Tag Archives: Motor Racing Legends

Donington Historic Festival – Day 2 – May 2025

May 7, 2025 paulcommons1983 Leave a comment

In an exciting new dawn for Motor Racing Legends, Shaun & Max Lynn rounded off a brilliant Day 2 of the Donington Historic Festival by coming out on top of a fantastic Pre-66, David vs Goliath battle to take Royal Automobile Club Pall Mall Cup victory aboard their Lotus Elan.

Although Shaun Lynn’s Aythorpe Promotions business acquired Motor Racing Legends in Mid 2024 the 2025 Donington Historic Festival was the first event to really show the vision of the new owners. On track, new rules ensuring car owners take up a greater share of the driving duties combined with significant time penalties for elite drivers has really levelled up the playing field whilst trackside the show seams to have been taken up a notch for the spectators.

Indeed, accessibility was second to none and the individually allocated awnings for each competing car was a great touch, shades of Goodwood and some of the big European events. The demonstration runs for the Super Tourers and Williams FW22 in the very capable hands of James Davison were great additions too; Watching the latter through the Craner Curves and Old Hairpin was simply breathtaking! That noise!

Grid sizes seemed to have improved also, especially regarding the pre-war machinery where a mammoth 36 cars lined up for the first race of the day. Not bad for cars approaching 100 years old (ignoring the debate on continuation models)! And the quality of racing proved equally impressive as, after a great battle with the Alvis Firefly Special of Rudi Friedrichs, Gareth Burnett eventually claimed victory aboard his Alta Sports.

The first half of the race saw the duo swap positions on numerous occasions as Friedrichs was faster down the straights but the Alta of Burnett was stronger under braking. 2^nd gear would however prove to be a problem for the Alvis in the second half of the race leaving Burnett to pull out a relatively healthy margin of 16 seconds at the flag. Meanwhile Rob and Josh Beebee couldn’t quite keep in touch with the 2 leading machines as they rounded out the podium positions in their Frazer Nash TT Replica.

After a successful pilot event at Silverstone last year, the new for 2025 GT3 Legends series made a welcome debut at this years festival. Catering for GT3 machinery homologated between 2006 and 2012 a very healthy grid of 24 cars, across many a brand, had been assembled for the first of two races over the weekend.

But whilst GT3 is all about balance of performance, Aston Martin V12 Vantage pilot, Jonathan Mitchell, would prove to be in a league of his own. Up against the likes of former BTCC champ Andrew Jordan, Mitchell put in a stellar drive which not only saw the Aston man claim victory by more than 57 seconds but perhaps even more impressively set fastest lap of the race!

The battle for the remaining podium positions was far less clear cut however as Andrew Jordan fought back from his 30 second elite driver time penalty (after taking over the Matt Holme Corvette). Finding himself in fifth after the stops the long time touring car pilot was able to slip past the Nissan GTR of Max Lynn, BMW z4 of Andy Willis and McLaren of Christian Albrecht over the remainder of the 50 minute race to claim a fine 2nd. Albrecht meanwhile would complete the podium positions having gotten the better of Willis during the closing stages.

The Historic Motor Racing News Pre 63 GT race can always be relied upon to provide a stunning grid and this occasion was no exception as Dario Franchitti leapt into an early lead aboard Gregor Fisken’s Shelby Cobra 260. John Spiers and Matt Holme in similar machines would keep the multiple IndyCar champion honest but Franchitti had built a healthy lead by the time the car was handed over to Fisken. Healthy enough that even the traditional Nigel Greensall late charge (taking over from Spiers) would not be enough as American Muscle would lock out the podium positions.

The highlight of the festival for many in recent times however is the Saturday evening Royal Automobile Club Pall Mall Cup and a mouth watering grid of 24 Pre-66 largely GT machines would line up for the 2025 edition, a race where strategy is often just as important as outright pace.

Fresh from a strong performance in the Pre-63 GT race it was pole-sitter John Spiers who would lead the early stages of the 2 hour race aboard his Jaguar E-Type Lightweight with another E-Type in the hands of Mark Donnor soon upto second and the Rudi Friedrichs Cobra 3rd. But with the requirement for 2 pitstops, (of both 1 and 5 minutes in length) it was all to play for.

Indeed, after choosing to make their short stop first, it would be Max Lynn (taking over from father Shaun) who would emerge in the lead aboard the nimble Lotus Elan at the half way point with the Gary Pearson Cobra (having taken over from Friedrichs) close behind. Surely just a temporary stint in the lead given the horsepower deficit?

Not so, in fact Max Lynn was driving he and Shaun right into contention with consistently fast lap times, so much so that by the time Shaun Lynn emerged from his longer stop with just under 15 minutes remaining they were still in the lead. And with the demise of both the Mark Donnor / Alex Brundle and John Spiers / Nigel Greensall E-Types it was a comfortable one at that as the father and son pairing would go on to take a memorable 23 second victory.

Marcus Oeynhausen, aboard his Jaguar E-Type, had put in a strong drive over the first half of the race which left Andy Newall in a strong second of those who had elected to take their long stop first. But whilst they gained a position through the demise of the Donnor / Brundle machine, their combined pace was no match for Max Lynn leaving them having to settle for second as the pitstops unwound.

Gary Pearson meanwhile carried on the great early work of Rudi Friedrichs to claim the final step of the podium in the AC Cobra; thankful i’m sure that the race distance had been shortened by an hour for 2025 with the Lotus Elan of Miles Griffiths closing at a fair rate of knots over the final stages.

