In conditions well suited to 4WD machinery, George Lepley and Dale Bowen put in a strong drive to claim Malton Forest Historic Rally victory with 8th position overall aboard their Mitsubishi Galant VR-4.
A healthy contingent of 94 cars would line up for the start of the North Yorkshire based Malton Forest Rally with several crews electing to use the event as a pre RAC shakedown. Seb Perez and Gary McElhinney were one of those crews who, having switched from the 911 to the family owned Lancia Stratos in the run up to the event, became the star attraction for many.
With Perez still getting to grips with the Italian Machine he was never likely to trouble the top spots in what proved tricky conditions; however the pace was encouraging, especially through the afternoon loop of stages, as the Global Brands backed machine climbed 6 positions to end the event in a very respectable 20th overall and 7th in the historic category.
With a monumental amount of rainfall in the lead up to the rally, George Lepley and Dale Bowen would be hot favourites to take historic category victory but any thoughts of an easy run to the finish were quickly dispelled as Matthew Robinson and Sam Collis stormed through Langdale to claim an early 4 second category lead. This was was perhaps all the motivation Lepley required however as the Nottinghamshire man went on to set fastest category time on all of the remaining 5 tests to claim historic rally victory by 24 seconds.
It seems somewhat unfair that a rear wheel driven MK2 Escort built in the 70s would sit in the same H2 class as the late 80s Mitsubishi but Robinson fully utilised his local knowledge to keep Lepley on his toes and was rewarded with the unofficial 2WD historic victory with 9th position overall.
Steve Bannister must be able to drive the North Yorkshire stages with his eyes closed having competed in them so often over the years and the ‘Malton Missile’ was holding a strong 3rd in category before being forced into retirement at the half-way point. This left Barry Mckenna and Arthur Kierans (Ford escort MK2) to round out the historic category podium positions and David Brown and Richard Wardle (Ford Escort MK2) to end the day as 3rd 2WD historic crew home.
Class H1, for historic specification cars up to 1600cc, was being lead somewhat convincingly by the Hillman Avenger of Matt Bown and Tom Murphy at the mid point service. That was as good as it got for the East Midlands based crew however as brake failure would end their day prematurely. This left the way clear for Paul Rawson and Mike Curry to claim class victory aboard their MK1 Escort, with Kurt Hodgson / Sam Campbell (Peugeot 205) and Geoff Taylor / Steve Greenhill (Sunbeam Imp) completing the top three.
In the race for Overall honours Elliot Payne and Jack Morton fought back from a first stage deficit to claim victory by 37 seconds aboard their Ford Fiesta Rally 2; Payne thus completing a whitewash of single day North Yorkshire forest events in 2023! Behind, Alan Carmichael and Bonnie Papper claimed a well deserved second in their Hyundai I20 R5 whilst Andrew Purcell and Martin Brady took 3rd in their VW Polo.
Elsewhere, Nick Cook and Nigel Hutchinson (Ford Escort MK1) would claim Class 3 victory with an excellent 19th overall whilst Martyn Hawkswell and Ben Cohen were first home in Class 4 (26th overall). Ben Cree and Robert Wiggins meanwhile would take Class 2 top spot (Opel Corsa) with 34th whilst Class 1 winners Pete Gorst and Mark Twiname (Vauxhall Nova) would just pip them to the unofficial front wheel drive victory with 33rd.
Having visited Gale Rigg more often than close family in recent years it was nice to head to Cropton on this occasion, a decision which was fully justified upon hearing the roar of the Stratos down the infamous long straights! The river flowing across junction 11 and afternoon sunshine were added bonuses also, nicely whetting the appetite for the long awaited 5 day marathon that is the RAC rally later in the month!
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.
A controlled and consistent performance from Jason Pritchard and Phil Clarke saw the Welsh / Anglo pairing top a close fought historic battle in the North Yorkshire forests to claim Trackrod Historic Cup victory.
The penultimate round of the British Historic Rally Championship would see the crews return to the forests of North Yorkshire for the second time in 2023 but this time utilising the additional classic tests of Dalby, Staindale and Langdale, with Dalby also run in the dark on the Friday evening to provide extra spice to a challenging total rally distance just shy of 57 miles.
Pleasingly a mammoth capacity entry list had been put together by the organisers with a more than healthy contingent of historic category machinery and it was George Lepley (with Dale Bowen in the co-drivers seat) who would continue his recent strong form by holding a commanding early lead of over 22 seconds by the end of stage 2!
As expected, the all wheel drive Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 was well suited the long straights and 90 degree bend nature of the North Yorkshire stages however it was not to be for the young Nottinghamshire man who encountered gearbox issues in Cropton and was forced into early retirement. Whilst disappointing for Lepley and Bowen, their retirement did however open the battle for victory right up with Seb Perez’s Porsche and Nick Elliott’s Fiat 131 amongst a whole host of Ford Escorts now in with a genuine chance of top spot.
