SEMSEC Lydden September 28

Chatham entrepreneur Setters had to endure two false starts before he was able to seize the initiative at the first corner in the opening race. Charles de Garston and Tim Jones put up a brave chase, but their Radicals could not match the power of the leader's Vauxhall engine.

At half distance Setters' lead seemed in jeopardy when he slowed to save his brakes, but they soon cooled sufficiently for him to pick up the pace again. "The pedal was going further down towards the floor as the fluid boiled," he explained.

Setters Jr had had some previous track day experience with a Radical, but when its engine blew, father Doug offered his own car. It was a baptism of fire for the youngster as he had not driven it before, and his learning curve was steepened by a sudden rain shower immediately before the race. Nevertheless, Chris surged into the lead from the front row, and promptly spun at the Devil's Elbow, causing a red-flag situation.

At the restart, Setters got another superb getaway and this time he made it stick, despite relentless pressure from de Garston - who revels in the wet - and Jones. Setters even managed to open up a 10-second advantage by the end.

Jim Greenfield made it three Radicals in the top four, while the saloons of Bill Richards and Steve Govett, which finished fifth and sixth, humbled plenty of more powerful machinery.

Govett had already won the BSW Intermediate Saloons race, after being pushed all the way by Peter Wilkinson and David Fuller. The race was stopped on lap one when Bill Richards' Mini spun and was hit by Steve Weatherley and Colin Rooney. All three cars were stranded in the track amid a flurry of red flags.

Mark Burton dominated the Credit Professionals Sports Car race, steadily pulling away from Andy Tidy. Alan Maynard always held the upper hand in a tremendous battle for third, but Merrick Linnett just lost out to John Dewing on the last lap.

The two Single Seater races were completely different, primarily due to a sudden change in the weather. Matt Hayes held a narrow advantage over Ian Osborne throughout the dry opener. Trevor Read and Steven Connor each spun out while holding third, so Dave Connor (no relation) secured the final podium place.

Osborne raced away in the rain until his FF2000 Reynard swapped ends at Chessor's Drift, leaving Read to win, despite an impressive late charge by Chris Judge.

Hayes had no wet tyres, thus had to be content with third in race two, while Osborne recovered well, only to spin again towards the end.

David Terris was a clear winner of the John Taylor Handicap event.


Sports Racing Car Championship & Easytrack Challenge (20 laps) 1 Doug Setters (Jade-Vauxhall Trackstar) 14m21.924s (83.53mph); 2 Charles de Garston (Radical Clubsport) 14m26.053s; 3 Tim Jones (Radical Clubsport); 4 Stephen Storey (Caterham 7). Class winners Storey; Nigel Bent (Caterham 7); Alan Maynard (Caterham 7); Merrick Linnett (Caterham 7). Fastest lap Setters, 41.393s (86.97mph).

South East Sports & Saloons (15 laps) 1 Chris Setters (Jade-Vauxhall Trackstar) 13m14.779s (67.94mph); 2 de Garston 13m24.956s; 3 Jones (Radical); 4 Jim Greenfield (Radical Clubsport). CW Bill Richards (Metro Cosworth); Mark Burton (Westfield 7); Stephen Craig (Ford RS2000). FL Setters, 50.645s (71.08mph).


BSW Intermediate & Super Saloons (6 laps) 1 Steve Govett (Rover 220 Turbo) 4m50.374s (74.38mph); 2 Peter Wilkinson (Ford Sierra Cosworth) 4m50.814s; 3 David Fuller (MG Midget); 4 Peter Wilks (Ford Sierra Cosworth). CW Fuller, Nigel Craig (Ford RS2000); Andy Pipe (Ford Escort Mexico). FL Wilkinson 47.231s (76.22mph).

Credit Professionals Sports Cars (15 laps) 1 Burton 11m11.390s (80.43mph); 2 Andy Tidy (Caterham 7) 11m12.034s; 3 Maynard; 4 John Dewing (Westfield 7). CW Perry Joshi-Godrez (MGB V8); Paul Bernal-Ryan (MG Midget). FL Burton 43.369s (83.00mph).

Open Single Seaters (15 laps) 1 Matt Hayes (Jamun M97Z) 11m10.547s (80.53mph); 2 Ian Osborne (Reynard SF79) 11m10.746s; 3 Dave Connor (Jamun T25); 4 Trevor Read (Jamun M97). CW Connor; Chris Judge (Jedi). FL Osborne 43.839s (82.11mph). Race two (12 laps) 1 Read 11m02.119s (65.24mph); 2 Judge; 3 Hayes; 4 Osborne. CW Judge; Connor. FL Judge 53.252s (67.60mph).

John Taylor Handicap (12 laps) 1 David Terris (Rover 216GT) 10m13.377s (70.43mph); 2 Bolaji Odunsi (Ford Sierra Cosworth) 10m36.615s; 3 Wilks; 4 De Garston; 5 Peter Lloyd (BMW 323i); 6 Joshi-Godrez (MGB V8).