With the season approaching its climax there was an air of tension as the drivers travelled into Norfolk for second time this year for the penultimate round of the 1999 season. The Snetterton circuit has always been a popular venue for the Club racer as it has good mixture of fast and slow corners and some good spectator vantage points. As usual it was well supported with a total of 41 cars entered for the two MGOC races which could go a long way to determining who would be the 1999 Champions.

Predictably, the opening lap saw Farman taking a good lead from Lorraine Clarke and Peter St. Barbe with the MGBs of Sean Valentine and Huw Taylor a little way back but fighting hard or fourth place. With Farman clearly in control of the race, all eyes were on the battle for second place which was eventually resolved in favour of St. Barbe. St Barbe needed all of his 30 years of racing experience to hold off the challenge of a determined Lorraine Clarke. The MGBs of Valentine and Taylor had a superb race long dice for 4th place with Valentine eventually taking the place by the length of a bonnet. This was terry Farman’s 11th win of the season and was enough to secure him the 1999 MGOC Championship to go with the title he won back in 1997.

Terry Farman out in front at Snetterton

Class B has been much open than Class A with 6 different drivers winning races this year. The 1997 Class B Champion Andy Campbell is top of the points table but Adrian Groocock is on a good run and challenging hard. With Groocock on pole and Campbell back in 5th place the pressure was on in this crucial race. Incredibly it was Nick Evans who made a flying start from the second row to lead the race ahead of Groocock and Darryl Davis. Evans had never lead a race before but was driving superbly and looked set for his first ever win as Davis and Groocock squabbled for second place. Davis eventually pulled away from Groocock and set of after Evans eventually catching and passing him on the 9th lap. Evans was not giving up without a fight and edged back into the lead on the run to the Esses where both drivers managed to outbrake themselves giving an incredulous Groocock the lead and a simple run to the flag for his fifth win of the season. Davis recovered to finish second ahead of Nick Golhar who drove well to pip Andy Campbell on the line for third place. With Groocock scoring maximum points and Campbell finishing only fourth there is a big battle in store for Class B honours at the final race at Donington.

Goocock leads from Davis and Golhar at Snetterton

Round 13

Donington Park 31st October

After a long hard season a total of 44 cars arrived at Donington for the final round of the 1999 Championship. Terry Farman’s remarkable record of 11 Class A wins had been more than sufficient to confirm him as a worthy winner of the 1999 Championship but there were a number of other important issues still to be resolved. The big issue was in Class B where Adrian Groocock’s recent good run had put pressure on Andy Campbell’s early season lead. The advantage lay with Adrian as he only had to finish ahead of Andy to take honours for the first time.

Andy Campbell leads Nick Evans and the rest of the pack at Donington

In Class A, Sean Valentine and Huw Taylor were fighting not only for second place but also for the unofficial honour of being the highest placed MGB. There was also an intriguing battle for the honour of Best Novice between Gary Smith with 62 points in Class A and Jamie Perry with 61 points in Class B. On a bright autumn day the Class A cars were first to practice and with Terry Farman absent it was Sean Valentine who took pole from Dave Rees with Huw Taylor and Julie Clark on the second row. It was Rees who made the best start to lead into Redgate corner comfortably ahead of Valentine and Taylor with Julie Clark and Mick Hopkins in close attendance. By the end of lap 2 Rees had pulled out a substantial lead from Valentine and Taylor who were having a spirited dice for second place. Rees drove superbly and went to take a long overdue first ever MGOC victory by a comfortable 10 seconds from Valentine who held off a last lap charge from Taylor to take second place to 1998 Champion St. Barbe just pipping Julie Clarke for 4th place.

The Class B grid saw Groocock on pole by a full one second from Nick Golhar with veteran Rae Davis on the second row with Andy Campbell who had left himself an awful lot to do in his Championship battle with Groocock.

Andy Campbell made a stunning start from the second row to lead into Redgate but even more significant was that Groocock had made a terrible start from pole was only in 6th place behind some determined and experienced competitors. The race turned into a quite incredible battle involving up to 9 cars who seemed to swap positions a every corner. Campbel looked safe at the front until John Lane came from nowhere to snatch the lead at the chicane on lap 5. At this stage Groocock was in 5th place and looking out of it but a last lap incident at Craner Curves effectively eliminated Lane and Edwards leaving Campbell in the lead ahead of Groocock. Although Campbell went on to take his second win of the season it was Groocock who had the widest smile as his second place was enough to confirm him as 1999 Class B Championship by 2 points.

With the top nine cars covered by just 5 seconds this was surely the most exciting and eventful race in the 12 year history of MGOC Class B and a fitting climax to a great season of Maestro racing.

The novice Championship was won by Jamie Perry with 71 points from Gary Smith with 68 points.

Dave Rees wins Class A at Donington

As the 1999 season ends and MGOC racing moves into the next Millennium we can look back on this as being one of our best supported and most successful seasons ever. Our thanks go to all the competitors and officials for making it happen and to the many MGOC members who have come along to the race meetings and supported the Championship from the Grandstands.

Our success this year has been to the great credit of our sponsor, Darryl Davis of Moto-Build Racing whose enthusiasm has raised the profile of the Championship to new heights. Sadly, Darryl will not be continuing his sponsorship next year and we would like to record our grateful thanks for his input over the past two years.

The drivers now have the winter to repair their cars and bank balances in preparation for the 2000 season which kicks off at Silverstone in March.