Volume 28 No 3

Transcription

Volume 28 No 3

Bulletin
Of the british racing drivers’ club
Bulletin Of the british racing drivers’ club
Volume 28 No 3 • autumn 2007
Volume 28 No 3 • autumn 2007
2
BRDC Bulletin Vol 28 No 3
The British Racing Drivers’ Club
President in Chief
HRH The Duke of Kent KG
President
Damon Hill OBE
Chairman
Robert Brooks
Directors
Lord Beaverbrook
Ross Hyett
Jackie Oliver
Stuart Rolt
Ian Titchmarsh
Derek Warwick
Nick Whale
Volume 28 No 3 • AUTUMN 2007
10
32 AROUND THE CLOCK
08Chairman’s Letter
35 silverstone classic
Historic racing takes centre stage at
16
PA to Club Secretary
Becky Simm
Tel: 01327 850922
email: [email protected]
Robert Brooks
26
Sponsorship and advertising
Please contact Michaela Reeeves
Tel: 01423 851150
© 2007 The British Racing Drivers’ Club. All rights in and relating to
this publication are expressly reserved. Nothing in this publication
may be reproduced in whole or part without prior written
permission from the BRDC. The views expressed in Bulletin are not
necessarily those of the editor, the BRDC or the publishers.
Design
Damion Chew
32
20 2007 brdc silver star
Plato leads the way
21 2007 BRDC gold star
Franchitti and Hamilton battle it out
20 BRDC Historic Sportscars
Opening round report
‘The Home of British Motor Racing’
40 Blast from the past
Peter Windsor casts his mind back to
around the world
The BRDC Bulletin reports from Le Mans
38view from the commentary box
Rob Barff recalls the Grand Prix weekend
16RACING MEMBERS
BRDC Members have been on-track
BRDC
Silverstone Circuit
Towcester
Northants
NN12 8TN
The latest from the offices of SCL
10Formula one review
Peter Windsor writes for the Bulletin
BRDC Bulletin Editorial Board
James Beckett (Ed), Ian Titchmarsh, Stuart Pringle
1987 and Mansell versus Piquet
42 meeting members
The Club Secretary chats with
Dr David Cranston
44OBITUARIES
47 BECKETT’S CORNER
The Assistant Secretary’s regular
observations on motorsport
48 secretary’s letter
22 BRDC historic sportscar championship
Graeme Dodd is the man to beat
49 member news
24FATHER & SON
Our regular feature on Club dynasties 50 club and regional events
What are we up to
What’s on, when and where
continues with Jack and David Sears
26 rising stars
An update on the activities of the Club’s www.brdc.co.uk
Damon Hill
09news from your circuit
Assistant Club Secretary
James Beckett
Tel: 01327 850925
Produced by
06 President’s Letter
Club Secretary
Stuart Pringle
Tel: 01327 850926
Barker Brooks Media Ltd
Barker Brooks House
4 Greengate, Cardale Park
Harrogate
HG3 1GY
Tel: 01423 851150
www.barkerbrooks.co.uk
contents
young hot shots
30 mike conway
The reigning F3 champion is going well in GP2
Front Cover: Martin Short, BRDC Rising Star Stuart Hall and Joao Barbosa
achieved a magnificent 4th overall at Le Mans in the Rollcentre Racing
Pescarolo Judd. (Photo by Jakob Ebrey)
 
Inside Front Cover: The Red Arrows over Silverstone – Grand Prix
time again. (Photo by Jakob Ebrey)
3
4
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5
DAMON HILL OBE
President’s letter
W elcome once again to the new-look BRDC
last month. I think this experience has shown that if
Bulletin! Three issues in and still going
we act together we can achieve far more than if we
strong, and what’s more, starting to grow
become inflexible. The running of the Club needs quite
into a collectable series. It is an excellent way to get to
a different attitude from that required to race. (Therein,
know the lives and work of the membership, and in the
perhaps, lies the source of many of our problems.)
same way that the Club continues to evolve, the Bulletin
However, together I believe we can win many ‘off track’
reflects and records the changing world of motorsport.
battles, which may make it possible for the BRDC
Without change, the process of life dries up. The thing
to have more of an active role in the wider world of
I love about motor racing is that it is always evolving,
motorsport.
always changing: the pace is driven by the competitive
Previous page (left)
Donington Park 2nd October 1937.   Bernd Rosemeyer takes the chequered flag
for the last time. Just under four months later he lost his life in a record attempt
for Auto Union on the Frankfurt-Darmstadt autobahn. In just three years of racing cars, the astonishingly talented German driver won 10 Grands Prix. His very
first car race was in 1935 at Avus in one of the 6-litre V16-cylinder 600 bhp Auto
Union C-types which he raced for the rest of his life. In the second, in the Eifel
GP on the Nurburgring nordschleife he finished second to Rudolf Caracciola’s
Mercedes-Benz W25 by just 1.9 seconds. He was a truly unique phenomenon.
As Winston Churchill was reputed to have said:
spirit that burns so fiercely in the souls of those who
‘Democracy is the worst sort of government but it’s the
love to race. It is that spirit which also makes the issues
best we have.’
that face the Club year on year hotly debated by the
A special thanks to all those involved in the process
Members, and none more so than the proposals to
of assessing the Master Plan. We eagerly look forward to
develop Silverstone.
developments!
The most recent phase, which has lasted well over a
year, and which relates to this debate, has concluded
in a democratic and pragmatic agreement to permit
the board to progress with asset management plans,
which will liberate funds to improve the facilities at the
Damon in the FF1600 (right)
circuit. This was a tough test for the Club, which drove it
(some might say) to the very edge of the abyss. However,
6
it pulled through magnificently with the decision to
Damon Hill OBE
back the resolution to permit sale of land at the EGM
President, BRDC
Where it all began for our President. The Woodcote chicane with catch fencing
(remember that?) and the Silverstone Racing Club clubhouse in the background.
Said Autosport: “The emergence of Damon Hill was one of the most pleasurable
aspects of the season”. With the Ricoh Van Diemen RF85 Damon soon emerged
as a Silverstone winner in the 1985 season, pipping Johnny Herbert in the
final round of the Esso Formula Ford Championship by just 0.01 secs in a classic
Silverstone-type finish.
DAMON HILL OBE
7
ROBERT BROOKS
Chairman’s letter
T opportunity to thank Stuart Rolt for his
Rising Stars are making significant waves in numerous
now been cleared and – ahead of schedule – Porsche
outstanding contribution to our Club as its
Championships throughout the UK, America and
have recently confirmed that the construction phase has
Chairman over these past three years – through times
Europe. At least six of our Rising Stars look likely to win
begun. This will, without doubt, produce a new state-of-
which have been deeply complex and troubled. All of
the Championships in which they are competing this
the-art facility leading its class. I know that Silverstone
us on your elected board also join in expressing our
year, with several others still in with a chance.
Holdings are very much looking forward to developing
o begin my report I really must take this
gratitude that he has agreed to stay with us as a Director.
Now – above all as a lifelong motor racing enthusiast
This wave of on-track successes by so many of our
fellow Members surely reflects a most positive light upon
– I am very proud to report that no fewer than four of our
our Club – and one which, I am sure, each of us would
fellow Members are currently well placed in every one of
like to see shining even more brightly in coming years.
the principal global Championship series.
As I write, Lewis Hamilton, Dario Franchitti and Allan
This upsurge in international success follows closely
that the Porsche project is well underway. The site has
their partnership with Porsche in coming years. We wish
them every success with this important development.
As ever, there is still much to be done over the coming
months – and no doubt protracted and sensitive
negotiations still lie ahead – but overall in this upbeat
upon our successful recent EGM, which resulted in a
Autumn I am immensely encouraged by the progress
McNish respectively hold the top spot in the Formula One,
decisive majority of those Members who voted approving
that, together, we have been able to make so far this year.
Indianapolis Raceway League and American Le Mans
the path to the construction of new Silverstone facilities.
Series; while Andy Priaulx is just two points off the lead in
This has placed the Club in the strongest position we
progress. And for our Championship-leading Members
the World Touring Car Championship and is very much in
have enjoyed for many years, and one from which we can
let’s all join together in congratulating them for their
contention for a record third consecutive world title.
vigorously pursue contract negotiations with Formula
outstanding performances thus far, and in wishing them
One Management for the extension of our British Grand
the very best of good fortune in the races which lie ahead.
Prix contract. These negotiations are ongoing.
Best wishes,
Each of this immensely talented quartet has also
enjoyed important individual victories, including the
Indy ‘500’ win for Dario, which he secured in the most
tremendous support and encouragement has been given
proud as the first Scots winner since our legendary
to us by both local and national government, as well as
former Member, double-World Champion Jim Clark.
the local community, and we are now on course to begin
and Lewis in the running for this year’s Gold Star award,
while competition is also hot in the Silver Star rankings.
I look forward to keeping you posted as matters
As I have previously been at pains to emphasise,
challenging of circumstances, and of which he is rightly
At the time of writing, just three points separate Dario
8
Most encouragingly, our younger Members and our
further development and upgrading of our facilities once
we have secured the necessary permissions.
On the wider development of Silverstone, I can report
Robert Brooks
Chairman, BRDC
NEWS FROM YOUR CIRCUIT
news from your circuit
HAMILTON ELECTRIFIES SILVERSTONE!
Fans enjoy phenomenal British Grand Prix
I n early July our team here at Silverstone
ran one of the best-attended and most
entertaining British Grands Prix for many
years. With Lewis Hamilton claiming pole
position on the Saturday, and some very high
profile celebrities, joining us at the circuit on
the Sunday, Silverstone managed to cover
itself in glory.
As they say in showbiz, it was “alright on the
night”! But few of the 207,000 record breaking
crowd, who attended over the three days of
the Grand Prix, will have been aware of the
exhaustive work and preparation that, as a
result of almost five weeks of rain leading up
to the Santander-sponsored event, was going
on behind the scenes.
‘F1 is cool again,’ said the BBC; ‘Silverstone
Rocks,’ said the Daily Express – yet there were
very real concerns.
Our team was prepared with a series of
contingency plans as the extreme weather
conditions continued to bring the water
table in Northants close to major levels of
disruption. Car parks had to be rested, and
some had to be closed causing slow traffic
(amplified by increased security checks),
but against a backdrop of affected, or even
curtailed, British summer events, Silverstone
proudly became another spectacular sell-out
occasion as the sun finally broke through on
the Saturday and Sunday.
In light of the challenges that faced us
during the build up, believe that we can
rightly claim that this year’s Santander British
Grand Prix as one of the most successful
events ever.
Considering what we had to contend
with in the weeks leading up to the event,
including the torrential weather, flooded
car parks and terrorist activities in London
and Glasgow, I believe that the team and our
contractors did an amazing job and put on a
fantastic event for the fans.
We had to implement a number of
contingency plans leading up to the event
and, thanks to my team’s experience, hard
work and commitment, we managed to
succeed where others might have failed.
The fans also played a huge part. We have
the best and most passionate fans in the
world – they are amazing. We had a great
race on Sunday, but the atmosphere after
qualifying on Saturday was phenomenal. We
had more fans at Silverstone on the Saturday
than we had on race day last year. The noise
and atmosphere when Lewis qualified on
pole is something that will stay with me for a
very long time.
Richard Phillips
Managing Director
Silverstone Circuits Limited
9
FORMULA 1
Invisible man
It’s not the things you see that make Lewis Hamilton such a
talent, argues Peter Windsor – it’s the things you don’t see
L ewis Hamilton’s first Grand Prix
win came in Montreal, Canada in
early June – and in many ways it
encapsulated not only his own prodigious
talent but also the qualities – good and
bad – of his opposition. What was true in
Canada would also be true in Indianapolis,
where he won again – and at other races
in the European summer. Even on a bad
day – born perhaps of a chassis set-up that
didn’t work (as at Silverstone, where he ran
too stiff with the rear of the McLaren), or
a qualifying accident due to suspension
failure (as in Germany), Lewis was always
a major force. Give him a reasonable car,
multiply that combination by conditions
that would confound his opposition,
and the product would be Lewis, quickly
elevated to another class.
Canada, then, was more than just
Hamilton’s First Win. It was also a portent
of the future – a signature drive that will
live in posterity as the arrival of a genius.
If you were lucky enough to have been
at Montreal in June 2007, and to have
witnessed his driving over a kaleidoscope
of changing conditions, you were lucky
enough to see Grand Prix driving at its Jim
Clark-best.
10 BRDC Bulletin Vol 28 No 3
Lewis didn’t win Canada, you see,
because he wasn’t out of fuel when the
pit lane closed, or was ‘smooth’ when the
others were ‘ragged’ or was ‘cool’ when the
It was a signature drive
that will live in posterity as the
arrival of a genius
others were ‘confused’. Lewis won Canada
because his innate natural ability freed up
a mental capacity about which his peers
can only dream, or imagine – or decry
because they think it can’t be possible.
