Cadwell Park 18/19th July 2015
Image Courtesy of Jon Elsey
Incident packed weekend at the Lincolnshire circuit….
For the 5th meeting of the season the MX5 SuperCup headed to Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire, a circuit which is a firm favourite with many drivers despite its slightly daunting nature. With good weather forecast for the whole weekend and packed SuperCup grids the racing was inevitably going to be exciting, particularly with everyone out to try and stop championship leader Alan Henderson building further on his slender points advantage.
Qualifying
The Cadwell park race weekend was a ‘triple header’ for the SuperCup meaning no practice session but an additional third race for the drivers. For this reason many took the opportunity to test on Friday before the meeting with qualifying being particularly important on a circuit where overtaking can at best be described as tricky.
Track conditions were perfect but with 28 cars out on circuit clear laps for the drivers were hard to come by and had to be taken advantage of when they came. It was of course Alan Henderson who made the most of his to continue dominance of qualifying in 2015, taking his 5th consecutive pole with a stunning 1.41.493, 7 tenths of a second under the 2014 lap record! The next closest driver was Chris Dawkins, returning to Mazda racing after several seasons away, the only other man to dip below the 1.42 mark. George Line continued to show he has the pace to run at the front taking 3rd on the grid just ahead of Anthony Nield in 4th.
Behind the top four were 10 drivers separated by less than a second once again highlighting the competitiveness of the championship and setting the scene for some superb racing in race 1 later in the afternoon.
Race 1
Just one race on the Saturday afternoon of the meeting and warm sunny track conditions were ideal for a fast pace. As the lights went out on the gantry it was Henderson who made the better front row start, perhaps Dawkins first proper race start in a mk3 Mazda for some years playing to Henderson’s advantage. From that point on at the front it became a demonstration of just how well dialled in Henderson and his AK Automotive machine were to the Cadwell circuit, he streaked away at the front with impressive pace and consistency to take a comfortable win and a new lap record matching his qualifying pace.
With Henderson gone it was all action in the field behind. A missed gear change off the start from John Davies in 6th allowed Jonathan Clements to move ahead while bunching the pack behind, all drivers just about making it safely through the first turns and out onto the back straight. In the early laps it was Dawkins leading the charge behind Henderson followed by Nield who had jumped Line at the start. The racing was close but positions remained stable as the narrow circuit made overtaking difficult. It wasn’t until lap 9 when both Dawkins and Line were shuffled down the order that things changed, allowing Nield and Liam Murphy through to occupy 2nd and 3rd. This was the order they finished in, a gaggle of cars taking the flag nose to tail.
2nd in the championship Jonathan Clements improved on his starting position enjoying a race long battle with Davies to take 6th, but losing valuable points to Henderson while Simon Goddard who lies third in the points suffered car issues meaning his a race was ended on lap 4.
Jeremy Crook moved up from his starting position to finish ahead of Jim Hart and Ray Worley after some close racing throughout the race. There was a lot of shuffling of positions up and down in the mid field, with drivers losing or gaining a pace or two from their grid slot meaning plenty more close racing to look forward to during the two Sunday races.
Race 2
The second race of the weekend started just before lunch on Sunday and was unfortunately marred by a significant first corner incident which resulted in an immediate red flag. John Davies had been turned around in the middle of the pack on the sweeping uphill left hander at Coppice and many drivers were left unable to take avoiding action due to the blind corner entry and high speed. Davies, Dan Irving, John Munro, Tom Collins and Jeremy Crook were instant retirements and a significant clean-up operation was required before the race could be restarted. All of the drivers involved, although a little sore, were uninjured a testament to the strength of the Mk3 MX-5 and of the safety equipment, but the cars themselves would not be involved in any further racing at Cadwell.
A depleted grid reformed to restart the race following a long wait while damaged cars were removed from the circuit. This time from the start it was a closer fight, Henderson once again making the jump into the lead but Nield, Murphy and Dawkins sticking with him all the way. Perhaps the rain overnight had affected the circuit or taking defensive lines were hindering his lap times but Henderson did not appear to have the pace he had on Saturday and on Lap 7, having gotten ahead of Nield, Liam Murphy applied enough pressure to give him the opportunity to take the lead from Henderson. For the remaining laps Murphy had a couple of cars lengths breathing space as Henderson in second came under further pressure now from Nield. As the flag dropped on a slightly shortened race it was Murphy who took his first win of the year from Henderson then Nield, once again a train of cars which had circulated race long were still together at the flag.
