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2006 Race
Reports
Dijon-Prenois, France,
6 - 8 October 2006
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A sixteen car entry for the last race of the season resulted in
some great racing all down the field, in brilliant Dijon sunshine.
Following a tentative free practice on a damp track on Friday
afternoon, the qualifying session on Saturday had David Mercer (C1 Spice) in a
fabulous time 1:12.208 ahead of Chris Randall (Nissan NPT1 GTP) and a trio in
the 1:17s of Richard Eyre (Porsche 962), Jim Mullen (GTP Spice) and Gary
Pearson in the indecently quick, ADA Cosworth DFZ (Class 2 C2), and the hard
charging Andrew Smith in the first of the two Ecosses, leading class 4! Alas
Mercer's car had problems with the scavenge pumps and did not make the start,
although they repaired it for Race 2.
Race 1 (40 minutes) -
Chris Randall went straight into a lead that was never challenged but Richard
Eyre and Gary Pearson were having terrific scrap for 2nd with Pearson almost
running under Eyre's wing. Alas this dice ended when Pearson had door glass
failure and had to retire leaving Mullen perfectly placed to take 3rd at the
flag after a great drive and fastest lap of 1:16.389s. See Race 2 for an
interesting take on the Pearson/Mullen race story!
The Ecosses of
Andrew Smith (Cosworth) and Alasdair McCaig (Rover) had a crowd thrilling race
with McCaig getting passed Smith on the opening lap and holding onto the 'lead'
until the end, although Smith had backed off due to a slow puncture, nearly
being caught by Richard Oddie in the GTP Argo. Real nose to tail stuff for over
20 laps as were the Mazda of Jim Loftis and the Bardon of Duncan McKay.
The final overall result was Randall, Eyre and Mullen.
Class winners: Randall and McCaig.
Fastest lap:
Jim Mullen 1:16.389 (179.187kph).
Race 2 (40 minutes) - With the
track now a bit warmer on Sunday afternoon, Gary Pearson was now in Jim
Mullen's GTP Spice (as the ADA could not be fixed in time and a flight mix-up
resulted in poor Jim Mullen on his way back to the USA)! So a start from the
back of the grid for Gary and Mercer in the late repaired Spice.
Fireworks were prospect!
Meanwhile at the front of the grid Chris Randall
looked all set for win number 2 but motor racing isn't like that!!
By
the start of lap 2 Pearson was in 3rd and Mercer 4th!! Alas, lap 4 resulted in
engine failure for Mercer and Pearson went after Eyre running in 2nd and passed
him on lap 8 only for poor Randall to blow the Nissan engine and suddenly
Pearson was leading, setting a fastest lap of 1:14.545 (164.067kph)!!! Not bad
for his first race in the Chevrolet engined GTP Spice, and thrilling owner Jim
Mullen, who was now in the airport!
McCaig had again got in front of
Smith in the Ecosse by the end of lap 1 only for Smith to get back in front by
lap 4 and they ran 'as one' for another 5 laps until McCaig's brand new engine
expired (much to the disappointment of father Hugh McCaig, watching on the pit
wall!).
Oddie, in the GTP Argo, watched all this excitement to finish
4th and the three, non Ecosse, Class 4 cars of Loftis (Mazda), McKay (Bardon)
and Bateman (Tiga) behind him continued their scrap to the flag.
The
final overall result: Gary Pearson, Richard Eyre and Andrew Smith.
Class wins for Pearson and Smith
Fastest lap:
Gary Pearson 1:14.545 (164.067kph) |
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Qualifying |
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| Pos |
No |
Driver |
Nat |
Car |
Class |
Time |
Lap |
Gap |
Kph |
| 1 |
21 |
David MERCER |
GB |
Spice SE 90 C - DFR |
GTP1 |
1:12.208 |
12 |
|
189.502 |
| 2 |
88 |
Chris RANDALL |
GB |
Nissan NTP 1 GTP |
GTP1 |
1:15.210 |
9 |
3.002 |
181.938 |
| 3 |
6 |
Richard EYRE |
GB |
Porsche 962 |
GTP1 |
1:17.119 |
11 |
4.911 |
177.434 |
| 4 |
12 |
Gary PEARSON |
GB |
Spice GTP |
GTP1 |
1:17.249 |
19 |
5.041 |
177.136 |
| 5 |
75 |
Gary PEARSON |
GB |
ADA Cosworth DFZ |
GTP3 |
1:17.869 |