His astounding ability to create a ‘stable
platform’ for the car prior to his minimum
speed points on any given corner was never
more flattered than on a day in Canada
punctuated (in no particular order) by: a
green-ish track surface ready to bite the
super-soft Bridgestone compound; four
Safety Car periods (which jabbed tyre
temperatures and pressures up and down
like a yo-yo); irregular new sections of
track surface; an unprecedented amount of
‘marbles’ off the racing line (because of the
aforementioned new track slabs); plenty
FORMULA 1
of debris (from several accidents, one of
which was major); enough time behind
the Safety Cars to get the strategy wrong
within the context of the new ‘closed pit
lane’ regulations – plenty of time, that is, to
think about so much that you forget about
the basics, like stopping for a red light at the
pit lane exit; and news that one of your best
mates has just had a massive accident and
may or may not be OK.
It’s one thing, in short, to see Lewis
Hamilton on a pole lap – to see him braking
hard from high speed and then turning in
to the hairpin as if he is on rails, rotating
the car at exactly the right millisecond –
because in isolation he makes the task look
easy. It is quite another, of course, to see
him alongside a double World Champion
who, in an identical car on a qualifying
lap, manages to de-stabilize the rear as
he stabs the brakes at 320kph and then
(unsuccessfully) spends the next 30 metres
trying to keep the rear tyres away from the
marbles. That’s how Lewis Hamilton won
the pole from Fernando Alonso in Canada.
Into the hairpin – into that basically simple
corner that most racing drivers will get
right nine times out of ten – Fernando
for an initial millisecond braked too hard
(because, by about half a metre, he braked
BRDC Bulletin Vol 28 No 3 11
FORMULA 1
too late). That was the difference. That was
why Lewis won the pole.
Carry that weight
Fernando at the time would have said that
the Hitco brakes he used on the Renault in
05-06 were more ‘forgiving’, more ‘sensitive’,
than the Carbone Industry brakes of the
McLaren. The truth, of course, is deeper
than that. Fernando’s harshness was
disguised at Renault by the Hitcos. And the
softer tyres of the pre-2007 era always gave
him enough grip. Lewis brakes altogether
differently from Fernando: for a millisecond
– the first millisecond of heavy braking
– he is ‘gentle’ with the left foot before he
is ‘firm’. He warns the fluid and the master
cylinders and the callipers and the discs
and the wheels and the tyres before he uses
them to stop the car; he thus gives himself
The British press
greeted Lewis’s third place
at Silverstone with a ‘Lewis in
crisis’ headline, but I think he
drove exceptionally well that
day
compliance for the slight bump he might
encounter in that first millisecond – for that
slight change in road surface.
And, thus, he evenly distributes the
weight, left-to-right. The dynamic weight
is on the front, of course, because he is
braking – but the car is not ‘loaded’ either to
the left or to the right. Uneven load is what
causes instability – and the load is never
evenly distributed if you jab the brakes
and at the moment you jab them you are
not quite square, or you are on a change
of track surface. You could luck into it, of
course – but the odds are about a billion
to one. At that speed. With that complexity
of brake system and temperature. On that
track surface. That is why Lewis was able to
deal with a disconcerting ‘steering’ problem
on his way to victory in Hungary in early
August. The steering was cocked slightly
to the right on the straight and the car
pulled slightly to the right under braking.
Because Lewis drives purely in the correct
sense of the word – because he is about
dynamic weight management rather than
‘line’ – he was quickly able to compensate.
No surprise, I think, that Kimi Raikkonen
– that other ‘pure’ driver – was also able to
win with a McLaren similarly stricken in
Canada in 2005. The pressure applied by
the latter on the former in Hungary made
the job even more demanding – yet it was
FORMULA 1
ultimately Kimi who made the very small
errors, not Lewis. It was Lewis who won
under pressure, with a less-than-100-percent McLaren.
Lewis’s driving when things have been
out-of-sync has been similarly impressive.
The British press greeted Lewis’s third
place at Silverstone with a ‘Lewis in crisis’
headline, but I think he drove exceptionally
well that day, given that he had taken
a wrong turn with chassis set-up and
optimum tyre temperatures were elusive
He had the presence of
mind to keep his engine running
when stuck in a sand trap and
to rejoin the race when others
were climbing from their
cockpits
Clockwise from top of page 12:
The start in Canada; Lewis leads as
Fernando runs wide
Mark’s Red Bull helped raise
£500,000 for ‘Wings for Life’ despite
retiring early at Silverstone
Fernando signals his intent to remain the world’s number 1 after an
impressive victory in the European
Grand Prix at the Nurburgring
Jenson’s ‘dream’ has been more a
nightmare in this year’s Honda
DC, Massa, Fisichella – not the order
that things have ended for David
all season, but nice when it happens
(Photos by Jakob Ebrey and Jim
Houlgrave)
FORMULA 1
at best. Then, at the Nurburgring, he
reminded us what racing drivers are all
about: shrugging off a massive qualifying
accident and various unfortunate calls from
the pit wall, he had the presence of mind
to keep his engine running when stuck in
a sand trap and to rejoin the race when
others were climbing from their cockpits.
Then came another defining moment in
the rise and rise of Lewis: for ninth place,
in treacherous, constantly-changing
conditions, Lewis passed Giancarlo
Fisichella’s Renault on the outside of
a sixth gear right-hand kink. The only
surprising thing, you could say, was that
Fisi didn’t announce his retirement shortly
afterwards…
Cloaks and daggers
And there’s another thing – or things.
Thanks to the incomprehensible behaviour
of Nigel Stepney and Mike Coughlin,
industrial espionage has become a hot F1
topic, particularly amongst the McLaren
and Ferrari teams. Fernando Alonso
was not amused when Lewis failed to
It is a naturally
spontaneous, genuine sensitivity
– the same sensitivity he shows
in the car
slow down for him in the early phase of
Hungary’s Q3. There’s plenty, if you are
Lewis, or a Lewis fan, about which to worry.
Lewis, though, has been a model of smooth
dignity throughout. He speaks from the
heart – as in (post-Indy) ‘I just thank God
every day for the gifts I have been given’
– but he speaks with discretion, always
wary of saying the wrong thing ethically
(as distinct from politically). He sits in
press conferences after wins and feels
that Fernando is finding them difficult.
He doesn’t ignore his team-mate, though,
or capitalise on his discomfort. He tries to
bring Fernando into the conversation, to
remind the press of how much he respects
Fernando, and of how much Fernando
FORMULA 1
Below and far left:
Win number two for Lewis at Indy
has brought to the team. It is a naturally
spontaneous, genuine sensitivity – the
same sensitivity he shows in the car, when
he is weighing-up the difference, say,
between Mark Webber and Jarno Trulli in
practice, and figuring the best place to pass
them, or whether or not to let them go.
And listen to him admitting that he
disobeyed qualifying instructions in
Hungary: “I felt bad afterwards and I
apologised to Ron and the team about
making a mistake but at the same time I
tried to explain my point of view. I didn’t
know how to handle it, because the team
had been penalised, and I’d never seen
Ron so angry, so on race morning I just
did my job. I walked into the garage with
a smile on my face, tried to wish everyone
luck and then just concentrated on my
job. It was when I was sitting on the grid
that I realized how lucky I was to have
else, 2007 has brought them some sort of
responsible stability. Meanwhile, Anthony
Davidson continues to show his plucky
speed. The aforementioned Fisichella took
Anthony out of the Hungarian Grand Prix
– but then that was because a Renault driver
should never have been anywhere near a
mere Super Aguri in the first place – a point
that was not lost on the lucid, straightforward
Davidson in the post-race palaver. Fisi may
have finished the race but – as in Germany
– his standing had taken a beating.
Left
HRH Prince Michael of Kent, complete in Club tie, endures the Finnish
national anthem prior to presenting Kimi with the winner’s trophy at
Silverstone
Below
At the circuit where Jenson won for Honda last year, it was Anthony’s
turn to be the quickest of the Honda engine cars, until he was
unfortunately taken out by Fisichella
(Photos by Jakob Ebrey and Jim Houlgrave)
I walked into the garage
with a smile on my face, tried to
wish everyone luck and then just
concentrated on my job
had all this support from my family and
friends – and to be driving for such a
fantastic team.”
No bitterness. Nothing underhand. No
dwelling on Fernando’s ‘delayed’ pit stops.
Just a straight admission – followed by an
arrow-straight recovery. Lewis Hamilton.
The new, F1-winning Lewis Hamilton.
Other news? Good to see that Jenson
Button and David Coulthard have both
renewed their commitments to their
respective teams for 2008: if nothing
RACING MEMBERS
Members on the move
A look at Members’ activities on tracks around the world
S ingle seater racing has dominated the
BRDC’s attention this season. Lewis
Hamilton’s superb debut Grand Prix
racing season has captured the eye of not
just the Club, but the world’s media, while
Dario Franchitti’s memorable Indianapolis
500 victory back in May seemingly gave the
US-domiciled Scot a huge confidence boost,
and since then ‘Brickyard’ wins, and podium
finishes, have flowed on a regular basis.
As this article is written, Lewis is leading
the FIA F1 World Championship, and Dario
is leading the Indycar Series – good news for
the BRDC all round.
The F1 season continues into late October,
while the Indycar Series is nearing its
completion.
Both title races are sure to be keenly
contested until the very end, and let’s hope
that a BRDC flag is hauled aloft to signify
victory for both at the end of the respective
championships.
After early season form, Andy Priaulx’s
challenge to retain the FIA World Touring Car
Championship title is still firmly on-track.
The BMW factory driver is currently third in
the rankings, and the points table could not
be closer. Three points separate the top three
drivers, and with races at Brands Hatch,
Monza and Macau remaining, everything is
still to play for.
Clockwise from left:
More Champagne for Lewis
A highlight in the WTCC recently has
been the performance of Rob Huff in
the RML-entered Chevrolet. Victory in
Anderstorp was great reward for Huff and
Ray Mallock’s hard-working team. Huff
loves his racing, and when he is not busy
on the WTCC trail, he can be seen hurling a
red MGB around the tracks of Britain with
much aplomb – quite simply, just for the
fun of it.
Huff’s victory and the strong form shown
by James Thompson in his N-Technology
Alfa Romeo have made sure British interest
in the WTCC has not just centred on Priaulx
and his quest for an astonishing fourthconsecutive touring car title. With the Brands
Hatch Grand Prix circuit set to welcome
them later this month, all will be keen to win
a round of the WTCC on home soil.
Justin Wilson and Paul Tracy have four
further rounds of their Champcar World
Series ahead of them. Wilson drives for
RSPORTS, and has experienced Canadian
racer Alex Tagliani as his teammate
to keep him on his toes; while Paul
Tracy drives a DP01-Cosworth for the
Forsythe Championship Racing team.
Wilson is currently ranked fourth in the
championship race, with Tracy 11th.
Following the Le Mans 24-Hour Race,
the Le Mans Series quickly returned to
Jamie leads Gary on the
track, but not in the DTM
championship
Thommo has been winning
for Alfa in WTCC
Ollie Gavin in the Corvette
(above) secured sixth at Spa,
but Jamie Davis was out of luck
with the Aston DBR9 (below)
which retired after 14 hours
Rob’s Chevrolet Lacetti gave
him his first WTCC win in
Sweden recently
RACING MEMBERS
action with a race around the Nurburgring.
At the head of the field the Peugeot 908
diesels continued their domination of
the championship, even if Audi regained
control at Le Mans, but a number of
Members were on-track at the ’Ring in
Prototype and GT cars.
After a disappointing Le Mans 24-Hour
Race, Jamie Campbell-Walter and the
Bicester-based Creation Autosportif team
bounced back in style in Germany to claim
a strong fourth place finish.
Jamie’s Le Mans was ruined by an off at
the exit of the Porsche Chicane early in the
race, which started a chain of events that
eventually led to the car’s retirement, but
an encouraged and regrouped team proved
strong at the Nurburgring, and Jamie led an
attack that shows much promise for future
races.
Honorary Member Jan Lammers (DomeJudd) was joined on-track by Full Members
Neil Cunningham (Radical-Judd), Jonny
Kane (Spyker C8), Tom Kimber-Smith
(Panoz Esperante), Johnny Mowlem (Ferrari
430), Martin Short (Pescarolo-Judd) and
Danny Watts (Panoz Esperante).
The Spa 1000km took place during the
RACING MEMBERS
middle of August, and the next time the
majority of these Members will be in action
will be at Silverstone, when the British
Empire Trophy forms Round 5 of the ACOsanctioned Le Mans Series.
After a lengthy break, the FIA GT3
European Championship resumes later this
month around the Brno circuit in the Czech
Republic. Ian Khan currently lies fourth in
the Drivers’ Standings, having performed
well so far this term in his Ferrari 430.
With two rounds in the Czech Republic
and two rounds in Dubai still remaining,
Ian’s quest for championship victory is still
on the cards. He shares driving duties of
his Ferrari 430 with Frenchman Stephane
Daoudi.
