Martin Short and his crew had so little to do to the blue and white Mosler that he went walk-about…for two hours…..between the two sessions. It was never like this running a TVR.

And he put the #22 MT900R on pole with a 1:08.000 – but that was the final episode of a fascinating session. Clearly the question of qualifying being less important for a two hour race was a rhetorical one. Stanton, Johnson, Derbyshire and Short all occupied top spot during the half hour – and there were encouraging times from a number of other cars too.

What about Peter Le Bas setting a 1:10.537 in the Corvette? Dan Eagling a 1:10.014 in the Glenn Eagling Mantis? Steven Brady a 1:11.488 in the Ultima? Matt Griffin a 1:12.173 in the #76 Tech 9 Porsche (Cup pole)? Neil Cunningham a 1:13.617 in the faster Morgan? And Chris Goodwin a 1:13.725 in the little Lotus Exige. Quick times, all of them.

The first meaningful time was set by Richard Stanton – a late addition to the existing line-up of Hartshorne and Mundy in the Peninsula TVR. He got down to business quickly with a 1:10.896. This car will have to continue at a hectic pace in the race however to overcome the extra pitstop that two driver changes will entail. But only Stanton drove this afternoon.

Tom Herridge looked likely to trade times with Stanton but he locked the front right heavily going into Riches, flat-spotting the tyre and necessitating a change of rubber on that corner. Martin Short explains: “We fitted new front discs and it really upset the brake balance. We have done all our testing on old rubber as well, and I think that was probably a mistake, as new rubber really changes the car too. I think Tom would have done a similar time to mine if I’d left him in the car, but I wanted to get in and make sure the brake balance was right, as I don’t want to take the car out in the warm-up tomorrow. Oh – and because I’m the boss.” Tom is bound to know that already…

So Stanton continued to bring the lap times down – pushing early was a necessity given the threat of rain that hung in the bitterly cold air. As Stanton pitted, having set a 1:10.084 Johnson led his similar TVR T400R to the top of the timesheet and the question then was would the Moslers get right on to the ultimate pace?

A spot of light rain caused most to think of backing off a little, but with the strong wind keeping the track dry, everyone soon returned to maximum effort. The TVR / Mosler battle looks set to rage throughout the season ahead and the two examples of each provided great entertainment as they traded the top four places. Short’s definitive 1:08.000 clinched pole right at the end, but Herridge was “glad the TVRs are up there as well – it’s good for everyone that we’re not miles ahead and that its all set for a good race tomorrow.”

The final line-up looked like it would be Mosler – TVR – Mosler – TVR after Piers Johnson got a useful drag over the finish line to book second place on the grid with a 1:08.135 – but don’t bet against demon-starter Lynch leading after the first corner tomorrow afternoon.

The third placed Mosler of Balfe and Derbyshire was subsequently sent to the back of the grid for a leaking airbox, but in a two hour race (the longest the championship has ever seen) this may not be of huge consequence. So that promotes the Stanton TVR to third and the Eagling Marcos to a highly impressive fourth.

Dan Eagling’s time was an outstanding one. “And we’ve still got the misfire, so we’re 10 mph down on top speed.”

The Corvette outfit were happy with Peter Le Bas’ 1:10.537, fifth on the grid, “especially as we’re still using the taxi engine,” said the Irishman. A nice touch was Xero Team Manager Dave Beecroft congratulating his man Le Bas, and Dan Eagling too. Le Bas is worried though: “At Donington, I’d lost the s off the end of my name – on my overalls and on the car. Now on the time sheets here, I’m just down as Le!”

The Cup Class was all Porsche – “a superb lap, that was special,” said Phil Hindley, of Matt Griffin’s pole time…two out of two for #76. 1:12.173 on Griffin’s third flying lap was considerably better than the “mid to high 12” that Hindley was anticipating. Michael Mallock was moderately pleased with his 1:12.904, “as I hit a kerb and missed a gear on that lap.” He was really enjoying driving a Porsche though.

So with no Clio (diff. failure seems to have put it out of the rest of the meeting, we think), we’re down to 14 for the race…over two hours. With no fuel worries. Moslers and Porsches start as favourites?
PS & MC