Pole position: Thomas in 1.42,8
Fastest lap: Matthews in 1.53,8
Distance: 20 laps
Average speed:
Weather:
Ruleset: Group 2/70
Car info: 1972 Cars
With a cloud of oil smoke pouring from the back of his brand new SCA European Road Services 5.7 Chevrolet Camaro, Frank Gardner scored a tremendous victory in the final event of the afternoon, the 20-lap opening round of the Wiggins Teape Paperchase '72. This Group 2 contest provided the most thrilling racing on the programme, for Gardner had to wrestle his way to first place in the face of a strong challenge from Dave Matthews' Melton Racing Broadspeed Escort RS1600 and Martin Thomas in the WMG Marketing Camaro. Lap after lap the blue Escort would appear glued to Frank's bootlid, taking the brunt of the oil smoke over its windscreen, while Thomas kept the pressure up from third place. Gardner finally won by 0.6s from Thomas, Matthews having dropped to third with fading brakes on the last lap, although he was only another 1.3 seconds adrift. As he stepped from his car on the finish line, Matthews was cheered to the echo by delighted fans in the main grandstand. Jonathan Buncombe (Longman 1.3 Cooper S) proved very quick in practice, but was unable to prevent Vince Woodman's VMW Motors Escort 1300 GT Broadspeed from taking the class. Bill McGovern in the 1-litre Bevan Imp dominated the smallest class - could this be the start of a championship hat-trick for the team? |
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Touring Cars class A-D
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| Pos | Pos in class | # | Team / Entrant Car- Engine |
Drivers, Nationality | Engine vol. (cc) |
Engine Type |
Group | Distance, time |
Qualifying position | Qualifying time | Fastest lap | Reason out |
| 1 | 1 | 5 | SCA Freight Ltd. Chevrolet Camaro Z28 Mk2 |
Frank Gardner, AUS |
5736 | V8 | D | 20 laps, 35.33,5 | 2 | 1.43,3 | 1.43,9 | |
| 2 | 2 | 4 | W.M.G. Marketing Chevrolet Camaro Z28 |
Martin Thomas, GB |
5736 | V8 | D | 20 laps | 1 | 1.42,8 | ||
| 3 | 1 | 30 | Melton Racing with Broadspeed Ford Escort RS 1600 |
Dave Matthews, GB |
1798 | L4 | C | 20 laps, 35.35,4 | 4 | 1.44,0 | 1.43,8 | |
| 4 | 2 | Ford Escort RS 1600 |
Erik Høyer, DK |
1800 | L4 | C | 20 laps, 37.03 | 7 | 1.45,9 | |||
| 5 | 1 | 55 | VMW Motors Ford Escort 1300 GT |
Vince Woodman, GB |
1298 | L4 | B | 20 laps, 37.09,4 | 10 | 1.49,8 | 1.49,1 | |
| 6 | 2 | 61 | Richard Longman & Co. BMC Mini Cooper S |
Jonathan Buncombe, GB |
1293 | L4 | B | 20 laps, 37.25 | 9 | 1.49,7 | ||
| 7 | 1 | 1 | George Bevan Hillman Imp |
Bill McGovern, GB |
998 | L4 | A | 19 | 12 | 1.50,4 | 1.51,9 | |
| 8 | 3 | 52 | Woodhead Shock Absorbers Ford Escort 1300 GT |
Brian Peacock, GB |
1298 | L4 | B | 19 | 14 | 1.51,3 | ||
| 9 | 4 | 62 | Ken Costello BMC Mini Cooper S |
Rob Mason, GB |
1293 | L4 | B | 19 | 18 | 1.54,1 | ||
| 10 | 5 | 57 | AVJ Developments Ford Escort 1300 GT |
Paul Ridgway, GB |
1298 | L4 | B | 19 | 16 | 1.53,0 | ||
| 11 | 2 | 80 | Hillman Imp |
Melvyn Adams, GB |
998 | L4 | A | 18 | 19 | 1.55,1 | ||
| 12 | 3 | BMC Mini Cooper |
Mo Mendham, GB |
998 | L4 | A | 18 | 24 | no time | |||
| 13 | 6 | 68 | BMC Mini Cooper S |
Gordon Dawkins, GB |
1293 | L4 | B | 18 | 22 | 1.57,3 | ||
| 14 | 7 | Ford Escort 1300 GT |
Freddie Jacks, GB |
1298 | L4 | B | 18 | |||||
| 15 | 4 | 79 | Sunbeam Imp |
Ivor Goodwin, GB |
998 | L4 | A | 18 | ||||
| 16 | 8 | BMC Mini Cooper S |
Richard Piper, GB |
1293 | L4 | B | 17 | |||||
| DNF | Gulf Team Kamilainen Ford Escort 1300 GT |
Heikki Kemilainen, SF |
1298 | L4 | B | 13 | 13 | 1.51,1 | Slides | |||
| DNF | Ford Escort TC |
Zekia Redjep, GB |
1594 | L4 | C | 11 | 15 | 1.52,8 | Engine | |||
| DNF | 31 | Gulf Team Kamilainen Ford Escort RS 1600 |
Matti Kemilainen, SF |
L4 | C | 10 | 6 | 1.44,6 | Gearbox | |||
| DNF | 28 | Norman Reeves/Stirling Cooper Ford Escort RS 1600 |
Dave Brodie, GB |
1987 | L4 | C | 5 | 5 | 1.44,2 | Oil pipe | ||
| DNF | 3 | Cona Coffee Ford Mustang Boss 302 |
Martin Birrane, IRL |
ca. 5000 | V8 | D | 2 | 11 | 1.50,2 | Oil surge | ||
| DNF | 8 | Malcolm Gartlan Racing/Wiggings Teape Ltd. Ford Capri RS 2600 |
Brian Muir, AUS |
2940 | V6 | D | 3 | 1.43,8 | Engine | |||
| DNF | 59 | BMC Mini Cooper S |
Jon Mowatt, GB |
1293 | L4 | B | 21 | 1.56,8 | ||||
| DNF | 26 | John Willment Racing Ford Escort RS 1600 |
Mike Crabtree, GB |
1930 | L4 | C | 23 | no time | ||||
| DNF | 78 | Stapleton Motors Racing Promotions Hillman Imp |
Adrian Webb, GB |
998 | L4 | A | 20 | 1.56,2 | Lost wheel | |||
| DSQ | 63 | BMC Mini Cooper S |
Chris Montague, GB |
1293 | L4 | B | 17 | 1.53,9 | Disqualified: Entered pits incorrectly | |||
| DNS | 2 | AMC Javelin |
David Howes, GB |
6390 | V8 | D | 8 | 1.48,6 | Accident in practice | |||
| DNS | Hillman Imp |
Trevor Willcocks, GB |
998 | L4 | A | |||||||