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2004 Race
Reports
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Donington Park, England, 28 - 29 August
2004
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| Crew chief Alan Howell with David Mercer, winner Race 1 |
Start of Race 1 |
Don Law (L) with Henry Pearman, winner Race 2 |
Click here to see
photos from the event
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David Mercer (Spice-Ford SE90C) looked set to
cruise to a dominant double until he pitted with a suspected puncture
relinquishing a thirty second lead after 25 minutes. He charged from seventh
back to third in the remaining 10 minutes.
Henry Pearman was the grateful beneficiary taking a maiden victory
aboard his fabulous Jaguar XJR-11. Pearman also collected third in Race 1.
Nigel James, whose Porsche 962C now sports short tail bodywork, coasted across
the line out of fuel to second. Engine worries prevented him taking part later
on.
James had earlier been
involved in a tremendous scrap with Gary Pearson (Jaguar XJR-12LM) and Gavan
Kershaw (Aston Martin AMR-1). Pole-sitter, Pearson dropped to ninth after a
spin early on, but fought back to second at 20 minutes with a cracking
manoeuvre around the outside of the Aston at Gerrards. Both were to retire
shortly afterwards. The Jaguar V12 finally gave up, having sounded rough for
some time, whilst the Aston suffered suspension failure in the Craner
Curves!
Young charger, Simon
Pullan (Porsche 962CK6) forged through to third from the back of the grid
within 10 minutes after an oil leak and resultant fire caused him to miss
qualifying. Engine failure would rob him of a fine finish, however. The similar
Kenwood liveried car of Don Grice suffered the same fate as a rash of
mechanical gremlins depleted the grid for Race 2. Jim Mullen (Spice-Chevrolet
GTP) pitted after the pace lap with headgasket failure whilst Brian DeVries'
Intrepid blew its Chevrolet engine.
David Leslie produced two super drives from the back of the field to
fourth and second in Bryan Wingfield's Ecosse C286. His second place in Race 2
was all the more impressive as the car was jumping out of third gear for much
of the race. Harvey Cooke held Leslie at bay for 15 minutes but retired his
Spice-Ford SE88C shortly afterwards. Second in class behind Leslie was Ian
Stinton in the Speedy Argo-Ford JM19C. But for a fuel miscalculation, he would
have repeated this and also claimed the third step of the podium in Race
2.
Stinton was sandwiched in a
three car incident in Race 1 which claimed Peter Schleifer's March-Chevrolet
84G and bit a chunk from the side of Ray Mallock's Aston Martin Nimrod.
Schleifer retired, whilst Mallock continued to seventh with the door aperture
taped up. Roger Bennington drove the car to a lonely finish in Race 2. Nick
Rini followed Mallock home in Race 1 in the Silk Cut Jaguar XJR-12, which he
had substituted for his own Bud Light car. It was oil from Rini's Race 2 engine
failure, which caused Mercer's errant diagnosis of a
puncture.
Alvin Powell (Tiga-Ford
GC288) shared Class 3 spoils with John Edwards. Powell, starting from the pits
in Race 1 after a puncture on the pace lap, produced a fine drive to take
honours. Edwards' Argo-Ford JM19C developed a fuel problem preventing him from
taking the start in Race 1, but the Race 2 class win helped make
amends.
Having, in his own words,
"lost it!" in Race 1, Richard Bateman (Tiga-Rover GC287) chased Duncan McKay
all the way for the Class 4 runner-up spot in Race 2. The McKay's were over the
moon not only with the result but also the performance of their Bardon-Ford
DB2. A trouble free weekend was testament to the hard work the Damax team have
put into the project.
Whilst Mike
Millard (Prosport LM3000) took unopposed honours in the invitation category,
the battle for Richard Oddie was with his Argo JM20's insatiable thirst for
fuel. Despite this, he took a popular third in class in Race 2.
