Rd's 7 & 8 Silverstone
Race Report by Paula Hamilton 

Qualifying - Sat 7th June 2003 

I arrived at my least favourite circuit from a photographic and spectator point of view at 6.15am. It was cold for early June and there was a horrid drizzle, the type that wets you through to the bone without you knowing it. However the media facilities at the circuit are excellent and the circuit in general has been upgraded a lot since my last visit there in October 2002. 

Tony Rodgers had an excellent session and at one point was running second but finished up 5th on the grid overall and in the Championship Class. Tom Gaymor of ComTec Racing won pole which was widely expected and reported in the Motoring press with a time of 1:40.535. Tony was only 1.109 seconds behind him with a time of 1:41.644. I interviewed Tony after qualifying, how he felt about qualifying and his chances in Round 7. He said "Qualifying was good and the best yet and it gives me a chance to race. It could have been better, I am sorry to say but I messed up. It was always going to be the last lap that was my fastest lap, so unfortunately my third last lap was my fastest but is was good enough for 5th so I think we are in good shape for the race, wet or dry but a bit of rain will not go amiss and I am very confident". I told him that I have nicknamed him ' The Professor ' after Alain Prost. He answered me with a wry grin " I am sure that my University Lecturers would disagree but at the end of the day ". Tony would not say anymore, he is too modest. 

James Harris, our Scholarship driver had a reasonable session and finished up 5th fastest in his class out of 12 competitors with a time of 1:43.784. He was 2.128 seconds behind pole sitter in the class James Walker. This put James 20th on the grid out of 28 drivers. I interviewed James afterwards and he said " We qualified not too bad and we are quite happy that the car is all OK after Thruxton and we got it all back together. It could do with a bit more track time to run in the joints but apart from that pretty good". 

I then spoke to Jeff Harris, joint team owner and asked him for his comments. " Yes, very very pleased that Tony is where he should be and should have been all year obviously because of the problems that we have had, some through our own fault and some through bad luck. At least we have 
proved that we can be up there where we should be. Obviously the situation with 
James is not overly disappointing, we expected him to be up there a bit higher. We know the reason why is because after the crash at Thruxton, everything that was put on the car which was basically three brand new corners, we never had a chance to run them in, i.e going to a track so James has basically gone out in two thirds of a brand new car if you like and until those parts have worn let's say, then we all know how quick James is in the wet so basically I am not disappointed. We will see what happens in the race. We would not be racing if we did not think that we would be there and I would like to see podiums with both drivers and I think that we can do it". 

As qualifying was held at 9.00am in the morning, the team had plenty of time to prepare the two cars, James's car in particular. The race was scheduled for 2.50pm. 

Round 7 - Sat 7th June 2003 

The drizzle gradually eased off through the morning and by the time that the cars were lining up on the grid for the first race of the day, the sun was shining, the track was dry and it was actually very warm. However after the green flag laps, the cars set off at a furious pace but after Lap 2, the Red Flags were shown and the race was stopped. Ben Clucas came off the track and his severely damaged Mygale resulted in the tyre walls having to be rebuilt. The cars reformed on the Grid which meant that everybody moved up one place and Tony was now starting 4th. However after a 20 minute plus wait, the cars came off the circuit and Round 7 was abandoned for the day. A tight race schedule meant that Clerk of the Course Ray Sumner had no choice but to make this decision which obviously did not please everybody. The good news was that a rather battered and bruised Ben Clucas was still in one piece which was more than could be said for his car and his championship hopes. End of meeting for poor Ben. 

Later in the day, all the Team Managers were informed that Round 7 would be 
restarted the next day with grid positions as the cars finished at the end of Lap One and a shortened 9 lap race instead of 10. This meant that Tony would still start in 4th place but James had already made up 3 places in his flying first lap and would start 17th on the restart. Round 8 would have to be postponed and run at Donington Park later in the season with Rounds 17 & 18, the penultimate two rounds. The curfew is much later there, therefore three races will 
hopefully be staged over the weekend of September 6th/7th. A long wait nevertheless. 

Round 7 - Sunday 8th June 2003 

I did not arrive at the circuit until 8.00am as the race schedule starts later at Silverstone on a Sunday so the team enjoyed a hearty breakfast in the FF Hospitality Tent. The race was not due to start until 3.20pm, as a result the team had plenty of time to prepare the cars. The weather was weird. One moment, it was sunny and then it would cloud over and heavy showers made the paddock dive for cover. At one point we all thought that the Team Jato race annexe 
would " take off " in the violent wind. About half and hour before the cars left for the Dummy Grid, Jeff Harris spotted that James's throttle was faulty, so a very quick change of parts was required and we all breathed a sigh of relief when James arrived at the Collecting area just in the nick of time. 

The start of the race was fine but Tony Rodger's race was not. Either a fuel or electrical problem started to slow the car and on his second lap Suk Sandher hit him from behind and Tony landed up in the gravel trap. End of race for poor Tony. Meanwhile James was having an excellent race and fought his way up the field and gained four places by Lap 6 of the shortened 9 lap race. He was running 13th overall out of 23 cars still in the race and at one point had passed Jay Howard to be 2nd in the Scholarship class. Then on Lap 7 Antonio Perez hit James quite needlessly after crossing the grass at Luffield which damaged James's nose cone and also made the Ray spin. Apart from being demoted to 21st place, the handling was compromised and James finished the race in 19th place overall as two other cars retired. Perez retired on Lap 8. A sad end to a day that promised so much. 

Many of the team managers are very furious at the Driving Standards of some of the competitors and these drivers have been reported to the Clerk of the Course, Ray Sumner. Let's hope that the Officials have taken note because this type of behaviour should not be tolerated as it spoils the mood and the spirit of the Championship for those teams and their drivers that race in accordance with " The Blue Book ". 

Congratulations to Tom Gaymor for an excellent and well deserved win. Team Jato Motorsport left Silverstone very disappointed but " we will be back " in even more determined mood at Rockingham in two week's time.

James Harris & Mark Gunton
Photo: Paula Hamilton


Jeff Harris
Photo: Paula Hamilton


James Harris
Photo: Paula Hamilton


Tony & James in the pit lane
Photo: Paula Hamilton


James Harris
Photo: Paula Hamilton


Tony Rodgers
Photo: Paula Hamilton


Jeff Harris
Photo: Paula Hamilton


Tony Rodgers on the grid
Photo: Paula Hamilton


Jeff Harris &
Works Honda BTCC driver, Tom Chilton
Photo: Paula Hamilton


Tony Rodgers & Tom his Uncle
Photo: Paula Hamilton


Lesley Harris & Tom
Photo: Paula Hamilton