Race report: Gerry Marshall Sprint 75MM – Members Meeting Favourite Moments

29th March 2020

Henry Biggs

The third qualifying Golf GTI of Jim Morris rocketed away from the line to lead the pack into the first corner, followed by Peter Ratcliff’s Ford Capri and Nick Padmore in the BMW 530i. Padmore snatched second place at St. Mary’s which was the order at the end of lap one, the race leaders followed by Stuart Hall in a Rover SD1, Pantelis Christoforou’s Escort RS2000 and another Capri driven by Raphael de Borman. Less than 2.5 seconds covered the top three.

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With the leaders pulling away, the real interest lay back in the pack which resembled a peloton at times as Minis, Capris and Camaros came close to trading paint as they lost and regained places. Hall was harried up the straight and into Madgwick by another Capri, in the hands of Patrick Watts while Nick Swift’s Mini 1275 GT looked dwarfed by the Capri and Camaro ahead and behind.

The Rover SD1 of Chris Ward took second place from Padmore at the halfway point in the run down to Madgwick , setting a new fastest lap in the process. A move round the outside of Woodcote by Mike Whitaker dropped Padmore out of the top three. Ward started to reel in first placed Morris, outgunning him down the start-finish straight and then round the outside at Madgwick. Morris lost another position with less than two minutes on the clock as Whitaker muscled past at Woodcote.

The final lap saw an incredible last gasp battle for third as Morris was hassled by Watts, Padmore and Swift. Watts made it round the outside at Woodcote to claim the final podium place.

Image by Drew Gibson.