|
|
2003 Race
Reports
|
Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, 3-4 May
2003
|
|
Scroll to the foot of the page for more photos from this
race |
|
|
|
On a drying
track, a flurry of quick laps in the final minutes of qualifying left Chris
Randall (Spice-Cosworth SE88C) on top of the pile for Race 1. No mean feat in a
car from the C2 category. The opening laps saw Randall, David Mercer
(Spice-Cosworth SE90C), and Justin Law (Jaguar XJR-10) circulating nose to
tail.
As the lead three battled,
American visitor, Jim Mullen (Spice-Chevrolet GTP) took Nick Adams
(Spice-Cosworth SE88C) for fourth and set about closing the gap. A suspected
puncture forced a visit to the pits and put paid to Mullen's charge, whilst
Adams retired later with driveshaft failure.
At the head of the field, Law and Mercer pulled clear
and remained in that order to the flag, the gap waxing and waning as they
carved through back markers. Randall maintained a fine third followed by Paul
Whight (Aston Martin AMR-1), who had a rather lonely run to fourth once Nigel
James' (Spice-Cosworth SE86C) engine had expired on the approach to Les Combes.
Further down the order, Allen
Lloyd (Spice-Cosworth SE90C) and Nick Rini (Jaguar XJR-12D) engaged in a fine
tussle mid race. The unfortunate Rini suffered a high-speed accident on the
entry to Blanchimont, which brought the race to an early conclusion. Gerry
Wainwright (Jaguar XJR-16) came in sixth in the car's first outing as part of
the AJL Racing stable. Henry Pearman (Jaguar XJR-11) forged through from the
back of the field to a fine seventh, just ahead of Jim Graham (Porsche 962C).
Win Percy's stunning pole position time in Pearman's Jaguar XJR-11
led many to believe Race 2 would be a walk in the park. Far from it! David
Mercer harried the leader throughout the entire 40 minutes. Following a safety
car period, whilst Paul Whight's stricken Aston Martin AMR-1 was moved to
safety, Percy won a grandstand final lap dash to the line by a mere half
second. Mullen completed the podium having battled hard with Whight earlier in
the race.
Following numerous
minor problems with the Jaguar XJR-16, Wainwright replaced Lloyd in the Spice
and came home fourth. John Grant (Jaguar XJR-17) followed in fifth, having
retired from Race 1 with no electrics, due to a faulty alternator. Ever the
racer, he commented, "we just need more power"! His team mate and Race 1
winner, Law, was forced to retire with an untraced vibration.
The remainder of the American
contingent, the father and son Bryan International team, ran well. The stunning
Lancia-Ferrari LC2 of Benton Bryan ran much better on Sunday coming home eighth
just ahead of father, Richard, who substituted his Lancia with their Porsche
962C, having suffered braking problems in qualifying. Phil Stott ran the fourth
car from their stable enjoying a good dice with the LC2 on Sunday.
Gremlins we trust will be sorted
by Silverstone afflicted Richard Bateman's Tiga-Rover GC287 (front hub bolt),
but despite this he won his class. Don Miles (Jaguar XJR-5) and his team solved
their wheel bearing troubles mid-race, changing a complete corner before
rejoining! A quality field, good camaraderie, and unaccustomed fine weather,
all contributed to a great start to a new era in the Group C
revival.
