Qualifying
The car felt stable in the fast curves out the back, so I felt confident. That was my undoing because I went screaming past Adrian Brown up the home straight and did not brake enough for the chicane. Bounced over three curbs. Miracle, the car was still going OK and the nosecone was still on (pictures below). I got a clear lap in at the end of the session at 2 tenths slower than my personal best.
 

Statistics: Qualifying

Circuit	Thruxton	Fastest test lap	no testing
Conditions	Dry, 14°	Previous personal best	1'24.24 in 2003
Fastest qualifying lap	1'24.605 (100.24 mph)	Qualified in position	12  out of  20

Race
It was providential that I got a bad start. Paul Freeman and Ian Crombie got past me before we even crossed the start line, but it was they who had to get on the brakes more when Mike Luck missed a gear at the first right hander and backed the pack up. I saw a way through and took it. Mike Luck, Pete Richings, Des Andrews, Howard Payne and Jamie Champkin must have got snarled up there. Still on the first lap there were more shenanigans up front although I'm not certain what happened. Did Adrian Lester get a tap from someone, or did he get a slide when he realised how little grip he was getting from the rear aerofoil which he adjusted after qualifying? Anyway I was 7th at the end of lap 1 and enjoying every moment. Mike Luck seemed very quick as he came past me on lap 2, recovering from 8th... lovely to see him back after his first year in Days of Thunder at Rockingham. On lap 3 I overtook Guy Woodward up the hill on the straight after a two lap tussle. Adrian Lester was ahead, but falling into our grasps as I caught up with Adrian Brown. Both of us got him on lap 4, but Howard Payne had got past us both, recovering from 13th on lap 1, also looking ultra fast. He went on to do the fastest lap of the day on his last lap, 1'21.417. Whoops, not over yet... a cloud of dust and grass cuttings as Bjarne Mumm outbraked himself at the end of the straight from 3rd place, and Adrian and I were through.
    There then ensued a classic dog fight between Adrian Brown and me for the remaining 6 laps. I could have sworn I got past him once, probably in the drag up the hill after Church, because I remember him overtaking me again, round the outside at the chicane. Contact! Just a kiss of our wheels as we slide our two cars into a space for one, but no damage (picture  at the top of the page). What a battle. Wheel to wheel on Britain's fastest circuit for many formulae including ours. My fastest lap was the one after the ding, when catching up to Adrian again... 1'23.329 was nearly a second quicker than my perosnal best last year. Adrian's comment after was "I just kept wishing you would disappear and get off my back", both of us being in pretty favorable position for a finish if we did not throw it away. As we got to 2 laps from the end, Bjarne had recovered and was all over the back of me. Some defensive driving meant that Adrian slipped away. I was not going to give in to Bjarne, even when he had a look entering Church at close to 140 mph: I stuck to the racing line and prayed he had not gone for it. Correct. We both held it together and I finished a second behind Adrian and ½ second ahead of Bjarne. Brilliant race.
    Driver of the Day: Mike Luck
 
Statistics: Race

Finishing position	6 out of 18	Number of cars at start	20
Average speed	98.55 mph	Fastest race lap	1'23.329
Conditions	Dry, 15°	same lap	Overtook Woodward and Lester, great dogfight with Adrian Brown, held off Bjarne Mumm

Alex Osborne's first win was a highlight, as was Barry Webb clinching the Classic Clubmans championship title to his Powertrain Clubmans title from a fortnight ago, the first time anyone has done both in the same season. What an achievement.
    I was delighted with a good finish and the points. That put paid to Ian Crombie's chances of overtaking me in the championship, so I clinched 9th place, my highest championship position. Add to that a season in which I did not crash the car and in which I finished in every race I entered. Progress.
 
 

Official Race Report

Race report: Round 14, Thruxton: 10 October 2004

Osborne claims first win

Alex Osborne finished the 2004 Powertrain Clubmans Cup in the best possible way by scoring his first race victory at Thruxton on Sunday (10 October). The teenager, starting from pole for the fourth time this season, moved decisively ahead on the opening lap and drove superbly to score his first win. "Brilliant! It's been a long time coming," said Alex after an important day in his racing career.

Alongside Osborne on the front row of the grid was series returnee Mike Luck, back in the Dart after a season of racing in Days of Thunder at Rockingham. "It scared me witless when I first went out in it this morning," joked Luck of his first time in the car for 12 months. However, he was soon on the pace to qualify second.

Osborne didn't get the best of starts, but Luck struggled to find gears away from the line and that helped Osborne and Russell Munns pull clear on the opening lap. Luck was badly delayed, as was Howard Payne who was caught behind the Dart. Peter Richings, meanwhile, was tucked in behind Payne and lost so much momentum in the confusion that he went from eighth on the grid to dead last by the Complex! Up front, Osborne was away and gone. "I just got my head down and tried to build a lead," he explained. Once clear, he was never going to be caught and rattled off the laps for a fine victory. "Why didn't you get fastest lap?" joked Tony Osborne as he greeted his son post-race.

Munns was a clear second and up to third came Luck, having recovered some of his lost time. However, Payne had also escaped from a monster queue of cars in the  early laps and hunted Luck down over the final laps. Barely half a second split them at the flag, as Payne took fastest lap in his chase of Luck. Bjarne Mumm had run as high as third in the early laps, but went straight on at the Chicane on the fifth lap and lost a lot of time. He rejoined right behind a mighty scrap between Adrian Brown and Marcus Bicknell. They even rubbed wheels at the Chicane during their battle, but it was Brown who got fifth place from Bicknell and Mumm, while Adrian Lester emerged from another monster contest to take seventh from Jamie Champkin, Des Andrews and the recovering Richings.

Results round 14 – 10 laps:
1 Alex Osborne (Mallock Mk30) 13m53.998s (101.69mph);
2 Russell Munns (Mallock Mk28/30) 14m03.245s;
3 Mike Luck (Dart S16);
4 Howard Payne (Mallock Mk20B);
5 Adrian Brown (Mallock Mk18B);
6 Marcus Bicknell (Mallock Mk26/27SG);
7 Bjarne Mumm (Mallock Mk28/30);
8 Adrian Lester (Mallock Mk35K);
9 Jamie Champkin (Phantom P94/04);
10 Des Andrews (Mallock Mk23).
Fastest lap: Payne 1m21.417s (104.17mph).

Issued on behalf of the Clubmans Register by Paul Lawrence (01952 510382).

10 October 2004