28-04-15 Spring League Round 4

David Simpson wins the GT12 “A” Final to end James Hart’s unbeaten record in the league
Chelle Snowden now leads GT12 division 2
Matt Popejoy is now the only driver left with a 100% record in the league
A good evening for team Galbraith with Paul Galbraith winning the V12 Mardave final and Jordan Galbraith the best division 2 driver

Track
A Gavin Maciver / Matt Popejoy design this week

Qualifying
James Hart missed the first round but still managed his usual top qualifying position in the GT12 class. Louis Parker was less than five seconds behind him though with David Simpson third two laps down.
Chelle Snowden was the best in GT12 division 2, two and a half seconds ahead of Nick Bruty
Matt Popejoy was the top GT12 division 3 driver, followed by Alister Hart.
Mike Simpson qualified for pole position in the final by being best qualifier in the V12 Mardave class
Jordan Galbraith was the highest placed V12 division 2 driver followed by Roy Matthews.

Finals
The Mardave final was first and Mike Simpson took an early lead until a third of the way through the race when Jordan Galbraith overtook Mike to lead. Paul Galbraith was driving quickly and caught up Jordan on lap seventeen, overtook him and kept the lead until the end of the race. Mike was second four seconds down and Jordan third. A good race this with the cars very evenly matched.
League leader Matt Popejoy was under pressure to win the GT12 “B” final starting from yet another pole position on the grid. Alister Hart chased him hard during the first third of the race with the lead changing hands four times before Matt built up and extended his lead. He held up under the stress to take another win by one lap from Alister and retain his unbeaten record in the league.
James Hart got a good start in the GT12 “A” Final and steadily built up a convincing lead over Louis Parker who was being chased by David Simpson. Louis and David were driving well and only tenths of a second separated them for lap after lap with David in hot pursuit but unable to get past Louis. On lap 28 David moved up into second place with James being 8 seconds ahead of him at this time. By lap 40 the gap had closed to 1 second and going into the final lap they were less than 1/10th second apart, David overtook James on the final bend to win the race on 48 laps. Louis was third on 47 with Gavin Maciver fourth on the same lap.
Behind these drivers Chelle Snowden and Nick Bruty were battling for the top division 2 position and it was Chelle who got the better of Nick to get maximum points and make her the new division 2 leader.

The pressure will be on Matt Popejoy as he is now the only driver who has scored maximum points in all the four rounds of the league, I am sure that all the GT12 division 3 drivers will be trying their hardest next week to end his run of success!

21-04-15 Superleague Round 2

Several changes to the League positions after round 2
James Hart retains his unbeaten record at the top of GT12 division 1
Chelle Snowden moves to within one point of division 2 leader Dave Tomlinson
Matt Popejoy takes the lead in division 3, three points ahead of Alister Hart
Mike Simpson is the new leader in the club Mardave V12 division 1
Jenson Butlin extends his lead to eight points in division 2 with Roy Matthews moving up into second place

Track
A short length track design with some narrow sections requiring the correct line.

Qualifying
Some good performances from Jenson Butlin winning the round 1 V12 mardave heat and qualifying in second place overall behind Mike Simpson
James Hart lead the way in the GT12 class with Louis Parker getting the better of Darren Ford by 0.81 seconds for second place one lap down on James.
Chelle Snowden was in winning form being top in division 2, Dave Tomlinson was second less than 2 seconds adrift.
Matt Popejoy was two laps clear in division 3, Alister Hart being second.

Finals
The V12 Mardaves were on first and after a very chaotic initial three laps Mike Simpson got away from the field and despite being chased hard by both Jenson Butlin and Jake Galbraith held on for a win. Jenson took second place with Jake third – well done Jenson a great drive.

In the GT12 C Final Matt Popejoy had a comfortable win moving him up to the top of the league, Alwyn Hodges took second place four laps down ahead of Alister Hart.

Bob Harley was on pole for the B Final and had a keenly contested battle with Nick Bruty who was sporting a dazzling new bodyshell. Nick had a few issues with his car and Bob capitalised on these to win by two laps.

James Hart won the A Final and set the fastest lap, Louis Parker also put in some very quick laps to take second place.
Chelle Snowden was the top division 2 driver with some excellent driving to finish in fourth place, nine seconds ahead of her nearest rival Dave Tomlinson.

14-04-2015 Spring League Round 3

A less than usual number of drivers this week due to the Easter break, however there was still plenty of good racing.
James Hart and Matt Popejoy both extended their unbeaten run in the league.
David Simpson has a great drive in the B Final to be second fastest in the finals behind James Hart

Track

Qualifying
James Hart yet again qualified for pole position in the GT12 class, Louis Parker and Darren Ford were evenly matched all evening with Darren winning round 1 but Louis got the upper hand in the last round of qualifying by the narrowest of margins 1/100th second to be second fastest qualifier. Dave Tomlinson was also in sparkling form to take fourth spot and a place in the A Final.
Only two V12 Mardaves this week with Mike Simpson getting the edge over Roy Matthews who now seems to have got his car sorted and performing well.

