Moderator's Report

Congratulations to Claudio Navonne on a flag to flag victory and a faultless drive. After Jody Kitching had taken care of the rest of the grid for him his only real worry, once he had stopped laughing, was concern over everyone's ability to clear the grid before he came round to start lap two. The start aside, it was a very clean race with a good deal of courtesy shown by drivers being lapped and a high standard of rejoins after the off-track experiences.

Could everyone please note that the correct procedure for carrying out a Stop and Go penalty is for the car to come to a complete rest within the pit stall area. This means all of the car within the stalls; not in the pit lane and not half way between the two.

Lap 1 Start Jody Kitching and Leroy Bailey et al

The start was unintentionally tight for which you have the apologies of the mods. However, this should have meant that everyone would take particular care over their start. Unfortunately Jody drifted right into Leroy and all hell was let loose. Claudio, who did the fastest and straightest start probably couldn't believe his luck. I wish to make it clear that I am looking for a season of perfect starts and so the standard penalty is applied. Having needed to do a ShiftR at the start Jody duly performed a SnG at the end of lap 1. Unfortunately, he did not execute this correctly, stopping in the middle of the pit lane, well short of the stalls.

• Jody Kitching — penalty — Lack of care at the start — 3 places lost (plus 2 for penalty points)

Lap 3 Dave Lawrence and Michael Turner T7R

I have decided to call this a racing incident but only after a lot of head scratching. This was a very popular spot and Dave was not the only person doing a rejoin at the time. Dave regains the track in copy book fashion but as he moves off, moving towards the right of the track, he spots Michael's Honda approaching. Michael appeared to me to have heeded the yellow flag and backed off but then both drivers seem to be struck with indecision. Michael doesn't back off enough to give himself a chance of using either side of the track and Dave neither accelerates to get out of the way nor gets back off the circuit. Dave's position on the left of the track becomes the racing line just as Michael wants to use it. As a result Michael has to take avoiding action. Michael comes off worse, bouncing into the fence on the outside of T8L. Dave is new to UKGPL and needs to gain some confidence. He did a grand job of getting out of everyone's way throughout the rest of the race. Michael suffered the consequences of not backing off sufficiently to keep all his options open.

Racing incident

Lap 22 Moss 2, Tim Robey and Claudio Navonne

Claudio is coming up to lap Tim when he loses control whilst exiting the second part of Moss. He makes a bad rejoin in front of the race leader. Claudio was wise to him and backed off and gave him a wide berth; as a result of which Tim got away in front of Claudio. I suspect that Tim noticed the blue flags at the end of the straight and moved to the outside of T8L to let Claudio through. A rejoin does not have to cause an accident to be bad. Tim came back onto the track at such an angle that he could not see what was coming from behind him. He then tried to race the car that he had just rejoined in front of. In mitigation Tim could not have easily distinguished between the car behind and the leader and Claudio obviously closed on him faster than he expected reducing the time that he actually had available. Furthermore, no contact was actually made so I will reduce this to a warning.

• Tim Robey — warning — Lack of care rejoining the track

Moderator's Report

Congratulations to Jody Kitching on a fine win, making amends for his unfortunate start to the season at Mosport.

There were quite a few incidents scattered throughout so this gets to be a little on the long side. It also occurs to me that some of you need to slow down on the rate at which you gather Yellow Card Points, or calculation of future penalties is going to be a nightmare.

As a general note there is a need for all Clubman’s Cup drivers to be a little less eager to rejoin the fray after an incident and to consider what impact their move may have on others. Risky maneuvers in close company are not to be recommended if you are not very confident of being able to pull it off correctly.

A total of twelve Shift-Rs are taken throughout the race.

Lap 1 Start Peter Stenning, Ben Summers, Richard Kings, Tim Robey Claudio Navonne and Ian Bassi
There were actually two crimes against GPL here, committed one after the other by Peter. Peter obviously had a good qualifying session as he was second on the grid. When the flag drops he gives his Lotus its head; which it promptly attempts to bury in the left hand Armco. Miraculously, he misses everyone and thus the penalty is reduced to two places.

• Peter Stenning — penalty — Lack of care at start — 2 places lost

After the impact with the barrier comes the second and more heinous crime. The result of the impact is that Peter is left facing the wrong way and going backwards. All looked fine at this point but instead of staying out of the way Peter turns his car straight across the rest of the grid. Since he started on the front row this was bound to cause mayhem. Ben Summers, Richard Kings, Ian Bassi, Tim Robey and Claudio Navonne are all caught up in the collisions. These drivers were not being in any way reckless and thus the two that needed them, Tim and Claudio, are allowed a no-fault Shift-R. Richard and Ben also received damage.

• Peter Stenning — penalty — Diabolical rejoin — 3 places lost

Lap 2 Ascari, Claudio Navonne and Ian Bassi
Ian’s exit from Lesmo 2 is not good, and he is in a Cooper, so takes the inside line into Ascari, forcing Claudio in his Honda to take the outside. Claudio draws along side as they enter the corner but over estimates the rate at which he is passing Ian. At mid-corner Claudio moves across to the inside and causes side by side contact. Ian survives, apparently, but Claudio needs a Shift-R to continue. It was obvious from the way that Ian took up a defensive line quite early that he was not going to yield. Claudio should have run around the outside and if that did not complete the pass he would have been able to use the superior speed of the Honda down the straight.

• Claudio Navonne — penalty — Side contact — 2 places lost

Following the previous incident, Claudio pulls into the pits to do his SnG but doesn’t stop. It is a stop and go, not a drive through penalty that is required.

• Claudio Navonne — Incorrect SnG — 15.000 seconds added

Lap 3 Claudio Navonne Shift-R
Claudio performs a Shift-R on lap 3 but as with the previous case does not stop completely when performing the subsequent SnG.

• Claudio Navonne — Incorrect SnG — 15.000 seconds added

Lap 6 Lesmo 1 and 2, Chris Bull, Ben Summers, Ian Bassi, Richard Kings and Dave Lawrence
There was a point here, when I first watched this, when I didn’t think you would ever stop hitting each other. The whole thing kicks off when Chris Bull spins at Lesmo 1 but to his credit he smartly gets out of the way to the inside of the corner and I have no issue with his contribution. From this point onwards the marshal is waving his yellow flag on the way into Lesmo 1. In response to the yellow flag Tim Robey proceeds with caution but unfortunately just at this time Ben Summers is closing fast. Ben initially proceeds with caution but tries to accelerate out of the corner before Tim is ready and thus he shunts him. I have reduced this to 1 place since Tim is very slow out of the corner.

• Ben "Welling" Summers — penalty — Rear end shunt — 1 place lost (plus 1 for penalty points)

The next stage of this saga is that Richard Kings arrives on the scene. He takes heed of the yellow flag and rounds Lesmo 1 to see Ben against the Armco some distance ahead and Tim in a heap against the Armco almost at Lesmo 2. (Ben gave him a good thump) Richard is looking at a more or less clear track and accelerates. Tim then completes the final stages of his accident and bounces out in front of Richard. Richard slams on the brakes but it’s too late and Tim gets clouted again. To some extent Tim has contributed to his own downfall here. Richard, by his own admission, could have proceeded with more caution, given that there were two stricken cars ahead of him. On the other hand, Tim appears to deliberately steer his car to spin it round to face the right direction. This he achieves but this leaves him blocking Richard’s way and then he doesn’t complete the maneuver properly because he doesn’t get it into gear and out of the way before trouble arrives. I initially had this down as a Racing Incident but since both drivers are to blame and since their actions then embroiled others it does need a penalty. It would have been better for Tim to have stayed out of the way until the traffic had cleared rather than attempting a risky move. Although of a much lower degree, it is the same basic problem as Peter’s start in that he is too eager to rejoin the race instead of considering how his actions may impact on others. Richard accepts that he should just have approached with more caution. In mitigation, the one-car-behind limit did not help anyone here and Tim was in “victim” mode at the time. Richard’s contribution in my view was an order lower.

