Ken Wharton International Trophy Autotest 2009

MOTOR SPORT from Paul Phelan

Motorsport Ireland’s autotest team yesterday scored another victory in the
Ken Wharton Memorial International event in Warwickshire, giving them their
fifth win in six years in this showpiece event. Three of the team members,
Eddie Peterson, Eamonn Byrne and David Thompson, each won their class, with
Steven Bolton finishing third among the sports cars. The Irish quartet led
after the first of seven tests and were never headed, finally beating
England by 17.5 seconds. Northern Ireland were another 12 seconds behind at
the finish.

KEN WHARTON MEMORIAL TROPHY INTERNATIONAL AUTOTEST AT ARROW MILL, ALCESTER,
WARWICKSHIRE:
1 Republic of Ireland (Eddie Peterson, Eamonn Byrne, Steven Bolton, David
Thompson) 2141.4s,
2 England (Alastair Moffatt, Dave Mosey, Richard Pinkney, John Moffatt)
2158.9s,
3 Northern Ireland (Steven Ferguson, Robin Lyons, Ashley Lamont, Raymond
Donaldson) 2171.1s,
4 Wales (Dave Evans, Rob Rolston, Paul Fobister, Liam Croston) 2406.5s,
5 International Ladies Team (Helen Perren, Adele Mosey, Clair Chambers, Pat
Egger) 2593.0s.

Individuals:
1 Eddie Peterson (Mini Special) 512.6s,
2 Steven Ferguson (Mini Special) 518.8s,
3 Eamonn Byrne (Mini) 523.8s,
4 Richard Pinkney (Caterham) 525.3s,
5 Ashley Lamont (Westfield) 528.5s,
6 Alastair Moffatt (Mini Special) 534.4s,
7 Dave Mosey (Mini) 538.4s,
8 Robin Lyons (Mini) 544.8s,
9 David Thompson (Nova) 548.4s,
10 Steven Bolton (Westfield) 556.6s,
11 John Moffatt (Nova) 560.8s,
12 Raymond Donaldson (Nova) 579.0s.
Class winners: Eddie Peterson, Eamonn Byrne, Richard Pinkney, David
Thompson.

Reserves:
1 Sam Bowden (Mini Special) 527.3s,
2 Stephen Wild (Freestyle ABS) 531.6s,
3 Chris Grimes (Mini) 538.1s,
4 Stephen Morten (Striker) 541.8s,
5 Simon Echlin (Caterham) 541.9s,
6 Paul Phelan (Mini Special) 550.4s

Congratulations lads.

Here are some photos from today thanks to Paul Phelan...

Well done guys!!! Very Happy

Well done guys, was it a great event?

Some more photos from Paul Phelan...

Paul Phelan has sent me this detailed account of the action at the Ken Wharton Autotest...

Following Friday afternoon’s drama when Eddie Peterson’s gearbox had to be replaced, Saturday dawned dark, overcast and very wet – the forecast was bad and it looked as though everyone was in for a soaking. The Republic of Ireland team had been drawn fourth of the five teams in starting order, which was good news as it allowed our drivers to study other drivers on each test to see what pitfalls there might be. One last minute change was that Liam Croston from Skibbereen, the Irish large saloon reserve, was drafted on to the Welsh team as their driver, Lee Matthews, couldn’t make it because of illness. Liam was driving the yellow Nova which the late James Pringle had used on our winning teams in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007, thanks to its present owner, Frank Lenehan.

The Mini saloon class started first, with Eamonn Byrne quickest from NI’s Robin Lyons and Dave Mosey from Yorkshire. Large saloons were next up, with Raymond Donaldson setting the pace ahead of David Thompson and John Moffatt, while England’s Richard Pinkney was best of the sports cars from Ashley Lamont and Steven Bolton. Last class to go were the Mini Specials, where Eddie Peterson set a cracker of a time, 1.7 seconds ahead of Steven Ferguson, who also had a pylon. British champion Alastair Moffatt dealt the home team’s hopes a major blow by leaving out part of the test, collecting a fail.

So, after the first test, Ireland held a lead of 4.3 seconds over Northern Ireland, with England another 16.6 down. This test was repeated twice more, and again, Eddie set the pace on the second run, with Eamonn next, half a second slower, ahead of Alastair Moffatt and Ferguson, leaving the team order the same, with the Irish lead increased to 6.2s. Thompson went ahead among the Novas, with Lamont best sports car from Pinkney and Bolton.

The final attempt at the first test layout saw Peterson still unbeaten, improving his time again, followed by Byrne and Ferguson. Pinkney, using some extra sticky Michelins, was close to the Minis and easily best sports car. David Thompson was again quickest Nova, and his two main rivals, Donaldson and John Moffatt, both had penalties here, giving the Leitrim driver a healthy class lead. Overall, the Irish team lead was up to 13.6s over last year’s winners NI, with England another 16s down. Wales, including Liam Croston, were fourth, with the Ladies’ team completing the results sheet.