The FIA GT Championship tackled
24 hours of non-stop action around the
recently reworked Spa-Francorchamps
track, set deep in the Ardennes. As usual,
rain played its hand throughout the
marathon event, with the top-finishing
BRDC Member being Oliver Gavin.
The American Le Mans Series star arrived
in Europe from the ALMS factory team run
by Pratt & Miller, and took his wealth of
factory-supported Chevrolet knowledge
with him to the Luc Alphand Aventures
Chevrolet squad. The team’s Corvette C6R
finished sixth – 11 laps off the leaders.
Marino Franchitti (Maserati MC12),
Andrew Kirkaldy (Ferrari 430 GT2) and
Luke Hines (Porsche 997 GT3 Cup) were
Members among the 33 cars that made it
to the finish, while Tim Mullen and Jonny
Kane, two drivers sharing duties in the
second Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari 430 were
retirements, as was Jamie Davies in the
Scuderia Italia Aston Martin DBR9.
Allan McNish, Andy Wallace and Guy
Smith continue to log top-six finishes in
RACING MEMBERS
Opposite page:
Dario on target for Dan in the IRL – but the
differences in design between their IRL mounts and
Paul Tracy’s Champ Car (below) are clear to see
Left:
Allan is joint top in the AMLS in the Audi R10 TDi
which he shares with Dindo Capello
Below:
Justin is currently lying 4th in Champ Car
the American Le Mans Series, while Robin
Liddell, David Brabham, Johnny Mowlem
and Oliver Gavin – this time in the Pratt
& Miller Chevrolet C6R – are all in regular
stateside action.
BRDC representatives are also whizzing
around European circuits in the DTM.
Paul di Resta, Gary Paffett, Jamie Green
and Honorary Member Mika Hakkinen,
have all shown form on occasion. Hakkinen
and Paffett have both won races, while
di Resta has taken a second-place finish.
Three rounds remain, and hopes are high
for further Club success.
James Beckett
BRDC SILVER STAR
SILVER TIN TOPS
Jason Plato builds an imposing lead in the race for the Silver Star
T wo more wins for Jason Plato in the
Dunlop MSA British Touring Car
Championship (giving him six to the
end of July), but none for Matt Neal (despite
his remarkable success with the new-for’07 Halfords Honda Civic Type R at Brands
Hatch at the start of the year), mean that
the SEAT Leon driver is beginning to look
unstoppable in his bid to secure his third
BRDC Silver Star – to add to those he won in
2001 and 2004. Winning the BTCC itself (for
the second time) might not be quite so easy,
for Jason is up against another of the world’s
top touring car drivers in Italian Fabrizio
Giovanardi and his VX Racing Vauxhall
Vectra. Fortunes have fluctuated by the race
meeting and the season is developing into
a classic contest between two of the best
practitioners of the art of touring car racing.
Matt’s Honda has continued to be
developed as the season continues but it is
his team mate, Gordon Shedden, who has
taken over the winning habit by being first
past the post at the first race of each of the
last three events. Gordon, however, is not
yet a Member so he does not score Silver
Star points. Realistically Matt is now the only
Member who can deprive Jason of the Silver
Star.
Colin Turkington’s first year racing a rear
wheel drive car, the Team RAC/WSR BMW
320si, has brought him mixed success
and some misfortune but – despite the
disappointments of Donington Park and
Snetterton, where his total haul of BTCC
points for all six races was only three more
than Jason took from just one of them – he
has moved into third place in the Silver Star
ahead of Darren Turner and Tom Chilton.
However, even a totally dominant run to the
end of the year is unlikely to take him ahead
of Jason or Matt.
As was noted in the last Bulletin, it is
the Touring Car drivers who dominate
the Silver Star standings, the best from
elsewhere being Michael Bentwood who
continues to have success in the British GT
Championship in an Aston Martin DBRS9.
However, his points scoring opportunities
are reduced by comparison with the Touring
Car brigade in that not only are there only
two races per meeting, but also some rounds
of the Championship are held overseas and
therefore do not count.
Above: 
Matt in his Halfords Honda Civic leads the pack into Lodge Corner at
Oulton Park in June
Left:
Jason has pushed hard all season to ensure a championship lead as
he heads towards the final rounds of the year
Below:
Colin in his WSR BMW 320si has already had three wins this season
BRDC SILVER STAR 2007
Points as of: 16 August 2007
1. Jason Plato 2. Matt Neal 3. Colin Turkington 4.Darren Turner 5. Tom Chilton 6. Mike Jordan 7. Michael Bentwood 8. Tim Mullen 9.Ian Flux (BTCC)
253
(BTCC)
188
(BTCC) 124
(BTCC) 120
(BTCC) 114
(BTCC) 113
(British GT) 60
(British GT) 35
(British GT) 13
BRDC GOLD STAR
Right:
Andy celebrates his only win so far
this year at the Porto street circuit. 
A good omen for Macau?
Controversial GP gives Hamilton the edge
T he last Bulletin went to press just
before Lewis Hamilton took his first
and second F1 wins in Canada and
at Indianapolis. Outstanding as these were,
they were not enough to keep one of our
newest Members (elected just last year)
in the lead of the race for the Gold Star. It
needed that third win in the controversial
circumstances of Hungary to keep Lewis
(at the time of writing) just three points
ahead of the other Brit to have won at
Indianapolis in 2007, Scotland’s own Dario
Franchitti – who has had two more wins in
the Indy Racing League (IRL) to add to his
triumph in the 500.
While we have been marvelling at
Lewis’s extraordinary record of top three
placings in his first nine F1 races, Dario
had been demonstrating a not-dissimilar
consistency by taking 11 top five finishes
out of the first 12 races. Dario came
desperately close to winning the CART
title in 1999 – tying on points with Juan
Pablo Montoya – but losing out to the
Colombian, who had the greater number
of victories. This could be the year
when he takes his first US title but New
Zealander Scott Dixon is the big threat
after a hat-trick of wins in July. August has
not been so kind to Dario with two hefty
shunts, the second just after he had taken
the chequered flag in eighth place.
There are just three more rounds
remaining in the IRL but six in the F1
World Championship, so the odds favour
Lewis; although Dario has a second string
to his bow in the American Le Mans Series.
World Touring Car Champion Andy
Priaulx scored his first win of the year
recently at the Porto street circuit but
no longer leads the title race after a poor
weekend all round for the BMW boys at
Anderstorp in Sweden. A really good run of
results for Andy could see him challenging
Dario and Lewis for the Gold Star with the
British round of the WTCC coming up at
Brands Hatch on 22/23 September.
Outside the top three, Allan McNish
(ALMS), Dan Wheldon (IRL), Justin Wilson
(CART) and James Thompson (WTCC)
continue to prosper, with Allan and Dan in
with a chance of overhauling Andy before
the end of the year.
Ian Titchmarsh
Below:
Dario has grabbed the battle for the Gold Star firmly with both
hands and, with the chequered flag in sight, he continues to take
the battle to Lewis
BRDC GOLD STAR 2007
Points as of: 16 August 2007
1.Lewis Hamilton 2.Dario Franchitti 3. Andy Priaulx 4. Allan McNish 5.Dan Wheldon 6. Justin Wilson 7. James Thompson 8.Rob Huff 9.David Brabham 10. Paul di Resta (F1) 197
(IRL) 194
(WTCC) 100
(ALMS) 88
(IRL) 82
(C/car) 69
(WTCC) 68
(WTCC) 62
(ALMS/Le Mans) 56
(DTM) 51
BRDC HISTORIC SPORTSCAR CHAMPIONSHIP
Historic Sportscar
Championship
Dodd remains the man to beat
With four straight wins under his belt, Graeme Dodd is well on his way to retaining
the BRDC Historic Sportscar Championship title, says James Beckett
Above:
The arrival of Julian Majzub in his unusual Sadler Mk3 has been a
real addition to the championship. This shot shows well how short
the wheel base is and the noise is no less impressive.
Below:
2 006 BRDC Historic Sportscar
champion Graeme Dodd is setting
the pace in the J.D. Classicssupported BRDC Historic Sportscar
Championship, and the Oxfordshire driver
has raced away to four straight victories at
the wheel of his two-litre Cooper Monaco.
An early season victory around the
Silverstone International Circuit in May was
followed with a dominant victory around
the Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit. Two
impressive drives at Silverstone Classic
further enhanced his series lead and earned
him the Duncan Hamilton and Tony Rolt
trophies in the process.
Dodd’s main opposition this term has
been Jamie McIntyre. The reigning Class D
champion has switched from his 1100ccpowered Rejo MkIV to the monster V8
power of a Lister-Chevrolet for 2007, and
with this car he has scored a hat-trick of
second place finishes.
On the back of a strong showing in the
HSCC-organised support races at the
British Grand Prix, McIntyre’s performance
stepped up another gear at the Classic, and
a victory for the London-based Scotsman
in his Mark Lewis Engineering-prepared car
can’t be too far away.
McIntyre is currently tied in second
position in the points standings with the
Class C specification Jaguar D Type of
Benjamin Eastick. Eastick scored his first
overall career victory on the Saturday of
Silverstone Classic in a round of the Royal
Automobile Club Woodcote Trophy, and
this win is sure to boost his confidence
ahead of the remaining BRDC Historic
Sportscar Championship rounds at Oulton
Park and Dijon.
John Clark leads Class B for cars up to
1500cc, with his Lola Mk1, while William
I’Anson is the up to 1100cc Class D leader,
with his Rejo Mk3/4.
Competitor interest in the series has been
boosted following the decision by the Club
to reduce the number of championship
rounds throughout the season. With drivers
offered a wealth of meetings to attend
and races to compete in, the 2007 BRDC
Historic Sportscar Championship is being
raced over a total of seven rounds at five
meetings.
Co-ordinated by the Silverstone-based
Historic Sports Car Club, 48 drivers have so
far been on-track, and with three rounds
remaining it is expected that the final
number of competitors to have turned a
wheel during the campaign will in fact be
nearer to 60.
David Leslie has spent six years restoring his Lola Mk1 to exactly
how it was when Jack Paterson raced the car in South Africa and the
UK in the early sixties, even down to the BRDC badge!  David won his
class on Sunday – not bad for his first weekend out
Points after Round Four (Silverstone Classic)
1. Graeme Dodd Cooper Monaco
2. Jamie McIntyreLister Chevrolet
3. Benjamin Eastick Jaguar D Type
4. Gary Pearson
Jaguar D Type/Lister Jaguar
5. William I’AnsonRejo Mk3/4
6.Stephen GibsonLister Jaguar
7. Julian MazjubSadler Mk3
8. John ClarkLola Mk1
9. Gareth WilliamsLotus 11
10.Nigel Webb
Jaguar C Type
60
42
42
35
28
24
24
22
22
20
BRDC Historic Sportscar
Championship 2007
Below:
Well on his way to his second title, reigning
champion Graham Dodd heads into Paddock
Hill bend at Brands Hatch
Schedule of events
September 22-23 Dijon Grand Prix Circuit, France*
*Double-header
FATHER & SON
Jack and David Sears
Starting with adapted road cars in the 50s and currently grooming champions
of the future, motorsport has always been in the Sears family, as James
Beckett discovers
‘Gentleman Jack’ and David Sears are
two of the most respected individuals in
British motorsport. Jack is a former British
Saloon Car champion, GT racer and Le
Mans pilote; while David – no mean driver
himself – is best known as the driving force
behind one of Britain’s leading race teams:
Super Nova.
Jack’s career highlights were very much
on-track, while it is fair to say David’s have
been off-track – and his guidance of many
young racing drivers in lower categories is
something he is, and should be, proud of.
Jack’s career started way back, when
saloon cars were adaptations of road cars.
Machines like the Austin Westminster
were challengers in the British Saloon Car
Championship, and this was a category in
which Jack was a true master.
As he recalls, it was the Westminster
that allowed him to become the inaugural
British Saloon Car champion in 1958. “The
Westminster was great fun to drive. It didn’t
have loads of power, but you could be really
competitive – power came in different
shapes and sizes then, such as the Jaguar or
Ford Galaxie.”
Speaking of the two celebrated marques,
both created cars that Jack became famous
for driving: the Jaguar for Tommy Sopwith’s
Equipe Endeavour; and the mighty Ford
Galaxie for Willment.
Right:
Maximum Endeavour at his
home circuit, Snetterton,
as Jack leads Mike Parkes in
Tommy Sopwith’s 3.8 Jag
FATHER & SON
Right:
Rally before his return to Saloon Car racing
with the Galaxie.
The 70mph limit car!  Jack in
the unique AC cars Cobra coupe
at Le Mans in 1965
Through the ranks
Far right, top:
David Sears with Mike Conway
– 2007
Far right, bottom:
Jack reunited with his
1963 British Saloon Car
Championship-winning
Galaxie
Jack had reservations about driving
the Galaxie at first, saying, “I had no
experience of driving a car like that. I did
not know if it would be competitive, but
we quickly found out that it was. It was a
magnificent car, and you could drive it fast
around Silverstone or Crystal Palace – it
was very versatile.”
