The 2014 Pace Ward Mitsubishi Lancer Register Sprint Series burst into life this weekend, with an action-packed round one held at Castle Combe on Saturday. Continuing from where it left off last year, the series enjoyed another oversubscribed entry, with a number of new competitors joining the many who retuned for the series' eighth consecutive season.
Setting what was to be FTD and quickest Class D time on the second of the six competitive runs was Simon Norris, although by the end of the event Anthony Lidster did get within 1.3 seconds, whilst early contender Gary Hayward had to settle for third place. Best in Class C was Paul Allin, whereas in Class B it was Steve Peel who came out on top, with Alan Rochell doing likewise in Class A.
After a deluge of rain overnight, competitors and organisers were delighted to see clear blue skies prevail over the north Wiltshire countryside when they arrived at the circuit on Saturday morning. However, whilst the cool and extremely brisk wind had done a great job of drying out the track, it was so strong that it also interrupted the morning practice when barriers and markers had to be put back in place, meaning the drivers only had three practice runs each..
After a cautious start by most, as they blew away the cobwebs from the winter sabbatical, it quickly became clear that Simon Norris would be the man to beat, topping the time sheets following the practice sessions driving his very special shortened Evo IX. Impressively - and only 2.26s behind - was Class C front-runner William Griffiths in his Evo IX, with Class B headed by Gary Scott in another Evo IX and, whilst Rochell in an Evo VI emerged as Class A leader ahead of the competitive runs, it was newcomer Jamie Hollett in his Evo 1 who had set the pace initially, only to be sidelined during the third run with an electrical problem.
Following a very brief lunch break, the first of the competitive runs saw Norris quickest, but having got bogged down at the start, Hayward and Lidster were in hot pursuit. But then, on run number two, Norris got it all hooked up and launched his Evo off the line leaving two 50-metre black lines in his wake.
Perhaps in protest, after about three-quarters of the way around the course that comprised almost a full lap of the circuit, his cars' clutch threw in the towel, which meant that Norris' Evo would spend the rest of the day on the trailer. Even with this problem, he had set a blistering time and now, all he could do was wait to see if anyone could beat it.
Driving a car that was so new he had only driven for the first time the day before, Lidster mustered all he had on the sixth and finalcompetitive run and got within 1.3s from the leader, but it wasn't enough to beat Norris' exceptional time. Consequently, Norris had set the first FTD of 2014 and claimed the Class D victory in the process.
Lidster was second and Hayward was third, with Brad Sheehan fourth, although having just become acclimatised to his Evo IX's new suspension, he had to retire after the fourth run when its inlet manifold started leaking.
Another to have a problem with his pipework was Allin when his Evo V's intercooler hose sprung a leak. Having initially set the pace in Class C, he was briefly overhauled by Griffiths on the second of the competitive runs, but the early leader hauled it back and a blistering final run saw him end the day with a class-winning margin of over a second.
Class B couldn't have been closer, with Peer, Lee Whitfield and Stephen Moore - all driving Evo VIs - sometimes only separated by 0.01s. Eventually, it was Peer that held his nerve and recorded his first ever MLR Sprint Series Class B victory by 0.9s.
As it transpired, Class A was a straightforward affair. With Hollett now out of the equation, it left the door open for Rochell in his borrowed Evo VI, who delivered a consistent performance throughout the afternoon to claim top place in the category for cars that are closest to standard specification.
Round two of the series takes place at Oulton Park on 26th April.
The 2014 Pace Ward MLR Sprint Series is sponsored by: Pace Ward performance insurance, SuperPro suspension parts, AP Tuning, Ross Sport and HKS Europe.
