Link Up Ltd MSA Autotest Championship Round 7. JCS Kegworth Loughborough MC Autotest.

2008 British Champion Alastair Moffatt took the honours in a wet JCS Kegworth Loughborough Autotest, the Mini Special driver had won all the previous events, but made life difficult for himself by collecting a 30 second penalty on the test 2, dropping him down well outside the top 10.  Richard Pinkney in the Caterham took charge at the head of the field, with the Nova of Gavin Dickson just 4.5 secs behind after the first round of 3 tests, but the tricky conditions caught them out with two penalties for Dickson and a wrong test for Pinkney over the following round.  Stephen Wild’s ABS held a slim lead over the Lindsay Special of Malcolm Livingston, the Westfield of Ashley Lamont and John Moffatt’s Nova, just 2.7 secs covering the top four.  Alastair Moffatt was making his move though and was up to 5th and only 3.9 secs off the lead, the rain had stopped and conditions were improving, by test 8 he had regained the lead and followed that with fastest times on the remaining tests of the day.  Pinkney was unable to make back the time from his earlier wrong test and had to settle for second in class behind the Westfield of Lamont.  The Nova’s of John Moffatt and Gavin Dickson were separated by less than two secs, but 3 penalties for Dickson over the last 6 tests, handed the class victory to Moffatt.  Howard Everingham had took a convincing win in the Mini class taking the fastest time in class on all the tests.

Event Results Top 6

1. Alastair Moffatt               Mini Special        894.6
2. Stephen Wild                  ABS                    923.3
3. Ashley Lamont                Westfield            934.3
4. Duncan Wild                   ABS                    948.9
5. John Moffatt                    Nova                  955.3
6. Richard Pinkney             Caterham           957.2

Top 6 Final Championship Results

1. Alastair Moffatt               Mini Special       55pts
2. Howard Everingham       Morris Mini         50pts
3. Ashley Lamont                Westfield            49pts
4. John Moffatt                    Nova                   49pts
5. Gavin Dickson                 Nova                   48pts
6. David Goodlad                Mini                     48pts

MSA Class Winners
Class A:              David Goodlad
Class B:              Howard Everingham
Class C:              John Moffatt
Class F:              Ashley Lamont
Class G:              Alastair Moffatt

Link Up Ltd MSA British Autotest Championship. Round 6, Owen MC.

Alastair Moffatt continues to dominate the British Autotest Championship, collecting his 6th win of the season.  Moffatt who clinched the championship at the previous round, picked up his first penalty of the season on the second test of the day, which dropped him behind the ABS Freestyle of Stephen Wild, a close battle over the next 7 tests saw Wild edge out a 3.3 second lead, but Moffatt put in three stunning times over the following set of tests to win by just 3.7 seconds.
Howard Everingham secured his 6th straight class win, and is now secure in the runner up spot.  The battle for the final podium position is now between 4 drivers, Ashley Lamont, Gavin Dickson, John Moffatt and David Goodlad, Lamont could only manage 2nd in class after a mistake on the opening test of the day, which saw him drop nearly 14 seconds to Richard Pinkney, who held on to win the class by 3 seconds. The battle of the Novas continued with Gavin Dickson and John Moffatt, the two were less than a second apart after 6 tests and tied after 9 tests, Dickson took the lead on test 10, but picked up a 5 second penalty on the penultimate test, which cost him the class and the possibility of second place in the Championship.  David Goodlad in the Mini 1100, picked up his 3rd class win of the year, which puts him in with a chance of 3rd overall should the other three hit problems.

Round 6. Crimson Dynamo, Owen MC

1. Alastair Moffatt               613.3
2. Stephen Wild                 617.0
3. Richard Pinkney             639.3
4. Malcolm Livingston        640.3
5. Ashley Lamont                642.3
6. John Moffatt                    659.4

Link Up Ltd MSA Autotest Championship: Round 5: Knutsford & DMC.

Alastair Moffatt became the first MSA Champion of 2008, when he took FTD at the Demon Tweeks Tim Sargeant Memorial Autotest, it was Moffatt’s fifth consecutive win of the season, giving him the perfect score and the Link Up Ltd MSA Autotest title.  Dave Mosey’s day started off badly when he collected a maximum on the first test of the day after the engine cut out on his Mini Special, which gifted Moffatt a 30 second lead, the two were matched evenly throughout the day and out of the 15 tests shared  seven fastest times each and tied on one.  Howard Everingham secured his fifth class win in the large Mini class putting himself in a strong second overall position in the championship.  Gavin Dickson and John Moffatt had a day long battle in the Novas, Moffatt had the early advantage until a double penalty on test 7 and another on test 10 ruined his chances allowing Dickson to take the class by just over 10 seconds.  Richard Pinkney overcame his recent gearbox woes to win the sports car class in the Caterham and end the day in 4th overall.  With the championship decided and two rounds still to run, the battle continues for the rest of the podium and the class awards.

Results

1. Alastair Moffatt             Mini Special     668.7
2. Dave Mosey                  Mini Special     692.5
3. Stephen Wild               ABS Freestyle   707.9
4. Richard Pinkney          Caterham           709.0
5. Malcolm Livingston      Lindsay Special 711.5
6. Stuart Perren                Retrotester         714.8

Link Up Ltd MSA Autotest Championship: Round 4 Hartlepool & DMC.