Perez, in the Category 2 Porsche 911, was in sublime form, setting second quickest time through Dalby on Friday evening and then fastest in Cropton to sit less than 1 second from the lead of the historic field after 3 stages. And the Chesterfield man would definitely have been in with a shout of victory had unfortunate engine issues not slowed the Global Brands backed machine through the two long afternoon stages. But with the Porsche visibly smoking through the Langdale finale he and co-driver Gary McElhinney would have to make do with Category 2 top spot and 5thoverall which still represented an excellent result.
Matthew Robinson and Sam Collis would return to action on the Trackrod in their formidable MK2 Escort and after the demise of Lepley would find themselves in the lead of the rally after stage 3. Dropped time in Staindale and Dalby would put pay to their victory challenge however, with fastest time through the 13 miles of Langdale not quite enough to overhaul the eventual winners; the duo ending the event in second just 5 seconds behind the similar machine of Pritchard.
Pritchard and Clarke meanwhile are 3 time British Historic Rally champions for a reason and whilst their speed is unquestionable it is their consistency which has delivered the titles. Having only entered the Trackrod as a pre RAC shakedown, the RS1800 crew were fastest through Staindale to take the lead of the event and quick again in the second running of Dalby to hold a relatively comfortable 8 second lead heading into the Langdale finale. The pairing would not drop outside the top 5 fastest stage times throughout the two days as they went on to claim a second BHRC success of the season.
Another crew returning to action on the Trackrod were Paul Barrett and Gordan Noble and the Omagh based crew were in the mix for a podium position aboard their Ford Escort as they sat in 4th with just one stage remaining. The Northern Irish duo would sadly not emerge from the final Langdale test however but on this showing should be right up at the sharp end come the RAC Rally in November.
This left the evergreen Steve Bannister aboard the infamous red-striped white Ford Escort to pick up the pieces; the ‘Malton Missile’, with Callum Atkinson alongside, taking advantage of Barrett and Perez’s misfortunes to climb from 8th overnight to an excellent 3rd by the end of the rally with 5th, 3rd, 6th, 7th and 3rd fastest times through the Saturday stages.
The RSD prepared Fiat 131 of Nick Elliott and Dave Price is perhaps not best suited to the North Yorkshire stages but were able to keep their championship hopes alive with a solid 4th whilst Gareth James and Daniel Petrie would put in another strong performance to round out the top six in their MK2 Escort.
In Category 2, Stefaan Stouf and Dai Roberts may well have given Perez a run for his money (having sat 3rd overall overnight) but for their rally coming to an end in Staindale. This left Jeremy Easson and Mike Reynolds to claim the runner up spot with 12th and Warren Philliskirk and Garry Green to round out the podium positions in their similar MK1 Escort.
Meanwhile in Category 1, top spot would go the way of Richard Aczel and Allan Harryman in their Porsche 911 (although potentially listed in the wrong category) whilst Terry Cree and Richard Shores would wrap up the 2023 category 1 BHRC title with second aboard their Mini Cooper S.
Elsewhere, in the Trackrod Forest Stages event Elliott Payne and Tom Woodburn (Fiesta Rally 2) would claim a close fought victory after overhauling early leaders Arron Newby and Jamie Edwards (Skoda Fabia R5) over the afternoon stages, whilst WRC regulars Adrien Formaux and Alexandre Coria would take a poorly supported BRC Rally Yorkshire victory by a comfortable 45 seconds.
The British Historic Rally Championship now moves onto the Carlisle stages in late October where courtesy of dropped scores the overall title is very much still alive with the Ford Escort of Roger Chilman and Fiat 131 of Nick Elliot set to battle it out over what promises to be a grueling encounter in the Kielder Forest complex.
Joe Price and Chris Brooks stormed to Woodpecker Stages National Rally victory aboard their infamous MK2 Escort despite strong all-wheel drive opposition in the form of George Lepley’s Galant VR4.
Pre-event there was much talk about the Group A Mitsubishi in the hands George Lepley taking a convincing victory though it appeared the raw speed of Joe Price, especially on his home event, had not been fully taken into account. However only half the event was in the Shropshire forests, where the Ludlow resident has so often excelled, with Cwmysgawen and (new to almost all competitors) Ceri replacing Radnor for the 2023 rendition of the Sixty & Worcestershire Motor Club organised event.
In what turned out to be the hottest day of the year it would however be the RSD prepared Fiat 131 crew of Nick Elliott and Dave Price who claimed an early lead after the Cwmysgawen test but George Lepley, with Dale Bowen alongside, put the four wheel drive at his disposal to good use in Ceri to hold a 1 second lead over Price as the crews headed back to the more traditional Shropshire stages.