Earlier in the day former Le Mans 24 hour winner Guy Smith claimed a second U2TC win of the weekend aboard his Ford Lotus Cortina as Harri Reynolds (son of Welsh rally legend Julian) and man of the weekend, Jonathan Mitchell rounded out the podium positions in similar machinery. Disappointingly only 13 cars made the start of Saturday’s race despite returning to standalone grids for 2025. Let’s hope numbers improve as the season progresses.

Sunday’s racing meanwhile would see Jonathan Bailey and Andy Middlehurst claim Historic Touring Car Challenge victory aboard their Nissan Skyline, Kyle Tilley and Olly Bryant (Lotus 15) first home in the combined Royal Automobile Club Woodcote Trophy / Stirling Moss Trophy race and Jonathan Mitchell take a second dominant GT3 Legends victory of the weekend. Elsewhere victories in the HRDC Gerry Marshall Trophy, Jack Sears Trophy and Dunlop Allstars would go the way of Simon Lewis / Alex Brundle (Jaguar XJS), Peter Smith / Harri Reynolds (Lotus Cortina) and Mike Whittaker Snr (TVR Griffith) respectively.

Overall day 2 of the Donington Historic Festival had been one hell of a spectacle and possibly the best yet. I had my doubts about switching to the GP circuit and reducing the length of the Pall Mall Cup race but in the end both proved to be a success. Although I do yearn for a return of the 60’s and 70’s Sports Prototypes, it’s clear Motor Racing Legends is now in very good hands, and long may it continue.

FULL RESULTS

GALLERY

Motor Racing Legends

MRL Silverstone GP Meeting – October 2024

October 28, 2024 paulcommons1983 1 Comment

Harry Barton and Oliver Reuben retained their Silverstone GP Royal Automobile Club Pall Mall Cup crown with a convincing win aboard the Nigel Reuben Racing prepared TVR Griffith.

Now the traditional curtain closer for the Motor Racing Legends Series, the Silverstone GP meet had attracted a healthy entry with over 30 cars lining up for the Pre-66 3 hour ‘into the evening’ enduro and possibly more impressively an almost similar number of entrants for the brand new GT3 Legends pilot event for 2006 to 2012 GT3 spec cars. Quite some achievement!

The opening day’s track activity would centre around the Pall Mall Cup however with a 50 minute qualifying session preceding a late afternoon start for the 3 hour main event. And it was a pair of Jaguar E-Types that made the most of the damp morning track conditions to form the front row of the grid, headed by the Marcus Oeynhausen-Sierstorpff / Andy Newall machine.

The pole-sitting Jaguar would however drop back early on and be forced into an early stop with Oeynhausen-Sierstorpff suffering from cramp. Conversely the TVR of Harry Barton had made great progress from it’s relatively lowly 6th position on the grid, with the young historic racer quickly hitting the front and building a comfortable lead over the other front row starting E-type of Richard Kent and Lotus Elan of Simon Evans.

Pall Mall Cup rules dictate a two stop race, one of 60 seconds and the other 5 minutes in duration (for re-fueling) and it is this niche set of rules that brings in-race strategy to the fore. As it was both the Griffiths of Barton and Elan of Evans opted to take their longer stop first, the former having no option courtesy of a faulty transponder, which left another Elan in the hands of Max Lynn in the lead of the race with the similar machine of Miles Griffiths in hot pursuit for much of the middle stint.

The Nigel Reuben Racing prepared TVR of Harry Barton and Oliver Reuben was however in a league of it’s own on the day and as the final pit stops unwound would find themselves with a healthy advantage entering the final third of the race. The class 4 competition may have been a little light on this occasion, with the stablemate TVR not able to enter following damage at Spa and the Alex Brundle E-type a non starter courtesy of timing chain issues, but the pairing hardly put a foot wrong; Barton (back in the car for the final stint) eventually crossing the line with a commanding winning margin of 1 minute and 42 seconds.

Simon Evans and James Littlejohn have formed a formidable partnership in recent years and put in possibly the performance of the day to claim second aboard their Lotus Elan. Whilst not able to compete with the 5 litre Ford powered TVR, Evans and Littlejohn were able to keep the eventual winners honest and it was quite some achievement to end the event on the same lap! Littlejohn was particularly rapid on the day and managed to set a lotus Elan lap record with a 2.23.944 on well used tyres!

In fact Lotus Elan’s would make up 1 third of the field with the nimble 1600cc machines featuring heavily in the battle for the remaining podium position. Miles Griffiths had starred throughout the race and seemed to be heading for that final step of the podium following a race long battle with Shaun and Max Lynn but tragically suffered a front end issue with only minutes remaining. This left Shaun Lynn (the man now in charge of Motor Racing Legends activities) and son Max to claim third with Andy Wolfe and Ben Tinkler fourth. Wolfe and Tinkler’s result, in yet another Elan, all the more remarkable having started from the pit lane!

A healthy contingent of Porsche 911s, usually found in their own stand alone Peter Auto races, had entered this years event and it was the David Danglard and Phil Quaife machine that proved the class of the field as they claimed class 3c honours with an excellent 11th. And talking of excellent performances Can Bitirim and Dave Gardener defeated many a more powerful machine to bring their MGB home in 13th to to register class 3b top spot. Meanwhile Pre-63 GT honours would go the way of Grant Williams and Ciprian Nistorica aboard their E-type with 17th overall.

Earlier in the day the GT3 Legends series made a successful track debut and it was British GT stalwart Jon Minshaw who found himself in an early lead before a collision with the similar BMW Z4 of Rob Hall put them both out of contention. Instead it was the Lamborghini Gallardo of Jack Tetley who lead for much of the opening stint but Nick Maton, having taken over for the second half of the race, could not keep Andrew Jordan at bay. The former BTCC champion, aboard the Chevrolet Corvette, appeared in top form however, producing sub 1m 58 second lap times on his way to record a 17 second victory for he and Matt Holme.