• Richard Kings — warning — Lack of care approachin incident
• Tim Robey — penalty — Bad rejoin — 1 place lost

We then had Ben’s Cooper against the left hand rail, Richard’s Ferrari at a stand still on the right hand side of the track facing forwards and Tim assigned to the grass on the inside of Lesmo 2, battered and facing the wrong way again. Enter Ian Bassi. Ian approaches with suitable caution but just doesn’t give Richard’s static Ferrari enough space. He snags Richard’s left rear wheel with his front right and ends up against the left hand barrier, facing the wrong way. I can’t really explain why Ian didn’t aim a little further left, and he hasn’t told me. It is possible that he was looking at Ben more than Richard. Richard was able to make his getaway at this point. Ian drives cautiously into Richard and is spun to the outside of Lesmo 2.

• IanBassi — warning — Lack of care approaching incident

Enter Dave Lawrence. Dave approached the scene with due caution and made to pass between the stationary Cooper of Ian Bassi and the stationary Ferrari of Tim Robey, who was still facing the wrong way and now waiting patiently to rejoin. Ian baffled me again by appearing to wait until he could see the whites of Dave’s eyes before driving full tilt into him. I think that this was actually an attempted spin turn but he could not see Dave because he could only see one car behind. The spin turn was still a risky move because of the close proximity of both Richard and Tim. He should have used a little more caution. Having belted Dave onto the inside of Lesmo 2 his second attempt was much better. The penalty is reduced due to the one-car-behind limit.

• IanBassi — warning — Lack of care rejoining

In the final twist to this epic, Tim was finally able to perform a Shift-R (see above) and proceeded to drive away, only to have Dave back out in front of him. Instead of backing up enough to turn on the grass he chose to back out blindly onto the track. Because this is a low speed incident that had no other consequences besides slightly delaying Tim’s departure, I have reduced this to a one place penalty. Tim omits to carry out a SnG to cover the Shift-R that he took and since the damage was largely due to his own actions he is not permitted a free Shift-R.

• david lawrence — penalty — Bad rejoin — 1 place lost
• Tim Robey — Missed SnG — 15.000 seconds added

Laps 8, 11 and 13 Dave Lawrence no SnG
I assume that this is just Dave’s policy but he takes a Shift-R on laps eight, eleven and thirteen without any attempt at a Stop and Go.

• david lawrence — 3 x Missed SnG — 45.000 seconds added

Lap 14 Parabolica, Alan Walker and Jody Kitching
This incident is triggered by Jody being baulked slightly by Ian Bassi at Lesmo 2. To be fair to Ian, it was probably the appearance of the blue flag that caused his wobble at Lesmo 2 and thus he had little chance to clear out of the way for the leaders. Ian’s wobble caused Jody to take evasive action, thinking that the track may be blocked any second and as a result he was slow out of the corner. This gave Alan the opening that he was looking for and he duly passed Jody on the way to Ascari. Jody gave Alan room and slotted in behind him to return the compliment into Parabolica. The view in Alan’s right mirror showed Jody moving to the right and growing larger as he disappears from view. Alan can’t see Jody but he can hear him and must therefore assume that he is alongside. Jody made his move quite early and thus Alan should assume that Jody has achieved an adequate overlap to make a passing attempt. Instead of allowing Jody the inside of the corner he cuts across to the inside and collides with Jody. Jody appeared to have slowed down enough to confine his cornering activities to the inside of the track and Alan should have stayed to the outside of the corner.

• Alan Walker — penalty — Side contact — 2 places lost

Lap 16 Lesmo 1, Chris Bull and Michael Boylan
This was a bit of a shame as these two had enjoyed some good battles in the early part of the race and I had enjoyed watching it too. They approach Lesmo 1 with Chris in front and Michael following closely behind. Chris doesn’t get the corner entry quite right and scrubs off a lot of speed as he strays wide at mid corner. Chris knew that Michael was close and having lost speed he should have assumed that Michael would be alongside. Unfortunately Chris moves back to the inside and causes a side to side contact.

• Bully — penalty — Side contact — 2 places lost (plus 1 for penalty points)

Lap 18 Lesmo 1, Chris Bull and Richard Kings
Chris visited the sand at Parabolica and makes a decent fist of rejoining at this difficult location. I say difficult because it is almost impossible to steer a course that lets you rejoin whilst still being able to see who is approaching from the rear. One has to rely on sound and in this instance Richard’s Ferrari was making enough noise to wake the dead. Richard saw Chris rejoining and took a tight line around the inside. Unfortunately this didn’t save him. Chris was keeping to the left but became just a little too eager on the throttle which resulted in his car veering sharp right and knocking one of Richard’s wheels off. I would have allowed Richard a No-Fault Shift-R but being within sight of the pits and at a stand still he did a SnG anyway. This was not a deliberate move and Chris had demonstrated that he knows how it is done by his sharing the corner earlier in the race with Michael Boylan. The incident came about through lack of control on Chris’ part. I have thus reduced the penalty to a warning.

• Bully — penalty — Lack of care being overtaken — driver on probation, automatic ban — also, 1 place lost for penalty points

Moderator's Report

Congratulations to everyone for clearing the grid without incident and to Leroy Bailey and Ian Stanley for a good side-by-side first corner at the front of the grid. Not easy by any means. There were an inordinate number of iffy rejoins that caused no actual harm. I have listed these with a caution note so that you can be aware of what is expected. I will not be doing this in future as I hope that you have now got the message. He said hopefully.

There have been numerous incidents that could have been avoided if drivers were to give themselves and others just a little more room. Dicing wheel to wheel is all very good but warp can make a mess of things even if the navigation of both vehicles is spot on.

Lap 1 Turn1: Claudio Navonne and Alan Walker
Claudio tries to swap sides of the track in the middle of T1 on lap- one. This incident demonstrates just what a risky move this is. Under normal rules of engagement, say on lap 2, Claudio, would have had the right to the inside line because Alan did not get a significant overlap before turn in. But, in the usual lap-1 turn-1 mêlée, such niceties are difficult to uphold and one cannot expect that everyone will be working under the same understanding of who was where and when. I shouldn't think that Claudio even knew that Alan was on the planet. Claudio had started from such a wide position on the track and lost speed due to earlier, mid-corner, warp contact. He should therefore have expected faster cars to moving down the inside. The wide starting position of Claudio's car excuses Alan of any penalty although all drivers are still required to act with particular caution under these circumstances. Claudio should really have taken the hint after the first contact and was really chancing his luck to try it again.

This incident would normally be subject to a two place penalty plus an extra place for lap-1 but I have reduced this to a 1 place penalty on the basis that the server was showing three cars behind and Claudio may have thought that he could see enough cars behind him to assume that the coast was clear.

