2006 Championship Results

2CV Racing season review (Richard Hollis)

Yet another excellent season was had by all in 2CV Racing as over 125 drivers lined up to take part in the races at some point this year! The Championship consisted of a variety of sprint and endurance races which included the now legendary 2CV 24Hour Race at Snetterton. It was battle of the Champions from the start this year, as 3 times Championship winner Pete Sparrow fought off the challenge from 2003 Champion Gary Adnitt and 2004 Champion Phil Myatt. But others would put up stiff competition, as strong showings from new comer Simon Leith and the ever present Hollis brothers to name a few ensured the Championship went to the wire.

It all started back in April with the annual pilgrimage to Prembrey for a 2 hour endurance race to kick things off. With three pit stops being compulsory and up to 4 drivers allowed, it was to be a busy afternoon for the teams and drivers alike. A healthy grid ensured a steady stream of action as the pairing of Myatt and ex-Legends star Shaun McLaughlin lead from Steve Panas and the Leigh and Adnitt pair as they pulled away from the pack. Behind an insane battle for 4th provided a fountain of overtaking and gave the healthy crowd an excellent race to watch along with the constantly swapping leaders. After the stops the silver bullet car lead, having just been built from scratch and the building work being finished in the paddock just minutes before the race! Driven by rookie Oli Hall and the experienced Gary Byatt, only a loose oil filler cap denied them of success. At the flag it was rookie Simon Leigh crossing the line for an amazing first win in his first full season. Only seconds separated him from McLaughin and Panas, who had driven on his own for the whole race in his new British Racing Green liveried car. In all, a stunning season opener.

The next race was the big one, The 2006 Stingray 2CV 24 Hour Race at Snetterton. An incredible 33 teams lined up to battle out the annual mother of all budget endurance races and a phenomenal race ensued. The Tete Rouge Team from Retford proved the most ambitious entering 3 cars which throughout the race all ran top 10 and with two of the cars leading in formation for part of the distance. Serious challenges came from amongst others Wayne Cowling’s Team Gadget Racing, Team Tigger, and Rocket Dog Racing, who all posted super quick laps. The greatest thing about the race that always strikes people is the camaraderie between teams. Down at the adeptly named Crisis Racing, a crisis had ensued with a new gearbox and engines parts being needed after a serious flywheel issue. Several teams offered spares and even helped fit them to their rivals, illustrating the desire to see everyone finish, with similar scenarios occurring frequently in the race. Close to the end it looked like Tete Rouge might record and 1-2 but the TR2 car suffered a problem and pitted for an engine change and dropped 15 laps leaving them in 8th. Team Gadget were now in real competition with Tete Rouge 1, yet both teams lost a number of laps with an engine change for TR1 and gearbox change for TGR. This then amazingly brought into contention the unlikely rookie team of the Boss Hoggs Army driving a bright orange 2CV racer for the first time and the under funded Hollis Motorsport car, with a full wash and polish being the only preparation for this year’s event. Both teams were some 5 seconds a lap off the pace, but having not stopped for anything else other than the necessary fuel and new drivers, both found themselves in a position to win. In fact at the flag it was Tete Rouge 1 who took the honours just 4 laps ahead of Hollis Motorsport after some 850 laps. Boss Hoggs Army were unlucky not to stand on the podium after being over taken for 3rd by Team Gadget on the last lap they monstered through the field to catch up! Else where every team had some story to tell of how they beat the odds but such was the success of Europe’s only budget 24 Hour race, a full grid of 40 cars could be expected next year!

The Championship then progressed to Cadwell Park for 2 sprint races. Gary Adnitt wheeled out his freshly painted 2003 championship winning car and promptly set pole for race 1. He was to face strong opposition from 2CV Racing legend Sparrow throughout both races as this lead pair broke free and spent the entire race less than a second apart in between switching places. The battle behind was intense with many examples of 3 a breast racing evident. 3rd to 8th was a tight battle but across the line in both races came Richard Hollis coming from around 7th on both occasions. It was Sparrow who took victory from Adnitt in race 1 but the positions were reversed for race 2. Elsewhere Graham Harper and Derek Coghill made the long journey from Scotland and had entertaining races, with Derek racing a fully road legal 2CV. Now after 4 rounds the Championship race was between around 8 drivers with the main challengers in the form of Sparrow, Adnitt, Leigh and Hollis.

Anglesey was the Championship’s second Welsh expedition and it was time for Graham Harper and Christian Callander to shine. Graham has been a front runner since day 1 of 2CV Racing in 1989 and his car still had the speed as they put themselves on the front row for Race 1. Spread over a weekend, like all the rounds this year, allows the other great draw of 2CV Racing to flourish – the social side, needless to say the last people to be removed from the bar were the 2CV racers and the bitter wind put pay to the usual outside party. The track was dry and dusty in qualifying causing many offs but by the race the drivers were on the pace and Sparrow took the flag from a hard charging pair of Panas and Leigh, further back Matthew Hollis pulled off a stunning move from 8th to 4th round the outside of the first corner to take the place from his brother! Come the endurance race it appeared it was anyone’s race after the pit stops, as Leigh took the lead shortly before being overhauled by Club Chairman Trevor Williams driving an inspired race. Eventually it was Sparrow, co-driven by Tete Rouge team owner Paul Robertson taking 2nd from the lightening quick Callander and Harper. Adnitt and Leigh took the full honours to rack up their second endurance win together.

And so it was to be Mallory Park that would host the last round and decide the title for 2006 which was between the three drivers of Sparrow, Adnitt and Leigh all of which had at least won three races this season. 24 cars lined up to start, with Callander on pole from Sparrow, with Leigh down in 7th and Adnitt surprising opting not to start as top 3 in the championship was in the bag for him in theory. A long wait at the start for the lights to change meant Cowling was caught out and lost places from his 3rd grid slot and Callander dropped to 4th, up front Richard Hollis challenged for the lead from Sparrow, whilst everyone else drove 4 or 5 a breast as they battled for all of the remaining places. Indeed across the line on lap 2 the gap between 4th and 21st was just 8 seconds. One of the amazing sights of 2CV Racing is the slipstreaming that occurs and Mallory is most suited to this. The top 3, which now included Callander who had climbed up to 2nd, rotated as if they had magnetic bootlids for the entire race. Further back, Oli Hall and Steve Panas climbed up through the field from 14th and 16th respectively and by the flag reached an excellent 5th and 6th, with Oli picking up the fastest lap of the race! The excitement had to end eventually and Sparrow cross the line at the end of the 12th lap, thus crowning him Champion and notching up a record 4th championship since 1989, confirming him as the most successful 2CV Racer in UK history! Callander finished his best season for a while taking 2nd, whilst Hollis just missed out on 3rd in the Championship after taking the last podium place, but along with brother Matthew and father Nigel took the 2006 2CV Team Championship for Hollis Motorsport. Further back Simon Leigh, in his rookie season, took 8th in the race and 2nd in the Championship.

The 2CV Championship remains successful and competitive and offers everything that budget racing should, including plenty of overtaking! Well done to Pete Sparrow and roll on 2007. Get yourself involved by checking out the website at 2cvracing.co.uk and log on to the forum to see the drives available for next year and the cars for sale.

Richard Hollis - March 2007