11 |
5.661 |
175.725 |
| 6 |
78 |
Andrew SMITH |
GB |
Ecosse - Ford 285 |
GTP4 |
1:19.802 |
12 |
7.594 |
171.469 |
| 7 |
79 |
Alasdair McCAIG |
GB |
Ecosse - Rover |
GTP4 |
1:21.493 |
18 |
9.285 |
167.911 |
| 8 |
39 |
Klaus FERS |
D |
Porsche 962 |
GTP1 |
1:21.532 |
16 |
9.324 |
167.831 |
| 9 |
28 |
Richard ODDIE |
GB |
Argo JM 20 C |
GTP1 |
1:27.354 |
9 |
15.146 |
156.645 |
| 10 |
37 |
Richard BATEMAN |
GB |
Tiga Rover GC 287 |
GTP4 |
1:33.497 |
17 |
21.289 |
146.353 |
| 11 |
103 |
Duncan McKAY |
GB |
Bardon Ford DB 2 |
GTP4 |
1:33.588 |
11 |
21.380 |
146.211 |
| 12 |
203 |
Jim LOFTIS |
USA |
Mazda 757 |
GTP4 |
1:35.251 |
15 |
23.043 |
143.658 |
| 13 |
81 |
Richard CHESTER |
GB |
Tiga Buick GTP |
GTP4 |
1:56.567 |
6 |
44.359 |
117.388 |
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Race 1 |
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| Pos |
No |
Driver |
Nat |
Car |
Class |
Laps |
Time |
Gap |
Average Kph |
Time |
Lap |
Lap Kph |
| 1 |
88 |
Chris RANDALL |
GB |
Nissan NTP 1 GTP |
GTP1 |
31 |
40:08.245 |
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176.141 |
1:16.677 |
23 |
178.457 |
| 2 |
6 |
Richard EYRE |
GB |
Porsche 962 |
GTP1 |
31 |
40:53.538 |
45.293 |
172.889 |
1:17.879 |
4 |
175.703 |
| 3 |
12 |
Gary PEARSON |
GB |
Spice GTP |
GTP1 |
31 |
40:59.226 |
50.981 |
172.489 |
1:16.399 |
27 |
179.107 |
| 4 |
79 |
Alasdair McCAIG |
GB |
Ecosse - Rover |
GTP4 |
29 |
40:20.981 |
2 Laps |
163.910 |
1:21.928 |
16 |
167.019 |
| 5 |
78 |
Andrew SMITH |
GB |
Ecosse - Ford 285 |
GTP4 |
29 |
40:39.464 |
2 Laps |
162.668 |
1:22.233 |
17 |
166.400 |
| 6 |
28 |
Richard ODDIE |
GB |
Argo JM 20 C |
GTP1 |
28 |
41:21.965 |
3 Laps |
154.369 |
1:24.454 |
12 |
162.024 |
| 7 |
203 |
Jim LOFTIS |
USA |
Mazda 757 |
GTP4 |
27 |
41:00.158 |
4 Laps |
150.176 |
1:28.312 |
13 |
154.946 |
| 8 |
103 |
Duncan McKAY |
GB |
Bardon Ford DB 2 |
GTP4 |
26 |
40:23.393 |
5 Laps |
146.808 |
1:30.113 |
8 |
151.849 |
| 9 |
37 |
Richard BATEMAN |
GB |
Tiga Rover GC 287 |
GTP4 |
26 |
41:10.185 |
5 Laps |
144.027 |
1:31.853 |
26 |
148.972 |
| 10 |
75 |
Gary PEARSON |
GB |
ADA Cosworth DFZ |
GTP3 |
20 |
26:26.314 |
11 Laps |
172.520 |
1:17.731 |
11 |
176.037 |
| 11 |
81 |
Richard CHESTER |
GB |
Tiga Buick GTP |
GTP4 |
17 |
28:39.464 |
14 Laps |
135.287 |
1:38.674 |
13 |
138.674 |
| DNS |
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21 |
David MERCER |
GB |
Spice SE 90 C - DFR |
GTP1 |
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Race 2 |
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| Pos |
No |
Driver |
Nat |
Car |
Class |
Laps |
Time |
Gap |
Average Kph |
Time |
Lap |
Lap Kph |
| 1 |
12 |
Gary PEARSON |
GB |
Spice GTP |
GTP1 |
32 |
40:49.646 |
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178.750 |
1:14.340 |
14 |
184.067 |
| 2 |
6 |
Richard EYRE |
GB |
Porsche 962 |
GTP1 |
32 |
41:50.062 |
1:00.416 |
174.447 |
1:15.614 |
9 |
180.966 |
| 3 |
78 |
Andrew SMITH |
GB |
Ecosse - Ford 285 |
GTP4 |
29 |
41:37.443 |
3 Laps |
158.892 |
1:22.754 |
7 |
165.352 |
| 4 |
28 |
Richard ODDIE |
GB |
Argo JM 20 C |
GTP1 |
28 |
41:41.737 |
4 Laps |
153.149 |
1:26.514 |
23 |
158.166 |
| 5 |
203 |
Jim LOFTIS |
USA |
Mazda 757 |
GTP4 |
27 |
41:31.781 |
5 Laps |
148.270 |
1:29.432 |
9 |
153.005 |
| 6 |
103 |
Duncan McKAY |
GB |
Bardon Ford DB 2 |
GTP4 |
27 |
42:08.732 |
5 Laps |
146.103 |
1:30.229 |
27 |
151.654 |
| 7 |
37 |
Richard BATEMAN |
GB |
Tiga Rover GC 287 |
GTP4 |
27 |
42:09.416 |
5 Laps |
146.064 |
1:30.375 |
27 |
151.409 |
| 8 |
79 |
Alasdair McCAIG |
GB |
Ecosse - Rover |
GTP4 |
9 |
12:41.902 |
23 Laps |
161.638 |
1:22.746 |
7 |
165.368 |
| 9 |
88 |
Chris RANDALL |
GB |
Nissan NTP 1 GTP |
GTP1 |
8 |
10:15.788 |
24 Laps |
177.770 |
1:15.101 |
4 |
182.202 |
| 10 |
80 |
David MERCER |
GB |
Spice SE 90 - DFR |
GTP1 |
3 |
4:06.571 |
29 Laps |
166.486 |
1:17.738 |
3 |
176.022 |
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photos from the event
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