The 2004 championship season got off to a real bang at Easter with two events over the extended weekend. Round 1 at Lydden on Easter Saturday saw a victory for new technology when Steve Broughton won the championship Top Twelve Run-off in his OMS-Suzuki. The car has a tremendously advanced engine management system through which the driver has the advantage of not only automatic upshifting when the engine revs hit a predetermined mark but also an automatic down-shift. However, the Suzuki Hayabusa engine was, in Steve's words "a bog standard 1300 unit".

Two days later the whole championship party had moved north to Croft for the Easter Monday sprint. Whilst Broughton came home in second it was Terry Holmes in the two-litre Reynard who took the win on the North East circuit where he took his maiden championship win in 2002. As the championship contenders headed home Broughton led the championship with Terry Holmes in second.

The third round was held at Knockhill in May and with a substantial number of contenders making the long trip north the competition was fierce. Tony Eyles, who had crashed out in qualifying at Lydden, had his Lola back on track and was in determined mood. Having qualified fastest Eyles promptly blasted to a new sprint course record with the F1 Judd powered ex-F3000 car. Stewart Robb, who had placed fourth at Croft, took a fine second on home turf whilst third went to Devonian Tony Wiltshire in his Ralt-Peugeot. Steve Broughton still led the championship after Knockhill thanks to his fifth place finish but the 1500 Suzuki engine (under development) will be required if he is to maintain his challenge.

June has become Welsh month in the championship. First we were off to sunny Anglesey for Chester Motor Club's sprint round the glorious Anglesey Racing Circuit. Once again Tony Eyles was the man to beat as he qualified fastest then promptly dominated the run-off. Tony Wiltshire was still suffering from handling problems with the Ralt but managed a gutsy second. Roy Dawson led home the bike-engined brigade in the DJ Firehawk just edging Steve Broughton into fourth. Broughton still led and with the new SBD engine, plus an update on the suspension due from the OMS workshop of Steve Owen, his prospects for Round 5 at Llandow were looking good.

Just six days later and the Championship headed into South Wales. The neat little track at Llandow was the setting for the next act. Tony Eyles once again dominated and with his third win in as many rounds he also added a new course record as he emphasised just how quick he is in the Lola. Tony Wiltshire was again second but did have his problems. In his first qualifying run he spun on the still damp track and rotated three times before regaining the track. His second Q-run was vital and having got into the run-off he relaxed and unofficially broke the two-litre class record! Terry Holmes finished in third whilst Steve Broughton's fifth place kept him at the head of the championship.

With three weeks before the next round there were a lot of planned changes and with several new cars in the offing the championship was growing in stature. July and it was MIRA. The Motor Industry Research Association proving grounds are spectacular. Set on the infield of a huge banked tri-oval, the road course has a super grippy surface, two superb sweeping left-handers and a challenging right-hander next to the Control Tower. First change that was spotted was that Tony Eyles still had a Lola-Judd, but not his usual car. He had borrowed elder brother Rodney's 'hillclimb' version, which features a narrower track and shorter wheelbase. Tony's own engine was down at Connaught Engineering for a rebuild.

This didn't stop Eyles from dominating qualifying. However, on his first championship run there was a slight misfire, which second time round went from bad to worse. He was left in third and the prospect of having to get another engine rebuilt. So who benefited from Tony's misfire? Well it looked like Stewart Robb was going to pick up his maiden win. However, Tony Wiltshire was in inspired form. The Ralt was benefiting from some suspension tweaks down at Gould's workshop and Wilt stormed through to his maiden Sprint Championship win relegating Robb to second spot by just one hundredth of a second. Steve Broughton's fifth spot maintained his championship lead though Wiltshire, Holmes and Eyles were all closing in.

With the championship about to enter the second half of the season the double header in Northern Ireland is going to be a classic. The two venues demand totally different approaches; Round 7 is at the super fast Kirkistown circuit where courage is high on the list of requirements and with the notorious temporary chicane being consigned to the scrap heap times will tumble. Then just two days later the superb Nutts Corner Motorsports Centre hosts Round 8. Here the tighter confines require a more precise approach and outright pace is not necessarily going to put you to the top of the times. The lead in the championship title chase could well change, though Steve Broughton is not in the mood to relinquish it without a fight.

Steve Wilkinson - 14 Aug 2004