Classic and Competition Car 48 September 2014

Classic and Competition Car September 2014

Issue 48

Formula E

British Hill Climb Shelsley

GT Cup Silverstone

VSCC 80th Anniversary

Bentley Drivers Club

© Simon Wright

Contents Page 3 Page 14

News.

ERA elebration at Shelsley Walsh

Page 15 Page 17 Page 18 Page 23 Page 27 Page 31 Page 34 Page 35 Page 39 Page 42 Page 45 Page 49 Page 53 Page 57 Page 60 Page 63 Page 70

CarFest South VSCC 80th Anniversary week VSCC 80th Anniversary Hill Climb VSCC Prescott Hill Climb VSCC Straight line sprint, Santa Pod VSCC Vintage Day Out Archive Photo of the Month MGCC Race meeting, Donington Park Coventry Classic Car Breakfast Club Wolseley Owners Club meeting, Coventry Bonneville Speed week.

Bentley Drivers Club Race Meeting, Silverstone British Hill Climb Championship, Shelsley Walsh MSVR Race meeting, Silverstone.

GT Cup Silverstone Guide to Formula E Closing Shot

Front Cover. Ian Baxter - 1935 MG Bellevue Special at the VSCC Prescott Hill Climb © Pete Austin Other pictures © Simon Wright

All content is copyright classicandcompetitioncar.com unless otherwise stated. All photographs are copyright the original photographer and cannot be used for commercial purposes unless by prior approval of the original copyright holder. We try to ensure accurate and truthful reporting but if you spot an error, please contact us and will we verify and correct accordingly. We do not organise any events which are mentioned and we are not responsible if the event does not take place or is cancelled.

Please contact the event organiser before making a long trip.

Classic and Competition car September 2014

Classic and Competition Car is published by simonwrightphotos.com High View Drive, Kingswinford, West Midlands DY6 8HT E-mail simonwright57@hotmail.com Tel 07905 435973 Check out our new updated WEB site at www.classicandcompetitioncar.com regularly for additional photo galleries, wall papers and other additional content and join our Facebook Group Classic and Competition Car.

To Subscribe for free and be notified when the next issue is published please click here. To check out our web site with additional photos please click here Our Team.

Simon Wright - Editor.

Simon has been photographing and reporting on motor races for many years. Served an engineering apprenticeship many years ago. Big fan of the Porsche 917 Pete Austin.

Pete is the man for Historic racing, with an extensive archive of black and white images covering the last few decades of motorsport in Britain. Very keen on BRM. Mick Herring Mick's first love is GT racing, including Historic, especially the Lola T70. Has an extensive knowledge of all things GT. Janet Wright.

Janet has been taking photographs for many years, and is also very skilled in video. She likes Aston Martins

Page 2

Editorial.

This issue we visit the past, present and the future. The past is well represented with the VSCC 80th Anniversary celebrations at Peterborough, Santa Pod and Prescott. The present is the GT Cup at Silverstone and the MG Car Club meeting at Donington. The future is the new electric FIA Formula E championship which starts this month in China. The initial testing has all been conducted at Donington Park where the ten teams and a host of previous Grand Prix drivers have electrified the crowds. The cars are fast, but seem strange with no noise as they approach and a soft gentle whooshing sound as they depart. Due to current limitations in battery life, each driver has 2 cars and will swop cars during the pitstop.

News

Š Mick Herring

Jeff Wyatt joins British GT. By Mick Herring.

Reigning GT Cup champion Jeff Wyatt has joined forces with Declan Jones to race in the GT4 class of British GT for the two remaining rounds ahead of a projected full season in 2015. The Milton Keynes driver will retain his association with his regular GT Cup BMW team, Geoff Steel Racing, who have taken over the preparation and running of the BMW M3 GT4.

The ABG-prepared BMW saw action (sometimes rather too much action) in the early rounds of 2014 British GT with Peter Belshaw and Declan at the wheel. Having seen the potential of the car demonstrated at the Silverstone round, Jeff is confident of his and Declan's ability to challenge for class wins at the remaining Brands Hatch and Donington British GT Š Mick Herring

Classic and Competition car September 2014

Page 3

Š Janet Wright

GT40 celebrates 50 years at Sywell Classic Pistons and Props.

This month will see the second Sywell Classic - Pistons and Props weekend on the 27th and 28th of September 2014 at Sywell Aerodrome in Northamptonshire. A parade of Ford GT40s will demonstrate on the mile long runway which is transformed into a demonstration circuit with a right hand bend, long straight with midway chicane and a 180 degree hairpin before the flying finish.The GT40 Enthusiasts Club will lead the celebrations to celebrate 50 years since the first prototype examples were announced and the iconic vehicles competed at Le Mans for the first time. For more information visit www.sywellclassic.com

Plato most successful BTCC driver at Snetterton.

A Ford GT40 in action.

Classic and Competition car September 2014

Š Simon Wright

Jason Plato scored a double victory at Snetterton in the British Touring car Championship meeting on 3rd August 2014. After putting his MG6 GT on Pole position by nearly half a second from Colin Turkington in the E-Bay BMW, Jason won both the first and second races from Turkington. The third race with the reverse grid saw Jason finish in 4th place overall to put himself back in with a chance of the 2014 BTCC title.

The MG KX Clubcard Fuel Save driver was already the most successful BTCC driver at Snetterton before his two wins this year which make 13 Touring Car victories for Plato at the Norfolk circuit.

Page 4

© KPB Photography

Mike Conway to debut for Toyota.

Toyota Racing test and reserve driver Mike Conway will make his race debut with the team in the fourth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship at the circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas on the 20th September. The Englishman who has already won two races in this years IndyCar Series, will deputise for Kazuki Nakajima who will be racing Super Formula in Japan.

© Simon Wright

Classic and Competition car September 2014

Stokes Goes Harry Flatters For the Win. The SGC Printing Harry Flatters Rally provided its usual quota of thrilling action on the high speed roads of the Epynt Military Training Area while David Stokes and Dessie Nutt remain tied for the lead in the Historic Rally Car Register managed Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship.

Dursley driver Stokes and co-driver Guy Weaver were the early pace setters among the registered contenders in category 2 for cars registered between 1968 and 1974, setting a time three seconds quicker than their closest rivals and fellow Escort crew, Simon Tysoe from Nuneaton and co-driver Cliffy Simmons from Coleford.

In fact, that is the way things would remain throughout the event’s 13 stages while Northern Ireland duo Stanley Orr and Brian Cairns would claim third spot despite it being the duo’s first visit to the iconic Welsh venue in around 30 years.

Page 5

Š Mick Herring

Smith has winning ways with Passat After scoring his second win of the season in the Team BMR Volkswagen Passat CC at Snetterton at the beginning of August, Irish driver Aron Smith has confirmed that he will remain with Team BMR for the 2015 Dunlop MSA British Touring car Championship.

The Dublin driver scored his first win in the Passat this year at the third race at Oulton park, where he narrowly beat former champion Gordon Shedden in his Honda Civic Tourer by just 0.846 seconds. His victory at Snetterton was even closer as Mat Jackson in the Airwaves Ford Focus ST Mk III was only 0.444 of a second behind the Passat at the finish. Š Janet Wright

Tomlinson joins board of BRDC. Ginetta chairman Lawrence Tomlinson was appointed to the Board of Directors for the British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC) at their annual general meeting on the 31st July 2014. Following a vacancy on the Board, Lawrence was proposed for the position by Former World Champion Nigel Mansell CBE and seconded by another former World Champion Damon Hill OBE in respect of his enthusiasm for British Motorsport and extensive expertise in business.

Tomlinson hopes to provide the Board with his experience as a successful entrepreneur to aid in the development of Silverstone. He is also committed to the progression of young drivers and in 2013 the Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup was named as a qualifying championship that can be used towards membership. The BRDC is an exclusive club for the most successful racing drivers from Great Britain and the Commonwealth.

Tomlinson was invited to join as a former winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2006.

Classic and Competition car September 2014

Classic and Competition Car Facebook Group

We now have a Facebook Group - Classic and Competition Car - where you can join and keep up to date with additional Photographs, postings, and extra event photo galleries. Please feel free to add personal postings and your own photos.

Page 6

Series Preview 2014/15 MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series - Big summer ahead for MSC F5000 Series

There's a big summer ahead for the MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series with rounds in Australia and here culminating in a support slot at the New Zealand Grand Prix meeting at Manfeild in February. Last season the local association paired with its Australian counterpart to run two separate but complimentary calendars with the opportunity to contest meetings on both sides of the Tasman but only score MSC series points at rounds here.

This season - with the series in its 12th year - the format returns to its original trans-Tasman foundations, with all six rounds carrying points, two in Australia - at Sandown Park in Melbourne and Sydney Motorsport Park in Sydney in November this year - and four back here in New Zealand in January and February next year. The first two local rounds are over consecutive weekends at the two Gulf Oil Howden Ganley F5000 Festival meetings at Hampton Downs in mid-January, while the final two are over consecutive weekends in early February, the penultimate one at the annual Skope Classic meeting at Christchurch's Mike Pero Motorsport Park (nee Ruapuna), and the final at the New Zealand Grand Prix meeting at Manfeild. "It's taken us a while to nut out, but it's now in place and, it's a calendar I think we can be quite proud of," says NZ F5000 Association committee chairman Aaron Burson."For a start it's good that we're going back to Sandown because its been a few years since we raced there and it's a track with a lot of category history. Then there's the two rounds at Hampton Downs where the focus category is Formula 5000, they're going to be a highlight of the season for a lot of our members." "The Skope Classic in Christchurch is always a great meeting, too, and we're also breaking new ground in accepting an invitation to have our final at the New Zealand Grand Prix meeting at Manfeild. That's going to be an interesting one because it's the first time, here anyway, where you are literally going to have the best of the old and the new at one meeting."

Formula 5000 was New Zealand's premier motor racing category from 1970 to 1975 and the organisers of the Gulf Oil-backed 2015 New Zealand Festival of Motor Racing at Hampton Downs are eyeing a record lineup of local and overseas-based cars.

Close to 300 cars were built to contest the various F5000 (Formula A in the Š Fast Company/Alex Mitchell United States and Canada) series around the world between 1968 and 1982 and as many as 60 are expected to line up at the two Festival meetings.

CALENDAR Rnd 1: Nov 8-9 2014 VHRR Sandown Historic Melbourne Vic Aust Rnd 2: Nov 29-30 2014 HSRCA Sydney Motorsport Park (Eastern Creek) Sydney NSW Aust Rnd 3: Jan 16-18 2015 Gulf Oil Howden Ganley F5000 Festival #1 Hampton Downs Nth Waikato New Zealand Rnd 4: Jan 23-25 2015 Gulf Oil Howden Ganley F5000 Festival #2 Hampton Downs Nth Waikato New Zealand Rnd 5: Feb 6-7 2015 Skope Classic, Mike Pero Motorsport Park, Christchurch, New Zealand Rnd 6: Feb 12-15 2015 The NZIGP/Manfeild Trust/MSNZ/TRS Manfeild, Feilding, New Zealand Prepared by FAST COMPANY of behalf of the New Zealand Formula 5000 Association www.F5000.co.nz

Classic and Competition car September 2014

Michael Lyons (Lola T400 #64) leading Andrew Higgins (Lola T400 #10) at one of the NZ Festival of Motor Racing meetings at Hampton Downs in January. Page 7

25th Autosport International.

Next January will see the 25th running of Autosport International, the biggest motor sport show in Europe. Held at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham between the 8th and the 11th of January 2015.