Tests four and five featured a changed layout, and this time, it was Steven Ferguson who set a blistering best time on four ahead of Alastair Moffatt, Byrne and Pinkney. Peterson made two separate mistakes, dropping 5.8s to Steven F, almost halving the team’s lead. However, Robin Lyons had a slow test plus a pylon, and the other two classes more or less balanced each other out, so the outcome was a slight increase in Ireland’s advantage to 16.1s. England were closing rapidly on Northern Ireland for second place, and it became obvious that penalties, as always, were playing a large part in the outcome.

With four of the planned seven tests complete, the Ireland quartet were still penalty-free, compared to three for NI and two plus a fail for England. While the rain had eased to a drizzle and sometimes stopped briefly, the surface was still quite slippery in places and times for the second run through this test were generally slower, with many more pylons also being attacked. Peterson took another quickest time, but Pinkney was only 0.4s slower, with his tyres working really well in the conditions. For NI, Lyons and Donaldson added a penalty apiece, leaving Ireland 20.3s out in front and England now just 2.2s behind the Ulstermen.

The final test layout was shorter than the first two, although still long by Irish standards (best time 61.1 against 75.2 and 74.4). On test 6, with a reasonable lead and no need to take chances, our drivers began switching into “cruise mode”, easing off slightly. Alastair Moffatt was best for England, 0.7s up on Peterson, but Ireland’s penalty-free record went when Eamonn Byrne had difficulty selecting first gear when reversing on to a line, and the Mini slid over, collecting 5s worth. A disastrous four more penalties for NI let England through into second place, and as the last test began, our lead was 16.7s.

Class by class, Byrne beat Mosey by 0.1s plus a pylon for the Yorkshireman; David Thompson, with a clear class lead already, gained another 0.7s on John Moffatt; Steven Bolton stayed within 3.9s of the flying Pinkney, leaving the lead at 18.6s before the Mini Specials completed the proceedings. With a test maximum at 20s, there is always the risk that something will go wrong, such as a broken driveshaft or CV joint, which could completely change the situation at the last moment.

Alastair Moffatt improved on his previous time by 1.3s, but despite being careful, Eddie was only 1.1 slower to leave the final winning margin at 17.5 seconds – Ireland’s fifth Ken Wharton win in six years and the eleventh in total. England were runners up with Northern Ireland another 12.2 behind. Eddie was the individual winner ahead of Steven Ferguson, with Eamonn (3rd overall) and David (9th) both taking comfortable class wins. Steven Bolton was third sports car, behind the visibly much quicker machinery of Richard Pinkney and Ashley Lamont.

Overall, a terrific performance by the Republic’s team, driving quickly but carefully all day to finish with just a single penalty, while the opposition’s pylons and lines were mounting up. Congratulations to all four.

Eamonn Byrne has now been on the winning Ken Wharton team nine times since his first success in 1990, while this is Eddie Peterson’s fourth, beginning in 2005. Both Steven Bolton and David Thompson were on our second placed team last year, but this was their first victory in the prestigious event, and naturally, they were over the moon at joining the very select band of Ken Wharton winners.

While most of the attention is focussed on the teams, there is also a reserve competition for those who are waiting in the wings in case a team car breaks and can’t be repaired in time to continue. In the Mini class, Christy Grimes battled with Norman Ferguson for the early tests, with the Tyrone driver just in front, but Norman’s generosity in giving Eddie Peterson the use of his spare gearbox on Friday was poorly rewarded. As he approached the finish line of test four, nasty noises signalled a major gearbox problem and that was the end of his day. Realistically, there wouldn’t have been time to fit the spare box anyway, but it was an unfortunate footnote to a very sporting act. Christy easily won the class, and in fact beat all the team Mini saloons except Eamonn Byrne, in a great drive.

As already mentioned, Liam Croston was hijacked to drive for Wales in the large saloon class. Among the sports cars, Simon Echlin had an early penalty but fought back, spending the last three tests less than half a second behind England’s Stephen Morten, finally being beaten by just one tenth.

In Mini Specials, former multiple champion and winning team member Sam Bowden unsurprisingly ran away with things for three tests, but then he failed one and fell behind Stephen Wild’s unusual rear engined Mini powered ABS. By the finish, Bowden was in front again, winning the overall reserves event from Wild. Paul Phelan was a distant third in class.

Some more photos of Saturday night thanks to Paul Phelan...

Thanks to everyone for their support. It was a brilliant result for the team and for Irish Autotesting. We really have a good thing going on in Ireland when you consider the Hewison Championship, Retros and Muti-Venue Autotests. A big thanks to all who fixed my gearbox on friday. Steve Bolton and Dave Thompson where stars on the day driving with pace and sense. Not that easy when you are under considerable pressure. It was also fantastic to see Liam Croston doing jimmy jumper proud by throwing the Nova around the tests. Liam is a star of the future without a doubt.!!
Thanks to all the reserve drivers too and to Frank, Ronnie and the lads for all the support.
Role on Hewison Round 3 and another great championship.
Bring on Ken Wharton 2010.

EP