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Oulton, 12th April 2004

Race Review by Richard Hollis

Following a winter of extensive testing (by some) and major rebuilding of engines (by all), it was an unfamiliar situation that greeted the 2cv racing circus at Oulton Park for the first two rounds of the season. Would the engines hold together? Would anybody actually have their engines ready? And would Gary B Adnitt be beaten? Given that Collier Racing were not competing, it seemed that the chances of the latter happening were pretty certain.

It was good to see a few new/semi-new faces in the paddock. In fact there was no shortage of drivers at the meeting. Many appeared to have forgotten to bring their race cars. Warwick Howlett forgot the car but brought all the spares. Mick Storey faired the worst, as not only did he forget to tow his race car, he forgot the motorcaravan as well and spent the night under canvas.

2003 series runner-up Phil Myatt started favourite, although how much the new camshafts would close up the field meant that the formbook could very well be turned on its head. Steve Panas arrived with a brand new car with backing from AVO, 2002 Champ Pete Sparrow was back, this year driving in Martin Harrold's Fine Print team. Jon Davis and the Hollis brothers clearly thought that new colour schemes were needed for their cars to improve speed. All would become clear as the cars headed out for qualifying for the first race.

 

Race Reports
2004
Championship Results
Calendar
Oulton Park April 12th
Mallory Park April 25th
Pembrey May 15/16
Stowe May 29/30th
Snetterton June 18/20th
Lydden Hill July 17
Brands Hatch July 25th
Cadwell Aug 15th
Silverstone Nat. Sept 18th

Pembrey Oct 16/17th

Phil Myatt took pole, although he was only two tenths ahead of a pleased Wayne Cowling. Panas, Sparrow, Simon Pearson and Paul Robertson made up the top six, whilst further back Peter Wann was glad to just be on the grid as his car had only be finished the night before, and had a completely untested (and slightly smoky) engine in it. Trevor Williams and Richard Hollis were both experiencing engine problems, which restricted not only their laps, but their best times as well. Matthew Hollis was going considerably better than his brother until it was discovered that he was 10kg underweight, which could have explained their speed differential. Matthew was put to the back of the grid with a 10 second penalty, allegedly so he could be closer to his brother.

Qualifying for race 2 saw different track conditions, but the same result. A heavy shower prior to the session meant the track was very greasy, as demonstrated by virtually every car. The spectators didn't know where to look as cars spun off left, right and centre, but ultimately it was still Myatt in front, this time joined on the front row by Sparrow, who proved that going backwards down Cascades was spectacular but slower than the recommended direction. Simon Turner took over Robertson's seat, again qualifying in that familiar 6th place. Peter Wann had discovered an oil leak following first practice, which was fixed for 2nd practice, allowing him to do one lap before deciding actually it wasn't fixed, and conking out.

RACE 1
As the lights went out, Wayne outdragged Phil into the first corner, but positions were reversed halfway round the first lap. Myatt then managed to gradually pull away form Cowling and Sparrow, who raced as one right up to the flag. Steve Panas had a good race for the first few hundred yards before coasting to a halt at the bottom of Cascades, perhaps taking the term �sprint' race a little too literally. This left Simon Pearson to come home a lonely fourth, following a spin at the first corner on lap 5 by Paul Roberston, which dropped him a whole lap and resulted in 13th place at the flag. Whilst the leaders may have been spread out at the front, the six-car battle for 5th was intense. Mr. Chairman Trevor Williams, Tim Williams (no relation!) and Jon Davis were the early leaders of the pack, before Andrew Smith and Christine Thompson took over the duty. However, with three laps to go, it was Matthew Hollis who headed the train of cars, having come from the back in a storming drive following the 10 second penalty. On the line it was Hollis who took 5th, ahead of Smith, Thompson, Trevor Williams, Tim Williams, and Davis. Katie Croucher had a good scrap with Wann, who had only just made the race thanks to help from Tete Rouge Racing. Croucher took 11th as Wann decided to finish the race one lap too soon. Richard Hollis only managed 2 laps before the fuel filler unit fell off his car. Claims of deliberately dropping parts of his car on the track to create obstacles for others were strenuously denied.