The show has seen the launch of many famous racing cars and is always well attended by many former World Champions as well as top racing drivers from all around the World. At the same time, the Performance car show in association with Autocar magazine and Pistonheads.com will be in adjacent halls showing exotic supercars and iconic cars from the world of motoring. More information and Tickets are now available to book at www.autosportinternational.com Bonneville Century of Speed meeting canceled.

After heavy rainfall the week before the event was due to run , the salt flats were flooded up to 2 feet deep. The Speed week was cancelled as there was insufficient time for the course to dry out. See report on the conditions on page 45. © Syd Wall

© Simon Wright

British Le mans winners at Goodwood Revival.

Jackie Oliver and Mark Blundell are the latest stars who will be competing at the Goodwood Revival meeting between the 12th and 14th September 2014.

Oliver won the Le Mans 24 Hours race in 1969 at the wheel of a Ford GT40 and has also won the Sebring 12 Hours and Daytona 24 Hours races. He will contest the St Mary’s Trophy race at the wheel of a BMW 700 Blundell won Le Mans for Peugeot in 1992 and also won three races in the American Champ Car World Series after a long Grand Prix career. He will team up with Kerry Michael in a 1958 Ford Zodiac for the St Mary’sTrophy race.

New Classic and Competition car Multimedia edition is now Available.

We have the normal PDF version that can be viewed on any device, including PC and Mac computers, iPad, iPhone and Android tablets and phones with a suitable PDF reader program (Adobe PDF reader is available free from www.adobe,com for many operating systems).

Our NEW Multimedia version is the same as the normal version, but includes extra embedded video clips in various reports. This can be viewed on any PC or Mac using the Adobe PDF viewer

Classic and Competition car September 2014

Page 8

Historic Rally Car Register 30th Birthday bash at Sywell.

Š Simon Wright

The Historic Rally Car Register’s 30th anniversary celebrations will culminate at the Footman James Sywell Classic - Pistons and Props weekend on the 27th and 28th September 2014. The Northamptonshire Aerodrome will provide the finish for the Classic 30 Rally, a two day road rally which is also raising funds for the Air Ambulance service. The event will start at Corby, Northamptonshire with a maximum entry of 60 cars, the majority of which are already entered. The event will finish on Sunday 28th of September at the Piston and Props show, where the cars will be put on display for the

public at the show to view. The entry is open to cars registered before 31st December 1985 that comply with MSA Historic Road Rally regulations Categories 1 to 4 with Category 4 cars only eligible for class awards. There is also a Vintage class for cars registered before 31st December 1939. The entry list already includes many historic rally cars, including Mini Coopers, Volvo Amazon, Austin Healey 3000, Triumph TR4, Porsche 356, Ford Cortina, MGB, Ford Escort and Mercedes Benz 280SL and many other regular historic rally cars. For more information see www.hrcr.co.uk and for the Sywell Classic Pistons and Props see www.sywellclassic.com Classic and Competition car September 2014

Page 9

Š Simon Wright

Jordan misses out at Snetterton.

Current reigning British Touring car Champion Andrew Jordan had a dramatic start to the weekend at Snetterton at the beginning of August. He experienced a high speed accident in practice when his Pirtek Honda Civic hit the barrier at Riches. The incident left him suffering signs of concussion when he was examined my medical staff. As a result of the accident, Jordan missed qualifying on Saturday.

After obtaining medical clearance to race on Sunday, he had to start the first race on Sunday from the back of the grid.

He made steady progress and finished in 16th place overall.

In the second race he again completed the distance and Š Janet Wright finished 15th. After the second race he was re-examined by the medical team and was clearly exhausted. He was deemed unfit to take part in the third race of the day, which he implicitly agreed with.

He made a return to the series at Knockhill in Scotland at the end of August, where he qualified in 4th place. He failed to finish the first race, finished 11th in the second race and got up to 5th in the final race.

Classic and Competition car September 2014

Group B Rally action in Manchester.

The Footman James Classic Car Show Manchester at Event City on September 20th and 21st 2014, will include live Group B Rally car action on a special demonstration stage at the show. There will be several shows each day, free to all ticket holders, of these thundering, fire breathing monsters of the rally world. These demonstrations are just part of the vast array of vehicles which will be on display at the show. There will also be lots of club stands, an autojumble, restoration projects, memorabilia and trade stands, plus a live restoration workshop.

Event City is right next to the Trafford Centre, just off junction 9 of the M60 in Manchester. For further information and to buy tickets, see their web site at www.manchesterclassiccarshow.com.

Check our web site for additional photo galleries, video clips and other exciting features in the coming months.We also have a You Tube channel here Classic and Competition Car Page 10

© Simon Wright

Electric cars on the increase.

Later in this issue you will see a preview of the new FIA Formula E championship for electric formula racing cars. There is also an increase in road going production electric cars and electric hybrid cars. Nissan was one of the first with the Nissan Leaf electric car.

Renault soon followed up with the Twizy and the Zoe, while Tesla showed that Electric cars were not as slow as milk floats, but could be high performance sports cars. Now BMW have joined the growing throng of electric car manufacturers with the new BMW i3 and the i8 Hybrid sports car. Toyota and Honda also have hybrid cars available or due soon. © Simon Wright

Renault Twizy Engine Power: 13KW Range: 62 miles Top Speed: 50mph.

0 - 45 kph: 6.1 secs Designed as a city electric car with just 2 seats and a small profile for easy parking in the city.

© Janet Wright Renault Zoe Engine Power: 65KW Range: 130 miles Top Speed: 84 mph 0-62 mph : 13.5 secs The Chameleon charger gives standard charge in 6 to 9 hours, accelerated charge 80% in 1 hour or rapid charging 80% in 30 minutes.

Classic and Competition car September 2014

Tesla S 85 Engine power: 85KWH Range: 298 miles Top Speed : 124 mph 0-62mph in 5.6 seconds.

The car comes with an 8 year unlimited mileage battery and drive unit warranty.

BMW i3 Engine Power: 125KW Range: 118 miles.

Top Speed: 93 mph.

0-62mph in 7.2 secs.

The high voltage lithium ion battery combined with a dynamic electric motor and intelligent energy management makes for an agile driving experience.

© Janet Wright © Simon Wright

Rimac Concept One Engine Power: 91 KWh Range: 310 miles Top Speed: 189 mph 0-60mph: 2.9 secs Cost $980,000.

2 door coupe, first Electric supercar with limited production of 88 vehicles. Race Directors car at Formula E Page 11

Prodrive collection at Donington.

The Donington Park museum, which houses its world famous Grand Prix collection, has its first ever display of Rally cars.

Prodrive, the successful motorsport engineering and Rallying company from Banbury, is expanding its premises. During the construction work, it has loaned its entire collection of Prodrive cars to the Donington Park museum. Prodrive has won multiple World Championships, and the display includes Colin McRae’s Subaru Impreza, a recent Mini WRC, the 1984 Rothmans Porsche 911 SC RS and even a BAR Honda Grand Prix car from 2005. The company has achieved success in every category of racing it has entered over the last 30 years, and this is reflected in its impressive collection which also includes its winning BTCC Ford Mondeo and Honda Accord Super Touring Car cars. The Prodrive collection will be on display in Hall 5 of the museum and will be open to the public on the same entry ticket as Donington Park’s existing collection - Charges apply. See the Donington Park web site for more information at www.donington-park.co.uk/about-donington/the-donington-grand-prix-collection/ The Donington Collection houses more than 130 Racing cars including many past World Championship winning cars driven by the © Simon Wright likes of Ascari, Brabham,Fangio, Hill, Mansell, Piquet, Prost, Senna and Stewart.

The Prodrive collection will be on display for a minimum of 1 year from the 19th July 2014 and it is hoped that many new visitors will be attracted to the museum, especially the rally fans who may not have been before.

© Simon Wright

Classic and Competition car September 2014

Page 12

Breaking News It has just been announced that Mike Conway will not be racing in the Formula E opening race for Dragon Racing. Due to a commitment to Toyota Racing for the World Endurance Championship (see separate News story on page 5), it was decided that it was best if he did not race in China, as he could not commit to competing in the complete championship for the Jay Penske Dragon Racing team.

Mike started racing in the UK with the 2004 Formula Renault championship title, followed by the British F3 championship in 2006. In 2007 he joined the Honda F1 Young Driver programme and in 2008 won the Monaco GP2 race. In 2009 he joined the IndyCar series and won the Long Beach Grand Prix in 2011 for Andretti Autosport. In 2013 he competed in sports cars as well as IndyCar. He will be replaced in China by Spaniard Oriol Servia (see Formula E guide in this issue starting on page 63)

BMW i8 The new BMW i8 is a 2+2 seater sports car that combines the performance of a sports car with the fuel consumption of a small car via its plug in hybrid drive system which is exclusively built at BMW’s Hams Hall engine manufacturing plant near Birmingham England. The 3 cylinder engine with BMW eDrive technology gives the dynamics of a high performance sports car and the fuel efficiencies of a small car

© Simon Wright

© Janet Wright

Citroen CX turns 40.

Conway testing the Formula E car at Donington.

Classic and Competition car September 2014

First unveiled at the Paris motorshow in 1974, it was a stylish vehicle which also made advances in technology. The turbocharged diesel engine and updated hydropneumatic suspension which set new standards in ride comfort. Over 1.2 million were sold up to 1991 Page 13

Shelsley Walsh celebrates the 80th Anniversary of ERA By Pete Austin.

© Pete Austin

As part of the ERA 80th Anniversary celebrations this year Shelsley Walsh ran an invitation class for the marque at their Championship Challenge meeting on 17th August.

Three ERAs were entered (R11B, R14B and R4D). The Riley MPH ERA of Daniel Geoghegan was also entered but did not appear.

R11B Owned and driven by David Morris this car is affectionately known as ‘Humphrey’, a name given to it by Reggie Tongue who first owned it in 1936. Humphrey Cook was a wealthy patriotic amateur driver who encouraged Raymond Mays to develop the marque and helped to finance the company. In the 1936 Donington Grand Prix Reggie finished 4th. The car went through various hands during its career including those of Reg Parnell and John Bolster. On a sad note St. John Horsfall was killed in this car when it rolled during the 1949 International Trophy at Silverstone.

R11B R14B

R14B Owned and driven by Donald Day this car was also driven at this event by Paul Richardson. This car was first sold to and driven by Johnnie Wakefield in 1938 who won the 200 mile Junior Car Club Race at Brooklands that year. Bob Gerard owned the car post war and came 3rd in the 1948 British Grand Prix at Silverstone and 2nd the following year.

© Pete Austin

R4D Owned and driven by Mac Hulbert. Perhaps the most successful of all the ERAs, this car originally in 1935 B specification and painted in the ‘works’ light green colours, was driven by marque founder Raymond Mays. He had a lot of success in the car including wins here, at Shelsley Walsh. It was painted black in 1938 and currently appears in this colour scheme. Through the early years it went through C and D specification updates and in the 1950s its successes continued in the hands of Reg Parnell, Ron Flockhart and Ken Wharton.

Fastest ERA time achieved at this event was by David Morris in R11B whose run up the hill was in 34.22 seconds.

R4D

Classic and Competition car September 2014

© Pete Austin

Page 14

CarFest South.

Jody Scheckter in his World Championship winning Ferrari 312 T12

Chris Evans latest CarFest event, CarFest South, took place over the Bank Holiday weekend at the end of August at Laverstoke Park Farm. The event was a sell-out. Combined with CarFest North, held at Oulton park in Cheshire at the beginning of August, the two events are expected to raise £1.5 million for the BBC Children in Need charity. The events cover motoring, music and food and provide an excellent days entertainment for the whole family. Many famous faces could be seen at the event this year including Chris Evans, venue host and ex-World Champion Jody Scheckter, former Grand Prix driver Mark Webber, TV Chefs James Martin and Paul Hollywood and Bake Off’s Mary Berry. On the Friday evening, the One Show was broadcast live from the event.