In fact it proved a good day for Jordan as Andy Middlehurst and Jonathan Bailey had earlier claimed Historic Touring Car Challenge victory aboard their JRT prepared Nissan Skyline. On a drying track Middlehurst swapped positions on more than one occasion with the similar machine of Ric Wood but had made the conscious effort to look after the tyres of his wet shod machine. This proved pivotal as Wood was forced into retirement having ‘destroyed’ his whilst Bailey (replacing Middlehurst for the second half of the race) just had enough rubber left to reel in Darren fielding (BMW M3) over the closing stages to claim victory.

Having driven through what can only be described as monsoon conditions on the way to the circuit we were treated to a fabulous golden hour to round out the day. And just like the weather the Motor Racing Legends season had also ended on a high with the GT3 Legends series a clear hit. Hopefully, under the guidance of Shaun Lynn, the series can go from strength to strength as it would be great to see grids such as the Historic Touring Car Challenge attract the numbers we were used to in seasons past.

RESULTS

GALLERY

Motor Racing Legends

Motor Racing Legends – Silverstone – October 2023

November 1, 2023 paulcommons1983 Leave a comment

Despite a post qualifying engine change, Harry Barton and Oliver Reuben headed a TVR Griffith 1-2 to claim Pall Mall Cup victory at Silverstone.

For the third successive year, the Motor Racing Legends meeting on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit would bring down the curtain on my historic racing season and despite a noticeable drop in entry levels over that time period the stand out Pall Mall Cup for Pre 66 machinery still provided excellent entertainment value.

A damp morning qualifying session, courtesy of monsoon conditions throughout the UK on the day previous, looked likely to produce a mixed up grid however the cream rose to the top by the end of the session as Touring Car legends Rob Huff (Jaguar E-Type) and Andrew Jordan (Lotus Elan) ended up sharing the front row of a relatively healthy 29 car grid.

Huff and Jordan would then use all their experience on a drying track to escape up the road early on with the more powerful Jaguar in the hands of Huff building a commanding lead before handing over to Richard Meins. Meins however was not as comfortable in the tricky conditions and was quickly swallowed up by a double stinting Jordan, TVR Griffith of Oliver Reuben and Daytona Cobra of Harvey Stanley.

And it would be the latter two that would find themselves embroiled in an almighty mid race battle for the lead (once Jordan had pitted for a second time to hand over to Simon Evans) with Stanley eventually managing to streak away and build what looked to be a potential race winning margin. That all came to an end a few laps later though as Stanley found himself beached in the Becketts gravel thus handing the advantage back to the TVR of Reuben.

Despite unable to keep up with Stanley, Reuben’s pace was such that Harry Barton (having taken over from Reuben for the final stint) would find himself with a lead of more than 40 seconds over Huff (back in the E-type) and a second Nigel Reuben Racing TVR in the hands of John Davison as the event entered the final hour; a margin that appeared more than necessary given the pace of Huff and the even more rapid Davison.

In fact Davison (taking over from Nigel Reuben) was setting the track alight, soon passing Huff and then setting his sights on the team car of Barton. However time would be against Davison in the end as Barton just had enough in hand to reach the chequered flag first, bringing to an end a quite brilliant 3 hour race which saw the top 5 all on the same lap and top 3 covered by a little over 10 seconds! Incredible considering there was not a single safety car intervention throughout!

In a field containing Cobras and E-types I’m not sure many would have predicted the final outcome but the Nigel Reuben Racing machines came into their own as the track dried out to land a memorable 1-2; even more remarkable considering the winning car only just made the grid following a post qualifying engine change!

Earlier in the day, Amspeed prepared BMW M3s completed a lockout of the podium positions in a damp Historic Touring Car Challenge race. With varying degrees of precipitation throughout tyre choice proved a lottery but it was Darren Fielding who just got the better of Colin Turkington (sharing with Mark Smith) in the latter stages to take victory with Tom Houlbrook rounding out the top three.

Having been in two minds whether to make the trip following a busy week it turned out to be a brilliant day at the Northamptonshire Circuit; the completely unexpected sunset and seemingly unrestricted garage access combined with one of the best historic endurance races of the season made it a day to remember.

GALLERY

Motor Racing Legends

Motor Racing Legends – Silverstone – October 2022

October 28, 2022 paulcommons1983 Leave a comment

The Motor Racing Legends Silverstone GP event had a bit of an end of season feel to it, but definitely not in a bad way! More that it was run in a very relaxed manner and had attracted a fair share of current and ex professional drivers to grids. Indeed the entry list for the main event, The Pall Mall Trophy race for Pre-66 GT and Pre-61 Sports Cars, contained the likes of Phil Keen, Oliver Webb, Matt Neal, Andrew Jordan, George Gamble and Rory Butcher to name but a few.

And it was British GT legend, Keen, who would play a starring roll in the 3 hour Pall Mall Trophy race, setting fastest lap on the very last tour aboard the James Thorpe E-Type, to claim a dominant victory of over 1 lap. That’s not to undersell the performance of Thorpe and Phil Quaife however who handed the car over to Keen with an already mammoth lead; in part due to a clever early first mandatory stop under safety car conditions and a relatively early retirement for the pole sitting Michael Birch / Gareth Burnett / Richard Bradley Lotus 15.

Whilst the entry was a little light of contenders for overall victory, this was more than made up for by the battles behind. The tussle for the final steps of the podium being one example as Mark Farmer and Andrew Jordan (aboard the JRT built Elan) somehow managed to claim the runner up spot despite clutch issues throughout the second half of the race. Possibly aided by a late safety car, the pairing just managed to hold off the chasing Harry Barton / Oliver Reuben TVR Griffith who themselves put in an excellent drive to take the final podium position.

