Classic and Competition Car 82 July 2017

July 2017

The 21st Century magazine about cars and motorsport of the past and present.

In this issue

World RX Lydden Hill

Silverstone Historic Festival HSCC

British GT Snetterton and Silverstone

VSCC Formula Vintage Oulton Park

BTCC Oulton Park

Issue 82

Our Team.

Contents

Simon Wright Editor Janet Wright.

Staff Photographer.

Page 3

News.

Page 8

MG Live .

Page 11

La Vita Rossa /La Vie en Bleu Hillclimb - Prescott.

Page 18

World Rallycross Lydden Hill

Page 25

Silverstone Historic Festival HSCC.

Page 33

Snetterton 300 British GT Championship.

Page 39

MotoFest Coventry.

Page 47

BTCC Oulton Park.

Page 52

British Racing Green, Shelsley Walsh.

Page 59

Silverstone 500, British GT Championship.

Page 64

Archive photo of the month.

Page 65

Formula Vintage Round 2. Oulton Park.

Page 74

Drive it Day, Vauxhall meet, Webbs Garden Centre, Bromsgrove.

Page 80

Silverstone Spectacular CSCC

Page 86

ERA Baltic Rally.

Independant Freelance contributors in this issue.

Pete Austin.

Syd Wall.

David Goose & Stuart Yates of Motorsport-Imagery All content is copyright classicandcompetitioncar.com unless otherwise stated. All photographs are copyright 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.

Front Cover. Main photo Mark Butterworth in a Lagonda V12 winning his class in the Standard and Modified Pre-War sports cars race at Oulton Park © Janet Wright. World Rallycross © Syd Wall, Silverstone Historic Festival © Simon Wright, British GT and BTCC © Motorsport Imagery.

Correction: In the previous issue on Page 30 we showed Rudolph Ernst and said he was driving the PBA Mk2 in the Pre64 Formula Junior race. The photo showed him driving the Mitter FJ in the Pre-61 Front engined Junior race. He was running two different cars with the same number at the meeting. We apologise for any confusion caused.

July 2017

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

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Page 2

Editorial.

We are very lucky in the Uk for the amount of motoring events that occurs every weekend during the summer months.

Wether you like Vintage, Classic or modern cars there are events on all round the country. Support your local shows as well as some of the larger events and appreciate the effort the organisers have gone to, to prepare their event for you to enjoy. We also need to thank the Marshals, for without them we would have no motorsport.

News

© Pete Austin

© Simon Wright

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Porsche 928, the 70’s Road Sports race had a special Porsche prepared 928 entered for Le Mans winner Richard Attwood. Not having the power of his 1970 Le Mans winning Porsche 917, he still finished a creditable 3rd overall, and winning his class. He was only just over 10 seconds behind the race winner.

The Porsche 928 was produced between 1977 and 1995 and was the companies only coupe, and Porsches first car, powered by a front mounted production V8 engine. It was originally designed as a luxury Touring car to replace the 911.

July 2017

Page 3

Honda Clarity Fuel Cell.

His serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco drove the all new Honda Clarity Fuel cell on a lap of honour at the Formula 1 Grand Prix de Monaco, opening the race itself, just before the presentation of the drivers for the national anthem.. The hydrogen powered Clarity Fuel Cell is the Worlds most advanced fuel cell vehicle, which eliminates the design compromises that are often found in alternative fuel vehicles.

The state of the art 103kW fuel cell stack is small enough to be housed under the bonnet rather than under the floor, which allows more space for passengers in the interior. It also offers the greatest range of any zero emission vehicle so far, with an approximate 403 mile range under NEDC conditions.

The arrival of the Clarity Fuel Cell in Europe is a key part of Honda’s ‘Electric Vision’ announced at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show, to have electrified powertrains in two thirds of its cars sold in Europe by 2025.