A penalty free day saw Alastair Moffatt take his 4th consecutive win and maintain his perfect run in the 2008 Link Up Ltd MSA Autotest Championship.  Moffatt was pushed all the way by the similar Mini Special of Dave Mosey, Mosey was fastest on 11 of the 14 tests, but two penalties meant that he finished 3.1 seconds behind Moffatt.  Ashley Lamont continued to impress in the Westfield in his debut season finishing a strong 3rd overall and winning the class by nearly 45 seconds from Stephen Morten.  John Moffatt made up for an earlier mistake to win Class C bringing his Nova home in an excellent 6th overall and has taken over the class lead in the absence of Gavin Dickson. Howard Everingham was the fastest of the Mini’s, local driver Tom Hall had headed the class briefly during the morning and was only 4 seconds adrift at the halfway point, but an error from Hall on test 9 saw Everingham open up a 20 second lead and eventually win the class by 39 seconds.
With the best five scores to count Alastair Moffatt is in pole position and could clinch the 2008 title at the next round, the Tim Sargeant Memorial Autotest at Demon Tweeks.

Event Results Top 6

1. Alastair Moffatt               Mini Special        712.3
2. Dave Mosey                    Mini Special        715.4
3. Ashley Lamont                Westfield SE       742.2
4. Duncan Wild                   ABS                     765.7
5. Steve Morten                  Raw Striker         786.8
6. John Moffatt                   Nova                    787.6

Link Up Ltd MSA Autotest Championship Round 3

Alastair Moffatt was in dominant form being  fastest on 15 of the 16 tests as he took his third straight FTD of the season at the Maidstone and Mid Kent MC’s Kent Driver Autotest.  Ashley Lamont was again very rapid in the Westfield, but was kept on his toes by Richard Pinkney, who was just 2 seconds adrift after the first round of tests, a stall from Lamont saw Pinkney take the initiative after 8 tests, until the Caterham’s gearbox failed and handed the class lead back to Lamont, Pinkney replaced the gearbox, but the gap was now too large to close.  Gavin Dickson put in another cracking drive in the Class C Nova winning the class and coming home 4th overall, but was under pressure from John Moffatt, who was very quick out of the blocks and despite a penalty was less than a second behind Dickson after the first round, but another penalty and some minor errors trying to catch the flying Dickson, meant he had to settle for second in class and 6th overall. Howard Everingham was the quickest of the Mini’s gaining his third class win of the season and maintaining his second overall in the championship.

Top 6
1.       Alastair Moffatt             Mini Special        749.1
2.       Ashley Lamont              Westfield            787.8
3.       Richard Pinkney           Caterham            809.8
4.       Gavin Dickson               Nova                   817.9
5.       Malcolm Livingston       Lindsay Special  826.8
6.       John Moffatt                   Nova                  839.5

Round 2 Bolton-le-Moors CC

Alastair Moffatt made it two in a row by taking FTD at the Bolton Autotest.  Moffatt was pushed all the way by 2006 MSA Champion Dave Mosey and the two were by just two tenths after 6 tests, but two penalties for Mosey on test 7 saw him drop  too far behind.  Richard Pinkney (Caterham) and Ashley Lamont (Westfield) were also in contention over the opening tests, they were well in touch with the two Mini Specials until rain intervened and were then left to battle for third overall with Lamont finishing just 6 seconds ahead after the 15 tests.  John Moffatt made it a double celebration for the family by winning Class C in the Nova after an uncharacteristic wrong test from Gavin Dickson on the penultimate test handed Moffatt an 11.3 second victory.

Top 6
1.       Alastair Moffatt               Mini Special        913.0
2.       Dave Mosey                    Mini Special        924.8
3.       Ashley Lamont                Westfield SE       931.8
4.       Richard Pinkney             Caterham 7         937.8
5.       Duncan Wild                    ABS                   972.8
6.       John Moffatt                     Nova                 1002.5

Round 1. Foxley Autotests, Herefordshire Motor Club.

Alastair Moffatt took a convincing victory setting the fastest times on 14 of the 16 tests on his home event at the Foxley Estate.  Torrential rain the day before made the early morning runs very slippery and Moffatt  was able to use the superior grip of the Mini Special to open up an early lead over the Lotus 7 of Malcolm Livingston.  Ashley Lamont making his MSA Championship debut, put in some very quick times in the lightweight Westfield to keep in trading times with Livingston, but too many penalties were his downfall and ended the day with 3rd overall.  Gavin Dickson was the best of the saloon cars, bringing the Nova home in 6th overall with Carl Sams hot on his heels, Sams had led the class until Test 8 where he dropped over 8 seconds to allow Dickson  to take over at the front of the class.  John Moffatt was another Nova driver in the hunt for class honours, but two driveshaft failures meant he had to settle for 3rd.

Event Results

FTD        Alastair Moffatt             Mini Special      843.5
2nd        Malcolm Livingston       Lotus 7              899.4
3rd        Ashley Lamont               Westfield SE     915.2
4th        Stephen Morten              Raw Striker      921.0
5th        Stuart Perrin                   Retrotester        940.0
6th        Gavin Dickson                 Nova                 947.9