Round 8 of the 2008 Elise Trophy held at Silverstone 19-20 September 2008.
This round was a bonus for the Elise Trophy drivers, not on the original calendar and an opportunity to drive the Silverstone GP circuit, supporting the Britcar 24 hour race. The weather gods smiled on us and after the direst of Augusts we had late summer sunshine and warm temperatures all weekend.
Qualifying
Class A – Craig Denman’s S1 Elise, newly converted from a class B Duratec engine back to a K-series, was the class of the field, taking class pole in 15th overall with a time of 2:15.407. With Paul Quinn 2nd and Marcus Jewell in 3rd class A looked like being a real scrap.
Class B – Ben Pitch was once again the man to catch in class B with a time of 2:11.208 in 5th overall. Gordon Milner and David Harvey were within 0.5s in 6th and 7th so we were hoping for a good battle in class B.
Class 2-Eleven – Gavin Kirby was comfortable fastest in the 2-Eleven class with a time of 2:10.859 in 4th overall. Paul Bateman and Thierry Verhiest were 12th and 13th respectively.
Class C – Andrew Walsh took a fairly straightforward overall pole with a time of 2:07.261, with Chris Headlam 2nd and Sean Bicknell 3rd.
Race 1 All Classes
| Class A | Class B | 2-Eleven | Class C | Overall |
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Class A – Denman, Jewell & Quinn battled it out throughout the race for the class victory but it was Denman who held on to take the class win in 7th overall, a great result for his first race in class A. Jewell & Quinn crossed the line just 0.6s apart in 9th and 10th respectively. Steve Williams, Ken Savage and Simon Deacon rounded out the top 6 in class A in 14th, 15th & 16th.
Class B – Pitch proved unstoppable yet again with a 2nd overall giving him a comfortable class win. Rob Beves took 2nd and 5th overall, with David Alexander in 8th.
Class 2-Eleven – Kirby put some of his recent woes behind him to take 3rd overall and the class win. Bateman was 6th with Harry Steegmans in 11th.
Class C – Walsh took a lights-to-flag overall and class victory in some style, crossing the line almost 30s ahead of the 2nd placed car. For the rest of class C it was a pretty dismal race, with Headlam forced to retire with his windscreen covered in gearbox oil from Bicknell’s Exige. Both Chris Baker and Andrew Kell also retired, leaving Walsh as the only class C finisher.
Race summary – 45 starters, 36 finished.
Race 2 All Classes
| Class A | Class B | 2-Eleven | Class C | Overall |
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Class A – Wily old ocelot Williams (racing a class A car this weekend rather than his usual Duratec-powered class B car) proved too much of a handful for Jewell and Denman in the 2nd race. After swapping places (and some paintwork!) the 3 of them crossed the line in 10th, 11th & 12th respectively, with just 0.5s separating the 3 of them. Quinn had also been challenging for the lead when he crashed out of contention on the penultimate lap.
Class B – A slow-starting Chris Pearson caused havoc off the strart line in class B. Kirby had to take avoiding action in his 2-Eleven, forcing David Harvey’s 340R onto the grass and into a spin which resulted in him facing the wrong way on the pit straight as the rest of the field headed straight for him! Pitch took his now customary class win with another 2nd overall after a good battle with Kirby’s 2-Eleven, once again followed home in class B by Beves in 6th. Harvey recovered from back of the field to take 3rd in class with 8th overall.
Class 2-Eleven – Kirby took a 2nd class win with 3rd overall after a good tussle with Pitch’s class B car. Bateman was 4th overall to take 2nd in class with Gooday 7th to take 3rd.
Class C – The top 10 qualifiers were reversed for race 2, but that didn’t stop Walsh taking the lead on lap 1 and once again winning the race comfortably. Headlam was running a strong 2nd when he span off into the gravel on lap 8, with 2 laps to go. Kell took 2nd in class with 5th overall.
Race summary – 39 starters, 32 finished.
Conclusion
All in all an exellent weekend’s racing in superb weather on the GP circuit at Silverstone.
Look out for television coverage of Elise Trophy races on Motors TV, with the Cadwell Park races being transmitted in October. For further details of our television coverage and to see a short promo, please check out the Race Television web site.
For round 9 we’re heading north, with a trip to Croft on 27th September.