Smooth speed
Jack also raced the Ford Cortina as well
as the Cobra Cupa at Le Mans with Peter
Bolton. It was this car which Jack tested at
dawn on the M1 at what was then totally
legal (but very high) speeds but which
(allegedly) lead to the introduction of the
70mph speed limit. Anyone else would
have emerged from the cockpit looking
slightly ruffled from such a drive – Jack
couldn’t have been more different. Smartly
dressed in jacket and tie, ‘Gentleman Jack’,
the smoothest of the smooth, looked a
picture of serenity. How cool!
After his racing career ended, Jack
became a principal mover in the
organisation of long distance rallies, in
particular the 1968 London to Sydney
epic. “That was a true marathon,” Jack
confirmed. “It is a very long way from
London to Sydney: you have to be very
dedicated to undertake an event like that.”
Jack was no stranger to rallying, though,
and acted as ‘chase car’ driver for Jeff Uren’s
Ford Falcon assault on the Monte Carlo
David’s career started like so many, in
Formula Ford 1600, after a course at the
Jim Russell Racing Drivers’ School. The
following year he raced a privateer Royale
RP24, finishing third overall in the National
Championship. “It was tough,” David
remembers. “It was good schooling and the
grids were very competitive.”
For 1979, Alan Cornock and Royale
offered David a ‘works’ car and he won
both the RAC and P&O Championships,
winning 19 races in his Rushen Green entry;
his performances went on to win him a
Grovewood Award at the end of the season.
F3 was the next step, racing alongside
Nigel Mansell, Roberto Guerrero and Stefan
Johansson, and he also won the BMW
County Championship driving alongside
Robin Brundle and Patrick Neve.
Various other outings followed in saloons
and sportscars, including drives in the
Jaguar XJS for Tom Walkinshaw, and Group
A Touring Car events with Andy Rouse in a
variety of Ford cars – and a superb thirdposition finish in a Porsche at Le Mans in
1990, with Anthony Reid and Tiff Needell.
Hanging up his helmet, David formed
Super Nova Racing in 1994, and in 2005 it
became Super Nova International Racing to
compete in GP2.
Famed for grooming champions of the
future, David currently has reigning British
F3 champion, Mike Conway, driving for
his team. “It is very fulfilling to see young
drivers mature into champions and
progress,” he says in conclusion. “As my
father once said in an interview, it’s for the
love of racing.”
BRDC RISING STARS
Rising
Dream Debut
Stars
High Hopes
Having started the year at the wheel of a
Porsche, BRDC Rising Star Oliver Bryant
(pictured below left) has switched to an
Ascari for the remaining rounds of the 2007
British GT Championship.
Oliver, who has his eyes focused on
a career in sportscars, and Le Mans in
particular, launched his Ascari attack at
the BRDC Clubhouse during early August,
where fellow Rising Star, Philip Keen
(pictured below right) was announced as
his team-mate.
After a successful test session around
the Silverstone National Circuit, Oliver
and Philip made the car’s debut at the
Silverstone round of the British GT
Championship, a two-hour endurance
around the 2.2-mile International Circuit.
Oliver commented, “the Porsche is
not the car to drive in GT3 racing at the
moment. Even with an update kit the car
is not as competitive as it should be, so for
many reasons it was decided to switch to
Ascari.”
He continued, “the Ascari is a great car to
drive, and is a very capable machine. At this
time of the season, it is very important for
Philip and me to be scoring strong finishes,
as race results during this stage of the
season can really dictate your progression
in to the New Year.”
Oliver, who also races a number of
historic cars, simply for fun, is already
planning his 2008 season. “I want to race
at Le Mans,” he confirmed. “Sportscars is
where my career is heading – and I hope to
be behind the wheel of a prototype soon.”
There is something special about the Le
Mans 24-Hour Race. The race that forms the
very cornerstone of the BRDC’s existence
has a magnetic draw for Club Members.
On-track or off-track, La Sarthe attracts like
no other, and for one Rising Star the 2007
event provided the stage for a perfect first
night.
Stuart Hall (pictured below), fresh from
the British F3 International Series, switched
to Prototype racing at the start of this
season, joining Martin Short’s Rollcentre
Racing team. The small team with a big
heart are seasoned Le Mans campaigners
– and this year’s rain-soaked event saw
them perform like never before.
Against the mighty factory teams of Audi
and Peugeot, Rollcentre Racing battled
hard, and with Hall joined behind the wheel
by Short and Portuguese star, Joao Barbosa,
the Cambridgeshire-based team drove
through the race to finish an incredible
fourth.
The result was cheered by the thousands
of British spectators at trackside, and if the
number 8 Peugeot 908 Hdi FAP had ground
to a halt on the final tour, as the French
team feared it would, the Club’s Rising Star
scheme would have seen one of its leading
lights on the podium – but fourth was as
good as a win!
Commenting on the result, Stuart said,
“this is the highlight of my career so far.
To race at Le Mans is very special, and the
whole weekend was made so special by
finishing fourth. I hope I can come back to
the 24-Hours for many years to come – I
want to win the race now!”
BRDC RISING STARS
BRDC RISING STARS: PROGRESS REPORT
JONATHAN ADAM
SEAN EDWARDS
ALEX LLOYD
MARTIN PLOWMAN
SEAT CUPRA
The class act of SEAT Cupras
FIA GT2 CHAMPIONSHIP
11th overall and third in GT2 at
Spa 24 hours
INDY PRO SERIES
Leader of the IndyCar Series
feeder category
FORMULA RENAULT ITALIA
Currently fourth in Italian
Championship with three podiums
NATHAN FREKE
SEAN McINTOSH
PHIL QUAIFE
FORMULA ATLANTIC
Currently looking for a seat to
complete the season
A1 GRAND PRIX
In contention to race for Team
Canada during 2007-08
PORSCHE CARRERA CUP GB
Podium in Guest Car at Brands
has led to sponsored drive for
rest of season
STUART HALL
MICHAEL MEADOWS
PORSCHE SUPERCUP and FIA
GT3 CHAMPIONSHIPS
Busy season scoring points in
both series
LE MANS SERIES
Fourth at Le Mans, his 24-Hour
Race debut
BRITISH INTERNATIONAL F3
SERIES
Won National Class in Romania
SAM BIRD
EUAN HANKEY
JEREMY METCALFE
SERIES
Two wins in first season at
Bucharest and Spa
FORMULA 3 EUROSERIES
Promising debut recently at
Mugello
FORMULA RENAULT UK
Race winner and Championship
front-runner
TOM BOARDMAN
BEN HANLEY
ALEX MORTIMER
RENAULT WORLD SERIES
Three podiums and fourth in
championship
FIA GT3
Scored double British GT victories
at Brands Hatch
MILES HULFORD
LEE MUMFORD
GT AND SPORTSCARS
No races yet in 2007 but aiming
for Silverstone 24 hours
FORMULA FORD
Top ten results in British Formula
Ford
JAMES JAKES
MATT NICOLL-JONES
FORMULA 3 EUROSERIES
Scored his maiden F3 race win at
Magny-Cours
GINETTAS
Dominant force in Ginettas so far
this season
JONATHAN KENNARD
OLIVER OAKES
SERIES
Scored a debut F3 victory at SpaFrancorchamps in July
FORMULA RENAULT EUROCUP
Taken 3 race podiums in the NEC
class and is currently running
forth
PHIL KEEN
TOM ONSLOW-COLE
BRITISH GT CHAMPIONSHIP
Made category return at
Silverstone last month
BRITISH TOURING CARS
Scored his debut BTCC victory at
Snetterton in late July in Team
RAC WSR BMW
HENRY ARUNDEL
Nick Tandy FORMULA FORD
Duncan Tappy FORMULA RENAULT
FORMULA BMW UK
Second in Championship and
strong title contender
JON BARNES
Jonathan Adam SEAT CUPRA
SEAT CUPRA
Racing in Spain as well as
Britain and has recorded podium
finishes
TOM BRADSHAW
Sam Bird BRITISH INTERNATIONAL F3 SERIES
FORMULA PALMER AUDI
Three podiums already before
home races at Oulton Park
TIM BRIDGEMAN
FORMULA PALMER AUDI
Race winner and Championship
leader
Jonathan Kennard BRITISH INTERNATIONAL F3 SERIES
OLIVER BRYANT
BRITISH GT
GT race winner, recently switched
from Porsche to drive an Ascari
JONATHAN COCKER
BRITISH GT CHAMPIONSHIP
Showing race winning form in
bioethanol-fuelled ‘green’ Aston
Martin
RYAN LEWIS
CHAMPCAR ATLANTIC
One podium so far and more
expected
James Sutton PORSCHE CARRERA CUP GB
ADRIAN QUAIFE-HOBBS
FORMULA BMW
‘Rookie’ category winner at
Snetterton in July
DEAN SMITH
FORMULA RENAULT UK
Currently second in
championship standings with
three wins. Neck and neck for
the title with Duncan Tappy (see
below)
JAMES SUTTON
PORSCHE CARRERA CUP GB
Impressive race winner already in
first season out of single seaters.
Could win the Championship.
Best placed driver from British
championship in Supercup race
at British GP
NICK TANDY
FORMULA FORD
Race winner – currently second
in British championship
DUNCAN TAPPY
FORMULA RENAULT
Current championship leader
with five wins. Neck and neck
with Dean Smith for the title (see
above!)
JAMES WALKER
RENAULT WORLD SERIES
Top ten results in this European
series
Jonathan Cocker BRITISH GT CHAMPIONSHIP
BRDC RISING STARS
Onslow-Cole takes maiden touring car win
Cool and calm
BRDC RISING STARS
Team RAC celebrate victory
for Tom Onslow-Cole, his first
as a Touring Car driver, during
a recent round of the British
Touring Car Championship at
Snetterton (Photo Jakob Ebrey)
B RDC Rising Star Tom Onslow-Cole scored his maiden
touring car win with a victory in Round 21 of the Dunlop
MSA British Touring Car Championship at Snetterton in
Norfolk at the end of July. It turned out to be a weekend of firsts
for the Team RAC driver, when he started from his first pole
position of the season and beat Mat Jackson’s BMW off the line
to take an immediate lead he was never to lose.
Despite coming under intense pressure in the closing stages,
Tom held his nerve to cross the line nearly three seconds ahead
of reigning champion Matt Neal, multiple race winner Fabrizio
Giovanardi and championship leader Jason Plato.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet, but it’s awesome, so good,” said Tom
immediately after the victory. “It was particularly good as it
wasn’t gifted, it was a tough race from start to finish. I got a bit of
a break in the last couple of laps, but to have someone of Jason’s
stature behind me and to be able to hold him off was a great
confidence boost. I’m on such a high now.”
Tom added, “I don’t think it was necessarily my best race
ever as I started from pole and should have always been in
with a shout, but it’s definitely my most memorable. I feel I’ve
got everything under my belt now. It’s tough out there but I’m
getting used to it and I think I’m able to hold my own.
“With Snetterton being the home track for Dick Bennetts
and Team RAC, I couldn’t have picked a better place to perform
like that. From the word go really, putting it on the front row
with Colin, it was always going to be a good event for the
team and the support here has really been amazing. You could
actually hear it in the car, people shouting, it was unbelievable.
I definitely want more now!”
Cathy Metcalfe
UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT: MIKE CONWAY
Under the spotlight:
MIKE CONWAY
The 2006 British F3 champion is a class act, and F1 beckons
O ne year after claiming the coveted
British F3 International Series
championship title, Mike Conway
stands on the verge of breaking into the big
league.
On the day Lewis Hamilton scored his
first British Grand Prix pole position, Mike
thrilled the Silverstone faithful by standing
on the podium after a determined drive
to second in the GP2 feature race at ‘The
Home of British Motor Racing’.
The Kent-based driver proved his worth
around Silverstone, a circuit where he made
his category debut a year earlier, and from a
front row starting position he hounded pole
qualifier, Andi Zuber, throughout the race
at the wheel of his David Sears-run Super
Nova International car.
“I was pretty happy to finish second, but
I still wanted to win,” Mike confirmed after
the race.
Standing on the podium was sweet
reward for Mike, who tasted victory
champagne almost on a weekly basis
throughout the 2006 season. Ending his
’06 season with victory in the prestigious
Macau F3 Grand Prix, Mike set sail for a
full season of GP2 and has shown great
maturity during the season so far.
Mike, in the familiar purple livery of
David Sears’s Super Nova International
GP2 car, enjoyed his best performance
of the year at the British Grand Prix
having qualified second
UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT: MIKE CONWAY
With a capacity crowd of 85,000 either
already seated, or on their way through
the circuit gates, Mike warmed up the
British fans with another strong showing
during the pre-Grand Prix GP2 sprint race.
