recovered to sixth but in doing so his championship suffered a slight dent.

Overall two good races despite the field sizes.

G1:GP LMP - Donington

Tendaze took firm grasp of this seasons title with another faultless drive around the Donington Park race track. Elsewhere, however, some drivers were struggling. The Audi's seemed to have issues here as all 4 qualified in the bottom half of a depleted grid.

Katier in particular was vocal about her problems as she found herself unable to attack corners as hard as she wanted with the car insisted on understeering. This got worse as the RF heated up ultimately overheating.

Jafo made a good start from pole with Sulla slotting in behind benefiting from Launch Control again. Katier made a cracking start and was challenging Crippy but a mistake, spin, and she was last.

So at the end of lap one Jafo lead easilly from Sulla with Suzy taking third from Crippy a lap later. The R8's were still struggling, being dropped by the leaders straight away.

It was expected that the cars would likely to be stopping twice so it was no surprise when the stops started on lap 13 of 30. The race leader, however, made it through to lap 15 and with that the race was, effectively, won.

Further back Sulla spun, lost her rear wing, and a lap. She soon recaught Reitveld, struggling as she was, passing her wasn't hard. Sulla, however, spun again and had to recatch and pass the R8.

Rattra had a quiet race but late race problems caused him to drop back behind Reitveld. Up front Jafo was clear but Suzy and Crippy continued to battle behind.

Crippy dropped back after her second stop, and briefly was behind Yuriko but she soon retook fourth place. 

An impressive and dominating win for Jafo pretty much guarantee's his victory in the seasons championship. The other places are up for grabs, however, so there is everything to race for in the final race of the season.

Legends: TWF1 Zandvoort Report

For the first time this year the F1 field was split into it's divisions as the field numbers continue to grow.

In Division one 17 drivers lined up for their race with Lotus's continuing to prove to be the best cars in the field as the front 3 rows of the grid were locked out by the Chapman creations. 

Turn 1 saw a bit of jossling as Bento squeezed Berti as the lead pair headed into the famous Tarzan turn.  Jef and Dave Hawt also rubbed wheels a bit but all 17 cars made it through the first few corners in one piece.

Further round the lap Ronny Nunez was the first, of many drivers to clip the chicanes curbs and lost his rear wing against the armco barriers. Towards the end of the lap a little more jossling, including some contact between Rouke and Rick Stratton finished off an action packed start to the race.

Stratton was struggling a little in the T4 Ferrari and down the main straight Rouke was able to pass him. Into Tarzan Dave Hawt had a small spin but up front the three Lotus 80's were battling hard.

Lap 2 and Timo made a lovely move on Berti to move into second and the lead 3 already looked to be clear of the battle for 4th. Mike Perray, having recently taken delivery of a BT48, had made an excellent start and was running fourth ahead of two more Lotus's.

Perray's race fell apart two laps later, however, with a hefty off that removed his rear wing. He would run near the tail of the field for the next 10 or so laps before retiring. Langford was the next driver to lose his wing, having taken fourth from Perray he spun in Tarzan.

Fourth place would appear to be a 'bogey' position in this race, Ronny had been running fourth when he went off, Ales was next in the position and he retired on lap 14. 

Ales was very vocal about his retirement. He had been fully alongside Berti approaching Tarzan but for some reason decided to back out of the pass. Roberto turned in early, catching Ales unawares, who spun. Contact wasn't made by Ales made it clear he felt the crash was Berti's fault.

Meanwhile up front Timo had caught Bento and on lap 9 he went past after the latter lost it in the chicane. 

The front 8 drivers were fairly stable by now but behind drivers were in all sorts of trouble. the pits becoming a busy place with several drivers making multiple pit visits.  Lap 33 and things started to hot up with the leaders again. Peltola was clear but increasing pressure on Miguel caused him to go off.

Berti tried to take advantage but unfortunately contact was made and her dropped to the dreaded fourth position. Bret Metcalf had been running there and benefited moving up to 3rd. At the end of the next race Miguel spun in Tarzan and in doing so upset Rik Walker with what was probably a poorly judged recovery.

Nigel took the place but once again was another 4th placed 'victim' binning it at the chicane. 

