Pole position: Walkinshaw in 1.06,2
Fastest lap: Spice and Walkinshaw, 1.06,4 = 140,30 kmh
Distance: 32 laps
Average speed: 138,54 kmh
Weather: Rain towards the end of the race
Ruleset: Group 1B
Car info: 1976 Cars
Winner of the last round - Tom Walkinshaw - had jetted-in from the Nürburgring 1000 kms race where he suffered most cruel luck, but any feelings of sadness were quickly dispelled as the Scotsman clinched pole position in his Team Castrol/London Sports Car Centre Capri with a 1.06,2 lap. In a show of extreme confidence, Walkinshaw sat out the last 15 minutes of practice, apparently safe in the knowledge that no one would beat his time, and indeed this was the case. The traffic lights flashed red, and 10s later the green shone out and it was Spice making a fine start to lead Walkinshaw and Brodie into Copse, followed by Rouse, Lloyd, Rolt and Vandervell. The end of the first lap saw the leading cars bunched together in a seemingly impossible formation as they hustled and jostled their way round Woodcote, and for the next five laps Spice and Walkinshaw inched away leaving Brodie and Rouse locked in combat together with Lloyd, Vandervell, the ebullient Marshall and Martin Thomas in his Sprint. Woodman's Capri was tucked in there as well, but three laps later he was out with a broken clutch cable, as Spice and Walkinshaw were now appreciably clear of the third-place battle. This was not for the faint-hearted, for Brodie and Rouse were putting in a super show which saloon car buffs were loving. Behind this dynamic duo other bodywork was suffering as Stuart Rolt's Capri got more than sideways at Woodcote and smashed into Lloyd's Opel as Marshall and Vandervell took avoiding action. Stirring stuff indeed, but gradually it petered out as Lloyd dropped further and further back as his clutch refused to operate, but it still left Marshall and Vandervell fighting it out behind Brodie and Rouse, who in turn were now some way behind the two leaders. Further down the field Percy's Toyota was easily leading its class, as was the Avenger of Unett, whilst Smith was certainly making his Renault 5 TS motor in remarkable fashion. As the race progressed it was evident that Walkinshaw just did not have the required power to get by Spice, and although the Hermetite driver could close up on braking, Spice was able to pull away on the straights to retain his advantage. This superiority was further emphasised towards the end of the race when rain began to fall, for Walkinshaw was then not able to "late brake" Spice for fear of locking-up and going off. Spice kept his head in the best possible fashion to take the flag 7s clear of Walkinshaw, but third place was still in the balance as Rouse and Brodie were at it hammer and tongs for class supremacy. Rouse had opined before the race that he thought his brakes might fade towards the end, and as if preordained, this is exactly what happened with just a few laps remaining. The crafty Brodie pressured Rouse all the way, and with two laps left the Mazda slipped by at Woodcote and held on to hand British Leyland another drubbing, and to win himself the Allied Polymer Driver of the Day Award after a superb drive. |
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Touring Cars class C-D
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| 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 | Wisharts Garages Ford Capri II 3.0 |
Gordon Spice, GB |
2993 | V6 | D | 32 laps, 35.51,6 | 2 | 1.06,6 | 1.06,4 | ||
| 2 | 2 | Team Castrol Ford Capri II 3.0 |
Tom Walkinshaw, GB |
2993 | V6 | D | 32 | 1 | 1.06,2 | 1.06,4 | ||
| 3 | 1 | Mazda Dealer Team Mazda Savanna RX-3 |
Dave Brodie, GB |
2 x 491 | R2 | C | 32 laps, 36.15,4 | 3 | 1.06,8 | 1.06,8 | ||
| 4 | 2 | British Leyland Triumph Dolomite Sprint |
Andy Rouse, GB |
1998 | L4 | C | 32 | 5 | 1.07,6 | |||
| 5 | 3 | Dealer Team Vauxhall Vauxhall Firenza Magnum 2300 |
Gerry Marshall, GB |
2279 | L4 | C | 32 | 8 | 1.08,2 | |||
| 6 | 3 | Triplex Ford Capri II 3.0 |
Colin Vandervell, GB |
2993 | V6 | D | 32, 0,8 sec behind Marshall | 9? | ||||
| 1 | Samuri Racing with Toyota GB Toyota Celica GT |
Win Percy, GB |
1588 | L4 | B | 31 laps, 36.57,6 | (1) | 1.10,2 | ||||
| 2 | Samuri Racing with Toyota GB Toyota Celica GT |
Barrie Williams, GB |
1588 | L4 | B | 30 | ||||||
| 3 | Toyota Celica GT |
Patrick Cobb, GB |
1588 | L4 | B | 30 | ||||||
| 1 | Mopar Hillman Avenger 1300 |
Bernard Unett, GB |
1295 | L4 | A | 29 laps, 36.50,4 | (1) | 1.15,0 | ||||
| 2 | Renault R 5 TS |
Marc Smith, GB |
1289 | L4 | A | 29 | ||||||
| 3 | Alfa Romeo 1300 GT Junior |
Peter Hilliard, GB |
1290 | L4 | A | 29 | ||||||
| Ottershaw Motors Opel Commodore GS/E |
Richard Lloyd, GB |
2784 | L6 | D | 7 | 1.08,0 | Clutch | |||||
| Triumph Dolomite Sprint |
Martin Thomas, GB |
1998 | L4 | C | ||||||||
| Ford Capri II 3.0 |
Stuart Rolt, GB |
2993 | V6 | D | ||||||||
| DNF | Esso Uniflo Ford Capri II 3.0 |
Vince Woodman, GB |
2993 | V6 | D | 32 | 4 | Clutch cable | ||||
| DNS | Tricentrol Ford Capri II 3.0 |
Chris Craft, GB |
2993 | V6 | D | 6 | 1.07,6 | Engine | ||||