Jody Scheckter drove a selection of his Ferrari and Tyrrell Grand Prix © Carfest winning cars up the hill course (his farm drive), while Bruno Senna took to the wheel of a Honda NSX once driven by his uncle, the late Ayrton Senna and Mark Webber demonstrated the range topping Porsche 911 turbo cabriolet. Chris Evans own ‘Magnificent Seven’ collection of Ferraris also featured on the hill along with many James Martin and mouth-watering Ferraris classic racing cars and several pieces of high speed furniture!

There was even a display by the Red Arrows in the skies above Laverstoke. The musical entertainment included the Kaiser Chiefs, Erasure, Texas, 10cc, Sophie Ellis Bexter and Jamie Callum plus many others.

For more information, see the official web site at www.carfest.org © Carfest

Classic and Competition car September 2014

© Carfest

Mark Webber and Pudsey were raising funds for BBC Children in Need.

Page 15

The effervescent Chris Evans at CarFest South.

The Hill Climb featured an amazing array of great cars including the Hornet TX Gas Turbine

© Carfest

© Carfest

© Carfest

The RAF Red Arrows wowed the crowds on Saturday evening.

Classic and Competition car September 2014

© Carfest

Ferraris latest LaFerrari hypercar on the Hill Climb.

Page 16

VSCC 80th Anniversary Celebrations

To mark the 80th anniversary of the club being formed, the VSCC spent the first week of August celebrating with a long weekend at Prescott followed by 6 days spent around the East of England showground at Peterborough.

Š Pete Austin

1912 Sunbeam 12-16 'The Mistress'

Classic and Competition car September 2014

Page 17

© Simon Wright

VSCC Anniversary Hill Climb, Prescott

Ralph Wienrich 1934 Lagonda Rapier Special © Janet Wright

Fastest time of day and 80th Anniversary Prescott Trophy winner Nicholas Topliss ERA R4A

Classic and Competition car September 2014

By Simon & Janet Wright.

The first three days were spent at Prescott in Gloucestershire. Friday the 1st of August was the special one day 80th Anniversary Hill Climb. A similar one day event had been held 5 years ago to celebrate the 75th anniversary, but this year for the first time in the clubs’ history, the competitors were let loose on the long circuit at Prescott. This meant that the cars would tackle the relatively new (1960 added) Ettores loop and new club records would be set. With a good entry of over 100 cars for this special one day event, the weather was good on Friday morning with a bright but cooler day than of late. there was a heavy rain shower over the lunch break but by the start of the timed runs, the rain had stopped and the track was drying out.

The sun was glistening on the wet track when the Austin 7 brigade took to the hill and Joe Tisdall in his 1932 Austin 7 Ulster was fastest with a time of 71.22 seconds. Michael Lees was the first Vintage in class in his 1930 Austin 7 Ulster TT and David Ralls was 1st in class on handicap in his 1932 Austin 7 Ulster.

Moving up to the Standard and Modified Sports Cars 751cc to 1100cc and up to 750cc Supercharged class, saw Frank Ashley in a 1929 MG M Type set the fastest time in class with a 70.88 second run which also secured him the Vintage award for the class. Phil Coombs in another MG, this time a J2, was first in class on handicap.

Class 3 for 1101cc to 1500cc and up to 1100cc supercharged sports cars saw Simon Blakeney-Edwards in a 1929 Frazer Nash Super Sports set the fastest time of 59.14 seconds to also take the Vintage award in the class. Chris Sutton-Scott-Tucker was first on handicap in the class at the wheel of a 1927 Alvis 12/50 SD. On his first run David Johnson in a 1933 Frazer Nash Colmore got the exit to Ettore’s wrong and ran wide Page 18

Š Simon Wright

Classic and Competition car September 2014

Rupert Baller 1932 Hotchkiss AM80 2 seater Sports

Page 19

© Simon Wright

on the exit of the hairpin and and got himself stuck in the gravel trap and required the tractor unit to pull him out. He did better on his second run, setting 3rd fastest time in class.

Class 4 for 1501cc to 2000cc and up to 1500 cc Supercharged sports cars was won by Bryan Gill in a 1930 Lea Francis Hyper TT while Nicholas Murray was first on handicap in a 1928 Bugatti T37A. Classes 5 and 6 were amalgamated and saw John Fack in a 1935 Railton Light Sports set the fastest time in class with a 63.71 seconds while Alexander Duce in a 1937 Delahaye 135M was first on handicap for the classes. Iain Warner in a 1927 Bentley 3 litre was first Vintage car in the classes.

You know when the Edwardian cars are out by the distinctive thumping sound they make. William Twelvetrees in a 1916 © Janet Wright

David Johnson 1933 Frazer Nash Colmore tries out the Ettores gravel trap

Buick D45 was fastest in the Edwardian Automobile-engined class with a time of 83.79 seconds, while Andy Lloyd in a 1913 Chalmers 17 was first on handicap. Don’t be fooled by the slower times, these drivers do not hang around and throw these thundering beasts up the hill with just as much skill as the faster and younger cars.

Now we enter the Special Sports car classes with David Furnell fastest in the up to 1100cc and up to 750cc Supercharged class in his Austin 7 The Toy with a time of 65.64 seconds. Stephen Hughes in a Riley 9 was first on handicap and Iain Roche was first Vintage car in the class in his 1924 Austin 7. Riley dominate the next class, 1101cc to 1500cc and up to 1100cc Supercharged Specials with fastest time going to a 1935/38 Riley Special 2STR driven by Nicholas Lees with a time of 63.03 seconds. Dr David John Earle Marsh 1934 Alvis Silver Eagle was 2nd fastest on the day

Classic and Competition car September 2014

Page 20

© Simon Wright

Morley was first on handicap in his Riley Special while Stephen Curtis managed to break the Riley monopoly by being first Vintage in class with his 1928 Frazer Nash Boulogne. Regular victor Dudley Sterry in his 1937/39 HRS Sports was fastest in the 1501cc to 3000cc and up to 2250cc Supercharged class with a time of 58.06 seconds. John Densham in a 1930 Alvis Silver Eagle was first on handicap while Ian Bingham in a 1928 Frazer Nash Geoghegan Special was first Vintage in class. The last of Terry Crabb 1937 ERA R12C smokes his tyres off the start line the Special Sports car classes for cars over 3000cc or over 2250cc Supercharged saw Ewen Getley in a 1927 Bentley 3/41/2 litre set fastest time in class with a 57.54 second run to also take first Vintage in class award. Mike Holt in a 1936 Railton Don Hoggard Special was first on handicap. John Earle Marsh in a 1934 Alvis Silver Eagle was second fastest in class but also won the 80th Anniversary Diamond Trophy.

Now moving in to the Racing Car classes and the times really starting to fall. The Pre 1941 up to 1100cc Racing car class saw Matt © Simon Wright Johnston fastest © Simon Wright with a time of 60.14 seconds in a 1928/34 Austin/MG LA Special. Miss Stephanie Wilton was first on handicap in a 1935 Austin S/S while Ed Swain took the Vintage award in a Singer Junior Alexander Duce 1937 Delahaye 135M 1st Historic in class

Classic and Competition car September 2014

Robert Craven 1924 Bentley 3 Litre rounds Ettores

Page 21

© Simon Wright

Single seater.

Robert Cobden in a 1937 Riley Falcon Special was not only fastest in the Pre 1941 Racing cars 1101 to 1500cc class but he also won the 80th Anniversary Orchard Trophy. Andrew Wilson in a Frazer Nash Norris Special was first on handicap while Sue Darbyshire was first Vintage as well as winning the 80th Anniversary Pardon Trophy in her Morgan Super Aero 3 wheeler.

The non automobile engined Edwardian cars were amalgamated in to the Pre 1941 Racing cars 1501 to 3000cc and over 3000cc classes and saw Julian Grimwade in the 1934 Frazer Nash Single Seater set the fastest time at 53.93 seconds while John Seber was first on handicap in the 1935 Wolseley Hornet Special and Tony Lees was first Vintage in the AC/GN Nicholas Murray 1928 Bugatti T37A 1st Historic in class Cognac. The final two classes for Post-war Racing cars and 1950s Sports Racing Cars saw Richard Ashford fastest in a Cooper T9 which he shared with Miss Ruth Ross who was first on handicap.

Finally there was the special ERA Racing Cars Class which saw Nicholas Topliss set the overall fastest time of the day at 50.70 seconds in the 1935 ERA R4A to win the 80th Anniversary Prescott Trophy, while Duncan Ricketts was 1st on handicap in the ERA E-Type. The final overall award went to Mrs Jo Blakeney-Edwards in the Frazer Nash Shelsley who won the 80th Anniversary Ladies Trophy. © Janet Wright

Mrs Jo Blakeney-Edwards Frazer Nash Shelsley won the 80th Anniversary Ladies Trophy

Classic and Competition car September 2014

© Simon Wright

Mrs Sue Darbyshire Morgan Super Aero won the 80th Anniversary Dr Dave Morley 1932 Riley Special Pardon Trophy 1st Historic in class

© Simon Wright

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Š Pete Austin

VSCC Prescott Speed Hill Climb.

2nd-3rd August 2014.

By Simon Wright with Photos by Pete Austin.

After the Special one day anniversary hill climb at Prescott, the club then held their annual two day hill climb event at the venue, incorporating it in to their special week long celebration for the 80th anniversary of the club. As usual, the VSCC were using the original short course, bypassing the ettore loop which was added at a later date.Saturday was practice day for the very large entry, and the heavens opened, delivering monsoon conditions and a very wet course. Sunday dawned dry and sunny making the wet Saturday practice a distant memory. The overall awards were hard fought for, with James Baxter driving his 1935 ERA R4A claiming the Mays-Berthon Trophy for the fastest Š Simon Wright

Mrs Jane Murray Frazer Nash/BMW 328

time of the day with a time of 41.42 seconds. The fastest Vintage time went to Robin Baker in the 1930 Hispano/Amilcar Special in 43.99 seconds. Timothy Dutton in a 1933 Bugatti T51won the Peter Hampton Tankard and Mark Walker in the spectacular 1905 Darracq 200HP won the Sam Clutton Memorial Trophy, while the final Trophy went to Mrs Jane Murray in a Classic and Competition car September 2014

Richard Archbell - 1928-29 GN-AC Rebelro

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1938 Frazer Nash BMW 328 who took the Silver Con-Rod Trophy.

The last overall award went to Brian White in his 1934/38 Frazer Nash BMW TT which set the fastest unsupercharged sports car time with a 44.33 second run.

In the smallest class, William Way in a 1929 Austin 7 Ulster was over 8.5 seconds faster than the next man in the class, Joe Tisdall in another Austin 7 Ulster. On the other hand, the Standard and Modified Sports cars over 3 litre or 2 litre supercharged class was won by just 0.21 of a second as John Guyatt in the standard 1936 Darracq-Talbot Largo T150C beat the newer modified 1939 Talbot

© Pete Austin

© Pete Austin

Matthew Birkett - 1909 FL Sports

Largo T23 of Marcus Black.

Mark Walker was another dominant winner in the Edwardian Automobile engined class with his one hundred and nine year old Darracq 200HP to claim the Sam Cluton Memorial Trophy, beating Andrew Howe-Davies in the 1911 Scat Racer by over 5 seconds.

