CSCC | Paul Commons Motorsport

After the lows of 2020, 2021 promised a return to some sort of normality in the world of Motorsport, however the elongated 3^rd (I think) lockdown postponed any form of none signed-on attendance until late May!

Desperate to return to the circuits after 7 months of crowd-less sport viewing on the box an enormous entry list for the Classic Sports Car Club’s May bank holiday meeting at Donington was just the tonic I had been looking for. The 39 car Classic K race was a personal highlight which saw experienced historic racer Jamie Boot expertly guide his TVR Griffith to victory, however the moderate crowd were also treated to a trio of highly entertaining combined sprints for the Racing Special Saloons / Modsports and Bernie’s Sports Racing / V8 machines which contained everything from the whacky to the sublime!

So good in fact was my first taste of Classic Sports Car club action that a couple of weeks later I would find myself Cadwell bound for a second dose. Unfortunately the grids were not quite so packed but this was more than made up for by perfect early Summer weather. This time it was the Group 1 Swinging Sixties machines that stole the show with Ian Staines, aboard his MG Midget, managing to get the better of pole sitting Turner MK1 pilot Tim Cairns to claim an excellent victory at the undulating Lincolnshire track.

Late June saw a return to Donington for an excellent line up of Historic Sports Car Club grids with the added bonus of a 1 hour race for the GT & Sports Car Cup! Despite a dull day weatherwise the on track action was as good as it gets with Michael Lyons lighting up the time sheets in the Aurora Trophy races aboard his F5000 Lola T400, Dean Forward delighting onlookers aboard his enormous Can-AM McLaren M8F to take a double Thundersports victory and Andrew’s Haddon & Wolfe claiming an excellent GT & Sports Cars Car Cup victory in their Lotus Elan.

After an excellent championship in 2020, a third trip to Donington, this time on the Grand Prix circuit, was lined up in July for the 2 hour British GT race. The series as a spectacle suffered in 2021 however with the removal of GT3 Silver Silver combinations which, combined with somewhat questionable driving standards and poor quality support races, lead to this being the only Modern event attended during the year!

Refreshingly it was back to old stuff in August with the Classic Sports Car Club’s Snetterton Sizzler meeting and the HSCC’s Oulton Park Gold Cup. The Gold Cup meeting was back to it’s very best with Historic F2 machinery making a welcome return (something good to come out of the pandemic!) and it was Matthew Watts aboard his March 782 who claimed the prestigious trophy following an attritional second encounter of the weekend! We were also treated to a pair of Historic Touring Car / Dunlop Saloon Car Cup races which are always worth a watch around the fabulous Cheshire circuit, and best of all the paddocks were finally open to the general public!!

Two trips to Mallory filled the first half of autumn’s action where a torrential morning downpour threatened to de-rail the Historic Sports Car Club meet. Glorious afternoon sunshine and excellent efficiency ensured this only lead to delays and not cancellations however with Ben Simm’s charge through the field (only to be denied victory by Murray Shepherd’s excellent defensive display) in the Formula Ford 2000 race being the pick of the action.

The excellent Classic Touring Car Racing Club would visit the same Leicestershire circuit in Mid October featuring a mouth-watering collection of machinery that included everything from the iconic 60’s Mini to the monster Aussie V8 Ford Falcon. Nothing quite beats a good old David vs Goliath pre-66 touring car race however and the two races on the day provided everything you come to expect from this era of racing; Alan Greenhalgh taking victory in the second race aboard his Ford Falcon after losing out to the much smaller engined Anglia of Robyn Slater (in part due to an off) in a damp race 1, brilliant racing!

Although far from a fan of Silverstone (not the circuit, more the unfriendly Security and archaic ticketing system) I could not fail to be drawn to the new standalone Motor Racing Legends meeting at the end of October. The 1 hour Historic Touring Car Challenge brought back many a childhood memory as Paul Mensley (RS500) managed to fend off not 1 but 3 temperamental Skylines to take victory whilst the excellent 43 car, 3 hour Pall Mall cup race met all expectations as the fabulous James Cottingham / Max Girardo piloted Lister Jaguar Costin managed to hold off a plethora of Shelby Cobra’s to take an unlikely victory. Maybe the unwelcoming nature of the circuit is a thing of the past as this had been a highlight of the season, partially aided by full access to the ‘Wing’ with less than a couple of hundred people in attendance!

And finally, after a pandemic induced year and 9 month period away from rallying, I eventually managed to see a live stage or 2 on the end of season Roger Albert Clark Rally. In an event unfortunately impacted by the devastating storm Arwen (Scotland’s stages completely cancelled), Ryan Champion and Craig Thorley remarkably managed to break the Blue Oval strangle hold on the event by claiming victory in their immaculate Porsche 911. Whilst disappointing not to be able to make the bi-annual trip into the Southern Scotland forests it was great to see action on the stages again.

All in it was year to remember and we can only hope that 2022 brings with it more freedom, definitely more rallying and a return to somewhere near the motorsport life we were all accustom to pre March 2020!

