Round 1 Report 2009 - The Fast Show

The first round of the Euro Sports Compact race series took place at a cool but sunny Marangoni Fast Show on the 22nd March 2009, and a slightly low turnout made no difference to the quality and excitement of the racing. With two new entrants, and some great runs by the more established entrants, a great days racing lay ahead. Andy Waite topped the qualifying tables with a superb 10.2 second run, followed by a charging Andy Nicholls. These two competitors would write the story of this race, but further down the field was the experienced James Hodson, and the massively improving Paul Webster, running some of his fastest ever runs in the new mini. Mark Gunns was running well, but slightly below his best, while new boys Carl Austin and Anthony Teal chased up at the back of the pack. Anthony was below the 12 second pace he set on Saturday, and his top qualifying run was a reflection that his car was breaking down.

Round 1

Andy Waite’s top qualifying spot gave him an easy run in round 1, but he wasn’t hanging around, and gave it plenty of beans to keep himself and the crowd smiling.

Mark Gunns stepped up the game for round 1 and despite a dodgy reaction time, managed to pull out a strong run to put him just ahead of Paul Webster’s Mini at the finish line.

Andy Nicholls found himself all alone in round 1, as Anthony Teal was out of action with a terminal problem.

James Hodson had his work cut out against an improving Carl Austin, but a decent 11.2 from James’ Golf saw off the classic Mini convincingly.

Semi Finals

The excitement of the semi final must have got the better of Mark Gunns as he red-lit by a tiny margin. Aware that he needed to win this race on reaction-times, he slightly over did things and disqualified himself, going on to a slow ET as mechanical problems also added to his woes against a flying Andy Waite.

Andy Nicholls thought he had an equal match in James Hodson’s Golf, but James knew otherwise, starting out in second gear because first gear was unavailable. James put up a strong fight, but simply wasn’t able to unleash the full potential of his Golf without a full compliment of gears.

Final

It was an all-Andy final, and both drivers had a string of 10-second runs under their belts. It was going to be close, and both drivers needed to pull out all the stops to be sure of victory. Andy Waite got his Golf off the line first, but Andy Nicholls was charging hard in his MG and making ground on him by the eighth-mile marker, but then it all went wrong for Andy Nicholls, and his car visibly slowed, a problem which was later diagnosed as being a gearbox fault, and all he could do was watch Andy Waite’s little white mk1 bounce off into the distance. A great day’s racing for the Euro Sports Compact, and a thoroughly well earned victory for Andy Waite.

The Round 1 points and championship tables can be found on the Points page.