The highlight of the race in many respects though was the epic Porsche 911 fight for positions in the midfield. Usually found in their own Peter Auto organised standalone event, several more examples (most of them Tuthill prepared) than usual had found their way onto the Silverstone Pall Mall Trophy grid.

Witnessing the likes of Rory Butcher, Oliver Webb, Seb Perez and George Gamble man-handle the classic German machines around the famous Northamptonshire Circuit was highly entertaining, and as expected the racing remained pretty close with the fortunes of the individual crews fluctuating throughout the 3 hour duration of race, often dependent on how the “AM” drivers were utilised.

In the latter stages, class victory looked to be heading the way of the William Paul / Rory Butcher machine, however a 3 minute penalty for a refuelling infringement put pay to that! This left Guy Ziser, Oliver Webb and Richard Tuthill himself to take class 3c victory with 9^th overall in the #777 machine, just 2 seconds ahead of the Christian Coll / Bonamy Grimes car! More of these machines to be run in the UK please!!

Earlier in the day, courtesy of heavy overnight rain, the combined grid of Historic / Sixties Touring Car Challenge cars faced the age old dilemma of Slicks or Wets for their 1 hour race (where regulations allow). And whilst wets were probably the tyre of choice over the early laps, it was the slick shod Skyline of Ric Wood which held the advantage as the race progressed; the Cheshire man eventually finishing 50 seconds ahead of the similar machine of Jonathan Bailey / Andy Middlehurst.

No such tyre choice was available for the Lotus Cortina runners making up the U2TC element of the grid and they were as spectacular as ever over the early laps. There wasn’t much to choose between the field, but the experience of Mike Gardiner combined with current BTCC ace Josh Cook paid dividends in the end as the #37 crew came out on top with an excellent 10^th overall.

Much like last year, spectator attendance was ridiculously low, which I struggle to get my head around given tickets were only £16 and people seem more than happy to spend a small fortune on Goodwood or the Silverstone Classic each year! But this is only good news from my perspective due to lack of heavy handed security Silverstone love to employ and the full availability of the various catch fencing holes!

The grids may not have been quite as strong as 2021 but you can’t really grumble at 30 cars in each of the 2 historic races on offer, especially during the current economic crisis. Overall a great way to end my Circuit racing schedule for the year with just the Malton Forest and Cadwell Park rallies remaining.

GALLERY

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Best of 2021 – Words and Pics From the Spectator Banks

December 31, 2021 paulcommons1983 Leave a comment

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!

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Glorious Sunshine welcomes MSV to Donington Historic Party

May 24, 2018 paulcommons1983 Leave a comment

A stroll through the packed recently re-surfaced Donington paddock, in glorious early morning sunshine, before a stonking fry up in the fabulous brand new Garage 39 cafe dispelled any initial disappointment at some key omissions from the 2018 Donington Historic race schedule (FIA F2 & late 60’s Sports prototypes). A lunch time pint in the same venue’s outdoor seating area confirming my belief that this was a much better use of the space!

This represented my first visit to the Leicestershire circuit since it has been fully MSV’d, and whilst I was slightly sad to find the blue & white circuit colours and traditional toilet huts replaced by respective MSV red & white and pop up blocks, you cannot deny that the future of my favourite UK circuit is in good hands; a visit to one of their other excellent venues proof if ever it were needed.

And, having only managed to slot a Saturday visit into my diary this year, it was pleasing to see that the essentially Motor Racing Legends organised event had managed to shoe horn 10 mostly packed grids into the first race day of the festival which was splendidly lead off by the Pre-61 Formula Juniors.

Unfortunately cut short by a late red flag, the race featured a fantastic duel between the self built U2 of Ray Mallock and the Terrier of Chris Drake; a battle which would see both men share spells at the front of the field before Drake made the decisive move at Mcleans on lap 11, with Pole sitter Mallock denied one final shot at victory when the aforementioned red flag brought the race to a slightly premature end.

Whilst not containing the lead changes or the depth of field of race 1, the opening Super Touring Car Challenge event of the weekend did provide excitement in the form of former BTCC champion John Cleland taking the battle to regular front runner James Dodd. But whilst able to close on the leading Honda Accord through the early and later parts of the race, there was an underlying feeling that Dodd ultimately had things under control. And so it was no real surprise to see the double 2017 winner again standing on the top step of the podium. Behind, John Pearson progressed well through the field, passing the BMW M3 of Harry Whale late on to round out the podium positions in his ex Emanuele Pirro Audi A4.

Whale may well have missed out on a podium position in race 2 but would later make up for it in style in the hour long Historic Touring Car Challenge race. Having taken over from Dad Nick at the first opportunity, Whale the younger would rapidly extend the pole sitting M3’s advantage at the head of the field to take a commanding victory of more than 36 seconds by the end of the event. A somewhat nostalgic moment for father and son given this was the same car that Harry watched Nick race during the 1990 BTCC season.

The race for the remaining podium positions was far less clear cut however with all parties appearing to struggle in some capacity. Indeed, the Dave Coyne / Mark Wright piloted RS500 showed strong pace early on, duly setting the fastest lap of the race before suffering with a misfire and braking issues. The Zakspeed Escort of David Tomlin appeared to be in contention also until dropping back with a 10 second penalty for track limits followed by a potentially linked puncture.