It was nice to see © Simon Wright the lady members achieve some success on handicap in the various classes, Terry Crabb - 1937 ERA R12C with Mrs Sarah Foster in a 1934 Austin 7 Nippy, Lucy Delaney in a 1930 Lea Francis Hyper, Miss Stephanie Wilton in a 1935 Austin S/S and Mrs Sarah Adams-Diffey in a 1921 Bugatti 13 all finish 1st in their respective classes on handicap.

With sixteen class winners, Vintage and handicap winners, the full results can be Classic and Competition car September 2014

Mrs Sarah Foster Austin 7 Nippy

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© Pete Austin

found on the VSCC web site at www.vscc.co.uk under events. © Pete Austin

Stephanie Wilton - 1935 Austin S-S © Pete Austin

Rob Pike - 1928 Morgan Super Aero © Simon Wright

Christopher Williams - 1929 Napier Bentley John Guyatt Darracq Talbot Lago T150C

Classic and Competition car September 2014

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© Pete Austin

© Pete Austin

Paul Tebbett - 1922 Bugatti T22 © Pete Austin

Michael Vardy - 1905 FIAT Isotta Fraschini 200 HP © Pete Austin

Raymond Knoght - 1933 Vale Special September 2014 Classic and Competition car

Simon Skelding - 1936 AC 16-80 Special

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Š Simon Wright

VSCC 80th Anniversary Straight line sprint. Santa Pod raceway.

By Simon and Janet Wright with additional photos by Pete Austin.

As part of the 80th anniversary celebrations, the VSCC held an event at Santa Pod raceway in Bedfordshire on Thursday 7th July 2014. Santa Pod is the home of British Drag racing where powerful vehicles can burn up the quarter mile drag strip in around 5 seconds, accelerate from 0-100 mph in a second and can top 300 mph at the end of the quarter mile.

They also perform spectacular burn outs at the start. There would probably be more smoke from striking a match then off the thin tyres on an Austin 7 and not many of the competitors today would reach 100 mph by the end of the run, but it would be fun and something a little different.

The Vintage cars were starting their runs at the end of the normal quarter mile drag strip and the usual VSCC Class structure was in place for Classic and Competition car September 2014

Š Pete Austin

6 Geoff Toms - 1935 Fiat 508S

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competitors, though several classes were merged due to the small size of the entry.

Wandering around the paddock, the event had a similar feel to early race meetings in the 1960s with a flat tarmac paddock, cars and trailers with very little facilities, no real pits and no spectator facilities, just pure basic motorsport, fitting really for the period of cars competing. It was a lovely bright summers day, ideal for this type of event. The cars were led from the paddock and down the strip to the start line in batches of 10 at a time. After each competitor had received two timed practice runs, the handicap was set for each competitor. After the lunch break, the timed runs began with the popular little Austin 7 sports cars being the first to ‘burn rubber’.

As expected, the fastest time of the day went to one of the larger engined cars, the 1930 11.76 litre Hispano/Amilcar Special of Robin Baker who set a time of 13.51 seconds. The award for the fastest © Simon Wright Greg Lerigo Riley Special Vintage car not winning the overall fastest time award went to Dougal Cawley in the 1929 GN/Ford Piglet who set a time of 15.97 seconds. The last overall award for the fastest time of the day by a Sports Car not winning either of the other two overall awards went to Mark Brett in the 1937 Ballamy Ford (LMB) V8 Special with a time of 15.48 seconds.

Classes 1,2 and 8 were merged for the event which then allowed for © Simon Wright standard, modified and special sports cars and saloons upto 1100cc unsupercharged or 750cc supercharged. The fastest was Kevin Morton in a 1931 Riley 9 Special with a time of 19.68 seconds, while 1st on handicap was Oliver Richardson Jeffrey Edwards Alvis Sports Special

Classic and Competition car September 2014

© Pete Austin

2 Joe Tisdall - 1932 Austin 7 Ulster

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© Pete Austin

in a small 750cc 1931 MG C Type Monthlery who did a 20.45 seconds run.

Classes 3 and 9 were combined for Standard, Modified and Special Sports Cars and Saloons 1101cc to 1500cc unsupercharged or up to 1100cc supercharged. Dr David Pryke set the fastest time of 15.63 seconds in his 1936 Morgan/Riley 4/4 while Fred Boothby was 1st on handicap in his 1933 MG J2 with a time of 17.90 seconds.

Classes 4 and 10 for standard, modified and special sports cars and saloons from 1501cc to 3000 cc unsupercharged and over 2250cc supercharged saw Dr Matt Vincent fastest in his 1934 Frazer Nash TT Replica fastest with a 19.99 seconds while Peter Howart in a 1933 © Janet Wright Triumph Gloria Special was 1st on handicap in a 4 Oliver Richardson - 1931 MG C Type Montlhery 21.50 seconds.

The last of the standard classes was the standard, modified and special sports cars and saloons over 3000cc unsupercharged and over 2000cc supercharged saw Mark Brett fastest, Dougal Cawley 1st Vintage and Miss Annabel Jones 1st on handicap in her 1923 Vauxhall 30-98 with a time of 20.60 seconds.

The Pre-1941 Racing cars up to 1100cc class was won by Tim Metcalfe in the Tim Metcalfe 1935 Eccles Rapier Special 1935 Eccles Rapier Special in a time of 15.45 seconds, while the 1st Vintage was Frank Hernandez in the 1929 Austin 7 Blaue Maus Special with a time of 16.27 seconds. The handicap winner was Alan Fairless in his 1929/31 Austin 7 with a time of 19.45 seconds on the clock.

The merged Pre 1941 Racing car classes from 1101cc to 3000cc saw the shared 1929/36 Riley Special of Hans van Wortel take the fastest time in class with a 13.67 seconds and Mrs Johannes van Wortel was 1st on © Janet Wright Classic and Competition car September 2014

Tony Lees Vauxhall Viper Special

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handicap with a time of 15.47 seconds. Finally the Edwardian cars, both automobile engined and non-automobile engined were merged with the © Pete Austin Pre-1941 racing cars over 3000cc and saw Robin Baker fastest overall and 1st Vintage car in his Hispano/Amilcar Special, while William Twelvetrees was 1st on handicap in the 1916 Buick © Simon Wright D45 with a time of Hans Van Wortel 1929/36 Riley Special 26.85 seconds. This was an unusual event for the VSCC members, relying purely on engine power and speed of gear change, but it added another special event to the 80th anniversary celebrations and provided a different challenge for the competitors.

31 - Gary Bishop - 1928 Austin 7 Swallow Special © Simon Wright

Jeffrey Edwards 1934/35 Alvis Sports Special 2014 Classic and Competition car September © Simon Wright

Vanishing point - Frank Hernandez Austin 7 Blaue Maus Special

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VSCC - A Vintage Day Out, East of England

© Pete Austin

Showground, Peterborough. By Pete Austin.

A week of events celebrating the 80th Anniversary of the Vintage Sports Car Club culminated in ‘A Vintage Day Out’ held at the East of England Showground, Peterborough on Saturday 9th August.

All through the week this venue had been the base for a number of celebratory events ranging from rallies, tours and driving tests to a film night and concerts. On this, the final day, the doors were also opened to the public who could enjoy the Vintage car parks, a trade © Pete Austin

HRG Association

village, specialist car displays and children’s entertainment including Punch and Judy.

Amongst the cars on display was the 1914-18 Vauxhall D-Type Army Staff Car. Nearly 2000 were built for the War Office and saw service in many countries including France, Belgium, Egypt and Salonica.

This particular car was restored by Vauxhall Motors Heritage Centre and forms part of their collection. © Pete Austin

In the morning some members of the Light Car and Edwardian Section of the VSCC took part in a light hearted gymkhana Dr Tom McEwen - 1921 GN Vitesse comprising a number of entertaining challenges including ‘Duck Herding’ and ‘Don’t Crush the Turtle’!

A number of car clubs had put on displays including the Talbot Owners Club, British Salmson Owners Club, Historic Caravan Club, Owner Driver Mechanic Awards and the HRG Association whose members were enjoying their annual picnic. Traders also seemed to be doing brisk business in one of the halls selling books, models, car parts and other vintage motoring memorabilia.

Classic and Competition car September 2014

Bob Jones' 1919 Tamplin Cyclecar

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1932 Talbot AV95

© Pete Austin

© Pete Austin

One of the highlights in the afternoon was the appearance of the Rolls Royce Merlin engined Spitfire which gave a stunning display under the blue skies which had graced this event. With an Anniversary Gala Dinner being held in the evening this was a fitting end to the weeks celebrations.

Rolls Royce Merlin Spitfire

© Pete Austin

© Pete Austin

Classic and Competition car September 2014

Richard Hill - 1929 Triumph Super 7

1935 Brooke ERA

Page 32

Dr Tom McEwen's - 1921 GN Vitesse

© Pete Austin

© Pete Austin

Vintage car park © Pete Austin

© Pete Austin

Classic and Competition car September 2014

1926 Salmson Grand Sport 2

1930 Riley Brooklands

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1914-18 Vauxhall D-Type Army Staff Car

Archive Photo of the month. By Pete Austin

Bernie Ecclestone has been very much in the news recently. He is pictured here during the 1974 British Grand Prix meeting at Brands Hatch in deep conversation with Jackie Stewart. In the background can be seen Jo Ramirez on the right and Jody Scheckter on the left. © Pete Austin

© Pete Austin © Pete Austin

Classic and Competition car September 2014

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© Janet Wright

MG Car Club Race Meeting, Donington Park. By Simon & Janet Wright.

The MG Car Club organise various events during the year and the beginning of August saw the club arrive at Donington Park for their annual race meeting at the East Midlands circuit.

First out of the blocks were the MG Trophy Cars, which would also race again later in the day. In the first race of the day Chris Bray took pole position in an MG ZR 190 and led most of the race, but was involved with a three way battle for the lead with Paul Luti and Graham Ross in an MG ZR 190 until Ross lost a front wheel going in to Redgate and went off over the gravel and in to the wall. Bray managed to lead for almost every lap but when it mattered Paul Luti led just one lap, the last lap, to win by just 0.294 of a second from Bray. Ross Makar finished a distant third while Richard Marsh in a MG ZR 170 and Jonathan Harker in a MG ZR 160 both won their respective classes. They were Start of the MG Trophy Cars race out again for the penultimate race of the day with Bray again on pole position. The second race was stopped with a Red flag after © Simon Wright Jonathan Harker © Simon Wright rolled his MG ZR in to the gravel trap at the chicane on lap one. From the restart, Bray held the lead until Luti squeezed past him to claim a second victory of the day, this time by 4.014 seconds from Ross Graham Ross MG ZR 190 goes 3 wheeling at Redgate in the first race Makar and Chris Bray. Richard Marsh took his second Class win in his MG ZR 170 while the final class was won by Paul Bryson in an MG ZR 160.

The Peter Best Insurance MG Cup also had two races during the day, first out after the lunch break and again to close the race meeting. For over twenty years, the MG Cup First lap of the Cockshoot Cup through the Craner Curves Classic and Competition car September 2014

Page 35

© Janet Wright

Challenge has been the only championship that every single MG car type is eligible to compete in. Robert Campbell claimed Pole for both races in his 3 litre MG C GT from Tom Diment in a MG ZR 190. The first race was a flag to flag victory for Campbell who won by over 16 seconds from Diment who had an initial battle with Alan Brooke in a Rover Metro GTi before Brooke dropped out on lap 7. This left Chris Dear a distant third in his class winning Midget. The final class winner was Paul Eales who was 4th his MG B GT. The second race proved to be © Simon Wright another demonstra tion of the superiority of Robert Campbell and his MG C GT Winner Paul Sibley leads the MG Midget/Sprite Challenge race on the first lap who this time won by over 27 seconds. Tom Diment again provided the initial challenge before dropping out on lap 7. This promoted Alan Brooke in to 2nd place in his Rover Metro GTi while class winning James Darby was 3rd in his MG B GT. Paul Eales again won his class in 5th overall. © Simon Wright The third race was for Iconic 50’s Sports Christopher Mann Alfa Romeo Disco Volante finished 6th in the Iconic 50’s Sports car race Cars with FISCAR & Intermarque for a 30 minute race. This is the second year of these invitation races for iconic 50’s sports cars and sports racing cars and there was a good entry of MG T types up against Austin Healey, Lotus, Elva and Aston Martin models. Robert Begbie put his little Elva Mk IV on pole position from Robin Ellis in the Lotus Elite. This was a great race with a three way tussle for the lead between the Austin Healey 100M of Neil Hardy, the Elva and the Lotus. The Healey held the initial lead before Ellis got the Lotus through and in to the lead and pulled out a slight advantage.

