Tulie’s tyre change pays off
TIM TULIE is still in shock after his surprise ‘FTD’ in Monday’s hill climb.
It is only the second time he has taken such honours in a competitive career spanning well over a decade and the modest driver did not line up with great expectations.
But after fitting his relatively new Empire 00 with fresh tyres, Tulie successfully held off close competition from Paul Priaulx and favourite-on-paper Nick Saunders at Le Val des Terres.
Scott Rayson and Craig Robert further enriched the Guernsey Motorcycle and Car Club event by beating long-standing records.
Competitors had only four runs due to several accidents delaying the programme, yet Tulie made his impression in the time that mattered.
The 998cc racecar driver’s 29.11sec. clocking was just two-hundredths off his all-time best and a whole second faster than what he recorded in the Easter season opener.
With Saunders struggling to find form, Priaulx’s opening clocking of 29.70 in his 1400cc Force made him the closest challenger.
But Tulie was hitting low 29s from the get-go and, as he inched down his time with each run, Priaulx could not make any further headway.
Saunders was well outside his best in his reworked Eric Sturdza Reynick, although a 29.40 third run allowed him to leapfrog in-class rival Priaulx for second.
Winner Tulie was naturally delighted with the result.
‘I’m really happy, because last hill climb I struggled a bit on old tyres,’ he said afterwards.
‘Today, I was on new tyres and it’s proven that I needed them.
‘It’s been good with Paul and Nick. We’ve been having a good battle and I’ve just about managed to come out on top.’
He sat out a relatively uneventful final set of runs, content with what he had already done.
‘I was very happy with what I’d done. Bit of a shock really as I didn’t expect that to come today, but there we go.’
Chris Guille continued his impressive form with a sub-30 on the first competitive run.
On two wheels, the Jersey visitors picked most of the prime sports in a very competitive series of races.
Oliver Holmes managed fast times across his two motorbikes, clocking 34.26 on both, but the remarkably consistent Lee Le Feuvre upstaged him with a 34.04.
Local riders Colin de Jersey and Ben Carre took the fight to the Caesareans and placed highly with consistent 34-sec. runs.
In a day of impressive numbers, three records tumbled across the classes.
Scott Rayson was a definite star performer after inching down the Non Transaxle record, previously set by motorsport stalwart Mark King in 2013, from 30.93 to 30.90.
Craig Robert, meanwhile, chopped a hefty margin off a Modified Limited Production Cars 1401-1800cc mark set by Brin Harrison in 2007.
He beat the previous standard in every single run and signed off with a particularly impressive 34.14.
Jim Langlois once again stood out in his Lotus Elan 26R as he lowered his own record to 36.72.
