Classic and Competition car 36

Transcription

Classic and Competition Car
September 2013
Issue 36
Aston Martin centenary
at Shelsley Walsh
Contents
Page 3 News
Page 8 Aston Martin DB7 Vantage Zagato
Page 9 It's a Sin
Page 10 Donington Test Day
Page 12 Archive Photo of the month
Page 13 Car Fest North Oulton Park
Page 20 VSCC Prescott Speed Hill Climb
Page 24 Pre-war Aston Martins at Prescott
Page 25 British GT Brands Hatch
Page 28 Coopers Tyres British Formula 3 series Brands Hatch
Page 30 Four Ashes Car Meeting
Page 33 Bentley Drivers Club Race meeting, Silverstone
Page 37 Wythall Carnival Classic car show
Page 40 GT Cup Silverstone.
Page 43 BRDC Formula 4 Silverstone
Page 45 British Hill Climb Championship, Shelsley Walsh
Page 47 Aston Martin Centenary at Shelsley Walsh
Page 50 European Classic race meeting CSCC Donington Park
Page 59 Donington National Kit and Performance Car Show
Front Cover.
Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato powers up Shelsley Walsh as part of the Aston Martin Centenary
celebrations © Janet Wright
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Classic and Competition car
September 2013
Our Team
Simon Wright - Editor.
Simon has been
photographing and
reporting on motor races
for many years. Served an
engineering apprenticeship
many years ago. Big fan of
the Porsche 917
Pete Austin.
Pete is the man for Historic
racing, with an extensive
archive of black and white
images covering the last
few decades of motorsport
in Britain. Very keen on
BRM.
Mick Herring
Mick's first love is GT
racing, including Historics,
especially the Lola T70.
Has an extensive
knowledge of all things GT.
Janet Wright.
Janet has been taking
photographs for many
years, and is also very
skilled in video. She likes
Aston Martins
Page
2
Editorial
Aston Martin has really made a
tremendous effort to mark the
centenary of the marque. They have
held events World wide and have
rolled out special vehicles at each
event, and to all types of event to
reach the widest possible audience.
In August they reached out to the
hill climbing fan base with special
displays at both Prescott with the
VSCC meeting and special pre war
cars on display, then moving to
Shelsley Walsh they displayed
some of their greatest modern
racing cars, even running the gulf
Lola Aston Martin DBR1/2 Le Mans
car from 2010 up the hill along with
the UK debut of the hydrogen hybrid
Aston Martin Rapide GT racer.
As the BTCC
headed north of the
border to Knockhill
in Scotland, Rob
Austin powered his
Audi to his first ever
Pole position in the
BTCC. In the race,
Colin Turkington
pushed himself
further up the
championship by
taking two wins in
his E-Bay BMW and
Andrew Jordan won
the third race.
© Simon Wright
© Simon Wright
Aston Martin AMR1 at Shelsley Walsh
News
News
Austin First
Pole in BTCC
Motoring enthusiast Rod Wade,
aged 70 from Australia is going to
drive his 1930 Ford Model A coast to
coast across America, from New
York to Los Angeles, against the
clock – 110 years since the first
coast to coast trip was made. He will
be accompanied by co-driver
Michael Flanders, former Crew Chief
for Dick Johnson Racing.
The challenge will be done to raise
money for the American Kidney
Fund, where Rod is hoping to
replicate his fund raising efforts for
Kidney Health Australia.
September 2013
Page
3
Second racing Jowett Jupiter appears.
By Simon Wright
Competing in the FISCAR Historic Intermarque races, Richard Gane
was thought to have the only Jowett Jupiter currently racing in the UK.
Then at the Bentley Drivers Club race meeting at Silverstone, John
Arnold appeared with another Jowett Jupiter. In the race Richard
finished 14th overall, 3 laps behind the winner, while John finished in
19th and last classified finisher, 5 laps behind the winner.
The Jowett Jupiter is unusual in that the entire front end lifts up to
access the flat 4 1486cc engine. Fitted with twin Zenith carburettors,
this produced around 60 bhp propelling the car to a maximum speed of
85 mph and did 0 to 60 mph in 11.7 seconds. The engine is mounted
well forward, ahead of the front axle with the radiator low behind it
© Pete Austin
© Simon Wright
Richard Gane 1953 Jowett Jupiter finished 14th at BDC meeting
mounted over the 4 speed gearbox with a column change.
About 900 were built in Idle, near Bradford in West
Yorkshire between 1950 and 1954. Richards is a 1953
version while John's car was built in 1952.
The model had a successful motor sport heritage with a
class win at the 1950 Le Mans 24 Hours race driven by
Tommy Wisdom and Tommy Wise to 16th place overall.
They took another two class wins in 1951 and 1952 with
Frenchman Marcel Becquart and British driver Gordon
Wilkins finishing 23rd overall in 1951 and 13th overall in
1952. The Jupiter also finished first and second in class on
the 1951 Monte Carlo rally, an outright win in the 1951
Lisbon International Rally, and a class 1 - 2 in the Dundrod
4 hour sports car race in Northern Ireland.
John Arnold 1952 Jowett Jupiter finished 19th at Silverstone BDC meeting.
September 2013
Page
4
Mallory looses Court case.
The owners of mallory Park
lost their court case and were
found guilty of breaching
noise levels on five occasions
last year. They were fined
£2,500 plus £23,000 court
costs at Leicester Magistrates
Court.
The two year dispute with the
district Council related to
breaches of a 1985 notice
which dictates how many
days the track can be used
each year and restricted noise
levels.
The Council took action after
153 complaints in 2012 from
local residents in Kirkby
Mallory, about noise levels
which some claim were
© Janet Wright
intolerable. The Council want
Mallory Park to continue in operation, but hope that Mallory Park will take the judgement in to account with relation to future events,
and that the circuit will respond to residents requests for less noise and disturbance for the people that live in the local village. The
Council have warned that if there are any future breaches, then they would consider stronger action.
Mallory Park owner John Ward had previously stated that the circuit may have to close if the Council had continued to pursue its
legal actions. After the hearing, a statement issued by the circuit said that Mallory park was reviewing its legal and trading position
and that it remains open for business and to discussions with the council. The circuit also stated that it was delighted that the case
has now established a number of facts regarding the 1985 Notice which were previously unclear.
Mallory park has been in operation as a motor racing circuit for 57 years, since
Classic and Competition Car
the Grand Opening on the 13th May 1956. The circuit had stated that an
Facebook Group
economic impact survey had estimated that the business was worth £10.5 million
We now have a Facebook Group a year to the local economy.
Classic and Competition Car - where you can join and keep up to date
with additional Photographs, postings, and extra event photo galleries.
Please feel free to add postings and photos.
September 2013
Page
5
© Janet Wright
Bentley return to GT racing.
In the 1920s Bentley was a major force in long
distance sports car racing, winning the famous Le
Mans 24 Hours race 5 times in 1924, 1927, 1928,
1929 and 1930. They then took a break until
returning to Le Mans with a purpose built racer, the
Speed 8, winning the race again in 2003 with a works
entry. Now they are returning to their roots and
offering customers the chance to race a Bentley in
modern GT racing. The new Bentley Continental GT3 is currently being
developed by the factory and is available for private teams to purchase and
race in 2014. The car is undergoing a development program before making its
full racing debut in the 2014 Blancpain series.
The Continental GT3 is powered by a dry sump, race prepared version of the
Bentley 4 litre twin turbo V8 engine, which develops 600 bhp. The efficient and
© Simon Wright
compact V8 design is perfect for racing. All the usual wood, leather and luxury finish are removed to help reduce the weight down
to below the target 1300kg. Even so, the steering wheel, seat and even door pulls are all hand trimmed by craftspeople at the
Crewe factory to maintain that Bentley finish. The Car can be seen being demonstrated at the Bentley Drivers Club race meeting
at Silverstone.
September 2013
Page
6
2013/14 MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series Invitational Round 1
2013/14 MSC New Zealand F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series
Formula 5000 Australia Cup Series (invitational round)
Muscle Car Masters meeting, Sydney Motorsport Park, Sydney
Fri-Sun Aug 30-Sept 01 2013
FOUR-STRONG KIWI TEAM FOR AUSSIE F5000 SERIES OPENER
A four-strong Kiwi team headed by ageless veteran Ken Smith (Lola T332) crosses the
Tasman next week to contest the opening round of the Formula 5000 Australia Cup Series
in Sydney over the August 31/September 01 weekend. The round - at Australia's big
Muscle Car Masters meeting at Sydney Motorsport Park (nee Eastern Creek) - is the first
© Fast Company/GroundSky Photography.
of four (and possibly five) rounds of this season's Australian series which members of New
Evergreen Kiwi veteran Ken Smith (#11 Lola T332) seen here leading
Zealand's Formula 5000 Association have been invited to compete at.
Clark Proctor (#57 March 73A)
As such they complement the four rounds of the successful, this season strictly New Zealand-based, MSC F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series. Joining
three-time MSC F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series champion Smith in the New Zealand squad are Clark Proctor (March 73A) and Andrew Higgins
(Lola T400), both from Auckland, and Tim Rush (McLaren M22) from Feilding. The four will join 10 local drivers in the field led by last year's Muscle Car
Masters meeting standout Bryan Sala (Matich A50) and including - amongst others - category stalwart Aaron Lewis (Matich A50), the father of V8
Supercar brothers Alex and Will, Richard Davison (Lola T332), and young gun Tom Tweedie in the ex Peter Gethin Team VDS Chevron B24.
The four Kiwis will leave their cars in Australia and return to contest the second round of the 2013/14 Australian series in Melbourne in mid-September
before shipping them back for the opening round of the four-round 2013/14 MSC F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series at Manfeild over the November
9-10 weekend.