Thruxton or Cadwell, Cadwell or Thruxton was the debate; an argument which Cadwell ultimately won due to MSV’s far superior ticketing system, a shorter commute and opportunity to see the highly entertaining Classic Sports Car Club crowd at one of the UK’s finest circuits.

With immediate family dropped off en route, and fortunately arriving at the scene of a lorry’s argument with an A46 roundabout before the queues developed, I was pleasantly surprised to park up at Charlies with still 15 minutes remaining of the day’s first qualifying session. Better still the early June heat-wave appeared to be continuing and I, on being instantly reminded of the exceptional spectator viewing on offer, had a feeling we were in for a good day.

Whilst some of the grids fell far short of the numbers witnessed at Donington some 2 weeks earlier the racing did not suffer. In fact some of the closest racing of the day took place in the 6 car Special Saloons and Modsports race where a slow starting Ian Everett (in Tim Cairn’s Midget) eventually found a way passed Neil Duke’s Anglia and the 2.6 litre MK2 Escort of Martin Reynolds to take the race 1 victory. Despite a close encounter with Duke at the Mountain section in the early stages, the MG Hexagon pilot was able to stretch his lead to over 3 seconds by the time the chequered flag was waved following a remarkable pass for the lead around the outside at Mansfield!

Two races for the AR Motorsport Morgan Challenge were a welcome addition to the timetable and whilst both races saw runaway victors; Oliver Pratt claiming a 47 second race 1 victory and Roger Whiteside finishing 17 seconds ahead of his nearest rival in race 2, the battles behind were far less clear cut. Class 4 was the highlight with Steve Lockett (5^th overall in both races) eventually claiming a double class victory with Simon Sherry and Tom Richards finishing a close second in each of the respective races.

Morgan Challenge race 1 victor Pratt was also due to start the Future Classics race from pole. However a fluid leak after the formation lap lead to the 4.6 litre Morgan being wheeled away from the grid. This ultimately left the way clear for an intriguing battle for victory between Sam Smith’s MX-5 and Martyn & Matthew Ellis’ Sunbeam Lotus. Whilst Martyn Ellis lead the early stages, a 30 second pitstop penalty for winning the previous round entered ensured Matthew Ellis would return to the track behind the pink MX-5 of Smith. Fastest lap after fastest lap ensued and remarkably the Sunbeam pilot appeared to have snatched victory in the closing stages, only to be landed with a 30 second post race penalty for a 0.9 second too short pit stop!

The Swinging Sixties Group 1 race (for smaller engine capacity cars) was perhaps the highlight of the day where Ian Staines worked his way to the front of the impressive 27 car field by the end of lap 1. And despite never relinquishing the top position, the MG Midget pilot was under pressure throughout the opening half of the race with Chris Watkinson’s Austin Mini and Tim Cairn’s pole sitting Turner in hot pursuit. The Mini challenge would sadly fade with troubles at the pitstop leaving Cairn’s to provide the main opposition. But whilst the Turner pilot seemed to be right up there on ultimate pace, the Midget seemed more at ease in the traffic, leaving Staines to claim a well deserved 9 second victory.

The more powerful Swinging Sixties machines would form the Group 2 grid, and having cemented pole by over 1 second, Jamie Keevil in his Lotus Elan would take an early lead. Any thoughts of a stroll to victory however were quickly dispelled as the Lotus 7 of John and Tom Muirhead was able to keep the Elan in sight. But despite setting fastest lap of the race, the Lotus 7 duo were not able to mount a serious challenge for victory and ultimately ended the event 9 seconds in arrears. Following the pitstops, Jonathan Crayston and David McDonald would find themselves locked in a battle for the final podium position and it would be the TR6 of McDonald that would come out on top following a late overtake, thus ending a Lotus class lockout of the podium positions.

And last but least (not in race order), disappointingly just 9 cars took the start of the Mintex Classic K race which even around the relatively short Cadwell park left plenty of quiet gaps. That aside the racing remained enjoyable with little to choose between the top 3 runners, Jon Wolfe’s Elan, the David Beresford / David Morrison MG B and the TR4 of Neil Howe. Pole sitter Wolfe just had the edge throughout though with his Elan taking the flag 6 seconds clear of Morrison’s MG. The battle of the race was for 4^th spot however, where for lap after lap Nick Jesty, in his 1293 Mini, tried his absolute best to find a way passed Steve Chapman’s TR4. After the pitstops it looked like the Austin pilot had finally cracked it only for the more powerful Triumph to find a way back through. Fabulous racing.

And in what seemed like the blink of an eye, the final Morgan had re-entered the paddock and the day was sadly over, 9 hours at the circuit gone in an instant! Whilst it would have been nice to see slightly fuller grids you couldn’t grumble with the quality of entry, which combined with the fabulous weather, the picturesque undulating nature of the circuit and the event running like clockwork (not a single safety car period) pleased the inner photographer (and Motorsport fan) in me! I won’t leave it as long to visit Cadwell again and next time hopefully the great unwashed will be allowed to traipse around the Paddock.

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