MACAU Grand Prix - November 2002 Mardi Gras boss Paul Hetherington attended the Macau Grand Prix this year. He can be seen here with Paul Poon who was driving one of the Mardi Gras built cars in the Saloon Car Race. (Photo by Paul Cherry) Follow link for more pictures CLIO WINTER SERIES - Donnington 17 November 2002 With a 4th and a 6th in the two races at Donnington, John George lies 3rd in the Clio Winter Series going into the second round at Brands Hatch. EERC 100 MINUTE ENDURANCE RACE - Brands Hatch 2 November 2002 Mardi Gras again fielded two Honda Integra's in the 100 minute endurance race at Brands Hatch. Kevan Wells and Simon Harrison raced the latest model Integra from Japan. In its near standard specification it took advantage of the monsoon conditions to finish 2nd overall and 1st in class, 10 seconds behind the winning BMW. Simon Harrison led for the majority of the race, building up a two lap advantage, before pitting. The Integra's standard tank meant the car had to be refueled losing much of its advantage before Kevan Wells took the second leg. He withstood the pressure of Calum Lockie breathing down his neck for several laps before having to settle for second. The second car, Mardi Gras older Integra, was driven by Des Smail and Richard Meins was 2nd in its class and 5th overall, when Des Smail out braked himself at Druids, parking the car in the gravel trap. There was only five minutes remaining of the race but the car dropped to 14th overal and 5th in class. EERC 2 HOUR ENDURANCE RACE - Silverstone 6 October 2002 Mardi Gras fielded two Honda Integra's in the two hour endurance race at Silverstone. Kevan Wells and Simon Harrison raced the latest Integra from Japan. In a near standard specification, it finished in 4th place overall, winning its class. It raced with a standard road going fuel tank, and was forced to pit for fuel, for a second time, 10 minutes from the end, losing it 3rd place overall. The car had a standard engine using a Mugen ECU and exhaust system and proved to be a match for all but the big BMWs and Marcos's. The second car, Mardi Gras older Integra, was driven by Des Smail and Richard Meins was leading its class, and in the top ten, when the engine let go after an hour and thirty five minutes. ELF CLIO RENAULTSPORT UK CUP Round 13 - Donington Park 22 Sept.2002 In front of 22,500 spectators at Donington, Daniel Buxton finished the year with a fine 2nd place in the Mardi Gras Renault Clio. After qualifying 4th Daniel rose to 2nd on the first lap to challenge the leader Andrew Kirkaldy. The two raced door handle to door handle, lap after lap. Daniel led over the line on the 5th lap, but was unable to stay ahead in the later laps. John George in the second Mardi Gras car qualified 22nd and took advantage of others incidents to move up to 13th on the first lap. The good work was undone however after a problem on the 6th lap dropped him down the field. John was to finish 21st. The points positions in the Championship (prior to Donington) were:- Daniel Buxton      5th John George      26th Mardi Gras            6th (Team) ELF CLIO RENAULTSPORT UK CUP Round 12 - Brands Hatch 26 August 2002 In one of the best races of the day, Daniel Buxton was to finish 6th and John George a season's best 12th in the Mardi Gras Clios. In qualifying, where pole was decided by thousands of a second, Daniel was two tenths off and 5th on the grid. Early on Daniel rose to 4th, but a lurid slid while challenging for 3rd round Paddock Hill bend, dropped him to 5th. He was also taken by Paul Rivett late in the race. John George qualified in 25th but quickly picked off cars from the back. He was to have an excellent dice with Ed Pead who he passed by the end of the race for 12th place. DUNLOP WILLHIRE 6 HOUR ENDURANCE RACE - Snetterton 17 August 2002 The Mardi Gras team of Phil Bennett, John George and Phil Wadsley won their class and finished 4th overall in the Willhire 6 Hours on Saturday. Using one of the teams Honda Integra Rs, they finished 8 laps behind the lead BMW M3 but 4 laps ahead of the next B1 Class car, a Golf Turbo driven by Alan Sawyer, Stuart Scott and Stephen Wood. The car qualified 8th for the start. Phil Wordsley took the first leg and after an hour, took advantage of a safety car period to hand over to John George. John had a trouble free second spell before handing the car over to Petronas Proton touring car driver, Phil Bennett. Phil was back in the pits after a lap with an unscheduled stop because the engine temperature light was on. The radiator was filled, and with no apparent leak causing the problem, Phil set off to overhaul the opposition. At this point the car was 3rd in class and outside the top ten but after a two hour stint by the former Mardi Gras Renault Spider driver, the car rose to 4th overall and 1st in class. More fuel and fresh tyres allowed John George to take the car to the end of the race. With endurance races there are a lot of "what ifs" - if only we didn't have the unscheduled stop we might have got second! The important thing is the team had a very enjoyable day and the trusty Integra never missed a beat. WONDER WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CIVIC WE BUILT? Well it's alive and well and racing in Hong Kong as can be seen from the pictures. ELF CLIO RENAULTSPORT UK CUP Round 11 - Knockhill 11 August 2002 After a run of performances below expectations, Daniel Buxton finished back on the podium with a 3rd in the Mardi Gas Clio at Knockhill on Sunday. John