© Fast Company/Alex Mitchell
2013/14 MSC New Zealand F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series
Calendar
Rnd 1: Nov 8-10 2013 'The Sound' MG Classic Manfeild Feilding
Rnd 2: Jan 17-19 2014 NZFMR Ferrari Festival - 1 Hampton Downs Nth Waikato
Rnd 3: Jan 24-16 2014 NZFMR Ferrari Festival - 2 Hampton Downs Nth Waikato
Rnd 4: Feb 01-02 2014 Skope Classic Powerbuilt Tools Raceway @
Ruapuna Park Christchurch 2013/14 Formula 5000 Australia Cup Series (invitational rounds)
Rnd 1: Aug 31-Sept 01 2013 Muscle Car Masters meeting Sydney Motorsport Park
Rnd 2: Sept 13-15 2013 Sandown 500 meeting (V8 Supercar's) Sandown Melbourne
Rnd 3: Nov 08-10 2013 Sandown Historics meeting Sandown Melbourne
Rnd 4: March 07-09 2014 Phillip Island Classic meeting Phillip Island Melbourne
Rnd 5: (provisional) March 14-16 2014 F1 Australian GP meeting Albert Park Melbourne
Prepared by FAST COMPANY of behalf of the New Zealand Formula 5000 Association
Top local driver Bryan Sala (# Matich A50)
www.F5000.co.nz Page 7
September 2013
Aston Martin DB7 Vantage Zagato
© Janet Wright
The Zagato factory in Italy has designed and hand built just 99 of the DB7
Vantage Zagato
which was
introduced at
the Paris Motor
Show in
October 2002.
This is car 34,
finished in Aston
Martin racing
green with a
special bitter
chocolate coloured leather interior.
Built on an uprated DB7 chassis, the bare bodies were then finished at
the Aston Martin factory. All 99 were sold with a list price of £165,000,
before they were built. One additional car was built for the Aston Martin
© Simon Wright
museum.
The DB7 Vantage Zagato is powered by the 6 litre V12 engine with a
© Simon Wright
manual 6 speed
gearbox. it has a
top speed of 186
mph and a 0-60
mph time of just
4.9 seconds.
Most are rarely
driven and stored
in air conditioned
garages. It was
also produced as
© Simon Wright a convertible
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join our Facebook Group Classic and Competition Car.
September 2013
Page
8
It's a Sin by Mick Herring.
Making its racing debut in GT Cup
on Silverstone's Grand Prix circuit
in August was the Sin Motorcars
Sin R1.
A stunning German supercar, the
brainchild of Russian Rosen
Daskalov, a former kart, BMW and
Radical racer who was keen to
return to the power-to-weight and
balance of a kart.
Conceived over a two year period
© Mick Herring in Germany, the FIA homologated
© Mick Herring
space-frame chassied car, in both racing and road guise is integral with a carbon fibre passenger cell.
The mid-mounted General Motors LS3 V8 engine fitted providing over 500bhp and in the 1,000kg racer,
an Albins ST6 6-speed sequential transaxle.
© Mick Herring Built in partnership with UK based Pro Formance Metals and unveiled at the
2013 Autosport show, with the road car demonstrated at Goodwood Festival of
Speed.
Rosen Daskalov and his team chose the GT Cup's shorter format races as part
of the car's development programme enabling them to focus on detail
improvements and get a good understanding of how it will perform in a
competitive environment.
A tentative first 40 minute race would see Rosen finish 4 laps behind the winner,
© Mick Herring
with an unclassified second race but
a strong showing in the final 25
minute race would yield an
impressive 9th position. With continued development the Sin
R1 could be competitive alongside
the similar specced cars offered by
Mosler, Riley TDC and Ultima as
well as the more sophisticated cars
from Ferrari and Porsche.
With a projected price of £60,000
the road car may become a sight,
albeit a rare one, on the roads of
Britain.
© Mick Herring
September 2013
Page
9
© Mick Herring
© Mick Herring
Donington Test August 29th
By Mick Herring.
A fully subscribed test day at
Donington, ahead of the
Superstars world meeting gave
several drivers and owners an
opportunity to test their cars
ahead of the Goodwood Revival
meeting. Reigning World Touring Car
champion Rob Huff tested, backto-back, two Ford GT40s along
with their owner, Richard Meins.
The predominantly white, with
black one piece bonnet, prototype Coupe must rank as one of the rarest examples of the GT40 in existence and accompanied the later red production
car on track. The differences readily apparent from the frontal shots. Fellow Touring Car ace and seasoned sports car racer, albeit from a couple of
decades ago, Steve Soper did numerous laps in David Cuff's white GT40.
Mike Jordan tested Philip Walker's silver GT40 "1041" complete with road-legal silencers. Only the aural delight of the car was subdued by this fitment.
The Lola T70 honours were upheld by Nigel Greensall's ex-Chuck Parsons, Carl Haas Racing Mk3 and Gary Pearson's ex-Sid Taylor, Frank Sytner
Mk3B. An interesting comparison could also be made against successive decades of GT car with the GT40s sharing the track with Mark Sumpter's
flame -spitting Porsche 911GT1 and a contemporary McLaren MP4-12C CanAm.
Also testing were Greg Audi in a Shadow DFV F1 car and Nick Padmore sampling the ex-Gunnar Nilsson Lotus 77, the Wolf DFV F1 and an F3 March
783
© Mick Herring
© Mick Herring
© Mick Herring
Steve Soper
Mark Sumpter Porsche 911 GT1
September 2013
World Touring Car Champion Rob Huff
Page
10
© Mick Herring
© Mick Herring
© Mick Herring
© Mick Herring
© Mick Herring
© Mick Herring
© Mick Herring
Top: Nick Padmore Wolf F1 Porsche 911 GT1
and Ford GT40 Gary Pearson Lola T70 Mk3B
Middle: Adam Wilcox Aston Martin Nick
Padmore Lotus 77 Greg Audi Shadow F1
Bottom: Nick Padmore March 783 F3 Nearly 50
years apart Ford GT40 and McLaren MP4 - 12C
© Mick Herring
September 2013
Page
11
Archive Picture of the
month By Pete Austin
It is 100 years since the
founding of the Aston Martin
marque with many Centenary
celebrations taking place
during the year including the
Shelsley Walsh Hill
Climb which you can read
about in this issue. In the early
80s Aston Martin enthusiast
and service agent Robin
Hamilton instigated the
building of an Aston Martin
engined car which
was eventually named as the
Nimrod. The car shown in this
months image is the example
owned by Viscount Downe
(then President of the Aston
Martin Owners Club)
and jointly entered by Pace
Petroleum (which had a 50 per
cent shareholding in Aston
Martin Lagonda). Sponsored
by Bovis Homes it is
shown during the 1982 Shell
Oils 1000 at Brands Hatch
driven by Ray Mallock
(driving here) and Mike
Salmon. The car finished 9th
© Pete Austin
September 2013
Page
12
© Janet Wright
1961 Ferrari TR61
© Simon Wright
CarFest North, Oulton
Park. 2nd-4th August 2013
By Simon & Janet Wright.
Chris Evans charity brainchild moved
in to its second year of operation with
a new venue for the Northern show.
Moving a few miles up the road from
Cholmondeley to the famous racing
circuit Oulton Park which is
celebrating its 60th anniversary. Also
in a change from last year, the
Northern show took place at the start
of August before Car Fest South at
Laverstock. The on-track action took
place round part of the Oulton Park
circuit, offering fantastic viewing
facilities for the spectators.
First car out on Track on Saturday
was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, now
owned by Chris Evans, and driven by
TV Chef Paul Hollywood on Saturday
morning and by Chris himself on
Saturday afternoon. It was a very
popular car with the crowds, both
September 2013
Ferrari 288 GTO.
The 288 GTO was built to Group B race and
rally specification. For homologation purposes, a
minimum of 200 cars had to be built and Ferrari
produced 272 cars between 1984 and 1986. The
O in the car name stands for Omologato, the
Italian for homologation.
Unfortunately after the death of rally driver Henri
Toivonen and his co drover Sergio Cresto in the
1986 Tour de Corse rally, Group B was banned
and the Ferrari never got to compete in
competition, leaving all 272 as road cars.
The GTO was based on the mid engined 308
GTB, but fitted with a 2.8 litre V8, twin
turbocharged, fuel injected engine (hence the
288 designation). Under FIA rules the turbo
charged engine was rated at 3997cc, just under
the Group B 4 litre limit. Unlike the 308, the mid
engine was mounted longitudinally to make room
for the intercooler and twin turbo chargers. The
car had a top speed of 189 mph (304Km/h)
making it the first street legal car to break the
300 km/h barrier. It could accelerate from 0-60
mph in just over 4 seconds and 0-125 mph in
just 15 seconds.
© Simon Wright
Page
13
young and old. As in previous Car Fest events, Chris Evans grouped the
track action in to seven vehicles to represent various categories of
motoring. Chris's own Magnificent Seven headed the entry with seven
superb Ferrari sports cars, including a 1961 Ferrari TR61 again driven by
Paul Hollywood on Saturday morning and Chris Evans in the afternoon, a
1963 250 GT SWB, a 1965 275 GTS Spyder, the ever popular 1973 Ferrari
365 GTB/4 Daytona, a rare 1985 Group B Ferrari 288 GTO, a 1990 F40
and a 2011 Ferrari © Simon Wright
SA Aperta.
The next batch was
the Iconic Seven
Group 44 Jaguar
which included the
E-Type racer from America
© Janet Wright
Group 44 E-Type
Jaguar convertible racing car from America, a Citroen DS convertible, a
Rah Welt 911, a Chevrolet Corvette, a Caterham Lotus 7, a Chevrolet
Camaro dragster, a Nissan GTR Skyline and Ed McDonough at the wheel
of the Streamliner, a recreation of the 1954 Mercedes Benz W196 Grand
Prix car which was fitted with a streamlined body for the races at Reims
and Monza.
Next it was the turn of the Historic Motorbike seven to tear up the track. As
© Janet Wright
well as the 2
1976 Ex- James Hunt McLaren M23 Grand Prix car
wheeled bikes,
there was also a road legal racing sidecar with 3 wheels and a GG
Quadstar complete with 4 small wheels.
© Simon Wright
It was now time for some of the
fastest Supercar's in the World to
wow the crowd. First out of the
gate was the McLaren MP4-12C,
followed swiftly by the Audi R8
V10, a Ferrari Aperta, a Lexus
LFA, a Noble M600 and a
Bentley Continental.