Begbie went up the inside of the Healey at McLeans as he lapped the Aston Martin DB3S of David Bennett, going three wide through the corner.

Ian Wright had a big spin in his MG Midget at Old Hairpin and got stuck in the gravel Classic and Competition car September 2014

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© Janet Wright

The Elva set off in pursuit of the Lotus in the lead, but failed to get the win, by just 0.315 of a second at the chequered flag.

Ellis and Begbie both won their respective classes with Jeff Marsden in and MG TC and Charles Fripp/Robinson in the GOMM Jaguar Special the other class winners.

T h e f o u r t h Winners Halstead/McPherson Turner Mk II leads from the start of the Ecurie GTS race race was for the Cockshoot Cup. This is for a variety of MG models in various classes, catering for both saloons and sports cars.

Jason Simm in an MG ZS took pole position from David Morrison in his MG Midget. Volker Eickmeyer took the lead at the start in his MG F WC while Simm Tim Patchett MG TA and Jeff Marsden MG TC battle in the Very close racing in the Cockshoot cup race between Helen Waddington MG ZR 160 Iconic 50s Sports car race dropped to 5th but by and Ian Whitt MG Midget while Jeremy Toes Midget locks a wheel lap 3 he had passed leader Paul Clackett in another MG ZS to take the lead, which he held until the chequered flag. He won by 16.414 seconds from Clackett while Sean Peters was 3rd in his class winning MG Midget. The other class winners were Adam Key in an MG F WC and Jeremy Toes in an MG Midget.

Next out was the Ecurie GTS series for a 50 minute race. This series is for sports © Simon Wright cars built before 1966 and no larger then 2.7 litres, run in period specification. It wasn’t a very big field but it showed British sports cars of the 1960s © Janet Wright at their best. Mark Halstead and Stuart McPherson put the 1500cc Turner Mk II on Pole position ahead of Tom Smith in an MGB Roadster. Such was the dominance of the litttle Turner that it never lost the lead, even during its mandatory pitstop and it lapped the entire field except for 2nd place class © Simon Wright

Robin Sanderson has a quick spin in his Rover Metro GTi in the MG Metro Cup race

Classic and Competition car September 2014

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© Simon Wright

winner Tom Smith who was over 33 seconds behind at the finish. Third place went to Pete Foster in a Triumph TR4 who also won his class, while the other class winners were Allan and Neil Cameron in their Austin Healey Ashley GT in 9th place overall.

The sixth race was the Drayton Manor Park MG Metro Cup which saw Tom Sanderson’s Rover Metro GTi dominate the race from pole position. By the end of fourteen laps, he was over 23 seconds in front of Ben Rushworth in his Rover 100 while Philip Gough was third in a Rover 114 GTi. Jonathan Woodcock was the other class winner, in 7th place in a Rover Metro GTi Now it was the turn of the MG Sports Cars to take centre stage with the seventh race was the Lackford Engineering MG Midget/Sprite Challenge.

Paul Sibley claimed Pole position in his MG Midget, over 2 seconds faster than David Weston who lined up next to him on the front row of the grid in his MG Midget. Sibley made a slow start and Weston grabbed the initial lead, but Sibley was soon in front and pulled away to win by 14.57 seconds Simon Lowery MG ZS 180 finished 4th in the Cockshoot Cup from Weston while Paul Campfield won his class and finished 3rd overall in his Austin Healey Frogeye Sprite. The other class winners were Stephen Watkins in 7th in his MG Midget, 11th placed Richard Bridge in an Austin Healey Sprite and Richard Homer in a Midget who finished 15th. There had been plenty of fierce battles down the field and one or two incidents including Stephen © Simon Wright Pegram who tried a late braking manoeuvre at the chicane which didn’t quite work and he used Andy Southcott as his emergency brake, pushing the tail on Southcott’s Midget well out of shape in to the chicane, which Southcott did well not to spin off completely, but he did loose three places as he fought to regain control.

Andy Southcott spins after a push from Stephen Pegram in the MG Midget/Sprite Challenge

© Simon Wright

Classic and Competition car September 2014

Halstead/McPherson won the Ecurie GTS race in the Turner Mk II lapping 3rd place Pete Foster Triumph TR4 Page 38

© Simon Wright

Coventry Classic Car Breakfast Club Saturday 9th August 2014. By Simon & Janet Wright.

The second outing for the new monthly Coventry Breakfast club saw a good display of vehicles outside the Coventry Transport museum. This month they were joined by a Wolseley Car Club Gathering (Which is reported separately). These monthly meetings during the summer are held between 9 and 11am on a Saturday morning and with the museum located next to the main bus station in Coventry always ensures a steady stream of interested on-lookers stopping to admire the vehicles on display as they head in to the city, shopping or sight seeing.

Coventry has been a major centre in the history of the car and motor cycle manufacturing industry in the United Kingdom, with many major © Janet Wright © Janet Wright manufacturers having had factory bases in the Coventry area.

There is a great sense of pride in Coventry for the local built cars, and this is always well reflected in the cars attending the Breakfast meetings. At this meeting the classic Jaguar Mk VII Classic and Competition car September 2014

Audi 100 GL pair

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© Simon Wright

Jaguar range was well represented, and not just sports cars like the E-Type and XJ-S but also some elegant classic Jaguar Saloons such as the Mk VII and Mk 2.

Its not just local classic cars that are welcome at the Breakfast club.

Modern classics like the Mazda MX5 sports car are always popular and pop up all over the place, including the Breakfast Club. There were a couple of original Volkswagen Beetles on display, one of which had been modified into a pick-up. The cabin had been chopped off behind the front seats and the cabin sealed behind them.The rest of the passenger space had the roof removed and a hard lid used to cover the storage space. There was also a superb white lowered Volvo Estate with alloy wheels Modified Volkswagen Beetle © Simon Wright

© Janet Wright

Setting the STANDARD in Coventry cars

Classic and Competition car September 2014

Millennium Place alive with classic cars

Page 40

© Simon Wright

© Janet Wright

Humber Sceptre

Volvo Estate © Simon Wright

© Janet Wright

© Simon Wright

VW Beetle

Honda 500 Four motorbike

© Janet Wright

Classic and Competition car September 2014

Armstrong Siddeley Whitley 18hp

Rover 3.5 V8

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© Janet Wright

Wolseley Owners Club Meeting, Coventry Transport museum. By Simon & Janet Wright.

Held on the same day as the second Coventry Breakfast Club meeting, the Wolseley Owners Club added an extra dimension to the cars displayed outside Coventry Transport museum. The Wolseley display was set up facing the museum and the Breakfast club meeting cars as a separate © Simon Wright display, as the cars would be on show for longer than the Breakfast club meeting. It was a relatively small display from the Wolseley Club owners, but there was an interesting selection of cars in the group. One of the more unusual was a Wolseley Hearse, which at least showed the diversity of the range when they were a major manufacturer.

Wolseley Motors Limited was originally founded in 1901 by Vickers armaments in conjunction with Herbert Austin. They manufactured a full range of luxury cars which were very popular in the Edwardian era. At the time of the Vickers brothers deaths in 1915 and 1919 respectively, Wolseley was the largest motor manufacturer in Britain, producing 12000 cars in 1921. Unfortunately, over expansion meant that the Receivers were called in during 1927. The company was bought by William Morris as a personal investment and was later moved in to the Morris Motors empire. After the Second World war, Wolseley was simply a badge-engineering company, and it stayed like that until the name was dropped by British Leyland in 1975.

Wolseley Six Eighty Police car © Simon Wright

Classic and Competition car September 2014

Wolseley line up at Coventry

Page 42

© Janet Wright

Wolseley Hornet Mk II

© Simon Wright

© Janet Wright © Simon Wright

© Janet Wright

Wolseley 6/110 Mk II

© Simon Wright

Wolseley Fifteen Fifty

© Simon Wright

Classic and Competition car September 2014

Wolseley made a wide range of luxury cars

Page 43

Š Janet Wright

Classic and Competition car September 2014

Wolseley 18/85 heads the line up for the Wolseley Owners Club meeting at Coventry

Page 44

Š Syd Wall

Bonneville Speed Week 100th Anniversary. By Syd Wall.

The Salt flats were flooded

Classic and Competition car September 2014

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Š Syd Wall

500+mph 1800hp twin turbo big block Chevy 3 wheeler

Bonneville Speed Week celebrated its 100th anniversary this year and was unique in that it was the first time the competition was completely cancelled. Heavy rain in the preceding week meant that floodwater stretched to the horizon, the only visible patch of salt being less than the size of a tennis court. I arrived the afternoon of the intended first day of competition, the day after the cancellation announcement, to find virtually all the competitors had left. A few cars and bikes were brought over for spectacular shots in the water, while stories were swapped about how far they had come. Dan, a motorbike drag racer from near Bristol was returning home with his bike the next day, two years of planning up in smoke. We will meet up again at Shakespeare County Raceway later this year. I also met a TV crew from New Zealand who were hunting round Wendover for something to film and we ended up at the forlorn Wendover airforce base where the Enola Š Syd Wall

500+mph 1800hp twin turbo big block Chevy 3 wheeler

Classic and Competition car September 2014

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Gay was hangered in its day. A disappointing end to the week before it had even started, but a taster for returning next year.

© Syd Wall

Enola gay hanger and 4 rat rods © Syd Wall

© Syd Wall

Classic and Competition car September 2014

Goldenhawk Streamliner

Flooded Bonneville

Page 47

Bonneville

© Syd Wall

© Syd Wall

around Wendover © Syd Wall

Flooded Bonneville

Classic and Competition car September 2014

© Syd Wall

Flooded Bonneville

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The Bentley Drivers Club Race Meeting. Silverstone.

© Simon Wright

2nd August 2014. By Simon & Janet Wright.

The annual Bentley Drivers Club meeting at Silverstone was the 65th consecutive year of the meeting and was the largest annual gathering of Bentleys during the year. This year was also the 90th anniversary of the first Bentley victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours race. This was celebrated with a parade of Bentley cars around the circuit during the lunch break.

There was another celebration being held at the event. The AC Owners club had been invited along to the meeting and they were celebrating 60 years of the AC Ace and Aceca models. They also held a parade at lunch © Simon Wright time of various AC models around the circuit.

Bentleys of all shapes and sizes in the lunch time parade The nine race program was held around the national circuit at Silverstone and was the usual mix of Bentley races and handicap races plus other races for invited clubs. The first race on the program was for the MG T Register, Morgan and AC race which saw 13 Morgans take on 4 MG and a couple of AC Aces. Tony Hirst claimed pole position in the 2012 Morgan © Janet Wright Baby Doll from Richard Plant in another 1962 Morgan +4SS. There had been Part of the AC parade, an AC Greyhound followed by an AC Ace Brooklands quite a lot of rain during practice and the circuit was still damp when the racing started. Greg Dixon-Smith made the initial running in his 1969 Morgan 4/4 from Plant after Hirst had dropped to 10th on the first lap. He was 4th of the second lap and 3rd on the third lap while of the fifth lap Plant had taken the lead.

