13th August, Pembrey,
Eric Fretten Trophy
Round 10 of the 1995
Series took place in Wales on the Pembrey tri-oval. The fast
straights and tight corners provided a tough challenge for
the 1350cc racers on their first visit but all the competitors
gave the venue a definite thumbs up by the end of the day.
The trophy was presented by former driver Eric Fretten who
now lives in wales with his wife Audrey.
Race 1 saw Gary Piper
take an early lead until he was reeled in and demoted by the
Van Diemen-VW of Steve Piggins on lap 3. Piggins was soon
joined by Nic Grindrod and Harry Sayell with John Salter holding
off Stuart Haynes for fourth. A battle for the lead ensued
between Piggins and Grindrod with the latter's Swift-Alfa
eventually getting ahead and free on lap seven. Sayell's VW
followed through into second at the flag with Piggins 3rd
and Salter 4th by a whisker from Haynes.
The second outing saw
Piggins bolt into an early lead from Piper and Salter with
Sayell and Grindrod blasting through the pack to take 4th
and 5th respectively. Piggins controlled the race from the
front as Grindrod gave chase having moved into second, the
pair nose to tail for the second half of the race, with Piggins
just beating him to the flag from Sayell who just held off
Haynes. Gary Piper was a well dseverved fifth.
The 15 lap final for
the Eric Fretten Trophy started with Piper being hard pressed
by Salter for the lead, the front engine car eventually passing
on the outside of the pit bend and holding on for two laps
before being outbraked into the pit bend by the flying Grindrod.
After the race was stopped following a coming together between
Neil Clarke and Piggins, Sayell closed the gap and dived into
the lead on lap 9. Grindrod fought back however and re-passed
the European Champion on the outside at the hairpin on the
following lap. Thereafter he held onto the lead despite Sayell's
best attention to take the win.
Race one: 1st Nic Grindrod,
2nd Harry Sayell, 3rd Steve Piggins, 4th John Salter, 5th
Stuart Haynes, 6th Neil Clarke, 7th John Weston, 8th Gary
Piper, 9th Stuart Staniford, 10th Barry Phillips
Race two: 1st Steve
Piggins, 2nd Nic Grindrod, 3rd Harry Sayell, 4th Stuart Haynes,
5th Gary Piper, 6th John Salter, 7th John Weston, 8th Stuart
Staniford, 9th Barry Phillips.
Eric Fretten Trophy:
1st Nic Grindrod, 2nd Harry Sayell, 3rd Stuart Haynes, 4th
John Salter, 5th Gary Piper, 6th John Weston, 7th Barry Phillips.
Welsh Eurocar ace Mike
Manning had a go in Steve Piggins' Van Diemen around the circuit
in the allcomers race and was very impressed with the experience
(he won). The Carmarthen based ex Powerboat and Rallycross
racer has just returned to the V6 Eurocar formula following
some engine problems. He's also bought an rwd Rallycross Fiesta
to play with in the Winter.