• Claudio Navonne — penalty — Side Contact — 1 place lost

Following the above incident, Claudio performs a Shift-R but does not complete a SnG to cover it.

• Claudio Navonne — Missed SnG — 15.000 seconds added

Lap 1 Turn 2: Mike Turner and Jody Kitching
Mike Turner and Jody Kitching touch at T2 but this would appear to be more down to a loss of control rather than any deliberate attempt to do something wrong. Mike has won the corner and Jody has conceded the place when Mike locks his brakes and understeers wide. He loses speed and Jody just tags him; there is also an element of warp. It is not a rear end shunt that can be blamed on Jody since Mike had just moved across in front of him and Jody had no time to adjust before the accident started.

Racing incident

Following this incident Mikes rejoin is less than perfect.

• Michael Turner — caution — Bad rejoin

Lap 1 Turn 2-3: Chris Bull Mike Cooper
Chris rejoins between turns 2 and 3 but runs himself into trouble at T3. Mike Cooper is passing and they collide at T3. There is no clear cut culprit here as neither driver is squeaky clean. Chris gets himself into an awkward position where he needed to leave the track again or brake heavily once he realises that Mike is about. Either of these responses would carry their own risks and to be fair to Chris, he slows once he sees Mike and Mike doesn't help himself by not giving Chris enough room. Please bear in mind that a rejoin isn't over until you are back up to speed.

Racing incident

Following this incident Chris needs a ShiftR but does not take a SnG

• Bully — Missed SnG — 15.000 seconds added

Lap 1 Turn 4: Michael Boylan and Ian Stanley
Tricky one this. I have spent a lot of time looking at this from all angles and both cars. Ian is following Leroy Bailey and has not come out of T3 very well. He has stayed to the inside of Leech and given him room going in to T4, which is all commendable stuff and just the cautious approach that I have been campaigning for. Unfortunately, whilst Ian is coping with Leroy he also comes under attack from Michael Boylan. Ian's positioning on the track does not give Michael much to aim for but he goes for it, down the inside, and manages to pull it off. Ian attempts to hold a steady line but in truth moves right towards Michael and a warp contact occurs. In my view, this is not a deliberate move and thus I have reduced the penalty to a warning. To be honest, Ian would have been better off giving some ground as my money would have been on his Lotus being first to T5 rather than Michael's Honda.

Ian Stanley – Side contact - warning

• Ian Stanley — warning — Side contact

Lap 1 Turn 8: Alan Walker and Peter Stenning
At first glance this is a simple rear ending by Alan but on closer examination Peter does not give him much chance. Alan is not following too closely; he can see clear track between his car and the bottom of Peters rear wheels. What happens is that Peter brakes early and quite dramatically. I have looked at Peters subsequent laps and he would normally have been travelling 40kph faster at the point of impact. Having observed already that Alan seemed to be leaving sufficient gap one is led to conclude that Peter has unintentionally "brake tested" Alan. I have not applied a penalty since there was no serious misdemeanour. GPL does not give a great amount of warning that the car in front has slammed on the anchors in this way.

Racing incident

Lap 2 Turn 1: Leroy Bailey and Michael Boylan
Leroy has won corner and Michael has no overlap on entry. Leroy has just the slightest mid-corner hesitation, which may be just how he takes the corner, and as a result he is on a slightly wider line than optimum. Michael makes a forceful mid-corner move on the inside and the cars touch. This move by Michael would have been fine in a real- life touring car race but I think that it is too aggressive for Clubmans Cup. You cannot "force" the issue or intimidate a driver into yielding more space when said driver cannot see you.

• Linus27 — penalty — Ambitious overtake — 2 places lost

Lap 2 Turn 2: Michael Boylan, Leroy Bailey and Tim Robey
I don't think that any of the three participants can be that happy with their contributions to this episode but this is my take on it. Mike and Leroy are rejoining after their trip to the grass in the previous incident. Mike loses momentum with a wobble as he gets onto the track and is hence slow approaching T3. He isn't fully up to speed and to be fair he does leave a space on the inside of T3 for unseen enemies. Unfortunately Tim Robey is in the process of passing him at the time. Michael's intentions are spot on but I would just have preferred to have seen him take the corner a little slower so that he was able to stay well to the left. Michael had no view of Tim to speak of but by only giving a one car slot on the inside he presented Tim with a requirement for precision that he was not up to. The GPL drivers view leads Tim to believe that he has the corner to himself when in truth he hasn't. Tim was over committed into the corner on a tight line. Having seen Michael on the way into the corner he should have planned not to use the entire track. His attempt to tighten the turn as he ran wide resulted in his rear wheel swinging out and clobbering Michael's front right. Had either of these drivers given the other a little more space this would not have happened. If this had happened in "normal play" it would have been entirely Tim's fault. Because Michael was still rejoining the fray I think that it shades towards him but I am happy to just issue a caution to both. Leroy's contribution is to run into the back of Tim as he is recovering from the impact with Michael. I'm not at all sure that this wasn't avoidable but I will just issue a caution on this aspect too.

• Leroy 'Leechie' Bailey — caution — Rear end shunt
• Linus27 — caution — Marginal rejoin
• Tim Robey — caution — Side contact

Following this incident Michael Boylan limps to the pits and does a Shift R in the pit lane. This still leaves a SnG to be performed. Not only does this approach take longer than doing a ShiftR at a safe moment on the track but it also means that you are fighting a sick car all the way back to the pits. Hence you may have another accident and involve other drivers. At Kyalami, one of the worst places that you can take a ShiftR is in the pits. The track is narrow there and is just the spot where slipstreaming cars can dive out to pass and find you at a standstill.

• Linus27 — Missed SnG — 15.000 seconds added

Lap 2 Turn 5: Dave Lawrence and Peter Stenning.
Dave puts a wheel off the track on entry and spins through 180. He is left on the track and eventually finds reverse and backs onto the outside of the turn; so far so good. As he rejoins, at 90 degrees to the track and at mid-corner Peter is clearly visible entering the corner. Dave carries on and drives straight across the track in front of him. Luckily Peter avoids him.

• david lawrence — warning — Diabolical rejoin

Lap 2 Turn 8: Jody Kitching and Mike Turner
Mike has had to slow to avoid a spinning Honda and Jody does his level best not to hit him but is already in the corner when the fun begins.

Racing incident

Lap 6 Turn 2: Tim Robey
After spinning, Tim is too eager to rejoin and drives onto the track at 90 degrees.

• Tim Robey — caution — Bad rejoin

Lap 7 and 11 Turns 3 and 2: Jody Kitching
To be fair, Jody defers to traffic once he is on the track but his initial angle of rejoin left him completely blind to oncoming traffic.

• Jody Kitching — caution — Bad rejoin

Lap 8 Turn T4: Leroy Bailey and Alan Walker
This appears to be just a late lunge from way back. Alan is not slow into the corner but Leroy piles into him at quite a rate.

• Leroy 'Leechie' Bailey — penalty — Rear end shunt — 2 places lost (plus 1 for penalty points)

Lap 11 Turn 6: Mike Cooper and Jody Kitching
Mike does not give Jody enough room going in to T6. Please read the heading note about giving other drivers some racing space.

• Oilseal — penalty — Side contact — 1 place lost

Lap 13 Turn 2: Dave Lawrence
Dave crashes and needs a ShiftR to continue but does not take a SnG.