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Qualifying Race 1 - Saturday
| No. |
Class |
Driver |
Nat |
Car |
Time |
Laps |
MPH |
| 30 |
1 |
Gary
Pearson |
GB |
Jaguar
XJR-12LM |
1:02.428 |
16 |
112.87 |
| 21 |
1 |
David
Mercer |
GB |
Spice
SE90C |
1:02.456 |
12 |
112.82 |
| 2 |
1 |
Jim
Mullen |
USA |
Spice-Chevrolet GTP |
1:03.679 |
34 |
110.65 |
| 7 |
1 |
Nigel
James |
GB |
Porsche 962C |
1:04.665 |
21 |
108.96 |
| 8 |
1 |
Brian
DeVries |
USA |
Intrepid-Chevrolet |
1:05.176 |
14 |
108.11 |
| 18 |
1 |
Whight/Kershaw |
GB |
Aston
Martin AMR-1 |
1:05.630 |
19 |
107.36 |
| 71 |
3 |
Harvey
Cooke |
GB |
Spice-Ford SE88C |
1:07.614 |
14 |
104.21 |
| 3 |
1 |
Henry
Pearman |
GB |
Jaguar
XJR-11 |
1:08.354 |
22 |
103.08 |
| 16 |
4 |
Peter
Schleifer |
D |
March
Chevrolet 84G |
1:08.456 |
27 |
102.93 |
| 90 |
5 |
Michael Millard |
GB |
Prosport LM3000 |
1:08.479 |
10 |
102.89 |
| 32 |
1 |
Nick
Rini |
USA |
Jaguar
XJR-12D |
1:08.800 |
13 |
102.41 |
| 19 |
3 |
John
Edwards |
GB |
Argo
JM19C |
1:08.908 |
22 |
102.25 |
| 26 |
3 |
Alvin
Powell |
GB |
Tiga
288 |
1:09.209 |
11 |
101.81 |
| 12 |
4 |
Ian
Stinton |
GB |
Argo
JM19B |
1:09.569 |
14 |
101.28 |
| 31 |
4 |
Ray
Mallock |
GB |
Aston
Martin Nimrod |
1:12.018 |
9 |
97.84 |
| 28 |
1 |
Richard Oddie |
GB |
Argo-Chevrolet JM20 GTP |
1:12.515 |
19 |
97.17 |
| 83 |
4 |
Duncan
McKay |
GB |
Bardon-Ford DB2 |
1:15.441 |
15 |
93.40 |
| 37 |
4 |
Richard Bateman |
GB |
Tiga-Rover GC287 |
1:18.025 |
27 |
90.30 |
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Race 1 - Sunday
| No. |
Class |
Driver |
Nat |
Car |
Time |
Laps |
Best |
| 21 |
1 |
David
Mercer |
GB |
Spice
SE90C |
40:44.462 |
37 |
1:04.515 |
| 7 |
1 |
Nigel
James |
GB |
Porsche 962C |
41:46.775 |
37 |
1:05.203 |
| 3 |
1 |
Henry
Pearman |
GB |
Jaguar
XJR-11 |
41:24.149 |
36 |
1:06.349 |
| 82 |
4 |
David
Leslie |
GB |
Ecosse-Ford C286 |
41:46.718 |
36 |
1:08.180 |
| 12 |
4 |
Ian
Stinton |
GB |
Argo
JM19B |
41:43.789 |
35 |
1:09.899 |
| 90 |
5 |
Michael Millard |
GB |
Prosport LM3000 |
41:47.964 |
34 |
1:09.251 |
| 31 |
4 |
Ray
Mallock |
GB |
Aston
Martin Nimrod |
40:55.729 |
33 |
1:12.300 |
| 32 |
1 |
Nick
Rini |
USA |
Jaguar
XJR-12D |
41:26.153 |
33 |
1:10.386 |
| 26 |
3 |
Alvin
Powell |
GB |
Tiga
288 |
41:40.591 |
33 |
1:09.418 |
| 83 |
4 |
Duncan
McKay |
GB |
Bardon-Ford DB2 |
41:08.745 |
31 |
1:16.480 |
| 37 |
4 |
Richard Bateman |
GB |
Tiga-Rover GC287 |
41:10.062 |
30 |
1:17.579 |
| Not Classified |
| 8 |
1 |
Brian
