Race Report: CMMCS Production Saloons at Snetterton

The penultimate event of the Classic and Modern Motorsport Club Southern Production Saloons would be held at Snetterton, but dramas were already unfolding before a wheel had been turned. A driveshaft failure on Team HORNET's Renault Mégane in the runup to the event put their participation in doubt, but a heroic effort by team members to remedy the situation got the team back on track in the nick of time.

Qualifying

A somewhat overcast morning greeted the CMMCS drivers, with the Production and Super Saloons drivers also being joined by the Intermarque Silhouettes on the long Snetterton 300 layout. As the green flag dropped, the priority aboard the #41 Mégane was initially to ensure that the car's last-minute emergency surgery had not produced any undesired side-effects. The out lap and first flying lap showed no issues, so the second lap of qualifying is where some proper times could be set. This plan lasted, unfortunately, all of four corners, as the #491 Ginetta G40 Intermarque Silhouette of Colin Smith suffered a miscommunication with the Team HORNET Mégane, the latter ending up briefly taking to the grass on the outside of Agostini.

This would, however, be rendered a footnote in the grand scheme of things, as further around the lap, all hell had broken loose. Unbeknownst to the vast majority of drivers, Phil Bennett's #90 BMW E90 Class A Super Saloon had dropped a significant quantity of oil at Coram, enough to coat the side and rear of the car in a distinctive brown sheen. As the #41 ventured through the corner, it hit the oil slick, pitching suddenly into a lurid slide. This was gathered up safely, but the same could not be said for those immediately behind. Dominic Ryan would spin his #127 Class TS Ford Fiesta Super Saloon, and would be hit hard by the #523 Ford Fiesta Intermarque Silhouette driven by Steve Phillips. Both cars would be written off in the incident, with Phillips taken to hospital with a neck injury. The session would immediately be red-flagged, and not restarted. As such, the somewhat disappointing best lap time of 2:22.670 would stand for Team HORNET, leaving the Renault 16th on the combined grid, 4th in the Production Saloons and 1st in Class T1.

Race One

At the rolling start, the national flag was dropped unusually early, catching multiple drivers somewhat off-guard. Terry Waller was able to get the jump initially in his #66 Class T2 Ford Fiesta Production Saloon as he made another of his trademark lightning starts. The #41 Renault Mégane would chase the smaller Fiesta for the opening tours, almost making a move along the Bentley Straight, only to find the planned gap occupied by the slowing #261 Audi TT Intermarque Silhouette of Volker Timm, as it headed towards the pits and retirement. At the start of lap 4, the Team HORNET machine was finally able to secure the inside line for Riches, and the place was secure. Later the same lap, another two positions would be gained as Phil Spinks' smoky #14 Vauxhall Tigra Intermarque Silhouette and Rod Birley's #44 Class A Ford Escort WRC Super Saloon would slow on the Bentley Straight.

This would set up a much calmer second half of the race, punctuated by the stranded #132 Volve C30 Production Saloon of Adrian Matthews, that had taken a knock to the front-right corner at Agostini. Team HORNET would complete the race in 9th when combined with the other two series, 3rd in the Production Saloons and 1st in Class T1

Race Two

There would be yet more attrition before the start of the second race of the day, as Terry Waller's Fiesta would suffer engine maladies that would rule it out of starting the second race. As the flag dropped on a now rather sparse rolling start, it would be Rod Birley who seized the initiative with a move around the outside of Riches. This prompted a mis-shift from the #41 machine, that allowed Steven Rose to slip by on the run to Wilson in his #234 Class A Audi TT Super Saloon. This wouldn't last long, as the Team HORNET machine would manage to redress the balance with an optimistic move to the inside of Agostini.

Having regained the position, things would once again calm down until Rod Birley would again slow, retiring in the pit lane with vibration issues in his #44 Ford Escort Super Saloon. This would leave the #41 car on its own for much of the remainder of the race, in a state of looking after the car and clicking off reasonably consistent laps, save for slowing for yellow flags as multiple Intermarque Silhouettes had suffered mechanical issues in the vicinity of the Hamilton, Oggies and Williams corners. The race would finish with the Team HORNET Renault Mégane finishing 8th on the combined grid, 3rd in the Production Saloons and 1st in Class T1.

Team HORNET will return for the final event of the season on the Silverstone National Circuit on October 11th, the CMMCS Season Finale.