July 2017

Ron Dennis leaves McLaren The formation of the McLaren Group, the new holding company of McLaren Technology Group and McLaren Automotive, will help the continued rapid growth of McLaren’s businesses and branding. Ron Dennis, Chairman of McLaren automotive and McLaren Technology Group has agreed terms to sell his shareholdings in both companies. The Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company and TAG Group will remain as majority McLaren Group shareholders. Sheikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa will become McLaren Group’s Executive Chairman.

Ron was 70 years old at the beginning of June and after 37 years at the helm of McLaren, he will step down as chairman of both companies and will continue to pursue his career as a consultant and entrepreneur. During his time at McLaren, Ron led the team to 158 Grand Prix victories and 17 F1 World Championships, as well as the World renowned Le Mans 24 Hours race in 1995.

Effyh Bryfan Tyddyn Special.

At the Oulton Park VSCC meeting, Martin Sheppard drove this 1955 F3 500 car in a wet race to 8th overall and 3rd in class.

© Simon Wright

Page 4

Vauxhall VXR8 GTS-R Most Powerful Vauxhall ever.

The new Vauxhall VXR8 GTS-R is powered by an evolution of the current GTS’ s supercharged 6.2 litre V8 engine and produces 595 PS, an increase of 19PS from previous, and 740Nm of torque, making it the most powerful car in Vauxhall’s 114 year history. The engine is identical to the engine used in the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

Production of the Holden Commodore model in Australia, on which the GTS-R is based, comes to an end in October, when Holden’s manufacturing plant finally closes. As benefits it’s lastof-line status, the VFR8 in this form will be exclusive to the UK. It has an upgraded braking system, with 6 piston monoblock callipers and 410mm discs on the front, with new 20 inch forged alloy wheels, ten inch wide at the rear and 9 inch wide at the front. Visually the car has a new front fascia, splitter, wings and carbon fibre vents, and at the rear, there is a new look diffuser, spoiler, with carbon fibre upper, lower panel and quad exhaust outlets with diamond shaped exhaust tips.

The car has a top speed of 155 mph and will achieve 0-60 mph in just 4.2 seconds. There are only 15 of these cars coming to the UK, at an on the road price of £74,500.

Gee Atherton returns.

World Downhill Mountain Bike Champion Gee Atherton is set to return to the British Rally Championship at the NickyGrist Stages Rally in Wales from the 8th to the 9th of July 2017. He has been forced to miss three rounds of the championship after sustaining an injury experienced in his two wheeled day job. The man from North Wales campaigns a Ford Fiesta R2T in BRC4 and will be aiming to wrestle the championship lead back from rival David White.

Aston Martin Vulcan AMR Pro

July 2017

The Track only Aston Martin Vulcan now has an upgrade package available. It focuses on increased downforce via extensive aerodynamic enhancements and shortened gear ratios to increase acceleration.

The AMR package is available to all 24 owners of the AM Vulcan Page 5

BMW Car Club National Festival - British Motor Museum.

Ypres Rally.

The Prestone MSA British Rally Championship had it’s first ever overseas round in the championship’s 59 year history, when it visited northern Belgium for the Ypres Rally.

It was multiple BRC Champion Keith Cronin who was victorious, taking his first win of the season for M-Sport with fellow Irishman Mikie Galvin in the co-drivers seat. The M-Sport Ford Fiesta R5 pairing became the third different crew to win a round this season and put themselves back in to the championship hunt.

Matt Edwards and Darren Garrod in another Fiesta R5 claimed 2nd overall, their best ever result, to become the seventh different crew on the rostrum this season and keep them in with a chance of the championship title. Making it a Fiesta R5 clean sweep, Osian Pryce and Dale Furniss overcame a difficult weekend to claim 3rd spot and keep themselves at the top of the championship as they head for their home rally.