The rest of the event was fairly uneventfull and Timo came home winner by an impressive 25.4s.

Zandvoort was clearly proving a challenge and thirteen Division 2 drivers faced the same challenges. How would they cope?

Ligier's locked out the front row and a 3rd lined up in 4th on the grid with the Brabham of Corrado adding a splash of red to the front two rows.

Simon Baggett made a terrible start dropping several places and allowing Don to take the lead ahead of the Brabham. Baggett clung onto third. Behind the places were a little strange as a pre-race restart caused by technical issue had muddled the grid. 

Phillipe Marot, who had qualified last, was thus 6th with the Pink Pig of Martin Cooper just behind. Don made it '2 from 2' as both front grid drivers had a bad start by spinning in Turn 3 and thus Corrado led as the field headed into the countryside.

Cooper was all over the back of Marot as the three drivers, starting from the pitlane serving a qualifying penalty, joined the race. Marot made a small mistake approaching the chicane and Cooper went for the pass. The two made contact and Cooper was forced to pit for repairs to his car due to damage caused when he hit the armco.

The opening lap was less dramatic than for the Div 1 drivers, although one last bit of drama saw David Pym having to take avoiding action as a driver rejoined.

At the start of Lap 2, Sal Tallini went for a pass on Kat into T1. From a long way back he went for a gap which Kat fortunately let open as she saw him coming. Tallini spun narrowly avoiding hitting the Ferrari.

Baggett went for a pass to take the lead in the same position at the start of lap 2, ran wide and rejoined in fourth after a light kiss off the barriers. Corrado thus continued to lead ahead of Eric and Gigi. David K in 6th was ahead of David Pym.

Eric became the next victim of the chicane, sliding along the barriers and dropping to 4th.  Corrado continued to lead while the Ligiers battled hard behind. Their battle became one for the lead on lap five when the leader became the latest chicane victim. He was a bit robust in his defence after squeezing Don very hard two corners later and continuing in sixth.

Eric was looking mighty impressive keeping more or less out of trouble and holding third ahead of Don who was putting a lot of pressure on the Tyrell.

Simon took the lead on Lap seven into Tarzan and wouldn't look back but behind Gigi was under pressure from Eric. He would absorb the pressure lap after lap as 2nd thru 4th battled hard. DK was holding well onto 6th with David Pym unable to keep up at this stage.

Two drivers had retired by now with Ivor and Tallini retiring well before half distance. Cooper was starting to close on Scott as she closed in on Marot in 8th. Marot was lapping mainly in the 1m22's while Scott was in the 1m19's and on lap 15 the two were nose to tail.

Marot was very slow in the chicane and thus the Ferrari was all over him, into the penultimate term Scott went for the pass, the two touched, spun and Cooper was through. 

On Lap 19 Don became the next victim of the chicane, this strange corner seeming to serve little purpose. Normally chicanes are there to slow drivers but this one is a flat in 4th corner and as such cars approach it at around 150mph. Get it wrong and the accident WILL be big. 

David K, Corrago, Scott and Gigi all got caught out by this tricky corner and most of the pitstops were caused by this one section of the circuit. 

Don provided the last of the drama losing a wheel.. yep you've guessed it in the chicane.. on the last lap and limping round to finish 7th. 

Simon Bagget won impressively by over 30s from Eric and David Pym. His Time would have been enough to finish on the lead lap of the Div 1 race in around 6th place.

Racer of the day would probably be Martin Cooper who showed how to drive with minimal mistakes and a great recovery drive. 

G1:GP Trucks - When tyres go wrong..

Those little black round things, often forgotten, but vital to any racing car were a bigger factor this week than ever influencing the outcome of both races.

Mansfield was the first of the two events and when Yuriko squeezed Katier exiting Turn 2 it was clear that this was going to be a long night. Katier spun 90 degree's, slid down the track and was back racing within seconds.

So quick was her recovery that the tail of the field was still in sight entering Turn 3 and she made no contact with the wall. The first yellow of the night flew so for 4 laps the field circulated behind the pace car. On the restart and just 2 laps later, on lap 7, Katier nudged Crippy. 

