VTEC Challenge @ Snetterton

[Jonathan F]

Snetterton 200: August 27th (Rounds 11 and 12 of BARC’s VTEC Challenge)

The rural East Anglian circuit of Snetterton was the latest venue to welcome the VTEC Challenge to town.

On Saturday 27th August, rounds 11 and 12 were held on the circuits “200” layout, as part of an action packed weekend of racing.

2011 is a landmark year for Snetterton, as the Norfolk circuit celebrates its 60th anniversary and the start of a new era following the recent multi-million pound redevelopment project.

Re-generated to allow International races to take place, the circuit has been developed under the watchful eye of MSVR boss Jonathan Palmer, who has played a huge part in the design the new layout.

Created from a network of US Air Force runways in 1951, Snetterton's sweeping corners and enormous straights have provided sensational full-throttle action for six decades, and the recent work has cemented the circuit’s future for generations to come.

The new “200” layout closely follows the old circuit, with the biggest change being the addition of the new hairpin “Montreal”.

The hairpin (as with other parts of the re-developed circuit) is a replica from a famous circuit, and in this case it’s the corner from the Canadian Grand Prix circuit of the same name.

VTEC Challenge:

For Snetterton, the VTEC Challenge welcomed experienced racer Lee Bennett-Neil to the fold. Whilst Lee is a new face to this series, he has been racing since 2009 with his bright green B18 powered UKDM DC2 Integra. With his useful local knowledge, he would be one to keep an eye on.

Rick Rowles was also returning again to the VTEC Challenge with his immaculate, Mugen laden late model Civic Type R.



Entrants:


03 – Tim Blowers - DC5 Integra 2000cc (T)
11 – Dave Roberts - CRX (D)
24 – Rich Voaden – DC2 Integra 2200 (A)
42 – Rick Rowles – Civic Type R (B)
64 - Rich Chilton - DC2 1800cc (C)
83 - Lee Bennett Neal – B18 DC2 Integra (T)
98 – Mark Chese - Civic Type R (EP3) (B)


Qualifying:

Being the first cars of the day out on track, there was a lot of surface water lingering from the previous nights down pour.

With such tricky conditions, the drivers would need to exercise some caution in order to produce a quick lap, without disappearing off into the Norfolk countryside!

Everyone began qualifying with understandable caution, as grip was poor and minimal at best around the sodden circuit.

“Murrays” was the sight of many a locked wheel as cars came into the corner a little too quick and it also saw the spectacular slide and subsequent save of Mark Chese in his Civic Type R. Keeping his right foot planted on the accelerator kept the black and green machine from an untimely end at the entrance to the pits.

After crossing the line to begin his 6th lap, Tim Blowers, in only his second event of the season was caught out by the conditions, and on the exit from “Riches” span off the circuit. Upon returning to the paddock, the previously immaculate DC5 Integra was sporting a near perfect imprint of the armco along the length of the passenger side!



In addition to the bodywork damage, the front wheel was also at an unnatural angle, which looked like it could have ended Tim’s day there and then.

Thankfully that was the limit of the issues experienced and the remaining drivers went on to run the remainder of qualifying.

Following the session, the results showed that Richard Voaden had gotten to grips with the circuit and the wet handling set up of his Integra and had taken another pole to add to this seasons tally.

Pole: Rich Voaden – 1.34.670
2nd: Richard Chilton – 1.37.103
3rd: Mark Chese – 1.37.737

In the paddock, Simon Cribley of “Performance Autoworks” came to the aid of Tim and his battle scarred Integra. Within minutes, the cars front suspension was dismantled and checked over to see if racing would still be possible. With the adjustable top mounts re-set, and the camber “best guessed”, the car was back together for a quick shake down on the roads around the circuit. Thanks to the camaraderie that follows the series wherever it goes, Tim would be back on track, even if he was still a little shaken from his incident.

The remainder of the grid set about checking over their cars, adding fuel and setting the tyre pressures for what was to become a dry race.

Race 1:

With only a short distance from parc fermé to the grid, everyone was soon lined up for their formation lap.

Everyone was held on the grid until the red lights went out, and the VTEC engines screamed into life.

From pole, Voaden did what he does best, and stretched the legs of his Integra to take a commanding lead, which would only grow throughout the race.



Chese in his Civic Type R stuck closely with Voaden as he headed off through “Riches” and onto “Montreal”. Holding the inside line from his position on the grid, Chese stood his ground to keep Chilton on the outside, and gained 2nd position by the time he had exited the hairpin.



Charging from the back of the grid was Dave Roberts in his “Class D” CRX, who came through from 6th to join the battle for a top 5 place going into “Montreal”.

Tim Blowers hooked up a good start and went from 5th to 4th, passing Lee Bennett-Neal for position as he struggled to capitalise on his start. However upon entering the “Bentley Straight” a missed gear change quickly dropped Blowers to the back of the pack, undoing all his hard work.

As the race progressed, the drivers proceeded to have their own “race within a race” as they found themselves evenly matched with one, if not two other cars.

