1

2

3

Qual

Sprint

Feature

Images

Driver Points

Team Points

<-Move cursor over item to select

Brands Hatch - October 7, 2001

Andy Scott	Tim Sopp
Andy Lofthouse	Martin Dickson
Gary Scott	Will Scott
Alyn James	Phil Belcher
Transporter Driver:	Ken Sly

The final meeting of the 2001 BTCC Championship ended as it started on the 1.2262-mile Indy circuit at Brands Hatch in Kent. It was also a joint hospitality day for Synchro and Barwell Motorsports with many important guests attending.

Saturday, October 6
The weather was very unpredictable on the Saturday. The day started dry and cloudy but the threat of rain was always in the air. When Free Practice started at 11.00, the track was dry. Dave Allan for the second meeting running had a good 45-minute session. Back at the start of the season he had struggled around Brands Hatch in the Accord. The set up on the car was wrong and he had also never driven it before. However, on a track that was a lot slower than in April he recorded a time 0.7 seconds quicker. Even though he finished in eleventh position of the sixteen drivers that contested the session, he was only 1.019 seconds behind the fastest lap set by Gavin Pyper in the Alfa Romeo. In the April meeting, he was 2.472 seconds off the pace, an enormous improvement.

Page 2

During the interval before Qualifying, the heavens opened and the rains came down heavily. However, it stopped as quickly as it began and by the start of the Qualifying session, the track had almost dried. Dave went out on a mixed tyre set, with wets on the rear. He soon pitted, though, to change to a full set of slicks. Starting slowly, Dave gradually lowered his lap times and there was a tussle right to the end with Tom Boardman and Dave consistently swapping positions. In the end Dave did finish just ahead of Tom, managing to get into the top ten of the seventeen cars in the session. His best lap was almost identical to the morning session and he finished close enough to the leading cars again to suggest that it will an interesting day tomorrow.

Sunday, October 7
Like Brands Hatch, there was a second free practice for all the cars first thing in the morning. Dave had a good session, finishing in seventh place. He still maintained his gap with the leading cars, finishing around one second down on the fastest lap but less than four-hundredths of a second behind pole position man, Paul O'Neill and championship contender, Roger Moen.

As the cars lap Brands in around 50 seconds, the Tourers and the Production cars started together for the 25-lap Sprint Race, without the customary delay. The race started on a dry track and Dave made a steady start. He was in ninth position after the first lap and looked comfortable. On lap 10 the safety car came out after Steve Soper crashed badly in his Peugeot. Whilst the safety car was out it started to rain. It was a difficult decision deciding whether to pit for a tyre change or stay out on slicks. On lap 19, Synchro made the decision to change. Although the tyre change went smoothly, it was perhaps a couple of laps too late as the race had just restarted after the safety car had pulled over. This effectively lost Dave a lap. The decision to change looked a good one as the rain did not ease and the conditions were deteriorating. Dave was lapping around the 58-second mark, whilst the cars still on slicks were over 61 seconds. The race ended under a red flag as Mat Jackson and Roger Moen both spun off and, in the interest of safety, it was decided to end the race, two laps from the finish. Dave was in eighth place. It was a question of what might have been as the cars that finished third, fourth and fifth had all driven the race on slick tyres!

Page 3

The Feature Race was delayed for over fifty minutes because of the terrible weather. The rain was torrential and the winds had got up to create dreadful driving conditions. Nevertheless the cars rolled over the line at just after five o'clock and the 50-lap race was under way. This was one of Dave's finest drives. For the first fourteen laps he was right on Simon Harrison's tail. On lap 15 he slid by Simon but unfortunately on lap 16 he went onto the grass at Surtees and had to wait until all the cars had gone by before rejoining the race. Dave though progressively carved his way up through the field. He went a lap down though after an unkindly safety car call. The leading Tourers had just overtaken Dave so the Safety Car came out just in front of him. It allowed the leading Production Cars to effectively go round the track and sit just behind Dave. However Dave stuck to his task and three laps before the end he managed to get by Mat Jackson who was tussling with Tom Boardman at the time for seventh position. Dave comfortably held this position but, because of still being a lap down, he finished up an excellent ninth. His lap times were good. He was just 0.7 seconds off the fastest lap set by Gavin Pyper. It was the closest he had got to the leaders and, considering the conditions, a fine performance both by Dave and by the Team who had set the car up so well.

The season is now over. It has been an exciting but tough learning curve for the Synchro Motorsports but they acquitted themselves well against the professional outfits in the series. Synchro Motorsport are planning to return to the Championships next season, with the new Civic Type-R. There is a lot to do before the 2002 season and, although it seems a long way off, it is, in fact, only six months away. The experiences gained this year will serve them in good stead for what is sure to be another interesting season.

Click on image to enlarge