Again the spinning car recovered promptly.. and again the yellow flew. Katier decided to pit for a Right side tyre change as a precaution as she was so far down the field. The theory being that it would allow her to run to about lap 32 of 50 before needing to stop. Thus allowing flexibility without compromising position on the road.

The precaution probably wasn't required as time after time the field failed to go racing for more than 2 laps. By around half distance the field then started complaining about tyres. Some reporting extreme wear on their rear tyres and hot brake temps. Other drivers, perhaps not using their brakes under caution, reported no problems.

The tyre issues therefore forced others to pit and, with 7 laps to go Katier found herself leading from Jafo. One final yellow and the field was released with three to go, Reitveld unfortunatly over-accelerating for one last twist to the race.

Turned out in order to maintain position with respect to the Pace Car one has to accelerate.. accelerate too much, however, and a drive through penalty is the result. Reitveld beat Jafo to the line, in the best racing all night, but dropped to 6th with the penalty.

The field once again had tyre tactics to contend with as they moved to Rockingham. This race was a 50 lapper run without yellows and two drivers put the effort in to do race length runs.

Crippy Oh, however, advised that a stop would be required but clarified it was optional when asked. This was going to be crucial as Sulla led the field from green ahead of Suku and Suzy who were embroiled in a battle. 

Behind them with a few seconds gap between each, Crippy and Jafo battled, with Yuriko and Katier also fighting just behind them. 

Kiboe was looking strong just behind them in 7th with the biggest loser being Zaria who unfortunatly spun on lap one. Zaria recovered well from her initial problems and by lap 10 was the only driver improving their position.

By Lap 18, shortly after Kiboe had retired after a crash, Zaria was up to 7th but unfortunatly a mistake put her out of the race a few laps later.

The pitstops started on lap 25 and cost around 2 laps on average in time. By Lap 31 everyone had pitted.. except Jafo and Katier who now were running at the head of the field.

Sulla was a lap down comfortably ahead of Suzy and Suku. 2 laps down were Crippy and Yuriko was three. Being on new tyres, all the drivers were quicker than the lead duo, but only by 1s at best. 

Sulla unlapped herself and for a while looked like she might even catch Reitveld. Her tyres soon 'went off' as her uncompromising setup and driving style wore them down. With 5 laps to go it was clear she wouldn't manage it as her times were down to 24.6 while Reitveld and Jafo were able to maintain 25.0's.

Jafo won, comfortably by 13s from Reitveld with Sulla the only unlapped runner 6s further back.

Post race some drivers said they didn't realise stops were not compulsory although most, especially Sulla, admitted they had no choice but to stop. Overall an interesting and fun race where, as Crippy put it, those who prepared for the race did best.

Legends: Oschersleben Report

The TWFA field, for the second time this season, arrived at a different layout to the GP 1979 drivers. In this case, however, they arrived in a completely different country. This round of the championship would be run at the go-kart like surroundings of the little known Oschersleben circuit in Germany.

A poor start by Rouke, on pole, caused the start of the race to have several position changes. He Dropped to fourth while Berti took second ahead of Huarte and Marco. Behind Paul Langford, Graham Palfreyman and myself, now running under my new name, all made similarly bad starts.

Huarte soon found himself under pressure and on lap 2 had dropped two places as the slow starters recovered. Behind Maiph was in 5th ahead of Baz and Langford and already the race seemed to have 3 sections. The lead four followed by a group of three then the battle for 8th.

Tallini was an early holder of that position but was under pressure from Metcalf with a furious scrabble behind. Palfreyman crashed out on lap 2 while Cooper spun away a bad start to drop to 14th just ahead of me.

Ted Ball was driving superbly and making his way up the field. By lap 5 he was 8th, aided by the retirement of Marco from the lead but then pushed to hard and retired on the next lap.

Lap 6 marked the last of most of the passing. In 10th place, however, Scott and Johnson were engaged in a monumental battle. The swapped places on laps 9, 10, 11 and 12, the final being an unfortunate accidental nudge where Kat's car was on the power when Johnson was still sorting his car out mid corner. He was unable to control the slide despite her backing off and she took 10th from Johnson but was quick to apologise.

Revenge would have to wait, however, as a late incident would cost him several places near the end of the feature race. But before that Rouke would improve his start as he only dropped one place at the start. 

