After unsettled weather on the Saturday we were lucky to get a full day of dry running on Sunday. There were great tracks laid out for us by Steve Whittington and Bill Mexson who organised a great event. Matt Downes and Ian Rogers helped to make sure we had as smooth a day as possible. This was needed as we had a big entry with 49 competitors entered and a large number of new faces to Autosolos which resulted in a large convoy at the beginning of the day (cars were checked for old hats like me sneaking a free lap!).
Steve Sherwood in his Smart Roadster was attending his first club event and set some great times in a very competitive Class F and coming 4th in class with only a 700cc Smart Roadster.
Classes A & B were amalgamated due to the low entries in Class A. In a repeat of 2015 Paul Prescott and Peter Manning took 1st and 2nd respectively with Sam Wright taking 3rd in his VW Polo. Paul did his best to pass the trophy over to someone else but despite losing coolant his Mini just wouldn’t give up. They don’t build them like that anymore!
Class C was closely contested with Neil Brown taking 1st and Russell Higgs beating Mark Straker to second on the decisive last test.
Class D was dominated by the Garsides with Adam winning the family battle over David. Ian Grant chased down 3rd place in a competitive class.
Class E also known at the MX5 class had some infiltrators. Euan Muirhead (Vauxhall VX220), Simon Currie (Ford StreetKA) Trevor Newman and Charlotte Newman (Toyota MR2) were all looking to take down the 17 MX5’s in their class. It was Jim Bryant who took the crown as the fastest in Class E… This is no easy feat with the such a strong field. Claude Matons was 2rd and Kraigy Haughton 3rd. It was Steve Woodings and his trio who gave us the show of the day as they triple drove his MX5 burning through set after set of tyres giving a drift masterclass. This shows why the MX5 is the weapon of choice!
Class F gave us the battle of the Westfields with only a 3 second gap between 1st and 2nd. Jennifer Caldecourt took the win from David Buttle and Robert Solarski came in in 3rd with his Subaru Justy.
The FDMC Index Award went to James Matons who was 9 seconds faster than the FTD on indexed time and also the fastest MX5!
The fastest time of the day went to Andrew Thompson. He deserved this title after he recovered from a bumpy start to be unbeatable in EVERY test and ultimately taking his Caterham 7 to a great result.
Overall this seasons Autosolos have been a great success with loads of new and old faces. I would like to take the time to thank all the organisers, time keepers and marshals over the year that have given up their precious time to let us enjoy the sport we love. I am sure I speak for all the drivers when I say… Thank You!
Award Winners
Fastest Time of Day Andrew Thompson
Index Award James Matons
First Lady Alice Tribe
1st Class A & B Paul Prescott
1st Class C Neil Brown
1st Class D Adam Garside
1st Class E Jim Bryant
1st Class F Jennifer Caldecourt
2nd Class A & B Peter Manning
2nd Class C Russell Higgs
2nd Class D David Garside
2nd Class E Claude Matons
2nd Class F David Buttle
3rd Class A & B Sam Wright
3rd Class C Mark Straker
3rd Class D Ian Grant
3rd Class E Kraigy Haughton
3rd Class F Robert Solarski
Write-up: Neil Brown.
Posted by: Geoff Wade.