JEC XJS Championship - Silverstone 25^th August 2007:

No green flag lap, so any spectator who could see Luffield would witness 23 Jags trying to heat up their tyres and brakes in the space of about 400 yards. Swap the XJS for Vauxhall Corsas and the helmets for baseball caps and it could have been a Saturday night in a supermarket car park near you.

Pole gets the inside line into Copse, but it didn't stop Steve Davis taking the lead off the start, he hooked up off the line and powered into turn 1 ahead of Derek Pearce. Both cars have had extensive engine work since their last appearance, but that didn't mean they were limping about, full bore to the flag and neither giving anything away for free.
Three-way fight off the start line for Lyddall, Lock and Palmer, Lydall's V12 as ever losing ground on the 6s in the first few moments until the power could meet the tarmac and catapult him into Copse in third, with Palmer from Lock in fourth and fifth.

Russell, Hastings and Hill argued over 6th to 8th, Russell's power advantage pulling him into that 6th spot, with Skelton, Harrison, Coppock and Webster all flying elbows and hair-pulling off the line. Harrison, no doubt confused by being able to see the leaders on the line for once, made his usual bungle of the start, finding 5th gear instead of third and losing precious places to both Coppock and a fast-starting Webster.

Loz Ball always launches well, and this time no exception, from 16th he'd be 12th by the end of lap 1. Brother Dave would also give it some on that opening lap, 20th to 15th in the first lap is not bad going at all. Harrison re-took the position from Webster round the outside at Maggotts and slotted in behind Coppock, Webster falling back into a titanic race-long fight that reads like a shopping list of XJS drivers, McKay, both Ball brothers, Cologne-Brookes and MacVicar, who'd all become so close in the next 18 minutes that all 6 are now honeymooning together somewhere in the West Indies.

Disaster for Gail Hill at the right hander off Tower straight, which would catch out so many drivers all afternoon, but which saw her spin and drop to 14th place, rejoining right in the heart of the midfield scrap and with a spectacular recovery drive ahead of her.

End of lap one and as ever the race begins to settle down into some sort of sense, Davis crossing the line with Pearce sniffing his exhaust like a bloodhound with the flu, 0.3 seconds back and clearly not letting Davis have an easy time of it. Lydall was three seconds down the road but opening a gap on Palmer's flying E class after some early corner hassles, Palmer in turn being hunted relentlessly by John Lock only a second behind and dropping the next class D car of Hastings at 2 seconds a lap. Hastings was in hot pursuit of Mark Russell's screaming V12, an interesting mix of class D handling versus V12 grunt that the 12 was starting to win.

Skelton, Coppock and Harrison were separated by only a second and clearly enjoying themselves, the 3-way fight would get closer still, by lap 3 all three cars would be trying to tackle Bridge 3-abreast, Coppock sliding past Skelton but both defending a half-hearted look up the inside by Harrison. Skelton didn't quit though, got better drive out of Luffield and had a run on Coppock down the pit straight, but had to lift when the expected passing place never appeared, Coppock nicely blocking Skelton's run at him. That in turn gave Harrison the run up his inside to steal the place into Copse, a matter of a split second turning Skelton's great attempt at retaking 8th into a drop to 10th spot.

Gail was well into her recovery drive now, first taking Webster and the outbraking Loz Ball to take 12th by lap 2. Jim Quirke fell victim by lap 3, and she closed in on Skelton's tail at over a second a lap to take 10th off him by lap 6, and she wasn't done yet. Gail Hill on a charge is just superb entertainment.

At the sharp end Steve Davis was gradually creeping away from Derek Pearce, who just couldn't find the grip to stay with him, Davis smooth style paying dividends. Not that spectators were complaining at Pearce's efforts, someone has to pick up the baton when Steve Avery isn't driving, and Derek was keeping the crowds happy even as he gradually lost his grip on Davis' bumper. Lap 4 was the undoing of Pearce's challenge, dropping nearly 4 seconds to give Davis some breathing space, though these two would still trade fastest lap times all the way to the flag.