Some barging and boring occured in the lower reaches of the grids as cars had minor incidents and it therefore took a few laps for the field to settle down. 

Not, however, before Rouke having retaken the lead had a big off at the end of lap 4 forcing an early piststop just before the pit window opened for him. The result was a long pit stop, a heavy car, and an extra stop. 

Marco thus led at lap 4 from Berti and Huarte. Behind Tallini and Baz West were embroiled in a ferocious battle for 4th with Maiph holding start just behind.

David Kadlcak, who had gained the most places after a smooth drive in the first race, was already looking to do it again and was running an impressive 8th just behind the recovering Metcalf.

Tallini and West continued to battle until the former had a big accident halfway around  lap 10 cost him nine places, dropping him to 13th. West continued unimpeded but was soon battling hard with David and Maiph. 

Casedi pitted on lap 16, one of the first to make a regular stop, at the same time as Metcalf's recovery came to an end after crashing on his out lap.

The Pitstops were coming thick and fast by now but Kat stayed out. She was now running 7th but on lap 20 came accross the spinning Maiph.

Ralph had touched the grass approaching the T5 kink and spun. Kat had to junk right to avoid and ended up in the gravel, she lost about 12s in the gravel and with it any chance of coming out ahead of Graham after her stop.

With most of the field having stopped Marco continued to lead ahead of Berti, Juan and Baz. The latter was on huge charge, however, and he took the final podium spot on lap 26 with nine to go.

Kat dropped to 9th after her stop, the last scheduled, on lap 30 while Rouke was forced to pit again after an off a few laps earlier. Neill Johnson provided the last drama having incidents that dropped him to an eventual 12th.

Despite a circuit with few hard braking areas this was a race with plenty of action and good passing. Driver of the day was undoubtedly David Kadlcak after two superb drives from 14th on the grid. 

Overall an excellent event at a unique circuit.

G1:GP LMP Monza Report

Excellent tactics and a fast clean race earned Sulla Looming a deserved win ahead of champion elect Jafo.

Despite the ending of his 3 race winning streak, Tendaze, is still odds on favourite to win the title. Looming looks likely to take second but is still far from secure in a series that has had as many twists and turns as the current Formula 1 season.

Looming, starting from Pole, elected to run with hard tyres in a circuit where grip levels are low the extra loss of grip probably wasn't very noticeable. 

Both drivers, Looming in a new, LC equipped, Dome made good starts. Behind Oh mad a good start. She jumped from 5th to take 3rd into turn 1 while Suzy's start was terrible as she dropped to almost last on the opening lap.

 On Lap 2 Crippy had to take avoiding action in T1 and dropped down the order then further round, exiting the penultimate corner, Katier made the first a several mistakes.

She spun and lost her front splitter as well as dropping down the order to finish the lap in 8th place. Her car was now hampered by understeer but she would stay out figuring the long stop to fix would be a lot worse than the time lost. 

These problems had placed the two leader well out front with Yuriko now in third but slightly back ahead of a battle between Ming and Suzy. 

This was partly down to another collision involving Reitveld. She was innocently involved after a T1 collision between Crippy and Rattra. Crippy had just nudged the back of the R8 but he spun as he got the power down. Unsighted, Reitveld struck the back of the stationary Oh and removed her wing.

The pitstops started on lap 11 with Reitveld pitting to change tyres, top up her tanks and trim out the rear wing. Her laptimes improved as a result by around 1s/lap and she continued to chase and catch Suku.

Suzy and Yuriko continued to battle for 3rd and 4th while Jafo just couldn't find a way to close down Sulla effectively. After the sheduled stops, therefore, Looming led from Jafo and the Suzy/Yuriko battle. Fifth was ming ahead of Reitveld, Oh, Rattra and Nella.

Then came the next big collision. At the time to the drivers it felt like a big crash, looking back, however it wasn't quite so bad. On the run to T1 Ming had started left, drifted mid track to probably protect her line as Reitveld closed in. She then appeared to open the door so Reitveld went to outbrake her.. at about the same time as again Ming drifted right. The collision initially removed Mings rear wing but it also put Reitveld into a spin which turned into a roll. 

