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Mallory Park

Mallory Park, Leicester, Great-Britain

Date: 31/7/1976
Track length: 2.173 m
Attendance:
Entries accepted:
Starters: 12 (C-D)
Finishers:

Pole position: Spice in 0.54,0
Fastest lap: Percy in 0.57,2 (C-D); Craft, Spice and Walkinshaw in 0.53,8 (A-B)

Distance: 20 laps
Average speed: 134,10 kmh (C-D); 142,99 kmh (A-B)
Weather:
Ruleset: Group 1B
Car info: 1976 Cars

 

The first of the Keith Prowse British Touring Car Championship races, for a dozen cars from the up to 1600 cc classes, was an extremely tedious affair. The Samurai Toyota Celica GT’s of Win Percy and Barrie Williams proved why no other team bothers to contest the 1600 cc category by wailing away with the race, being separated by about a couple of seconds throughout. Bill Sydenham's similar car made it a Toyota 1-2-3 although overall Championship leader Bernard Unett did liven up the proceedings by challenging Sydenham all the way, with his all-winning Avenger 1300.
Derek Lawrence's Alfasud Ti led a three-car dice for fourth place until a plug melted after 2.5 laps, leaving Peter Hilliard's Alfa GT Junior to fend off Dave Hedges' Morris Cooper S which put up a fine show before running out of petrol six laps from the end. After the race Hilliard was excluded when the car was declared underweight while Marc Smith's Renault 5 TS, Unett's nearest rival in practice, failed to start on the line and blew its engine on lap four after starting to make up places.

Just 1.8s covered the fastest 10 cars on the grid for the over 1600 cc Keith Prowse British Touring Car Championship race in this order: Gordon Spice (3.0 Ford Capri), 54.0s; Chris Craft, Tom Walkinshaw and Vince Woodman (3.0 Ford Capris), 54.2s; Andy Rouse (Dolomite Sprint), 54.6s; Richard Lloyd (Opel Commodore GSE), and Gerry Marshall (Vauxhall Magnum), 54.8s; Dave Brodie (Mazda RX-3), 55.0s; Geoff Lees (Dolomite Sprint) and Colin Vandervell (3.0 Ford Capri) 55.2s.
From a spectacular start, in which Brodie was on the grass and Rouse badly delayed, Walkinshaw cut across from the outside of row 1 to slice into Gerards first from Spice, Woodman, Marshall, Craft and Rouse. From the first lap, the battle for overall honours was fought out by the Capris, and Spice started a race-long challenge on Walkinshaw despite using a very tired engine. Craft harried Brands winner Woodman until going by him into the Esses on lap six, and by half distance the Hammonds Sauce car was right with the leaders and used the entrance of the Esses again, to claim second place from Spice on the 11th lap.
Craft now tried everything he could to usurp Walkinshaw from the lead, still with Spice in close attendance, but Walkinshaw grimly hung on in front - even when his Capri lost first and second gears in the last few laps. Walkinshaw's subsequent slow exits from the Hairpin meant that the three Capris were virtually abreast at Devil's Elbow on occasions, and Spice and Craft came into contact more than once as they fought to get by. But just as all was building up for a thrilling last lap, Spice's engine went sick at Devil's Elbow sufficiently delaying Craft for Walkinshaw to pull half a second clear, while Woodman almost caught the ailing Spice on the line.
It was equally dramatic behind, as Rouse successfully dealt with Marshall and Lloyd to claim fifth place, only for the three to remain in very close company until lap 13 when Rouse's Dolomite was nudged at the Hairpin and spun sideways, falling back behind Lloyd and Marshall once again. With badly blistered rear tyres, there was nothing much Rouse could, do to catch up this time although Marshall maintained his pressure on Lloyd's fifth place to the finish. Brodie's Mazda was next, in eighth, having got the better of Geoff Lees' steadily-driven Dolomite and Vandervell's Capri.
After the race Marshall was reprimanded by the Stewards of the Meeting for deliberately leaving the track at the Esses several times and taking to the grass with all four wheels - an offence for which Clerk of the Course Don Truman said, at the driver's briefing, would result in automatic disqualification.



Touring Cars class A-B
Pos Pos in class # Team / Entrant
Car- Engine		 Drivers, Nationality Engine
vol. (cc)		 Engine
Type		 Group Distance,
time		 Qualifying position Qualifying time Fastest lap Reason out,
remarks
1 1   Samuri Racing with Toyota GB
Toyota Celica GT		 Win Percy, GB
 1588 L4 B 20 laps, 19.26,4     0.57,2  
2 2   Samuri Racing with Toyota GB
Toyota Celica GT		 Barrie Williams, GB
 1588 L4 B 20        
3 3    
Toyota Celica GT		 Bill Sydenham, GB
 1588 L4 B 20        
4 1   Mopar
Chrysler Avenger 1300 GT		 Bernard Unett, GB
 1295 L4 A 20 laps, 19.50,4     0.58,6  
  2    
Alfa Romeo Alfasud Ti		 Jon Dooley, GB
 1186 B4 A 20        
  3    
Alfa Romeo 1300 GT Junior		 Leo Bertorelli, GB
 1290 L4 A 20        
DSQ      
Alfa Romeo 1300 GT Junior		 Peter Hilliard, GB
 1290 L4 A 20       Underweight
DNF      
Morris Mini Cooper S		 David Hedges
 1275 L4 A 14       Out of fuel
DNF      
Renault R 5 TS		 Marc Smith, GB
 1289 L4 A 3     0.58,6 Blown engine
DNF      
Alfa Romeo Alfasud Ti		 Derek Lawrence, GB
 1186? B4 A 2       Plug

Touring Cars class C-D
Pos Pos in class # Team / Entrant
Car- Engine		 Drivers, Nationality Engine
vol. (cc)		 Engine
Type		 Group Distance,
time		 Qualifying position Qualifying time Fastest lap Reason out,
remarks
1 1   Team Castrol
Ford Capri II 3.0		 Tom Walkinshaw, GB
 2993 V6 D 20 laps, 18.14,0 3 0.54,2 0.53,8  
2 2   Tricentrol
Ford Capri II 3.0		 Chris Craft, GB
 2993 V6 D 20 2 0.54,2 0.53,8  
3 3   Wisharts Garages
Ford Capri II 3.0		 Gordon Spice, GB
 2993 V6 D 20 1 0.54,0 0.53,8  
4 4   Esso Uniflo
Ford Capri II 3.0		 Vince Woodman, GB
 2993 V6 D 20 4 0.54,2    
5 5   Ottershaw Motors
Opel Commodore GS/E		 Richard Lloyd, GB
 2784 L6 D 20 6 0.54,8    
6 1   Dealer Team Vauxhall
Vauxhall Firenza Magnum 2300		 Gerry Marshall, GB
 2279 L4 C 20 laps, 18.28,2 7 0.54,8 0.54,2  
7 2   British Leyland
Triumph Dolomite Sprint		 Andy Rouse, GB
 1998 L4 C 20 5 0.54,6    
8 3   Mazda Dealer Team
Mazda Savanna RX-3		 Dave Brodie, GB
 2 x 491 R2 C 20 8 0.55,0    
9 4   British Leyland
Triumph Dolomite Sprint		 Geoff Lees, GB
 1998 L4 C   9 0.55,2    
10 6   Triplex
Ford Capri II 3.0		 Colin Vandervell, GB
 2993 V6 D   10 0.55,2