CNC HEADS SPORTS/SALOON CHAMPIONSHIP – Seasonal Review

SEVEN DIFFERENT WINNERS, AS PARKER SEALS THE TITLE

On the whole there were good grids, maybe a few too many red flags, but seven different overall winners in this years Championship.

The title went down to the wire too, with Steven Parker’s Fiesta retiring in the final round, only for Lee Bull his nearest challenger to retire too.

We started at Donington this season and just as last year, it was Andrew Southcott’s MG taking a double win, but he didn’t appear again. There was another double winner at Croft, where having moved up to a quicker Caterham, Bob Buckby proved unbeatable and for a while was a title contender. After Stuart Pearson’s AB Sabre won on the first visit to Oulton, Connor Modro’s Westfield had three successive wins, taking the spoils at Oulton in race two and winning both races at Cadwell, to lead the Championship. However work commitments meant Modro had to miss the Anglesey triple header, and it proved to be a dominant weekend for Irish visitor Jim Hutchinson’s Escort RSR, winning all three races. Modro’s hopes of the title ended when he crashed out of the penultimate race at Oulton, which was won by Ric Wood’s Kia Optima, before Ben Roberts’ Locost took his maiden win and the final win of the season.

Parker had changed from his familiar BMW Compact to a Fiesta ST. It was his first race experience of front wheel drive and he was soon airing his dislike for the converted road car. He managed to win his class on six occasions, with three other class podiums. At Donington he had boost and overheating issues, but was a double winner at Croft, despite running half throttle to try and ease the overheating.

He won again at Oulton in round six, despite finishing with a chunk of wheel missing after contact at the start. It went into safe mode at Cadwell after hitting rumble strips and had an interesting duel with returning ex Champ Paul Dobson’s Fiesta, on his way to another double win. Tyre issues at Anglesey left him with one win out of three, but after taking his final victory at Oulton, he was forced to pull off in the final race with gearbox issues. But with Bull’s Clio retiring, the title remained firmly in his hands.

Bull soon became the man to beat in Class E, having joined the Championship at Croft in his Renault Clio. He won the Class in both races on his debut weekend from fifth overall, but struggled in the wet at Oulton with “old worn out road tyres.” After taking second in race two at Oulton, he secured another double at Cadwell, but with Paul Rotheroe’s Citroen Xsara back on the scene, the rest of the season proved more of a challenge.

He had tyre issues at Anglesey and fuel surge, but was still in the mix for the overall title as we arrived at Oulton for the final rounds. After taking second again in race one to Rotheroe, he saw the Parker Fiesta parked up, knowing that just to finish could crown him Champion. But the Clio’s front corner collapsed and he was sidelined too, but still retained second in the Championship.

Class B’s Paul Masters was another newcomer this season, but his Westfield was soon a regular podium visitor. He contested 11 of the 13 rounds and finished in the top five in all but one, taking seven overall podiums. He had a rare spin at Croft and was caught up in the multiple collision at Anglesey with Buckby and Jamie Cryer, his only non finish on his way to third in the Championship.

Paul Rotheroe missed the first four rounds but still managed second in Class E and fourth overall. He missed his Citroen’s comeback race at Oulton after an alternator failure, but was class winner in the second race. He then missed Cadwell, before returning for a winning treble at Anglesey and rounded off his season with a double win at Oulton.

Having stepped up in class Bod Buckby initially found his beefier Caterham a bit of a handful. He had ignition problems at Donington, but managed sixth overall in the second race, before heading to Croft for the first time to win all three races overall. He didn’t manage another Class podium in Class B, but after “Kermit” was damaged in the shunt with Masters and Cryer at Anglesey, he brought “Bluey” out of retirement to win Class C at Oulton, seal second in that class, fifth overall to add to his final third place in Class B.

Completing the top six in the Championship and the runner-up to Parker in Class D was Riccy Walker’s JCW Mini. He didn’t managed a Class win this season, but was second on five occasions, always intimating there was more to come. Matt Jones had an interesting year in his Ford Focus. Fortunately his niggling problems were overcome on most occasions, unlike father David, who was plagued season long and considered going fishing. Matt finished third Clas E and seventh overall, he didn’t manage a class win either, but was on the podium eight times, including six second places.

Having looked a possible Champion back in August, Connor Modro’s season somewhat fizzled out. He quickly settled to his Westfield and was second in race two at Donington. He was third behind Pearson and Roberts in the first Oulton race, before his run of three successive wins took him to the peak of his season. With missing Anglesey and crashing at Oulton, he failed to record another finish and dropped to eighth overall, but still retained second in Class B.

Although Helen Allen’s Fiesta was ninth overall and unbeaten in Class F, she had no other challengers and gave the Donington and Cadwell rounds a miss. Clive Dix’s Mazda RX7 rounded off the overall top 10 from third in Class D. He had six podium finishers and had a new engine from round five Oulton and also gave Cadwell a miss. He was t-boned by Nelson’ Mini at Anglesey, but in the latter rounds he had boost issues and had to manage with restricted power.

