Round 8 - Mallory Park 20th July

This popular Leicestershire track was owned and managed for many years by the charismatic Edwina Overend but when this grand old lady passed away a few years ago the circuit was acquired by the British Automobile Racing Club who embarked on a series of improvements and the circuit was in fine fettle this meeting.

The large contingent of members from the local South Staffs MG Owners Club came along to meet the drivers and watch the racing. It was good to see a local Club supporting the Championship, we hope other Area Secretaries follow suit and come along to watch the action and chat to the drivers.

Class B / Z
On a chilly morning, the front running ZR’s of Gary Smith and Simon Byrne were dominant with Smith taking pole position by 1.1 secs. from Byrne. Adrian Olsson was on row 2 alongside Trevor Dixon who is gradually getting to grips with the ZR after many years of racing an MGBGT. Nick Golhar was on row 3 with Stratton Mackay who was the quickest of the Class B cars. Row 4 was filled by the beautifully prepared ZS 120 of Paul Clackett that was making its racing debut and the splendid Montego Estate of Paul Haylett followed by the Maestros of Lee Sullivan, Ben Short, Nick Arden, John Perkins, Mark Halsall, Arthur Mackay and Chris Miller.

Byrne made the best start but Smith held the inside line to lead into the sweeping right hand Gerrards Bend but Byrne bravely kept the power on and took the outside line and pulled alongside Smith. Byrne had the better exit speed and took the race lead along the Stebbe Straight and held the line into the Lake Esses and the Hairpin to lead at the end of the opening lap. Smith was never more than a couple of lengths behind and Byrne knew that if he drove a defensive race it would only be a matter if time before the experienced Smith found a way past. Byrne dealt with the challenge in his usual style and drove a perfect race getting good exit speed from the corners and never gave Smith a chance to take the lead.

Behind the two leaders, Olsson, Dixon and Golhar were having their own private battle for 2nd place with Olsson just holding the upper hand for the duration of the race. Dixon has his mirrors full of the yellow ZS of Golhar and the Hounslow drivers used all of the experience gained in 20 years of racing in the Championship to pass Dixon on lap 6 and close in on Olsson.

Mackay initially lead Class B but the red ZS120 of Clackett was right on his tail and slipped past under braking for the Lake Esses on lap 3. Short was making good progress moving into 3rd place in Class B ahead of Haylett and Sullivan before dropping down the order after a problem in mid race. Mackay didn’t give up the fight and was always within striking distance of the leader but Haylett was driving superbly in the brand new ZS120 and by lap 10 had opened up a 50 metre lead over Mackay who was a similar distance ahead of Haylett who was putting on a great show in the Montego Estate

The race leaders continued their battle right to the flag but Byrne held on to take his third win of the season by a cars length from Smith with Olsson just holding off a determined Golhar to take 3rd place with Dixon close behind in 5th place.

Clackett went on to take a debut win in the new ZS120 by 1.5secs. from Mackay with Haylett and Sullivan close behind. Nick Arden took 5th place in Class B after a solid drive on his return to the Championship

Class A / F
By the time a mixed bag of 8 MGF’s, 7 MGB’s and two Midgets went out for their practice session the weather had improved and the track temperatures had risen.


Pole position was taken by the white MGF of Stuart Plotnek with seasoned campaigner Robin Walker having his best run for some time to join Plotnek on the front row. The MGF’s of Paul Savage, Ian Deaves, Ian Evans were all within 0.5 secs of the pole position time and Stuart Philps was pleased to be 5th on the grid on his first race in the ex-Martin Wills MGF. Row 4 was taken by Peter Higton and the MGB of Jim Baynam who was quickest of the Class A cars. Row 5 was taken by the MGBGT of Paul Eales and the MGF of Paul Wisbey with the remainder of the grid taken by Malcolm Hill, Will Sharpe, Phil Waterman, John Kimber, Chris Flooks, Brendan Murphy and Mark Witherington.

The cars got off to a good clean start with Plotnek taking an early lead from Walker with the rest of the pack very close behind. There was drama at the end of the opening lap when Plotnek dropped down to last place after being nudged into a spin at the Hairpin and Walker spun off at the Devils Elbow and hit the barriers hard.

Deaves lead the race but reigning Class F Champion Evans, Savage and Higton were never more than a few lengths behind but all eyes were on Plotnek who was charging through the field and was on the tail of the leading pack by mid-race. Savage moved past Evans into 2nd place on lap 8 but the places were reversed on the next lap as Evans fought back. With the leading cars embroiled in a fierce battle for the lead Plotnek soon closed in and completed a remarkable recovery drive by taking the lead on lap 11.

After 14 laps of frantic action, Plotnek took an impressive win from Deaves with Evans hanging on to 3rd place by a length from Savage with Higton taking 5th place after a strong drive.

In Class A, Baynam made a perfect start to move ahead of the MGF of Philps and Wisbey and, after a good opening lap, had opened up a 50 metre lead over Hill, Eales, Sharpe and Waterman who were having a mighty tussle.

Baynam was having a spirited battle for 5th place with Philps who was clearly enjoying his first race in the MGF. By lap 7 Philps had broken away from the MGB leaving Baynam a clear track and, with a 200 metre lead over the chasing Class A cars, he seemed set to take the win but by the start of the last lap his engine sounded very rough but it somehow made it to the finish to take the win by less than a second from Hill who held off Eales after a tremendous race long battle. Sharpe took 3rd place but had dropped down the order after being nudged into a spin at Gerrards on lap 10. Waterman took 4th place ahead of Kimber, Murphy, Witherington and Flooks.

On a day when track conditions were ideal, it was no surprise that new lap records were set by Eales (MGBGT), Haylett ( MG Montego), Plotnek (MGF) and Byrne (MGZR160)

Next Race: 30th and 31st August Croft

Points after round 8 of 14

Class A                        Class B                       Class F                           Class Z
Will Sharpe 137         Lee Sullivan 153        Stuart Plotnek 157       Gary Smith 128
Jim Baynam 96         Stratton Mackay 129   Ian Evans 123              Dave Mellor 94
Phil Waterman 84     Ben Short 113            Ian Deaves 101            Simon Byrne 92
Paul Eales 84            Paul Haylett 96           Paul savage 97             Trevor Dixon 70
John Kimber 76         Mark Halsall 89         Martin Wills 91                Nick Golhar 66

*********************