Chris Roberts wins Dave Simpson Trophy

CHRIS ROBERTS TAKES THE PRESTIGEOUS DAVE SIMPSON MEMORIAL TROPHY

At the latest round of the CNC Heads Sports and Saloon Car Championship the competitors competed for the Dave Simpson Memorial Trophy. This is one of the most sought after and impressive trophies competed for in club motorsport.

Over 40 years ago the Centre was looking to organise and promote a Championship to run at the race meetings we were organising at the time. Dave Simpson along with Ken Mitchell and John Leck agreed that the best option was to run, initially a series, then a Championship for sports and saloon cars that the fan could recognise as cars they could see on the road (if a bit more potent!). Dave was most enthusiastic with his support and encouragement in the early days of the Championship. In those early days we used to run a chase car at the back of the formation lap and Dave was often the driver. Many times he came back in having wanted to put himself on the back of the grid and ‘join in’! Dave saw the Championship become a healthy and thriving championship but was so sadly taken from us before he could see the great success it has become today.

The prestigious trophy was presented to the North Western Centre by Margaret Simpson in honour of her husband. The trophy was first presented in 1992 with Neil Jackson in his Lenham Le Mans Coupe being the first holder.

In order to allow as many drivers to ‘have a go’ at taking the trophy the Centre decided that the trophy would be presented to the driver winning their class by the greatest margin (initially that was determined by time but now by greatest difference in average speed). This year most of the classes were closer than ever and there was not much difference in average speed of the top two. However, one class stood out as having a great difference between the top two. Class D saw Chris Roberts, who is also currently leading the Championship in his BMW M4, finish some way ahead of Steve Parker. This made Chris the clear winner of the Dave Simpson Memorial Trophy. Unlike last year, when the recipient retired from the second race, Chris went on to have a very successful meeting with two class wins and he also played his joker which doubled up his first race points. Well done Chris

John Leck