Anglesey 2nd and 3rd May 2009

The May bank holiday saw the PCGB Speed Championship at the recently revamped Anglesey circuit for rounds two and three of the 2009 season. Despite some stormy weather on the preceding day, the competition on Saturday and Sunday was blessed with perfect conditions – sunny and dry with cool, light winds and the smooth flowing surface of the 1.2 mile National Circuit. Eighteen drivers attended and enjoyed a weekend of superb, close competition at what is proving to be a very popular venue.

Saturday got underway with a two lap practice session before going straight into the first of three timed runs. Seven Class P4 drivers battled for honours at Anglesey with Ray Bignell (924S) coming in third place after some remarkably regular times and a 133.03 second finish. Consistency was also a factor in putting Simon Butterworth (924S) into second place with a 0.94 second advantage over Ray. After cutting his times down by two seconds on each run Graham Rose (924S) finished in first place for P4 with a brilliant final time of 128.24 seconds. Five drivers turned out for Class P3 with Ian Wadsworth (911 Carrera 3.0 litre) neatly cutting his times down by around 1.5 seconds on each successive run to finish in 131.19 seconds and third place. This pattern of successive improvement was repeated with almost surgical precision by David Strange as he honed his times down over the day to finish in second place with a 1.64 second advantage over Ian. Tim Barber (911CS) had a great start to his season after he put in a series of consistently quick times from the start of the day to finish in 128.39 seconds for first place in P3.

Class P2 saw some very close competition at Anglesey with both Simon Wilson and his supercharged 924 on good form when he finished the day in third place after a fastest time of 124.31 seconds. With a near two second advantage over Simon, Derek Thomas battled son Will for first place but eventually conceded defeat and second place with a final fastest time of 122.40. After the closest of margins over all three timed runs Will Thomas put in a series of very committed drives and eventually took the 3.2 Supersport he shares with Derek to a fastest finish of 122.35 for first place.

Mechanical problems knocked Karl Lupton’s 944 out of Class P1 leaving Colin Belton as sole entrant in P1 although this did not prevent Colin from pushing his 993 RSR to a quickest time of 119.08 seconds. Sunday brought more opportunities for Colin to hone down his times and he took full advantage, eventually knocking a further 1.37 seconds off Saturday’s time. His fastest finish on Sunday was 117.71 seconds making Colin not only the fastest Porsche on the day but, also, the fastest production sportscar at the meeting.

Class P2 saw Simon Wilson refining his performance from the previous day to finish fractionally quicker with a 123.86 seconds fastest time for third place. It was almost a case of déjà vu as Derek and Will Thomas vied for first and second place again but, after the closest of times throughout the day, it was Will’s turn to concede defeat and come away with second place in 121.74 seconds. Derek took class honours with a final and remarkable fast time of 121.08 seconds.It was Groundhog day for Class P3 on Sunday with Ian Wadsworth, David Strange and Tim Barber closely replicating their Saturday times and positions. Ian finished in third place in 131.37 seconds while David Strange bettered his Saturday time by 0.24 seconds for second place in 128.31 seconds. It has been a memorable weekend for Tim Barber after he bettered Saturday’s time and created a winning margin of 2.30 seconds for first place.

Class P4 lost Frank and Mathew Harries to mechanical problems halfway through the day but that still left five very committed drivers on Sunday. Ray Bignell took over a second off Saturday’s time to finish in third place in 131.89 seconds. Creating a margin of 0.12 seconds over Ray’s time was just enough to put Simon Butterworth into second place on Sunday while Graham Rose had another very good day to finish with a final fastest time of 126.55 seconds that set a benchmark that P4 drivers will fight hard to beat at future Anglesey meetings.