• david lawrence — Missed SnG — 15.000 seconds added

Lap 15 Turn 5: Alan Walker and Leroy Bailey
Leroy dives down the inside of Alan into T5 but Alan sees him coming and lets him have it. Leroy then finds that he has out braked himself and washes out wide at mid corner giving Alan the chance to cut back inside as Leroy loses speed. Unfortunately Leroy then appears to move back to the inside and catches Alan's rear wheel. I'm putting Leroy's move back to the inside to be loss of control as his tyres bite. Alan on the other hand does drift wide. The only thing that stops Alan from collecting the penalty for this one is the fact that Leroy tags him whilst he is still reasonably close to the left side of the track. Alan continues but Leroy spins out. If Leroy had stayed wide, as he probably meant to, no contact would have occurred at that point but I would add a note of caution for Alan in that he appeared to be heading for a wider exit than would have been ideal in the circumstances. If Leroy had gathered himself together a little quicker and stayed wide we may have seen Alan collecting a penalty. I will call it a racing incident although I am hovering on the point of it being at least a caution for Alan.

Racing incident

Lap 16 : Leroy Bailey ShiftR in pits
Following the above incident Leroy needs a ShiftR because he is stranded on the grass bank. He then attempts to do a SnG but the shock of driving through the pit barrier causes him to drive into the solid barrier on the right. He then performs a ShiftR in the pits but does not complete another SnG to cover it. See previous comments re M Boylan lap 2.

• Leroy 'Leechie' Bailey — Missed SnG — 15.000 seconds added

Lap 17 Turn 4: Chris Bull
Bad rejoin without serious consequences.

• Bully — caution — Bad rejoin

Lap 18 Turn 1: Chris Bull
Chris spins to the inside of T1 and rejoins at 90 degrees, completely blind to oncoming traffic.

• Bully — warning — Diabolical rejoin — also, 1 place lost for penalty points

Lap 18 Turn 4: Tim Robey
Bad rejoin without serious consequences

• Tim Robey — caution — Bad rejoin

Lap 17 : Peter Stenning ShiftR and no SnG
Congratulations to Pete on making one engine last until lap 17. However, he fails to take a SnG to cover it.

• Peter Stenning — Missed SnG — 15.000 seconds added

Lap 21 Turn T6: Leroy Bailey, Pete Stenning and Ian Stanley
Leroy loses control and goes onto the grass and I'm sure was being shown blue flags at the time because Pete and Ian were closing in to lap him. Instead of getting out of the way he crashes whilst trying to stay ahead. I would have liked to have seen some effort from Leroy at this point to stay off the track but instead he heads back to the tarmac, that being his best chance of regaining control. This appears a little selfish to me since he knows that he is being closely followed but I will reduce the penalty because there is an element of his not being entirely in control. I would also suggest that Pete should not to make himself quite so vulnerable by trying to pass in front of a car that is out of control. Ian then spins in sympathy. In a nut shell, Leroy should have moved over sooner to let the lapping traffic past then all the agro would have been avoided. The gap back to the next car was quite big so the cars on his tail must have been lapping him.

• Leroy 'Leechie' Bailey — penalty — Ignoring blue flags — 1 place lost (plus 1 for penalty points)

Lack of Pit Barrier: Leroy Bailey, Mike Cooper and Michael Boylan
Unfortunately, these drivers were, for a variety of reasons, all using a version of the track without a solid pit barrier and must therefore be disqualified from the results. In all three cases there was no deliberate intention to do so but the UKGPL rules are very clear on the matter.

• Leroy 'Leechie' Bailey — Thechnical Infringement — excluded
• Linus27 — Thechnical Infringement — excluded
• Oilseal — Thechnical Infringement — excluded

Moderator's Report

Lap 1 Becketts: Steven Foster, Pete Stenning and Michael Boylan
Steve is too close to Pete on the approach to Becketts and thus hits him when Pete slows for the corner. Michael becomes involved and cannot miss Steve's Honda, which appears broadside on in front of him. It is the third corner of the first lap and thus the penalty is increased to 3 places. There is no loss of control by either driver before the impact. Although Michael also becomes embroiled with the incident he was following at a reasonable distance behind Steve and is therefore not considered to have been responsible for his collision with Steve's car.

• Steven Foster — penalty — Rear end shunt — 3 places lost

Lap 5 Stowe: Chris Bull and Mike Turner
Chris moves over on Mike on the entry to Stowe but this appears to be due to his car crabbing sideways under braking as Chris does appear to be attempting to steer left at the time. Since there is no evidence of deliberate intent to block I will call this a racing incident. Chris needs a ShiftR to continue and eventually manages to complete the requisite number of SnGs to cover the number of new Lotuses that he gets through. Mike continues without any apparent ill effects.

Racing incident

Lap 8 Copse: Michael Boylan and Mike Turner
Both drivers contribute to this in their own way. Michael is slow through Woodcote at the end of lap seven and as a result Mike is able to close in. Mike lifts a little in Woodcote which spoils his chances but he moves to the right as he goes down the pit straight. He does not have the necessary speed to pull level with Michael but Michael doesn't know this at the time and pulls right to cover Mike's move. Michael is not actually blocking Mike because Mike did not have enough steam to gain on him. However, instead of moving to the right of centre Michael stays in the middle of the track; effectively blocking both sides. Centre line driving is not an approved means of defence but I am assured that Michael would have needed to spend a good deal more time in the middle of the track than he does here in order for it to be viewed as a misdemeanour.

With Michael in the middle of the track Mike is forced to move one side or the other so that he is not running directly behind Michael, thus giving himself a chance of not rear ending Michael when they get to Copse. Mike moved further to the right and even though he did not have the speed to complete the pass, Mike appears to attempt what can only be called an over ambitious overtaking move into Copse. Mike's penalty is mitigated by the fact that Michael's actions were making it particularly difficult for him to judge his distance from the corner and in particular where his braking point was. I think that Mike would have been better advised to move to the outside thus giving himself the optimum line through Copse rather than pressing on with a lost cause. I also believe that Michael, seeing Mike's apparent wild move, would have been better off moving out of his way, letting him through and then turning in behind him to retake the place on the exit of the corner. Ignoring other factors, Michael probably had the right to turn in but it is worth remembering that having the right doesn't always make it the best thing to do. Either of these actions would have avoided an incident and prolonged the battle.

• Michael Turner — penalty — Ambitious overtaking move — 1 place lost

Congratulations to Leroy Bailey on a fine win, helped a little by Ian Stanley's mid-race crisis on Hanger Straight. A great comeback after Leroy's torrid time at Kyalami.

Congratulations are also due to all of you for making a better fist of the first two corners than the Division 1 types managed. I am delighted to note that the race had very few notable incidents.

Moderator's Report

Congratulations to Steve Foster on his win, in a Honda no less, not the easiest of engines to keep in one piece at Spa.

The race was relatively incident free, the only real problem being a mid-field mêlée at Eau Rouge on lap one. Everyone could do with reviewing how much space they leave between them selves and the car in front on lap-one.

I would also like to congratulate Dave Lawrence for his start. He was off the back of the grid and took the sensible approach of not hammering into T1 with the rest. As a result he was able to drive through all the wreckage and gained several places in the process.

