JEC RACING 2008

BRANDS HATCH - 26th April 2008

JEC POWERED BY JAGUAR CHALLENGE

This race had seven Jaguars combined with the Sports Car V Saloon Challenge, a total of 36 cars, mainly Caterhams. The best placed Jaguars were those of Ken Paton's D-Type, Allan Glover's Luego Viento and Jerry Knight in a Revival D type.

When the red lights went out there was an almighty burst into the first bend and amazingly everyone got through in one piece. After a couple of laps positions were sorted and Ken was the leading Jaguar, Allan and Jerry were some way off but were having their own battle, until, on lap 16 Glover tangled with a Caterham at Clearways and spun off. Allan admitted "It was just a racing incident". His car had taken quite a smack to the rear that even broke the wheel.

Ken was lapping everyone by lap 9 and went on to take Class JC and race win, with Chris Palmer in his XJS in second. Jerry Knight took Class JB with Graham Paddick's Kougar second. Lawrence Coppock was in his other XJS, a V12 that was previously owned by Zoe North, but its performance was disappointing.

Braking into Druids - RG

Graham Paddick - NG

Graham Paddick - RG

Jerry Knight - NG

Jerry Knight climb up to Druids - RG

Jerry Knight, Bill Goodall - RG

Ken Paton - RG

Ken Paton - NG

TOYO TIRES XJS CHAMPIONSHIP

Two time winner at Snetterton, Stuart Lyddall, was on pole, with that dark knight Derek Pearce in second and Chris Palmer third.

A large field of 24 XJSs powered off and it was Derek who led Stuart into the first bend. From there he took control of the race with a drive worthy of a 'masters degree'. Pearce kept his composure and went on to take Class G and and a well deserved race win, his first since 2006, with Stuart just half a second behind. Chris Palmer was third and the Class F winner with a great performance in his 4.0 litre car. The ever improving Andrew Harrison was the Class D winner in fourth place.

Further down the field was a massive 6-way battle between Gary Hastings, Matt Skelton, Lawrence Coppock, Paul Merrret, Lawrence Ball, and Jim Quirke. This group vied for positions between fifth and tenth, with some really close racing that had the crowds on their feet, just three seconds covering all six as the flag came down.

Previous champion Gail Hill is not having the best start to the season with her V12. Gail said "The car seems to be down on power but it will be going on a rolling road to find out where the problems are". Hopefully they will be addressed by round 4 at Mallory.

Another Hill, this time Ray, had a spin at Druids Bend that ended his race on lap 8, as did Dave Eyles. New entrant Michael Scoins in a Class D 4.0 litre did well and gained five places from his start position.

Ball, Quirke 2 - NG

Coppock, Merrett, Ball - NG

David Eyles spins - NG

Eyles, Hill, Webster - DE

James Quirke - DE

McVicar, Sharman - RG

Michael Scoins - NG

Pack into Druids - RG

Pearce - PB

Pearece, Lydall - NG

Philip Comer - PB

Quirke, Comer, Hill - NG

Robert McVicar tops up - DE

Seath - PB

Skelton,Hastings et al - NG

JAGUAR CLASSIC PARTS JAGUAR SALOON CHAMPIONSHIP

Round 3 took place on a glorious spring day at the 1.2 mile circuit of Brands Hatch in Kent. Tim Morrant repeated his form from Snetterton and was on pole, with Richard Dorlin second and Steve 'sideways' Avery, in Chris Palmers X-300, third.

A superb field of 26 Jaguars blasted towards the first bend when the lights went out, but Neil Taylor in a modern S-Type and Robert Drewery in a Daimler Sovereign both touched and spun. Robert came off worse as his XJ6 spun into the barrier. There was still more drama going down into the first bend (Paddock Hill) as 'sideways' made a great start from the second row and tried unsuccessfully to squeeze between leaders Morrant and Dorlin. Avery's race was over before it had begun, and the red flags came out.

When the race was restarted it was Richard Dorlin and Dave Bye who got away the quickest, as Tim dropped back to third. Richard led with Dave fractionally behind until lap 6 when they both came up to back markers at Surtees, which caused Richard to slow and Dave ended up nudging him into a spin. Dave went on to take Class B and race win with Simon Lewis taking second, close behind. Tim finished third. Richard Dorlin dropped places after his spin but started to make his way up the field until he got behind Howard Kirkham in his XJ40. Dorlin took an eternity to find a gap but one did appear on the penultimate lap and he finished an excellent sixth.

In the other classes, a great drive from Peter Dorlin in his MK II saw him start from eighth place and finish in fourth, with the Class D win. Phil Woods came seventh and took Class A comfortably from his main rival Ken Angell, whose XJ40 was misfiring and down on power. Nick Gwinnutt was the Class E winner starting from the eighth row and finishing in a brilliant eighth place. Guy Connow had his first outing in a XJ6 coping well.