And it is the stages on the English side of the border where Price and Brooks come into their own; the pairing setting 9th and 7th fastest time overall in Hopton and Haye Park respectively to gain a pivotal 10 seconds on their rivals and hold a 9 second lead at the mid event service. And despite Lepley again having the edge in Ceri on the afternoon loop, the Nottinghamshire man was no match for Price in his own back yard, with the Escort pilot going on to claim a sublime 11 second historic category victory.
Meanwhile Richard Jordan and James Gratton-Smith had put in a stellar morning drive to hold third at the half way point but a huge stage cancelling roll in Cwmysgawen ended their involvement in the event (here’s hoping they make a speedy recovery and return to the stages sooner rather than later). This left the MK2 Escorts of Roger Chilman and Tom Walster to battle it out with Elliott’s Fiat 131 for the final podium position. The second running of Ceri would see the demise of Walster (stub axle) though and Chilman, co-driven by Patrick Walsh, just had the edge on Elliott over the remainder of the event to take maximum BHRC points with 3rd.
Rory and Paul McCann starred in category 2 with the Hillman Avenger (Class C2) crew claiming category victory by an enormous 41 seconds with an excellent 9th overall in the historic section of the event! Josh Carr and Osian Owen (Class C3) would take maximum BHRC category points in 2nd aboard their Pinto powered MK1 whilst Andrew Stokes and Jonny Tad Evans (Escort MK1) would round out the podium positions and in turn take class C5 honours. Meanwhile Terry Cree and Ricardo Shores were first home in category 1 with 80th overall in their Mini Cooper S and in the race for overall honours Arron Newby (Skoda Fabia) survived a late charge from Elliot Payne (Ford Fiesta) to claim outright rally victory.
Whilst great to see the Galant VR4 driven so well (this being a car I fondly remember seeing in period) It was in some respects pleasing to see two wheel drive machinery still end up on top of the pile. However it won’t be long before four wheel drive machinery is taking historic rally victories in the UK, possibly as soon as the Trackrod in just over a week’s time! It will be interesting to see the impact of this (although not currently able to score overall BHRC championship points) and whether an increase in four wheel drive machinery at the sharp end would be to the detriment of historic rallying in general. I’m hopeful this won’t be the case but the governing bodies potentially have some important decisions to make in the coming years regarding eligible point scoring machinery.
After what can only be described as shocking weather this summer, I was delighted to find wall to wall sunshine forecast for my annual trip to the Lincolnshire Wolds and, better still, very decent entry lists for the Equipe Classic Racing meeting (including grids from the MG Car Club), something that is not always the case for the very niche Cadwell Park circuit.
Dubbed in some circles as the “Mini Nurburgring” you can see why some choose to avoid but from a spectator’s point of view I love the completely different nature of the track; where else in the UK can you find sections such as Hall Bends, The Mountain and Goose neck? Completely bonkers, just like the much larger German circuit it is sometimes compared to!
Following on from an excellent first glimpse of the Equipe Classic Racing brigade at Donington one month earlier it came as no surprise that the racing was again top notch with the GTS race for smaller engine pre-66 machinery perhaps the pick of the day. Starting on pole the MG B of Lewis Saunders would eventually regain the lead courtesy of a mistake entering Park Straight by early leader Rob Cull. Cull in his immaculate TVR Grantura however would emerge back in the lead after the mandatory pitstop and whilst Saunders closed in the final stages it would be Cull who landed a hard-fought win. Meanwhile David Gardner put in a stellar drive in his class 1 Turner MK2 to claim an excellent third.
In fact it turned out to be an excellent day for Rob Cull, who despite having to withdraw his Capri from the 70s encounter, also ended the day with a quite brilliant podium in the Equipe Libre event aboard the very same 1840cc Grantura he claimed victory with earlier. Despite possibly better equipped for the twisty bits of the Lincolnshire Circuit the Grantura had no right to be battling with the more powerful Healeys but the TVR man was able to sneak passed both Alex Hewitson and Bill Rawles as the race progressed and round out the podium positions. Up front however Graham Moss put in a controlled drive aboard his glorious Daytona Cobra to take victory whilst Brian Caudwell kept the 4.7 litre machine honest with a well earned second aboard his Austin Healey 3000.
As expected it was machines from the 70s category which headed the combined Equipe 70s, Pre 63 and 50s event with the Morgan Plus 8 of David and Andrew Wenmam excelling on the undulating circuit to pass the pole sitting Fiesta of Tom Burgess at the start and never really look back as they claimed a near 19 second victory. Meanwhile Nic Strong completed the podium positions in his Marcos 3000GT whilst respective Pre 63 and 50s victories went the way of Jack Rawles (Austin Healey 3000) and John Pearson (MG A).