RACE 2
Perhaps Phil felt he should give everyone else a chance as at the start of race 2 he decided to drop to 5th by the first corner. Sparrow initially took the lead into the first corner, but at the end of the first lap it was Cowling in the lead, followed by Steve Panas, Myatt, Sparrow and Pearson. Phil managed to retake the lead on lap 2, but any hopes he had of repeating his comfortable victory in the first race were soon abolished as both Cowling and Panas stuck to his bootlid. Pearson slipped past Sparrow on lap 4, but on the 9th lap Simon went off heavily into the tyres at the exit of the first corner, which undoubtedly was not part of his race-plan. As in the first race, the battle for 5th involved a multi-car scrap, with M Hollis, Smith, Thompson and Trevor Williams again involved, this time joined by Simon Turner. Positions swapped constantly on every lap with regular 3-abreast racing. At the final corner it was Hollis who sneaked up the inside of Smith, with Turner following through for 6th place. Richard Hollis got to the end of the race this time, but with an engine down on power that meant he just didn't have enough grunt to get past Matt Riley (sharing the car with Tim Williams) down the straights. Katie had handed her car over to Graham Taylor who came home in 12th, despite trying to start the race in the wrong gear. Jon Davis dropped back into the clutches of Peter Wann by the end of the race, and later discovered that he had low compression explaining his change of pace from the first race. Wann's engine was itself very tired by now, but Peter had enjoyed the day, and had at least found out a lot more about his engines! By the end, Phil had managed to squeeze out a 3 second gap to Cowling, with Panas 3rd, though only just ahead of Sparrow.

Review of results

ROUNDS 1 & 2 Qualifying (Race 1)

 

Pos

No.

Name

Time

Deficit

1

2

Philip MYATT

1:30.208

 

2

4

Wayne COWLING

1:30.480

+ 0.272

3

11

Steve PANAS

1:31.558

+ 1.350

4

97

Pete SPARROW

1:32.128

+ 1.920

5

69

Simon PEARSON

1:33.186

+ 2.978

6

63

Paul ROBERTSON

1:34.624

+ 4.416

7

18

Christine THOMPSON

1:35.686

+ 5.478

8

56

Tim WILLIAMS

1:37.544

+ 7.336

9

77

Jon DAVIS

1:38.519

+ 8.311

10

46

Andrew SMITH

1:39.029

+ 8.821

11

25

Peter WANN

1:39.084

+ 8.876

12

88

Katie CROUCHER

1:39.595

+ 9.387

13

8

Trevor WILLIAMS

1:41.811

+ 11.603

14

71

Richard HOLLIS

5:27.954

+ 3:57.746

15

72

Matthew HOLLIS

1:37.122

+ 6.914

 

N.B. No. 72 demoted to back of grid + 10 second penalty for being

underweight

 

Race 1 Result (12 laps)

 

Pos

No.

Name

Laps

Time

Deficit

1

2

Philip MYATT

12

18:25.172

 

2

4

Wayne COWLING

12

18:36.955

+ 11.783

3

97

Pete SPARROW

12

18:37.179

+ 12.007

4

69

Simon PEARSON

12

19:16.452

+ 51.280

5

72

Matthew HOLLIS

12

19:38.808

+ 1:13.636

6

46

Andrew SMITH

12

19:39.382

+ 1:14.210

7

18

Christine THOMPSON

12

19:40.346

+ 1:15.174

8

8

Trevor WILLIAMS

12

19:41.905

+ 1:16.733

9

56

Tim WILLIAMS

12

19:42.453

+ 1:17.281

10

77

Jon DAVIS

12

19:45.321

+ 1:20.149

11

88

Katie CROUCHER

12

20:06.484

+ 1:41.312

12

25

Peter WANN

11

18:25.201

+ 1 Lap

13

63

Paul ROBERTSON

11

19:40.698

+ 1 Lap

 

DNF

71

Richard HOLLIS

2

 

DNF

11

Steve PANAS

0

 

Fastest laps (Race 1)

Pos

No.

