Pole position: Dron in 1.45,0
Fastest lap: Dron in 1.45,6 = 143,39 kmh
Distance: 20 laps
Average speed: 141,91 kmh
Weather:
Ruleset: Group 1B
Car info: 1977 Cars
It was Tony Dron's 29th birthday on Monday and he celebrated that dubious occasion by placing the little Dolomite on pole position and then simply pulverised the opposition in the 20-lap Tricentrol round. Driving with his injured ankle heavily bandaged ("I now know it's broken") Dron snatched pole with a 1.45,0 best and then closed right up on Bernard Unett's overall championship lead with another well judged victory and another fastest lap. Vince Woodman's Ford Capri had been second fastest in practice with a 1.45,8 lap but within 10 laps of the race had been passed at Druids by Colin Vandervell's Capri which had rocketed through from the third row. Vandervell had a tough battle to get by Gerry Marshall's very sideways Vauxhall in the early laps yet, once through, the Triplex car pulled clear. Once passed Woodman, Vandervell found himself alone in second for most of the race while Marshall had to contend with a strong challenge from Jeff Allam's Magnum. Tyre wear was proving a major headache yet again for the Capri runners and so in the closing stages the battle was on again for second place as the bunch closed. Dron was over 10s clear in the nimble Sprint but Vandervell had Woodman breathing down his neck and Marshall was only a second clear of young Allam. With Tom Walkinshaw non-starting after handling problems in practice, it was left for the Capris of Stuart Graham, Gordon Spice and Phil Dowsett to take the next placings ahead of Holman Blackburn's Magnum which dropped back from sixth in the opening laps with a spin down the hill at Paddock. Apart from Vandervell and Marshall, the wildest dice was between Richard Longman and Bernard Unett for that all-important small class win. For nearly half the race Longman's Mini held the slenderest of leads, with Martin Brundle's Celica joining the fray, until Longman dropped back and Unett went on to claim Chrysler's points. With Dron and Vandervell winning the two larger classes it was left for Richard Lloyd to win the other one in his Golf GTI. |
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Touring Cars class A-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 | British Leyland Triumph Dolomite Sprint |
Tony Dron, GB |
1998 | L4 | C | 20 laps, 35.34,0 | 1 | 1.45,0 | 1.45,6 | ||
| 2 | 1 | Triplex Ford Capri II 3.0S |
Colin Vandervell, GB |
2993 | V6 | D | 20 laps, 35.44,6 | 7/8 | 1.46,2 | |||
| 3 | 2 | Esso Uniflo Ford Capri II 3.0S |
Vince Woodman, GB |
2993 | V6 | D | 20 | 2 | 1.45,8 | 1.46,2 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Dealer Team Vauxhall Castrol Vauxhall Firenza Magnum 2300 |
Gerry Marshall, GB |
2279 | L4 | C | 20 | |||||
| 5 | 3 | Allam Motor Services Vauxhall Firenza Magnum 2300 |
Jeff Allam, GB |
2279 | L4 | C | 20 | |||||
| 6 | 3 | Fabergé Racing Ford Capri II 3.0S |
Stuart Graham, GB |
2993 | V6 | D | 20 | |||||
| 7 | 4 | Gordon Spice Group Ford Capri II 3.0S |
Gordon Spice, GB |
2993 | V6 | D | 20 | 1.46,2 | ||||
| 8 | 5 | Stuart Patterson Ford Capri II 3.0S |
Phil Dowsett, GB |
2993 | V6 | D | 20 | |||||
| 9 | 4 | Luton Products Vauxhall Firenza Magnum 2300 |
Holman “Les” Blackburn, GB |
2279 | L4 | C | 20 | |||||
| 1 | VW Golf GTI |
Richard Lloyd, GB |
1588 | L4 | B | 20 laps, 37.22,2 | ||||||
| 2 | VW Scirocco GTI |
Brian Pepper, GB |
1588 | L4 | B | 20 | 1.50,6 | |||||
| 3 | Toyota Celica GT |
Martin Brundle, GB |
1588 | L4 | B | 19 | ||||||
| 1 | Mopar Chrysler Avenger 1300 GT |
Bernard Unett, GB |
1295 | L4 | A | 19 laps | 1.52,6 | |||||
| 2 | Patrick Motor Group Mini 1275 GT |
Richard Longman, GB |
1275 | L4 | A | 19 | ||||||
| 3 | Napolina Alfa Romeo Dealer Team Alfa Romeo Alfasud Ti |
Rex Greenslade, GB |
1286 | B4 | A | 19 | ||||||
| DNS | BMW racing with Castrol BMW 530i US |
Tom Walkinshaw, GB |
2985 | L6 | D | Handling | ||||||