Dungannon MC Autotest report
16 March 2019
The second round of the McMillan Specialist
Cars ANICC Autotest Championship and Clubman Challenge was hosted by Dungannon
Motor Club at Loughry College, Cookstown on Saturday 16th March,
when 30 of the top autotesters from across the country showed their precision
driving skills, over 3 challenging timed tests. Event Sponsor and Clerk of the
Course Malcolm McQueen welcomed all the competitors at the drivers briefing and
wished them all the best for the days event, but none of those present realised
how stiff a day’s competition it would prove to be.
On Test 1 Ashley Lamont would set the
fastest time of 71.0 seconds in his Westfield, with Sam Bowden 0.4 seconds
behind in his Mini Saloon. But after the first loop of 3 tests it would be the
Westfield of Lamont who would hold a 2.8 second lead over the Mini Special of
Steven Ferguson in second, with the Vauxhall Nova of David Thompson only 0.8
seconds behind in third. With 9 more tests to complete it was all to play for,
and any slight mistake could cost them dearly as the results after 6 tests
would show.
With 6 tests completed Lamont would still
be in the lead, but Mark King in his Vauxhall Nova had found his form and set
the fastest time on test 6 to climb the leader board into second place, forcing
Ferguson back into third. A penalty on test 7 would cost Lamont dearly,
dropping him down the leader board and out of the top 3, allowing Peter Grimes
and Robin Lyons both in their Mini Specials to leapfrog up into first and
second respectably with King now pushed back into third. The top three were
separated by only 1.6 seconds, so it would go right down to the wire to see who
would be the eventual winner.
A pylon on his final test of the day would
cost Desertmartin man King the overall win, leaving him to settle for third
overall, with Robin Lyons in second and Peter Grimes taking the overall win.
With 4 drivers in 3 vastly different types of cars fighting it out for the win
the spectators who had turned out to watch, were shown some of the most
exceptional autotesting that the championship can produce.
With Grimes taking the overall win, it was
Lyons who collected the Class A honours, with Ferguson eventually having to
settle for second and James Wilson in third, all in their Mini Specials. Lamont
took the Class B win, with Trevor Ferguson second and Paul Lowther third in
their rear-wheel drive sports cars. Class C was all the Mini men, with Bowden
taking the class win, from Jonni McDaid in second and Norman Ferguson in third.
In Class D for the Large Saloon Cars, King would take the win from Thompson,
with Jamie McMillan finishing third after a difficult day in his Vauxhall Nova,
with several mechanical issues costing him precious time.
In the Clubman Challenge round 1 winner
Gary Campbell in his Vauxhall Nova, would be the man to be setting the fastest
time on the first two tests of the day. After three tests it would be Campbell
who lead the way, with Gordon Buckley in his Cox GTM 18.6 seconds adrift in
second with Jimmy Dougan in third. Jimmy had been forced to swap from his
Vauxhall Nova to his Mini Saloon at the last minute, due to engine problems.
After 6 tests the places remained unchanged for the top three positions, but a
failure on test 8 would cost Dougan his third place, allowing Brendan Mooney in
his Westfield to slip through into third overall. At the end of the day the
Clubman Challenge would finish with Campbell first, Buckley second and Mooney
third.
Campbell would also take the Class A win,
with fellow Nova driver Jack Gillis being forced to retire due to gearbox
problems. Buckley would take the Class B win, with Mooney settling for second. The
fail on test 8 would also cost Dougan the Class C win, allowing Ben Colhoun to
take the class honours. Class D would be won by Fergus Mallon in his first ever
autotest in his Mazda MX-5.
It would be a two-horse race in the
Advanced Challenge between two very different cars, Damien Mooney in his
lightweight Vauxhall Nova autotest car and Colin Hazelton in his standard
road-going Mazda MX-5. Both competitors tackled the tests with vigour and
showed some excellent driving skills, but it would be Mooney who would take the
win at the end of the day.
With two rounds completed, the autotesting championship
and challenge road-train rolls onto the next round, which will be hosted by MG
Car Club at Transport Training Services, Nutts Corner.
Posted by PMcCollum on 22/3/2019; Last updated by PMcCollum on 22/3/2019