Class A had little support over the year, Garry Wardle won it having used his Audi and Seat TCR car. He still managed six top six finishes and had a double class win at Oulton mid-season. Simon Allaway’s Esprit V8 made it back out at Croft, he put it on pole, but started from the pitlane with starter motor issues and then lost drive in race one and his weekend was over. He was back for Cadwell, despite having the wrong gearing, but still came home second overall in both races, winning the Class in both. At Anglesey he shared the lead with Hutchinson’s Escort and retained second in race one, before gearbox maladies sent him home early again.

Hutchinson finished third in class after his Anglesey domination, while in fourth was Championship sponsor Ric Wood. He swapped from his Nissan Skyline to brother Julian’s Kia Optima in the second half of the season, taking fourth overall in the first Anglesey race, despite being stuck in gear at the start. He came back for the Oulton finale too, but only did the first race, which he won outright. Duncan Aukland gave his Proton Putra its annual outing at Anglesey and took two seconds in class, using brother James’ Capri wheels. Southcott, Ian Gorrie’s Lotus Gorrie’s Lotus Elise, Gary Warburton Special Saloon Mini and Chris Petch’s Ginetta were the only other starters in the Class.

Behind Masters, Modro and Buckby in Class B, Jamie Cryer had mixed fortunes. He missed the Doningfon races when his Ginetta G20 shed an oil pipe. At Croft he was in contention for an overall podium until he was hit by a backmarker, but came back in race two to take third, after a great scrap with Buckby and Masters. Fourth overall and third in class in both Cadwell races brought him back into contention, but in the final race of the Anglesey weekend his spin at Rocket triggered a red flag incident with Buckby and Masters. He then wet tyres on a drying track in the Oulton finale and was left to settle for fourth in Class.

Mark Primett’s Banks Lotus Europa showed pace, but was another to have niggling issues in the first half of the season. Third in Class at Donington and in the final Oulton race were his best on paper. But at Cadwell he was in contention in both races, but retired with low fuel pressure in race one and a loose track rod end in race two. In race three at Anglesey he was set for third overall, but retired late on, “under fuelled.” Finally at Oulton he had gear issues.

Ben Roberts made an immediate impact when he arrived with his Westfield at Oulton. He duelled for the lead on his debut and managed second, despite taking the flag with broken steering and was second again in race two. At Anglesey he caused qualifying to be red flagged after a belt broke and took out his crank sensor. He was back for the race, when having worked his way up the order he was black flagged from third place. He eventually came in but not before brother Chris had misread the number and pitted in his Ginetta. After a continuing catalogue of dramas at Anglesey, he had to surrender a possible win in the first of the finale races, having to short shift to nurse the car. But he made amends with outright victory to end his eventful season.

Roddie Paterson topped and tailed the season at Donington and Oulton in his Caterham, with a second place at each and Tom Frankland’s Renault 5GT Turbo had some interesting battles, none less than his roll at the Croft Hairpin. Richard Hall’s Caterham had a second and fourth at Croft and Rob Wakelin’s Peugeot came out at Anglesey and had a second in Class, while Tim Foxlow’s Escort RSR, Chris Roberts’ Ginetta G40 and Aleks Modro’s Fiesta were among the other runners in the class.

In Class C it was virtually a solo run for Gary Warburton’s Mini, while in Class D Oliver Thomas’ Subaru Impreza followed Parker, Walker and Dix. He broke the bottom ball joint at Croft and didn’t get to race, after pulling out after qualifying at Donington too. Then the gear linkage let him down at Oulton when he was third, before taking two class wins out of three at Anglesey, from fourth and sixth overall.

Phil White’s BMW finished fifth in Class D and had class podiums at Oulton and Anglesey, followed by Bob Claxton’s VW Golf Gti and Marshall Groves’ Vectra. Groves’ season ended at Cadwell in August, after brake failure in race one and the engine moving in the subframe on the out lap of race two. Jas Sapra brought his BMW to Doningfon and got a fourth overall to win the Class, while Ryan Nelson’s Mini, Paul Goodlad’s VW, David Jones’ Focus and John Madoc-Jones’ BMW came out too.

While Bull, Rotheroe and Matt Jones topped Class E, Julian Wood came fourth in the ex Parker BMW Compact, after third places at Donington and Anglesey. Cavan Taylor’s Clio was next, after thirds at Cadwell and Oulton , while behind him Wayne Spiler’s Mazda RX8 took three wins from four starts, but wasn’t seen again after an off at Oulton in round six. Peter Koukoulas’ Toyota MR2 was the only other points scorer, but we also saw Rob Phillips’ Honda Civic, also raced by Chris Reynolds, and both Paul and Louie Dobson on the family Fiesta.

So that’s it for 2024, as we look to Oulton Park on April 12th 2025 to do it all over again.

Published by Peter Scherer for BARC NW, November 25th 2024.