Hawkswood Sealed Sprint – Saturday

A few last-minute withdrawals saw 16 starters line up on a cool, overcast Saturday morning.  Issues with the timing gear at the finish line saw a switch from electronic to manual timing.  The Ford Anglia of Tony Adams had a mechanical issue on the first run and needed a tow back to the pits.  Ken Walkerden in his Lancia Montecarlo was trying a bit of sideways style on the left hander after the hairpin.  Stefan Moser-Rust in the only 4WD, Evo 5, was in a league of his own with a 1:04.49.  Stu Carter, Starlet, was 7 seconds adrift in 2^nd. Riley Stubbs, also in a Starlet, and Graham Crow, MX5, were having a good battle for 3^rd overall with .84 between them.

Run two saw the positions mostly stay the same as times improved. The exception being Ken’s Montecarlo, Lee Crew in the Fiat Bambina who had chain issues and Allan Kermeen in the Isuzu Gemini which had accelerator problems.

The third run was uneventful with most positions again staying the same and most drivers finding a bit more speed. Riley Stubbs was slowly pulling away from Graham Crow and catching Stu Carter. There was also good battle building between Nathan Vile, Mazda MX5, Dwight Parlane and Andrew Bailey, both in Honda Integra’s.

With plenty of time up our sleeves we had time for a lunch break.  Fed, watered and rested it was into Runs four and five. Stefan Moser-Rust set his fastest time on run 5 with a 1:01.33. There was also a good battle going on between Allan Kermeen, Mike Kennedy, Mazda 323 Familia, and Ken Walkerden.

With only two exceptions those who chose to complete the sixth and final run were rewarded with their best times of the day. Dwight Parlane found an extra 1.5 seconds which moved him from eighth to fifth with less than one second covering fifth to eighth. Allan Kermeen came out on top of the battle with Mike and Ken with 0.11 between them.

Congratulations to Stefan Moser-Rust for winning the event.  All six runs were completed by 2.30pm and then it was back to the Staging Post for a BBQ, post event refreshments and the prize giving.  Thanks to all the competitors who travelled from near and far to compete.  We also thank the landowner for allowing us to use their paddock as our pit area.  Thanks to The Staging Post for hosting our post-event function.  We appreciate the support of the Lion Foundation.  Our final thank you goes out to all our helpers without whom we could not run the event.

Click here for Saturday results.

Hawkswood Sealed Sprint – Sunday

A larger field of 32 started day two of the Hawkswood weekend in a variety of vehicles ranging from Derek Milne’s modern McLaren 570S to Peter Leversedge’s 1949 Stuart Special Sprint Car, along with a number Porsche’s and Jaguar’s.

Run one had Brian Choate, Porsche 911 Turbo, setting the pace followed by Paul McCulla in the quick Peugeot 205 GTI and last year’s winner Mark Scott TVR Tuscan Challenge. It also saw Neil Kay spin his Malloch Mk4 at Radio Point 2 and hit the bank, ending his day. There were some close battles looming with 9 cars separated by less than 2 seconds.

An uneventful run two saw just about everyone make improvements and saw Mark take over second place from Paul.  The top three would remain the same for the rest of the day. There were now 5 cars on 1:18 and 10 separated by 2 seconds.

Paul O'Connell, BMW M3 E46, and Michael Bushell, Ford Mustang GT350, were the big movers in run three as most around them only made small improvements.

Runs four and five were where most competitors set their fastest time of the day and the field started to spread out. George Coates and Phil Redmond both moved up the field in the Porsche 944 S2 they were sharing.

With only four cars choosing to do the sixth and final run it was over almost as soon as it started. With less than 1 second separating places 6 to 10 and 4 cars ending the day on 1:17 there were some closely fought battles.  Craig Pidgeon in the Hillman Avenger was 6th from George Coates, David Hunter, 1974 MGB GT V8, Phil Redmond and Wayne Graves’ Porsche 911 ST. George Kear in the very nice 1954 Kato was the victor of the 1:17 battle from William Noordanus, Jaguar MK2, Rick Lamb, Porsche 911 SCRS, and Tracey Barrett, Lotus Elise Club Racer.

Congratulations to Brian Choate on taking the win. Thanks to all the competitors for making the effort to travel to this event.  We acknowledge the ongoing support of the property owners.  Our thanks also go to the Lion Foundation.  The again the final and biggest thank you goes to our volunteers who come along event after event and enable us to do what we do.  

Click here for Sundays results.

Article added: Friday 11 November 2022