Finals
GT12 D / V12 Final
With the two V12 Mardaves mixed in with the GT12 cars of Alwyn Hodges and Courtney Orme this was an interesting race, in the end it was the Mardave Drivers Mike Simpson and Roy Matthews who took the first two places with some very consistent driving. Alwyn finished ahead of Courtney to gain some valuable league points.

GT12 C Final
Nick Wallace had an easy win with Matt Popejoy in second place and best of the division 3 drivers increasing his lead in the league.

GT12 B Final
Nick Bruty was on pole but it was David Simpson who had an excellent race to win and beat all of the A Finalists apart from James Hart. Chelle Snowden was second with Nick having to settle for third place.

GT12 A Final
James Hart was three laps ahead of everyone else with a magnificent 50 laps, just as in the qualifying there was a fantastic race for second place between Louis Parker and Darren Ford. Darren got off to a slow start but gradually caught up Louis and overtook him on lap 37. Louis chased Darren hard and got past him on lap 40 and for the next 7 laps they were locked in a battle to the finish line – Louis held on to his position to to finish 0.15 seconds ahead.

07-04-15 Easter Trophy Meeting

Jack Walsh wins his first trophy at Burton
All the finals are closely contested
Good performances from guest drivers Keith Heathcote and Frankie Hallam
Roy Matthews “stealth” car seen in two qualifying rounds but fades away with no sign of a driver!

Track

After three rounds of 5 minute heats in qualifying all was set for some great 8 minute finals to decide the trophy winners

Finals
In the V12 mardave final Paul Galbraith was the winner after chasing Mike Simpson for the first 19 laps, Mike finished second with Joshua Galbraith and Glyn Butlin third and fourth – Joshua also set the fastest lap – good stuff!
GT12 C Final
A great race this turned out to be between Matt Popejoy who was on pole position and car 2 Frankie Hallam. Matt made a poor start and Frankie took the lead on the first lap, these two were never more than a few seconds apart and the lead changed hands seven times during the race with Frankie just snatching victory. Behind these two Alwyn Hodges was third and Jack Walsh was fourth – well done Jack!
GT12 B Final
This was also a very keenly contested race, Keith Heathcote, Nick Bruty, Dave Tomlinson and Chelle Snowden all driving well at a very similar pace. Keith took the lead initially but Nick got by on lap 10 with Dave Tomlinson also in hot pursuit.
Keith was first past the finishing line by less than 1 second after six changes in leader, Nick was second and Dave third all on 41 laps with Chelle fourth on 40.
GT12 A Final
Another fine performance from James Hart saw him lead the race from start to finish and set the fastest lap. There was a superb battle for second place for the whole duration of the race between Darren Ford, Louis Parker and David Simpson, Louis overtaking Darren four laps from the end to claim second place, Darren was third and David Simpson fourth.

Trophies


After all the equipment was put away the trophies were presented by the club chairman Rob Hambridge.

31-03-2015 Spring League Round 2

James Hart and Matt Popejoy are the only drivers on maximum points in the league
Mike Simpson just prevents another Team Galbraith whitewash in the V12 Mardave Final
Great drive from Ashley King in the GT12 A final to consolidate his lead in division 2
James Hart wins the GT12 A Final, Darren Ford is second
Chelle Snowden wins the GT12 B Final by two laps ahead of Bob Harley and Matthew Minto
Matt Popejoy wins the GT12 C Final

Qualifying
Mike Simpson was top qualifier in the V12 Mardave class with 23 laps, one clear of both Paul and Jake Galbraith
In GT12 division 3 Matt Popejoy was fastest achieving 21 laps, Alister Hart was second also on 21 laps and Courtney Orme third with 19
Ashley King was best on 27 laps in division 2, a lap clear of Dave Tomlinson and Chelle Snowden
James Hart set the best GT12 time with 29 laps, Darren Ford, David Simpson and Louis Parker were second, third and fourth respectively one lap behind James

Finals
V12 Mardaves were off first, a great race this with Mike Simpson leading from pole for the first 16 laps chased by Jordan Galbraith who then took the lead and went on to win – well done Jordan a super performance. Paul Galbraith was second and Mike finished third just ahead of Jake Galbraith, all the first four being on 36 laps.

The GT12 C final saw league leader Matt Popejoy again in sparkling form setting the fastest lap time and leading from start to finish apart from one lap in the middle of the race. Mike Simpson was second and Alister Hart third.

Chelle Snowden showed everyone the way in the B Final with a near faultless drive to win with 42 laps, Bob Harley took second place and Matthew Minto third both two laps down.

James Hart with 46 laps had yet another victory in the A Final, Darren Ford was his closest rival finishing one lap behind James, Louis Parker and David Simpson had a close race for third place, Louis getting the upper hand to finish in front, both drivers on 44 laps. An excellent drive from Ashley King with 43 laps made him the top division 2 driver.