With fellow British driver Adam Carroll
also performing strongly, all eyes were
on the Brits and Mike crossed the line in
fifth position – two places higher than his
reverse-result starting position.
“I did find overtaking difficult,” Mike
said. “Silverstone is a very fast circuit, and
you have to make sure you’re in the right
position before you can make a pass. GP2
really encourages overtaking, and so far this
season the racing has been superb.”
Just two weeks after Silverstone, Mike was
in action again – this time at the Nurburgring,
where he set the fastest race lap.
With the GP2 Series not due to end until
later this month, Mike has chances to
shine in three meetings during the month
of September. The classic Italy and Spa-
Francorchamps circuits are followed by the
championship finale in Spain, at Valencia
– home to the annual pre-season GP2 test.
Mike is looking forward to these events:
“People always remember the last races of
each season. Last season I won my final
race of the year, which just happened to be
the Macau F3 Grand Prix. It would be great
to win my last race of this year as well.”
Looking to the future, Mike, who joined
the full membership of the BRDC from the
ranks of the Rising Stars last year, has his
focus firmly fixed on Formula 1 and the
move to Grand Prix racing.
“That is the aim,” he said during the
British Grand Prix weekend.
“Any F3 champion has the ambition to
become a Grand Prix driver. I feel that I am
developing as a driver at every turn, and
with dedication and much-valued support,
I can’t wait to graduate from GP2 to F1.”
Archie Catt
LE MANS
Driving Rain
Audi outperformed their diesel-powered rivals, Peugeot, to win
a rainy Le Mans. James Beckett was trackside to report for the
BRDC Bulletin
T he 2007 Le Mans 24-Hour Race
will be remembered as one of the
toughest and wettest endurance
races seen in recent years. Heavy rain
throughout periods of the 75th-running
of the legendary endurance event made
driving conditions extremely hazardous,
but despite all the ups and downs of a
race lasting a day and a night, it was Audi
who triumphed – making it seven wins in
eight years for the German manufacturer,
and the second victory for its dieselpowered R10 TDI LMP1 car.
The Number One Audi Sport North
America car, driven by Marco Werner,
Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro, finished
the race 10 laps ahead of its nearest rival.
Audi led from almost the start of the
race – snatching the lead from the pole
position Number Eight Peugeot on the
opening lap. With Peugeot arriving at La
Sarthe with diesel-powered LMP1 cars,
’07 was the first time that the French
classic had been privileged to see major
manufacturers go head-to-head in a
battle for overall victory.
Intermittent but torrential rain caused
many problems for the competing teams,
and provided plenty of excitement for a
record 250,000 crowd, as the track went
from dry to greasy to soaked in a matter
of minutes.
Despite taking an early lead, it wasn’t
all easy for Audi. Their Number Three
car crashed out in spectacular fashion at
Tertre Rouge in the second hour of the
race, and Rinaldo Capello had a big off at
Indianapolis when a rear wheel came off,
ending the race in the Number Two car
he was sharing with Club Members Allan
McNish and Tom Kristensen.
After qualifying on pole position, the
Number Eight Team Peugeot Total 908
LMP1 car, driven by Stephane Sarrazin,
Pedro Lamy and Sebastien Bourdais,
finished the gruelling event in a
commendable second place.
The French manufacturer lost its
second car with only a couple of hours
of racing remaining, when a mechanical
failure forced the number 7 car to retire.
The Number 16 Pescarolo Sport
Pescarolo-Judd 01 LMP1 car, driven by
Emmanuel Collard, Jean-Christophe
Boullion and Romain Dumas finished
third, a further two laps behind the
winner. It was the highest-placed
petrol-powered car, with Martin Short’s
RESULTS
75th Le Mans 24-Hour Race, 16-17 June 2007
Pos.No. TeamCarLaps
1. 1 Audi Sport North America (Audi R10 TDi)
369
2. 8 Team Peugeot
(Peugeot 908 Hdi FAP)
359
3. 16 Pescarolo Sport
(Pescarolo-Judd)
358
4. 18Rollcentre Racing
(Pescarolo-Judd)
347
5. 009 Aston Martin Racing
(Aston Martin DBR9)
343
6. 63 Corvette Racing
(Chevrolet Corvette C6R) 342
LE MANS
Clockwise from top left:
Marco Werner brings the
number 1 Audi R10 TDi home
in atrocious conditions
The Manatou crews were kept
busy thanks to the standing
water
The number 2 Audi had pulled
out an impressive lead before
disaster struck
Similarly, Scuderia Ecosse
lead GT2 before a driveshaft
problem put them out just
before 18 hours
The new Peugeot 908 Hdi was
impressive, but struggled with
the conditions
New Full Member Tom KimberSmith, together with Danny
Watts had a disappointing race
after last year’s class victory
The weekend was a good
one for Pescarolo cars, both
team (top in light blue) and
private (bottom, the dark blue
Rollcentre Racing car)
(All photos by James Beckett)
Rollcentre Racing Pescarolo-Judd
fourth, driven by Martin along with
Joao Barbosa and BRDC Rising Star
Stuart Hall – a driver making his Le
Mans 24-Hour Race debut.
There was also considerable
success for Aston Martin. Aston’s
works racing team’s number
009 DBR9 car, driven by BRDC
Members Darren Turner and
David Brabham along with Rickard
Rydell, won the GT1 class. It was
a famous victory for Aston, who
have spent several years struggling
to overcome the dominance of the
Chevrolet Corvette cars in GT1.
Aston’s DBR9s also claimed third,
fourth, sixth and 10th in GT1,
in what was a truly impressive
performance.
The LMP2 class was won by the
Binnie Motorsports Lola-Zytek of
Bill Binnie, Alan Timpany and Chris
Buncombe, while GT2 laurels went
to the IMSA Performance Porsche
997 GT3 RSR of Pat Long, Raymond
Narac and Richard Lietz.
LE MANS
My Le Mans
Robin Liddell recalls a race to put down to experience…
L e Mans has a build-up quite unlike
any other race (perhaps with the
exception of the Indy 500), and so it
was that I found myself having the usual
thrash to get back from the Watkins Glen
Six Hour race on Saturday, in time to arrive
at Le Mans on Monday for the official
scrutineering in the Place des Jacobins.
With all the checks taken care of, we
readied ourselves for the task ahead. The
weather was not kind to us, but as darkness
fell on Wednesday and two dry wheel tracks
appeared it seemed that we might be able to
go for a time. The car was bottoming quite
a lot on the Mulsanne, so I had to be quite
aggressive to get the tyre pressures up, at
the same time being careful not to lock a
wheel on the damp patches under braking.
Right
Robin showed impressive pace
qualifying at night
Left
Tim Greaves limps back to the
pit lane with the damaged
Radical, far too early in the race
On both of my quick laps we were on for the
pole in LMP2, but due to traffic it was not to
be and so we lined up fourth.
Thursday saw the team fitting the race
engine and gearbox in readiness for the
race. When the car was run up on Thursday
evening it was clear all was not well with
the new gearbox. When we finally did
get out later on during the session we
then encountered a problem with the car
overheating. It seemed to get worse as
you gained speed on the Mulsanne. After
changing some ancillary items overnight,
we ran the car on the airfield the next day.
However, the problem remained, so the
team manager opted to change the engine
overnight in preparation for the warm-up
on race morning. Although the ambient
temperature was low on Saturday morning,
it appeared that the problem was still there,
and tensions were understandably starting
to run high. With advice from AER, our
engine supplier, we finally decided to flush
out the heat exchanger on the car, and after
some debris was found, we believed we had
found our problem.
Winning a 24-hour race requires an
element of luck, but in my view unless you
go into the race really believing and knowing
that you can win with what you have, you
are not in good shape. After the first stint, it
started to rain, and I was asked to get myself
ready to go in the car. Standing in the pitlane
with my helmet on, I began to realise that
something was wrong: the car had had an
‘off’ on its in lap. The chassis had damage
beyond repair, and there ended my Le Mans
2007– one to forget!
SILVERSTONE CLASSIC
A Classic event
A record crowd of 41,000 spectators enjoyed a nostalgic weekend at Silverstone
Classic as the event again provided entertainment on and off track
A feast of world class historic
motorsport took place at
Silverstone Classic, in association
with Bonhams.
3,000 more spectators visited the event
than last year, and already plans for the
2008 Classic are well underway. With the
dates already announced for next year’s
meeting (25-27 July) expectation is high
for another landmark event as 60 years of
Silverstone and 80 years of the BRDC are
to be celebrated.
‘We are delighted with the way the
Silverstone Classic is developing,’ said
Richard Phillips, Managing Director of
Silverstone Circuits Limited.
‘The Silverstone Classic continues to go
from strength to strength and would not
be such a success without the support of
the competitors, the enthusiasm of the
car clubs, and the dedication from all
the marshals and volunteers who put in
such long hours over all three days of the
event.’
Highs and lows
The weekend was packed with highlights,
one of which was the return to racing of
Right:
Peter Dunn in the ex-Merzario
March 761 being caught by
Simon Hadfield (who worked on
the car in period) in the ex-Hunt
Hesketh 308B in which James
won the 1975 Dutch Grand Prix
Below:
John Grant, in his first weekend
racing a Formula 1 car, was out
in his ex-Regazzoni Shadow
DN9 and leads Steve Allen in the
ex-Emerson Fittipaldi Copersucar
Fittipaldi F5a and Mike Wrigley
in the March 711 (Photos by
James Beckett)
SILVERSTONE CLASSIC
James Hunt’s legendary Dutch Grand Prixwinning Hesketh 308B, owned by Frank
Sytner, and driven by Simon Hadfield. The
car was demonstrated on the Saturday by
James’ son, Freddie, who is undertaking a
maiden season of Formula Ford this year.
Hadfield failed to win the Daily Express
Silverstone International Trophy race by
the narrowest of margins after a storming
drive from the back of the grid, with Peter
Dunn heading him across the finish line by
less than a second after 15 laps of racing in
his March 761.
With the 25th anniversary of the Porsche
956 being celebrated, the Group C races
provided all the right cars making all
the right noises. Honours were shared
between Jaguar and Porsche, when Gary
Pearson won on Saturday with his Jaguar
XJR-11, and Andy Purdie on Sunday in
his Porsche 962C. It was a disappointing
weekend though for Le Mans legend
Derek Bell. The five-time Le Mans and
triple Daytona 24-Hours winner was lying
third in Sunday’s Group C/GTP race, but
retired his Porsche 962C to the pits with
mechanical problems. Bell was unable to
start either of the Formula One races on
his single-seater return when the engine of
his Surtees TS9 failed during qualifying.
Fellow Le Mans winner Andy Wallace
was also a non-finisher in the Group
C/GTP race. Driving the 1990 24 Hourswinning Jaguar XJR-12, his race ended
when the car succumbed to low oil
pressure. But at least one Le Mans hero
had a good result – the Aston Martin
DBR1 that won at La Sarthe in 1959, in the
hands of Roy Salvadori and Carroll Shelby,
scooped the Roy Salvadori Trophy – an
emotional moment for current driver Nick
Leventis.
Fine hospitality
The BRDC Clubhouse was packed as
rain fell during the World Sportscar
Masters race on Saturday evening, with
competitors enjoying the Club’s unique
atmosphere.
The sun shone throughout the majority
of the weekend allowing Members, Guests
and visitors to Silverstone the opportunity
to browse the packed infield areas, and
watch racing that was simply, in a word,
Classic…
Anti-clockwise from top left:
Derek Bell was reunited with a
Group C Porsche 962 over the
weekend and as ever was a huge
hit with the spectators
Stowe was once again a magical
setting for the BRDC 500
scrutineering and competitors
looked the part
Peter Hardman drove the Ferrari
250LM as Enzo intended
The Group C entry was fantastic
and did true justice to the 25th
anniversary being celebrated
SILVERSTONE CLASSIC
Flying start
N Clockwise from the top:
The Martin Birrane/Ron Cumming
Lola T70 was victorious in the
incredibly tricky and evocative
wet conditions of the Sports Car
Masters evening race
Gareth Burnett treated those
who watched the BRDC 500 to
a memorable battle between
the supercharged Alta and the
8C Monza Alfa Romeo of Peter
Neumark, which was driven during
the first stint by Simon Hope
The BRDC Historic Challenge
enjoyed a full 44 car grid
eil Cunningham made a
dream debut at Silverstone
Classic, winning his first
historic race at the wheel of a Jaguar
D Type.
Teamed with car owner Benjamin
Eastick, Neil was triumphant in the
RAC Woodcote Trophy race. The
one-hour event provided a great
highlight to Saturday’s proceedings,
and the Cunningham/Eastick
Jaguar battled throughout with the
HWM-Jaguar of Barrie ‘Whizzo’
Williams and Michael Steele.
Eastick handed Neil the car at the
midway point, and a handful of laps
later the Le Mans Series racer took
the green car past ‘Whizzo’ and into
the lead.
