The track was greasy, but no rain was falling at Silverstone as the cars lined up for race 1. As the cars got away from the line, Sammie Fritchley got an excellent start, but it was Pete Sparrow who held his lead around Copse corner, followed by the chasing pack. As the cars approached Becketts for the first time, the 84 car of Mark Turner settled into 2nd place, followed by Phil Myatt, Sammie Fritchley, then Richard Hollis, who had also charged up from 11th on the grid.

Richard's momentum carried him briefly into 2nd place on lap 3 before Myatt took back the place, and Trevor Williams moved up into 3rd on lap 3 from 8th on the grid. As Richard Hollis settled back into 3rd place, the 68 car of Greg Wheeler was enjoying some sideways action around Luffield corner, trying to find the best line around the tricky long right-hander.

Now battling for 4th place, Trevor had an off at Becketts corner and dropped back about 8 places. Neil Thompson, who had started 25th and second to last after problems in qualifying, was now up to 7th after an elecrifying start which saw him overtake 13 cars on the first 2 laps!

Richard Hollis was applying pressure to Phil Myatt on lap 7, while the 59 car of Andrew Pirt and the 24 car of Martin Hindley were rubbing panels at Luffield. By lap 9, Richard Hollis' persistance had paid dividends, as he managed to get past Phil Myatt and up in to 2nd. There was a titanic scrap for 5th place developing, with Andrew Pirt, Martin Hindley and Sammie Fritchley all wanting a slice of the action - 3 cars wide across the track at Luffield and the place was anyone's for the taking.

As the race moved on to lap 11, the skies darkened somewhat, and the spectators and drivers alike were treated to a brief shower of hailstones! The first car to take to the scenery was the 17 car of Peter James, who ran wide at Brooklands corner. It wasn't long until he was followed by the 97 Fine Print car of Martin Harrold. Although the conditions were worsening at the end of the lap, it became clear that the first 2 corners were relatively unaffected by the surprise change in weather, and this caught a number of drivers out, with Richard Hollis running very close to the edge at Brooklands, and Trevor Williams sliding into the gravel on the outside of Luffield corner. The 52 Cowell/Sadler car also came to grief at Brooklands, but was able to carry on.

A sideways car at Luffield slowed the number 24 car of Neil Thompson, which was then collected in the rear by Matt Riley. Richard Hollis went wide and ended his race in the gravel on the outside of Luffield, promoting Phil Myatt up to 2nd, Andrew Pirt to 3rd, and Sammie Fritchley up to 4th. Meanwhile, Pete Sparrow was looking like a dead cert for the win, with quite a comfortable margin up at the front of the race, passing the lapped cars without incident.

The marshals were out on track on lap 13 at Luffield, trying to free the stricken number 4 car of Trevor Williams, but it was stuck fast. Andrew Pirt was trying a few different lines and getting his car sideways. Out of sight, he dropped a few places, handing the 3rd place to Sammie Fritchley. Meanwhile, the number 14 car of Callendar/Byatt was starting to look strong, and the battle for 2nd place was beginning to get rather close.

At Becketts corner on lap 15, Greg Wheeler had quietly sneaked up on the gaggle of cars fighting for 2nd place, and the 2CVs went 4 abreast around the corner, much to the delight of the circuit commentator. Greg had the company of Matt Riley, Phil Myatt and Sammie Fritchley. Sammie ran wide at Becketts and dropped a few places, and Greg was able to move into 2nd place, with Phil Myatt snapping at his heels, and Matt Riley not far behind.

The rest of the field was now split into battle groups of 3-5 cars, all fighting hard to make up last minute places. Everyone looked to be really trying hard as the race entered the closing stages. On the final lap, there was contact between Greg Wheeler and Phil Myatt, resulting in the unfortunate Wheeler taking to the gravel on the exit of Luffield, joining the cars of Richard Hollis and Trevor Williams. Christian Callendar took advantage of the chaos, and made a break for the inside line as the cars charged through Woodcote corner, surging their way towards the finish line.

Pete Sparrow had already taken the chequered flag to win with a comfortable margin, but 2nd place was still being contested between Phil Myatt and Christian Callendar, and as the cars came around the final corner, they were absolutely together - side by side they crossed the line, and it was anybody's guess as to who made it to 2nd place!

After consulting the timing screens, Phil Myatt emerged as the 2nd place man, while Christian Callendar came home in 3rd, the gap being only 0.018 of a second, or about the width of a 2CV bumper! 4th place went the way of Martin Hindley, with Matt Riley taking 5th, and Andrew Pirt finishing 6th.

Great racing once again from the 2CVs!

You can download the full race analysis by clicking this link.

Some excellent photos of the event area available in the site gallery, and also at Glenn Summerbell's site, and at Andy Robbins' site