The Classic Touring Car Racing Club’s biannual visit to picturesque Cadwell Park was highlighted by a pair of fine Classic Thunder wins for Mike Cutt in his BMW M3. Elsewhere, there was also a brace in Pre-’66 Touring Cars for Adam Cunnington’s Lotus Cortina.
While numbers were down in general, those who were present put on a great show and dealt admirably with mixed weather conditions.
Next up, it is the first of three big promoted events for the club this year. Touring Car Rewind North takes place at Oulton Park in Cheshire on 16 May.
Classic Thunder & Historic Thunder
Among the fire-breathing hordes of Classic & Historic Thunder, BMWs were the cars to have around the sinuous 2.18-mile Lincolnshire circuit. At one of his local venues, Yorkshireman Mike Cutt took his first wins in the championship but he was pushed mighty hard.
It was Joe Collier who took pole position in his BMW M3 E46, the Midlander now really getting into his stride with the car.
Cutt’s E36 version, albeit powered by a similar S54 engine, was second quickest. Cutt was less than two tenths of a second shy of Collier’s pace having hit traffic on a quicker lap. Reigning champion Ian Bower’s E36 M3 was next, ahead of Kevin Denwood’s E46 Compact, its handling transformed by Voycetune’s expertise.
Behind local man Adam Read, guesting in his E36 Compact, Colin Voyce himself was best of the non-BMW runners in sixth. Still struggling to source rubber for his Ford Escort Mk1’s 15-inch rims, Voyce had resorted to digging out some 2019 Avons.
Also on the grid were a trio of newcomers. Dutch race organiser Randall Lawson brought along his stunning Group 4-spec Alpine A310 V6 for his British racing debut. Local driver Michael Greaves was Thunder’s sole front-wheel-drive runner for the weekend in a Renault Clio 197 Cup car. And Simon Collier, father of Joe, debuted his Honda K24 turbo-powered BMW M3 E46.
In the opening race, Cutt charged into the lead through Coppice, the opening corner, and Bower followed into second. The Lincolnshire native was taking full advantage of running treaded tyres while those on slicks got their rubber up to temperature.
After hassling Cutt for a couple of laps, Bower lost out to Joe Collier and gradually dropped back as the contest became a two-horse race.
On a circuit he knows like the back of his hand, Cutt was having to dig deep to keep Collier behind. The young challenger in fact broke Classic Thunder’s two-wheel-drive lap record as he kept up the pressure despite a mapping issue causing the E46 to cut out intermittently.
Ultimately, Collier’s challenge came to nothing as a differential bolt failed on the penultimate lap, forcing him to park up. So Cutt charged to a maiden Classic Thunder victory, almost 20s clear of Bower in second.
“He kept me so honest – wow, that was a good race!” puffed Cutt, who dedicated the victory to his seriously ill father-in-law.
Third overall, another 25s in arrears, Denwood was delighted with his car’s performance. ‘Team boss’ Voyce was perhaps less happy to have been beaten by his friend and customer but still managed fourth overall, first in Historic Thunder.
Voyce’s main historic opposition should have come from BOSS man Martin Reynolds and guest Randall. But Reynolds was struggling with a Mk2 Escort that kept dropping into limp mode and Randall’s Alpine was an early casualty.
The fibreglass-bodied A310 tagged the back of a BOSS runner under braking for the fearsome Mountain section and lost a headlight in the collision. More significantly, it also damaged its radiator, ending the Dutchman’s weekend prematurely.
Fifth, unable to breach Voyce’s defences in the closing stages, was Read. Collier Sr came through from the back of the grid to finish sixth overall, significantly upping his pace as the race wore on.
While Randall was a non-starter for Sunday’s rematch, the field was bolstered by Donington winner Dave Farrow aboard Rick Kerry’s V8-powered BMW 1 Series. Farrow had travelled overnight from Oulton Park, where he had been on duty the day before, and would have to start race two from the back of the grid.
