Mallory Park Saturday 1st August 2015
I'm not a huge fan of the CSCC's philosophy of 40 minute races for the vast majority of their races. Pit stops in club racing have never provided thrills as usually a good battle for position is nullified by a pit visit. The 40 minute race does however give the entrant more track time for their money plus costs can be shared with an additional driver if required. The humble spectator hasn't shelled out hundreds of pounds to watch though so longer races are understandable though they are certainly not always entertaining!
6 races were on the bill on this particular day with 40 minute races for Tin Tops, Modern Classics and the New Millennium Series. A 15 minute Special Saloons race was their first of 3 over the course of the weekend. The Jaguar Saloons had a 20 minute race plus, to end the day, there was a half-hour Open Sports v Saloons encounter.
After a morning's qualifying which saw a 30 minute delay following Barry Johnson's Porsche 944 crashing heavily at the Esses in the Modern Classic session, racing started with Tin Tops. Catering for Saloons and Hatchbacks and aimed at the Novice racer the race saw a lengthy Safety car period following a trail of oil being laid down at the Devil's Elbow then finally a red flag which brought proceedings to an end a couple of minutes before the allotted 40 following a crash on the way up to the Hairpin.
The Modern Classics saw a last lap pass for the lead at Gerards between battling BMW's, the Special Saloon race saw a dominant win for Ian Hall's 5.2 litre Darrian but race of the day for me was the good old Jaguar Saloon one. The sight of these huge Jaguars lurching around circuits has been hugely entertaining over the years and this race didn't disappoint. Spiced up by a heavy rain shower halfway through the lead battle between Guy Connew's XJ6 and James Ramm's XJS was superb.
Definitely less entertaining was the New Millennium race with 8 cars qualifying but only 6 starting the 40 minute yawnathon! Catering for any Saloon built from 2000 onwards this new series for the CSCC hasn't caught on. A slightly better 10 cars took the start for the Open race which was won by Danny Winstanley's Caterham R300 which provided several Caterham drivers a test session before their own Magnificent Seven race on the Sunday.
All in all this was a day where strangely for me the racing was secondary to actually being at Mallory Park! In truth the longer races felt like a glorified test session especially towards the end of a race. With the PA system inaudible around most of the circuit it was also very difficult to follow what was going on at times.
The lack of PA has been a familiar story at Mallory for many years and truth be told I wasn't that impressed by the state of the place after not visiting it for 12 months. The barrier has finally been moved back on the exit of Gerards but most attention by the circuits's new operators Real Motorsport appears to be towards keeping the noise levels down. Having very nearly been closed a couple of years ago for flouting agreed noise levels for many years the circuit is understandably very keen to maintain good relations with the local residents and Council.
Yes Mallory is a little bit worn around the edges but it still is a fascinating place to watch motor racing. The lack of catch fencing is a joy to behold, especially as I spend most of my time at Donington where it is fenced everywhere. The entry to Gerards is a particularly exciting spot to watch from with cars only a few metres away with an unspoilt view! There were a few spectators to report and I would imagine there would have been a bigger crowd on the Sunday.
All in all it was good to be back but hope my next visit contains more interesting racing. Admission on the gate was £12 and a very good A4 programme was £3
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