The fastest production cars in the
World were followed by some of
Mobile Shed!
the strangest - a mobile office
Lamborghini celebrated 50 years
September 2013
Page
14
© Simon Wright
© Simon Wright
consisting of a driving desk steered by a
computer keyboard and a garden shed!
The track action lasted for almost 2 hours and
included modern Formula 1 cars, rally cars,
vintage cars, dragsters, Le Mans sports racing
cars and a special Aston Martin seven as part of
the continuing Aston Martin Centenary
celebrations. There was also a large display of
Aston Martin models in the centre of the circuit.
Lamborghini were also celebrating their 50th
birthday with seven on track.
Car Fest is a lot more than just the track action. The paddock was filled
Drag race up the hill
with car clubs displaying everything, from the humble Mini through to
© Simon Wright powerful Dragsters. There were rides in a Monster truck as it
crushed cars beneath it and the centre area of the circuit was filled
with food! Tents and marquees filled with cakes and pies, and
every type of food imaginable was available. There was also
© Janet Wright
Aston Martin Vantage celebrating 100 years
Classic
action in the air, with helicopter and air displays
plus a flying display by the mighty Vulcan bomber.
And if all this was not enough, there was music,
lots and lots of top acts performing on stage well in
to the evening. Texas were the headline act on
Friday while Ocean Colour Scene, the Feeling and
Deacon Blue were all on stage on Saturday and
Sunday finished with Jamie Cullum and Alfie Boe
September 2013
and Competition car
Rally Car paddock
Page
15
© Simon Wright
© Janet Wright
IMSA Jaguar XJR-7
© Simon Wright
Audi Quattro Rally car
© Simon Wright
Dancing Diggers
© Simon Wright
Pontiac
© Janet Wright
Mustang P51
September 2013
Chevrolet Corvette
Page
16
© Simon Wright
© Janet Wright
© Simon Wright
Streamliner
© Simon Wright
Vulcan
All kinds of car clubs in the paddock
© Simon Wright
© Janet Wright
1989 Lotus Type 101
Nick Mason's
Ferrari 250GTO
© Simon Wright
© Janet Wright
September 2013
© Simon Wright
Page
17
© Simon Wright
Matra Seven.
One of the more exciting groups for the classic motor
sport fan at Car Fest was the Matra Seven. The sound of
the V12 wail as the cars drove around Oulton Park was
magnificent. The cars included both Grand Prix single
seaters and Le Mans Sports Prototypes.
The French armament firm went in to car production
when it bought Automobiles Rene Bonnet in October
1964 and began manufacturing racing cars and sports
cars. Starting off in Formula 3 and Formula 2 with
considerable success in France and European
championships, they progressed to Grand Prix racing in
1968 with Jackie Stewart winning several Grand Prix in a
Ex Chris Amon Matra Simca MS120 Grand Prix car
Tyrrell run Matra MS10, running along side the works
team. For 1969 Matra decided to put its support behind the Tyrrell team running the Cosworth DFV engine in the Matra chassis
with a car using structured fuel tanks even though that design would be banned for the following season. The decision paid off,
with Jackie Stewart being crowned World Champion driving the Matra MS10. Matra went in to partnership with Simca in 1970 and
ran their own V12 engine. Stewart and Tyrrell went their own way, as they were
© Janet Wright
backed by Ford and Elf, who had an agreement with Renault which precluded a
deal with Simca. Matra ran their own all French Grand Prix team with drivers Jean
Pierre Beltoise and Henri Pescarolo driving the MS120. Pescarolo finished 3rd in
Monaco and Beltoise finished 3rd at Spa and Monza. The car was developed in to
the MS120 B in 1971 and Pescarolo was replaced by New Zealand driver Chris
© Simon Wright Amon who managed a
3rd place in Spain in
his second race, which
was the only podium
placing for the team
Tour de France winning Matra 650
during the year. Matra
were down to just running one car in 1972 for Chris Amon, which
managed a 3rd place in France and finished 8th in the championship.
By this point Matra had switched its attention to the Le Mans 24 Hours
race, having been building sports racing cars since the Matra MS630 in
1967. The Sports car rules for 1968 limited prototype cars to a 3 litre
1973 Le Mans winning Matra Simca 670B
September 2013
Page
18
© Simon Wright
© Simon Wright
engine which meant that
the Matra V12 engine could
be used in both Grand Prix
and Sports car racing. In
the 1968 race the MS630
driven by Johnny ServoGavin and Henri Pescarolo
was a match for the 3 litre
Porsche and the car was
running in 2nd place at the
Le mans 24 Hours race at
the 22 hour mark before a
puncture caused the car to
crash out of the race. For
Matra 650 circuit sports car with additional wings
1969 World Championship winning Matra Cosworth MS80
1969 Matra produced the
fixed head MS640 and the open cockpit MS650. Unfortunately Pescarolo had a heavy crash while testing the MS640 and it was
never rebuilt. The MS650 finished 4th at Le Mans and took its first victory at Montlhery driven by Pescarolo and Jean Pierre
Beltoise. In 1970 and 1971 the 5 litre Porsche 917 and Ferrari 512 dominated sports car racing. The MS650 did manage to take
1st and 2nd place on the Tour de France and the new monocoque MS660 took a win at Montlhery. The team ran just one MS660
in 1971 with no success, but the faithfully MS650 was dusted off to again win the 1971 Tour de France. For 1972 the 5 litre sports
cars were banned and Le Mans was dropped from the World Sports Car
© Janet Wright
Championship. Ferrari dominated the World Championship but did not enter Le
Mans, but Matra was only interested in Le Mans and developed the MS670. This
gave Matra a 1-2 finish at the 1972 Le Mans 24 hours race with former World
Champion Graham Hill and Henri Pescarolo driving the winning car, and Francois
Cevert and Howden Ganley finishing second. Matra decided to compete in the entire
World Championship in 1973, deciding to concentrate on Sports car racing and
withdrew from Grand Prix. The modified MS670B beat Ferrari to the World
Championship and also won the Le Mans 24 Hours again with Pescarolo and
Gerrard Larrouse winning the 24 hour race. In 1974 Ferrari withdrew from the Sports
Car World Championship, leaving Matra to defend its crown with the MS670C, from
Alfa Romeo and Matra scored their third successive Le Mans 24 Hour victory with
Pescarolo and Larrouse taking a second victory. Having achieved their aims in
motorsport, Matra withdrew from competition at the end of the 1974 season.
1974 Matra 670C World Sports Car Championship
September 2013
Page
19
© Janet Wright
© Pete Austin
VSCC Prescott Speed Hill
climb 3rd & 4th August.
By Simon & Janet Wright with
additional photos by Pete Austin.
The 75th running of the blue ribband
speed event of the Vintage Sports Car
Club, Prescott is always fully
subscribed with a full entry of 260
cars. The club always run the original
course which turns right at Orchard
corner, ignoring the newer Ettore's
bend loop. This years event was held
in wet conditions after a dry practice
day on the Saturday, but the rain
stopped in the afternoon for the
Georg Prugger 1930 Lea Francis Hyper
second runs.
Fastest time of the day and the Mays-Berthon Trophy went to Mac Hulbert driving a 1938
ERA R4D in a time of 43.78 seconds,
© Pete Austin
over 2 seconds outside the current
Colin Bullock Lea Francis Cirrus Special leaves
record for his class, but only 8/10th
the start line in the wet
slower than his practice time from the
dry Saturday. Mac only made one run on Sunday on the drying track in
the afternoon, but it was enough to secure his victory.
The fastest Vintage car was driven by Robin baker. His 1930 Hispano/
Amilcar Special recorded a time of 45.15 seconds.
The Sam Clutton Memorial Trophy for the fastest Class 7 Edwardian car
was awarded to Andrew Howe-Davies driving the 1911 Scat Racer. its 9.5
litre engine powered it up the hill in 57.91 seconds.
The Peter Hampton Tankard for the fastest Bugatti was taken by Chris
Hudson in a Bugatti T35B, while the Silver Con-Rod Trophy, the
Scrutineer's award, went to the 1924 Vauxhall 30-98 Velox of Paul
Rogers. The final overall award was for the fastest unsupercharged sports
car which was presented to Brian White with his 1934/38 Frazer Nash
Mac Hulbert FTD 1938 ERA R4D
September 2013
Page
20
© Simon Wright
John Seber Wolseley Hornet Special
September 2013
Page
21
© Pete Austin
© Janet Wright
BMW TT replica.
These Vintage events are about so
much more than just the overall
fastest honours. With cars ranging in
size, age, power and weight, there is
a comprehensive class structure to
allow people to compete against
similar cars, who don't have the
fastest car overall, but can enjoy a
good weekends competition against
friends in a friendly atmosphere and
still have a chance to take home a
class award. At Prescott, there were
16 different classes ranging from
Dr David Morley Riley 9
Class 1 Standard and Modified Sports Cars up to 750cc
Unsupercharged up to Class 16 Pre 1941 Racing Cars over 3000cc. In
Adam Painter 1935 Maserati 4CS
each class there are usually at least 3 different awards, 1st overall in
class, 1st Vintage in class and 1st handicap in class. It is possible to win more than one award in class depending on the results.
© Simon Wright Ewen Getley in a Bentley 3/4 1/2 litre took both 1st
overall and 1st Vintage in Class 11 Special Sports
Cars over 3000cc Unsupercharged and over 2250cc
Supercharged class.The closest class results were in
the Standard and Modified Sports cars 2001-3000cc
Unsupercharged and up to 2000cc Supercharged
class where Norman Pemberton in a 1935 Talbot
95/105 took overall class honours by just 0.24 of a
second from Miss Alex Pilkington in her 1930 Alfa
Romeo 6 C 1750.
Other Class winners included William Way in an
Austin 7 Ulster, Keith Pointing in a Riley Brooklands,
Patrick Blakeney-Edwards Frazer Nash Super
Sports, Adam Painter driving a superb 1935 Maserati
4CS, Jerome Fack at the wheel of a 1936 Brough
Superior Alpine GS, Kevin Morton driving a 1931
Gillian Carr Vauxhall A/D Type
September 2013
Page
22
© Janet Wright
Riley 9 Special Sports and Dr David Pryke in a 1936
Morgan/Riley 4/4.
