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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  


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