The 2022 Turbo Dynamics Championship finished on a high after our August meetings. The overall champion is finally confirmed as Clive Stangle, congratulations to Clive!
Here are the class results in the Turbo Dynamics Gurston Down Championship. We thank Turbo Dynamics for their continued support of our championship in 2022.
Class 4 – Road Cars – Mazda MX5, sponsored by The Window Doctor
Position | Driver | Car |
Points |
1 |
Richard Morton | Mazda Roadster RS |
134 |
2 |
Chris Burch | Mazda Roadster RS |
133 |
3 |
Dean Dickens | Mazda MX5 Sport |
106 |
Richard Morton, who shares the Mazda Roadster with Chris Burch, has had a great season. The lead in this class has been switching between the two throughout the season. They were separated by just one point, the class was decided by the two double-point timed runs at the August meeting. Richard’s wins on both runs gave him the championship. They both finished in the top ten of the overall championship too.
Class 4a – Road Cars Series Production up to 1400cc, supported by Cavendish Ships Stores
Position | Driver | Car |
Points |
1 |
Stephen Wareham | Mini |
154 |
2 |
David Nutland | Mini |
129 |
3 |
Piers Thynne | Mini |
124 |
Stephen Wareham’s performance and a points total of 154 gave him second in the overall championship after the tie-break rules were applied. His performance lead him to maximum points scores on every event he ran and multiple class records. It would appear that the class was dominated by the Minis but John Davey in the MG Midget was a thorn in their side for many of the events. The class results may have been very different had he not had technical issues with the car in July.
Class 4b – The Road Cars Series Production 1401cc to 2000cc
Position | Driver | Car |
Points |
1 |
Daniel Friel | Honda Civic Type R |
128 |
2 |
Russell Davies | Honda Civic Type R |
127 |
3 |
James Wills | Renault Clio |
71 |
This double points at August Sunday decided this class. Daniel Friel and Russell Davies in their respective Hondas have been swapping places all season. At the end of July, their performances were so evenly matched, that the August events became the decider. Daniel finished ahead of Russel in three of the four rounds, sealing his class win.
Class 4c – Road Cars Series Production Over 2000cc, sponsored by Turbo Dynamics
Position | Driver | Car |
Points |
1 |
Clive Stangle | Mitsubishi Evo |
154 |
2 |
Jennie Stangle | Mitsubishi Evo |
124 |
3 |
Simon Neve | Mitsubishi Evo |
110 |
Clive and Jennie Stangle in their Mitsubishi Evo dominated this class in 2022. Clive won the class and the overall championship. Jennie had a great season too, on her last run of the year, finally managing her first sub-35-second run.
Simon Neve finished third, not only contending with the Stangle’s, he had tough competition from Steve Cox in his Golf R, who finished just 5 points behind, on 105 points.
Class 4d – Road Cars Specialist Production, any capacity
Position | Driver | Car |
Points |
1 |
Clive Skipper | Caterham |
132 |
2 |
Chris Burridge | Caterham |
121 |
3 |
Rob Brodie | Fisher Fury |
98 |
Clive Skipper and Chris Burridge have had a pretty good season, fighting each other hard in their shared Caterham. Chris taking a few wins during the season was not enough to take the class championship from Clive.
Class 5 – Modified Limited Production Marque Sports Car Class up to 2000cc
Only one championship entrant in this class so Tony Record, Gurston’s Press Officer, in his Mazda MX5 finished last in the class and as a bonus first too. There were a few personal bests, which are always a bonus. Tony finished on 104 points.
Class 6 – Modified Limited Production Marque Sports Car Over 2000cc
Position | Driver | Car |
Points |
1 |
Graham Beale | Ginetta G33 |
127 |
2 |
Paul Slade | Jaguar XKE |
105 |
3 |
Phil Price | Porsche 911 |
33 |
Graham Beale in the Ginetta G33 had a great season. Qualifying for multiple Top Ten run-offs as well as taking the 2022 class championship.
Class 7 – Modified Series Production Class up to 1400cc, sponsored by Cock and Sons
Position | Driver | Car |
Points |
1 |
Neil Turner | Mini |
125 |
2 |
David Bean | Mini |
112 |
Neil Turner in the super-fast Mini has made this class his own this season.