As it was the podium positions were eventually filled with 2 crews who made the best of their issues. Mark Smith in his M3 had initially proved tough opposition for the similar Whale machine, only for son Aaron Moulton-Smith to drop back to 7th shortly after taking over. A series of very quick laps late on would however rescue the situation and ensure not only a BMW M3 but also a father and son 1-2.

Last year’s winners Steve Soper and Chris Ward would round out the podium positions. Soper, in the Bastos Rover, had struggled during the opening part of the race with a bounce at the front end that even JD Classics could not dial out! The versatile Chris Ward managed to find a way to to drive around the problem however; the podium salvaged probably feeling like a victory given the circumstances!

In what was billed as a Ferrari / Aston Martin battle, it was the Wolfgang Friedrichs / Simon Hadfield piloted DB4GT which claimed the Historic Motor Racing News organised Pre 63 GT victory after the Halusa’s smoking “Breadvan” was forced into retirement in the early part of the race.

Having been installed at the earliest possible opportunity, local man Simon Hadfield still had to battle hard for the win however, passing the far from slow E-Type of James Cottingham and Patrick Blakeney-Edwards Cobra amongst others before going on to record an impressive 26 second victory for the British Marque.

By far the fastest machinery competing at the festival were the F2 and F5000 machines taking part in the Derek Bell Trophy. In a category where Michael Lyons is rarely challenged let alone beaten Jamie Brashaw put in a great drive aboard his March 73A. And, whilst it was Lyons who would ultimately cross the line first in his Lola T400, fastest lap went the way of the Yorkshireman, underlining his competitiveness in this event. Watching both drivers power out of the Roberts chicane to record sub 1.05 minute lap times was a sight to behold!

Having struggled in the Rover earlier on, Soper was back to his brilliant best in the Under 2 litre Pre-66 Touring Car event; the touring car legend part of a 3 way battle for top spot in his Lotus Cortina. Indeed both Soper and regular sparring partner Andy Wolfe, in his Cortina, shared the lead before Soper found himself several seconds adrift as the cars emerged from their mid-race pitstops.

By this time however Wolfe was struggling with his brakes and both Soper and, regular winner at Donington, Max Banks were closing in fast. Unfortunately however a red flag cut short the race by 3 minutes, denying Soper the chance of victory and the crowd of a grandstand finish.

The Woodcote Trophy is always a highlight of the Donington Historic Festival and this year was no exception. A great variety of cars found themselves at the sharp end of the action, but it was the Gary Pearson piloted D-type which quickly worked it’s way passed the pole sitting Maserati 250S of Richard Wilson to hold a 6 second lead over the Cooper T38 of Fred Wakeman with Carlos Monteverde’s D-Type in third as the pitstop window approached.

Pearson would be the first to stop, allowing brother John to take over the leading D-Type, whilst, without a moments rest, Gary would jump straight into the Monteverde machine just 1 lap later. Meanwhile the very rapid Martin Stretton was strapped into the Maserati and it wasn’t long before the pole sitting machine was passing John Pearson for second, with Gary Pearson following suit some 10 laps later (bizarrely passing the car which he had started the race in).

At the front of the field however, Wakeman was enjoying a clear run, and courtesy of a string of consistently fast lap times was able to allow Patrick Blakeney-Edwards to emerge from their pitstop with a clear lead that even Stretton and Pearson could do little about. In fact the T38 was near untouchable on the day, with Wakeman and Blakeney-Edwards going on to record a more than comfortable winning margin of 26 seconds.

After 2 aborted starts, pole sitter Cameron Jackson eventually took command of the Pre-64 Formula Junior race. The Brabham BT2 pilot just having the edge on his rivals to claim a 2 second victory. After losing out at the start Jack Woodhouse would snatch 2nd at Hollywood on lap 9 from the similar Lotus 20/22 of Sam Wilson.

The Pre-60 HRDC Touring Greats event was the penultimate of the day and it was no surprise to see regular winners, Andrew and Mike Jordan, emerge as victors in their Austin “GT40”. There appeared to be a chance of an upset when James Colburn’s well timed pitstop left him leading the safety car train, but it took less than a lap of green flag running for Andrew Jordan to re-take the lead. Meanwhile Neil Brown would also pass Colburn in the second half of the race to claim second in his Austin A35.

A huge field of largely E-types took to the track for the final race of the day, the Jaguar Classic Challenge for pre-66 machines. In a grid full of quality (drivers and cars) it was Ben Short who lead much of the early running before slowing in the second half of the race with what turned out to be driver fatigue.

Meanwhile Julian Thomas quickly progressed to second after a string of fastest lap times, only to suffer the set back of a 10 second penalty, resulting from a jump start. But such was his and co-driver, Callum Lockie’s pace that by the time Short emerged from pit-lane (after his later stop) they would find themselves with a net 6 second lead.

Lockie would then continue the cars strong pace over the remainder of the stint which enabled the Scot to maintain the lead despite a second penalty; this time a drive through for a short pitstop. There was just no stopping the #92 E-type in the evening sunshine. Behind, despite suffering in the heat, Ben Short just managed to hold off a fast closing John Pearson, in the Gary Pearson started machine, to claim a well deserved second.

Despite the event being slightly too Touring Car focused for my liking, I had a fantastic day in the, for once, glorious bank holiday sunshine, a welcome change from the single digit temperatures often experienced at this event. Exciting times are ahead for the Leicestershire circuit, now that MSV are behind the wheel. I just hope major changes are well off the radar as, from a viewing perspective, Donington remains near perfect.