Speaking of MGs, the day’s schedule was completed by 2 races each for the MG Car Club organised Cockshoot Cup and BCV8 series’. The BCV8 series provided very close racing throughout with Neil Fowler getting the better of a 4 way Class D battle to take race 1 victory whilst James Wheeler put in the fastest lap of the day to claim race 2 victory with a very rapid 1m40.39! Meanwhile David Morrison (MG Midget) and Mark Wright (MG F) would take a win apiece in the Cockshoot Cup with Morrison’s victory in race 1 a quite remarkable feat in his 1380cc machine when up against much more recent machinery!
There are few better places than Cadwell to take in a days racing when both the weather and entry levels are good, and this event definitely ticked both of those boxes. Aided by the lower early autumn sun it also made for some of my favourite photos of the year so far which is looking like my penultimate circuit event of 2023!
Next up is the Woodpecker Stages Rally and a first visit for me to the little used Ceri Forest!
BTCC front-runner Josh Cook played a starring role in the Classic Sports Car Club’s Donington Park GP meeting as he and Mike Gardiner claimed a dominant Mintex Classic K victory in very trying conditions.
Having been in two minds whether to make the short trip to Donington, with torrential rain forecast for the majority of the day, it was refreshing to find that the weather had little impact on proceedings. In fact just a couple of laps under safety car conditions at the start of each qualifying session was all that was required, a reminder of what is possible when driving to the conditions (something that elite level motorsport seems to have ruled out these days)!
With the rain continuing to teem down at the Leicestershire circuit the Mintex Classic K field of more than 30 cars miraculously navigated the infamous Craner Curves with little incident and somewhat surprisingly it was an E-type in the hands of Steven Osborne that lead the early stages, proof if ever it were needed that the recent re-surfacing has far improved the grip levels. That was until an off at Coppice saw the Jaguar man beached in the gravel, losing a couple of laps whilst recovered and any chance of victory in the process.
Following the closing of the pit window, which coincided with a Safety car for Martin Richardson’s marooned MG B at Schwantz, Mark Russell (E-Type Jaguar) found himself with a slender lead over the now Josh Cook piloted Ford Lotus Cortina as the track returned to green. Cook however was in a class of his own in the tricky conditions, soon passing Russell and going on to claim a commanding near 30 second victory for he and Mike Gardiner; with Cook’s fastest lap more than 2 seconds quicker than anyone else! Meanwhile Peter Smith and Mike Simpson would round out the podium positions with an excellent third in their Lotus Cortina.
The Swinging 60s races usually provide high levels of entertainment and the Donington GP meeting would not disappoint either. In the Group 2 race for larger engined machines, Jon Wolfe put in what appeared to be a relatively controlled drive to victory aboard his TVR Tuscan however the post race interview revealed an altercation with the Mcleans tyre wall, thus making the 12 second win all the more remarkable! Meanwhile Stephen Pickering (Sunbeam Tiger) set the fastest lap of the race (almost 2 seconds quicker than anyone else) on his way to 3rd despite a 20 second success penalty but was not quite able to catch Dean Halsey’s Datsun 240z who found himself on the second step of the podium.
Some 41 cars lined up for the Swinging 60s Group 1 race in what had become almost dry conditions for the final scheduled event of the day. And perhaps the best was saved until last as a fantastic battle took place for the entire 40 minute duration of the race between the Chris Watkinson piloted Austin Mini and Mini Marcos of Sam Polley. The bright orange Mini of Watkinson lead the early stages from pole but Polley seemed to have the better overall pace and was able to snatch the lead before the mid race pitstops. The Marcos bodied machine however emerged from the pits with a sizeable gap to make up and despite catching over the closing laps Polley was not able to get past, with Watkinson’s rapid pitstop ultimately landing him the victory!
Elsewhere Tony and Aston Blake claimed a double victory in their TVR Tuscan Challenge car, just getting the better of close rival Alex Taylor on both occasions. Both in Tuscan’s for the Modern Classics race, there was little to choose between the machines over the opening stint, however Taylor was slowed and ultimately forced into retirement following a collision with a back-marker at Coppice. This left Tom Barley (BMW 328i E36) to claim second, despite a 30 second penalty for missing the pit window, and Aidan Farrell / David Whelan to take third aboard their Porsche 911.
In the Future Classics event, Alex Taylor, this time aboard the familiar Mazda RX-7, put in a stellar drive to make up a huge chunk of his success related pitstop penalty during the second half of the race to take second, just ten seconds in arrears of the Blake’s Tuscan at the flag. Meanwhile Matthew and Martyn Ellis claimed third aboard their Talbot Sunbeam Lotus.