On lap 7 Dixon-Smith retired to the pits which left Hirst in 2nd place but steadily closing on the leader. By the tenth lap Hirst was through in to the lead and although Plant hung on, the order remained the same to the chequered flag, with Hirst winning by just 1.238 seconds. Simon Orebi Classic and Competition car September 2014

Paul Bryan 1987 Morgan 4/4 in the first race

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© Simon Wright

Gann was 3rd in another Morgan +4SS. Alan Kyson was the first MG home in 4th place in his 1959 MG A Twin cam and Ed Mercer was first AC home in 11th place in his 1960 AC Ace Bristol.

The Aston Martin Owners Club Intermarque challenge was a 45 minute race which brings together 6 eras of long distance sports car racers in one epic race. For this race, the cars went from a 1959 Aston Martin DB4 Lightweight right through to a 2013 Aston Martin GT4. The race wasn’t just for Aston Martin, there were four Ferrari and seven Porsche models also in the race. They had qualified in bright dry conditions which saw Chris Scragg claim pole in his 1973 Aston Martin V8 from Wayne Marrs in his 1996 Ferrari 355 Challenge car by just 0.701 of a second, with Kevin Norville in the 2013 Aston Martin GT4 just 0.073 of a second further back in third place on the grid. However, as the cars headed out to race, the heavens opened and down came heavy rain. The race started but was The Intermarque race was red flagged due to the rain and held on the grid almost immediately red flagged and the cars were lined up on the track, though some of the cars had returned to the pit lane. They sat on the track for around half an hour, until the rain had eased and the marshals had managed to move some of the large puddles from the track. They restarted behind the safety car, which led them round for several laps of what looked like power boat racing. The cloud began to break and the race was restarted, though the circuit was still very wet. Chris Scragg was leading the field for the majority of the race in his Aston Martin V8 after the safety car pulled in but the race was shortened to 25 minutes after the enforced stop and Wayne Marrs waited until the last lap to grab the win in his Ferrari 355 Challenge while Tim Mogridge was 3rd in another © Janet Wright Ferrari 355 Challenge.

The third race was the AC Ace 60th Anniversary race which came out on to a © Simon Wright very wet circuit, but the rain had stopped falling as Andy Shepherd in his 1957 AC Ace Bristol led the 18 strong field round to the start.

There were 3 AC Aceca in the race. After a couple of warm up laps it was Robin Chris Scragg Aston Martin V8 and Wayne Marrs Ferrari 355 Challenge battle Pearce in a 1958 AC for the lead of the power boat race!

Classic and Competition car September 2014

Andy Shepherd AC Ace Bristol finished 3rd in the AC Ace 60th Anniversary race

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Ace Bristol that took the initial lead but was soon passed by the Conway/ Mercer 1960 Ac Ace Bristol who slowly extended the lead to win by over 14 seconds. Pole sitter Andy Shepherd was 3rd. The wet conditions caught out some of the drivers with Alex Morgan managing a lovely pirouette at Luffield. He managed to continue without hitting anything to finish 12th. Alastair Caldwell finished 7th in the first of the AC Aceca in his Ford powered car.

The first outing for the Bentley Boys and girls was the Bentley Scratch race which Stuart Worthington, fastest in practice in his rainbow 2005 Bentley GT, completely dominated. He lapped almost the entire field during the 15 minute race with only Sue Shoosmith in a 1950 Bentley Mk VI/S1 Special on the same lap at the finish, and she was over 1 minute 23 seconds behind, and Simon Worthington’s best lap time was 1 minute 19.845 seconds. The race was held in wet conditions which gave Richard Frankel the ideal conditions to power slide his 1921 Bentley TT round Luffield lap after lap.

The Tony Morgan-Tipp Memorial race for the Aero Racing Morgan Challenge took to the wet track as the sun was trying to break through the cloud. Keith Ahlers claimed pole position in his Morgan Plus 8 and led from start to finish to a win by over 25 seconds from Philip Goddard while Christian McCarty was 3rd in his Morgan Roadster LWT to win his class. The wet conditions caught out Paul Conway on the first lap which dropped him from his 5th place grid spot down to 25th at the end of the first lap. By the end of the 20 minute race he had charged through the field and was back to 5th by the end of the race.

To add variety to the meeting, there is the Allcomers Handicap race for Faster cars, and later a second Allcomers Race for Slower cars. The first of these two races was for the faster cars. Fabio Randaccio had been fastest in the combined qualifying in his 2006 Lotus Europa from Steve Dickens in a 1991 Mallock Mk 29 clubmans car. The race was a mix of very interesting cars including a couple of very fast Minis for Harvey and Clive Death and a very unusual orange Allard J2 of James Tiller. At the end of the eight lap race, the results gave the win to Malcolm Mitton in a 1967 Lotus Elan +2 ahead of Fabio Randaccio in the 2006 Lotus Europa and Graeme Smith in 3rd place in a 1998 Caterham 7 Classic.

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© Simon Wright

Richard Frankel slides his 1921 Bentley TT round Luffield © Janet Wright

Keith Ahlers victory in his Morgan Plus 8 in the Tony Morgan Memorial Race. © Janet Wright

Harvey Death Mini Cooper S finished 6th in the Allcomers Scratch 51 PageRace

© Janet Wright

© Simon Wright

The Bentley Handicap race has a unique feature in that the cars are started from the pit lane, which means that the scratch man can start up to 2 full laps behind the first car. The entry was an impressive line up of Bentley cars ranging from a 1921 Ewen Getley in his Bentley 3/4 1/2 finished 2nd in the Bentley handicap Bentley TT of Andrew Frankel through to Simon Worthington in the 2005 Bentley GT. First car away Gerrard McCosh in the 1950 Bentley Mk VI/S1 Special was Albert de Mey in a 1927 Bentley Tourer, while Worthington was scratch man. At the end of the eight lap race Paul Carter in a 1936 Bentley 4 1/4 emerged as the winner, with Ewen Getley in a 1924 Bentley 3/4 1/2 in 2nd place and Jock Mackinnon was 3rd in a 1924 Bentley 3 litre. Worthington had pushed hard in the rainbow Bentley GT but could only make 4th place by the finish.

Continuing the handicap theme, the penultimate race was the Allcomer Handicap Race for Slower cars. Again an interesting mix ranging from a 1929 Riley Brooklands of Clive Temple to two 2011 Morgan 4/4 models of Henry Williams and Tim Parsons in a Supersport model. At the end of the eight lap race, Chris Pearson was the winner in a 1935 Austin 7, with Ron Dowle 2nd in the Allard J2 and William Elbourn was 3rd in a 1934 Riley 12/4.

The final race on the programme was the Allcomers Scratch race. Steven Dickens put his Mallock Mk29 on pole position in dry qualifying but the race was held as the drizzle started again. This gave the advantage to Fabio Randaccio who put his 2006 Lotus Europa ahead on the first lap and stayed there till the end He won by over 11 seconds from Dickens while Jon Lee got his Mini Cooper S in to 3rd place at the start at remained there till the finish. Full results can be found on the Bentley Drivers Club web site at www.bdcl.org

© Simon Wright

2nd place Steven Dickens Mallock Mk29 powers past David Tilley in the Hart Sports Racing in the Allcomers handicap

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© Simon Wright

Former racing Bentley in the lunchtime parade

© Janet Wright

Peter Campbell in the 1958 Wingfield Bristol Specisl

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© Janet Wright

Championship Challenge, British Hillclimb Championship. Shelsley Walsh 16th 17th August 2014.

By Simon & Janet Wright.

What is considered the blue riband event in the British Hill Climb Championship, the August meeting at Shelsley Walsh always attracts a top entry and a massive crowd. © Janet Wright this year the fans were treated to some of the best Hill Climb competition in the country and a new course record for the 2000cc class. Jos Goodyear broke the record on his qualifying run in his 1400cc supercharged GWR Raptor with a time of 22.86 seconds. He also took the Man of the meeting award and then set the fastest time in the afternoon run-off to gain 10 championship points. This was his first run off victory and was very close to the Paul Matty in the class winning Lotus Type 35 F2 outright hill record.

Scott Moran driving the family Gould GR61X took the morning run off win to extend his lead in the championship after 2012 Champion Trevor Willis could only manage 5th place. Will Hall continues to have his best season ever with two solid 3rd place finishes © Simon Wright Jos Goodyear GWR Raptor broke class record, won run off in the Force. and got Man of the Meeting award There was a large Lotus class and championship sponsor Paul Matty driving a Lotus 35 F2 took the honours in class Q2 while the Q1 class was won by Geoff Stallard in a Lotus Elan S3.

Other class winners included Richard Jones driving a Brabham BT29X, Richard Homer in an MGA 1600 and Rodney Eyles in a Pilbeam MP53 won the Sports, Saloons and Racing car classes for up to years 1971, 1975 and 1985 respectively. Crowd favourite Keith Murray in an Audi 80 Quattro and Tim Dennis in a Rover Mini both won their modified classes, while current Midland Hill Climb Championship leader Mike Turpin took yet another class win in his Vauxhall VX220 to extend his championship lead. The over 2000cc Classic and Competition car September 2014

Jan Nyez Staride Mk III 500cc class

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© Simon Wright

Roger Moran to retire.

The other major news of the weekend was the announcement that 1997 Champion Roger Moran was retiring from the large capacity racing car class at the end of the year and his place would be taken next year

by Alex Summers who is currently competing in a DJ Firehawk. Alex will share the Gould next year with Scott Moran. © Simon Wright

Brian Ives Milmor Mk7 GT

Sports Libre class was won by Rob Stevens in a Force SR4 and Mark Dempster in the up to 2000cc class in his Imagination PH1. The F1 inspired Empire Wraith of Chris Aspinall won the very competitive 1100cc © Janet Wright class, while Richard Spedding in a Force PC took the 1600cc Class.

The historic 500cc class saw victory for Steve Lawrence in a Cooper Mk8 while the invitation ERA Class to Phil Cooke Empire Wraith

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© Simon Wright

Keith Edwards Audi Quattro S1 powers up the hill

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© Simon Wright

celebrate their 80th anniversary was won by David Morris.

The slower, but equally competitive, road going classes were won by Ken Williamson in a Lotus Elise S1, Roy Standley in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 5 and Simon Jenkins in a Caterham Supersport. © Simon Wright

Richard George Chevron B19 © Janet Wright

John Chalmers Ralt F302-001 © Janet Wright

Alex Graham Vauxhall Firenza © Simon Wright

John Cottrill Pilbeam MP82

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Mark Dempster Imagination PH1

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Š Janet Wright

David Franklin Ferrari 275 GTB

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© Simon Wright

MSVR Silverstone 16th - 17th August 2014. By Simon & Janet Wright GT Cup report by Mick Herring.

Motor Sport Vision Racing (MSVR) put on a good variety of club racing at their recent Silverstone meeting using the full Grand Prix circuit layout. It included their prestigious BRDC Formula 4 Championship. This series has attracted drivers from all around the World including drivers from Sennan Fielding had the perfect weekend, winning all three Formula 4 races from Pole Position India, Spain, Ireland, Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela, South Africa, Malaysia, the Netherlands as well as local British drivers. It was local driver Sennan Fielding who claimed pole position for the first of the three races of the weekend for HHC Motorsport from his team mate Will Palmer. Fielding led the whole way to win races 1 and 3 and it only took him to lap 4 in the second race before he got to the front to win again. A clean sweep for Fielding, but the others were close in each race with Struan Moore 2nd in the first race for Lanan Racing and his team mate Arjun Maini from Indian 3rd. The second race saw Brazilian Gaetano Di Mauro finish 2nd for Petroball Racing Limited with Will Palmer in 3rd place. The final race saw South African Raoul Hyman in the runners up spot for HHC Motorsport and Struan Moore took 3rd.