Stewert Lyddall also extended his lead over the chasing Palmer, building a 3-second cushion he held until the tail end of the race with a solid P3 he began to pace the car to the finish. Palmer wasn't having it as easy, John Lock pushing him every step of the way, a constant 0.6 to 0.7 behind lap after lap in a watching brief. Given he was clear of class D by nearly 20 seconds at race end and with the championship so finely balanced Lock can perhaps be forgiven for not trying a desperate move on Palmer, but one mistake and he'd snap up P4 thank you very much, and Chris was therefore under fairly serious pressure.

With a few Laps to go Lyddall, made a mistake at the complex and just avoided the gravel trap Palmer and Lock were now all over the back of the V12 jaguar but he was able to hold them of to the flag all 3 separated by little over a second.

The chasing squabble Gail had fought through and left behind didn't let up at all. The 6-car fight saw Dave Ball fall back behind McKay by lap 2 as Webster and Loz Ball fought it out just ahead. Loz fought his way clear, only to fall back into the clutches of the pack by lap 5, when both Dave Ball and McKay would shove past Cologne-Brookes.

Webster slipped by Loz by lap 6, but both McKay and Dave Ball also carving through on lap 7, close enough that a number of spectators were heard to express the belief that one or more of them had a suicide wish. Not true, all the racing out there was again clean, no reported contact between any cars, the XJS again showing what good little boys and girls they can all be when dressed up and taken somewhere posh.

These 6 didn't quit at that though, Cologne-Brookes and MacVicar swapping places and then trading them back again, and McKay nosing past Webster on lap 8. So close was this tussle that at the flag under 6 seconds covered all 6 cars, probably the closest racing we've seen all year.

Gail Hill was still chasing, she was now closing down 9th-placed Harrison, who had spent some time sitting on Coppock's rear bumper as he started to close on Hastings. A close chase down Tower straight saw the unfortunate Coppock overdo the tight right hander under braking and drop 8th place to Harrison, both Hill and Skelton then picking him off as he recovered. Harrison now had the number 1 car starting to grow in the mirrors, and Gary Hastings in sight ahead, causing him to get rather too enthusiastic and go for a scenic drive on the exit of Copse, leaving him with a blue and orange car glued to the bootlid and helpless to do anything but watch as Gail's 6-cylinder sang past down Tower straight. Sadly the free driving lesson Gail would have provided was cut short by that annoying chequered flag that keeps being waved.

Davis first across the line therefore, Pearce only 4 seconds back, Lyddall third, handily also the positions for class G. Palmer 4th, first for class E, John Lock another win for class D in P5 and again comfortably ahead of 2nd in class. Mark Russell shook off an early challenge by Gary Hastings to take 4th in class, 6th overall, but in class G rather than the listed E, Hastings another sterling 2nd in class D, 7th outright.

Gail Hill's remarkable recovery driver took 8th and 2nd in class, with Harrison a surprised 9th, 3rd place for class D. Matt Skelton took 10th, Coppock's eventful afternoon bringing him in 11th ahead of Quirke.
Then the world's longest dogfight crossed the line, 13th to 18th places, quite possibly in a cartoon dustcloud, as the 6-way fight took the flag before someone lost an eye, McKay from Webster, Dave Ball, Loz Ball, Bruce Cologne-Brookes and Robert Macvicar all still within clawing range of each other and begging for another few laps to just try that one more passing manoeuvre. Dave Ball would take Driver of the Day, his 20th to 15th gain really not telling the full story.
Isherwood took 19th, Graeme Reynolds 20th and third for E class, Paul Reynolds the sole F class in 21st from Beecham and McMahon.

Amazingly, of all 23 starters, not one retirement anywhere in the field. Is that the first time this year we've had no mechanical or driver failure? If so it's a pretty good achievement, and might do something to taking the edge off the reputation the XJS kamika.. sorry, drivers, sometimes enjoy.

So where does this leave the championship? Both John Lock and Steve Davis have easily already secured their class championship, but overall Lock is one single point ahead of Davis. Both have won every race so far, so it comes down to points for qualifying and fastest race laps, and neither has a completely perfect record there. But the points are on 9 of the 10 rounds, and what happens if you start dropping each driver's worst result of the year? Calculators at the ready, and full throttle for round ten, the fat lady has yet to sing…