Cadwell Park

4th & 5th June - Scottish Championship
Rounds 4 & 5
Cadwell Park

What a busy weekend it turned out to be - the team were flat out getting cars ready for John Marshal, Ross Marshal, Lee Fitzpatrick, John Jon Higgins, David Hunter and Carol Brown. This was a Cadwell Park double header and I wanted to help Aly Hunter get the cars down there on a couple of transporters to ensure there was a good grid and also it keeps the travel costs down. Aly and me took spare cars as well which was just as well as they were needed. The Wednesday before the race I had a call from Pat Hynds asking if I would look after Scott. Then Chris Hynds got the use of Pat's car as a treat so that one arrived on our doorstep as well.

The cars were loaded early on Thursday morning then we got the bus and van ready - I had to call in the team as it was such a busy weekend plus my new mate Nick from F2 then it was Colin, Jim, Craig, Phil (Carol's other half) and me. We arrived in the early hours of Friday and set up camp in the Cadwell grass paddock. Friday saw testing for Minis and Classics. John was out in his Mk1 and Robert in his Mk2 Escort both prepared by Brayon Classic Engineering. Elaine Marshall was having her first race away from Knockhill in the Mini Cooper Cup. She had a bit of a moment but the guys soon sorted out the repairs in time for Saturday morning.

All the Legends Cars arrived a little later and we were all ready for Saturday after a clean. I had to show Nick how the cars work. He fitted in great as he has worked on lots of high end machinery - the Legends perhaps the most basic race cars he has tended. There were no real problems although Chris and Scott's cars needed some work so that kept Nick busy and by the time he had finished the cars were great and the guys gelled well with Nick.

Practice looked good for Lee, Ross and John Jon. Lee was well on the pace despite being out of the seat for a while. All the Burnett cars were in the top 12 except Paul O'Brien and Chris Hynds as Paul had just got his car rebuilt from damage at Knockhill and Chris was a late entry.

After practice the Legends go to the ball draw - the ballot for grid positions. JJ drew the front with Lee right at the back along with Ross and David. As expected in the race JJ and Lee made a push for the front with Lee taking the win from JJ. Ross Mickel was the first SMRC driver home from Gerard McCosh. David Hunter was fifth (3rd SMRC) ahead of Ross M. Lee got a new lap record. Chris Hynds had some electrical issues.

Dean Brace was visiting with his dad Nick and it was Dean who won the reverse grid race from Ross Mickel again looking sharp as the top SMRC man. Even more impressive was Robbie Burgoyne in only his third race meeting in Legends and proving his is quick anywhere. Robbie was third overall and second Scot. JJ followed him home. John Marshall was working hard as ever, remember he was also racing his Escort, and he came 10th in the Legends second race. Lee retired from this one with David Hunter after the pair came together. Scott Hynds got airborne over Billy Wait - he misjudged the gap and it caused a fair bit of damage.

The team worked hard on the cars but it was not possible for the recovery guys to get Scott's car back so there was not a lot of time to get it sorted for Saturday's final. Ross Mickel was top points scorer at this stage and he started at the back immediately behind JJ and Ross Marshall with other high scorers Carol and Lee. John M and David were mid pack and Chris opted to start from the back as he had some steering issues - good move for him.

Lee came through to win from Nick and Dean Brace - a cracking race.JJ was next ahead of Ross, David Hunter and Paul O'Brien. Carol came 10th which proved to be a great drive as the car was carrying damage. Robbie Burgoyne, JM, Jeff Pritchard and Ross Mickel all retired.

After that it was back to the paddock for more repairs and preparation for Sunday's racing - it looked like it would be a late night.

On Sunday Allan Fearnley took over from Kevan Fearnley and he had to do his three mandatory laps so it was a great chance for a few other shakedowns. JJ got pole again in the draw with Carol not too far behind. Another great race with JJ taking the win - as it turns out his last ever Legends win (if we believe him) with Carol Brown top Scot from the two Rosses, Mickel and Marshall. John M got 9th ahead of Scott Hynds with Chris 15th.

Heat two had John Jon at the back and he managed to clip another car and launch himself into a roll. He was OK though. Nick Brace came through for the win with Dean in second and Robbie Burgoyne writing a bit of personal history with the top Scot slot. No doubt he will have a 'proper' overall win very soon. Gerard McCosh was in great form and was second Scot from Carol Brown and then Glenn Burtenshaw.

It was a slightly depleted field but still 21 cars for the final and it was John Marshall's win this time - the only Scottish registered driver to take an overall win all weekend - well done John. Dean Brace was second from Scott Hynds and Glenn Burtenshaw. It had proved to be a very competitive weekend. Ross Marshall dnf's with a broken prop shaft. Robbie took the overall Scottish points win - he will be a contender for the overall championship next season!

In the Classics John Marshall lined up second overall behind the returning Andrew Smith in the Morgan. John was on class B pole though with Robert Marshall third in class behind Richard Merrell in the Alfa. John could not live with the Morgan in the first race but took the class win and second overall. Robert Marshall was second in class! These results were repeated in the second race.

Elaine Marshall made a good start in the Minis first race beating Emma Bruce off the line but had to settle for third in class at the flag. In the second race Elaine took second in class and was only a second or so behind the class winner Fiona Wallace.

Update from David Hunter

Well its been a busy couple of weeks, after picking up some damage at the previous Knockhill round the car was in need of a little TLC. On the run up to Cadwell the car had to be re-jigged and a couple of body panels replaced along with the usual detailed set-up. On the Thursday morning all the cars were loaded on to the transporter and shipped off to the track, and then the team left on the Thursday night. It was a 6 hour drive so we arrived in the small hours of the Friday. We spent the Friday setting up camp and doing the final touches to the cars including a wee bit of polishing. In addition to the usual field we had 5 visiting drivers, 3 from the national championship and 2 returning from retirement for a 'one-off play'. These drivers opted to not collect point so were removed from the final results. Saturday was a mixed day for myself, after a strong result in heat 1, I had a coming together with a fellow team mate at corner 1 and suffered a misplaced wheel resulting in a DNF. This in turn gave me a good mid pack starting position in the final, and again I was able to turn this into another reasonable result.