The Non-Automobile engined Edwardian cars saw the
unusual 1913/18 Vauxhall Viper Special of Tony Lees take
the class win with a time of 52.09 seconds and finally John
Gunn took the Pre-1941 Racing car class with his 1936
MG Q Type replica.
© Pete Austin
Nigel Hall Lagonda LG45 Sports Tourer
Claire Furnell Austin 7 The Toy
© Simon Wright
Jeremy Way Austin 7 Mrs Jojo
September 2013
Page
23
© Pete Austin
Aston Martin - The pre-war era at Prescott.
On Sunday at Prescott there was a parade of pre-war Aston Martin - in the majority
Bamford and Martin cars including an early Singer that Lionel Martin and Robert
Bamford developed between 1912 and 1914. Two early cars, the Halford Special and
Razor Blade were also paraded as well as competing in the main climb event.
1923 Aston Martin Razor Blade as driven
by Colin Shaw at Prescott. In 1923 Major
Halford at Brooklands achieved 100 miles
in one hour.
© Janet Wright
© Simon Wright
1919 Singer 10 similar to the one
marketed by Lionel Martin in 1913
when he and used one for trials and
hill climbs. He modified it from a 45
mph Tourer to a 80 mph racer.
1922 Green Pea Chassis No 1913. One of a pair of
twin OHC 16 valve racing cars for Count Zborowski
making their debut at the 1922 Strasbourg GP. In
1923 a SV Aston engine was fitted on its sale by
Bamford & Martin.
© Janet Wright
1923/25
Halford
Special
driven by
James
Cheyne
© Simon Wright
September 2013
© Simon Wright
This 1924 Aston Martin Tourer is the
only surviving Lionel Martin long
Chassis four seater Tourer which
retains its original bodywork. The last
of 26 cars built by Bamford and
Martin Ltd. In Concours it has won its
class at AMOC meetings and Pebble
Beach in America
Page
24
British GT Brands Hatch
By Mick Herring.
August 2013
After the long summer break the
British GT Championship resumed on
Brands Hatch's Grand Prix circuit.
Sadly, this would be without one of its
longest serving protagonists, the late
and much-missed Allan Simonsen.
As a mark of respect all cars carried
a motif, the front row would be kept
clear allowing Allan to take his
customary position and a 60 second
sounding of race engines would
herald British GT's farewell to "The
Great Dane".
Steve Tandy would start from pole
position in the 888/Optimum BMW
Z4, after Dan Brown's fast lap on
Saturday afternoon, but relinquished
the lead to Andrew Howard's
Beechdean Aston Martin that had sat
alongside. With thirty two cars taking the start
frantic action was guaranteed both on
GT4 winner Rick Parfitt gets leaned on at Paddock by Osborne-May
© Mick Herring
and off track with collision damage
accounting for some retirements, a lost door accounting for the Blendini Ginetta G50 and the LNT Ginetta G55 GT3 when it was hit by the flying door at
140mph with Zak Brown's United Autosports McLaren suffered a tyre blow-out ended his race after very heavy rear contact with the barriers.
The lead changed hands several times and Colin White's Ginetta G55 © Mick Herring
© Mick Herring
GT3 took a hard earned
turn at the front after
overcoming two BMWs
and the Aston until a
mistake put the Aston
back in the lead with
the Von Ryan McLaren
of Gregoire Demoustier
climbing from 19th to
lead for a while.
Rick Parfitt Jr
maintained his lead
Remembering Allan Simonsen
Patterson-Bell United Autosports Audi R8 at Druids 6th
Page 25
September 2013
© Mick Herring
throughout despite his Crohn's disease induced spell in hospital, until
just a few days earlier and still weak, handing over the Optimum Ginetta
G50 to Ryan Ratcliffe who maintained the lead to take their third
consecutive GT4 victory, winning by 1minute 10 seconds from Alex
Osborne/James May's G50.
© Mick Herring
Race start Steve Tandy leads the field
Chaos ensued in the pit lane when David Ashburn overshot his pit box causing
the following cars to be out of place and blocking his exit until their stops were
© Mick Herring
Duncan Tappy McLaren holds off Olly Bryant 0.8 secs at flag
completed.
An exciting and action-packed race with 9 seconds separating the
winning Beechdean Aston Martin from the Von Ryan McLaren now in the
hands of Duncan Tappy.
Barely a second covered the BMW Z4s in 3rd and 4th with the Marco
Attard/Oliver Bryant Ecurie Ecosse car heading 888 Optimum car of
Steve Tandy and Dan Brown.
The next round is at Zandvoort in Holland.
Aston regains the lead from Demoustier McLaren at Druids
September 2013
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26
© Mick Herring
© Mick Herring
Ecurie Ecosse BMW Z4 Attard-Bryant 3rd
One time leader Colin White Ginetta G55 GT3 12th
© Mick Herring
© Mick Herring
Rembert Berg-Warren Hughes Audi 14th
September 2013
GT4 winner Ryan Ratcliffe takes the flag by 1m10s
Page 27
© Mick Herring
Cooper Tires British F3 International Series Brands Hatch
GP By Mick Herring.
Cooper Tires British F3 International Series stalwart, Jazeman Jaafar, made the
most of his pole position by converting it into a lights to flag victory in Saturday
afternoon's first race on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit.
Such was the pace © Mick Herring
that the first eight
cars in the
International class
and National class
winner, China's
Sun Zheng, all
completed twentythree laps in the
30minutes.
Colombian lady-racer Tatiana Calderon
Second place went
fends off a recovering Will Buller
to Jordan King,
who remained within two seconds within 2 seconds of his Carlin team-mate, closing to
0.428 at the flag.
Will Buller nears track limit
Championship leader Will Buller was adjudged to have jumped the start going from 7th to 4th. His reward was a drive-through penalty but he would
climb back to 6th, claiming an extra point for setting fastest lap. Third was Antonio Giovinazzi ahead of the the Carlin duo of Nicholas Latifi and Jann
Mardenborough.
The grid for Race 2 on Sunday morning was determined by the reversal of the top eight from race 1.
Victory, his first, went to Brazilian Felipe Lopes Guimaraes who had finished 7th on Saturday managed to beat Antonio Giovinazzi by 2.6 seconds.
Will Buller repeated his jump start, with another drive-through issued. He would make progress back to 5th on the road but penalties of 5 and 30 seconds, for track-limit infringements would drop him to 9th, another fastest
lap his only compensation.
Jazeman Jaafar finished 3rd, a further 10.5 seconds back.
Nicholas Latifi also suffered twin track-limit penalties to finish 10th, however
subsequent review of video evidence saw their penalties removed, placing them in
4th and 6th respectively.
Ed Jones took the National class victory in 8th.
Race 3 would net Jazeman Jaafar his second victory of the weekend and a Carlin
1-2-3, ahead of Jordan King and Nicholas Latifi.
Will Buller tangled Antonio Giovinazzi on lap two, the Italian eliminated on the spot
National class leader Sun Zheng
© Mick Herring
September 2013
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28
© Mick Herring
© Mick Herring
Maiden win Felipe Lopes Guimaraes
Double
race
winner
Jazeman
Jaafar
with Buller's car damaged and needing pit work to enable him to rejoin
and finish an eventual 12th. Fourth place was claimed by a distant Felipe Guimaraes with Jann Mardenborough close behind.
The National class was won by Ed Jones in 8th.
Heading into the final round at the Nurburgring, the championship standings are:- Jordan King 118pts, Will Buller 115pts and Antonio Giovinazzi 97pts,
whilst the National class reads Sun Zheng 143pts, Ed Jones 103pts and Cameron Twyman 82pts..
© Mick Herring
Jumped starts R'us Will Buller 2nd in championship
Antonio Giovinazzi leaves Brands Hatch in 3rd place
© Mick Herring
September 2013
Page
29
© Simon Wright
Four Ashes Car meeting. 1st August 2013.
By Simon Wright.
The first Thursday evening of the month sees car owners
gather at the Four Ashes public house just north of the
city of Wolverhampton in the Midlands. This once "free"
meeting is now charging cars to park and display on the
large field behind the pub, but it did not seem to deter the
crowds on the lovely summer evening of the 1st of
August.
These types of gatherings always draw out a large variety
of cars, ranging from the odd vintage car, through a
scattering of classic cars, right up to modern modified
cars and various owners clubs who all come together to
enjoy their passion for the automobile. Several hundred
cars turned up and a collection of motorcycles and
scooters, some of which should be classified as art works
Four Ashes, where Classic and Modern meet. MGB GT and
Austin A35 on the way out and new Ford Fiesta on the way in. due to the custom paint jobs they have. There were also
several classic American muscle cars in attendance. These
included a Ford Torino similar to the car in the TV series Starsky
and Hutch, a new Ford Mustang with a yellow and black paint job
like Bumble Bee from the Transformers movie and a Dodge
Charger similar to the car from the Dukes of Hazzard. There was a
© Simon Wright great looking 1964 Cadillac and a
Pontiac Bonneville showing the
big American saloon style of the
1960's without all the chrome
and fins of the earlier 50s
models.
There was an impressive line up
of modern supercars, showing
that even in the most austere of
times, there is still money around
1970s Bristol Type 603
Scooter Art for great cars. The Audi R8
September 2013
© Simon Wright
Page
30
convertible was resplendent in Red, matching the colour of the Ferrari 308
GT4 2+2 V8 which was a little further up the field. There was a fine
example of a Lotus Excel and a modern Aston Martin to add a British
flavour to the super car mix.
Several motoring clubs were in attendance, with members parking up
together, including Various Ford Grandas and a line up of Vauxhall VXR
hot hatch backs.
Ford have always been a
major car supplier in
England and it was
reflected in the cars that
were on show representing
© Simon Wright
Vauxhall VXR line up
the modern history of Ford
with such models as the Anglia, Escort, Capri, Granada, Mondeo, Fiesta and a
replica GT40.
© Simon Wright
Amoung the unusual cars
at the meeting was a Volvo
1800 ES estate, their
sporty coupe with an
extended back. There was
© Simon Wright
Riley RMD
also a Ford Anglia which
had been lowered and modified with a 4 cylinder twin overhead cam turbo
charged engine fitted and a Classic Riley RMD painted Black and Pink,
Volvo 1800 ES Estate
which I don't think was a factory option paint job! With
cars in to the hundreds, this gathering certainly
remains a popular meeting during the summer
months.
