JEC XJS Championship - Silverstone 9^th April 2005:

Welcome, XJS fans, to the opening race of the 2005 season. This race was held at Silverstone on a bitterly cold windy day but it would soon warm up from the tyres, brakes and engines of the beautiful 23 cats on the grid for qualifying. Steve Davis took pole with Derek Pearce only, 0.3 second slower, in 2nd. Gary Davis was 3rd and reigning champ Sean Collin 4th. Steve (sideways) Avery was 6th and only did 3 laps. For Tracey Barker, baby feeding took priority over checking practice times.

New boy Alun Fowler of Cardiff couldn't get onto the track because his pit crew had locked up and gone for breakfast! He and Cliff Ryan, who also had problems with his car, were to start at the race at the back of the grid. In the afternoon 25 cats had their claws out, ready to pounce, and when the red lights went out, pounce they did.

Derek Pearce in his black XJRS got the jump on Steve Davis. They both left the rest for dead, Derek stayed ahead of Steve who was all over him like a rash and went on to win the race and take Class G by 1 second.

Gary Davis took a well deserved but lonely 3rd and Sean Collin was 4th and Class E winner. Further down the field there was a great 4 way tussle between Laurence Coppock of Braishfield, Lawrence Ball of Cov Cats, John Griffin (Grandad) in his red 4.0 litre and Gary Hastings from Coventry. Only 3 seconds was the gap between all 4 at the finish line.

Tracey Barker had a great battle, on her return to the XJS series (complete with 'baby on board' sticker), when she came 14th and held off Chris Boon by 1.5 seconds.

Meanwhile, Kevin Doyle's race turned into a nightmare when after a lap smoke poured out of his exhaust, like he was having a private barbeque, and by lap 6 had to call it a day, pulling into the pits. His car had been running on 6 cylinders instead of 12. Not that it usually stops him! Cliff Ryan also had a bad day when temp gauge needle went higher than his rev counter needle, and he pulled in on lap 5.

Iain Suggett from Birmingham had a spectacular spin at Woodcote on lap 10 where his car ended up a foot thinner when he clashed with the concrete wall. Fortunately Iain was fine after a chat with the nurses in the medical centre.

Steve (sideways) Avery was at it again with the entertainment section as he was power-sliding through Luffield and into Woodcote. The crowd were cheering and clapping with every lap, and he finished 6th in his XJS "Purple Ronny".

After a close decision with Tracey Barker, drive of the day trophy was awarded to newcomer Dexter Dimblebee of Lutterworth for an excellent first race. This was presented by Jaguar Monthly publisher Phil Weedon and editor Mark Skelton.

Other Class winners were Gail Hill (D) and Gordon Bobic (F).

Report by STEVE GOREY (JEC)