George qualified 25th and finished 22nd. ELF CLIO RENAULTSPORT UK CUP Round 10 - Snetterton 25 July 2002 Daniel Buxton finished 6th for the second successive meeting in the Mardi Gas Clio at Snetterton on Sunday. With a handling problem in qualifying, Daniel started 7th on grid in the Norfolk heat. In a hectic mid field battle he managed to secure 6th, from Tim Mulen, who was returning to Clio racing for the first time this year. John George qualified 21st but was to go out on the 12th lap when he crashed heavily into the marshall's post at the Russell chicane after putting two wheels on the grass at Coram. Fortunately he was uninjured. ELF CLIO RENAULTSPORT UK CUP Round 9 - Croft 14 July 2002 Daniel Buxton finished 6th in the Mardi Gas Clio at Croft on Sunday after qualifying in 5th place. John George qualified 26th and finished 21st in the race. ELF CLIO RENAULTSPORT UK CUP Round 8 - Brands Hatch 30 June 2002 Daniel Buxton finished 4th in the Mardi Gas Clio at Brands on Sunday. The race was in two parts after a big accident on the first lap. Pole sitter Jason Templeman spun at Graham Hill bend and was collected by Bob Smith, hospitalising the two drivers. At the restart, 90 minutes later, Robert Huff slipped by Buxton dropping Daniel to 4th where he was to finish. John George qualified 25th and finished 20th in the race. ELF CLIO RENAULTSPORT UK CUP Round 6 & 7 - Thruxton 16 June 2002 After Mardi Gras's disasterous efforts at the May round at Thruxton, they were right to view the double header with some trepidation. In what were two very acromonious races, with lots of incidents and safety cars, Daniel Buxton was not to finish either race seeing his title defence slip. After qualifying 7th and 6th for the two races, he was to suffer an engine blow up in the first race. A con rod broke and went through the side of the engine. The Mardi Gras mechanics marvelous effort to change Daniel's engine between races, was to no avail. The second engine let go on the warm up lap of the second race with a suspected broken crankshaft. John George qualified in 26th and 25th and finished 18th in the first race. In the second he rose as high as 10th before spinning and dropping down the order to eventually finish 15th. ELF CLIO RENAULTSPORT UK CUP TEST - Brands Hatch 10 June 2002 Daniel Buxton was 3rd fastest and John George 25th. ELF CLIO RENAULTSPORT UK CUP Round 4 & 5 - Silverstone 2-3 June 2002 Daniel Buxton resisted race-long pressure from Paul Rivett to win Round 4. He lead from pole to chequered flag and got his title defence back on track. However, Martin Byford's third place means he stretched his championship lead. Daniel qualified in 3rd for Round 5 and finished 8th. He was held up by an early race incident and was unable to get back on terms with the leaders. John George started from 24th in Round 4 and 21st in Round 5 to finish the races 19th and 21st respectively. ELF CLIO RENAULTSPORT UK CUP Round 3 - Thruxton 4 MAY 2002 Neither of Mardi Gras's drivers had any luck in the Clio "Destruction Derby" at Thruxton. The race was red flagged twice, once for an incident with John George, before a result was declared . The race started well for Daniel Buxton as he tucked in behind leader Robert Huff during the early laps. On lap 6 Buxton was right behind Huff at the complex when Huff made a mistake, allowing Buxton to get alongside and pull half a car's length ahead. As they left Seagrave Huff gave Buxton no room and he was tapped into a spin that was to send him twenty feet up the bank before rolling back down again. Meanwhile on the opposite side of the circuit at the chicane, John George was to lose control on oil and hole his own sump on the curb, depositing oil over the track. This caused an eight car crash and the first red flag. The race was restarted only to be stopped again when Colin Stancombe had a heavy roll at the complex. At the end less than half of the thirty starters were left running. ELF CLIO RENAULTSPORT UK CUP Round 2 - Oulton Park 21 APRIL 2002 After qualifying 4th, Daniel Buxton finished 5th in an incident packed Clio race at Oulton. Daniel came out of the first corner scramble in 4th, which he was to retain until the 3rd lap where a heart stopping tank slapper dropped the Mardi Gras driver to 10th. He then fought his way back up the order, making ground on his rivals with some demon braking at the Fosters chicane. By the end of the race he was up to 5th but the first four were well ahead. Daniel had the consolation of the fastest lap for the second meeting running. After qualifying 26th John George rose into the top twenty following the first lap antics ahead of him, but dropped back down the order mid race, when a late breaking maneuver at Fosters, meant he had to "straight line" the chicane. He climbed back up to 17th at the finish. ELF CLIO RENAULTSPORT UK CUP Round 1 - Brands Hatch 1 APRIL 2002 In his first race for Mardi Gras Motorsport, Daniel Buxton finished 2nd on the Grand Prix circuit at Brands Hatch on Easter Monday. After qualifying 3rd, Daniel was boxed out at Paddock Hill bend and dropped to 8th by Druids on the first lap. Up to 3rd after a couple of laps he set about passing Andrew Kirkaldy and Paul Rivett. Daniel passed Andrew as his tyre's went off but Paul was more difficult. The two fought bumper to bumper to the flag giving the large crowd one of the best races of the day. John George qualified in 21st and was racing hard in mid field before a spin at Surtees dropped him back to finish 24th.