Close Win for Moffatt

Date: 6th May 2007

Round 4 - Warwickshire Drivers MC, Rugby, 6th May

posted by petercox on 05/14/07

The latest round of the Demon Tweeks BTRDA Autotest Championship renewed the rivalry of seven years ago as Alastair Moffatt in the Mini Special fought all day for his first FTD of the year against the ABS of Stephen Wild. Paul was cruising at lunchtime but a 5 second penalty on test 9 dropped him to second by 1.7 seconds. They each set three fastest times over the remaining tests to finish with a margin of only 0.9 seconds. Duncan Wild shared the ABS and used its agility to recover from a penalty and draw clear of Richard Pinkney who was the fastest sports car driver. Gavin Dickson was once again the winning saloon, just ahead of Ian Chapman in his Westfield. Chris Atkinson borrowed his wife's Alfa Buggy and won the small sports car class while Clair was the fastest lady despite a three year lay off.

Bob Budd and his team laid out three flowing tests on the A5 Truck Stop, near Rugby. The entry was missing several regulars, possibly the memory of last year's tests had an effect. Bob had listened to the criticism and had simplified the tests while still providing a suitable challenge for the drivers. It is difficult to get the balance right, particularly on featureless venues. Bob had resisted the temptation to put too much into the tests and they were therefore less confusing. The 33 starters enjoyed the tests on a warm and sunny day.

The early leader was Alastair Moffatt as he opened up a small gap by lunchtime. Stephen Wild was pushing the ABS faster than his father Duncan and was only 2.1 seconds behind Alastair. Duncan had a line penalty on test 4 so was 10 seconds down in fourth place, just ahead of Gavin Dickson. The sports cars were being led by Richard Pinkney in third place overall. Malcolm Livingston in the Lotus had brain fade on the first two tests, probably due to jet lag as he returned from South Africa the previous day, and at lunchtime was behind Ian Chapman and only 0.2 seconds ahead of Chris Chapman.

Alastair and Stephen continued their battle all day. Stephen took test 7 to reduce the lead to 1.3secs then Alastair took test 8 and the gap was 4.2 but a penalty and shunt for Alastair on test 9 gave Stephen the lead by 5.7 secs. As they traded times on the last six tests Alastair took a slight lead which was 0.9 seconds at the finish.

Howard Everingham had a terrible misfire on his Mini. He returned to the paddock after the first test and spent two hours trying to cure the problem by dismantling the fuel system. He rejoined but still had the problem. At lunch he removed several parts that he had replaced when he serviced the car. The problem was a faulty condenser and with this replaced he had full power again. The shock of arriving at parts of the first test faster than in the morning must have fooled him as he took a wrong test. From then on he put in some excellent times to overhaul the other Minis and take the class win.

Carl Sams had a car breakage early on and this left Lee Valentine to chase Gavin Dickson. However Gavin was flying in the Nova and he finished an excellent fifth overall. Richard Egger was third in the well supported saloon class. Malcolm recovered in the afternoon but the Lotus driver had to be content with third in class behind Ian in the Westfield. There was no stopping Richard in his Caterham, although he did hesitate on the first test after lunch. This took pressure of Duncan who moved into a comfortable third place.

Chris Atkinson had a rare outing in the Alfa Buggy and took the small sports car class, ahead of Mike Biss who is getting to grips with the Striker. It's good to see the ex Steve Morten Striker out and Paul Fobbister is getting used to the new car, as is his son-in-law Steve Gray who shares the Striker. Chris, Mike and Paul were 10^th, 11^th and 12^th overall.

Duncan Wild

Results

1 Alastair Moffatt (Mini Special) 680.5; 2 Stephen Wild (ABS Freestyle) 681.4; 3 Duncan Wild (ABS Freestyle) 706.5; 4 Richard Pinkney (Caterham) 728.1; 5 Gavin Dickson (Nova) 930.5; 7 Malcolm Livingston (Lotus 7) 748.3; 8 Chris Chapman (Westfield) 763.5; 9 Lee Valentine (Nova) 778.1; 10 Chris Atkinson (Alfa Buggy) 817.4.

Class Winners: Howard Everingham (Mini) 853.1; Dickson; Atkinson; Pinkney; Moffatt.