Ford Granada
September 2013
© Simon Wright
Page
31
© Simon Wright
© Simon Wright
Jaguar MkII pair
Dodge Charger R/T
Ford Anglia
© Simon Wright
© Simon Wright
© Simon Wright
Rover 9
Ford Torino 390
© Simon Wright
Ford Mustang
© Simon Wright
© Simon Wright
© Simon Wright
Sunbeam Rapier
September 2013
Ford GT40
Page
32
© Simon Wright
Bentley Drivers Club race meeting, Silverstone10th
August 2013.
By Simon and Janet Wright with additional photos by Pete Austin.
The paddock at the Bentley Drivers Club meeting at Silverstone is usually
more impressive than the race track, as vintage Bentley models are
displayed with pride by their owners who may not be willing to risk their
priceless pride and joy to the rigours of the circuit. However, the Bentleys
that do grace the track are not restrained because of their value, but are
raced as fast as they will go, in clean and fair competition. As well as races
for Bentleys of all ages, there are other sports car series invited to take
part in the meeting giving an on track history to road going sports cars
through the ages.
The first race was the Fifties Sports Car Racing Club Historic Intermarque
race for sports cars from that era that are as close as possible to their
Paddock displays were impressive
original specification. Brian Arculus in his Lotus Elite managed a fairly easy
win after seeing off early challenger Spike Milligan in a HWM Jaguar while Andy Shepherd in his AC Ace finished 3rd.
© Pete Austin
Next up was the Vintage and Pre War Scratch race which saw six
Bentley's out to take on a mixed field of vintage British sports cars with
Wolseley, Riley, Morgan, Vauxhall, Lagonda, Austin and Aston Martin all
© Janet Wright represented.
However it was the
ERA R4A of
Nicholas Topliss
that dominated
proceedings,
leading all the way
from Pole position
to the chequered
flag and also took
fastest lap. He even
beat a 10 second
penalty that was
Nicholas Topliss dominated the Vintage race in his ERA R4A
Matthew Wurr Aero racing Morgan Challenge
September 2013
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33
© Simon Wright
Simon Worthington Bentley GT (rainbow car) cuts through traffic when lapping in the
Bentley Scratch race. Richard Frankel Bentley TT leads the pack
applied to his time after starting out of position. Tim
Greenhall was the only other competitor on the same
lap to take 2nd place in his Wolseley Hornet Special
while Stuart Morley was the first Bentley to finish,
taking 3rd place in his Bentley 3/4 1/2. Special mention
must be made of Paul Lawrence who was driving the
smallest car, both in size and engine capacity. His little
Austin 7 with a 750cc engine took on the big boys and
beat most of them, finishing 4th overall.
The third race was a combined MG T register, AC and
Morgan race. William Plant was on Pole position in his
Morgan +4 and after passing Greg Dixon-Smith on the
second lap, Plant went on to win by over 13 seconds
from Dixon-Smith in his Morgan +4 Supersport while
Tony Hirst in a Morgan +4 Baby Doll finished 3rd. First
MG home was Graham Coles in his MGA Coupe
finishing 4th and Andy Shepherd's AC Ace was 7th and
the first AC to finish.
© Janet Wright
Now it was time for one of the main races of the day, the Bentley Scratch race.
Michael Haig in his Bentley T Special took a very close pole position ahead of
Simon Worthington in his rainbow coloured Bentley Continental GT. On the
© Pete Austin
first lap, the Bentley T
Special developed a fault
and was retired from the
rest of the days activities,
leaving Worthington an
easy victory in the most
Paul Myatt MG Parson special in the MG T Register race
finished 18th
modern car (2005) in the
field. Sue Shoosmith led home the rest, finishing 2nd in her Bentley MkVI
Special and the only other car to go the race distance. Ewen Getley was third,
a lap down, driving a Bentley 3/4 1/2.
After the Bentley race it was time for the British built Morgan to take to the
track for an Aero Racing Morgan Challenge. This proved to be an easy victory
for Matthew Wurr in a Morgan Plus 8 who led from start to finish to win by
Mike Peck 1934 Austin 7 Allcomers handicap for slower cars
September 2013
Page
34
© Janet Wright
3.771 seconds from Philip Goddard and Richard Plant. This was
followed by an Allcomers handicap for slower cars. This saw an
interesting mix of modern and classic saloons and sports cars out on
track together. Top Qualifier was Jon Lee in a 1300cc Austin Rover
Mini ahead of Henry Williams in a 2011 Morgan 4/4 Sport. Lee was
the fastest car on the circuit, setting the fastest lap of the race in 1
minute 10.492 seconds, but he could not beat the handicap which
gave victory to Dave Gibson in a Morgan +4 ahead of Richard Frankel
in a gorgeous 1959 Alfa Romeo SS with Andrew Frankel third in
another Alfa Romeo, this one being a 1954 Gulietta Sport.
© Simon Wright
Race 7 was a
Bentley handicap
which
unsurprisingly saw
Stuart Worthington
fastest in qualifying
Robert Gate Bentley MkVI Special has a quick spin at Luffield
in his rainbow 2005 Bentley GT ahead of three 1950s Bentley Mk VI Specials
of Paul Forty, Sue Shoosmith and Robert Gate. Worthington also set the
fastest lap of the race in 1 minute 12.122 seconds, but could not beat his
handicap. He finished down in 16th place overall, second from last place. The
winner was Peter William Butler in a 1924 4.4 litre Bentley 3/4 1/2 who after 8
© Pete Austin
laps was 4.913 seconds Chris Randall Lotus Europa passes Paul Atkinson MG B
Roadster in the Allcomers Handicap for faster cars
ahead of Paul Carter
driving a 1936 Bentley 4 1/4 while Andrew Frankel was classified 3rd in a
1921 Bentley TT.
Now it was time for the more modern sports cars and saloons to take part
in the Allcomers Handicap for faster cars. Chris Randall made his 2006
Lotus Europa the fastest car in qualifying and the quickest car on track
during the race with a fastest lap of 1 minute 1.671 seconds. But this
outright speed was again defeated on the handicap giving victory to
Malcolm Mitton in a Lotus Elan +2 who won by just 0.006 of a second for
the closest win of the day. That very close 2nd place went to Trevor Clarke
in a Westfield Ford Zetec while Graeme Smith was 3rd in a Caterham 7
Jonathan Moorhouse 1963 MGB and James Tiller 1950 Allard J2
Classic.
battle in the Allcomers Handicap for Faster cars
September 2013
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35
© Pete Austin
© Simon Wright
Trevor Clarke took
another 2nd place in
the Sunbeam
Challenge and
Invitation Scratch race
with his Westfield from
Pole Position. David
Smallridge upheld
Sunbeam honour to
take the win in his 1965
Sunbeam Tiger while
Dave Coyne was a
Mark Butterworth Allard K3 in the Allcomers Handicap for distant 3rd at the wheel
slower cars. Finished 4th
of his Jaguar E-Type.
Paul Clayson 1965 Sunbeam Tiger finished 6th in the Sunbeam
The tenth and final race of the day was a 15 minute Allcomers Scratch
Challenge
© Simon Wright
race. Again Chris Randall proved his Lotus
Europa was fast on a single lap to claim
Pole position. This time with no handicap to
deal with, Randall made it an easy win for
the Lotus, with a pair of Morgans hard on
his heels. Matthew Wurr was 2nd and
David Rushton 3rd, both at the wheel of
similar Morgan Plus 8s.
In the lunch break, 2003 Le Mans 24 hours
winner Guy Smith gave a demonstration of
the new Bentley Continental GT3 which is
available for private teams to buy to take
part in next years Blancpain series or other
GT3 category series.
Left: Trevor Swete 1931 Invicta S Type (7th) leads
Richard frankel 1959 Alfa Romeo SS which
finished 2nd in the Allcomers Handicap for Slower
card
September 2013
Page
36
Wythall Carnival,
Sunday 11th August 2013. By Simon and Janet Wright.
© Simon Wright
MGB line up
This is a typical classic car show at a well organised village fete during the summer months and is duplicated up and down the
country. This is a long standing show at Wythall, on the outskirts of Birmingham and near Solihull. It has always drawn a large entry
of classic and modern vehicles and has a large field for the display area, separate from, but connected to the rest of the stalls and
activities of the normal fete. This village is located very near to Longbridge where Austin cars used to be produced, and not that far
from the Land Rover factory in Solihull. Many of the owners were former employees of British Leyland, or will have some link to the
© Simon Wright
former motoring giant, and this is reflected in the large number of British
Leyland associated manufacturers cars shown.
The display area is not a regular shape, so there are cars scattered all
around the border of the field, some groups in small alcoves amongst the
trees and the vintage cars are given pride of place in the middle. This year
there was a large display of MG Sports cars lined up across the back of the
© Janet Wright
field from the local
MG car club, while
opposite them in
the corner was the
Birmingham Mini
Owners club with a
line up of classic
Longbridge built
Minis. The Leyland
Classic Minis
marques continued
with several Triumph and Jaguar models plus some of the more unusual
cars such as the Daimler Dart, a sports car from the luxury saloon
manufacturer in the early 1960s.
Ford has been the best selling car manufacturer for many years, so it was
Daimler Dart
appropriate that Ford was well represented at Wythall. Most unusual car
September 2013
Page
37
was a perfect example of the Ford Executive Mark IV. Based on
the Ford Zodiac saloon. The Executive is an upmarket estate
version of the Ford Granada saloon. Powered by the 3 litre V6
engine, producing 136 Bhp and mated to automatic transmission,
the car could reach a top speed of 100 miles per hour, with a
reasonable 0 to 60 time of 13.1 seconds bearing in mind the
weight and bulk of this vehicle. This was also reflected in the poor
17.2 miles per gallon fuel consumption. Remaining with the Ford
theme, there were a pair of cars parked next to each other to
show that the Zephyr and Zodiac were basically the same car.