L1T1 Mike Turner, Jody Kitching, Mike Cooper, Richard Kings and Chris Bull.
This was caused by Mike Turner moving from left to right at Eau Rouge without realising who was alongside. As it happens, Jody was in Mike's blind spot and was knocked into the Armco on the right. It is almost impossible to know where everyone is, under start conditions, and thus it is imperative that you do not use a piece of track that may have someone already on it or committed to it. I think that I can only put this down to brain fade. The normal penalty of two places for a side contact is increased by one place for a lap-one incident. No blame for the incident is levelled at Jody.

Richard was the car immediately behind the collision and had left sufficient room to allow him to brake and avoid contact with the spinning pair in front. He thus reaped the benefit of a sensible approach to T1 and was able to drive through the gap on the right as Mike and Jody moved left after contacting the Armco. There is no blame for the incident levelled at Richard.

Mike Cooper was following Richard and was able to brake and jink left to avoid the rear of Richard's car but was not able to avoid hitting Jody. I think that he was just unlucky. He had allowed just about enough space to let him slow and duck past the back of Richard's car as it slowed but was never going to be able to avoid the almost stationary Jody. I think that his change of position on the track was justified and probably a completely automatic reaction. There is no blame for the incident levelled at Mike Cooper but he appears to have decided to retire on the spot.

Chris was the last to join the fun. Mike Cooper and Chris were not following Richard in direct line astern and thus gave themselves the best chance of avoiding contact with the car in font if it slowed. Unfortunately, Mike Cooper had jinked left to avoid Richard and in doing so had greatly shortened Chris' comfort zone. As a result he was unable to avoid contact with Mike. Chris needed a Shift-R to continue which I will allow on no-fault basis.

• Michael Turner — penalty — Side contact — 3 places lost

Lap 6 Pits: Alan Walker
Alan chose to take the Ferrari in place of the car that he would be allowed under the Clubman's regulations and was thus obliged to carry out a SnG to cancel out the increase in performance. At the end of lap five he had Steve Foster's Honda breathing down his neck as he headed for the pits. This was going to be a Stop-n-Go for the win. Unfortunately, in his haste to complete the stop as quickly as possible he overlooks two points. Firstly stopping and secondly getting into the pit stalls. I would just like to point out, as a cautionary note, that at Spa you can find yourself on the racing line if you do not pull completely over to the wall. Alan was not in this position as he was carrying out the manoeuvre quite early in the pit area. I have examined both the server replay and Alan's replay and whilst he definitely stopped his front wheels from turning he did not actually come to rest. 5KPH is the slowest speed that I was able to register on a frame by frame basis. Unlike others who have done a "drive through" rather than a Stop-n-Go, Alan did make a genuine attempt to stop.

Mistiming errors are usually dealt with on the basis of three times the error being added to the finishing times and thus a time penalty of 5 seconds will be added. This is three times the difference between the duration of Alan's stop and the best that I could muster in about half a dozen attempts at a fully legal stop. It is to be hoped that there will not be a spate of near miss SnG attempts as a result of this ruling. If this approach appears to be being abused then such events will just have to be considered as missed stops; with a penalty of 15 seconds.

• Alan Walker — Short/incorrect stop — 5.000 seconds added

Moderator's Report

A fine drive by Mike Turner, which was unfortunately marred by his second corner faux pas, the consequences of which the rest of you cannot have failed to have noticed. So congratulations go to Dave Lawrence for his maiden win in his first season with UKGPL. Well done mate.

Another notable effort, which does not get a mention in the list of sins below, is that Tim Robey definitely deserves a commendation for the most patient and laboured rejoin that I have ever seen. I think that the prancing horse of his Ferrari seemed absolutely dead set on jumping the fence at Big Bend but Tim flatly refused to take the easy route of reversing onto the track. A shining example to us all.

We welcomed two newcomers to our midst for this race and one of them, Ian Docherty, saw it through to the bitter end, albeit using a number of Coopers. The other new driver, Graham Poole, confided in me afterwards that he just didn’t have his racing head on for this event and retired on lap six. Interestingly, Ian and Graham, the two most careful drivers on the track, emerged from T3 in first and second places having started from the very back of the grid. Both seem to have opted to drive the docile Cooper whilst they learn the ropes, which is also to be applauded.

Our two newcomers also both read our rule book and deduced that a 15 second wait in the pits was required after a Shift-R, thus amalgamating the penalty for not taking a SnG with the SnG itself. Their SnGs were thus a little on the long side.

L1 T2: Mike Turner, Steve Foster, Leroy Bailey, at al
A lot has been written on the forum on this one so here is my take on it for you all to chew over. Mike gets off the line very smartly and is able to move across in front of Leroy to the inside of T1. Just as Mike moves over he can see Leroy in his right mirror so no problem there. Unfortunately, Mike clips the curb quite heavily in T1 and is obliged to lift in order to sort himself out. Good work by Leroy means that he avoids hitting him so we are still looking good. Steve actually comes off the line even better than Mike and as a result is closing on him in T1. Steve stays wide in T1 since he knows that Leroy is inside him and so when Mike has his little wobble at mid-corner Steve proceeds to pass Mike on the out side of T1. From this point on, everyone’s fate is sealed.

Steve is approaching T2 at a much greater rate than Mike but still looks to be in control. Unfortunately, as Mike was wrestling his Eagle off the grass he failed to notice Steve heading alongside. Mike moves over, early, to cover the inside of T2 from any possible attack from Leroy, who he can see in his mirror, and finds Steve already there. Having lost speed in the middle of T1, Mike should have relinquished any claim on the apex of T2, since he no longer knew who was there. Nobody is saying that this is easy but Mike’s mirrors did show where Steve had gone. Under start conditions it is far safer to stay in lanes unless you are absolutely positive that there can be no one beside you. You can have two cars on either side of you and not be able to see any of them, either in your mirrors or from the forward view. When I said earlier that everyone’s fate was sealed it was because even if Steve had tried to slow down (and what mayhem might that have caused) I am not at all sure that he would have been able to avoid being hit by Mike. If the two people at the front of the grid at Watkins Glen get equally good starts they will not see each other until they clear T3, and only then if they have a quick peek in chase view. The only way that they can get as far as the straight and still have all the wheels on their cars is to stay in lanes.

So, Mike moves over and clobbers Steve. Steve, being on the inside is not so badly affected by the collision but Mike is flung off the circuit to the outside of T2. Steve would have survived the impact if Leroy hadn’t been so close to him that he could not avoid giving Steve another belt and it was this second impact that caused the entire field to be wiped out. I think that it would be unfair to criticise Leroy for being too close to Steve since they had not travelled more than a few hundred yards.

In keeping with the earlier ruling for Claudio Navonne at Kyalami, I have reduced the initial penalty from two places to one on the basis that Mike’s mirrors were showing a good deal of activity but it is increased for a lap 1 incident and is also increased by I place due to his YCP total. Everyone except Mike Turner, Ian Bassi, Graham Poole and Ian Docherty require a Shift-R to continue and are allowed this on a no-fault basis. This was just as well for Steve Foster as the SnG he did would not have passed muster, being taken in the pit lane instead of the stalls.

• Michael Turner — penalty — Side contact — 2 places lost (plus 1 for penalty points)

Following his contact with Steve, Mike is thrown to the grassy area on the outside of T2. His Eagle is undamaged and when he regains the track, in last place, he guns it up the hill, unfortunately ignoring the yellow flag that is being franticly waved at the entrance to T3. Needless to say, Mike runs straight into the remains of the conflagration at the top of the hill.

