After the last race at Castle Combe the drivers had a five week mid-season break before resuming activities at the tight and challenging Lydden track which is situated off the A2 near Dover. The circuit is only a mile long and although it isn’t everyone’s favourite it always brings good sized grids and 35 cars assembled for what was sure to be a close and competitive race.

The Class A cars were first to practice and it was the pink MGF of Darryl Davis that took pole position from the 1275 Midget of former MGOC Champion Peter St. Barbe. The next two rows of the grid were occupied by the Midgets of Gary Smith, Julie Clark, Chris Pollard and Nigel Woolcott who was making a welcome return to MGOC racing after a season away winning the Ginetta Championship. The highest placed MGB was that of long time Midget driver Dave Rees back in 7th place on the grid.

Although everyone expected the MGF to take an early lead it was in fact the Midget of St. Barbe that made the best start and the experienced St. Barbe soon settled into a rhythm that looked like taking him to his first win of the season. It was all very close behind with Davis being harried by Clark and Smith. On the last lap Clark made a move to take 2nd place from Davis but it was all too tight and Clark ended up on the grass allowing the chasing Gary Smith through into 3rd place. A delighted St. Barbe drove a faultless race to take the flag for the first time since August 1998.

The Maestro’s in Class B always put on a great show around Lydden although the narrow twisting track often results in some bent panels and cracked bumpers. The ever consistent Andy Campbell took pole with an excellent 52.45 sec lap ahead of the equally consistent Nick Golhar. Campbell was the only driver to break into the 52’s and with the next 12 drivers all in the 53’s this was going to be an action packed race.

It was Campbell that made the all important good start to lead into the first comer whilst the rest of the pack fought over the same piece of tarmac. Campbell continued on in fine style until the penultimate lap when he suffered a gear selection problem and began to be caught by Golhar. Despite Campbell’s best efforts to hold on to his lead Golhar got by and took the flag by a car’s length for his second win of the season. The final podium place went to Jamie Perry after a race long battle with Nick Evans.

Next MGOC Race Meetings

Sat/Sun 30th/1st October – Brands Hatch
Sat & Sun 14/15th October – Snetterton