The Mark II versions were introduced in 1956. The blue 4 door
Zodiac has a slightly different front grill, while the 2 door Zephyr
© Simon Wright
Ford Executive Mk IV
© Janet Wright
was a very unusual convertible soft top version. Due to the
inherent structural weakness in convertible designs, very few
have survived, though this white example was in perfect
condition. The power operated hood gave the car an upmarket
feel. The 6 cylinder 2.5 litre engine produced 86 bhp and was
matched to a 3 speed manual gearbox with optional overdrive, or
a Borg Warner automatic transmission system.
© Simon Wright
Ford Zodiac and Zephyr Mk II
Another unusual Ford was the Consul Classic which was built
between 1961 and 1963. Styled after the American cars of the 50s
with fins and a two colour paint scheme. The two at the show were
fine examples of the 2 door and 4 door models.
Ford Consul Classic
September 2013
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38
© Janet Wright
One corner of the show had a interesting line up of historic vehicles.
Jowett was a manufacturer of light cars and light commercial vehicles
between 1906 and 1954, based in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The most
famous of the Jowett range is the Jupiter but here they had three
vehicles on display, the centre one of which was a Bradford by Jowett
Commercial vehicle with a convertible roof. The Bradford was available
as a light truck, van or utility vehicle. They were powered by a 1005cc
side valve flat twin engine. They were produced between 1946 and
1953 during which over 38,000 were built. To the right was the Jowett
Javelin, which was launched in 1948 with a 1486cc Flat four OHV
engine. The Javelin remained in production until 1953 and over 23,000
were built. It also achieved various success in motor sport achieving a
class win in the 1949 Monte Carlo Rally and the Spa 24 hours race and
an outright win on the 1953 International Tulip Rally. The car on the left
Jowett Line up
is a 1930s Jowett Grey Knight de-luxe saloon which has a flat twin
cylinder horizontally opposed 907cc side valve engine. Production at Jowett ceased in 1954.
© Simon Wright Another unusual car found lurking in the park was a 1914 Sigma
Type AL2. This was built by Society Industrial Genevoise de
Mechanique et Automobiles (SIGMA), a Swiss firm from CheneBougeries. The original cars were built in the former PickerMoccand factory in Switzerland and were medium sized 4 cylinder
cars with 8/11hp engines. In 1911 the company started to produce
the Knight sleeved engine under license in 18 and 28hp sizes and
they also produced a 15 and 25 hp poppet valve engine. From
1913 to 1928 they were built at Lavallois-Perret, Seine in France by
Society des Automobiles Sigma and used a variety of 4 cylinder
Ballot engines. This particular car is believed to have spent most
of its life in a French museum and is completely original. It is
missing the acetylene generator. The body is almost rust free and
appears to have been tinned, In 1988 it was sold to a dealer in New
York and then to a museum in Japan. It arrived in the UK in 2006. It
is powered by an 1100cc Fivet engine supplied by Maurice Poyet of
Paris.
1914 Sigma Type AL2
September 2013
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39
GT Cup Silverstone
17-18th August 2013. By Mick Herring
© Mick Herring
Few racers would pass up the chance to race on Silverstone's 3.66
mile Grand Prix circuit, so the fifth round of the GT Cup championship
boasted not only its now traditional bumper grid, the world racing
debut of the Russian-German-British Sin supercar (profiled in this
issue), Jonny Mac Gregor's ever-improving Ultima GTR but also two
front-running British GT cars, one of which would go home with two
wins.
Saturday's longer, 40 minute pit stop race was immediately dominated
by Mark Poole's Aston Martin, leading away Ron Johnson's BMW Z4,
both run here and in British GT by Barwell Motorsport, Martin Short's
R1 Glow of success Abra-Poole Aston Martin
© Mick Herring
Rollcentre
Ferrari 458 Challenge, running in the GTO class, was in hot pursuit. An
early safety car slowed the pace for a few laps but at the restart Kevin
Riley raced strongly in 4th until fuel pick-up problems saw him drop to an
eventual 17th. After the pit stops were completed Mark Poole consolidated
his lead to 33 seconds at the flag but some of the cars now taken over by
their more experienced drivers would climb up the field especially when the
rains fell later. Bob Berridge would bring the Riley TDC up to 2nd after
taking over from Nigel Mustill, passing Ron Johnson's BMW late on. A
rapidly closing Aaron Scott's Ferrari 458, in from Arwyn Williams first half
R1 Duyver-Hollings Ferrari GTC winners 6th
was 1.1 seconds adrift in 4th place but 27 seconds behind was Martin
Short's Ferrari. The Jacques Duyver/Charlie Hollings GTC Ferrari 458
© Mick Herring
Challenge was first non-GTO class car in 6th.
Sunday's first, dry, 25 minute race required a 5 lap safety car immediately. A first corner collision between Chris Dockerill's lime green Ferrari 430 and
Chris Randall's Lotus would eliminate them and 4 more cars on the spot,
including Kevin Riley's Mosler, fortunately without any injuries to the drivers.
Racing resumed with five laps remaining and Mark Poole had built a lead of
18 seconds at the flag, his second of the weekend, from Ron Johnson's
R2 Remains of Dockerill Ferrari
September 2013
Page
40
© Mick Herring
BMW Z4.
Third place in GTO
and overall was Ian
Dockerill's Porsche
911 RSR ahead of
Alex Martin was 4th,
4 seconds ahead of
the rapidly improving
Jacques Duyver, both
in GTC class Ferrari
458 Challenge cars.
Don Grice won GTB
convincingly in his
BMW V8.
R1 Mustill-Berridge Riley TDC Mk22 2nd
Race 3 started cleanly with Arwyn Williams' Ferrari
458 GT3 getting the drop
on Ron Johnson and leading convincingly until Bob
Berridge's Riley TDC Mk22 got past the BMW Z4 in
© Mick Herring
© Mick Herring
R2 Aston Ahead for 10 secs of racing.
pursuit of Williams.
Having set the race's fastest lap, Berridge caught the Ferrari and the pair
touched as he attempted to pass, the Ferrari spinning out and colliding with
Johnson's BMW, ending both of their races.
Ian Dockerill brought his Porsche home nearly 14 seconds behind the
Riley.
Alex Martin was 1st GTC car in 3rd followed by Jacques Duyver and Toby
Tarrant-Willis all in Ferrari 458s.
The improving Sin of Rosen Daskalov finished 9th, taking Invitation class
honours, whilst Jeff Wyatt maintained his GTA position with 2nd in class.
The next GT Cup round is at Snetterton on 7th/8th September.
R2 Don Grice BMW winner GTB 11th
September 2013
Page
41
© Mick Herring
R2 Improving Ultima Jonny MacGregor 8th
R1 Loggie-Jones Porsche winners GTB 13th
© Mick Herring
R1 Oversize and over here American muscle fuel starvation drops Kevin Riley
Mosler as (Mustill)-berridge Riley TDC laps him to 2nd
© Mick Herring
R3 Rosen Daskalov Sin Inv winner 9th
© Mick Herring
© Mick Herring
R1 Race of the race sam Smeeth(42) 10th continual place swapping from all three, Toby TW(38) 12th and Alex Martin(9) 11th
R3 Alex Martin 1st GTC 3rd, Ian Dockerill would overtake
© Mick Herring
September 2013
Page
42
© Mick Herring
© Mick Herring
BRDC Formula 4
Silverstone.
By Mick Herring.
Coming into Silverstone it is
difficult not to see the impact
that the BRDC F4
Championship has had on
single seater racing in its
short period of existence.
Statistics show Jake Hughes,
on 272 points, leads his
nearest rival, Seb Morris by
just 16 points having taken
two wins against Seb's none. In third place is Jake
Silverstone race winner Matty Graham
Dalton, also with two wins and 249 points. Matt Bell, with 3 wins to his credit enters Silverstone down in sixth.
The draw of F4 encompasses the globe with the grandson of a world champion in Pietro Fittipaldi having taken one win.
Race one on Saturday afternoon saw Matty Graham, in his Sean Walkinshaw Racing prepared car take his second win in
© Mick Herring
successive weekends. Jake Hughes was next nearly 4.5 seconds
behind with Charlie Robertson a similar distance behind in 3rd.
The second Sean Walkinshaw car of Jack Barlow was 4th.
Race two, on Sunday morning provided a win for Ross Gunn, his
second of the year and a convincing 4.6 seconds ahead of Jack
Barlow. Most significant was the driver in 3rd place, the private entry
of James Greenway, taking his first podium after a 5th in race one,
serving to prove that a self-run car is capable of delivering results
and James is hopeful of taking a win this season.
Pietro Fittipaldi grandson of a world champion
Race three, the final F4 race of the weekend, Jake Hughes claimed a
near 7 second margin after 10 laps of close racing after a fantastic
September 2013
Page
43
© Mick Herring
Race 3 winner and championship leader Jake Hughes
overtaking move on lap three for the lead. Race one winner, Matty
Graham headed Seb Morris by a similar margin with Jack Barlow
and Charlie Robertson close behind.
The fight at the top got a little further apart as Jake Hughes, on 339
points, further extended his lead over Seb Morris with 305 points,
Jake Barlow climbed to third with 300 points. Another climber, Matty
Graham edged Jake Dalton back to fifth.
The penultimate round takes place at Snetterton on 7th/8th
September.
© Mick Herring
© Mick Herring
Jake Hughes race winner and championship leader
Raoul Hyman and Jake Barlow
© Mick Herring
© Mick Herring
Charlie Robertson
Matt Bell 3 time race winner
September 2013
Page
44
© Simon Wright
British Hill Climb Championship,
Shelsley Walsh.
17th and 18th August 2013.
By Simon and Janet Wright with additional
photos by Pete Austin.
The British Hill Climb Championship returned
to Shelsley Walsh over the weekend of the
17th and 18th August as part of the Aston
Martin Centenary Celebration meeting at this
oldest motor sport venue. Saturday was
practice day, allowing all the competitiors to
have a couple of runs up the hill, to
familiarise them selves with the track.