And finally, on this occasion the Co-ordSport Tin Tops were interlopers on the historic/classic side of the CSCC schedule and Danny Cassar remarkably (somewhat aided by a safety car and a clutch issue for Adam Brown) made up the entire of his 90 second success penalty to claim victory aboard the Honda Integra Type R!
Thankfully I didn’t let the weather put me off as a great days racing was witnessed and, fortunately, being once gifted the Canon ERC-E5 raincover (despite being mega expensive is far superior to the cheaper alternatives) was able to shoot throughout the monsoon conditions and gain some different photos from the less often used Grand Prix loop!
Having never visited a hillclimb event and, I have to confess, Knowing very little about this genre of motorsport other than fastest car up the course wins, it was with great anticipation that we entered Harewood Speed Hillclimb on a very pleasant early June morning for the Classic and Vintage meet; an event I had been entirely convinced to attend after thoroughly enjoyable previous experiences of the Vintage Sports Car Club where the relaxed nature and paddock access is second to none!
With a very reasonably priced bacon cob in hand, a steady stroll around the paddock revealed a mammoth 150 car entry list with machinery ranging from Mini to Formula 5000 Cooper and 500cc F3 car to Bentley Continental with a huge contingent of VSCC competitors fitting somewhere in between! The expectation being that all entrants would face 2 morning practice runs up the UK’s longest hillclimb course followed by at least 2 timed runs in the afternoon.
With practice runs passing relatively smoothly, despite the odd delay for break downs (to be expected with cars of this age group) not surprisingly it was machinery from Class 21 for Classic Racing and Sports Racing Cars that set the quickest timed runs with the fabulous Cooper T90 of James Baxter breaking the timing beam in 60.85 seconds to take overall honours! There were some excellent efforts elsewhere however with Jonathan North’s Mini Cooper setting a time of 67.38 to claim class C19 and Joshua Oakes traversing the 1,448 metres in just 62.94 seconds aboard his Reliant Scimitar SS1 to top class 38.
It was the machinery from the Vintage Sports Car Club which had ultimately convinced us to make the relatively short trip up North though and they did not disappoint. The shear effort involved in getting some of the cars up the hill was a sight to behold, with driver weight transfer (sidecar-esc) seemingly the key to manhandle some of the aging machines through the corners.
As it was the Alta 61 of Ian Baxter would set the fastest vintage class time with a ridiculously quick 67.24 (12th fastest overall), not bad for a car registered pre 1941! Michael James meanwhile would take both Class V9 and V14 honours with the 50th and 51st best times of the event in the respective Riley Cotton Special and Riley TT Sprite replica, whilst David Frank was 61st fastest up the climb to top class V10 in the SC/GN Beetle.
There were in fact some 24 class winners on the day which turned out to be a great first experience of hillclimbing from my perspective. And what a venue to choose for a first visit! Not only is Harewood set in very picturesque surroundings but is also fabulously maintained. With just the grass spectator walkways mown and everything else free to grow the whole venue has a National Trust / Nature reserve feel to it! And to top it off the view of the entire course from the Hill Top car park has got to be one of the best in British Motorsport. What a great day out for the very fair sum of just £12.50!
Whilst delighted to fit the Classic Sports Car Club’s visit to Thruxton into my 2023 schedule, I was grinning like Cheshire Cat when the historic section of the entry list was released, thus setting in stone a second ever trip to the UK’s fastest circuit!
With so many historic racing events these days, the luxury of reserves appearing on an entry list is something of a rarity. But that is exactly what was required for the combined Group 1 and 2 40 minute Adams & Page Swinging Sixties race where a monumental 42 cars took the start with machinery ranging from MG midget to Mustang Mach 1 and almost everything in between!
After what seemed like an inevitable early Safety car period, the race soon developed into a two car battle for victory with the more nimble Lotus Elan 26R of Anthony Hancock keeping the V8 Ford powered TVR of Jon Wolfe at bay before the mandatory pit stops.
It was roll reversal after the aforementioned stops however as Callum Lockie (taking over the TVR Tuscan hot seat) emerged in the lead. But just as we were gearing up for an almighty battle to the flag an uncharacteristic mistake from the experienced historic racer saw the TVR spinning out of contention at the complex leaving the way clear for the ultra rapid Ollie Hancock (taking over from father Anthony) to stroll to a commanding 19 second victory aboard the Swedish flag coloured Lotus.
Behind, Alex Thistlethwayte entertained onlookers by sliding his Mustang around (what appeared to be) every corner of the Hampshire circuit and looked set for a well deserved second, only to be disqualified for a safety car infringement. This left the podium positions to be filled by the Datsun 240z of Dave Cobb and remarkably the MG Midget of Connor Kay!