Mike Turner Lack of caution approaching an incident. Penalty 3 places.

• Michael Turner — penalty — Lack of caution approaching incident — 3 places lost (plus 1 for penalty points)

Lap 1 T3: Chris Bull and Dave Lawrence
Chris makes an effective, if risky, start gaining several places at T1. He manages to reach T3 in one piece but fails to allow Dave Lawrence enough room as he passes him with the track in front filled with spinning cars. Dave appears to be in with a chance of avoiding contact with the spinning cars in front until he is clipped by Chris. This serves to add more fuel to the fires that are already raging. Until I looked at Chris’ replay I had him down for a hefty penalty. However, Chris’ replay shows that the contact was warp, although not by much. We should all drive to avoid this type of contact by allowing a little more room when possible. Whilst the server replay shows the full horror of what was going on, Chris’ view at the time did not give him a great deal of warning and thus I have just made this a caution. He was probably distracted by Steve’s Honda materialising on its nose in the straw just beforehand, his replay was not showing a yellow flag at the start of T3 and the right hand side of the track looked reasonably clear.

• Bully — caution — Side contact

Lap 1 Big Bend: Graham Poole, Leroy Bailey and Tim Robey
The pressure of going from 14th to 2nd at the start was too much for Graham and he ran wide at Big Bend and finished up in the ditch and up-side-down. Graham waited a goodly spell before emerging with a Shift-R and keeping to the left set of at a steady pace. Leroy and Tim did slow in response to the yellows but then fell over each other and Graham. Tim’s efforts to miss Graham resulted in his slowing down and slewing across the front of Leroy, giving him little chance to miss.

Racing Incident

Lap 2 The “90”: Ian Docherty
Most people wait several seasons to lead a UKGPL event but Ian only had to wait for about 400 yards. Not surprisingly the pressure got the better of him at the last corner of the third lap. Ian made a lot of use of the grass area opposite the pits but on this occasion did not carry out a good rejoin. Only a caution is given since Ian did wait until he could “hear” that no other cars were coming but the angle of rejoin gave him no view as he regained the track. As a result he almost collected a Honda.

• batestfastard — caution — Bad rejoin

Lap 5 The “90”: Chris Bull and Graham Poole.
Graham loses control and is left sitting in the middle of the track as Chris exits the corner. Chris has nowhere to go and gives Graham a hefty thump.

Racing Incident

Lap 9 The “90”: Pete Stenning and Leroy Bailey
Pete loses control under braking which initially causes him to veer left but then he gets well cross threaded and ends up moving back across in front of Leroy who has nowhere to go. In my estimation, the car is in control here rather than Pete. On the basis that Pete’s car appeared to be heading left and then suddenly snapped to the right I will allow Leroy a no-fault Shift-R. He was already braking and heading for the inside of the corner when Pete changed direction. There wasn’t anything else that he could do.

Racing Incident

Lap10 Speed Trap: Steve Foster and Ian Bassi
Steve has caught Ian at quite a rate and as they go around the long left of Speed Trap he pulls to the right. This appears to me to be an attempt by Steve to put the wind up Ian, by dancing about in his mirrors, rather than an actual attempt at overtaking. Ian has drifted to the centre of the track as he has gone around Speed Trap so Steve is pretty much on the right hand side of the track. As Ian brakes for Big Bend he makes a bee line for the inside of the corner. Since he has seen Steve gaining on him down that side this is a bit ill advised. Had Ian braked in a straight line and turned in at his normal spot there would have been no contact. As it is, he occupies the part of the track that Steve desperately needs to slow down for Big Bend.

The contact is just a slight side to side warp at about a foot distance but both cars spin out. The penalty is reduced on the basis of the warp but it is necessary for people to drive with that sort of warp distance in mind if they are going to make it through a race without incident. Steve was already braking for all he was worth and would have little steering under such conditions so although he can see what is coming he is powerless to do anything about it. I do not subscribe to the school of thought that says it is always the fault of the overtaking driver come what may. He has the duty not to initiate anything daft but the guy in front has a duty not to try anything too inventive once the die is cast. Steve could not have predicted Ian’s move and as I have already stated, I do not think that this was a serious overtaking move in the first place. Steve had positioned himself to avoid contact in the event of an early braking move by Ian.

I have further reduced the penalty on the basis that I cannot be absolutely sure that Ian had full control of his car at that point. Because he had drifted wide, he had little chance to ensure that his car was running straight before he needed to brake. I am inclined to take this view since Ian had been under pressure in almost exactly the same manner and at the same spot, earlier in the race and on that occasion braked in a straight line and contact was avoided.

• IanBassi — warning — Side contact

Lap 10 T7: Pete Stenning and Richard Kings
Either Pete’s setup is a bit of a nightmare or he had bent his car in an earlier excursion. Anyhow, Pete loses the back end as he takes that nameless left-hander between Big Bend and The “90”. As a result he is bang on the racing line, at a stand still and facing back the way that he has come, just as Richard arrives. Richard had nowhere to go and ploughs straight into him.

Racing Incident

Lap 12 The Loop: Leroy Bailey
Leroy was having a nightmare with the loop on lap 12. Having touched the grass on the outside he then spun to the inside of the corner. He also tried to climb down from the grassy bank and ended up stranded in the middle of the track. He can see the cars coming at him and tries to dodge them but moves in the wrong direction on both occasions, just clipping Chris Bull but doing him no damage. He escapes back to the inside of the corner but instead of turning and reversing to his right so that he can rejoin safely with his mirrors showing him what is coming, he reverses onto the track.

• Leroy 'Leechie' Bailey — warning — Bad rejoin — also, 1 place lost for penalty points

Lap 33 The Loop: Ian Bassi and Ian Docherty
Ian Bassi loses control as he goes through The Loop on the last lap. Unfortunately, Ian Docherty had just done exactly the same thing and IB found him cowering against the Armco with only three wheels left on his wagon. I.D. already needed a Shift-R on account of his own efforts and thus being thrown across the track did him no further harm. As far as I.B. is concerned it is a racing incident and I.D. still needs to take a SnG. This is not, however, going to be demanded since he had already done a number of 15 second SnGs so his account was well in credit. I.B. carried on to complete his lap. (Note: Will the three Ians please try to hit someone with a different name.)

Racing Incident

Moderator's Report

Congratulations go to Leroy Bailey for a consistent and quick drive in the Brabham. From pole position he led every lap from flag to flag. His nearest challenges came from Ben Summers in his customary Cooper and Jody Kitchen in his Lotus, both of whom were close on speed but could not match Leroy’s consistency.

As a cautionary note, which I hope will be taken on board by one and all, I would like to mention rejoins at Scierie. The point that I want to make is that Scierie is one of those places where it can appear, on the way in, that you are the only bloke on the planet but fluff it mid corner and you can find yourself with more company than enough on the way out. Joining the track half way around such a corner is asking for trouble. It is always better to rejoin on a straight section of track where your mirrors show you who is about.

The race was pretty clean, with a great deal of consideration and awareness given and received. As a result there are relatively few incidents and the start was a peach.