Sunday was competition day, and it was
another bright and sunny day making for near
ideal conditions for the timed runs. As usual
in the British Hill climb championship events,
the fastest twelve competitors in the timed
runs go in to two championship run offs, one
Wallace Menzies DJ Firestorm fastest in the first Championship run-off
© Simon Wright
after the first timed runs, and the second at
the end of the meeting. These run-offs are
always competitive and local driver and MAC
member Alex Summers from Tenbury Wells
was voted 'Man of the meeting' after two
fantastic climbs in the two run-offs. His
supercharged 1340cc DJ Firehawk was
competing against much more powerful cars,
and the steep Shelsley hill is definately
considered a power hill, yet he managed to
beat many of the more powerful cars to finish
3rd and 6th in the two run-offs.
Alex Summers DJ Firehawk
Scott Moran Gould GR61X fastest in 2nd championship run off
© Janet Wright
September 2013
Page
45
© Simon Wright
© Pete Austin
Scottish driver Wallace
Menzies was fastest on
the first Championship
run-off in a time of 23.48
seconds to take
maximum points in his
DJ Firestorm Cosworth
while Ludlow driver
Scott Moran driving a
Nicholson McLaren
Gould GR61X was
fastest in the second
Anthony Shute Lotus 61
Championship run-off in
a time of 23.31 seconds to maintain his lead in the Championship.
Current Champion Trevor Willis from Worcester could only manage 2nd
and 4th in the two Championship run-offs in this V8 powered OMS 28.
Martin Bolsover McLaren M6 GT
Another local driver was Clive Austin from Clifton on Teme who was
driving a new Empire Wraith for the first time at Shelsley. The Formula 1 designed car showed plenty of potential by giving Clive
a personal best time of 29.3 seconds in the 1100cc racing car class. © Janet Wright
meanwhile reigning Midland Hill Climb Champion Mike Turpin from
© Simon Wright
nearby
Hereford won
his class in
his
supercharged
Vauxhall
VX220 with a
time of 30.25
seconds and
is currently
looking like he
will keep his
championship
Tim Cross OMS SC1
Keith Edwards Audi Sport Quattro
September 2013
Page
46
Aston Martin at Shelsley Walsh.
© Janet Wright
Lola Aston Martin DBR1/2 in action up the hill
September 2013
As part of their year
of Centenary
celebrations, Aston
Martin arrived in force
at Shelsley Walsh. A
couple of weeks
before the Shelsley
meeting, there had
been a display of
Vintage Aston Martins
at the VSCC Hill
Climb meeting at
Prescott (See report
in this issue). This
time it was the turn of
the more modern cars
to be displayed to the
crowds.
History was made
when the three works
Aston Martin DB2s
from 1950 and 1951
were re-united for the
first time in 62 years.
George Abecassis
drove VMF65 at
Shelsley Walsh in
1950 and then drove
XMC77 the following
year while sister car
XMC76 was driven by
Reg Parnell. All of
Page
47
© Simon Wright
© Janet Wright
Aston Martin Ulster LM
© Simon Wright
these works cars have never
been back to Shelsley until
now.
High-light was seeing the Gulf
Lola Aston Martin DBR1/2 run
up the hill after the morning
parade of 35 Aston Martins in
time line order, starting with
LM10. Another first was the
UK debut of the Aston Martin
Lagonda Hydrogen Rapide S
taking to a UK track for the
first time. Touring Car star
Aston Martin Lagonda Hydrogen Hibrid Rapide S made its UK debut
Tom Onslow-Cole was given
the task on Sunday of driving this car up the hill, and delighted the crowd with a 64 foot
burnout from the start line on his final run.
There were also lots of static displays, both around the paddock and in the car park of both
© Pete Austin
racing and classic Aston Martins.
Only seen for the
second time in
public was the
Gulf Aston Martin
AMR-One Le
Mans prototype
from 2011. In the
courtyard was a
display of 4
racing Aston
Martins, including
the AMR1 and
the DBR9 GT1
and the curent
GTE.
Aston Martin DBR9
George Abercassis Aston Martin DB2
September 2013
Page
48
© Simon Wright
© Simon Wright
Aston Martin DBR3
© Pete Austin
2011 Aston Martin AMR One
© Pete Austin
Aston Martin Centenary Vanquish
© Janet Wright
Aston Martin parade
1951 Aston Martin DB2 Ex Works Le Mans car and Reg Parnell
September 2013
Page
49
European Classic Race meeting Donington Park 24th-25th August 2013.
By Mick Herring and Simon Wright with additional photos by Janet Wright.
This two day International race meeting organised by the Classic and Sports Car Club (CSCC) welcomed German and Dutch
drivers to Donington Park to compete in three Triumph Competition with British GT races. The packed two day program consisted
of sixteen races of saloon or sportscar action. Besides the European races adding some variety, there were also two Special
© Janet Wright Saloon races, one each day,
© Simon Wright
which brings together some of
the classic Super Saloons
from the 1970s.
The first race was a 40 minute
Modern Classics which saw a
mixture of sports cars and
saloons from the 1990s and
2000. David Kempton led from
the front row in his BMW M3
E36 3200 and pulled out a
slight lead until his pitstop on
lap 14. He began to make his
David Kempton BMW M3 E36 3200 had a big crash at Redgate
causing damage to his car and the wall, but he walked away
way through the field and was
back up to 3rd place when on the 21st lap, he went straight on at Redgate corner, skipped across the gravel and hit the tyre barrier
hard enough to break the concrete retaining wall behind the tyre barrier and bounce the car back so it was facing the track action.
It took several minutes before the driver emerged from the wreck, but he
© Simon Wright
was able to walk to the ambulance to be taken for a checkup. This left race
victory to Tim Bates at the wheel of a Porsche 911 SC 3000 ahead of
another Porsche, a 944 S2 2900 of Luke Johnson. Third place went to the
Mark Smith/James Moulton-Smith BMW M3 E36 3000.
Race 2 was for the Jaguar saloon and GT cars and David Howard got the
lead on lap 2 and managed to keep his works colour scheme Jaguar XJ12
in front to the chequered flag finishing just 0.864 seconds ahead of class
winner Thomas Barclay in a Jaguar Coupe. Chris Palmer was the first XJS
home finishing 4th overall, while Chris Pizzala in another XJS was the final
class winner.
David Howard won both Jaguar races in his XJ12
September 2013
Page
50
© Mick Herring
The second Jaguar race was Race 9 on Sunday. The Jaguar XJ12
of David Howard took its second win of the weekend after a close
and intense race against Thomas Barclay's Coupe 4.2, winning by
nearly 1.7 seconds after being barely feet apart for the duration.
Gail Hill was 6th overall and 3rd in class in her XJ40, hoping to
improve the cars performance for next year with a small weightloss programme to the car in an effort to remain competitive with
some of the more developed cars ahead of her. Derek Pearce's venerable Jaguar Mk2 3.8 proved once again its
abilities and those of its driver by finishing a credible 8th overall.
Next on the bill was the MGCC Thoroughbred Sportscars race
which was dedicated to the memory of Roy McCarthy. Roy last
raced at Donington in Septembeer 2010 just 4 weeks before he died. He had raced in
and supported the championship from its beginning in 1976 and the competing cars were
all carrying a sticker in memory of him. Robert Spencer led the field round for the start in
his 'Martini' coloured MG BGT V8. Neil Fowler got the best start and led in to Regate the
first time but by the
© Janet Wright
end of the first lap
Spencer was back in
front where he
remained for the rest
of the race as he won
easily from Neil Fowler
and Ian Prior who were also driving MG BGT V8s. Simon
Cripps won the Standard over 2.4 litres and road modified up
to 2 litres class in an MGB in 7th place overall. The Road
modified over 2 litres and up to 4.5 litres class was won by
Christian Marx in his Triumph TR4 in 9th place and the final
class winner was Rene Grueter at the wheel of an MG B in the
Standard cars to 2.5 litres class, finishing in 26th place overall,
one lap down on the overall winner.
Bruce Cologne-Brookes gets sideways to 20th as Gail Hill XJ40 avoids him to finish 6th
Winner Robert Spencer MG BGT V8 leads the Thoroughbred Sports car race
September 2013
Page
51
© Simon Wright
© Simon Wright
Barry Holmes MG BGT V8 had a spin at Redgate in the Thoroughbred sports car race
© Mick Herring
Jubilant 2nd Chris Edwards Lotus 7 S4
© Janet Wright
Nick Wade Jaguar XJS battles with Simon Blunt Jaguar XJS
in the Jaguar Classic Parts Saloon and GT Championship
Robin and Thomas Grey Pontiac Trans Am Disqualified from Future Classic race
© Simon Wright
© Simon Wright
Nick & Ethan Whittaker Ferrari 308 GT4 in the Future
Classics race
© Janet Wright
Marcus Weidenback Triumph TR7 V8 Triumph Competition
and British GT race
© Janet Wright
Future Classics VW Corrado driven by James Broad and
Mark Lloyd-Jones
September 2013
Chris Olive Honda Civic Tin Tops race Class winner
Page
52
© Simon Wright
The Future Classics had another large field of 1970s and
1980s saloons, sports cars and GT cars. There was a
large contingent of Porsche entered covering most of the
different models available, 911, 928, 944, 964 and 924.
but it was the British TVR Tuscan 5200 of Tim Davis that
was the dominant car, taking Pole position and a win in
the race from Tim Bates Porsche 911 SC and the Triumph
TR7 V8 of Martyn Adams. At the start it looked like
Nicholas Olson in the Lotus Esprit would be a challenger
for the win, leading in to Redgate corner and holding
Harvey/Neal Porsche 964 Carrera 2 spins off at Redgate on the first lap of the Future Classics race
second © Janet Wright
place for the first four laps before retirement. Davis and Bates both won their
class, with Tom Brenton Ford Sierra in 4th, Clive Bailye/Paul Black Mazda
MX5 in 9th and Simon and Chris James Ford Escort RS200 in 28th also
taking class wins. The great Pontiac Trans Am of Robin and Thomas Grey
was disqualified after the race for failure to comply with the black flag.
The Special Saloons were down for two races, one on Saturday and one on
Sunday. These cars are always a big favourite with the fans. Massive engines
in unlikely cars always provide great entertainment and then there are the
David and Goliath acts where the smaller but excellent handling Imps climb
© Simon Wright
Future Classics winner Tim Davis TVR Tuscan
all over the bigger cars.