Class 9 – Modified Series Production Over 2000cc
Position | Driver | Car |
Points |
1 |
Jim Herbert | Mitsubishi Evo |
70 |
2 |
Tim Painter | Aston Martin Vantage |
66 |
3 |
Mark Walker | Porsche Cayman |
34 |
Jim Herbert and his Mitsubishi Evo win this class. Mark and Tim changed classes during the season, leaving Jim on his own.
Class 11 – Modified Specialist Production Class
Position | Driver | Car |
Points |
1 |
Steve Holland | Caterham Hayabusa |
129 |
2 |
Ritchie Gatt | Westfield |
98 |
3 |
Martin Watson | Westfield |
85 |
Steve Holland in his Caterham has had a great fantastic season. Not only leading the class championship, and setting a new class record but he’s also finished 4th and the highest placed non-race car in the Top Ten Challenge. Martin Watson’s engine issue gave Ritchie Gatt this season’s second place.
Class 13 – Historically Interesting Class, supported by Kelvin Jouhar
Position | Driver | Car |
Points |
1 |
Fyrth Cross | Dempster Ensign LNF3 |
134 |
2 |
Mike Broome | Alexis Mk17 |
119 |
3 |
Sue Hayes | Palliser |
99 |
Fyrth Crosse and his Dempster Ensign LNF3 have had a great season of consistent performances and finishes giving him the class title. The scores don’t show how good the battle between Sue Hayes and Mike Broome has been this season.
Class 15a – Sports Libre up to 1400cc
Last year’s Gurston Down Champion, Tim Pitfield and his DJ Firecat have been the only championship registered car in this class for 2022. Sadly that left him unable to defend his championship and then a gremlin in the car’s electrical system put him out since the April meeting Sunday. He amassed a total of 48 points.
Class 15b – Sports Libre 1400cc to 2000cc
Position | Driver | Car |
Points |
1 |
Mike Lee | Force LM |
89 |
2 |
Chris Cannell | Empire Evo |
8 |
Mike in the Force LM returned for the August meetings after having issues with the car earlier in the year and put in some great performances. Not only did he take the class win but he finished eighth in the Top Ten Challenge too.
Class 19 – 601cc to 1100cc Racing Car Class supported by Rhianco
Position | Driver | Car |
Points |
1 |
Ben Bonfield | Jedi Mk4 |
151 |
2 |
Mark Crookall | OMS PR |
128 |
3 |
Murray Wakeham | OMS CF97 |
121 |
Ben Bonfield has had a great season. He has finished second in the Top Ten Run-off and third in the overall championship. His performances since the early part of the season have made all the difference. Mark Crookall in first season in a proper racing car has proved just how capable a driver he is. We are looking forward to seeing more from Mark next season. Murray Wakeham hasn’t made Mark’s second place easy. Great performances by the entire class.
Class 20 – Racing Cars 1101cc to 1600cc
Position | Driver | Car |
Points |
1 |
Andrew Forsyth | OMS |
84 |
2 |
Andrew Mathis | OMS PR |
32 |
3 |
Robert Crapper |
16 |
Andrew Forsyth entered just two weekends event in 2022 but his outstanding performances earn him the class title and fifth in the Top Ten Challenge.
Class 21a – Racing Cars 1601cc to 2000cc (Normally Aspirated) supported by New Techniques
Position | Driver | Car |
Points |
1 |
Tony Wiltshire | Ralt RT34 |
134 |
2 |
Roger Cock | Pilbeam MP54 |
112 |
Another great season for Tony Wiltshire and his Ralt. Class champion and Top Ten Challenge champion too. Ben Bonfield made his work for the latter of those.
Class 22 – Racing Cars Over 2000cc
Paul Crute in the lovely OMS28 Jaguar is on his own in this class. Hi finished with 112 points and third place in the Top Ten Run-off. A great season for Paul.
We would like to thank our hill and championship sponsor Turbo Dynamics and our class sponsors for their continued support in 2022.
E&OE