In fact it turned out to be an excellent coronation weekend for the Hancock father and son team as they later claimed an even more dominant victory in the 1 hour Mintex Classic K race. The highlight was however the incredible battle for second which seemed to go on for most of the race! Initially Thistlethwayte (Ford Mustang) was able to keep the chasing smaller engined cars at bay but eventually Paul Tooms (Lotus Elan) and Fabio Randaccio (TVR Griffith) were able to find a way past. Tooms looked set to make it an Elan 1-2 but a spin at the chicane followed by a late drive through penalty condemned the Lotus pilot to the final step of the podium. Randaccio meanwhile will have been over the moon with second having fought back from last after a slow get away from the grid!
Matthew Ellis would put his stamp on the Advantage Motorsports Future Classics race by building an enormous lead aboard the family Talbot Sunbeam Lotus before handing over to father Martyn. A 1 minute penalty for speeding in pit lane would however land Alex Taylor in the rotary engined Mazda RX-7 the race victory; in itself an excellent achievement following a back row grid position courtesy of air duct issues in qualifying and then having to manage high temperatures in the final stages of the race!
Elsewhere Andy Southcott aboard the MG Lenham Midget set the fastest laps of the day on his way to double victory in the JMC Racing Special Saloons and Modsports races, whilst the guesting Morgan challenge victories would go the way of Shane Kelly and John Emberson.
Always a sucker for a sixties era endurance style event, the Mintex Classic K race in late afternoon glorious sunshine was an excellent way to end proceedings. The memory of Thystlethwayte’s Mustang taking on Allard sideways in an attempt to keep Elan, Griffith and Marcos behind will long stay in the memory bank. The close proximity of viewing Thruxton’s incredible corners (Allard in particular) is just not something that can be replicated at any other UK circuit! I’ll be trying hard not to leave it another 9 years before my next visit!
The Historic Sports Car Club Contingent taking on the extremely unique Mallory Park was an opportunity I was not willing to miss, even if entry levels were a little on the low side. With a yellow warning of rain also given out for Sunday’s action it promised to be an interesting outing at the Leicestershire circuit.
Sure enough rain started to fall just before arrival and steadily worsened to an extent that Historic F3 qualifying was red flagged and over an hour’s delay was required to allow the circuit to become drivable again!
Such is the crazy nature of the weather at the moment however that by the time racing commenced at 1pm the only evidence of such a downpour were a few puddles around the circuit perimeter and the odd wet run off area, with blue skies greeting the Midget and Sprite Challenge runners.
Carnage is probably the most appropriate word for what would then take place as the first red flag was waved almost as soon as the lights turned green; a collision between Martin Morris, David Morrison and Edward Weston wiping out 75% of the front two rows of the grid. And it wasn’t long before the red flag was out again following a nasty collision with the John Cooper Esses tyre wall for Hugh Simpson, thus ending proceedings after just 4 minutes of racing.
In the meantime, polesitter Paul Sibley (MG Midget), courtesy of being the sole remaining class A runner left, had still managed to develop a 7 second winning margin over Pippa Cow’s class E leading Healey Sprite and class D victor, Tom Walker’s, similar machine.
Exceptional work by the Mallory support staff would ensure the first Historic F3 race would commence with little delay and it would be Ian Bankhurst aboard his Alexis Mk8 who lead the early stages before polesitter Sam Wilson would eventually find a way back past.
Both would soon be concerned by the rapid progress of Jeremy Timms from a lowly 8th place starting position however; The Chevron B15 pilot carving his way through the field to take the lead by half distance and claim an excellent victory by over 2 seconds. With Wilson forced into retirement after a spin, Bankhurst would find himself on the second step of the podium whilst Steve Seaman (Brabham BT21) would set fastest lap of the race on his way to third.
Timms would later complete a victory double after again falling behind Bankhurst at the start! Bankhurst meanwhile just managed to stave off challenges from Wilson and Mike Walker to again claim the runner up spot whilst Walker, aboard his Brabham BT21, would this time round out the podium positions after Wilson’s late retirement.
Historic Formula Ford 2000 machinery lapping Mallory Park was an eagerly anticipated sight and I would not be disappointed. Courtesy of retiring from race 1 of the weekend, usual front runner Benn Simms would start from 18th on the grid but was upto 3rd in next to no time at all. Murray Shepherd, aboard his class D none points scoring Van Diemen, proved just too difficult to pass however with Simms trying every which way to demote the race 1 winner to third. And Shepherd’s race long defensive heroics would ultimately earn him a second victory of the weekend after long time race leader Ian Pearson dropped back late on with his Royale stuck in 3rd gear; a real shame after Pearson’s exceptional lap 1 pass around the outside of Gerard’s!
