Group C Racing Series Season Review Mighty Mercedes

Group C Racing Series Season Review
Mighty Mercedes
The fifth season of the Group C Racing Series was a real return to the glory days, with
Mercedes, Jaguars, Porsches, Nissans and Spices all fighting it out at classic European
circuits – and often at speeds not far off those seen during their factory days.
Donington Historic Festival
The first Donington Historic Festival took place on Saturday 30th April and Sunday
1st May 2011 where the race action saw more than 300 historic racing cars from the
1930s to the 1980s, battling for victory. As well as the Group C/GTP cars, GT40s and
Ferrari GTOs, Touring Cars from the 70s and 80s, pre-War Bentleys, Bugattis and
Alfa Romeos and much, much more took to the track in competition. The sun was
shining and everyone was in extremely good spirits, all enhanced by the mass of
spectators and a great atmosphere.
The qualifying session on Saturday afternoon saw some seriously quick times being
set, with Bob Berridge taking pole in his Mercedes C11 with a laptime of 0:59.001.
On the second row was the father and son combo of Peter and Andy Meyrick in the
#102 Spice SE89C, the fastest C2.
The one-hour race took place on Sunday afternoon and was won by Berridge, who put
a lap on the Jaguar XJR 9 of Justin Law and the #25 Nissan R90C of Katsu Kubota.
The Meyricks took C2 honours by an even greater margin over Pearson/Lockie, with
Robin Ward and Duncan McKay taking third in the #101 Spice SE88C.
Stefano Rosina and Giorgio Mondini had qualified their C1 Spice 89P in second, but
were unable to race after engine troubles; while several other cars suffered mechanical
woes during the race.
Spa Francorchamps Classic - May 27th-29th
A month after Donington the Group C cars made the first of three trips to mainland
Europe, with Spa Francorchamps being the venue. The first Spa Classic was
organised by Patrick Peter and his team and, like Donington, was graced with
hundreds of historic racing cars over three days of action.
Varying weather conditions across the event - from rain on Friday to overcast
mornings and brilliant sunshine in the afternoons on both Saturday and Sunday –
made for a challenging, but highly enjoyable event.
Qualifying was held over two sessions, but it was the first sessions that saw the fastest
times in both C1 and C2. For this meeting, Bob Berridge was up against a second
Mercedes, with the #2 C11 of Christian Glaesel making the trip across the border
from Germany.
But it was the British driver who secured pole ahead of Glaesel with a 2:05.295; a
time which would have qualified him fourth on the grid for the ILMC Spa 1000kms
race held a few weeks previously.
Peter and Andy Meyrick again took the C2 pole with a 2:14.102 in their Spice, and
again lined up on the second row. However, engine failure would account for the car,
with the Meyricks unable even to take the start; a fate that befell several of the 25 cars
that qualified.
The race wasn’t, however, destined to go Berridge’s way. With four laps to go in the
one-hour race the #31 Mercedes held an eight-second lead over the #2, but an ECU
failure led to an immediate retirement. This left Glaesel with a clear run to the flag
and victory by almost two minutes over the Nissan of Katsu Kubota and the Spice
SE90C of Ferdinand de Lesseps – who raced Spices at Le Mans and in the World
Sportscar Championship in the early ‘90s.
The C2 win went to the Spice of Robin Ward and Duncan McKay, just three seconds
ahead of the Jaguar XJR 5B of Don Miles.
Brands Hatch Historic Super Prix - July 1st-3rd
A full weekend of sunshine at the HSCC Super Prix at Brands Hatch ensured a large
spectator attendance, with the Group C series joining Historic Formula One, the new
E Type Challenge, HF2, Lurani Trophy plus many more.
Qualifying for Group C took place on a very hot Saturday afternoon, with Andy
Meyrick setting the fastest time early on in the session with a 1:19.657 in his Spice
SE89C. However, mid way through qualifying Hideki Yamauchi took the pole
position with a 1:19.208 in the Kubota/Yamauchi Nissan R90C. Stefano Rosina was
third in the C1 #5 Spice SE89P, ahead of the Mercedes of Bob Berridge and Gareth
Evans.
Sunday’s race from the off was one not to be missed. The rolling start was
commended by the race officials as one of the best they had ever seen, and even from
the pits it looked spectacular.
A blinding opening stint from Yamauchi, who was lapping in the 1m19s, built him a
lead of over 45 seconds by the time the pit window opened for the compulsory fourminute pit stop. Kubota took over the Nissan, but would be up against the super-quick
Bob Berridge in his C11, ensuring a close finish was in prospect.
Berridge chewed away at the gap and got ever closer to the Nissan, but Kubota held
his nerve and crossed the line with eight seconds still in hand to take the win.
Andy Meyrick proved that he isn’t just quick in modern sportscars, by setting the
fastest lap of the race in his C2 Spice en route to third overall and first in class; his
1:17.948 on the 2.301 mile circuit comparing very favourably to the 1:20.021 fastest
lap set by Nick Adams in the winning C2 Chamberlain Spice SE89C on the slightly
longer, 2.6 mile, circuit during the 1989 WSPC race at Brands.
Rosina finished third in C1, while Kent Abrahamson took advantage of a spin by Nick
Tandy to move into fourth in his Nissan R90C.
Tommy Dreelan and Aaron Scott took second in C2 in their Spice SE86, eight
seconds ahead of the SE88C of Duncan McKay and Robin Ward.
