Croft

Croft in North Yorkshire is just over 2 miles long and orginates from an old airfield. The circuit is a popular venue for many of the national championships including Tour Cars and the MGOC Championship.

With 12 turns it is one of the most challenging of circuits that tests all the skills of a race driver particularly at turns 1 and 2 in terms of the start of the race, the chicane at 3, the hard breaking at 7 and the hairpin at 12. The best viewing positions are the grandstand at turn 1, sunny in and out at turns 8 and 9 on the bank and of course the bank viewing the hairpin at 12.

Rounds 11 and 12 - Croft 30 / 31st August

Croft is another circuit formed from the perimeter roads of a World War 2 airfield, it fell into disrepair in the 1970’s but was restored and reopened in the 1990’s and was taken over by BARC in 2007. The trackside facilities are still fairly bleak but any shortfalls are more than compensated by the superb 2.1 mile long circuit.

Despite being one of the best venues on the Club racing calendar, Croft is an long haul up the A1 and many of the Southern based drivers inexplicably give this wonderful circuit a miss and entry levels for this Double-header meeting were the lowest for many years.

Class B/Z
Race 1
Simon Byrne took pole position by almost a second but his arch rival Gary Smith was alongside him on the front row. Row two was taken by Nick Golhar and Andy Campbell who was driving Doug Cole’s car, these two great competitors have clocked up over 500 MGOC races between them. Row three saw James Barnett alongside Trevor Dixon. On row four was the surprise entry of MG Midget driver Will Sharpe, who had borrowed Julian Morris’s ZR for a one-off drive, and Paul Clackett whose ZS was the quickest of the Class B cars. Lee Sullivan, Paul Haylett and Ben Short were close behind and would be fighting hard for Championship points.

Byrne and Smith both made perfect starts and were side by side on the long run into the first corner but Byrne held the line and took the lead ahead of Smith, Campbell, Golhar, Barnett and Dixon. The two leaders soon pulled away from the chasing pack and by lap 3 had a lead of at least 100 metres. Smith was doing everything in his power to challenge for the lead but Byrne was driving absolutely on the limit and gave the former Champion no opportunity to pass.

The gap between Byrne and Smith was never more than a cars length and as the cars started their last lap it looked as if Byrne would hold on for the win but Smith hadn’t given up and hurled the ZR through the chicane and the extra exit speed allowed him to pull alongside at Tower Bend and as Byrne defended the inside line approaching Sunny, the yellow ZR slipped through to take the lead. The two cars nearly collided on the final corner but Smith held on to take a dramatic win. The two leaders finished 200 metres ahead of Golhar who gradually caught Campbell in the early stages of the race before taking the position on lap 8.

Sullivan took an early lead in Class B and soon established what looked like race winning lead over Haylett, Short and Clackett. Sullivan continued his impressive recent run by taking the Class B win by almost 10 seconds from Short who finally secured the runner up position after a splendid three way scrap with Short and Clackett.

Race 2
In a repeat of the earlier race, Byrne made another perfect start and held the smallest of leads from Smith but it all changed on lap 6 when Byrne’s ZR suffered an electrical problem and he was forced to retire leaving Smith with an unassailable lead. In the closing laps, Smith eased off the pace and Campbell reduced the gap to 2.8 secs to take third place ahead of fellow Derby driver Barnett, Golhar, Dixon and Sharpe.

The red ZS of Clackett took an early lead in Class B ahead of Sullivan, Short, Haylett, Mackay and Halsall. Sullivan kept the pressure on throughout the race but Clackett managed to hold on to take his second win of the season from Sullivan with Short getting past Haylett on the last lap to take 3rd place. The remaining places were taken by Mackay, who had yet another frustrating weekend, Halsall, Perkins and Scott.

Class A/F
Race 1
Stuart Plotnek took pole position from Ian Evans with Ian Deaves and Paul Savage on row 2. The Midget of Will Sharpe was the quickest of the Class A cars a full 1.1 secs ahead of the MGB of Jim Baynam who had a troublesome fuel supply problem. The remainder of the grid was made up by Phil Waterman, Chris Pollard, John Kimber, Brendan Murphy and Kevin Broadley.

When the red lights went out, Plotnek and Evans were side by side on the long drag into the first corner but the white MGF of Plotnek emerged at the front and held the lead through the critical sequence of corners that lead onto the long straight into Tower Bend. By the end of the opening lap, Plotnek had a 30 metre lead with Evans a similar distance ahead of Savage with Deaves completing the Class F runners. By half distance, Plotnek had extended his lead to 200 metres and cruised towards another win. Evans looked secure in 2nd place but developed an electrical problem and was caught and passed on lap 6 by Savage. Evans was then caught by Deaves but the reigning Class F Champion was determined to hold on to 3rd place and took the defensive line at every corner frustrating Deaves who tried every trick in the book to get past.

The already small Class A grid was further reduced when Baynam was forced to withdraw from the race with a fuel supply problem. With Baynam absent, Sharpe soon established a comfortable lead and cruised around for the entire race distance with no serious competition to take the win by 13 seconds from the 1275 Midget of Waterman. The only real action in the race was for last place where Kimber held on to take 3rd place ahead of Broadley who had an entertaining scrap for last place with Murphy.

Race 2
As forecast, the rain swept in during the afternoon and by the time the cars took to the grid the track was awash making driving conditions treacherous.

In a repeat of the earlier race, Plotnek quickly mastered the treacherous conditions and by the end of lap 2 had a huge lead over Savage who was being pressured by Evans with Deaves some way further back. Evans took 2nd place on lap 4 with Deaves moving up into 3rd place after Savage dropped down the field. Plotnek showed his superiority in the difficult conditions by lapping significantly quicker than the other MGF's and went on to take his 10th win of the season from Evans. Deaves took 3rd place from Savage who drove well after dropping well down the field after an incident on lap 4.

With Baynam, Pollard and Waterman missing from the grid, Sharpe had the easiest of wins in the Class A race. Kimber took 2nd place by the length of a bonnet from Murphy with Broadley taking the final place after dropping down the field following a spin on lap 7.

Next Race: Silverstone 4th / 5th October



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