The Radical sports cars got a double dose at Silverstone with the radical European Masters having two races over the weekend while the Radical SR3 Challenge/Clubmans cup had a couple of races on Sunday. The European Masters were first to race and Littlejohn and Wells took pole position in their radical SR8. and led the © Simon Wright race until lap 12 when they pitted. This handed the lead over to Centcetti/Marareotto SR8 which had been holding 2nd place and pitted the same lap. After the pit stops, the Centcetti/Marareotto had © Janet Wright gained a 5 second advantage and held the lead for the majority of the rest of the race.

Unfortunately for them, they were passed on the very last lap by the Hyman/ Mortimer SR8 that took the win, while Bradley Smith finished 3rd in another SR8.

Bradley Smith Radical SR8 took a 3rd and a win in the European Masters races

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Close racing in the Mini Challenge races

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© Simon Wright

Scott Mansell was the other class winner in his Radical SR3 in 13th place. The second race saw Bradley Smith start from Pole position and he led from start to finish to win by over 18 seconds from Tristan Vidas in a Radical SR8 while Hyman/ Mortimer finished 3rd. Ellis/Cummings were the other class winner in their Radical SR3.

Switching to the Radical SR3 Challenge/Clubmans Cup on © Simon Wright Sunday, the class wining pair of Ellis/ Cummings from the second European Ellis/Cummings had a busy weekend in Radical European Masters and Radical SR3 Challenge/Clubmans Cup Masters race took pole position for both races in their Radical SR3. It was the Malvern/Jones SR3 that took the lead from the start and although Ellis/Cummings did manage to sneak in to the lead for one lap, it was Malvern/Jones that led the race until their pitstop. MacLeod/Loggie took the lead position when they pitted but after a few laps they were passed by Jesper Westerholm who went on to win the first race by 8 seconds from MacLeod/Loggie while Steve Burgess came in third. The second Mexican Alfredo Zabalza runs wide in the BRDC Formula 4 race race on Sunday saw Lewis Plato gain the initial advantage until his pit stop when Ellis/Cummings went to the front until their pitstop. This left the Radical PR6 of Oskar Krugar in the lead from Steve Burgis in a Radical SR3 and the pair finished just 0.817 of a second apart. Lewis Plato was 3rd.

The ST Cross Electronics Monoposto races on Saturday and Sunday were some of the largest fields at the meeting with 55 cars taking the start on the Grand Prix circuit. Monoposto races cater for single seater racing cars, commercially built before 2007 though home built cars of any age can compete. Standard engine of up to 2 litres (No variable valve timing engines allowed).

Transmission, brakes, wheels (13 inch minimum diameter) and © Janet Wright tyres are free. There is also a class for bike engined single seaters with production motor cycle engines up to 1000cc and a larger class for standard motor cycle engines and gearbox up to 1400cc. This basically allows old Formula cars to compete in a single race with multiple classes. The types of cars competing were old Formula 3 cars, Formula Renault, FF2000, FF1600, Formula Vauxhall and Formula Vauxhall Junior plus anything else that fitted the regulations. Daryl Jones put his old F3 Mike Hatton in the monoposto race driving his Vauxhall Lotus to 32nd and 12th in class

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© Simon Wright

Dallara F302 on pole position from Tony Bishop in a slightly newer Dallara F304. The slowest car in qualifying was the Swift SC98 of Richard Greening who was 59.519 seconds slower than the pole man round a lap of Silverstone. Dan Clowes managed to get his motor cycle engined Jedi Mk6 in to the lead at the end of the first lap, but Jones was soon through in to the lead and although the pair circulated close together for the rest of the race, it was Jones that won. Malcolm Scott was 3rd in another Dallara F398. The second race saw Dan Clowes make another fantastic start in his Jedi Mk6 and to keep the lead for the first half of the race, but Peter Venn in a Dallara F301 grabbed the lead at the half way point and managed to stay ahead to the flag, winning by over 12 seconds.

Jock Sergison failed to finish in his Highlander III in either Monoposto race. Here he is Some of closest racing took place in the three Mini Challenge races. chased by 62 Richard Reeve in a Reynard SF84 Chris Knox took pole position for the first race and led from start to finish. He beat Henry Duprey by 6.5 seconds. Down the field there were many bumper to bumper dices and William Phillips won the Cooper Class from Ricky Page by just 0.637 of a second.

Knox did exactly the same again in the second race, this time winning by just 1.8 seconds from Luke Caudle with Henry Duprey in 3rd place. Ricky Page went one better in the Cooper class to win the class by 0.586 of a second from Josh Gollin. The third race saw Chris Knox have some problems which meant that Rob Smith won the 3rd race from Lawrence Davey and Mark Steward was 3rd. It was Josh Gollins turn to move up a place and win the Cooper class with another close finish and a gap of 0.972 seconds to © Janet Wright Matt Hammond. © Simon Wright

William Phillips Mini Cooper leads quite a battle in the Mini Challenge

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Kevan McLurg Dallara F397 finished 4th in both Monoposto races

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© Mick Herring

GT Cup Silverstone 16th/17th August 2014. By Mick

Herring.

August hosted the GT Cup's second visit to Silverstone, this time on the full GP circuit. Thankfully the rain that hovered all weekend only materialised briefly during Sunday qualifying.

Debuting in GT Cup were Piers Johnson and Ron Johnson (sharing the surname but not related), previously regular British GT competitors in a Chevrolet Corvette, now driving a brand new ff Corse Ferrari 458 GT3 to good effect across the weekend.

Saturday's 45 minute, two driver race saw the win-sharing battle between Jim Geddie's McLaren and Shaun Balfe's Ferrari 458 (shared this time with Darren Nelson) recommence with the © Mick Herring Harry Blazer/Chris Hall Radical RXC very close behind in the early stages. However, Shaun Balfe Ferrari 458 GT3 6th in Race 1 passes Mike Sellar Porsche 997 GT3 Cup success penalty times would affect the two leaders dramatically at the pit stops. Jim Geddie's extra 45 seconds left him with an exhausting fight back to third at the flag and, having handed over to Darren Nelson, the Balfe car would finish sixth after its 30 second success penalty. Piers Johnson, with no success time penalty, took the lead having replaced Ron in the new Ferrari but © Simon Wright couldn't hold off a determined Aaron Scott, with no success seconds, taking the JMH Ferrari to its first win in GT Cup by 2.9 seconds. Aaron and Arwyn Williams threatening to take a win before, as has Arwyn looked likely in the sprint races, Arwyn kept the car close to the front in this race during his opening stint.

Fourth and first in GTC was John R3 Chamberlain Porsche 935 ahead of Balfe Ferrari Jeff Wyatt BMW M3 GTR battles with Andrew Bentley Lotus Evora 458 GT3 and winner Geddie McLaren MP4-12C GT3 Seale/Jamie Stanley's 458 with in the GTA class

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Š Mick Herring

R2 Francis Galashan Porsche 997 GT3 Cup 3rd in GTB 11th

another pair of debutants, Bernard and Marcus Hogarth's Ferrari 458 second in GTC and 8th overall. Peter Jennings would score his only finish of the meeting in eighth, 3rd in GTC. Continually attracting new drivers of a high calibre and professional drivers, GTA winners were Euan Hankey and Salih Yoluc with their Optimum Ginetta G50 in 15th overall.

The first sprint race on Sunday witnessed Richard Chamberlain's venerable Porsche 935 use all of its considerable power to lead from Jim Geddie's McLaren and Chris Hall's Radical RXC. Geddie, with another exhausting drive, would overcome the Porsche but had to work hard for his 0.35 second win from Chamberlain. The fleet Radical RXC finished 14.2 seconds behind the leaders.

The GTO class top six was rounded out by Iain Dockerill, Ron Johnson and Darren Nelson (in Balfe's 458) followed by the first GTC car, Marcus Hogarth's Ferrari 458 in 7th. David Walley did his championship chances no

harm with a GTB win and 9th overall.

The second 25 minute sprint race allowed Richard Chamberlain to capitalise on his pole position to lead first Jim Geddie and then Š Mick Herring Shaun Balfe. Early safety car intervention following an incident that saw two Porsches and a Ginetta G50 eliminated on the spot, bunched the field again. Geddie was able to regain his second place and set about the leader, passing him at the Village complex with a neat crossover, Balfe tried to do the same but couldn't get on the power as early as Chamberlain and, as the power of the Porsche prevailed, Balfe had to settle for third. Debutant, Marcus Hogarth again took GTC honours in 6th ahead of John Seale and GTB winner David Walley. GTA class fell to Mark Litherland's BMW, Salih Yolic's Ginetta and reigning champion Jeff Wyatt's BMW in 16th,17th and 18th respectively. Sunoco "Driver of the weekend" was awarded to Richard Chamberlain with fastest lap of the meeting going to Shaun Balfe in Saturday's race.

With two rounds left, at Donington and Oulton Park, the GT Cup is set for a strong finish to the season.

Classic and Competition car September 2014

R3 Marcus Hoggarth Ferrari 458 GTC 1st in GTC 6th overall

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© Mick Herring

© Mick Herring

R1 First win Scott/Williams Ferrari 458 GT3

R1 Smith/Cuff Porsche 997 GT3 Cup newcomers 4th GTB 16th © Mick Herring

© Mick Herring

R3 Litherland BMW M3 1st GTA 16th

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R1 Smith Cuff Porsche 997 GT3 Cup newcomers 4th GTB 16th

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The Future Sparks here. A guide to FIA Formula E.

© Janet Wright

By Simon and Janet Wright.

Some bright spark decided that motor racing in the future would need to be eco friendly and to appeal to the masses, would need to be able to race in the heart of capital cities of the World.They came up with the electrifying idea of a pollution free, and quiet form of motorsport - Electric car racing, and the FIA Formula E series was born. Now before you think of electric milk floats trundling around the streets, dicing with each other at 20 mph, think again. © Simon Wright These electric racers are purpose built single seaters, the Spark-Renault SRT_01E built by a new French company, Spark Racing Technology led by Frederic Vasseur. The carbon fibre and aluminium monocoque chassis and aerodynamics have been manufactured by Dallara, which has over 40 years motor sport experience.

The electric powertrain and electronics are manufactured by McLaren Electronics Systems and Williams Advanced Engineering will supply the batteries, which produce 200Kw, the equivalent of 270 BHP. This will be linked to a Hewland fixed ratio five speed paddle shift sequential gearbox.

The 18” treaded © Simon Wright tyres will provide optimum performance in both wet and dry conditions are supplied by Michelin. The Championships Technical Partner is Renault which will oversee all the systems integration.

A lot of the development driving has been done with a Renault test car driven in some of the tests by German ace driver and former Grand Prix star Heinz Harald-Frentzen. All the teams are located in the Formula E centre at Donington Park in England, and the circuit has been used for all the pre season testing and development work by the teams in a series of official test days. These tests were open to the public with free admission and drew large crowds of interested spectators, all interested in seeing what the future of motorsport looked like and equally importantly what it sounded like. Gone is the roar of V8 engines and even the whistle of the Classic and Competition car September 2014

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turbo engine. It has been replaced by near silence as the cars approach, and a whooshing sound as they go past and away from you.

