The forecast rain failed to hit Brands Hatch for the scheduled test day on Friday, and the weather for the race on Saturday was glorious, with warm sunshine almost all day. Several drivers chose to test on the Friday, and most found it a useful exercise. The exception was Luke Dimsdale, who had a heavy off in the second morning session, damaging the rear suspension and wing of his recently-acquired Tiga against the barriers at McLaren. Father Jonny liaised with Ken Thorogood, and arranged to drop the Tiga off at Wymondham for repairs, and was seriously considering a trip up to Harrogate to bring the Van Diemen down for the race, but eventually decided against the idea.

So it was, that thirteen cars took to the circuit at 09:00 for qualifying. It was our lowest entry yet, not helped by the fact that there was a URS race at Cadwell the next day which some drivers had opted for. Colin Wright had committed to both us, and Ken, so was grateful for our status as opening race.

Tom Mills made the most of his new engine by grabbing pole in 50.328s, ahead of series stalwarts Peter Denham, Colin Wright and Trevor Arkell (who have each contested all our races so far this year). Some people expressed surprise at Tom’s performance, but they obviously weren’t aware that he has been a front runner in Sports 2000 for several years.

Behind the leading four came Roger Price and Iain Rowley, followed by Antony Raine, again hustling the oldest car in the field into a good position. Rod Stead was eighth in his very smart (and period-liveried Spax Reynard). John Taylor continued to show improved form in Stuart Olley’s Delta (his usual RP27 still had engine problems from Oulton). George Fowler was a welcome returnee in his Jamun, back for the first time since our inaugural Cadwell race, and he was followed by Adrian Desoutter, John de Ritter and Eric Hoult (who was suffering from engine problems which may have threatened his Spa entry).

The start procedure of the race was not really conducive to effective tyre warming, so most drivers were desperately trying to work some heat into the tyres on the green flag lap. When the lights went out, Tom Mills made no mistake, and shot into what looked like a very secure lead (0.8s on the second lap). A safety car period, to remove Eric Hoult’s stricken car lasted for three laps, and at the restart, Tom again took the lead. Sadly, his moment of glory was to last only one more lap, as a fuel-related misfire set in, and he gradually dropped down to 4th, before retiring after lap 11.

Tom’s demise left Peter Denham in the lead, much to the delight of the East Grinstead Sleep Disorder Centre contingent. He had to keep a close eye on his mirrors, though, as Colin Wright gradually closed in, and the last few laps saw them no more than 0.5s apart. Peter’s an acknowledged Brands specialist, though, and his smooth style through the Surtees/McLaren/Clearways complex was countered by Colin’s desperate efforts to get on terms. Colin’s late-race challenge came to nothing, however, when a misunderstanding with backmarkers on the last lap left him 1.7s behind at the end.

Early on in this battle, Trevor Arkell was keeping a watching brief, no doubt waiting to pick up the pieces, should the unthinkable happen! However, a lurid sideways moment at Surtees on lap 13 showed that all was not well with the handling of his car, and he wisely settled for a safe third place.

Behind the leaders, Iain and Roger Price were enjoying a close battle, with Iain, rather ungraciously, keeping ahead of his customer to the end. Antony Raine had a lonely race into 6th, albeit still within sight of Iain and Roger, and John Taylor, having kept in touch with Iain. Roger and Antony in the early laps, gradually dropped back, to finish 7th. Special mention should be made of George Fowler, who regularly had me convinced he was going to spin out of Graham Hill Bend, only to catch the tailslide, and continue.

The race was followed by a very enjoyable barbecue, sponsored – like the race - by www.1stopsnoring.co.uk aka The East Grinstead Sleep Disorder Centre. As I’m sure everyone knows, they sponsor Peter Denham, and the race result couldn’t have been better!

We’ve now had eight races in our short life, with seven different winners. If you count Anglesey last year, that’s ten races and nine different winners.

Let’s hope that the low entry at Brands was just a blip, and that all the promised entries materialise, both for Donington, and next year.