Thanks lads. ;-)

Lap 1 Turn 2 Graham Poole and Mike Cooper
I find it ironic that the two drivers on the grid who were trying hardest not to hit anyone were the only ones who collided. Graham and Mike had both qualified on race fuel to make sure that they were “safe” at the rear of the grid. Both were cautious off the line and through T1 but then the problems started. Mike had passed Graham when the flag dropped so Graham was following Mike. Mike approached T2 in the middle of the track and then braked very early. This effectively “Brake Tested” the least experienced driver in the race. Graham was just not ready for it and because of Mike’s position on the track there was not a lot of “safe” track for him to aim for. This is a rear end collision by Graham but in mitigation Mike did rather bring it on himself. Graham starts off by being well back from Mike but whilst straining to spot his braking point he fails to note that Mike has unexpectedly dropped anchor. In keeping with a similar incident between Pete Stenning and Alan Walker at Kyalami, I will call this a racing incident but would hope that both parties would not be caught out a second time.

Racing Incident.

Lap 4 Scierie: Steve Foster, Tim Robey and Chris Bull
These three approach Scierie with Steve clearly ahead of Tim, who in turn has Chris closing on him as they near the end of the straight. Steve makes a mess of it all on his own and as a result finds himself stranded in the middle of the circuit on the exit. Chris is trying to regain one of the places that he has lost earlier in the lap and moves to out brake Tim into Scierie. Tim sees him coming and takes to the outside of the track in the approved fashion, so he is not in any way to blame for the collision. Chris is obviously attempting to stay on the inside but fails to hold a tight line and drifts out to encroach on Tim’s part of the race track. Chris tags Tim’s right-rear with his left-front and all three cars are involved in a multiple collision. Chris’ replay shows that the contact was quite a distant warp and thus I have decided to call this a racing incident since Tim and Chris were obviously attempting to do the right thing but were just caught out by the on-line warp.

Tim and Steve are able to drive away but Chris needs a Shift-R as his engine is in flames and he unfortunately lands on Steve in the process. Steve’s Honda appears no worse than it was before so he is still able to continue. Chris is claiming a no-fault Shift-R but I do not agree with his assessment and thus a 15 second penalty is applied. This is on the basis that he instigated the overtaking move and was also the driver who was most out of position at the point of contact. For future reference, the only driver who might be due a no-fault Shift-R in this instance, had he needed one, would have been Tim.

Racing Incident.

• Bully — Shift-R without SnG — 15.000 seconds added

Lap 13 Nouveau Monde: Graham Poole, Ian Bassi, Jodi Kitching and Ben Summers.
This is lap 13 for Ian and Graham and lap 14 for the other two. Ian starts the ball rolling by losing it on the exit of Six Feres. As Ian tries to regain control, Graham tries to pass but is obliged to take to the grass on the outside of the left-hander approaching Nouveau Monde. Graham finds himself clattering along the fence and at this point Ben Summers is able to sneak through the action and makes a clean get away. Graham tries to rejoin at a reasonable angle but as his Cooper tries to climb back onto the track it slews sideways and heads out across the track; just catching Jody as he tries to get past to lap. Jody has been forced to the right in order to pass Ian and is not able to avoid just clipping the nose of Graham’s car. Throughout this, the marshal appears to keep his hands resolutely planted in his pockets and thus I do not feel that Jody should have been expected to take any more avoiding action beyond slowing as he did. I cannot be entirely sure of Graham’s intentions either since the sudden lunge onto the track was clearly the cars idea rather than Graham’s. By the time that Graham came to rest, he was awkwardly positioned and obviously felt that a Shift-R was the only safe way of returning to the fray. He completed his SnG a lap later.

Apart from Graham, all cars continued without apparent problems. The marshal’s inactivity on the server replay may be down to the fact that he was showing a blue flag, something that would only appear on a client replay. If this is the case then the leaders would have been closing on Ian and Graham at such a rate that this would probably have been the first indication that they had and since Ian was crawling along the left-hand curb and Graham was trying to uproot the right-hand fence there was little else that one could expect them to do on this count. The appearance of Jody just as Graham’s car lurched back onto the track was just unfortunate.

Racing Incident

Moderator's Report

Congratulations again go to Leroy Bailey for a consistent and quick drive; this time in the Cooper. Ben Summers was keeping him honest in the early stages but after his early departure it was left to Steve Foster to keep Leroy company; albeit a bit distant over the latter stages. The Championship looks like going down to the wire between these two and Ben may still figure in the results.

Brands was a particularly tough test for those who had not previously raced at this venue. As a result there were a few retirements where the prospect of another twenty laps of spins and Armco were just too much to contemplate. A notable exception was Ian Bassi, not the most dedicated of addon track fans in the past, but he stuck to his guns, at a sensible and consistent pace, and was rewarded with sixth spot. He also announced how unexpectedly enjoyable the whole race had been. Nice drive Ian.

The start deserves a mention since it must rank as one of the most difficult tracks to achieve a clean get away. Watching the replay, my heart was in my mouth as you all did a synchronised wiggle as the flag fell but hey, it was magnificent. Of particular note was Mike Turner’s effort all the way around the outside of Paddock. Pity he let Chris Bull frighten him off at Druids. Keep this up and we may even tempt Mike Cooper back.

Thanks lads. ;-)

Lap 2 Druids exit: Graham Poole
Graham has a private accident on lap two as he exits Druids and needs a ShiftR to recover. Unfortunately he has forgotten about it by the time that he makes it back to Clearways and thus a SnG is still owing.

• G Poole — Shift-R with no SnG — 15.000 seconds added

Lap 6 Hawthorns: Chris Bull and Dave Lawrence
Chris spins to the outside of Hawthorns and is making a careful rejoin when Dave sees the yellow flags on the way into the corner and takes it as an instruction to have an accident. Although Chris is rejoining on the outside of the corner he is doing so with some care and is miles away from the racing line so I have no issue with his action. The two cars never touch and Chris gets away first as Dave is recovering from the grass on the opposite side of the track.

Racing Incident

Lap 11 Clearways: Jody Kitching and Chris Bull
Jody spins and ends up on the inside of Clearways facing back towards Stirlings. He sees Chris Bull approaching and times his rejoin to pull out behind Chris. The problem is that from an early stage in the manoeuvre Jody has no idea who may be following Chris. Chris’ Ferrari is not what you would term a “stealth” machine and so Jody has no hope of hearing anyone else either. Jody swings out to mid track before he is facing the right way and should have turned on the grass so that his mirrors gave a view of any action that was following on behind Chris. Thankfully there wasn’t any.

• Jody Kitching — caution — Bad rejoin

Lap 16 Druids: Chris Bull and Steve Foster (The famous Fronda incident)
Quite simply Chris loses control and runs wide coming out of Paddock. He gets two wheels on the grass and either cannot stop or was too wary of applying too much braking in that situation. As a result he runs into Steve at Druids. This is a racing incident. Chris was not following Steve at an unacceptably close distance; in fact he was miles off when the trouble started. The whole incident is brought about by lack of control and Steve was just unfortunate to become involved in Chris’ private accident.

Racing Incident

Lap 18 Start/Finish Straight: Graham Poole and Chris Bull
With Chris Bull in sight, just exiting Clearways, Graham executes a spin turn in order to face the right way. It’s a good effort but Graham takes up about six inches too much track and as a result Chris is sent into a spin. Chris was apparently unharmed and despite the lurid spin, it was one of his better approaches into Paddock. (Sorry Chris, keep persevering with those diffs.)