“What a race,” Neil said afterwards.
“This was the perfect result and I
am so pleased to have been able to
make my Silverstone Classic debut
in a Jaguar D Type. To have the
opportunity to meet Tony Rolt at
the award ceremony was also very
special – a great day!”
Neil also entertained behind the
wheel of a 1965 Ford Mustang in the
Jack Sears Trophy Race. Qualifying
the Bob Pepper-owned (and co-driven) car third on his maiden drive, Neil was
handed the car after four laps – in 19th place.
His ensuing drive, setting fastest laps, came to an end when he was collected
by a spinning backmarker at Luffield, ending his race early. “What a shame,”
Neil said. “I was having so much fun. The car was sliding everywhere and what
better way to race – at Silverstone, the car very sideways and with a BRDC
badge on the bonnet!”
VIEW FROM THE COMMENTARY BOX
Grandstand view
Rob Barff describes the British Grand Prix weekend from his perch in the commentary box
M y role at the Grand Prix this
year was that of Technical
Analyst Commentator alongside
Ian Titchmarsh in the commentary box
overlooking Woodcote, as well as hosting
a number of sponsors and guests in the
Clubhouse and Farm over the Friday,
Saturday and Sunday. So with hindsight,
I probably got to experience as much of
the Grand Prix atmosphere as one man
could – from a BRDC Member’s perspective
within the F1 Paddock & the Club; and
from my commentator’s role, where I got to
witness the reactions and emotions of the
spectators in the grandstands.
In the Formula One race itself, hopes of a
home win for Lewis Hamilton were dashed
by the Iceman, however the Grand Prix
meeting was made personally memorable by
a number of events, both on and off the track.
Despite the Grand Prix having a date clash
with both the American Le Mans Series
and the FIA GT championship, which drew
away a number of the younger Members,
the atmosphere within the Club seemed to
be more buoyant than of late, both the Farm
and the Clubhouse were the usual friendly
relaxed places to be – and the quality of the
catering, particularly at the Grand Prix ball,
was superb. Even after the heavy rain and
wind blew away both the Pimms tents on
the Thursday evening the grass had dried
sufficiently so that many of the attendees,
myself included, could sit out and have
a pre-race beer at the Farm BBQ on the
Saturday evening.
It wasn’t a good weekend for Richard
Westbrook in the Porsche Supercup,
however in GP2 the home crowd had
slightly more to shout about. Since GP2
replaced Formula 3000 I have been one of
the Championship’s strongest supporters,
and for the second year running the crowds
rose to their feet to salute a British GP2 race
winner. Adam Carroll drove a storming race
on Sunday and I hope that his return to GP2
will gain him a seat in F1, Champcar or IRL
– he certainly deserves it.
Being brought up in an aviation-related
family I always look forward to the Red
Arrows. The ‘Diamond Nine’ formation is
a familiar sight at the British Grand Prix,
however due to a squash-inflicted hand
injury to one of the pilots, the team were
down to eight this year. Nevertheless, they
put on their usual polished performance
that drew warm applause from the Grand
Prix crowd.
But the highlight of the weekend for me
was the crowd’s reaction to the 1:19.977 lap
time set by Lewis Hamilton to grab Pole
Position – the first British driver to do so in
11 years. Even inside our soundproof booth
the atmosphere was electric. You quickly
run out of superlatives when summing up
Lewis’s season so far, but if he goes on to
win the World Championship it will only do
Formula One, and Silverstone, good.
(Photos by Jakob Ebrey and Jim Houlgrave)
VIEW FROM THE COMMENTARY BOX
BLAST FROM THE PAST
The greatest comeback
since Lazarus
Peter Windsor remembers the
1987 British Grand Prix: Piquet,
Mansell, and that overtaking
manoeuvre…
I t was a beautiful summer’s day and the
enclosures at Silverstone were filled
to capacity: welcome to the Shell Oils
British Grand Prix, featuring 153mph laps,
a British star driver and a weekend of total
domination by British F1 constructors.
All that remained was the race…
They were unbearably close in qualifying,
Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell, but
Nelson won the pole by seven-thousandths
of a second. Canon Williams Hondas filled
the front row. Behind them: Ayrton Senna
(Camel Lotus Honda) and Alain Prost
(Marlboro McLaren TAG-Porsche). A field
of depth, you might say – but on Sunday it
was no contest. The FW11Bs were in a race
of their own.
Nelson led from the start but Nigel gave
him no room to breathe. As the fuel loads
lightened they swapped fastest race laps
and new circuit records. Then the dynamics
changed. Nigel’s left front wheel lost a
balance weight; he could barely see for
the vibration. He called in for new tyres,
rejoining still in second place but now 28.3
sec behind Nelson. There were 30 laps still
to run.
Nelson relaxed, of course, as ‘P1’ drivers
would feel entitled to relax; and, also, he
felt his Goodyears begin to lose their edge.
He drove within the car, ensuring that he
would finish and thus that he would win.
Mansell, with nothing to lose, drove
absolutely on the limit, aware in his peripheral
vision of the arms and the programmes and
the flags flying in the grandstands – and aware,
too, that he could take Nelson by surprise.
Suddenly the gap was down to eight seconds.
Then five. Then three…and all at once Nigel
was visibly hauling Nelson in through Stowe
and Club, and the crowd – and Ian Titchmarsh
– were going wild.
BLAST FROM THE PAST
Right
Nigel’s day. Here he is heading into Stowe towards victory. When it
was all over Nigel hitched a lift on the pillion of a police motor cycle,
hopped off at Stowe and kissed the tarmac where he had passed his
team mate so resoundingly half an hour earlier.
He saw Nigel jink left, to
the outside, before the braking
area, and responded in kind
– but in a flash, Nigel was
down the outside, filling the
empty space
Nelson had the inside line as they
approached Stowe with three laps to run
but he was nervous from the pressure,
preoccupied with his mirrors. He saw
Nigel jink left, to the outside, before the
Left:
Where’s he gone? Although the race was totally dominated by
the Williams FW11Bs of Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet, this is
Becketts on lap 1 and Alain Prost’s McLaren MP4/3 is in front and
out of the picture. Moments later he had been passed by both the
Williams-Hondas, with Nelson, who went on to win his third World
Championship that year, leading almost all the way until Nigel
swept past with three and a half laps to go.
braking area, and responded in kind – but
in a flash Nigel was down the inside, filling
the empty space. Nelson tried to come
back at him – tried to intimidate Nigel
with a zap or three – but there was too
much anger between these two, too much
mutual distrust, for Nigel even to notice it.
Nelson was never going to turn right until
he, Nigel, turned right. He was the winner
of Silverstone’s British Grand Prix after a
comeback drive that will stand up there in
perpetuity with the sport’s best.
He ran out of fuel on the slow-down
lap, of course; Nigel’s day had to end
in perfection. But the race brought a
curious reversal of fortunes: in time, this
win would perversely lead Honda into
taking their engines away from Williams
and supplying them instead to McLaren
and would move Piquet, much-loved by
Honda, to accelerate his plan to leave
Williams for Camel money at LotusHonda. Mansell, the darling of the British
crowd, would meanwhile fail to win a
race throughout 1988. But everyone still
remembers that pass.
MEETING MEMBERS
Flying Doctor
1000 fixed wing hours and, more recently,
150 hours in helicopters. Frankly, that sounds
quite enough to keep any normal person
busy but then it becomes clear that he has
dedicated 35 years of his life to motorsport.
And he has not sat on the sidelines of the
sport but rather has become a subject matter
expert and innovator in a field that had, when
he first became involved, undoubtedly failed
to keep pace with the development in the
sport as a whole.
Dr David Cranston, Silverstone’s Chief Medical Officer, has been
instrumental in the development and improvement of motorsport
medicine and safety, as Stuart Pringle discovered
Building up skills
Club Secretary Stuart Pringle continues
his quest to find out more about the
Members who make up the British
Racing Drivers’ Club. In this edition he
is treated to an incredible look behind
the scenes of medicine in motorsport
T hose of us involved in ‘the business’
talk frequently about how Britain
and the area local to Silverstone
– ‘Motorsport Valley’ – is the world leader in
motorsport. While this is true, as a statement
this is primarily focused upon engineering
and related activities. However, on my second
visit to unearth a little more detail on the
talent that we have within the ranks of the
Club Membership, I discovered that there is
another field entirely where Silverstone can
claim to be a true innovator and leader in its
field. That is the extraordinarily important
arena of motorsport medicine.
Dr David Cranston, Consultant
Anaesthetist, licensed Aero-medical
Specialist, Member of the Silverstone Medical
Team since 1972 and Chief Medical Officer
to Silverstone since 1986, not to mention
BRDC Member since 1989, kindly agreed to
spare me a couple of hours in his busy diary
to be my second victim for this now-regular
feature. We had not previously met before I
arrived at his private surgery in Harpenden,
an easy 50 minutes south of Silverstone, but I
knew of course of his professional reputation.
The Silverstone medical centre is somewhere
at the circuit that most fit and healthy people
try to avoid at all costs in my experience. I am
no exception and, while I am able to point
out that it is ‘over there’, I am guilty of not
having set foot in the place and suspect that
most Members of the Club are in the same
position.
It quickly becomes clear that David is one
of those lucky people who has managed to
combine not just one hobby but two with
his professional life so that the lines between
all are really very blurred. One senses that
he has a way of life rather than a job. Clearly
an expert in his field of anaesthetics, his
enjoyment of flying, which was gained along
with a private pilot’s licence some 35 years
ago, has translated itself into him becoming
Chief Doctor to Easyjet and Monarch Airlines
in the course of licensing some 1600 pilots a
year, not to mention building up more than
I’m keen to understand whether the skills that
David has built up through his specialisation
of anaesthetics are the dominant reason
behind his development into one of the
world’s leading motorsport medical experts.
He agrees that such training is undoubtedly
a positive grounding, dealing as he does
on a regular basis with patients who are
unconscious, and thus require considerable
attention to their airways, as well as blood
loss, but there is clearly no set background
from which an FIA level doctor is expected to
come.
I suppose it should come as no great
surprise that Britain has been at the forefront
of developing motorsport medical services.
It is with a considerable degree of pride that
David explains that the system of continual
care from the point of accident on the circuit
through to the extrication, transportation to
the medical centre, entry into the medical
centre, treatment at the circuit, transfer
to ambulance or helicopter, transit to
hospital, and transfer into specialist hospital
facilities is conducted with constant medical
intervention to a procedure developed over
time by the team at Silverstone. He should
know: he wrote the book! And this procedure,
which is entirely logical when David takes
time to explain it step-by-step to a medical
dunce like me, is now the one which is
universally adopted around the world and
endorsed by the FIA. It is hard to imagine a
bigger compliment.
Global recognition
In 1989 David established the Advanced
Below:
36, yes 36, doctors are supported by a huge team of paramedics
and nurses at the British Grand Prix. David Cranston, seated in the
middle of the front row with a nurse to his left, masterminds the
whole operation.
MEETING MEMBERS
Trauma Life Support Course – the only one
of its kind run by motorsport doctors for
motorsport at a motorsport circuit. This is
now an annual course and is something that
the Silverstone team, under David’s tenure,
have led – to worldwide acclaim.
Why Britain should lead in this specialist
field is not entirely clear, although David
points to a long tradition of interest and
support of the medical side of motorsport.
Most recently, the FIA Formula 1 Medical
Delegate has been Professor Sid Watkins, who
has been a remarkable ambassador for the
sport and British endeavours worldwide. We
agree that Dr Benjafield, the Club’s founding
father, probably had little input into medical
motorsport support at the time, but Benjy
is a name to which David refers when he is
explaining to his new recruits the long history
of the Club and the influence of medicine in
motorsport over many years.
I am aware that during the history of the
sport there have been certain times when
greater emphasis has been placed upon
medical practices and safety in general.
David is clear that the single biggest defining
moment was the tragic death of Ayrton Senna
in 1994. The fact that on one weekend both
Senna and Roland Ratzenberger should lose
their lives following a period when F1 had
enjoyed no fatal accidents for some time was
a sharp wake-up call for a community which,
David feels, had perhaps thought it had
managed the risk. Sid Watkins committed
himself to driving forward standards not just
in the medical world but right back to basics
and through the design of individual corners
at specific tracks, run-offs, barriers and car
Sid Watkins used to say
that Silverstone was one of only
two Grands Prix at which he
could relax, confident that the
medical team were completely
on top of their game
design. His personal crusade was central to
the massive leap forward that followed those
tragic accidents.
“Sid had been very close to Ayrton and
he undoubtedly took his loss personally. I
suppose that was the good that came out of
the whole affair. Sid can be monumentally
proud of how the sport was pulled forward.
Just look at Robert Kubica in Montreal earlier
this season. It was a big accident where high
safety standards in the design of the car and
circuit safety equipment saved him, but also
the medical intervention and procedures in
place and their reaction to the accident were
first class.”