Chese was able to hold a decent margin back to Chilton, who in turn was watching his mirrors constantly for the “yellow peril” of Roberts.

Lee Bennett – Neal was able to reel in Rowles following his poor start, and by lap 4 was back up to 5th place and chasing the trio in front, but was unable to close the gap significantly enough to look for a shot at overtaking them.

As the race drew to a close, the action around the circuit hotted up. On the last lap Blowers executed the first overtaking manoeuvre of his race career, and passed Rowles to take 6th place from him.

Closer to the podium positions, Roberts closed the gap to Chilton, and on lap 10 of 11 took 3rd place from the Integra driver around the hairpin of “Montreal”, in a fantastically executed piece of driving.



Chese was able to hold off the advances of Roberts, despite the fuel light blinking at the Civic driver for the last couple of laps!

Voaden crossed the line untroubled, and nearly 30 seconds ahead of 2nd placed Chese.

1st: Richard Voaden
2nd: Mark Chese
3rd: Dave Roberts

Class wins were awarded to Lee Bennett-Neal, (DC2), Rich Voaden (ATR), Mark Chese (CTR), Richard Chilton (DC2) and Dave Roberts (CRX)

Fastest lap: Rich Voaden 1:26.119 sec on lap 10 of 11

Everyone returned safely to the paddock, with no issues to deal with in readiness for race 2.

Race 2:

At the request of the drivers and event organisers, the grid formation for the start of race 2 was now taken form the drivers finishing position from race 1, and not the 2nd fastest lap from qualifying.

This meant that Roberts, who had climbed from the back of the pack, would be directly behind Voaden in a commanding position.

As the lights were extinguished, it was Voaden who as expected led the charge to “Riches”, with Chese holding his 2nd place on the grid.

Roberts bogged down off the line, and struggled to get underway, as the surrounding drivers of Chilton and Bennett-Neal and Blowers closed in around him.

Making another good start, Blowers in his Integra passed Chilton for 5th place and proceeded to chase Bennett-Neal who had gone from 5th to 4th.

Already recovering from his less than perfect start, Roberts in his CRX was charging hard and making ground on Chese by lap 2. Coming across the line and towards “Riches” Roberts was close enough to make a dive up the inside of Chese, and took the position. However, this was short lived as Chese wasn’t going to give up 2nd place without a fight, and at “Montreal” had clawed his way back past Roberts, to re-take 2nd place.



With Bennett-Neal some way off in 4th, Blowers held off the DC2 of Rich Chilton for a further 2 laps, but with his handling still not a 100% the red Integra took 5th place as the pair rounded the “Bomb Hole”, and then proceeded to hunt down Bennett-Neal, passing him along the back straight “Bentleys” a couple of laps later on.



Chese and Roberts continued to have a monumental battle for 2nd place, swapping position over and over, and often on the same lap! The CRX managed to pull out a bit of a gap over Chese, but come lap 7 Chese was again letting Dave know his intentions on retaking 2nd place.



On the run into “Riches”, Chese had the legs to pull a repeat manoeuvre of Roberts from earlier on in the race, and put the black and green Civic ahead of Roberts and then proceeded to pull away.

Blowers, who had managed to fend off Rowles in his Civic Type R for the majority of the race, found he was unable to match his pace on the entry to “Bentley Straight” and Rowles took the position. The last 3 laps were side by side, and it ended with a reversal of positions for the two drivers.

Again Rich Voaden crossed the line well ahead of his fellow competitors, but he did not let up until the chequered flag dropped. He was pushing all the way to the finish line, with his lap times getting quicker as testament to his commitment.

The challenge laid out to Voaden by the race commentator and previous VTC racer “Charlie Butler-Henderson” to get into the 1min 25’s lap time, was obviously a big enough incentive to keep the driver from Wiltshire focused!

1st: Richard Voaden
2nd: Mark Chese
3rd: Dave Roberts

Class wins were awarded to Lee Bennett-Neal, (DC2), Rich Voaden (ATR), Mark Chese (CTR), Richard Chilton (DC2) and Dave Roberts (CRX)

Fastest lap: Rich Voaden 1:24.938 sec on lap 8 of 11

Summary:

Another brilliant event comes to a close, with some of the best racing to date. The on track action was a battle of skill and nerve, with excellent close fought racing.

Mark Chese and Dave Roberts provided some of the most exciting racing seen within the VTC this year, changing position time after time and keeping the commentary team on their toes and out of breath as they both kept passing one another!

In addition to taking 2 class wins and 2 3rd place overall, Dave Roberts was also awarded the “Driver of the Day” award for his driving.

Both races were dominated by Voaden, however the technical in-field section of the forthcoming Rockingham event could throw up some interesting results.

The VTEC Challenge heads to Rockingham for the final two rounds of the 2011 season on the 1st and 2nd October, and we’d like to see as many cars, spectators and race entrants as possible to wind up our first season.

[BILTEL]

Go Dave the Slave!!!!

[Stratton Mackay]

another great write up