• G Poole — penalty — Bad rejoin — 3 places lost

Lap 20 Exit from Surtees: Graham Poole
Graham loses it at the exit of Surtees and winds up on the left hand grass just past the bridge. As he rejoins, he is completely blind to who might be approaching due to his own front wheel. Instead of adjusting the angle of his car so that he has a clear view he carries on and trusts to luck.

• G Poole — caution — Bad rejoin

Moderator's Report

Congratulations again go to Leroy Bailey for a consistent and quick drive although he was hard pressed by Ben Summers in the early stages. Ben actually managed to pass Leroy on lap seven; only to go and bin it at the Esses on the following lap. That was really the end of Ben’s challenge and left Leroy to chase Jody for the remainder of the race. With a lap and a half to go, Jody dropped it at the hairpin to allow Leroy through to his third consecutive win. This was all a little academic since Jody had taken the Eagle but seemed to have forgotten to do the required SnG in the second quarter of the race.

There was some quality racing, especially at the hairpin, and I can only find one other item to make any comment on. As you will see below this was a rejoin. There were other rejoins that were a little iffy but Snetterton does not afford much room for manoeuvre in some places and gives little option other than trying to get out of the way as soon as possible.

Thanks lads, one to go and I can hang up my red pen. ;-)

Lap 13 Riches: Tim Robey
Tim spins at Riches, as instructed by the yellow flags that were out for Ben’s three wheeled Cooper. The rejoin is similar to some seen at Brands where Tim starts off being able to see in forward view that the following car has passed safely but then pulls out across the track, totally blind to anyone else that may be following. It would have been better had he turned sharply on the grass and been able to use his mirrors to keep watch on who was coming around Riches as he rejoined.

• Tim Robey — caution — Bad rejoin

Jody Kitching: Faster car handicap (Mandatory pit stop)
In order for Jody to take the Eagle for this race he was required to do a SnG in the second quarter of the race. I suspect that he became absorbed by the prospect of leading the race and forgot all about it. He certainly forgot to tell me about it after the race. The rules state that this should result in his exclusion from the event and this would be the case in any of the other divisions. However, Nev, who has a particular interest in the Clubman’s and Master’s Cups, has declared that he is prepared to follow the normal practice of three times the normal penalty of fifteen seconds for a missed SnG being applied in this instance. The only reason for taking this approach is that we feel that this has probably been done in error and thus a degree of leniency is appropriate. If there were to be a spate of people adopting this strategy then the normal rule of disqualification would be applied.

• Jody Kitching — Mandatory SnG not taken — 45.000 seconds added

Moderator's Report

Congratulations go to Steve Foster for a consistent and quick drive in the Honda which brought him home to his third win of the season. Steve was keeping Leroy Bailey honest until he inherited the lead after Leroy’s engine let go. Steve was then given a little more breathing space when Jody Kitching carried out his SnG to atone for taking the Lotus but Jody chased him all the way to the end. I imagine that Steve was mighty pleased to see the man with the chequered flag.

Congratulations also to Leroy; third was enough for him to secure the championship, just twenty-one points in front of Steve but Steve could console himself with the fact that his efforts managed to fend off a late season challenge from SBRC and enabled the Wazas to lift the team prize. Furthermore, Jody’s efforts in edging out Ben Summers for third spot are also worthy of note.

Karan Saxena and Ian Docherty were having a torrid time but most of the field were running at a pretty similar pace and I shouldn’t think that any of them had a lonely time of it.

Start: Michael Turner and Ben Summers
Michael loses control as he changes up to second; always a critical moment. Unfortunately it causes him to veer across the track and give Ben a severe knock. Thankfully, Ben’s cooper appeared to be untroubled. Since the requirement on all drivers is to keep things straight and level at the start there is no mitigation for lack of control since this is exactly what one is required to maintain. Michael performed a SnG at the end of the lap to cover the ShiftR that he needed to clear the grid.

• Michael Turner — penalty — Lack of care at start — 3 places lost (plus 4 for penalty points)

Lap 1 Dr Tiroch Kurve: Richard Kings and Ian Docherty
Ian does not brake early enough or hard enough to avoid running into Richard. Richard did not slow any more than one would expect with most of the field just in front on the first lap. Being a first lap incident there is an increased penalty of 1 place lost.

• batestfastard — penalty — Rear end shunt — 3 places lost

Lap 1 Bosch Kurve: Dave Lawrence and Ian Docherty
Dave spins in at the Bosch Kurve and ends up stranded in the middle of the track and facing the wrong way. Ed Harrison manages to squeeze past but Ian is less fortunate and just clips Dave’s rear wheel. Ian had slowed when he saw what was going on but could not control the car well enough to avoid contact.

Racing Incident

Lap 3 Dr Tiroch Kurve: Ed Harrison and Chris Bull
Ed finds Chris in the middle of the track and despite slowing down cannot avoid him.

Racing incident.

Lap 4 Hella Kurve: Chris Bull, Ed Harrison, Richard Kings and Dave Lawrence
Chris spins and hits the Armco on the outside of Hella Kurve. Instead of keeping the car against the Armco he turns the steering to swing his car out onto the track even though Ed Harrison and Richard Kings are clearly visible coming around the corner behind him. As luck would have it they both missed him. Unfortunately, Dave Lawrence is presented with a slow moving Ferrari in the middle of the track. Dave goes wide and glances off the Armco but as he exits the corner he swings across in front of Chris and the two cars collide. Chris is able to continue but Dave requires a reset. Dave does not carry out a SnG for this reset but I do not consider it to be a no fault situation. Dave’s loss of control contributed to the situation so he should therefore have carried out a SnG.

Chris Bull Bad rejoin Penalty 3 places
Dave Lawrence Missed SnG Penalty 15 seconds.

• Bully — penalty — Bad rejoin — 3 places lost (plus 2 for penalty points)
• david lawrence — Missed SnG — 15.000 seconds added

Lap 4 : Karan Saxena and Dave Lawrence
Karan has been in the meadow at the Schikane and then loses control again as he crests the rise. As a result he finds himself in a precarious position with his nose against the left-hand Armco. He allows two cars to pass, presumably because he hears them coming and then reverses across the track to the right-hand side such that he is facing the right way. So far so good but now it all goes pear shaped. With another car approaching Karan gives the Lotus a great boot full and does much the same manoeuvre as Michael did at the start, veering across the road and collecting Dave as he was passing. This appears to be an attempt to race away from an “off” instead of cautiously rejoining. I don’t see that there are any grounds for mitigation on the basis of lack of control since, like the start, the driver is required, having gained control, to use sufficient care to ensure the safe execution of the manoeuvre. Dave is allowed a no-fault ShiftR for this incident but still needed to perform a SnG for the incident earlier in the lap.

• Karan Saxena — penalty — Bad rejoin — 3 places lost (plus 1 for penalty points)

Lap 9: Ian Docherty
Ian appears to run out of fuel and needs a reset to continue but his SnG is not in the stalls.
See Lap 12.

Lap 10 Hella Kurve: Ian Docherty
Ian needs another reset but does not take a SnG.

• batestfastard — Missed SnG — 15.000 seconds added

Lap 16: Chris Bull
Chris needed a reset on the last lap and almost made it to the pits for a SnG. He ended up wedged in the pit wall but managed to cross the line anyway. The usual 15 second penalty for a missed SnG is applied.

• Bully — Missed SnG — 15.000 seconds added