Whilst the Historic Touring Car entry was disappointingly a little on the sparce side, race 1 at least still proved to be an entertaining affair with Mike Gardiner and Neil Wood locked in a race long battle for top spot; a tussle which Gardiner ultimately won as Wood’s Anglia didn’t quite have the legs to slip past his Lotus Cortina. Mighty qualifying performances in the wet had seen Roger Godfrey take pole in his Mini from the Singer Chamois of Steve Platts. However, with a dry race in prospect, they would find themselves battling it out for the final step on the podium, with Platts nipping past at the hairpin on lap 2 before Godfrey was forced into retirement in the latter stages.
With Gardiner a none starter for race 2, Neil Wood would claim a comfortable race 2 victory whilst Robin Ellis (BMW 1800 Ti) and Paul Wallis (Alfa Giulia Sprint GT) would round out the respective podium positions.
In a much less dramatic second encounter for the Midget and Sprite Challenge runners, Martin Morris provided a glimpse of what might have been as the back row starting Midget man charged through to second place in a relatively short space of time! Unfortunately for Morris however, Paul Sibley had already developed a commanding lead allowing the series returnee to claim a comfortable second race win of the weekend. Behind, Pippa Cow would round out the race 2 podium positions with a second class E victory of the weekend.
As anticipated, Mark Charteris was in a league of his own during a pair of Classic Clubman races. The Mallock MK20/21 pilot taking 2 commanding victories whilst also setting fastest race lap of the day with a very rapid 45.072! Dave Facer meanwhile would claim double class B victory, the Mallock MK16 pilot just edging out Tom Muirhead on both occasions.
And in what felt like no time at all I had made the short journey home and was scoffing my tea. Miraculously the organisers had managed to shoe horn 9 races into just 4 afternoon hours, which was pretty good going considering the red flag was required on three separate occasions. This a stark contrast to what felt like hours of waiting around in the morning for the torrential rain to eventually subside.
Hopefully a little more consistent weather will be on offer for my next outing which is scheduled to be the Classic Touring Car Race Club meeting at the very same circuit. See you soon Mallory!
Steve Soper in a E36 BMW, a full Thundersports grid containing both March and McLaren Can-Am machinery, Michael Lyons piloting a Lola T400 and the excellent GT and Sports Car Cup; all good reasons to make the short trip to Donington Park for the end of June Historic Sports Car Club meet.
Sunday was the day of choice and, having made the enormous walk to the pit straight (here’s hoping paddocks will be open by the end of July), was treated to an excellent Classic Formula Ford race to kick off proceedings. With most fully expecting another Cam Jackson victory, we were instead treated to an excellent tussle between the aforementioned Jackson, Henry Chart and Jordan Harrison.
Having just managed to maintain the lead in the early stages Jackson would unfortunately be forced into retirement with gear linkage issues though, thus leaving the way clear for either Harrison or Chart to end Jackson’s early season domination. Chart, in his Van Diemen, looked to just have enough to keep Harrison at bay, however the Lola T540E pilot managed to edge into the lead at the Craner Curves with 3 laps remaining and subsequently take the flag with a mere 0.154 seconds in hand. Formula Ford racing at it’s very best.
It didn’t turn out to be a great day for Jackson who later saw his 100% Historic Formula Ford record fall too following a phenomenal drive by Tom McArthur aboard his Titan MK4. McArthur looked to have lost any chance of victory after losing time in traffic but, after setting fastest lap after fastest lap, managed to toe up to the back of Jackson’s Winkelmann and Horatio Fitz-Simon’s Classic team Merlin and slip past both on the final lap (Fitz-Simon at Redgate and Jackson through Schwantz Curve). A Titan-ic drive from McArthur.
The GT and Sports Car Cup is a personal favourite of mine. The variety of 60’s sports cars achieved through being an invitation only event just cannot be beaten; wonderfully evidenced by Andrew Haddon leading the opening stages of the race in his Lotus Elan with the Cobra 289 of Chris Giles Jnr, Matthew Wrigley piloted E-Type and Fred Wakeman’s Lister Jaguar Coupe just behind.
Whilst the Cobra managed to re-take the lead of the race before the pitstops, it was the Elan, now with Andy Wolfe behind the wheel, which emerged in the lead once the pit window had closed; a lead which the Cobra, now in the hands of Simon Garrad, could do little about, leaving Wolfe to claim victory by a whopping 38 seconds! A now smoking E-type in the hands of Mike Wrigley tried his best to hold onto the final podium step but could not keep historic ace Patrick Blakeney Edwards (Lister Jaguar) at bay as the hour drew to a close.
Further back GT3 class honours went the way of Jeremy Welch and Doug Muirhead with 12th place overall; a great achievement considering they had to swap cars overnight resulting in a back row starting position! With 16th position overall Richard Cook and Richard Tuthill claimed GT2 top spot in their Porsche 911 despite a 5 second penalty for exceeding track limits.
