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Round 9 – August 16th 1987, Donington Park
20 laps of the 1.957 mile circuit. Grid formation 3-2-3-2 for a standing start.
Graham Goode made good use of the two week break from the previous Snetterton race. The silver Listerine Ford Sierra RS Cosworth was updated to the never RS500 evolution. Having previously raced an Andy Rouse customer engine this race also marked the first occasion where an in house Goode engine was used. Rival Rouse Sierra runner Pete Hall had to make due with his usual RS Cosworth, while teamleader Andy Rouse was off to the Brno WTCC race. Another missing at Donington was Snetterton winner Mike O’Brien racing trucks at Brands Hatch instead. The John Maguire crew had performed a total rebuild of the Istel Rover of Tim Harvey while Dennis Leech, David Carvell and Graham Scarborough represented the remaining Rover runners with Mike Newman making it the seventh class A runner with his 635. In class B Frank Sytner was back with the BMW M3 as was Kevin Eaton and the Nissan Bluebird Turbo. Mark Hales and Lionel Wiffen were once again racing a Terry Drury Escort each, while Jon Dooley brought class contenders to five. Roger Saunders had re-shelled his Renault 5 from his Snetterton shunt to join Colin Pearcy and Allan Minshaw, who still had to make do with his production saloon VW Golf. In class D Chris Hodgetts was down to two cars, his original “01” chassis badly damaged at the Spa 24 hour race two weeks previously. This meant that teamleader Hodgetts was in his usual “03” car, while Tony Dron was a late addition to the entry list in the Demon Tweeks “02” car. Geoff Kimber-Smith was likely to be closed opposition while Phil Dowsett was back in the Julian May Escort.
Grid:
1.Frank Sytner, 1:17.57 – class B pole
2.Graham Goode, 1:17.58 – class A pole
3.Tim Harvey, 1:17.98
4.David Carvell, 1:18.30
5.Dennis Leech, 1:18.45
6.Pete Hall, 1:18.96
7.Graham Scarborough, 1:19.47
8.Mike Newman, 1:19.63
9.Kevin Eaton, 1:21.79
10.Mark Hales, 1:22.09
11.Chris Hodgetts, 1:22.12 – class D pole
12.Jon Dooley, 1:23.13
13.Geoff Kimber-Smith, 1:22.48
14.Colin Pearcy, 1:24.20 – class C pole
15.Lionel Wiffen, 1:24.40
16.Phil Dowsett, 1:25.08
17.Tony Dron, 1:25.39
18.Roger Saunders, 1:26.72
19.Alan Minshaw, 1:25.75!
It was quite a sight to see David Carvell off into the lead from the second row, heading Frank Sytner. Graham Goode was slow of the line even being rammed from behind. Worst off though was Tim Harvey when his driveshaft snapped at the line, immediately joining the list of retirees. Meanwhile Sytner seized up Carvell and made his bid for the lead on lap 3. Dennis Leech was third while Graham Goode was happy to be forth for the moment. With Sytner disappearing up front Goode was the mid race mover passing Leech and on lap 11 Carvell too. Leech tried a repeat performance on Carvell but the two collided at Redgate leaving Leech in third and Carvell into retirement thanks to a puncture. Up front Graham Goode used his power advantage to reel in Frank Sytner, but as the race neared its conclusion traffic blocked Goode’s attempts. And so Frank Sytner became the sixth winner of this years championship from Graham Goode who won his first class A race with the Sierra. Dennis Leech a clear number three from Peter Hall while Graham Scarborough held on to fifth from Mike Newman despite brake problems.
Kevin Eaton had another fine run in the Nissan this time netting him a fine second in class B ahead of Jon Dooley, while the two Terry Drury Escorts failed miserably. Mark Hales was a misfiring forth while Lionel Wiffen retired his mount with an overheating engine. Colin Pearcy was unchallenged for class C honours beating Roger Saunders, while Chris Hodgetts was a sure winner in class D. Geoff Kimber-Smith fought a vibration to end second in class while Tony Dron took third from Phil Dowsett.
The result all but secured Chris Hodgetts of a second consecutive British touring car title with Mark Hales and Geoff Kimber-Smith joined in second. Second in class for Dennis Leech and the demise of Tim Harvey meant Leech would take the class A lead. For those unlucky at Donington there was only a week to reassemble before the 1 hour two driver enduro at Oulton Park round 10.
Result:
1./ #33 / Frank Sytner / Sytner / B / BMW M3 / 20 laps / 26m48.38s / fastest class B lap
2./ #6 / Graham Goode / Goode / A / Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth / 20 laps / 26m48.84s / fastest class A lap
3./ #4 / Dennis Leech / Leech / A / Rover Vitesse / 20 laps / 26m52.06s
4./ #2 / Pete Hall / Rouse / A / Ford Sierra RS Cosworth / 20 laps / 26m58.45s
5./ #3 / Graham Scarborough / unknown / A / Rover Vitesse / 20 laps / 27m06.74s
6./ #10 / Mike Newman / Newman / A / BMW 635CSi / 20 laps / 27m20.59s
7./ #32 / Kevin Eaton / Eaton / B / Nissan Bluebird Turbo / 20 laps / 28m02.30s
8./ #31 / Jon Dooley / ARDT / B / Alfa Romeo 75 TE / 19 laps
9./ #66 / Chris Hodgetts / Hodgetts / D / Toyota Corolla GT / 19 laps / fastest class D lap
10./ #38 / Mark Hales / Drury / B / Ford Escort RS Turbo / 19 laps
11./ #71 / Geoff Kimber-Smith / Kimber-Smith / D / Toyota Corolla GT / 19 laps
12./ #55 / Colin Pearcy / Pearcy / C / MG Metro Turbo / 19 laps / fastest class C lap
13./ #67? / Tony Dron / Hodgetts / D / Toyota Corolla GT / 19 laps
14./ #45 / Roger Saunders / Saunders / C / Renault 5 GT Turbo / 19 laps
15./ #? / Phil Dowsett / May / D / Ford Escort RS1600i / 17 laps
DNFs
#? / Lionel Wiffen / Drury / B / Ford Escort RS Turbo / 14 laps
#5 / David Carvell / Potter / A / Rover Vitesse / 12 laps
#? / Alan Minshaw / Minshaw / C / VW Golf GTI 16V / 6 laps
#8 / Tim Harvey / Maguire / A / Rover Vitesse / 0 laps
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