Well, first race of the 2010 season and mixed results from everyone really. The series has doubled its grid size from this time last year but clashes with Britcar, Kumho BMW and GT Cup meant a few extra cars we were hoping for couldn’t attend so we were still pretty small in terms of grid. However what we lacked in numbers we made up for in quality, yet again the comments of the day were that the CSL Cup is the most impressive racing with the most impressive cars of the weekend.

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Well, first race of the 2010 season and mixed results from everyone really. The series has doubled its grid size from this time last year but clashes with Britcar, Kumho BMW and GT Cup meant a few extra cars we were hoping for couldn’t attend so we were still pretty small in terms of grid. However what we lacked in numbers we made up for in quality, yet again the comments of the day were that the CSL Cup is the most impressive racing with the most impressive cars of the weekend.

For the first race we had new entrants in Mark Radcliffe and Adam Hayes car sharing in John Harrison's 2009 entry (Albeit a little lighter!). Steve Gill has built a new one with the help of Tom Schirmer and his team from Germany, Russell Foster of BMW Worx has lovingly built their own, defending champion Dan Stringfellow has re-painted his car and added to the returning TMS car of Mark Steward, Nick Foster, Dave Briault the CSL Cup grid was the largest collection of E46 M3’s ever seen in the UK. Adding to the variety was John Thorne's E92 M3, the first built in the UK, not exactly finished just yet but a crowd pleaser in terms of visual and aural delight when it did manage to get round.

There have been a few technical and class changes this season, ECU’s are now open and the new E36 M3 class was launched (few takers at the first round) and we are currently adding measures to police areas such as compression ratios and race ECU’s to ensure a level playing field, to quote a comment from a competitor – “I want to win because I have the best car/driver package, not just because I can throw money at something” an ethos we whole heartedly agree with.

What of the E92 then? At nearly three times the cost of most of the E46 M3’s on the grid, just what is it doing in the CSL Cup anyway? Well the answer is simple, the CSL Cup is a forward looking series, whilst the majority of the grid is E46 M3’s this will slowly change as more and more people choose to build and run the current E92 shape, John’s car is there to develop the car into a CSL Cup car in its own right in its own E92 class. This process will take time and involve developing the car in other race series as well (GT Cup, Britcar and British GT where the car will be homologated in GT3 specification) but its primary aim is to represent the E92 M3 class in the CSL Cup for the 2011 season and beyond. Until more open class or E92 M3’s are developed and entered he won’t score points or podium places as he develops the car.

Qualifying

Nick Foster returned to the CSL Cup as he left, qualifying on pole at Snetterton, developments to all the cars on the grid (lighter weight mainly) meant that nearly everyone was nearly 2 seconds faster than they were the previous season, some even faster than that. Right behind him was Steve Gill, driving a completely fresh built car Steve was nearly 3 seconds faster than the year before no doubt delighting his team. Finishing off the top three was defending champion Dan Stringfellow, less than a second covering the top three. Mark Radcliffe won the practice battle between him and shared car owner Adam Hayes, no doubt that battle will continue throughout the year.

Race 1

Heavy rain meant the first race of the season was going to be a wet one. Nick, Steve, Mark and Dan set off at a pace and quickly created a group fight between the four. By lap 4 this group of 4 had split into two pairs, Nick leading Steve and Dan leading Mark, Steve tried as hard as he could to get past Nick but with visibility and few chances to take advantage of with Nick driving hard to pull a gap. Behind Mark managed to reel in Dan and on lap 10 overtook Dan to claim third place and thats how it finished, Nick first, Steve second and Mark third. Dan finished behind Mark, then after the top four Mark Radcliffe, David Briault and Russell Foster closed the E46 contenders. Out in the E36 class was Peter Rowbottom in his own entry. Whilst not as quick as the E46's he couldn't resist grinning ear to ear as the weekend transpired. The fastest lap of the race was set by Dan Stringfellow of 1:21.695.

Race 1 Classification:

Race 2

Finally, the rain stopped and we had a dry session. Saturday's weather had let the whole paddock down, and it was a very pleasant sight to see the M3's go out on the Dunlop Slick tyres. They lined up on the grid in the order Race 1 finished. Nick Foster in P1 (Carrying 60KG Success Ballast), Stephen Gill in P2 (Carrying 40KG Success Ballast), and Mark Steward (Carrying 20KG's Success Ballast). Off the line, Gill stalled - luckily all other competitors missed him, especially as we had some new faces to the grid. Into the first corner Foster led Stringfellow who was closely followed by Steward. Adam Hayes, in his 1st CSL Cup race was following the lead pack closely. After stalling, Stephen Gill made his way to 5th behind Hayes after just 2 short laps. Gill took 4th from Hayes into the Esses. Up front, Stringfellow was over Foster like a rash - taking the lead by squeezing up the inside into the Bomb Hole. In the same lap Gill had caught the lead 3, taking a huge chunk of time into Russell bend. Further down the grid, Russell Foster was ahead of David Briault in the remaining E46 M3s with Peter Rowbottom bringing proceedings to a close. The race finished with Dan Stringfellow taking the Race Win and Fastest Lap of 1:13.133.

Race 2 Classification:

Race 3

Unfortunately, in Parc Ferme of Race 2, Mark Steward was found to be 8kg underweight. This meant disqualification from Race 2, and therefore a start from the back of the grid for Mark. Off the line there was a slight tussle between Nick Foster and Steve Gill. Into Turn 1 it was Stringfellow, R.Foster, N.Foster, then Gill. By the end of the first lap it was Stringfellow, N.Foster, S.Gill. Steward was making good progress from the back, and was up to 5th place by the end of the first lap. The top three didn't change position all race and finished Stringfellow, N.Foster, Gill.

Race 3 Classification:

Driver Standings after Rounds 1,2 & 3:

The next rounds are at Oulton Park on 29th-31st May 2010. See us there!

Photography by Derek Binsted & Ollie Read.