The Dunlop Saloon Car Cup and Historic Touring Car grids were combined for their two races on the day which culminated in a mammoth 36 car grid for race 1. Unsurprisingly both races were affected by Safety Car periods however little could get in the way of Simon Garrad’s Skyline who on best lap times was over 2.5 seconds quicker than second placed Sean Brown’s stunningly turned out RS500.
Fortunately for the rest of the field, Garrad failed to make the grid for race 2 which allowed Soper to make amends for his race 1 trip to the Roberts chicane gravel trap and claim race 2 victory from the back of the DSCC grid!
Mustangs, Minis and Cortinas a plenty graced the Historic Touring Car element of the grid but there was no stopping Dan Williamson (Ford Falcon) who claimed a pair of victories with an incredible 7th and 4th place respective overall finishes. The Cortina’s of Marcus Jewell and Mark Martin would round out the podium positions in both races, each claiming an Appendix K 2 litre class victory a piece.
Is there a better sight than a McLaren M8F powering around Donington Park? Possibly a Michael Lyons piloted F5000 car … A debate for the pub maybe! Dean Forward’s M8F looks particularly stunning in JCB colours and it goes as well as it looks, with Forward claiming a second win of the weekend following Callum Lockie’s enforced retirement; the front bodywork of the March 717 removing itself on the Wheatcroft Straight part way through the race. Behind, Mark Richardson claimed 2 litre honours in his immaculately turned out Lola T290.
Later on the relatively small crowd were treated to a Michael Lyons Masterclass in the 2nd Aurora Trophy race of the weekend. The ridiculously quick Lyons, aboard his Lola T400, managing to lap the entire field in just 20 minutes of racing; a field which included the Chevron’s of Paul Campfield, Martyn Donn and Michael Bletsoe-Brown and March 742 of Mark Dwyer, all far from slow pilots of single seater machinery. A 1.04.63 lap around the Donington Park National Circuit is quicker than anything I have seen for quite some time! A strong argument from the single seater side of the aforementioned pub debate!
Continuing the earlier theme of competitive wingless single seater action, Andrew Hibberd, Jeremy Timms and Benn Simms formed a 3 way battle for victory in the Historic Formula 3 race. A red flag would ultimately shorten a great battle which saw pole sitter Andrew Hibberd just about stave off pressure from Simms and Timms to claim his second victory of the weekend aboard the Brabham BT18.
Such is the current health of the Historic Formula Ford 2000 championship that a qualifying race is required to reduce the entries down to a maximum 32 starters for the championship race! And the championship race turned into yet another closely fought affair, with Graham Fennymore (Reynard SF81) putting in a stellar defensive drive to take a second race win of the weekend from the Royale of Ian Pearson and Delta of Ben Tilley. Pearson and 2020 champion, Andrew Park, both tried their very best to snatch victory but just could not find a way through, with Park’s final attempt causing him to drop out of the podium positions.
Behind, 70 year old Adrian Reynard himself (the man responsible for half the cars on the grid!) put in a great drive to claim 6th overall in the Championship race following victory in the earlier qualifying event.
30 minute races for both the Historic and 70’s Road Sports had attracted healthy entries. The Elan of John Davison and AC Cobra of Kevin Kivlochan were expected to lock horns in the Historic Road Sports race and the pair got a little too close for comfort at the old hairpin in the early stages which left both cars behind another Elan in the hands of Paul Tooms. Davison was the quickest man in qualifying and this form ultimately carried over to the race as whilst both Davison and Kivlochan were able to re-pass Tooms, the Cobra pilot could do nothing about the pole sitter.
The 70’s Road Sports race turned into a race of 2 halves (Literally) as oil dropped by Greg Thornton’s Ferrari 308 caused a red flag with 10 minutes still left on the clock. Morgans were the car to have on the day though as not even the red flag could get in the way of a Plant one two (William leading home Richard) in their Plus 8’s. Despite ending up in the gravel before the red flag, Jim Dean, in his Lotus Europa, was able to take up third on the restart grid courtesy of count back regulations and ultimately prevented a Morgan lock out of the podium positions by pipping Kevin Kivlochan’s hard top model to 3rd.
It is great to live just 15 minutes from my favourite circuit and with such a full day’s activities it is a good job too as I still found myself out of the house for almost 11 hours! And whilst the weather proved to be dull throughout the racing was far from it. I am not sure I can remember a better day’s racing; not a single race felt like a filler event with close battles throughout. It had been a while since I last witnessed a HSCC meeting but I will certainly attempt to get to a second before the year is out. Mid September at Mallory Park has been firmly pencilled into the diary!
Paul Commons Motorsport 