Both cars pitted, although afterwards Reitveld remarked that she shouldn't have, and ultimatly ended well down the field. A last lap spin costing Reitveld a further place.

Looming won well from Jafo with Suzy winning the battle for third.

The field moves onto Donnington Park, a challenging racetrack very different to the fast straights of Monza.

Legends - TWF1 Suzuka Report

For the first time this season two drivers dropped out of the race due to a full field. This believe it or not is good news as it probably means Round 4 of the championship will have two races, one per Division.

So 31 cars qualified for the race of which 29 started the race. With so many in the field the start was likely to be a few laps of survival for many drivers before settling down and racing.

Starts were very mixed, up front wheelspin cost Rik time and at one point four cars where spread accross the track but into T1 they sorted themselves out. Ales leading from Berti and Rik Walker through the turn with the next 10 cars getting through without any incident. At the back of the field chaos reigned, however.

Monticelli, 19th and Dave Pym  were fairly slow away with Eric Fulghum making a better start behind sliding between them and creating a 3 car wall accross the track. I made a lightning start from 24th on the grid to sit behind Eric as we approached T1.  The effect of all this was seven cars in little over 3 car lengths (above) that condensed as the field ran towards the pit exit. 

Div 2 championship leader, John Wallace ( red car to right of above ) had got a run on the Ligier so as the track widened the field fanned out with four abreast and myself just behind. Then the inevitable happened, funnelled by pit exit Wallace moved left intoMonticelli.

He pushed him across my bows so I moved left in response then suddenly found the effect was for me to run out of room.  Despite hitting the brakes I bounced off Pampagnin half spun and bounced off Wallace. In a flash Wallace was out of the race while Corrado ran wide into the litter but rejoined.

A bit more jostling as the effect was the concertina the field and as others lifted in response to Mike also having a minor off sorted the field as it approached T2. The final excitement on the opening lap happened at the infamous Degner. Eric had gone off in Dunlop and thus rejoined off the pace and thus when Myself and Marcus arrived her was 20mph down on our pace. In braking to avoid Eric's overly slow car approaching Degner I spun and Marcus was fortunate to avoid me.

At the end of Lap one therefore Ales led from Berti and Rik Walker. Nigel Metcalf and Paul Langford rounded out the Div 1 top 5. Martin Cooper was the early Div 2 leader from two Dave's, Eric and Corrado. 

Up front the lead three settled down but behind there were several intense battles already developing in a race that was expected to see plenty more incident. Four cars had retired already and the next to see trouble would be fifth placed Rouke.

He was involved in one of the intense battles with the two Metcalfs until, at the end of lap 5, he lost it under braking for the chicane. Nigel couldn't avoid him and hit the Brabham firmly in the sidepod and rear suspension, after a slow lap he retired.

The Main battle at this stage were for fifth between Baz, Nigel and Paul; with a second battle being led by Pampgnin just a few cars back. Also noticeable at this stage was the progress of Marcus Adams who was steadily passing cars after starting at the back of the grid.

By half distance a further three cars had retired and a fourth retired a lap later. First Costa scattered his car comprehensively against the Turn 1 armco. Then Ivor retired with an ill handling car, possibly as a result of some robust defence a few laps earlier.

Rick Stratton had been looking strong for a good finish, running 9th, he did a Costa when he missed his braking point. Finally Bento, who had spun initially a few laps earlier, collided with Raiph when trying to pass him into T1 and added his Lotus 80 to the T1 carnage.

Nigel Metcalf had also dropped well down the field as several incidents left him with an ill handling car. He would have to learn how to drive around it and threatened drivers such as Martin Cooper and myself before retiring on lap 23.

Ales was well out in front by now, leading by several seconds from Berti who was able to maintain a cushion of a couple of seconds back to Rik Walker.

Eric was leading Div 2 with Marcus Adams breathing down his neck. Gigi and David Pym rounded out the top 3.

Behind them a battle was brewing between Martin and I. His car, damaged earlier, was handling in a manner appropriate to his paintscheme. Like a pig, especially in right hand corners. I closed in and by lap 16 was right with him. Passing him for 17th in Spoon.