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Smith Stars at Oulton’s Stellar Gold Cup

September 2, 2017 paulcommons1983 Leave a comment

Already an excellent event, the Oulton Park Gold Cup stepped up yet another gear in 2017 with the addition of both the Historic Touring Car Challenge and FIA Historic F2 International Series. And, when considering the ultra competitive HSCC Historic Formula Ford and Pre-66 Touring Car championship events featured heavily on the Bank Holiday Monday undercard, the more than respectable crowd were in for a real treat.

The HSCC organised Historic F2 championship appears to have suffered very little from the emergence of Peter Auto’s rival series in 2017 with some 25 cars taking to the Cheshire track over the weekend. And whilst Darwin Smith dominated proceedings in race 1 to claim victory by 17 seconds, he would have his work cut out in race 2 as the event quickly turned into a two horse race.

Donington winner, Richard Evans is regularly a front runner in this category and on this occasion refused to let the Northern Irishman out of his sights as the two bright yellow machines pulled away from the pack. But, despite Evans’ best efforts he never really got close enough to challenge; the series returnee, in his formidable March 722, appearing unbeatable around the picturesque parkland circuit as he went on to record his second victory in as many days. The Gold Cup, awarded to the aggregate winner of the 2 F2 races, just reward for Smith’s utterly brilliant drive.

The Motor Racing Legends organised Historic Touring Car Challenge was a very welcome addition to the Bank Holiday Monday schedule where, for a trial period commencing with the Gold Cup, Group A RS500s have been allowed to join the party. And whilst Chris Ward claimed pole position for the 50 minute race with a late charge in the JD Classics Rover Vitesse (shared with Steve Soper), it was the Mark Wright piloted RS500 which leapt into an early lead; his pace over the opening laps as he pulled away from Ric Wood’s Capri and the pole sitting Rover possibly the reason why these machines had previously been off the menu!

Having dominated earlier in the season at Donington Park, Soper was not quite able to deliver the same level of performane at Oulton. Ward on the other hand is rapid everywhere and an early stop to get the ex Silverstone Chief Driving Instructor behind the wheel would pay dividends as Ward found himself in the lead of the race as the mandatory pitstops unwound.

Had it not been for fuel starvation issues, Dave Coyne, in the RS500 started by Wright, may well have challenged for victory. However the intermittent problem would play havoc throughout the second half of the race with the 1990 Formula Ford Festival winner doing well to salvage fourth 4th with a last lap charge.

As it was, despite suffering a braking issue, Ward was able to take a comfortable victory in the end, with the Capri of Ric Wood and the late stopping M3 E30 of Mark Smith rounding out the podium positions. This had been a classy drive by the JD Classics man and Soper was the first to acknowledge that Ward was largely to thank for their top step of the podium appearance.

This wasn’t the only touring car action of the day however with the schedule also including 2 historic touring car races for the pre-66 machines as well as a second encounter for the end of millennium Super Tourers.

The Honda Accord is often the car to beat in the HSCC run Super Touring Car Trophy and the second race at Oulton provided no surprise in this respect; Stewart Whyte heading a 1-2 for the Japanese brand to register his second victory of the weekend. Meanwhile, Gianfranco Brancatelli claimed 6^th position overall to take class A honours in the very same RS500 he drove to Spa 24 hour victory in 1989.

Qualifying for the Pre-66 machines saw Ford Falcon pilot, Jack Drury, require just 4 laps to take pole position by a massive 1.4 seconds. It was to no avail however as a broken oil pump, which cut short his qualifying session, also caused him to miss race 1 whilst the engine was changed! This left the door open for the smaller engined marques to flourish with James Clarke leading home Richard Belcher to complete a Ford Cortina 1-2 and Jonathan Lewis in his Mini Cooper S registering an excellent third.

The Falcon was fixed for race 2 however and despite having to start from the back of the grid, Drury was in the lead of the race before the end of lap 4; his victory by more than 13 seconds underlining his total dominance of the category on the day. With such a performance gap, a double race victory should have been a formality and the ex BMW driver will hope his championship push is not impacted by the unfortunate reliability issues experienced in qualifying.

As has often been the case in 2017 a healthy grid of Formula Ford machinery had been gathered for the Oulton Park Gold Cup meeting and it was no surprise to find Richard Tarling and Callum Grant again battling it out for victory. But whilst overtaking was plentiful at Croft, it was not so easy at Oulton and try as Grant might he could not find a way passed the Janum T2 of Tarling in either race; Tarling again showing his defensive skills to record a double victory despite suffering a broken exhaust in the days first encounter. And whilst Tarling’s two strong results kept him well in the title frame, a distinctly under the weather Grant (2016 champion) all but threw in the towel following another strong points haul for series leader Michael O’Brien.

Benn Tilley put in 2 strong Formula Ford performances to claim creditable 6^th and 7^th placed finishes but it was the Formula Junior category where the youngster truly excelled; the Lotus 22 pilot going on to record his first and second overall victories in the Silverline backed series as John Fyda and Peter De La Roche, on both occasions, rounded out the podium positions.

In the Second Derek Bell Trophy race of the weekend, a drive train problem with his March 79B denied Andrew Smith the chance of a double win. Instead, Neil Glover powered his F5000 Chevron B37 to victory as the 2 litre F2 Chevron B27 of Mike Bletsoe-Brown and the March 712 of James King, fresh from his brilliant F2 performance to claim class A honours, rounded out the podium positions. Behind, Julian Stokes came out on top of the Techno F2 battle to claim Classic Racing Car victory with race 1 winner, Daniel Pyett unfortunately ending the day in the Old Hall barriers.

And last but not least, there looked to be a huge shock on the cards in the Classic Clubmans race as John Harrison lead much of the early running. Mark Charteris is very rarely beaten in this category however and would not be denied on this occasion either; the Watford man making the crucial pass at Cascades on lap 8 before going on to record a 3.6 second victory.

