Congratulations Pat Doran GB1,

[M.Lowe]

Well done to the big guy on winning the 2005 BRDA Rallycross championship.

He nearly was put out as himself, Carnegie, Tracey and JMC all made contact and JMC lost out on one of the heats by going off, It was a race to get the cars sorted as Dermot looked to have had damaged suspension and Doran finished the race with a puncture and loose bodywork.

On the superfinal 2 drivers gave their spaces up allowing Doran to race otherwise he would of had to sit it out and he led from start to finish with Dermot overtaking Tracey to grab second.

I will put some pics up later.

Many thanks to Mark McGuffog for what he done for us today, much appreciated mate

[M.Lowe]

Carnegie and Doran's men getting the Focus ready for the final

John McCluskey's car after his off

And British Rallycross champion 05, Big Pat Doran

[M.Lowe]

A lot of tidying up on the Fiesta for next weekend is needed

[craig hope]

great racing today car looks like it needs good bit doing to it,, i took the bumper up too them twice ( from post 1) with someother bits mind


he be sorted for next weekend i would think


well done pat

[BOY BLUNDER]

Congratulations to pat and his team sounds like ive missed a good race today
they have worked hard all year,nice to see rally cross crown come home.

[M.Lowe]

We where up on the grandstand Craig when you took the bumper back.

That race certainly had the crowds watching at the first corner.

[EvilPumpkin]

Originally Posted by M.Lowe

On the superfinal 2 drivers gave their spaces up allowing Doran to race otherwise he would of had to sit it out and he led from start to finish with Dermot overtaking Tracey to grab second.

Um slightly confused - why would they do that?

[Nittymaki]

Originally Posted by EvilPumpkin

Um slightly confused - why would they do that?

Money talks!!!!!

Amazing how places on the grid and a championship can be bought these days!!

[EvilPumpkin]

okkkk.... and now if I can have an answer from someone who has something sensible to say, that would be great.

[silver bullet]

Originally Posted by EvilPumpkin

Um slightly confused - why would they do that?

If you are not interested in scoreing superfinal points and your car is a bit sick, or you don't want to risk damageing it before a big meeting the following week, then why race in the superfinal. You have nothing to gain and a lot to loose if you wreck your car or blow your engine.

[EvilPumpkin]

That makes more sense - thanks SB

[HrRACING]

Was gutted for Dermot.

Shows what both of them are like, was standing on the pit wall when they both came back in, Pat had everything to loose and was stressed, bring red etc, whereas Dermot was his normal cool self, and was having a chukkel about the whole thing.

FAir play to Pat thought about his first lap in the superfinal! Thats what won it!

[B Friendly]

HUGE Congratulations to Pat and his team!! However, I have just been on Pat's website and it say's in the news section that He will not be competing due to the damage sustained yesterday.

[craig hope]

Originally Posted by B Friendly

HUGE Congratulations to Pat and his team!! However, I have just been on Pat's website and it say's in the news section that He will not be competing due to the damage sustained yesterday.

yes saw that car looked sick mind
4 working on it with grinders before final ( loads of gaffa tape used aswell )
suspension was bent and holes all over off the burst tyre


big shame if he not attend.
i know they had asked croft if they could leave car for next weekend but because of all the damage had to take it back down to kent to get it sorted

[Spectator]

Would just ilike to add my congratulations to Pat.
Not bad for a new car eh!!
All the running gear was I believe still in the old Escort this time last year as it was at Brands.
Just a shame it looks as though he will miss Croft this weekend

[BertMk2]

A great result for Pat and his team, a lot of work went into that car over the winter and the early season trials and tribulatoins were overcome. It's been a great season with Dermot quick as ever, Pat flying in the new car, McCluskey quick in the Xsara, George Tracey going well in the 306, Gibson spectacular as ever in the 6R4 (and Impreza!), Mundy was flying at Lydden too. Great stuff and Pat did a superb job to come out on top of the pile. A shame he won't be at Croft to defend his superprix title from last year.

[Roundy Mooney]

Originally Posted by Nittymaki

Money talks!!!!!

Amazing how places on the grid and a championship can be bought these days!!