Lap 23 had the races 'comedy moment'. Paul Langford spun approaching the chicane. Lost his bearings and rejoined via the cut through to Dunlop. In Reality due to then re-doing half a lap he would probably not have been penalised, however because sims are 'black and white' he got a drive through costing him probably close to a minute or more and dropping him behind Martin Cooper. Corrado had a hefty off in Denger doing a 'weber' and retiring two corners later at about the same time.

As the race wound down most of the field was concentrating on the finish but Paul Langford was on a charge. With two to go he caught the struggling 'pig' and took the place between the Degners. 

Excellent win for Ales although Div 1 Driver of the day I think must go to Marcus. He finished over a minute behind the winner but had to fight through from last on the grid and do so with style and consistancy to finish just 7s behind 6th place.

Div 2 driver of the day.. I'd like to give it to myself. Not sure if that's allowed so I'll let Rick Edit this bit and give his Div 2 driver of the day here when he does the official report :).

Overall an awsome race, challenging and hard work but exciting and action packed. 

G1:GP LMP Brands Hatch

Gambles, Driving Styles and a dose of luck, bad or good, were the hallmarks of the 40 minute race around Brands Hatch.

Prior to the event several drivers commented that they felt they would need to stop twice as fuel didn't seem to be quite lasting 20 minutes. This quandry soon turned out to be influential as drivers went into the event in different mindsets.

When the Lights went green, at the 3rd time of asking due to various issues, the lead trio got away well but behind Katier made a lightning start.

Into Druids she was alongside Crippy but felt she pushed her wide so relinquished the place. (right) 

So at the end of the first Lap Yuriko led from Jafo, Crippy and Katier.  Over the first few laps the lead three quickly built up a lead over Katier who was off the pace but under little pressure from Looming behind.

Rattra was dropping back a bit behind Looming with Suzy a bit further back.

Up front the lead three became two when Yuriko had an off but she rejoined and as half distance approached was up to 3rd. By then Looming, who initially looked content to hold station behind Reitveld, had surged past on lap 11.

Two bad laps for the R8 driver dropped her further down the field but she knew she could make the distance on one stop. The stops started just short of half distance with Yuriko, Jafo and Crippy all apparantly commiting to a 2 stop strategy. 

Sulla's early running had saved her fuel and she pitted bang on half distance while Katier went another lap. Rattra had pitted on a 2 stopper too so Katier now knew another top 5 was on the cards.

Up front Jafo and Crippy continued to drive smoothly with Jafo looking unflustered out front. At this stage it seemed like they would definatly get the top two.. but the podium was less clear.

After the stops Reitveld was 6th but with Rattra likely to pit another top 5 was likely. Sulla looked like a potential winner. She was in touch with the leaders while Yuriko's recovery seemed to give her a chance at a top 3.. if she could make her fuel last.

The race turned just after half distance, however, when Suku and Sulla both 'went the same way' shortly after both had crashed on their own. Both ultimately were forced to retire with accident damage although Looming did attempt to return to the race.

The race now went through a period of stability. The front five were spread out enough for there to be no battles but some drivers were now staring to stare at their fuel gauges. Who would blink? Who would gamble?

The first to blink was Rattra, he had decided he would not last so pitted quite early, presumably to benefit from the fresh tyres in an effort to beat Katier.  Jafo and Crippy both did splash and dashes with Yuriko taking second at this stage.

Yuriko, however, was the gambler she did two slow laps, gambling on Jafo being slow enough to finish the race after 30 laps. Unfortunatly for Yuriko he didn't and crossed the line with seconds to go.

Yuriko ran out of fuel and Katier, who's slower laps had been enough to save a stop, gratefully took the place.  Interestingly Katier's mistakes probably cost her 22-23s.. and she finished about that behind Crippy.

So Jafo appears to be out and out favorite for the championship. Three straight wins and the super fast Monza to come. Monza will be interesting. The R8's are very quick in a straight line but the Panoz have a hugely powerful engine.

Legends: TWFA Suzuka Report

Drivers tempers were heated after the two action packed races that made up the Suzuka round of the TWFA championship. This challenging track proved to be as tricky in an Atlantic car as in a 2009 F1 car with several drivers doing a 'Heiki' or 'Weber' as Degner 1 claimed it's fair share of victims.