Result -
Qualifying
1 |
Win
Percy |
Jaguar
XJR-11 |
11
Laps |
2:12.415 |
189.441
km/h |
2 |
Chris
Randall |
Spice
Cosworth |
15
Laps |
2:17.679 |
182.198
km/h |
3 |
David
Mercer |
Spice
Cosworth |
14
Laps |
2:17.877 |
181.936
km/h |
4 |
Jim
Mullen |
Spice
Chevrolet |
16
Laps |
2:18.877 |
180.626
km/h |
5 |
Justin
Law |
Jaguar
XJR-10 |
11
Laps |
2:21.075 |
177.812
km/h |
6 |
Nick
Adams |
Spice
Cosworth |
11
Laps |
2:21.675 |
177.859
km/h |
7 |
Paul
Whight |
Aston Martin
AMR-1 |
11
Laps |
2:21.941 |
176.727
km/h |
8 |
Allen
Lloyd |
Spice
Cosworth |
11
laps |
2:23.973 |
174.233
km/h |
9
|
Gerry
Wainwright |
Jaguar
XJR-16 |
10
Laps |
2:24.987 |
173.814
km/h |
10 |
Nick
Rini |
Jaguar
XJR-12D |
13
Laps |
2:26.310 |
171.450
km/h |
11 |
Nigel
James |
Spice
Cosworth |
10
Laps |
2:30.303 |
166.895
km/h |
12 |
Jim
Graham |
Prosche
962 |
12
Laps |
2:32.825 |
164.141
km/h |
13 |
Donald
Miles |
Jaguar
XJR-5 |
11
Laps |
2:35.724 |
161.085
km/h |
14 |
Nick
Randall |
Spice
Cosworth |
|
2:36.669 |
|
15 |
John
Grant |
Jaguar
XJR-17 |
4 Laps |
2:42.231 |
154.624
km/h |
16
|
Ian
Stinton |
Harrier
GT1 |
3 Laps |
2:43.251 |
153.658
km/h |
17 |
Bill
Tully |
Harrier
LR9 |
13
Laps |
2:44.135 |
153.830
km/h |
18 |
David
Coplowe |
Jaguar
XJR-6 |
5 Laps
|
2:47.157 |
150.067
km/h |
19 |
Phil
Stott |
Spice
Cosworth |
5 Laps |
2:48.744 |
148.856
km/h |
20
|
Paul
Chudecki |
Jaguar
XJR-5 |
|
2:51.656 |
|
21 |
Richard
Bateman |
Tiga Rover
GC2 |
13
Laps |
2:52.751 |
145.208
km/h |
22 |
John
Edwards |
Porsche
934R |
13
Laps |
2:55.293 |
143.302
km/h |
23 |
Richard
Bryan |
Argo
Chevrolet |
10
Laps |
2:57.219 |
141.547
km/h |
24 |
Henry
Pearman |
Jaguar
XJR-11 |
|
2:59.871 |
|
25 |
Neil
Clark |
Harrier
LR9 |
|
3:11.439 |
|
26 |
Martin
Stretton |
Jaguar
XJR-6 |
|
3:25.772 |
|
27 |
Benton
Bryan |
Lancia
LC2 |
4 Laps |
3:35.195 |
136.568
km/h |
Result
- Race 1
1 |
Justin
Law |
Jaguar
XJR-10 |
14
Laps |
31:58.190 |
183.083
km/h |
2 |
David
Mercer |
Spice-Cosworth
SE90C |
14
Laps |
32:03.679 |
182.560
km/h |
3 |
Chris
Randall |
Spice-Cosworth
SE88C |
14
Laps |
32:33.861 |
179,740
km/h |
4 |
Paul
Whight |
Aston Martin
AMR-1 |
14
Laps |
33:59.359 |
172.205
km/h |
5 |
Allen
Lloyd |
Spice-Cosworth
SE90C |
14
Laps |
34:14.348 |
170.948
km/h |
6 |
Gerry
Wainwright |
Jaguar
XJR-16 |
13
Laps |
30:35.625 |
177.652
km/h |
7 |
Henry
Pearman |
Jaguar
XJR-11 |
13
Laps |
31:57.988 |
170.023
km/h |
8 |
Jim
Graham |
Porsche
962 |
13
Laps |
32:13.724 |
168.640
km/h |
9 |
Nick
Rini |
Jaguar
XJR-12D |
13
Laps |
32:37.817 |
166.564
km/h |
10 |
Paul
Chudecki |
Jaguar
XJR-5 |
13
Laps |
33:33.872 |
161.928
km/h |
11 |
Jim
Mullen |
Spice-Chevrolet |