A great battle further back between Scholarship driver Jack Harding, Andy Coombs and Gary Townsend raged all race long, Townsend finally taking 12th position from Harding at the last corner to follow Coombs Home. Simon Goddard recovered from his race 1 DNF to finish 13th.
Another tough weekend for MX-5 Mk1 champion James Blake Baldwin, his new car still not to his liking, saw him coming home in 9th while Paul Sheard also seemed to struggle for pace. Porsche Boxster Champion Jonathan Greensmith on the other hand had moved steadily up the order to finish 6th seemingly finding a good set up on his car and with good pace was positioned well for another strong finish in race 3.
Mechanical gremlins meant early retirement for Line and Rob Way, which sadly ended their weekends racing, while debutant and former MK1 MX-5 racer Charlie Charmin failed to finish but would make it out again in the final race of the day. Post-race Simon Traves, who had shown great pace and finished 4th was disqualified. The Clerk of the course having decided on video evidence that his unintentional but avoidable contact had triggered the first corner incident.
Race 3
The final race of a long weekend was another close fought affair. Henderson has clearly got his starts sorted as once again he got away level with Murphy off the start to hold in the inside line from in Charlies and lead the race again on lap 1. Murphy had struggled and this allowed Nield and Clements, who had moved up steadily over the weekend, to chase Henderson during the opening laps.
On lap three an uncharacteristic off track excursion for Henderson meant he tumbled down to 7th position, Nield inherited the lead but was unable to build a gap. Each lap the top 5 cars arrived in every braking zone nose to tail until lap 6 when Nield, Murphy, Clements and Dawkins arrived at Coppice Corner in a tight bunch with Nield clinging on at the front. At corner entry there was just not enough space and Nield was sent spinning onto the Coppice infield, fortunately not making contact with any of the barriers and able to continue for a short time well down the order.
It was now Clements leading but a safety car called due to an off at Hall Bends for Blendini driver Michael Lawson slowed the pack and allowed the drivers a brief pause. In all of the melee experienced racer Greensmith had managed to stay out of trouble and climb up to third position behind Murphy. When the safety car peeled off it was a two lap dash to flag. With many drivers tyres now cooled this led to some wild moments for Dawkins allowing recovering Henderson up to 4th while Davies, who had been able to repair his car from the race 2 incidents, also ran wide at the bottom of the gooseneck and handed 6th place back to Blake-Baldwin.
Most others hung on however and stayed in position at the flag, Clements taking a deserved win having worked his way up from 9th position originally in qualifying while Murphy rounded out a successful weekend with another podium. Greensmith’s 3rd marks a return to the podium in MX-5s for the former MK1 champion and could be a sign of things to come as his pace continues to improve.
Alan Henderson might have been disappointed with only a single win from the weekend considering his form this year and blistering pace on the Saturday but he was still never far from the front and with his main championship rivals struggling he remains the man to beat in the title race. The weekends results demonstrate however just how many drivers in the MX-5 SuperCup are capable of taking a race win or standing on the podium.
Long after racing had been finished for the day, amended time sheets for the race were issued, showing that a number of drivers had been given a ten second penalties for infringing flag regulations under safety car conditions. These included all three podium finishers resulting in them being demoted to 9th, 10th and 11th. This brought Alan Henderson into first place in the race, further increasing his championship lead.
A difficult weekend at Cadwell Park for the SuperCup saw some fantastic but troubled racing. Hopefully as the championship moves onto Oulton Park in August the tough penalties being handed out to drivers by the COC for driving standards will result in a much less incident packed meeting. Hopefully, also, all those drivers who sustained car damage in the Race 2 accident will be able to make repairs and re-join the racing in future.
Cadwell Park was the final BRSCC meeting for club Competitions Director, SuperCup Co-ordinator and long-time MX-5 supporter Drew Furlong and the paddock party on Saturday night which included live music and a hog roast was enjoyed by everyone. Thanks Drew!