Silverstone Classic Race Meeting - July 22nd-24th
The Silverstone Classic 2011 saw over 1000 competitors racing more than 800
Classic race cars spanning the spectrum of motorsport history. Group C was a key
part of this major event, with two half-hour races including the feature twilight race
on the Saturday.
Bob Berridge took pole in a wet qualifying session with a laptime of 2:04.817,
followed by Alex Buncombe in the #44 Silk Cut Jaguar XJR9 with a 2:10.800.
The second row on the grid was taken by Katsu Kubota’s Nissan and David Mercer’s
#41 Spice SE90C. C2 pole went to the #101 Spice of Duncan McKay and Robin
Ward.
Race 1
With a start time of 20:40, the first race made for a wonderfully evocative sight, as a
full field of 25 cars fought it out in the fading light on the 3.6 mile Grand Prix circuit,
headlights ablaze.
Buncombe led initially, with Kubota taking the lead on Lap 5, only for Buncombe to
retake the position with eight minutes to go.
The pair swapped the lead three times in as many corners on the penultimate lap and
the win was only sealed on the final lap, with the Nissan R90C taking a 4.306s victory
over the Jaguar after an unforgettable spectacle.
Gareth Evans was third in the C11.
Calum Lockie led home the C2 class contingent in the #115 ADA, with Mike
Donovan, in his first race with Group C, closing to within 11 seconds by the end in his
#111 Spice SE88 to take second. Peter Meyrick was third.
Race 2
The second race of the weekend, on Sunday afternoon, would see an identical grid to
the first, but with the second drivers (where applicable) behind the wheel. Thus we
had Bob Berridge sharing the front row with Alex Buncombe, with Hideki Yamauchi
and David Mercer just behind.
Mercer’s Spice retired after five laps, but the three others fought hard for the lead in
the early stages. But despite tremendous efforts from Yamauchi – including a brief
lead during a spirited attack – Berridge took the Mercedes C11 to victory by 9.700s.
Gary Pearson in his Jaguar XJR11 had an incident-free race to come home third in
C1.
Third overall, however, was Andy Meyrick, who took his Spice from 13th on the grid
to take C2 glory by a lap from Mike Donovan.
Adrian Watts completed the class podium in the #104 Spice 88C.
Dix Mille Tours - Paul Ricard - October 7th-9th
The Dix Mille Tours du Castellet is already considered THE classic car meeting of the
South of France and was held for the second consecutive year at the Paul Ricard
HTTT.
Free Practice took place on Friday, followed by two qualifying sessions on Saturday,
with Bob Berridge and Gareth Evans taking pole position with a 1:46.168, followed
by Stefano Rosina and Giorgio Mondini in their Spice SE89 with a 1:50.160. Row 2
on the grid was taken by Katsu Kubota and the father/son duo of Peter and Andy
Meyrick.
Despite a ragged rolling start for Group C, Evans managed to hold on to the lead, with
Kubota in his Nissan R90C and Rosina’s Spice chasing hard on his heals. In C2 a
battle was taking place between Andy Meyrick and Mike Donovan, until Meyrick
spun and was unable to restart the car. Luckily for him, this was near to the pitlane
entrance and he was pushed back to the pits and able to rejoin.
On Lap 10, at Turn 15, Kubota lost control and contact was made with Evans in the
Mercedes. Kubota made it back to the pits but it was game over for him. Evans
managed to stay out till the pit window opened, but had suffered significant damage.
Despite this incident, Bob Berridge romped home to take the victory, followed by
Peter Harburg and Wayne Park in the #8 Porsche 962 who took their first Group C
podium.
David Mercer was third in C1 in his SE90C.
Mike Donovan led home the C2 class contingent in the Spice SE88C, with Duncan
McKay/Robin Ward second and the Meyricks a distant third.
Algarve Historic Festival - October 21st-23rd
This year the Algarve International Circuit played host to the third Algarve Historic
Festival, featuring more than 320 race cars from the 1930s right up to the 1990s,
including a representative entry of 18 Group C Cars for the final event in the season’s
calendar.
Free Practice took place on the Thursday, followed by two qualifying sessions spread
over Friday and Saturday. Katsu Kubota and Hideki Yamauchi took pole position
with a 1:36.565, followed by Bob Berridge in the Mercedes C11 with a 1:36.646.
Row 2 on the grid was taken by Peter and Andy Meyrick, and Roger Wills in his
Courage C26S.
Raceday dawned to the news that both Kubota and Yamauchi had been unwell
overnight and had been forced to withdraw from the race, which promoted Berridge to
pole and Meyrick to the front row. After a few tussles between the front runners,
Berridge maintained the lead and took the victory along with the C1 Championship.
There was a first podium for Wills, who took second, followed by another first
podium with Russell Kempnich taking third in his Porsche 956.
Peter and Andy Meyrick romped home to second overall to take victory in C2 and the
title of the C2 Championship.
Tommy Dreelan and Aaron Scott finished second in C2 in their Spice SE86, with the
SE88C of Duncan McKay and Robin Ward just a tenth further back in third.
2012
The Group C Racing Series returns next year with another six-event calendar, with the
undoubted highlight being a return to Le Mans, in support of the 24 Hours:
5-6 May - Donington Park - Motor Racing Legends/Historic Festival
25-27 May - Spa-Francorchamps - Peter Auto/Historic Festival
14-16 June - Le Mans 24hrs - Motor Racing Legends
20-22 July - Silverstone - Silverstone Classic/Historic Festival
5-7 October - Paul Ricard - Peter Auto/Historic Festival
25-28 October - Portimao - Francisco Santos/Historic Festival