13
Laps |
33:41.982 |
161.279
km/h |
12 |
Nick
Adams |
Spice-Cosworth |
12
Laps |
28:25.534 |
176.495
km/h |
13 |
Richard
Bateman |
Tiga -Rover
GC2 |
11
Laps |
31:54.180 |
144.152
km/h |
14 |
John
Edwards |
Porsche
934R |
11
Laps |
32:10.433 |
142.938km/h |
15 |
Neil
Clark |
Harrier
LR9 |
11
Laps |
32:46.905 |
140.286
km/h |
16 |
Benton
Bryan |
Lancia
LC2 |
9 Laps |
33:51.987 |
110.078
km/h |
17 |
Richard
Bryan |
Porsche
962C |
11
Laps |
32:51.197 |
139.982
km/h |
18 |
John
Grant |
Jaguar
XJR-17 |
11
Laps |
32:51.427 |
139.966
km/h |
19 |
Nigel
James |
Spice-Cosworth |
4 Laps |
09:47.197 |
170.878
km/h |
FL |
David
Mercer |
Spice-Cosworth
SE90C |
|
2:15.270 |
185.442
km/h |
Result - Race
2
1 |
Win
Percy |
Jaguar
XJR-11 |
16
laps |
40:23.433 |
165.615
km/h |
2 |
David
Mercer |
Spice-Cosworth
SE90C |
16
Laps |
40:23.927 |
165.581
km/h |
3 |
Jim
Mullen |
Spice-Chevrolet
GTP |
16
Laps |
40:34.969 |
164.830
km/h |
4 |
Gerry
Wainwright |
Spice-Cosworth
SE90C |
16
Laps |
40:43.688 |
164.242
km/h |
5 |
John
Grant |
Jaguar
XJR-17 |
16
Lpas |
40:59.183 |
163.207
km/h |
6 |
Nick
Randall |
Spice-Cosworth
SE88C |
16
Laps |
42:36.513 |
156.994
km/h |
7 |
Jim
Graham |
Porsche
962 |
16
Laps |
43:12.981 |
154.786
km/h |
8 |
Benton
Bryan |
Lancia
LC2 |
15
Laps |
41:30.031 |
151.131
km/h |
9 |
Richard
Bryan |
Porsche
962 |
14
Laps |
41:29.068 |
141.092
km/h |
10 |
John
Edwards |
Porsche
934R |
14
Laps |
41:34.140 |
140.805
km/h |
11 |
Bill
Tully |
Harrier
LR9 |
14
Laps |
42:36.220 |
140.688
km/h |
12 |
Paul
Whight |
Aston Martin
AMR-1 |
10
Laps |
23:56.025 |
174.682
km/h |
15 |
Phil
Stott |
Argo
Chevrolet |
9 Laps |
23:27.796 |
160.366
km/h |
16 |
Richard
Bateman |
Tiga Rover
GC2 |
7 Laps |
20:02.842 |
145.902
km/h |
17 |
Donald
Miles |
Jaguar
XJR-5 |
6 Laps |
42:39.126 |
58.813
km/h |
18 |
Justin
Law |
Jaguar
XJR-10 |
2 Laps |
09:19.644 |
86.646
km/h |
FL |
David
Mercer |
Spice-Cosworth
SE90C |
|
2:15.925 |
184.549
km/h |
Winners
List
|
|
Race 1 |
Race 2 |
|
|
|
|
|
1st
Overall |
Justin
Law |
Win
Percy |
|
|
|
|
Class 1 |
1st |
Justin
Law |
Win
Percy |
|
2nd |
David
Mercer |
David
Mercer |
|
|
|
|
Class 2 |
1st |
Jim
Graham |
Jim
Graham |
|
2nd |
Benton
Bryan |
Benton
Bryan |
|
|
|
|
Class 3 |
1st |
Chris
Randall |
Gerry
Wainwright |
|
2nd |
Allen
Lloyd |
Nick
Randall |
|
|
|
|
Class 4 |
1st |
Paul
Chudecki |
Richard Bateman |
|
2nd |
Richard Bateman |
Don
Miles |
|
|
|
|
Class 5 |
1st |
John
Edwards |
John
Edwards |
|
2nd |
Neil
Clark |
Bill
Tulley |
|
|
|
|
Eau
Rouge |
|
Benton
Bryan |
|
La
Source |
|
Richard Bryan |
|
Blanchimont |
|
Jim
Mullen |
|
|
Click Here for pictures from the Spa event |