Was there a better way to spend August Bank Holiday Monday? I think not. Having absolutely loved the Gold Cup meeting last year I wasn’t sure it could be bettered. I was wrong. Witnessing historic F2 machinery lapping Oulton in sub 1.36 times is something else, as was the sound of many a V8 at full chat in the Historic Touring Car Challenge. More of the same next year please!

FULL RESULTS

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Ward Stars at 7th Annual Donington Historic

May 4, 2017 paulcommons1983 Leave a comment

The 2017 running of the Donington Historic Festival also coincided with the 40^th anniversary of Donington Park’s re-opening, and fittingly over 450 classic motor racing machines, many with a rich sporting history, had been attracted to the 7^th running of the event. The Leicestershire circuit was in great shape too; now properly re-grassed and landscaped following the F1 debacle, the infield is at last fully open to the public. And with the infield bankings providing some of the best spectator viewing in the UK there really was no better place to take in the weekend’s 19 races.

Saturday’s schedule included 10 of the aforementioned races and Historic racing ace, Chris Ward would amazingly find himself standing on the podium’s top step on 3 occasions! The first of which would come alongside Touring Car Legend, Steve Soper, in the Bastos livieried Rover Vitesse. But having qualified the British built machine on pole for the 1 hour long Historic Touring Car Challenge, Ward instead jumped into the TWR Jaguar XJ8. And whilst Soper developed an early lead, Ward set about bringing the big cat towards the front, leading to suggestions that the versatile JD Classics man could in fact appear on the podium twice! ECU issues would unfortunately negate that prospect but once Ward was aboard the Rover there was only ever going to be one winner; the pairing going on to record a dominant 36 second victory.

A second success would soon follow, this time aboard the stunning Lister Costin in the Stirling Moss Trophy race for Pre-61 Sportscars; a race win which in many respects was his toughest of the day. In what effectively became a two horse race, Will Nuthall, in a Lister Knobbly, would sit in the wheel tracks of Ward’s Costin bodied machine for almost the entirety of the one hour race. However the healthy crowd were robbed of a close finish when Nuthall was dealt a late double blow; first, a one minute time penalty for a late decision to drive solo, and second, by hitting car trouble on the very last lap. Such was the dominance of the leading two Listers however that Nuthall was still classified in second!

Ward was then at it again in Saturday’s final race of the day; the ex-Silverstone Chief Instructor once again joining Paul Gibson in his continuation Lola T70 MK3 for the 90 minute ‘1000km’ race for pre-73 prototypes. Whilst the entry was a little on the disappointing side it was more than made up for in terms of quality and the early running was made by the 3 T70 MK3s in the field; Paul Gibson ahead of Leo Voyazides and Chris Beighton.

By lap 29, both Gibson and Voyazides had handed over their respective machines to Chris Ward and Simon Hadfield, with a quicker pit stop for the latter allowing Hadfield to emerge in front. Ward however was driving like a man possessed and with lap times consistently below the 1.11 marker, was quickly on the tail of Hadfield and into the lead once Beighton had pitted for Greensall on lap 38. Hadfield is reknowned for his pace in historic machinery but even he could not match the low 1.08s Ward was achieving in clean air, leaving Gibson and Ward to claim victory for the third time in as many years. What a day this had been for the one time Nissan man!

Once again Touring Cars from latter half of the twentieth century would feature heavily at this years festival and as a result stars such as the aforementioned Steve Soper, Colin Turkington, Adam Morgan, Patrick Watts and Andrew Jordan were all set to compete.

In fact, prior to his success in the Historic Touring Car Challenge, Soper had taken the brand new Team Dynamics built Lotus Cortina to second in the first of two races for pre-66 under 2 litre Touring Cars. Traditionally the Cortina’s have been no match for the Andrew and Max Banks piloted Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint and even the touring car expertise of Soper could not reverse the fortunes of the popular Ford machine. As it was the pole sitting Alfa duo were never troubled as they went on to record a 23 second victory. Soper meanwhile had to fight his way passed the similar Lotus Cortina’s of Andy Wolfe and Oscar Rovelli after a slow pit stop to claim second, while Rovelli went on to snatch third from Wolfe on the finish line!

Sunday’s second race may well have had a similar outcome, in that Andrew and Max Banks recorded yet another victory, however the Cortinas appeared much more competitive on this occasion. In fact Soper almost made it into the lead at Goddards on lap 2 but would fall back into the clutches of fellow Cortina man, Andy Wolfe after running wide.

A mid race safety car would however allow both Cortina drivers another shot at the leading Alfa and Andy Wolfe would emerge as Banks’ closest challenger at the restart. But, an unsuccessful attempt for the lead around the outside of the chicane would ultimately allow Banks to escape to victory and Soper to close in and re-take second at Hollywood. Wolfe was far from finished though and the two Cortinas would swap positions on more than one occasion before Soper eventually claimed his second runner up spot in as many days.

Many of the under 2 litre machines would again take to the track for the final Touring Car race of the weekend, the HRDC ‘Coys’ Trophy; an event again catering for pre-66 machines but this time with no engine capacity restrictions. And whilst there was no sign of the Banks’ Alfa, the Lotus Cortina pilots would this time have to contend with brutish American muscle in the form Ford’s Falcon and Mustang models. And it was the pole sitting Ford Falcon in the hands of Jack Drury, fresh from his Donington HSCC HTC success earlier in the month, who would slip in front of Soper as the cars headed for the mandatory mid race pit stops.

