Race Report for 18th January, 2003 3hr ProMax Team Enduro R.4 (Winter Series)   Titan Tighten Grip on Series Nine Lives Win in Clubman For the competitors in the SE Promax challenge, the 18th January was our debut visit to Lydd circuit. On the other hand the EKC teams have raced Promax here before and didn’t that extra experience show itself in the results! Twenty two teams signed on, not bad for a mid January meeting and the general discussion revolved around whether the track would dry out before the start of the race at eleven. Just as the majority had decided that it would, the first few drops of a desultory rain postponed that possibility for another thirty minutes at least. Most chose part worn wets for the open practice with some of the better prepared teams swapping to new rubber by the start of qualifying. It has to be said that there was a much greater disparity from fastest to slowest than has been the norm. This was mainly due to lack of testing by the Buckmore/Bayford contingent but we are all quick learners, so as they say, we’ll be back. Pro team ZLK (Roy Watts & Neil Garrison) were blindingly quick in qualifying (as befits the British Champions) and set a pole time some three tenths quicker than anyone else. Top clubman team were GP Racing (Vic Porter, Martin Tench & Neil Hicks) who earned a front row start by a tenth of a second from Nine Lives (Rob Lofting & Glen MacGregor). Another Pro class team, Startrite (Roy, Ian & Dennis Sutton) made it to grid 4 and came within a tenth of Nine Lives. HWB Racing (Mark Harvey, Rob Butler, Andy Buswell and Mike Carrett) set a good time on their first visit to the circuit and found themselves alongside the very experienced Pro team B&R Racing (Mike Humphries, Martin Spears & Steve Stapley) on row three. ZLK flew away at the start but were quickly caught by Nine Lives and for several laps the two teams were bumper to nose cone. Rob Lofting eventually got the better of Neil Garrison and Nine Lives took the lead. Titan Motorsport (Martin O’Neil & Bob Parfoot) were right up the sharp end in the early laps and hung on to third place despite the very best efforts of Startrite and B&R. There were two early casualties requiring mechanical first aid but both Allied 2 (John Mann & Steve Prior) and Sears Racing (Phil Harrison) made it back to circuit, though Sears lost seventeen laps in the process. Before too long it was clear that a dry line was starting to form and teams began to peel into the pits for a change to slicks. Now, we all know that some teams are better drilled than others in this respect but today the difference was more pronounced. This was due to those with experience of Lydd were very aware that the transponder line falls between the pit entrance and exit and made sure that they refuelled at the same time. The Lydd virgins, having not yet sussed it, came in for tyres but left their fuel for the planned window. This meant losing a couple of laps each time due to the placement of the line. I’m sure they won’t make that mistake again. ZLK came out in front after the aforementioned pit stops with Allied 2 in second place. This was a false situation though as Allied 2 could refuel later than the rest due to the lost time earlier in the race. This meant that Team Cobra ASM (Bruce Search, C Styles & David Pooley) were the true runners up at this stage and Titan Motorsport a true third as they had emerged ahead of Nine Lives after their tyre change. Auto 1 Racing (Graham & Mike Johnson) spent a painfully long time in the pits after accidentally crimping the pipe to their pulse pump and Aye Gee Motorcycles (Alan Wood & Derek Repman) had one of those ‘if it can fall off, it will’ days. Two hours into the race and by now there was a totally dry line all round the circuit. Mind you, just millimetres off line it was still pretty damp as many drivers found to their cost. ZLK were certainly looking unstoppable at this stage having a full one lap advantage over Titan. Cobra ASM hung onto third by just five seconds from Stratrite. The next handful of runners were separated by laps rather than seconds but with an hour still to go, anything could happen, and then it did! My next view of ZLK was as I glanced down into the bottom paddock only to witness their kart being returned on a trolley. A dropped chain was the reason and a loss of some five laps was the result. Titan now held the lead by a lap from Startrite and with Cobra ASM just seconds back in third place. Nine Lives were now very much back in the game and were closing in on Cobra. A whole cluster of teams suffered a variety of mechanical misfortune around this time with the notorious Lydd kerbs being partly the cause. The next burst of activity came in the closing thirty minutes of the race when Nine Lives moved up to second on circuit and first in the clubman class. Cobra had not given up though and the gap between the two teams was just under three seconds. Titan’s hold on the number one slot was pretty firm as it was a full seven laps clear of the second placed Pro team, B&R Racing. By the chequer we saw a mighty 73 lap difference between first and last, unusual in this class, but Lydd had been a mighty steep learning curve for some and the variable conditions had tested the teams ability to adapt to the full. Titan Motorsport took the flag with a full lap in hand over Nine Lives, who won the Clubman class. Cobra ASM, who have performed brilliantly all season, were third on track but runners up in clubman. Red Stripe Racing (Tom Robinson, Richard Staley & James Michell) crossed the line in fourth and therefore narrowly missed the trophies but at least had the satisfaction of leading the Pro class runners up B&R Racing. With four rounds done and just two to go, it’s a good time to consider the Championship positions. I have now adjusted the results to take account of the one dropped round. Leading the Pro class are Startrite with 136 points, five clear of ZLK in second. Absent from Lydd but holding third in the series Autotekk are on 129 points whilst Titan hold fourth with 100 despite missing the first two rounds. In Clubman the lead is held by Cobra, not surprising with a podium on each outing. Cobra’s 140 points puts the team 10 points clear of GP Racing and Red Stripe Racing are just a point adrift in third. Round five is in just two weeks time at Bayford Meadows. This will be the last round for the EKC contingent but the penultimate round for the rest of us. I think you would all agree that combining the two grids for the winter has proved to be a great success and I hope it will be repeated next year. Report author: Alan Wood