As Farrow and Saturday retiree Collier Jr began their burns from the stern, polesitter Cutt again had to fend off Bower’s challenge in the opening laps. Now back running in largely Group N spec – other than the engine – Cutt’s M3 has less powerful aerodynamics this year.
Cutt managed to stay in front while getting his slicks up to temperature, then began eking out an advantage. But, faced with oil pressure warnings, he could not match his pace from the previous day.
Bower, for the first half of the race at least, was the opposite. Benefiting from additional running in Pre-’93 Touring Cars, he took a whole second off his Saturday lap times in the CibiEmme-liveried car. But he had perhaps worked his tyres too hard. Reporting that it suddenly felt as if he were driving on banana skins, Bower backed off, allowing Cutt to complete a weekend double by 7.6s.
Farrow led the charge from the back. He scythed through the field to run fourth within two laps then dived past Voyce into the Mountain, throwing some shapes in the process. With a slipping clutch, he did not have the pace to catch the pair in front though and had to settle for third overall.
Joe Collier was more circumspect as he worked his way forward. He lost some time, along with his dad and Read, getting bottled up behind Voyce’s fast-in-a-straight-line Escort in the corners. Once released, he set the fastest lap and closed right up to Farrow in the closing stages but would have to make do with fourth.
Historic Thunder winner Voyce was fifth. The Voycetune ace upped his pace in the closing laps as he came under pressure from Reynolds, sixth, who had a much better run than a day earlier. The second Voycetune car of Denwood picked up front-end damage early on and dropped to the rear of the field after a pit visit.
Read brought his Skegness Tyres BMW Compact home seventh ahead of Simon Collier, who had a mid-race moment at Chris Curve, and Greaves’s Clio.
Blue Oval Saloon Series
Sharing a grid with Classic & Historic Thunder, Blue Oval Saloons wins were split between Cliff Pellin – his first overall BOSS success – and 2021 champion Martin Reynolds.
An already relatively thin field was further hit by gearbox failure for Chris Brown’s outlandish Duratec-powered Fiesta XR2 in qualifying. The times were topped by Pellin’s Mk7 Fiesta, half a second clear of Reynolds in his multi-valve special Mk2 Escort.
Next up was Michael Kenneally (Mk8 Fiesta) ahead of local man Will Hunt (Mk6 Fiesta). Also making a return to the grid was 2014 champion Olly Allen, borrowing fellow local Pip Finney’s smart Mk3 Fiesta while his own Duratec-engined Mk6 remains sidelined by gearbox failure.
In the first race, Pellin stayed out of Kenneally’s reach throughout to record his first win in BOSS. Kenneally, second, had his mirrors full of Hunt’s Fiesta in the opening couple of laps before the latter tangled with Randall Lawson’s Classic Thunder Alpine under braking for the Mountain.
Hunt was sent into a spin and struggled to get traction on the hill’s wet grass. He eventually got going and brought the Stanley Hunt Jewellers car home safely for a class win.
Also winning his class was Reynolds although he was severely hampered by an engine dropping into limp mode. The one-time champion circulated with Kenneally and Thunder runner Michael Greaves but fell less than 0.3s shy of the Scoop’s Detailing Fiesta at the flag.
Lincolnshire’s own Olly Allen did not enjoy a happy return to the series. After an alternator issue restricted his running in qualifying, a loose fuel line prevented him taking the start of race one. It was a similar story in race two, when the tidy Fiesta again expired on the green flag lap.
With yesterday’s woes at least partially resolved, Reynolds made light work of picking off the modern Fiestas ahead on Sunday. He took a commanding win, his first in BOSS for two and a half years, by nearly a minute.
While Pellin lost pace in the closing stages he was still a comfortable second, winner of Class C. Kenneally was third and Class D winner Hunt completed the BOSS finishers.
Pre-’66 Touring Cars
The oldest cars continue to draw the biggest numbers, with 21 entries taking to the narrow twists and turns of Cadwell Park. In something of a Lotus Cortina benefit, former Austin-Healey racer Adam Cunnington took both wins.
The Cortinas didn’t have it all their own way in qualifying with many caught on the wrong tyres after light rain made for a greasy track. Revelling in the conditions, 2023 champion Billy Kenneally stormed to pole position and his running mate Ed Gibbs made it an all-Ford Anglia front row.
Ian Thompson was best of the Cortinas in third overall, just ahead of giant killer Brendan Rooney in his Class E Hillman Imp. Rooney had, in fact, topped the times before being edged out as other improved on their final laps.
Jake Swann and father Kevin made it four Anglias in the top seven, sandwiching sixth-fastest Gary Prebble’s Hillman Imp.
Mike Davies (Austin Mini) was eighth quickest, ahead of Steve Platts (Singer Chamois) and Pat Kenneally, who was back in his old Cortina but with a brand new engine after a trouble recent run.
Three Cortina drivers who would have expected to be among the pacesetters, Peter Smith, Roger Stanford and Simon Gusterson, had it all to do from outside the top 10 after their tyre woe.
When the lights went out at the start of the opening race, 2024 champion Thompson wasted no time in pouncing to take the lead before the pack even reached the first corner. Polesitter Kenneally slotted into second.
Gibbs didn’t make the best getaway, but initially held onto third ahead of Jake Swann. He survived a grassy moment at the Gooseneck further around the lap, but that let Swann get a run and move ahead.
Meanwhile, blistering starts by Cunnington and Smith, 11th and 13th on the grid, fired them up the order. Cunnington dispatched Swann and Gibbs to take third, and Smith also charged past Gibbs for fifth before they completed the lap. Gibbs fought back before being shown the grass by Smith at Chris Curve.
A little further back, Jeremy Dyas’s Singer Chamois expired at the end of the lap and was forced to pull off on the approach to Coppice. That led to the safety car being deployed a couple of laps later, but not before Kenneally had pulled into retire from second after a gear selector broke.
The safety car caught some drivers unaware, including Mini man Martin Armstrong. He tangled with Kevin Swann’s Anglia and spun into the infield banking, giving the marshals more work to do under the caution flags.
The track was made safe for racing to resume with just enough time for a one-lap dash to the chequered flag.
With Cunnington now on his tail, Thompson felt the need to defend at Mansfield and lived to regret his decision when he had a moment on the dirty side of the track. That allowed Cunnington to get a run and he shot around the outside, just hanging onto the car up the Mountain.
All smiles having recorded his first championship race win, Cunnington pointed out that his car is “an original Lotus [Cortina], so it is a little bit heavier than some of the others”.
Thompson was disappointed to have lost out on the final lap, but noted, “Tomorrow is another day!”
Swann fended off everything that Smith could throw at him to record a class-winning third overall. His Anglia was the lone intruder among an otherwise all-Cortina top six as Alan Henderson Racing pair Stanford and Gusterson also climbed through the field.
An oil leak couldn’t prevent Prebble pushing Rooney hard for seventh overall and first in Class E but the Surrey man held on for the class win.
Ninth overall, and second in Class C after Gibbs retired with rocketing temperatures on the final lap, was Mike Davies. Debutant Simon Farrar completed the top 10 in his Lotus Cortina.
Having visited a local farmer for welding repairs overnight, Prebble was hopeful of taking the fight to Rooney in Sunday’s rematch. But sadly his Imp hit further trouble on the green-flag lap and was forced to park up, delaying the start.
When the action got under way, Cunnington converted pole into the race lead, while a flying start from Stanford propelled him into third behind Thompson. Smith and Gusterson also got the better of Swann to make it an all-Cortina top five.
The start proved crucial because, try as he might, Thompson could not find a way past Lincolnshire man Cunnington’s Cortina. A final-lap mistake through the Hall Bends extended the margin to an unrepresentative 4s at the chequered flag as Cunnington made it two from two.
Stanford, a winner here in 2021, held third throughout the race although he had his hands full fending off Smith in the closing stages.
Gusterson proved himself to be the fastest man on track but spun at the Gooseneck while challenging Stanford for third, mid-race. He recovered to sixth at the flag, just behind Class C winner Swann, who had also re-caught the battling pair in front.
The rest of the of the top 10 was filled by cars that had climbed up from the back of the grid. Gibbs beat Kenneally to seventh overall, second in class, in their Anglias. Tony Davies, in the Mini raced by brother Mike the day before, enjoyed himself on the way to ninth overall, fourth in class, just ahead of Kevin Swann.
Rooney dropped behind Platts in Class E battle but managed to overhaul him in the second half of race to take the honours again in 11th overall. In Class D, Charles Norris completed a pair of wins in his Austin A35.
Pre-’93 Touring Cars
Coming just three weeks after the season opener, a very low entry of Pre-’93 machinery was further depleted by the loss of Daniel Gandesha’s BMW M3 ahead of the weekend. Reigning champion Ian Bower looked set to sweep the board in his similar car before going off in Sunday’s wet race.
Among a combined field of Pre-’83, Pre-’93 and Pre-’03 machinery, Bower’s E36 M3 was fastest in qualifying by a staggering 4.6s.
At the other end of the timesheets, Class D man Mark Fynney was having a tough time in his rough sounding Vauxhall Astra GTE which kept lapsing onto only two cylinders. Thinking it was a coil pack issue, Fynney was unable to fix the issue before Saturday’s race, leaving him a non-starter.
The contest was dominated by Bower who stormed to victory by almost a full minute. In the process, he knocked 0.7s off the Pre-’93 lap record at the track.
The heavens opened before Sunday’s race, altering the balance of power between rear-wheel-drive machinery and the small front-driven cars. It set up a terrific battle between Bower and Pre-’03 pacesetter Kam Tunio’s Honda Civic.
Tunio jumped ahead at the start and the pair then duelled for most of the race. Bower briefly got back in front at Park on lap four of eight, but Tunio came back around the outside of Chris Curve. The pair made contact as their cars squirmed around on the edge of adhesion before Tunio emerged in front.
It all went wrong for Bower on the penultimate lap as his car went straight on at Park. It skated across the grass and ploughed into the tyre wall. Bower emerged unscathed but his race was over.
After finding a broken wire in his Astra’s loom, Fynney rejoined the field on day two. Following Bower’s retirement, he was able to bring the car home safely – despite it beginning to cut out again in the closing stages – for an unlikely victory in Pre-’93.
Pre-’03 Touring Cars
The attrition at Donington last month meant that the Pre-’03 field was also smaller than it might otherwise have been. Guest driver Adam Read took the laurels on Saturday before Kam Tunio stole the show with a stirring Sunday drive.
Local man Read set the pace in qualifying, his BMW Compact E36 a second and a half quicker than Tunio’s Honda Civic. Among the Class A BMWs registered for points, reigning champion Dave Cave had the better of 2026 novice Tim Tomblin, both drivers making their Cadwell Park debuts.
Come the race, while Pre-’93 man Ian Bower disappeared into the distance, Read’s 2.8-litre BMW easily had the legs on Tunio’s 2-litre Honda as he won the Pre-’03 section by 19s.
In Class A, Tomblin’s ex-Ken Angel BMW 328i jumped ahead of Cave’s similar car at the start. But Cave got back in front on the Park Straight en route to class honours.
Having been doubling up in Classic Thunder, Read skipped Sunday’s wet race. That left a vacant grid slot and, following some confusion, Tunio ended up starting a little out of position. Though his start itself appeared perfectly legal, the judges showed no mercy and slapped the KT Racing car with a 10s penalty.
Regardless of that, Tunio hooked his car up well and jumped Bower’s Pre-’93 BMW to take the overall race lead. An enthralling contest followed in the difficult conditions, as described above.
After Bower’s retirement, Tunio was untroubled out front. Such was his pace that he did more than enough to overcome his penalty and keep a well-earned victory.
After an early spin for Tomblin, Cave cruised to another Class A success, maintaining his unbeaten start to the season in class.
BOSS man Will Hunt joined the field on Sunday in his Ford Fiesta Mk6, starting from the back of the grid. He drove a steady race to third in Pre-’03 but had no chance of matching class rival Tunio.
Tomblin survived his first-lap spin unscathed and had another moment later on but brought the car home fourth in Pre-’03.
Pre-’83 Group 1 Touring Cars
The Pre-’83 Group 1 machinery shared track time with their Pre-’93 and Pre-’03 counterparts. Already down on numbers, the entry was further reduced when Graham Smith hit trouble with his Ford Escort Mk1 on Friday. Nic Grindrod certainly chose the right weekend to play his double-points joker as he took the honours in both races.
On a damp and greasy track in qualifying, Grindrod’s Escort was comfortably quickest, some 2.8s clear of the next best Pre-’83 runner. That was Tom Harvey in his similar car. The Rochester racer made a delayed start to the session after suffering gear selection trouble. Having only had time for two genuine quick laps, Harvey was confident he could take the fight to Grindrod in the races.
Former rally driver Jared Knight’s Mk2 Escort was next, ahead of Donington double winner Jonathan Corker (Datsun 510) who made the wrong call on tyres for the conditions.
Fifth fastest was Malcolm Jeffs’ VW Golf, making a welcome return with his engine issues hopefully firmly in the past. Another who found himself on the wrong tyres, local man Nick Williamson slithered around in his big Rover SD1 to sixth fastest.
On a drier track for the first race, Corker was in his element. A flying start propelled him past Grindrod into the Pre-’83 lead. But Grindrod hit straight back into Park on the opening lap.
West Midlander Grindrod fended off North Yorkshireman Corker for six laps before the Datsun dived past at Park. But on the next lap, Corker was in trouble. The little Datsun’s front brakes locked on and he was forced to pull up at the pit entry.
Grindrod motored on to his first win since Pembrey last May. The anticipated challenge from Harvey never materialised. His Escort cut out on the green flag lap, leaving Harvey to pull into the pitlane, unwilling to risk being ploughed into at the start.
Much happier on the dry track, Williamson brought the Rover home in a class-winning second in Pre-’83. Third in Pre-’83 (second in class) was a best result yet for Knight, beating Jeffs by just half a second.
Jeffs was more than happy just to see the chequered flag for the first time in nearly two years after the Golf’s catalogue of misery.
A lunchtime downpour made for very different conditions in Sunday’s sequel. Sadly, neither Corker nor Harvey completed a racing lap. Corker’s Datsun parked on the green-flag laps when it mysteriously lost power, possibly due to a dead battery.
Harvey and father Age had spent all Saturday evening attempting to diagnose the ShellSport Escort’s issue without finding anything definitive. But, having made a cracking start that jumped him into second in Pre-’83, the trouble returned. Harvey pulled off to join Corker approaching Mansfield.
As Knight took to the grass to avoid Tim Tomblin’s spinning Pre-’03 BMW, it allowed Jeffs and Williamson to pass the Escort. The Golf’s front-wheel drive aided its traction exiting corners, and with decent engine braking helping him into them, Jeffs revelled in the conditions and was delighted to finish second in Pre-’83. With their overheating troubles hopefully behind them, the Golfs could soon become overall contenders once more.
A minute up the road, Grindrod cruised to his second Pre-’83 win of the weekend, beaten by only one Pre-’03 car. “It was very slippy,” said Grindrod with a wry smile, having banked his maximum double-points haul.
Knight completed the top three as Williamson again found himself gripless and settled for bringing the car home safely to take the Class B honours.
Full results are available via the TSL website.
Images courtesy of CTCRC official photographer Steve Jackman/Eat My Pixels (SJ) and Jamie Peters-Ennis (JPE)
