'It's been stressful,' said a jubilant Jeremy Clark as he shared a well-earned cold beer with his team and friends after clinching the Historic Sports Car Club 70s Roadsports Championship title at Silverstone.
The Attleborough racer, who was leading the series going into the final round at the Northampton track, needed a second place in the highly competitive Class C to secure the title, but knew he was facing a difficult task.
Clark managed to qualifying his Lotus Elan second in Class C, but had Will Leverett breathing down his exhaust pipe in his Lotus Europa, the latter able, if results went his way, to steal the title away from the local racer.
However, Clark's strongest challenger, Brian Jarvis, had qualified his Porsche 924 at the head of Class D and was a strong favourite to win his category, as he has been able to do so for much of the season.
A strong start from Clark propelled him onto the tail of Jim Dean's Lotus Europa, which had taken the Class C pole, with the local racer able to challenge, and take the lead, on the opening lap as Dean fell down the race order after a spin.
Leverett gave chase to Clark who settled in determined to keep the lead and secure the title.
'It was quite hard towards the end as the brakes and tyres had started to give up,' said Clark.
'Getting by some of the midfield Alfas proved difficult and with Will close behind the pressure to not make a mistake was intense.'
After 18 laps Clark could rest as he had clinched the title, in a race won by John Dickson from Diss with his Ferrari 308 GTB, and taken the Class C victory, as had Jarvis in Class D, leaving the local racer with a four-point margin.
'It's been an amazing year,' recounted Clark.
'We struggled throughout with fading and overheating brakes. However, I have a strong and powerful engine from Damico Race Engines from East Harling.
'Thanks also to Neil at Woolleys of Hingham for exchanging and fitting new tyres when budget allowed while Panks of Norwich helped me with the wiring.
'It's a joy to race in the 70s Roadsports Championship with very fast drivers who will give just enough space to not have to take a wreck home while my team of Sara, Julian and Peter have been amazing.'
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