BMW Drivers Cup: Round 5

A Weekend of Firsts

Report by Dave "Stilly the Kid" Stillwell

This weekend was one of firsts, the E30 field was missing two of the usual characters, Nick Stillwell and Paul Kertes, who both seemed to have ‘work commitments’ at the wrong time; though I think it may have been a case of “marital maintenance” after two big weekends of motorsport before hand.

The car that had been rumoured to be the best presented E30 Racer yet was proudly displayed in the number 1 garage for the weekend at the hands of David Levy, of David Levy Motorsports. What had once been a Brilliant Red 318is has been turned into a stripped down, though cosmetically perfect E30 325i. This weekend was David’s first ever performance driving outing, and was reflected in his times coming down as the weekend progressed. David says: “There’s still a lot of work to do to it, it’s got the stock exhaust still”. All we know is that Oliver Lindsaar and Michael Stillwell now have a new rival in the ‘Shiniest E30’ battle raging in the garages.

It was also the first ‘guest’ outing for the beautiful bronze (Arizona Sun) E30 325i of Glenn Kenneday, who was generous enough to loan his baby to Geoff Parker, a long time friend and supporter of Glenn’s racing ambitions. Glenn seems to have been very generous with his cars recently, with his E30 also getting action at the hands of Ingrid Williams in the Dutton Rally the weekend prior.

A recent newcomer to the series, Tony Jennings, began E30 racing at Sandown a fortnight ago and remarked that the E30 he was leasing was a lot nicer to race with than the classic Porsche he usually competes in. Tony was joining the E30 Racing fraternity for a second time, with a view to purchasing a car to complement his racing desires.

The qualifying on Saturday saw the E30 field reach (finally?) the lap times once set by the omnipotent Andrew Fuller, with the lead car dropping into the 1:40 range in Race 1 for the first time this year; but also to note was how close the field was, with only 2-3 secs the margin, excepting Matt Martin and David Levy. Even the ‘timid’ David Abzatz was able to get in close competition to the field, though he later attributed this to “hanging onto Neil Anderson for a few laps”; though it may have been “the other half’s” insistence to drive the car as it’s supposed to be driven.

I had the privilege of watching and commentating the races from the tower at the old Start/Finish line on Sunday, but also took video of the two races on Saturday afternoon. Mark Lawrence did well to entertain, with his oversteering exits from Turn 2 delighting the crowd, except when he had a triple tank slapper and came within inches of the wall. Exciting stuff!

This author could wax lyrical about the excellent, close quarter battles that took place all weekend, but that’s what the www.natsoft.com.au site is for. In terms of results, the weekend was a clean sweep for the Estoril Blue rocket of Neil Anderson, taking 5 wins from 5 races, quite an achievement given he has to start from the back of the grid for the reverse grid race on Sunday morning. Race 1 saw a new lap record of 1:40.7359 (remembering that Andrew Fuller used to do 1:40s) set by Neil Anderson, but 4 other drivers were also under the previous lap record. Race 2 had the same 1-2-3 finish of Neil, Serge and Geoff, with a good battle between Kylie and Tony, and another between Geoff Parker, Marc and Gary.

The Sunday racing was kicked off with an 8 lap reverse grid race, where Neil Anderson took victory from back of grid, but also where E30 Racing newbie Geoff Parker and young Marc Lawrence were able to shine at the front, whilst Tony got a bit too enthusiastic after being at the front, finishing well down the order. Serge, Gary and Sleepy also had a good mid field battle, with Serge just getting the better of them to finish in 5 th. Another first for the weekend was Michael Stillwell losing his E30 panel virginity – for so long Michael had avoided an accident, but he just tapped Neil’s rear bumper, breaking the fibreglass spoiler moulding at the guards, requiring rapid repairs with a drill, nuts, bolts and washers by yours truly.

Race 4 was quite an uneventful race, with most of the field stuck in the same positions as lap 1, and 1 st to 11 th the same from Lap 5 onwards. Tony Jennings had to retire after an incident that left the car with black rubber all over one side of it, from an “aggressive passing move”. Race 5; however, saw both Serge and Geoff Bowles get in front of Neil, albeit for 2 laps only! Sleepy and Geoff then battled it out, as did Geoff Parker and Julie Showers, with Kylie, Gary, Tony and David Abzatz sparring with each other at frequent intervals. Race 5 also saw the first real casualty of the weekend, with Marc Lawrence scaring the spectators outside the cafeteria with a VERY sideways exit from the esses (Turn 1-2) that turned into a 180-degree spin, after which Marc didn’t get on the brakes soon enough to stop the car rolling back into the old pit wall on the inside of the rack. That car will have to spend some serious time in the panel shop and garage to sort out the damage, both cosmetic and mechanical.

The weekend was most certainly a success, with the biggest field (of 16 cars) yet, with exciting commentary and on track antics. We certainly look forward to more E30 Racing in a few weeks time when they tackle the Island with the Improved Production Cars.