I don't agree with most of what Nittymaki says at any time but there is a touch of truth it what he says in this one Evil Pumpkin. Saying Money changed hands Is way out of order. But I can remember another meeting this year where Pat only made it onto the grid when a modified car pulled off the dummy grid after being asked for a favour.
Now I'm not trying to muddy the waters about Pat's championship, because I'm sure Dermot, John or any other driver would try the same thing in Pats postion. but I do think that it is something that should be looked at for future seasons.

[BertMk2]

I'm not sure there's anything sinister in it - it just seems like an emergence of good sportsmanship. The super modifieds generally have nothing much to gain from running in the superfinal as they're not going to get regular runs in it and therefore can't mount a serious title challenge - so why not let those that can get out there? (especially as there is another meeting next week where the supermods have more at stake - why risk the car?).

We've seen other examples of good sportsmanship (generosity or whatever you want to call it) throughout the year - McCann offering his Impreza to Gibson at Lydden (again because Gibson was still in with a shout of the title whilst McCann wasn't), Mark Williams giving Chris Cake a run in the Lancer next week and the stock hatch crowd are forever helping each other out whether it's manpower, parts or tools.

Normally I'm totally cynical but for once I'd like to think that this sort of thing is just down to the good nature of people rather than any underhand goings on.

[leonidas]

Yes - what would you have done if you had been a modified driver in that position? You couldn't have raced and denied Pat the chance to race for the title.

The rules are difficult - and open up the possibility of silly accusations being made. Maybe the rules should ban substitutes - but that would have denied us a fantastic superfinal. Alternatively perhaps they should simply allow drivers to be included in the final at 'Organiser's option' like in the Superprix. That way someone who is obviously faster can still get in even if they have technical hiccups or earlier accidents.

[Roundy Mooney]

Wasn't trying to imply there's anything sinister in it, most people would take up the offer if the rules allow it. But what happens when someone dosen't pull out and a potential championship is decide in the revese manner ?? Would people then say that a precident had be set by modified drivers pulling out in other rounds to allow supercars in regardless of times ??

PS
Congrats to Pat, great to see a new car on the top Step in its first year.

[BertMk2]

I think you have to take each case as it comes - in this case in my opinion it was 'right' for the supermods to drop out on this occasion to allow the championship to be decided on the track.

The Pembrey round was an example where I'd say the supercars that didn't make it into the superfinal correctly sat it out - how often do you see stock hatches in the superfinal? At that point there was nothing directly at stake (although obviously results there would have an impact on the championship) so the situation is a bit different.

You can't really regulate this too tightly - if you say something along the lines of "you can't drop out to let someone else in" you'll just get people with mysterious "mechanical failures". If you say "only the top eight qualifiers can run - no reserves" you potentially end up with a very thin grid (especially if there needs to be a restart for any reason). It's a tricky one but I think the current method is the best solution available.

[golfvanman]

i agree put in that position i would of moved aside and let pat in then the championship went down to an exciting climax but only at the final round.

p.s. to BertMk2 look at the final points in the championship and you will find that 5 out of the to ten are 2wd cars even 2 stockhatch's so points count for everybody not just the big hitters

[BertMk2]

Yep, the points count for everyone (and it's good to see the other classes represented in the upper reaches of the table) but it's more likely that the supercars will be the ones fighting for the title. The supermods (and stock hatches) generally pick up the pieces when the supercars have off days - I certainly wouldn't want to see the supermods ducking out of superfinals early in the year to let the supercars in (otherwise you might as well just run 2 supercar finals). The occasional piece of giant killing is great to see but with the title at stake I think it was the right way to go to let Doran take a slot in the superfinal. Each situation should be judged on its own merit.

[peespeed]

I'm going to get attacked for saying this but if someone doesnt qualify directly for their final then other people shouldnt have to make room for them on the grid. Thats like a soccer team getting to the final and saying that a 1/4 final team deserved to be there instead so they'd give up their right to play to the team that didnt make it.

If DC hadnt been on the grid I'd say things might not have been the same.

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by peespeed

other people shouldnt have to make room for them

The key word there is "have", there's no way someone should be forced to make way for someone that didn't qualify - after all if you've got the better time it's your right to be there. I just think that there are circumstances where it makes sense to let someone else run instead of you. It's a grey area really isn't it? There doesn't seem to be any hard and fast rules you can apply to the situation so you have to be a bit flexible and let the drivers sort things out amicably amongst themselves.

(I'd also agree that if Dermot hadn't been running then Doran wouldn't have run either - there would have been no point)