Although this is an entirely new concept for racing, it is not a beginners formula. In © Janet Wright fact, just the opposite. The driver talent is very experienced and includes many famous racing names like Senna, Prost and Piquet. There are ten teams competing in the inaugural championship, each with two drivers, who each have two cars - more on that in a minute. For this first season, all the teams will run the SparkRenault SRT_01E car, but for the second season onwards, it will be an open formula to allow teams to develop their own cars within the technical specifications set out by the FIA. The teams have an international feel with several countries already represented in the championship and the drivers already represent XX countries. The driver line up includes many ex-Grand Prix drivers and is led by Italian Jarno Trulli who is running his own team in the series. © Janet Wright © Simon Wright

© Janet Wright

Trulli - Switzerland : Jarno Trulli competed in 256 Grand Prix driving for Minardi, Prost, Jordan, Renault, Toyota and finished at Lotus Racing, winning the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix for Renault. His team mate in Formula E will be one of the two lady racing drivers in the series, Michela Cerruti, also Jarno Trulli from Italy. From a racing family, she has recently competed in GT racing across Europe as well as Formula 3 and Auto GP, scoring her maiden victory at Imola this year for the Super Nova International team.

Michela Cerruti

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© Janet Wright

© Simon Wright

Nick Heidfeld

Venturi - Monaco : The Venturi team was founded by film star Leonardo Di Caprio and Giido Pallanca Pastor, founder of Venturi Automobiles. Their driver line up includes Nick Heidfeld from Germany who is another very experienced ex-Grand Prix driver. Nick has won the German F3 and International F3000 series

© Janet Wright

Stephane Sarrazin

before joining the Prost team in Grand Prix. He later joined Sauber, Williams and then BMW Sauber, scoring 13 podium finishes during his Grand Prix career. He will be partnered by Stephane Sarrazin from France. He won the French Formula Renault championship in 1994, he also won the French F3 title and made his Grand Prix debut for Minardi as a stand in driver at the 1999 Brazilian Grand Prix. He then had testing roles at Prost and Toyota before switching to the World rally Championship in 2004. He then switched to the World Endurance championship,finishing 2nd at Le Mans in 2013 for Toyota. © Simon Wright

© Janet Wright

Karun Chandhok

Mahindra Racing - India : A major global force in the production of electric vehicles through Mahindra Reva Company, the Indian team is also a strong contender for the Formula E series with two former Grand Prix drivers in its line up.

Karun Chandhok raced for HRT and Team Lotus in Grand Prix in 2010 and 2011 after achieving several

© Janet Wright

Bruno Senna

race wins in GP2. After Grand Prix, Karun switched to the World Endurance championship and also the FIA GT series, and was the first Indian driver to start the Le Mans 24 hours. He is partnered with one of the most famous names in motor racing - Senna.

Bruno Senna from Brazil is the nephew of the late Ayrton Senna and Bruno has had a successful career of his own in motor racing. He made a late start to his car racing career in 2004 with the Formula BMW championship in the UK. He competed in F3 then GP2 before making his Grand Prix debut for HRT in 2010. he was then reserve driver at Lotus Renault GP before replacing Nick Heidfeld in the team. He also drove for Williams before switching to the World Endurance Championship for Aston Martin.

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© Janet Wright

© Janet Wright

Jamie Alguersuari

Virgin Racing - Great Britain : Backed by Sir Richard Branson, the team is headed by another former Grand Prix driver, Spaniard Jamie Alguersuari who was the youngest driver to make a Formula 1 apperance. He was also the youngest driver at 18 to win the British F3 championship in 2008. He moved up to Formula Renault 3.5 but was soon called up to

© Janet Wright

Sam Bird

replace Sebastien Bourdais in the Torro Rosso team from the Hungarian Grand Prix onwards. He remained with the team until 2011, then became test driver for Pirelli. His team mate is Sam Bird from England. After starting in Karting, Sam won a scholarship to race in Formula BMW. After a couple of seasons he moved to Formula Renault and then F3. He also did some testing for Williams F1.

Last year he finished as runner up in the GP2 series with 5 wins and was reserve driver for Mercedes AMG F1. © Janet Wright © Simon Wright

© Janet Wright

e.dams-Renault - France : Founded by Alain Prost and Jean-Paul Driot, founder of the Dams racing team. Yet another former Grand Prix driver in the line up. Swiss driver Sebastien Buemi first drove an Arrows F1 car when he was 15 years old. After a karting career, he switched to the German Formula BMW championship where he finished 3rd.

He progressed to the F3 Euro series and Sebastien Buemi Nicolas Prost then GP2 where he caught the eye of Torro Rosso who signed him up for Grand Prix. He stayed for 3 seasons with the team before switching to the World Endurance championship with Toyota. He was also reserve driver for Red Bull Racing.

His team mate is Frenchman Nicolas Prost, son of four times World Champion Alain Prost. He was a late starter to motor racing, having been a keen golfer. He started in Formula Campus before moving to Spanish F3. He has raced in A1GP, the World Endurance Championship at Le Mans and Formula 3000, winning the F3000 championship in 2008. His recent racing has been in the World Endurance championship, as well as being test driver for the Lotus F1 team.

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© Janet Wright

© Simon Wright

Dragon Racing - USA : Run by Jay Penske and coming from an IndyCar background, the team initially announced British driver Mike Conway as their driver.

However, due to a race commitment with Toyota in the World Endurance Championship, it was just announced that Conway will not now race for Dragon Racing in Formula E and that his place will be taken by Oriol Servia. Spanish born Servia currently races in the IndyCar series for the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Team.

He started his career in Karting, then Formula 3 before moving to America to race in the Daytona Indy Lights Oriol Servia series in 1999. He won the title in 1999 without a win in the series after five runners up spots gave him the points he needed to beat his closest rival Casey Mears. In 2000 he moved up to the Champ Car series where he scored one win at Montreal in 2005 for the Newman/Hass Racing Team. His team mate is former Grand Prix driver Jerome d’Ambrosio from Belgium. Jerome started in Karting and joined the Renault F1 driver development programme. Having progressed through the various Renault junior Formula categories he moved up to GP2 with the DAMS team. After a win in the GP2 race at Monaco he became test driver for Virgin racing. In 2011 he made his Grand Prix debut with Marussia. In 2012 he signed as reserve driver for Lotus F1 and did one race as a replacement for Romain Grosjean. © Janet Wright

© Janet Wright

China Racing - China : Team China Racing was originally formed in 2004 for the A1GP series and has also competed in the Superleague Formula and FIA GT1. The team is being run on a day to day basis by Campos Racing. There lead driver is Nelson Piquet Jr, son of three Nelson Piquet Jr times World Champion Nelson Ho-Pin Tung Piquet, and a former Grand Prix driver in his own right. Born in Germany, Piquet Jr started his karting career in Brazil at an early age before switching to the South American F3 series in 2001, winning the title in 2002. He came to Europe in 2003 to race in British F3, winning the title in 2004 and also making his Formula 1 testing debut for Williams. In 2005 he raced in both GP2 and A1GP. In 2007 he became the official Renault test driver and gained the seat for the 2008 and 2009 seasons. He moved to America in 2010 and went to the lower tiers of Nascar and also competes in the Global Rallycross championship. His team mate will be Ho-Pin Tung, a Chinese racing driver born in the Netherlands. He started in Karting as a child, before progressing to Formula Ford in Europe. He

© Simon Wright

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then raced in the Formula BMW Asia series which he won in 2003, resulting in a Williams F1 test. He won the German F3 Championship in 2006 as well as competing in several A1GP races. In 2007 he moved up to GP2 and in 2009 also competed in some Superleague races, winning one race. In 2011 he made his debut in the Indycar series and has also competed at the Le Mans 24 Hours race. © Janet Wright © Janet Wright © Simon Wright Audi Sport ABT - Germany : One of the most successful German teams with five titles in the DTM alone, plus wins in GT and Endurance racing. Lead driver is Brazilian Audi works driver Lucas di Grassi, who also has Grand Prix experience with Virgin in 2010 after four seasons racing in GP2 with numerous wins to his credit. In 2012 he joined Audi and competes in the World Endurance championship.

Maintaining its German origins, the second driver is German Daniel Abt, nephew of DTM Daniel Abt Lucas di Grassi

ace Christian Abt. He started Karting at 11 years old before progressing to the Euro F3 series as the youngest driver on the grid in 2011. Then he moved to GP3 with the Lotus GP squad. Last year he competed in GP2 for the ART team. © Simon Wright © Simon Wright

© Janet Wright

Amlin Aguri - Great Britain : Former Grand Prix driver Aguri Suzuki with the backing from Amlin global insurers has formed Amlin Aguri.

They have the other female driver on the Formula F grid with British Katherine Legge, who was actually the first woman named to compete in the inaugral Formula E Championship. She was the first female driver to secure pole position in Formula Ford during her debut season in 2003. She moved up Katherine Legge Antio Felix da Costa through British Formula Renault and Formula 3. She now lives in America and has competed in the 2005 Toyota Atlantic Championship with Polestar Motor Racing.

She won the opening race at Long Beach and finished 3rd in the championship with three wins and five podiums. She also got to test a Minardi Formula 1 car. In 2006 she joined the Champ Car series and made history by being the first woman to lead a lap in the series. After a couple of seasons she switched to the DTM series. In 2012 she moved to the States and made her IndyCar debut for Dragon Racing. Last year she remained in America and raced in the American Le Mans Series for Deltawing Racing Cars. Her Classic and Competition car September 2014

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team mate is Portuguese driver Antio Felix da Costa. After a very successful Karting career, he switched to Formula Renault 2.0 in 2008 and won the Northern European championship in 2009. He raced in F3 and the World Series by Renault 3.5 and in 2010 he got to test a Force India F1 car in Abu Dhabi. In 2012 he won the Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix and was signed to the Red Bull Junior Development Programme and has progressed through this to be the Red Bull Racing F1 Reserve and test driver. He also competes in the DTM for BMW. © Simon Wright © Janet Wright Andretti Formula E - America : Michael Andretti already fields multiple entries in the IndyCar series, Indy Lights and the Pro Mazda Championship and is a factory team in the VW Global Rally Cross championship. French driver Franck Montagny leads the team. A very experienced driver, Franck started Karting at 10 years of age, before switching to cars. He moved through Formula Renault, to F3 to Formula 3000. He then did the World Series by Nissan to win the title in 2001. Having changed teams he then won the title again in 2003. He became a Renualt F1 test driver in 2004.

He spent several years as test driver/third driver for several Grand Prix teams and made his Grand Prix debut as a stand in at Super Aguri. He made his debut in the IndyCar series in 2009 for Andretti Green Racing as well as racing in the American Le Mans series and Franck Montagny © Simon Wright the Le Mans 24 Hours.

The Formula E series starts in Beijing China on the 13th September 2014. It then moves on to Putrajaya, Malaysia on the 22nd November 2014.

The third race is in Punta Del Este, Uruguay on the 13th December 2014. Round 4 is in Buenos Aires, Argentina on the 10th January 2015. The fifth round has yet to be confirmed, but rounds 6 and 7 are in America, with Miami on the 14th March 2015 and Long Beach on the 4th April 2015. The series then returns to Europe to complete its first year.

Monte Carlo is on the 5th May 2015, followed by Berlin in Germany on the 30th may 2015. The final round of the championship will be held in London, England on the 27th June 2015.

Classic and Competition car September 2014

The Virgin team were trying hard during the test sessions

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Š Janet Wright

Closing Shot

You know the feeling - you never know what colour car to buy next. Well Bentley might just have the answer - the new Bentley Rainbow. Stuart Worthington in his Bentley GT on his way to winning the Phantom Motor Car Ltd Bentley Scratch race at Silverstone at the beginning of August.

Classic and Competition car September 2014

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