DeVries |
USA |
Intrepid-Chevrolet |
26:03.172 |
22 |
1:05.552 |
| 28 |
1 |
Richard Oddie |
GB |
Argo-Chevrolet JM20 GTP |
39:33.562 |
21 |
1:13.343 |
| 30 |
1 |
Gary
Pearson |
GB |
Jaguar
XJR-12LM |
21:29.576 |
19 |
1:03.925 |
| 71 |
3 |
Harvey
Cooke |
GB |
Spice-Ford SE88C |
29:59.040 |
19 |
1:08.819 |
| 18 |
1 |
Gavan
Kershaw |
GB |
Aston
Martin AMR-1 |
19:07.555 |
17 |
1:05.930 |
| 1 |
1 |
Simon
Pullan |
GB |
Porsche 962 CK6 |
7:56.045 |
7 |
1:04.974 |
| 11 |
1 |
Don
Grice |
GB |
Porsche 962 CK6 |
2:45.843 |
2 |
1:18.371 |
| 16 |
4 |
Peter
Schleifer |
D |
March
Chevrolet 84G |
3:05.111 |
1 |
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| Fastest Lap |
| 30 |
1 |
Gary
Pearson |
GB |
Jaguar
XJR-12LM |
1:03.925 |
5 |
110.22 |
| 82 |
4 |
David
Leslie |
GB |
Ecosse-Ford C286 |
1:08.180 |
31 |
103.34 |
| 71 |
3 |
Harvey
Cooke |
GB |
Spice-Ford SE88C |
1:08.819 |
8 |
102.38 |
| 90 |
5 |
Michael Millard |
GB |
Prosport LM3000 |
1:09.251 |
2 |
101.75 |
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Race 2 - Sunday
| No. |
Class |
Driver |
Nat |
Car |
Time |
Laps |
Best |
| 3 |
1 |
Henry
Pearman |
GB |
Jaguar
XJR-11 |
35:47.844 |
31 |
1:07.021 |
| 82 |
4 |
David
Leslie |
GB |
Ecosse-Ford C286 |
36:16.511 |
31 |
1:08.380 |
| 21 |
1 |
David
Mercer |
GB |
Spice
SE90C |
36:42.342 |
31 |
1:03.581 |
| 19 |
3 |
John
Edwards |
GB |
Argo
JMC19 |
36:12.695 |
30 |
1:10.477 |
| 83 |
4 |
Duncan
McKay |
GB |
Bardon-Ford DB2 |
36:56.138 |
28 |
1:17.327 |
| 37 |
4 |
Richard Bateman |
GB |
Tiga-Rover GC287 |
36:56.322 |
28 |
1:17.173 |
| 31 |
4 |
Roger
Bennington |
GB |
Aston
Martin Nimrod |
37:05.803 |
27 |
1:20.460 |
| Not Classified |
| 12 |
4 |
Ian
Stinton |
GB |
Argo
JM19B |
34:56.159 |
29 |
1:10.723 |
| 26 |
3 |
Alvin
Powell |
GB |
Tiga
288 |
27:38.291 |
23 |
1:08.438 |
| 28 |
1 |
Richard Oddie |
GB |
Argo-Chevrolet JM20 GTP |
34:19.302 |
23 |
1:15.744 |
| 71 |
3 |
Harvey
Cooke |
GB |
Spice-Ford SE88C |
26:20.548 |
22 |
1:08.623 |
| 90 |
5 |
Michael Millard |
GB |
Prosport LM3000 |
14:29.093 |
12 |
1:10.825 |
| 32 |
1 |
Nick
Rini |
USA |
Jaguar
XJR-12D |
13:59.575 |
11 |
1:14.805 |
| Fastest Lap |
| 21 |
1 |
David
Mercer |
GB |
Spice
SE90C |
1:03.581 |
12 |
110.82 |
| 82 |
4 |
David
Leslie |
GB |
Ecosse-Ford C286 |
1:08.380 |
11 |
103.04 |
| 26 |
3 |
Alvin
Powell |
GB |
Tiga
288 |
1:08.438 |
7 |
102.95 |
| 90 |
5 |
Michael Millard |
GB |
Prosport LM3000 |
1:10.825 |
5 |
99.48 |
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