Name

Time

Deficit

1

2

Philip MYATT

1:30.285

 

2

97

Pete SPARROW

1:31.460

+ 1.175

3

4

Wayne COWLING

1:31.634

+ 1.349

4

69

Simon PEARSON

1:33.790

+ 3.505

5

63

Paul ROBERTSON

1:34.801

+ 4.516

6

46

Andrew SMITH

1:35.102

+ 4.817

7

72

Matthew HOLLIS

1:35.213

+ 4.928

8

56

Tim WILLIAMS

1:35.406

+ 5.121

9

8

Trevor WILLIAMS

1:35.606

+ 5.321

10

18

Christine THOMPSON

1:35.816

+ 5.531

11

77

Jon DAVIS

1:36.678

+ 6.393

12

25

Peter WANN

1:37.692

+ 7.407

13

88

Katie CROUCHER

1:38.331

+ 8.046

14

71

Richard HOLLIS

1:50.715

+ 20.430

15

11

Steve PANAS

no time

-

 

Qualifying (Race 2)

 

Pos

No.

Name

Time

Deficit

1

2

Philip MYATT

1:39.031

 

2

97

Pete SPARROW

1:40.040

+ 1.009

3

4

Wayne COWLING

1:40.192

+ 1.161

4

69

Simon PEARSON

1:41.683

+ 2.652

5

11

Steve PANAS

1:41.715

+ 2.684

6

9

Simon TURNER

1:41.897

+ 2.866

7

77

Jon DAVIS

1:43.849

+ 4.818

8

8

Trevor WILLIAMS

1:44.757

+ 5.726

9

46

Andrew SMITH

1:44.871

+ 5.840

10

71

Richard HOLLIS

1:45.424

+ 6.393

11

72

Matthew HOLLIS

1:45.882

+ 6.851

12

18

Christine THOMPSON

1:46.847

+ 7.816

13

58

Matt RILEY

1:47.653

+ 8.622

14

25

Peter WANN

1:49.595

+ 10.564

15

88

Graham TAYLOR

1:50.206

+ 11.175

Race 2 Result (12 laps)

 

Pos

No.

Name

Laps

Time

Deficit

1

2

Philip MYATT

12

18:20.892

 

2

4

Wayne COWLING

12

18:25.123

+ 4.231

3

11

Steve PANAS

12

18:44.100

+ 23.208

4

97

Pete SPARROW

12

18:46.256

+ 25.364

5

72

Matthew HOLLIS

12

19:18.414

+ 57.522

6

9

Simon TURNER

12

19:18.764

+ 57.872

7

46

Andrew SMITH

12

19:18.855

+ 57.963

8

18

Christine THOMPSON

12

19:19.755

+ 58.863

9

8

Trevor WILLIAMS

12

19:34.818

+ 1:13.926

10

58

Matt RILEY

12

19:46.376

+ 1:25.484

11

71

Richard HOLLIS

12

19:46.770

+ 1:25.878

12

88

Graham TAYLOR

11

18:19.382

+ 1 Lap

13

77

Jon DAVIS

11

18:23.290

+ 1 Lap

14

25

Peter WANN

11

18:23.317

+ 1 Lap

 

DNF

69

Simon PEARSON

8

 

 

Fastest laps (Race 2)

 

Pos

No.

Name

Time

Deficit

1

2

Philip MYATT

1:30.273

 

2

4

Wayne COWLING

1:30.890

+ 0.617

3

11

Steve PANAS

1:30.907

+ 0.634

4

69

Simon PEARSON

1:31.942

+ 1.669

5

97

Pete SPARROW

1:32.004

+ 1.731

6

72

Matthew HOLLIS

1:33.556

+ 3.283

7

46

Andrew SMITH

1:34.096

+ 3.823

8

18

Christine THOMPSON

1:34.242

+ 3.969

9

9

Simon TURNER

1:34.746

+ 4.473

10

8

Trevor WILLIAMS

1:35.059

+ 4.786

11

25

Peter WANN

1:36.609

+ 6.336

12

58

Matt RILEY

1:37.210

+ 6.937

13

71

Richard HOLLIS

1:37.315

+ 7.042

14

88

Graham TAYLOR

1:37.539

+ 7.266

15

77

Jon DAVIS

1:38.269

+ 7.996

 

 

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