There was a good 16 car field
for this meeting with Simon
© Mick Herring
Allaway in his 5.5 litre Lotus
Esprit Silhouette Special
grabbing Pole position for the
first race from Ian Hall in the
5.2 litre Darrian Wildcat T98
and lurking in the middle of
the grid was Joe Ward in
Vauxhall Baby Bertha,
probably the most famous of
Simon Allaway Lotus Esprit Silhouette won both races
Joe Ward Vauxhall Baby Bertha 3rd in race 1
September 2013
Page
53
© Mick Herring
© Simon Wright
Martin Baker Hillman Imp spaceframe takes to the kerb battleing Chris Isaacs Morrid Minor
Ian Hall Darrian Wildcat T98
© Simon Wright
© Simon Wright
Mike Bratby AG Shrigley Hillman Imp
© Simon Wright
Thomas Carey Honda CRX
© Janet Wright
Neil Claxton Suzuki SC100
David Beatty Honda Prelude
© Mick Herring
© Simon Wright
Bob Claxton Renault 21 Turbo
September 2013
Steven Moss Ford Anglia spaceframe
Page
54
© Simon Wright
all the Super Saloons. At the start of the first race Lotus Esprit of Allaway and
the Darrian of Hall broke clear of the field with the two running together. But by
just short of half distance, on lap 6 Hall headed for the pits to retire, leaving
Allaway to run to an easy first win of the meeting. From the battling bunch
behind, 2nd place went to Paul Sibley in his Lotus Elan Modsports 1600 while
Joe Ward came through to bring Baby Bertha home 3rd for the final podium
© Mick Herring
placing. All three won their
respective classes. The
other class winner was Bob
Claxton in his Renault 21
Turbo.
Danny & Ricky Morris Peugeot 309GTi Turbo finished 3rd
On Sunday Simon Allaway
won his second CSCC Special Saloon/Modsports race of the weekend with a
lights to flag victory by 49 seconds from Paul Sibley's Modsports Lotus Elan.
After a spirited drive by Joe Ward in the iconic Vauxhall Baby Bertha 5700,
which highlighted the multiple position-trading race-long duel with the Morris
family Peugeot 309 GTi Cosworth, Joe would finally have to give best to the
Peugeot. He finished 2.06 seconds behind in 4th position. A fitting return for
Paul Sibley Lotus Elan 2nd in both Special Saloon races
the most revered Special Saloon ever built after the sad end to last year's
race when Baby Bertha went home bearing significant damage after brake problems.
Following the Special Saloons were the CSCC Tin Tops with MS Society race. After © Janet Wright
forty minutes of close racing, mandatory pit stops and the chance to change drivers
© Mick Herring the CSCC Tin Tops race was
won by Nigel Tongue in his
Peugeot 306 2000. He finished
just 3.9 seconds ahead of Simon
Taylor's Honda Civic Type R.
In third place the Peugeot 306 of
Carl Chambers. In this company
the racing of the various
marques is always very close
Nigel Tongue Peugeot 306 Tin Tops winner and it was unusual to see Nigel
Tin Tops field spread out down the straight
September 2013
Page
55
© Mick Herring
Ainge's Honda Integra classified in last position, four laps down,
instead of his customary win or podium finish.
Rounding off Saturday and opening Sunday morning's race
programme were the Triumph Competition and British GT cars, a
series organised by the TR-Register Germany and run throughout
the major circuits of Europe.
Saturday's closing race proved exciting from the start as the Triumph
© Mick Herring
TR4s of Philippe
Vermast and Brian
White vied to take an
immediate lead and
ended up helping each
Start of race 1 Triumph Competition and British GT race
other across the gravel
at Redgate corner. Vermast would recover to an eventual 6th position, whilst White
retired after 8 laps. This allowed the red TR4 of Christian Marx to take an immediate
lead but the race long attention of Paul Conway's Morgan Plus 8 saw the pair swap
the lead several times over the course of the 30 minute race. Paul Conway would
© Mick Herring
take the verdict by
0.579 seconds from
Christian Marx, a win
he would repeat the
following morning by
the enhanced margin
of 2.2 seconds, again
from Marx.
The final of the three
R1 British echelon Werner Huls TR3 24th
races made up for Brain White's disappointment of a non-finish in
race one, with a win in his TR4 from the similar car of Robert
Hamilton. Georg Nolte was 4th in his Jaguar E-Type after a bonnet
bending retirement from race 1. With 26 finishers in the first two races and 22 in the last of their
three races, our European visitors were both well represented and
R3 after briefly contesting lead, battle-scarred Marcel Van Mulders TR3 21st
September 2013
Page
56
© Mick Herring
© Mick Herring
most welcome visitors to Donington with their
dedication to British sports cars and the desire to
race them.
Both of the races on Sunday for the MGCC BCV8
Championship provided dominant wins for Robert
Spencer's spectacular three-wheeling MG BGT
V8 3900. James Wheeler would finish 17 seconds
adrift in the afternoon's first encounter, with Neil
Fowler a further 4 seconds behind.
In the final race of the weekend Spencer would
consolidate his dominance on the category with
an 18.9 second victory over Neil Fowler's BGT V8
3900 and Ollie Neaves' similar car another 5.25
Early race, Joe Parrington BGT V8
seconds behind.
5th despite gravel trap trip
Early race Robert Spencer dominant three-wheeling win
Sunday saw a return to the Swinging 60s at Donington with two races . The Group 2 race is for the more powerful 6 and 8 cylinder
cars plus all Lotus models. The Group 1 race is for the less powerful 4 cylinder models plus a few 2 litre 6 cylinder cars. First out
were the Group 2 cars. With forty minutes of racing ahead of them and a 90 second pit stop penalty to serve, for previous race
success, the Dave Boland/ Roger Lee Lotus 7 S11 needed to get a move on from the start and so it did. Plans came to nought
© Mick Herring
following a spin which dropped the car to 4th, handing the lead to Chris Edwards'
Lotus 7 S4 with the sleek Marcos 1800 GT of Richard Skinner rapidly catching and
passing the yellow Lotus. The fast starting Lotus of Boland/Lee recovered and soon
overcame the S4 Lotus 7 which had regained the lead when the Marcos made its
© Mick Herring
pit stop. The Marcos would
soon re-establish and keep
the lead to win by 24
seconds from Marcus
Miller's Triumph TR6 2500.
Winning Marcos 1800 GT Richard Skinner
After their pit stop eternity,
Boland/Lee would race back to an eventual 5th place.
The 40 minute Swinging Sixties Group 1 race was enlivened considerably
following the dramatic engine blow-up suffered by John Davies' Triumph
Vitesse.
Dramatic Blow up John Davies Triumph Vitesse puts oil down
September 2013
Page
57
© Mick Herring
With several cars sliding on the oil deposited on the racing line, it would be the spin
suffered by Simon Pages' Austin Healey Frogeye Sprite that prompted the safety car
being deployed when the precariously parked Sprite could not be moved readily.
Although headed mid-race by the second place Austin Healey Frogeye Sprite of Tim
© Mick Herring
Simon Page spins on oil and is unable to restart causing
safety car in the Swinging 60s Group 1 race
Cairns it would be Russel Martin/Chris
Edwards Triumph TR4 that would win by
1minute 6 seconds. Alex Heynes and
Max Whitehouse would take a closer 3rd
place in their MG Midget 1380cc. Philip
Britten was a further 2minutes 22seconds
adrift in 4th. The remaining race on the card was for
the Magnificent Sevens, all based on the
original Lotus Seven design from the
1950s. These days there are many
different types of Seven raced, including
Caterham, Westfield, Elite, Stuart Taylor
and Raw, though here at Donington the
Swinging 60s Group 1 race winning Edwards-Martin Triumph TR4
majority of the grid were in Caterhams.
Peter Ratcliff took pole position for the 40 minute race, which included a mandatory pitstop. By the end of the 40 minutes it was
Richard and Pascal Green in a Caterham C400 who took victory with Ratcliff 2nd in his Caterham and third place went to Mike
Aikens in a Caterham CSR. Class winners included Mike Aikens in 3rd, James Weekley Caterham R400 K series in 6th, John
Schneider Caterham 7 in 10th Barney Pryor Caterham C400 in 12th, Rick and Alex Potter Caterham Supersports in 15th and
finally Chris Robinson Westfield SEW in 30th position overall.
September 2013
Page
58
© Mick Herring
Donington National Kit &
Performance Car Show
24th/25th August
By Mick Herring.
The Donington National Kit and
Performance Car Show may not
have been as large as it has been
in some previous years but it was,
nevertheless, well supported by the
industry and its enthusiastic buyers
and builders.
With all the elements in place it
showcased the diversity of the
industry with the well-established
Gardner Douglas Cobra and Lola
T70 replicas at the top end of the
market, alongside other Cobramakers and several different
interpretations of the traditional
Gardner Douglas Lola T70 and Cobra replicas
© Mick Herring
Budget blasters from MEV
Lotus 7 concept, many now being built from the Mazda MX5.
Component and tool suppliers stocking most items were equally well
represented.
Of particular interest in this area was the initiative from Mike
Newman, a multiple blind record holder, and his Speed Of Sight
organisation.
This new initiative revolves around an initial run of ten totally dualcontrolled cars built by MK and featuring dual steering wheels and
pedals, enabling people with nearly all forms of disability to
experience every sensation of a track day car alongside a
professional instructor. Also a large collection of "The ones that got
away" made for nostalgic viewing.
September 2013
Page
59
© Mick Herring
Outside the exhibition centre there were multiple displays of precision driving by
the BTRDA Autotest drivers, probably the cheapest form of motorsport
available. The Westfield Drift Experience and numerous Kit Car Club areas
focusing on just about every possible car manufactured. The future of the industry,
a concept car
BTRDA precision Autotesters
© Mick Herring
© Mick Herring
© Mick Herring
Above: Mazda Eunos GT
Above right: Rover V8 powered Venom
Right: Honda powered Westfield
Above Left: Dax Cobra replica
Left: Tools and components
© Mick Herring
© Mick Herring
September 2013
Page
60

Classic and Competition car 36

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