Best of the best
And of his personal legacy, what does David
feel is his greatest achievement?
“Without doubt, the medical centre at
Silverstone.” Built to a specification set out
by David in the now-universally accepted
manual of motorsport medical care, the
facilities were the best in the world when built
and remain so to this day. They have set the
standard for others to match at newer circuits.
I am embarrassed to have to admit that I had
no idea there is a four bed trauma unit, fully
equipped operating theatre including blood
bank, burns unit, full X-ray and ultrasound
suite, minor casualties unit and two four bed
wards. In short, a facility that is far in advance
of that in most small towns. Indeed, it is with
a considerable sense of pride and the smallest
of wry smiles that David tells me that Sid
Watkins used to say that Silverstone was one
of only two Grands Prix at which he could
relax, confident that the medical team were
completely on top of their game. It is, perhaps,
a pity that there is not a wider understanding
of the pioneering role and pre-eminent
position that the Silverstone Medical team
has created in the world of F1 and motorsport
in general. It is something of which David
is rightly proud and indeed from which all
BRDC Members should enjoy a sense of
reflected glory. If there is any disappointment
regarding his career, perhaps it is that he did
not pick up the senior role of FIA F1 Medical
Delegate upon the retirement of ‘The Prof’. “I
would have loved to have taken on the role,
but it wasn’t to be,” he says. He is pragmatic,
but I sense disappointed.
The last word is probably best left to FIA
F1 Medical Delegate Gary Hartstein, whose
official medical report for the 2007 British
Grand Prix reads: ‘Excellent discipline,
terrific attitude and a team with massive
motorsport experience. Truly an example of
what a medical service can and should be.’
Enough said.
OBITUARIES
Obituaries
JEFF UREN
I n two busy decades – the 1950s and
1960s – Jeff Uren was not only a
successful racing driver, but also a
great team manager and a manufacturer of
fondly-remembered ‘fast Fords’.
When motor racing was more about fun
than business, when trailers were race,
motorhomes not even thought about,
and sponsorship forbidden, it needed
determined men like Jeff Uren to get the
best out of very ordinary cars.
He started rallying in Ford Anglia 100Es,
first went motor racing in Willmentconverted Anglias – and won Britain’s
premier saloon car championship – the
BRSCC series – in 1959.
Raised in Cornwall, Jeff’s love of
motorsport was kindled by his brother,
Douglas. He knew Donald Bain, who
wanted to enter the Monte Carlo rally in
1955. As an engineer, Jeff was invited to
be part of the expedition, and at first the
entry was refused, the accepted, then
the team chose an Armstrong-Siddeley
Sapphire, then they learned to go rallying
‘on the hoof’ – finishing 141st out of 450
starters.
Following that, in his own 100E, Jeff
finished 121st on the 1956 Monte, and
started to enter sprints, hillclimbs and
with the Six-Hour Relay, racing events.
He approached “Edgy” Fabris, the
Competition Manager of Ford, explaining
that he wanted to ‘go racing’. Although
not signed as a ‘works’ driver, he was
instructed to ‘keep in touch’. Jeff bought
a Zephyr in 1957, and running it in on
the road, he set off for Silverstone. In
1958 he ran Zephyrs again, gave Ford
their first Championship class win at
Mallory Park, and finished second in the
standings to Jack Sears and his Austin A105
Westminster.
With an ‘open set of regulations’
announced by the BRSCC for 1959, and
although not an overall race winner, six
class victories resulted in championship
glory, and a chance telephone call from
Colonel Maurice Buckmaster from
the Ford Public Relations department
followed, when Jeff was invited by ‘Henry’
to become their new Competitions
Manager.
From October 1959, Jeff ran Ford
Motorsport on a contract basis, and that
year Gerry Burgess won the RAC Rally
and Vic Preston finished third on the 1960
Safari.
Two years later, in September 1962,
Jeff sat down with John Willment and the
result was the setting-up of the Willment
Motor Racing Division. The Lotus-Cortina
had been delayed, so the duo turned to a
team of Cortina GTs.
Approaching Walter Hayes at Ford, Jeff
asked for three Cortina GTs, £10,000 and
a quantity of spares. Hayes agreed, if Jeff
could find the drivers, and the deal was
done. Jack Sears had retired from racing,
but Jeff called him up and tempted him
back with the Cortina and a Galaxie and
Jack Sears became champion.
Throughout 1963-1964 Jeff was
closely involved in the development,
and campaigning, of two families of
V8-engined American Fords. The two
programmes could not have been more
different. On the one hand, there were
the Falcons that competed in the Monte
Carlo rally – and on the other there was
the gargantuan Galaxie that appeared,
OBITUARIES
so successfully, on the British Saloon Car
racing scene a few months later.
Jeff was introduced and recommended
to the Americans, who had never before
been rallying and were keen to move their
Falcon into the European market, by Walter
Hayes, and as soon as Jeff sat in one of
the cars he found its performance to be
tremendous.
For Monte Carlo, Jeff employed Swedish
driver Bussie Ljungfeldt to lead the attack
as the ‘win at all costs’ entry. Peter Jopp was
also lined-up by Jeff, and Anne Hall was
entered to tackle the ladies’ competition.
Although overall victory did not go Uren
and Ford’s way, Jopp did win his class, with
Ljungfeldt second – both benefiting from
Jeff’s ‘works’ professional service crews,
who had drivers such as Paul Hawkins,
John Manussis and Jack Sears on the road
in other Falcons, chasing around to look at
road conditions.
Before the Monte challenge was
complete, Jeff began to discuss the ’63 race
programme with John Willment. Ford-USA
and Holman & Moody began to talk about
bringing a Galaxie across to Britain for
saloon car racing. Jeff lapped Daytona with
‘Fireball’ Roberts to get a taste and shortly
afterwards a telephone call to Jack Sears
sealed the deal for him to drive the 450bhp
7-litre V8 monster, and with Spike Winters
and Brian Muir carrying-out engineering
duties, a steep mountain had to be climbed
before the car made its UK track debut.
Under Jeff’s stewardship the car was
taken to Silverstone, practised, and Jack
Sears won the first race with it – “Lofty”
England of Jaguar protested it. There were
arguments, but it was passed legal!
The car won races at fast tracks, like
Silverstone, and twisty circuits, like Crystal
Palace, and despite its drum brakes taking
a pounding, Jack Sears kept the big car out
of the barriers!
The Galaxie continued into 1964, but
by this time Jeff was far too busy to follow
its every movement. Not only did the
Willment team become heavily involved
in running the famous Willment Daytona
Cobra, but also moved up into singleseater racing, and in due course Jeff also
moved on to set up another business – the
‘Race Proved’ enterprise, which inspired
the birth of the ‘Essex’ V6-engined Cortina
Savage, and other famous Ford-based cars.
Graham Robson
PETER KERR
D.
C. (Pete) Kerr, who died recently,
will be remembered as one of
the great chief mechanics of the
1970s and 80s. He worked with some of
the great drivers, including Jochen Rindt,
Chris Amon, and Ronnie Peterson.
Pete was born in New Zealand, and
having an interest in cars and engines from
an early age he served an apprenticeship
on diesels at Caterpillar agents Gough,
Gough and Hamer, which taught him
all the basics of engine building, fuel
injection, and electronics.
His first introduction to motorsport
was through the Hamilton Car Club,
and that eventually led to him joining
the Motordrome Racing Team where
he met some of the people who were to
influence his decision to make motor
racing his profession, among them John
Muller. He then opened his own business,
Performance
Motors, but after
six months in
hospital after a
car accident in
which he was a
passenger, the
business was
closed.
Pete’s friend
John Muller had
come to England and eventually joined
Winkelmann Racing, and when the team
expanded to run a second car for Jochen
Rindt, John persuaded Pete that he should
also make the trip to be Jochen’s mechanic.
Pete arrived in England in March of
1965, and was immediately taken to the
Brabham factory to assemble the new car
he was to minister to for the season.
After John left to join McLaren a year
later Pete was appointed chief mechanic,
a position he held through the glory years
of Winkelmann Racing and Jochen’s virtual
domination of Formula 2.
At the end of 1969 Pete followed
Alan Rees to the newly formed March
Engineering where he became Chief
Mechanic on the Formula One team, and
worked with Chris Amon during 1970. The
following year Ronnie Peterson became
Number One driver at March, and he and
Pete struck up a strong partnership, which
was to endure during both the times that
Ronnie drove for March.
After Alan Rees left to join Shadow, Pete
stayed at March, but eventually moved to
Shadow at the end of 1973, where he filled
the same position as he had at March.
He later moved from Shadow to the
newly formed Arrows in 1977, again
with Alan Rees and Jackie Oliver. He
was to continue at Arrows for the rest of
his working life, eventually leaving the
race team and working at something
he enjoyed the most – Research and
Development. Pete was one of the
cleverest engineers one could ever meet,
with an ability to understand the workings
of any piece of machinery, and usually
an ability to improve upon whatever that
machinery was.
Apart from his interest in racing cars
Pete was a discerning car collector, and
over the years he owned a BMW 507, a
330 Ferrari, a DB2 Aston Martin, and his
favourite, a Ferrari Lusso.
Following the death of his beloved wife
Marcia, Pete set about completing the
restoration and sale of his collector cars,
and finally finishing the extension to his
house. This was part of his ‘packing up’
process, which he hoped would eventually
see him moving back to New Zealand for
his final days. Sadly he was diagnosed with
cancer late in 2006, and died, aged 73,
before he could make the move.
In spite of his great talents as mechanic
and engineer, Pete always remained
extremely modest about his achievements
and always seemed surprised at the
genuine affection and admiration he
engendered from so many who knew him.
To the last he retained his great sense of
humour, joking with those who called
to see him in his final days. One of his
proudest moments was being elected a
Member of the BRDC in 2000.
Howden Ganley
Continued overleaf
OBITUARIES
VIC SPARKES
A FRED GODDARD
F red Goddard, who died in a road accident
near Elkhart Lake’s Road America circuit,
was one of an extraordinary breed of
intuitive engineers from the African continent.
Born in Zimbabwe, Goddard built his own car,
the FMG 1, for South African Formula One events.
Ranged against proprietary ex-works chassis, his
only points finish was for sixth place in the 1969
Natal Winter Trophy at Roy Hesketh.
Goddard relocated to England in 1989, where
he ran Bowman’s Formula 3 Class B team before
setting up shop on his own the following season.
In 1991, at Mika Hakkinen’s behest, he guided Finn
Pekka Herva to the F3 B-class title, a feat repeated
by Gary Paffett and Robbie Kerr in 2000 and 2001.
Fred played a role in the careers of South
Africans Hilton Cowie, Stephen Watson, Werner
Lupberger, and Alan van der Merwe among others.
His involvement spanned F3000, EuroBoss and
Sportscar racing, and was intertwined with the
driving career of his son Earl (also a BRDC Member).
Fred leaves five daughters by his first marriage,
and Earl and a daughter by his second.
A Memorial Service was held at St Michael’s
Church in Silverstone on 31 July, followed by a trip
to The White Horse – just as Fred would have liked!
Marcus Pye
KEN COFFEY
K en joined the BRDC in 1975, having
competed in events that qualified him for
Club membership during the period 1968
to 1974.
In the 1000-mile race at Brands Hatch, and the
Spa 24-Hour Race, Ken enjoyed class podium
finishes in cars such as the Lotus Cortina and Twin
Cam Escort, and behind the wheel of a Ford Escort
RS2000 he was classified third in class and twelfth
overall in the Silverstone Tourist Trophy of 1975,
sharing driving duties with Cyd Williams.
n Associate Member of the
Club since 1976, Vic’s passion
was motor racing. Before a
long career in marshalling and duties
in race control, he, like so many, took
a turn behind the wheel – racing a
500cc F3 car in the 1950s.
As with so many drivers, the usual
constraints of time and money led
him away from driving, but his love
of the sport led him into marshalling.
Shortly after the formation of the
British Motor Racing Marshals Club
in 1957, he joined and worked his
way up the ladder.
Living in Stokenchurch, his
raceday activities centred on
Silverstone, where he became a
regular Observer. During this time,
Vic was Chairman of the Southern
Region of the BMRMC for a period.
When the BRDC decided to run all
the major meetings at Silverstone,
Vic was appointed Deputy Chief
Observer and then Chief Observer,
and following this service, Vic was
invited by the Board to become an
Associate Member of the BRDC in
1976, and additionally to be Clerk of
the Course at various race meetings.
This led to Vic being an FIA
accredited Clerk of the Course at
many international events including
the British Grand Prix, Formula 3000,
FIA Sports Cars and Formula Three.
On his retirement in 1997, Vic was
made an ‘Officiel d’Honneur’ of the
Royal Automobile Club Motor Sports
Association, and after he and his
wife Cathie moved to Buckfastleigh
in Devon, he continued to enjoy
his motor racing and acted as Club
Steward whenever possible.
