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1978 Donington 
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1978 Brands Hatch GP 
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Mallory Park

Mallory Park, Leicester, Great-Britain

Date: 2/7/1978
Track length: 2.173 m
Attendance:
Entries accepted:
Starters:
Finishers:

Pole position: Walkinshaw in 0.52,7 (race 1); Lloyd in 0.55,9 (race 2)
Fastest lap: Walkinshaw in 0.52,4 (race 1); Lloyd in 0.55,7 (race 2)

Distance: 20 laps, stopped after lap 18 lap for race 1
Average speed: 146,17 kmh (race 1); 136,70 kmh (race 2)
Weather:
Ruleset: Group 1B
Car info: 1978 Cars

 

Race 1
With rain clouds threatening, the big saloons came to the grid for their twenty lapper, Gordon Spice making the best start to lead the fifteen strong field away into the long sweeping right-hander at Gerards. Allam held an early second, but Walkinshaw soon forced the dynamic looking black BMW past and almost immediately mounted a concerted attack on Spice, who was just beginning to get into the groove. Lap three saw Walkinshaw squirt the BMW past Spice into the lead at the Esses, and just a couple of laps later Craft edged past both Marshall and Woodman in the same lap, the latter dropping behind the Triplex car not long afterwards.
On the fourteenth tour, Spice took his red Capri past Walkinshaw on the run up to Devils Elbow from the hairpin and instantly pulled out a marginal cushion. But the race took a turn for the worse within minutes of the lead changing, because David Piper, that grand old man from sports car racing, careered into the hairpin barriers with his Dolomite. From the track side, it looked as though he had first missed his braking point, but the car simply failed to slow down on its destruction course, so a brake failure of some description would seem to be the cause.
Piper was out of the car almost as soon as it came to rest and moments later a small fire started under the engine. The marshals, although quick on the scene, managed to use up their whole supply of foam in getting the fire under control and in doing so flooded the track. But overtaking was near-nigh impossible by now, because the rest of the track had been laden with an oil slick. The race was sensibly stopped at eighteen laps so that the crippled and very sorry looking Dolomite could be moved and the track degreased.
Spice had won from Walkinshaw, who set fastest lap for the second week running, and Allam, while Craft closed in on them towards the end. A battle between Lawrence and Muir was nipped in the bud, so to speak, by the early finish, and Dron and Percy finished behind the battling Capris but still ahead of Barrie Williams. Marshall retired with a brake problem just a lap after Woodman disappeared.

Race 2
Apart from a fraught opening lap at the hairpin, the smaller Tricentrol race wasn't really exceptional value. Richard Lloyd won with ease in his black and red liveried VW from Win Percy's Toyota Celica. The last named car came under increasing pressure from Richard Longman's Mini towards the end, the longer the Mini left its near side wheel off the ground at Shaws Corner, the closer it seemed to get to the Bradshaw Celica until the drive disappeared on the penultimate lap, “I don't really know why!"

Touring Cars class C-D
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   Gordon Spice Racing
Ford Capri III 3.0S		 Gordon Spice, GB
 2993 V6 D 18 laps, 16.03,1 2 0.52,8    
2 2   BMW (GB)
BMW 530i		 Tom Walkinshaw, GB
 2985 L6 D 18 1 0.52,7 0.52,4  
3 3   BP/Nu Luxe Foam
Ford Capri III 3.0S		 Jeff Allam, GB
 2993 V6 D 18 3 0.52,9    
4 4   Gordon Spice Racing
Ford Capri III 3.0S		 Chris Craft, GB
 2993 V6 D 18 8      
5 5   Carrier Properties
Ford Capri II 3.0S		 Derek Lawrence, GB
 2993 V6 D 18 10      
6 6   Browne & Day
Ford Capri III 3.0S		 Brian Muir, AUS
 2993 V6 D 18 7      
7 1   Leyland
Triumph Dolomite Sprint		 Tony Dron, GB
 1998 L4 C 17 laps, 15.21,6 4 0.53,2 0.53,4  
8 2   Way Valley Racing / Bradshaw Plant Hire
Triumph Dolomite Sprint		 Win Percy, GB
 1998 L4 C 17 ?      
9 7   The Toleman Group
BMW 530i		 Barrie Williams, GB
 2985 L6 D 17 9      
  3    
Triumph Dolomite Sprint		 Roger Saunders, GB
 1998 L4 C 17 12      
       
Triumph Dolomite Sprint		 Tim Goss, GB
 1998 L4 C 17 13      
       
Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV		 Jon Dooley, GB
 1962 L4 C 17 14      
DNF   14 Triplex
Ford Capri II 3.0S		 Gerry Marshall, GB
 2993 V6 D   5     Brakes
DNF     Esso Uniflo
Ford Capri III 3.0S		 Vince Woodman, GB
 2993 V6 D   6      
DNF     Ian Bracey
Triumph Dolomite Sprint		 David Piper, GB
 1998 L4 C   11     Brakes, accident

Touring Cars class A-B
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   Richard Lloyd Racing Ltd.
VW Golf GTI		 Richard Lloyd, GB
 1588 L4 B 20 laps, 19.04,3 1 0.55,9 0.55,7  
2 2   Way Valley Racing / Bradshaw Plant Hire
Toyota Celica GT		 Win Percy, GB
 1588 L4 B 20 3 0.56,7    
3 3    
VW Golf GTI		 Martin Grant-Peterkin, GB
 1588 L4 B 20 4      
4 4    
Toyota Celica GT		 Martin Brundle, GB
 1588 L4 B 20 6      
5 1   Napolina Alfa Romeo Dealer Team
Alfa Romeo Alfasud Ti		 Rex Greenslade, GB
 1286 B4 A 20 laps, 19.44,8 5   0.58,1  
  2    
Simca Rallye 3		 Rodney Posner, GB
 1294 L4 A 20 8      
  3    
Mini 1275 GT		 Jim Burrows, GB
 1275 L4 A 20 9      
  4?    
Chrysler Avenger 1300 GT		 John Spiller, GB
 1295 L4 A          
  5?    
Alfa Romeo Alfasud Ti		 Malcolm Wayne, GB
 1286 B4 A          
       
Mini 1275 GT		 Tom Pitcher, GB
 1275 L4 A   7      
DNF     Patrick Motorsport
Mini 1275 GT		 Richard Longman, GB
 1275 L4 A 18 2 0.56,6