Lance Wittenberg - photography
Race meetings
Castle Coombe on 30/05/2011
Brands Hatch on 24/10/2009
Mallory Park on 27/9/2009
Silverstone on 6/6/2009
Pembrey on 16/5/2009
Snetterton on 4/4/2009
Round two of the 2009 Nippon Challenge was at Pembrey on the weekend of the 16th and 17th May 2009. I have photographs of:
Following a nice sunny couple of weeks, the weather leading up to this event was decidedly unsettled. A mixture of wind, rain and sunshine was forecast, which was bound to add some uncertainty to the races. Saturday dawned with some rain, though by the time I reached the circuit shortly before lunch, the sun was out. It was just very windy!
I had already missed problems, with most of the Subaru Cup cars failing scrutineering due to not having door bars on the roll cage. A couple of hours later and the Clerk of the Course decided that as the diagrams in the blue book had door bars labeled as optional, they were not required. Subaru Cup was back on, although Karen Phillips had door bars and would have been in a class of her own!
Qualifying went reasonably well, except for Darren Hughes. Darren had already had problems getting to the circuit, with his tow car breaking in the week leading to Pembrey. Having survived the herculean task of getting to the circuit, then the issues with his Subaru Cup card and the door bars, Darren finally got out on circuit, only to have the big end go after six laps. Weekend over. Here's rooting for you for Silverstone, Darren.
Possibly the biggest surprise in qualifying was Dixon managing to get on the front row of the grid! An amazing performance put Dixon in his GT250 Honda Integra just behind the GT500 Evo of Tim Clarke and in front of the GT500 RX-7 of Maxim Taylor. Well done Dixon.
Race 1 saw Tim Clarke leading from pole, with Maxim Taylor seemingly unable to do anything to get past. Maxim definitely pushed Tim all the way to the line, with very little in it. Kris Dunlop managed a good start to end up in front of Dixon Cheng shortly after the start of the race, with the two of them battling it out for position, until Kris went wide at Hatchets Hairpin, which Dixon took full advantage off to get through and go on to take the class win. Subaru Cup newcomer Sam Maher-Loughan took honours in that class, with previous winner Martin White unable to tame the wayward handling of his scoob. Dallas Jackson had a lonely time in GT200, although he looked to be having fun with the other Nippon racers anyway. As usual, the MR2s in GT150 were always close, with Gareth Newton coming out on top by the end of the race.
Race 2 was starting off as a repeat of race 1 for Tim Clarke and Maxim Taylor, until Maxim managed to get through to take the lead. Un-daunted by this, Tim fought back, to get past Maxim, after Maxim out-braked himself at Hatchets. The race was not yet over and Maxim in turn fought back, to finally take a well deserved win in GT500. Kris Dunlop and Dixon Cheng again fought for honours in GT250, Dixon hanging on to his eventual lead despite his new front splitter attempting to split from his car. Andy McLennan was in there with the more powerful cars, making his presence felt and taking fourth overall and another class win. Although Martin White's Subaru Cup car was now handling a little better, he could do nothing about Sam Maher-Loughan, who took his second victory in the Subaru Cup. Dallas Jackson was on his tod again in GT200. Gareth Newton was unable to follow up is win in GT150 from the first race, due to damage sustained in the first of the MR2 Challenge races. This left the way for another MR2 battle, with David Thomas coming out on top.
Our anticipated barbeque had to be postponed on the Saturday, due to the weather forecast, although a few hardy souls staying at the circuit did their own, after which Dixon Cheng's crew fixed his front splitter!
Sunday saw some early morning rain and the Nippon Challenge cars were allowed out in the MR2 Challenge un timed practice, to see what the circuit was like. Race 3 came around and the circuit was reasonably dry. Maxim Taylor was on pole following his win in race 2, but a poor start saw the 4wd cars of Tim Clarke and Sam Maher-Loughan take the front two positions by the first corner. Maxim fought back, but again seemed to not be able to do anything about getting past Tim. Back markers turned out to be a problem for Tim and Maxim saw his opportunity to overtake and went on to seal victory in race 3. After his storming start, Sam Maher-Loughan had quite a few cars between himself and the other Subaru Cup cars, which helped him take the win in the Subaru Cup and third place overall. Karen Phillips had a very good drive from way back on the grid after various problems in races 1 and 2, to eventually take third in Subaru Cup, behind Martin White. Kris Dunlop and Dixon Cheng again fought out for honours in GT250, but the front splitter on Dixon's car broke again, with Dixon subsequently being black flagged. Newcomer Michael Clark was able to keep Kris honest and took second for his efforts. Dallas Jackson was no longer on his own in GT200, with Welsh Sports and Saloon Car Championship driver Mike Woods joining in the fun and taking the win in GT200. Although Gareth Newton was back in his fixed MR2, he could not repeat the win from race 1, this time Mark Thomas came out in front of the other GT150 drivers to claim the win.