Once complete there was nothing to choose between Drury and Soper and expectations were high for a great battle to the finish. Unfortunately the duel would be short lived however as both cars found themselves on the retirement list courtesy of a collision with a back marker at McLeans. This left another Cortina in the hands of David Tomlin to take victory from the similar machine of Graham Pattle and the Mustang of Mark Burton.

The Donington Historic Festival also played host to the opening two rounds of the 2017, HSCC organised, Super Touring Car Challenge and it was James Dodd who claimed a brace of commanding victories in his Honda Accord; beating the Alfa Romeo 150 STW of Neil Smith to top spot by 15 seconds in race 1 and the similar Accord of father Graeme by 41 seconds in race 2.

Meanwhile, Mike Jordan, paired with his 2013 BTCC champion son, Andrew, aboard the family run Austin ‘GT’40 recorded a dominant victory in the HRDC Pre-60 Touring Car race. Despite an early safety car period, the very rapid duo claimed victory by a mammoth 52 seconds over the Butterfield/Dorlin Jaguar MK1.

Whilst it was great to see so many touring cars at the festival it is ultimately the Sports and GT Cars that draw me back year after year. And pleasingly a jam packed field took to the track for Sunday morning’s 2 hour GT and Sports Car Cup for Pre-66 GT and Pre-63 Sportscars.

Last year Grahame and Oliver Bryant had claimed victory and it wasn’t long before Oliver Bryant had established a healthy lead over the chasing Cobra’s of Robert Bremner and Leo Voyazides and the E-type Jaguar of Carlos Monteverde. The rules for this race dictate a maximum of 50 minute stints and whilst Oliver Bryant escaped from the pack prior to the enforced stop, Grahame was unlikely to lap at the same speed. Hadfield and Pearson, subbing for Voyazides and Monteverde respectively meanwhile were the quicker drivers in their pairings and began to quickly close in on the leading Cobra.

A long safety car period, for oil at the chicane, would however dampen the race as a spectacle somewhat; enough time passing for the elder Bryant to be relieved of his duties under the caution period, allowing Bryant the younger to go on and take a comfortable 39 second victory. The battle behind was far less clear cut however. Whilst Hadfield had managed to keep Pearson behind, the positions were reversed soon after the second pitstops; the Voyazides Cobra dropping time and two positions with an excursion at McLeans. Thus ensuring the Monteverde/Pearson and Clark/McCaig E-types would round out the podium positions.

The Pre-War Sports Cars would make a welcome return in 2017 and Fred Wakeman and Patrick Blakeney-Edwards would quickly establish themselves as the class of the field; the duo going on to record victory by more than 1 lap in their Frazer Nash. However, the victory may well have been less dominant had fellow front row starter, Sam Stretton, not been forced into retirement in his Alta Sports after just 11 laps.

A day later, Wakeman and Blakeney-Edwards would claim a second victory in the RAC Woodcote Trophy race for Pre-56 Sportscars. Although Gary Pearson, in a Jaguar D-Typre, lead the opening stages of the race, Fred Wakeman in the Cooper T38 was able to get by at Hollywood on lap 7. And, with Pearson never re-emerging from his mandatory pitstop, Patrick Blakeney-Edwards was able to go on and record a comfortable victory of more than 1 lap. The battle for second was fascinating however. Lying 8th after the mid race pit stops, Simon Hadfield stormed through the field in the Wolfgang Friedrichs Aston Martin DB3S to grab second with just 4 laps remaining!

E-types of various body styles filled the majority of the grid positions in the Jaguar Classic Challenge race and it was Gary Pearson and Ben Short who would battle it out for the lead over the opening stages of the race. It would have taken some drive to beat Pearson in equal machinery however and as it was the Jaguar expert was able to break away in traffic; eventually taking race victory by 14 seconds.

There was also a nice blend of single seater action across the weekend and a whopping 25 cars made the start of the opening FIA sanctioned Historic Formula 2 race. Richard Evans had previously claimed pole position by a huge 1.5 seconds in his March 742 and expectation was that he would dominate proceedings in the race. And whilst a poor start left him fourth behind Mark Dwyer, Daniel Gibson and Frazer Gibney, Evans would find himself at the head of the field by lap 10. But this appeared to be a race that no-one wanted to win as first Evans and then Dwyer were forced into retirement; the latter pulling off at Redgate with just three laps remaining to leave the way clear for Frazer Gibney to take the most unlikely of victories.

The opening laps of race 2 proved highly entertaining as the rapidly driven cars of Richard Evans, Mark Dwyer and Daniel Gibson all cruised through the field; the grid having been set from the results of race 1. In fact, such was their pace that by lap 4, Evans, Dwyer and Gibson held the top 3 positions. But whilst Gibson would again find his Chevron B42 condemned to the retirements list, Evans and Dwyer would, on this occasion, go on to claim the top two steps of the podium, despite the latter suffering from a broken exhaust. Behind, after a brilliant second in race 1, Robert Simac in his Class A March 712M would put in another superb drive to round out the podium positions.

Elsewhere, John Sykes claimed a double victory in the races for pre-61 Front Engined Formula Junior cars. The Merlyn MK2 pilot twice getting the better of the Justin Fleming and Robin Longdon piloted Lola MK2’s to record the narrowest of victory margins.

Meanwhile James Murray in his Lola MK5A claimed the first Pre-64 Rear Engined Formula Junior race and John Fyda in his Brabham BT6 claimed the second in what was the final event of an excellent weekend of racing.

What is there not to love about the Donington Historic Festival? The Coppice tunnel closure and the lack of transmission on 87.7FM for much of Saturday morning were small negatives but these were far outweighted by great racing, fantastic displays (including the ’88 Le mans winning XJR9), and a knowledgeable and enthusiastic commentary pairing. I am already looking forward to 2018!