Rouke took a mighty impressive pole from Thomas and Roberto. Rouke drove into the lead after a perfect stop while Thomas slotted in behind. Berti took third without trouble while Paul Langford got the jump on Juan Carlos Huarte to take fourth. Behind the lead five, however, there was chaos.

Tallini got into the back of Martin Cooper who span out onto the gravel. Tallini bounced left and cannoned into Maiph who lost his front wing. Dom Scott slowed for the Yellows while Ivor took the chance to 'pass under yellow' and went round the outside of the Pink Car.

Then Degner claimed it's first victims. Both Marcus Adams and Tallini spun, the latter losing his wing. Then to Cap it all, Scott tried to pass Ivor into Degner 2. Ivor took a line that would probably have cut Degner 2 and collided with the car alongside.

So at the end of the first lap, with the top 5 settled, 6th was Johnson up from 10th, Baz West, Steve Shelley who had passed Metcalf on the run up to the Degner 1.Ivor Blackmore in 10th ahead of myself with the recovering Marcus Adams behind.

Steve Shelley, who was briefly 6th, was on a charge having lost two places on lap 1 on the run from Spoon, he retook 7th with a lovely pass approaching Spoon turn.

Behind them I finally got past Ivor in spoon only to lose two placs with a quick spin in degner 1 as the curb claimed another victim and I dropped to 12th.

By now Two things where happening. Steve Shelley was continuing his charge while the battle for 11th was heating up dramatically. 

On lap 3 Steve reached 6th with a pass on Neill who started to fall back down the field. While behind Marcus was crawling all over my back. He tried a pass on Lap 3, then again on Lap 4 - during which time we'd both passed Ivor. The second, successful, pass attempt resulted in several bangs and bumps as well as Marcus taking to the grass. 

Lap 5 Juan spun in T2 and Steve gratefully took the place. At the same time Bret was passing the struggling Johnson on the run to T1. A couple more spins rounded out an action packed race.

After such an action packed sprint race, would the Feature be just as hard fought? The answer was an unequivocal yes.

The first lap was a lot less frantic than the first race although Neill Johnson did run wide in 130R after minor contact with Steve Shelley. Johnson was forced to pit for a new nose. Rouke led but soon Thomas was in trouble. He ran wide exiting spoon corner and dropped to seventh as Steve Shelley started another charge through the field.

The front 7 continued to circulate closely with Bret Metcalf and Baz West embroiled in their own battle just behind. Martin Cooper was in 10th with Ralph Maiph recovering from a slow start passing him on lap three.

Lap four saw the leader spin, Rouke losing six places as he rotated in 130R and was extremely fortunate to be able to rejoin in seventh with minimal damage. How Huarte didn't end up with a wrecked car is beyond me as lag seemed to save both. (see above) 

Marcus Adams was the first driver to stop for his scheduled stop pulling into the pits on lap 10 and rejoining in 11th, which became 10th a lap later when Cooper Stopped. Most of the leaders stopped on laps 13 and 14 but Bret Metcalf and Stever Shelley both ran quite long to lap 18.

They weren't the last to pit, however, as I had run with a full tank from the start, this probably cost me a few seconds with a heavy tank earlier on but by half distance I had the edge on pace over Martin behind me.  I had been unable to really close in on Ted consistantly but after his stop, on lap 12, I got into a groove and felt confident of passing him with my ultra short stop.

Meanwhile Thomas was the next driver to hit trouble. He pitted on lap 13 then again on 16. The reason for the two stops isn't clear unless he had a stop go for speeding. That brought him out 20s behind me and some awsomely quick times meant he jumped to 11th when I stopped.

The dying laps still had time for two piece of drama. On lap 24 I spun in dunlop and infortunatly Ivor, a lap down on me, just snagged my car. Ivor retired while my car was fairly undamaged and I was able to cruise to the end. I apologised to him after the race as it was a silly mistake on my part that caused the spin. Then to cap a crazy race Marcus ran out of fuel on the last lap retiring in 130R.

Excellent recovery race by Rouke and two excellent climbs through the field by Steve Shelley provided the highlights of two highly exciting races.