His last visit to Silverstone was to
the 2006 British Grand Prix where
he enjoyed watching the racing and
meeting with a large number of old
friends. Vic was much respected in
the world of motor racing and will
be greatly missed by everyone who
knew him.
Vic is survived by his wife Cathie
and his three children Martin,
Nicholas and Judith from his
previous marriage to Doreen, to
all of whom we offer our deepest
sympathies.
Len Pullen
The Club are sorry to inform you that the following
Members have passed away:
CEDRIC BRIERLEY
and
GEOFFREY RICHARDSON
Obituaries will be published in the next Bulletin.
BECKETT'S CORNER
Beckett’s
Corner
Long live the BRDC 500
‘Why is the BRDC 500 so good?’ – it is a
question I have been asked several times
recently.
It is difficult to put a finger exactly on the
spot, but my simple guess is that it contains
everything that is great about the BRDC. It
has style, it has heritage, it has a sense of
tradition, it has camaraderie, and – above
all – it has motor racing!
For those of you reading this article who
do not know the history of the BRDC 500,
it was the first race to be organised by the
Club back in 1929 – just one year after the
BRDC began to operate formally. A 500mile race was held at Brooklands, and
drivers blasted their way around the Surrey
track like circus daredevils to write the
Club’s first racing chapter.
For nine years, the BRDC 500 entertained
‘the right crowd’ before the race
disappeared from the racing schedules. In
2004 the race returned, although now not a
500-mile or 500-km event, but a one-hour
race for two-driver combinations.
To ensure the race returned with style,
nearby Stowe School agreed that the
competing cars could visit and have their
pre-race scrutiny on the North Front Lawn
of Buckinghamshire’s finest mansion. With
live jazz music, a massed hot air balloon flyout and champagne flowing, the scene was
set for something special to follow.
With the original BRDC 500 race-winning
Bentley, and a Dallara-Judd Le Mans
Prototype, driven by Martin Short, leading
the field around on the Pace Lap, the race
started unlike any other seen at Silverstone.
The BRDC 500 was back.
With post race presentations taking
place outside the BRDC Clubhouse by the
Brooklands Gates, the BRDC 500 ensured it
kept to its traditions, even down to the race
Drivers blasted their way
around the Surrey track like
circus daredevils
winners being handed their trophies, sitting
in their cars, by the Club Secretary.
2004 saw the BRDC 500 re-established as
a major race on the historic racing calendar,
and this year’s Silverstone Classic saw
the fourth running of the BRDC 500 in its
current format – the event again forming a
cornerstone of the Club’s social calendar.
The assembly of pre-war sportscars at
Stowe for their scrutineering, followed by
a very enjoyable BRDC 500 Dinner, and
then great racing during the 500 itself,
completed another chapter of this great
history book. Quite simply, the BRDC 500 is
not good – it’s superb!
BRDC scrutineering at
Stowe is pure nostalgia
(Photos by Jim Houlgrave)
SECRETARY'S LETTER
secretary’s letter
I t has been great to see the Clubhouse in use so
and shot respectively who have kindly volunteered
the first win of a British Grand Prix by a British driver in
much since I last wrote. The Grand Prix was the
to ‘captain’ these sports and try and rebuild these
a British Car. It will take place in London on 11 October
highlight, of course, and it was pleasing that we
annual fixtures. The details are on page 50 and I would
and you are warmly encouraged to attend if possible.
managed to address the overcrowding of the recent
encourage you to get stuck in if possible. Please note
past to the benefit of all Members and their Guests who
that novices are particularly welcome on the shoot and
significant improvement in the quality of the publicity
attended in person. The Silverstone Classic was well
instruction and equipment are all available, so don’t
we put out surrounding our young racing Members and
supported as ever and thank goodness we were able
pass up this opportunity to learn a new sport in the
Rising Stars. As you have seen from the pages of this
to enjoy some good weather! It is worth mentioning
company of likeminded Members.
Bulletin, not to mention other recent editions, there is
that the invitation to the Classic competitors to enjoy
Perhaps the activity that is closest to home this autumn
One major aim of the coming months is to see a
a lot of good news to report, but we must do more to
a glass of champagne in the Clubhouse for an hour
is the last of the three, free Members’ track days this year.
broadcast it. Not only is it a very useful way to assist
and a half on Saturday evening was very well received
The June day was not at all well supported, but I rather
the individuals, but it will reflect on the Club in a very
and delivered a positive investment for the future of
hope that the return to the Grand Prix Circuit might
positive manner, ensuring there is no doubt about its
‘our own’ event. I strongly believe that without the very
secure stronger support. Frankly, it needs to or it makes
relevance and commitment to the sport. There is a
best quality and numbers on the track there is little
it really difficult to persuade SCL to offer up these days
huge amount of interest in motorsport nationally at the
to promote. It is therefore necessary to ensure that
when they could be earning income for the Group. In
moment, in no small part due to Member 1107, and we
the drivers feel welcome and an invitation from the
short, please support the day or there will inevitably
must not miss this opportunity to capitalise on it. Such
BRDC did just that. Thank you to all those Members
be less next year. Critically, bring a paying Guest or two
efforts will also be a good foil to talk of development
who kindly made the visitors feel so welcome, even if it
(£200 for the full day) if you can as it makes a helpful
and GP contracts etc., so it is a critical task worthy of
was for such a short visit. The Classic is a home-grown
contribution to the Club and is a great day out.
considerable attention.
meeting and has the potential to return to being a very
In other news, I am pleased to say that Jason Plato
successful event for Silverstone, so it is beholden upon
and Tim Harvey are kindly speaking to the ‘Rising Stars’
us all to do what we can to help it return to the level at
in August about how to forge a career in the world of
which it deserves to be.
Touring Cars, perhaps with a hint of TV and media work
Can I encourage you to involve yourself in Club
thrown in. Later in the year, a fascinating evening is in
activities and sports this autumn? In Jeremy Rossiter
store for those who would like to attend the ‘Evening
Stuart Pringle
and William Hewland we have an enthusiastic golfer
with Vanwall’ – the celebration of the 50th anniversary of
Secretary, BRDC
MEMBER NEWS
member news
NIGHT OUT WITH THE STARS
British Touring Car Championship legends Tim Harvey (below
right) and Jason Plato (below left) took centre stage in the BRDC
Clubhouse recently to host ‘An Evening with…’ for Members of the
Club’s Rising Stars Scheme. On the eve of the British F3-GT meeting,
a large number of Rising Stars gathered at Silverstone to hear Tim
and Jason tell of their careers in motorsport.
This was the second such event hosted for the Rising Stars, and
followed on from the first event that saw Damon Hill tell his story
from the humble beginnings of a motorcycle racer at Brands Hatch
through to winning the FIA F1 World Championship in 1996.
The Rising Stars were given ample time to ask questions of Tim
and Jason, and afterwards Jason said, “the BRDC Rising Star Scheme
is great. The scheme is all about BRDC Members, like Tim and I,
being on-hand to offer help and guidance like this to our champions
of tomorrow. The evening was a great success.”
Further events for the BRDC Rising Stars are now being planned by
the Club.
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVENTH
It has been confirmed that the seventh-running of
the BRDC Walter Hayes Trophy will take place at
Silverstone on November 3-4.
For 2007 the event will benefit from the support of
Silverstone Circuits Limited as a commercial partner,
with race administration being provided by the Historic
Sports Car Club (HSCC), through the offices of Club
Member Grahame White. James Beckett will still
organise the event on behalf of the Club.
The world’s largest Formula Ford 1600 event attracts
competitors from all over Britain and Ireland, with
drivers also making the trip to Silverstone from
mainland Europe.
Last year 164 FF1600 machines entered the Walter
Hayes Trophy itself, and spent the weekend battling
through a series of knockout rounds towards the Grand
Final. Irish racer, Peter Dempsey, eventually took
the crown, and was presented with the Walter Hayes
Trophy at the BRDC Clubhouse by Damon Hill.
Dempsey, winner of the Golden Helmet competition
in 2005 and at Knockhill in July, will return to
Silverstone in November to defend his crown.
A number of BRDC Members have indicated their
intention to take part, and cars are currently being
located, or prepared for competition, ahead of the
event.
The Walter Hayes Trophy will be supported by a
number of races for single seaters and sports and
saloon cars, with The Secretary’s Challenge – a race
exclusively for BRDC Members – taking place prior to
the Walter Hayes Trophy Grand Final on the Sunday
afternoon.
The Secretary’s Challenge is open to all Members
of the BRDC, who hold competition licences, and all
covered-wheel sports/saloon-type cars are eligible.
Last year the fifteen-lap race was won by Martin Short
at the wheel of his Rollcentre Racing Radical-Judd Le
Mans prototype. Full event details are available from:
[email protected]
As light fades at the end
of the day, Peter Dempsey
leads the field away at the
start of the 2006 Walter
Hayes Trophy Grand Final
(Photo Jakob Ebrey)
CLUB & REGIONAL EVENTS
club and regional events
SEPTEMBER
10
BRDC TRACK DAY
SILVERSTONE GRAND PRIX CIRCUIT
CONTACT: James Beckett Tel: 01327 850925
12
BRDC CLAY SHOOT
WEST WYCOMBE
CONTACT: Jan Stevenson Tel: 01327 850931
19
For the latest details please check out: www.brdc.co.uk
NOVEMBER
3
BRDC WALTER HAYES TROPHY FORUM
CLUBHOUSE
Contact: James Beckett Tel: 01327 850925
4
THE SECRETARY’S CHALLENGE
BRDC WALTER HAYES TROPHY
SILVERSTONE
Contact: James Beckett Tel: 01327 850925
BRDC SOCIAL LUNCH
CLUBHOUSE
CONTACT: Aspire Hospitality Tel: 01327 855104
21
20
BRDC SOCIAL LUNCH
CLUBHOUSE
BRDC GOLF DAY
FRILFORD NEAR OXFORD
CONTACT: Jeremy Rossiter Tel: 01865 243999
TBA
BRDC ANNUAL AWARDS
20
BRDC BOATING GROUP
COWES
CONTACT: Rex Woodgate Tel: 0238 084 9264
27
BRDC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LUNCH
EVERSLEY NEAR READING
CONTACT: Brian Heath Tel: 01590 643408
TBA
SCOTTISH REGIONAL DINNER
CONTACT: Hugh McCaig Tel: 01968 676406
OCTOBER
11
AN EVENING WITH...VANWALL 1957
BONHAMS, LONDON
CONTACT: Becky Simm Tel: 01327 850922
17
BRDC SOCIAL LUNCH
CLUBHOUSE
DECEMBER
8
BRDC SOUTHERN CHRISTMAS LUNCH
GINS FARM
CONTACT: Rex Woodgate Tel: 0238 084 9264
19
BRDC CHRISTMAS SOCIAL LUNCH
CLUBHOUSE
Opposite:
Sunday 23 June 1957. Ron Flockhart in the 3.8 litre fuelinjection Jaguar D-type (XKD 606) leads his Ecurie Ecosse
team-mate Ninian Sanderson in the 3.4l sister car (XKD 603)
past the packed Tribunes on their way to a dominant victory for
the Scottish team. The cars, shared respectively with Ivor Bueb
and Jock Lawrence, finished eight laps apart and led home
three more D-types in third, fourth and sixth places. The record
race winning average speed of 113.85 mph stood until beaten
by the Phil Hill/Oliver Gendebien Ferrari TR61 in 1961. This was
the second win in succession for Ron Flockhart, the Scot having
shared another Ecurie Ecosse D-type (XKD 501/MWS 301) with
Ninian Sanderson in 1956. (Note that the cars ran at Le Mans
on Scottish trade plates 376 SG and 341 SG rather than the
registration numbers RSF 301 and RSF 303 by which they are
better known.)
Of the 54 cars that started the 1957 race, 17 were British. Of
the 20 that finished, 12 were British. Team Lotus won the Index
of Performance and the 750cc class with a Lotus Eleven shared
by Cliff Allison and Keith Hall, while another Eleven finished
ninth overall and won the 1100cc class, driven by Americans
Herbert McKay Frazer and Jay Chamberlain. A French-entered
Aston Martin DB3S won the three-litre class, driven by JeanPaul Colas and Jean Kerguen, while the AC Ace-Bristol of Ken
Rudd and Peter Bolton came second in the two-litre class and
tenth overall.
Within weeks Vanwall had won three Formula One World
Championship races thanks to Stirling Moss and Tony Brooks,
while a few weeks earlier Tony (with Noel Cunningham-Reid)
had given Aston Martin its first World Sports Car Championship
victory. Has there ever been a year like that for British motor
racing?
Ian Titchmarsh
Back Cover:
Saturday afternoon and Britain’s new Formula 1 superstar
responds to the crowd’s euphoria at his dramatic last gasp pole. 
One of Silverstone’s great moments!

Volume 28 No 3

Transcription

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