Sunday was quite a consistent day for me and without any dramas. With top 6 finishes in every race I scored some good points towards my championship. The biggest thing to report would have to be visiting fellow team mate, John 'Jon' Higgins multiple roll over in heat 2. The #5 car was destroyed heading into turn 1

Lee Fitzpatrick RACE REPORT CADWELL 4th & 5th JUNE 2011

Here we are again, its been 9 months since I last drove a legend, but the opportunity to come back and have a go was too much, for 2 reasons in particular, firstly it was at Cadwell Park, a fantastic circuit. Secondly, John Jon was also out.

There have been a lot of people saying both JJ and I were past it and would be rusty after so long out the cars, not a view I shared and hoped I could prove them wrong

Saturday 4th June

Practice

As usual Stevie gave us our orders, do your laps don't hammer the car, but as usual in one ear out the other. The car felt great, I must point out it was not the car I won the championship with, this was a spare car, that Burnett have provided and as always it was in tip top condition. Blasting round the track was awesome and I thoroughly enjoyed it and to top it of I was the fastest in practice, rusty eh!!! Even better Burnett were in the top 3 positions.

Race 1

Aha, this is where the nerves kick in, have I missed those?, not really. JJ pulled pole for this race and I was directly behind him. The aim as always was to work together in the first half to get away then battle it out between us in the second half of the race. IT went to plan, Me and JJ got good starts and worked together for the first few laps and pulled a nice lead, I felt I was quicker than JJ, so I thought if I got past him we could continue to work together and pull away further. The first opportunity I got I made a move only for JJ to stick it round the outside, coming into the goose neck, hats off to him he's got some balls and he made the move stick, a few corners later I made my move again and this time it stuck. I got my head down and started to pull away from JJ and that's how the race finished. The car felt awesome and I didn't feel like I had been away for 9 months. After the race I was informed that I had set a new lap record, I was faster here today than I was when I won the championship, they do say things get better with age!!

Race 2

Starting further back for this one, so more work to do, but I wasn't worried I knew I ad the pace and I would be happy with a top 5 finish from the back. Cadwell is notoriously difficult to pass on, it is a very narrow track. The start went well got to the outside of David Hunter round the first corner which put me in the inside for the second corner, we were passing the slower starters when one decided that he was in the wrong position for that corner and moved across on me. With David on my outside and the other car moving across, there was nowhere to go, me a David tangled and into the barriers we went. End of race, I limped back to the pits and threw a strop!! Not really! Was it my fault for being too eager, I was assured after the race by other drivers that it wasn't, but hey ho that's racing. Did I mention the lap record in the first race!!

Final

Due to my non finish in the last race, I was staring towards the front, around row 4. I got a good start and passed 5 cars on the first lap and during the next lap made my way up to first. I was being kept honest by the Bracey bunch, both Nick and Dean where hot on my heels. I managed the gap and brought the Burnett car home in first place for my second win of the day. So overall a good day 2 wins and a DNF, oh yeah and a lap record!!

Sunday 5th June

Practice

Another practice another ear bashing from Stevie, do your 3 laps and come in, yeah yeah, blah , blah!!! Had a good session and finished on top again, this time 1.3 seconds quicker than anyone else.

Race 1

This time I would be starting at the back of the main grid, so a top 5 would be good. Had a good race and worked my way through the traffic, had a cracking battle with Nick Brace, one of the main protagonists in the rusty jokes. Managed to take him on the outside at the bottom of the hill, I must admit I did have a smile on my face as I did it. There was no way I could have caught the front 4 in the last 2 laps, so a 5th place it was.

Race 2

Started on the second row for this one and was confident I would be able to challenge for win. After the first lap it became evident that there was a problem with my engine, it had no power down the straights, I was able to throw it round the twisty bits and keep up with the guys in front but as soon as a straight came they powered away from me. It was incredibly frustrating. I finished in 7th at the end, not too bad seeing as I had no power. When I got back to the paddock the team confirmed the engine was f*$%ed, this is a technical term by the way. The team cracked on with changing the engine, will they do it before the final.

Final

Well here I am so the team pulled out all the stops and got the engine changed ready for the final. Someone in Parc Ferme noticed there was a small amount of oil under my car, Stevie spoke to them and I was let out to race. I was towards the back in this one got as good start and started to make my way through the traffic, then on Lap 2 JJ and Ross mickel had a coming together and it was a LARGE one with JJ rolling a few times. This stopped the race and we all waited on the grid while the crash was cleaned up. I saw JJ walking towards the pit lane and standing on the pit wall, good to see he was ok. Then a marshal noticed there was some oil under my car, it was still leaking. They spoke to Race control and it was decided that I would not restart the race. I was a bit pissed as it was only small amounts of oil, nothing that would be any danger, but I have to do what I am told. So I took the car back the paddock and would watch the rest of the final form the sidelines.

Overall a brilliant weekend and I would like to thank Burnett for having me back and giving me an awesome machine, the Scottish legends for allowing us to race and being so hospitable, as always. Oh yeah, mustn't forget my sponsors, cheers Mum and Dad!!

Maybe see you all again soon

All the best

RUSTY!!! (Lee Fitzpatrick)

Footage of JJ's crash here.

Saturday

The meeting included five guest drivers who did not score points - their results are as follows:

Guest Driver results: