IF THERE was one saloon car that you would not expect to see racing at Vazon, then it might just be a Citroen 2CV. But then again you would be wrong.
Steve Marquis’ car is no ordinary 2CV, but a special one built around the single-seater racing car he constructed a few seasons ago.
This version has a Ford Zetec 1,800cc engine fitted to the modified chassis and is clothed in an attractive cream and blue 2CV body shell.
Unfortunately a broken ‘diff’ after a couple of races sidelined it at the latest GMC&CC sand-race meeting before its full potential could be seen.
Marquis hopes to have it repaired for the next hillclimb and sprint meeting before campaigning a full sand-race season next year.
Despite the retirement on its debut appearance, Marquis is happy with his handiwork and the performance of his new machine.
‘It was a lot quicker than I expected it to be,’ he said.
That means 80 to 90mph on the damp sands, but come the sprint, he expects to make three figures.
Also retiring with clutch problems was Graham Carrington’s Jaguar Special, leaving Ben Batiste’s Z-Bird 1,100cc grasstrack car to lead home a sick-sounding Williams ZZR of Peter Dorey in the racing car class.
With a field of 16 saloon cars across four classes, the first corner was always likely to produce the most excitement as they all charged down to this corner from the start.
However, there were no serious incidents.
It was interesting to note that the older Honda Prelude of Alison Baudains outrun the newer versions campaigned by Mark Ozanne and Roger King.
Dave Williams and Martin Dorey continued their battle for the championship lead in the 1,400-1,800cc production car class while Karl Marshall continued to hold the upper hand for the class up to 1,400cc.
The handicap race once again produced a very close finish, with Colin Bromley just beating first man away Colin Bridle, while Peter Dorey came in third after starting last.
With current 500cc championship leader Anthony Bougourd not present, it was an opportunity for the other riders to gain valuable points.
But no one biker could dominate: in fact each of the three slider riders took a championship race win.
The best performance of the day on two wheels came from motocross rider Simon Bradbury who was mixing with the sliders.
In the smaller class, Mark King came under more pressure from both the other riders and mechanical problems, while John Damarell, who had the most to gain, unfortunately took a couple of tumbles which did not help his progress.
Winner of the handicap race was another rider returning to the beach after racing as a junior, Mark de la Mare, who just held off the larger bike of Lloyd Wallbridge.
Article posted on 28th July, 2005 - 12.00am
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