July 2017

Hundreds of BMWs will yet again descend on the British Motor Museum when it hosts Europe’s largest gathering of BMW’s on Sunday 13 August. The BMW Car Club National Festival promises to be even bigger and better with thousands of visitors taking advantage of the huge number of activities on offer. Last year visitors saw over 800 vehicles on display including M Power, Alpina, Z’s, i’s, as well as modern, classic and modified models including MINI’s.

Activities will include a large Motor Sport display area showing BMW Car Club Track Days, a rolling road, tom-bola & prize draw, family entertainment, Pirelli stand, Concours winners, trade stands, up to 80 spaces for cars belonging to members of on-line forums and lots more.

Representatives from insurance companies will also be on hand and staff will be present in the BMW Car Club Trailer to answer questions and enrol new members. This is in addition to the club’s register and regional displays.

Tickets cost £17 for adults, £10 for children (under 5’s are free) and £45 for a family. Entry to the Museum is also included in the ticket price. Discounted tickets are available in advance from the BMW Car Club Office on 01970 267 989.

To find out more about the British Motor Museum please visit the website at www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk

Page 6

Mini Countryman PHEV. Mini will be showing the brands first ever plug-in Hybrid model at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on the famous hill climb course.

Launched on the 24th June 2017, Mini Cooper S E ALL4 Countryman PHEV offers pure electric driving with the combination of a 3 cylinder petrol engine and electric motor. The car produces CO2 emissions of just 49 g/km and has an average fuel consumption of 134.5 mpg and is also able to achieve 0-62 mph in just 6.8 seconds

McLaren on Pole Position for Silverstone Classic.

There will be the largest gathering of McLaren road cars at © Simon Wright this months Silverstone Classic, to mark would have been Bruce McLaren’s 80th year. There will be a parade on Sunday led by Amanda McLaren, Bruce’s only daughter. She is now a McLaren Brand Ambassador.

Organised by the McLaren Owners club, it was planned to get 80 McLaren road cars together, but currently the number stands at 117. The event takes place from the 28th-30th July.

All tickets for the Silverstone Classic must be bought in advance. For more information see the web site at www.silverstoneclassic.com

Ahlin had torrid time of Ypres Rally.

Fredrik Ahlin and Torstien Eriksen in their Skoda Fabia R5 won the first two rounds of the British Rally Championship, retired on the first day of the Ypres rally. The scandinavian pair restarted the second day and worked their way up to 6th to try and keep their championship bid on course.

July 2017

Page 7

© Aaron Lupton

SUNSHINES ON SILVERSTONE AS MOTORSPORT AND MOTORING ENTHUSIASTS FLOCK TO MGLIVE! Text supplied by Andrea Seed - Poppyseed Media Ltd Photos from Aaron Lupton and Dickon Siddall.

July 2017

Page 8

© Aaron Lupton

There’s nothing like the hottest weekend of the year to get motorsport and motoring fans flocking to Silverstone for MGLive! The MG Car Club’s annual celebration, combining an incredible line up of racing with the World’s biggest static display of MG models spanning 90 years welcomed around 15,000 attendees across the two-day event.

MGCC General Manager Adam Sloman said: “MGLive was fantastic and I’m thrilled to have seen so many happy MG and motorsport fans enjoy the weekend.

All the new show July 2017

content was extremely well received and we’re looking forward to building on that for 2018.”

On Silverstone’s Grand Prix Circuit, a packed grid of over 550 entries © Dickon Siddall kept racing fans entertained across 16 races, including four MG championships and guest races from PetroCanada Lubricants Porsche Club Championship, Masters Series Pre-1966 Touring Cars, and the singleEquipe GTS race seater Radical Challenge Championship.

The biggest grids came from the eclectic mix of Equipe GTS, with a range of vehicles from Alfa Romeos to TVRs and of course MGs – with Midgets and MGBs completing a varied line-up with a total of 80 Equipe entries including two genuine ex-works MGBs. © Aaron Lupton Saturday’s California Cup Autotest gave the various MGCC Registers whose owners like their driving more precise and a challenging Page 9

© Aaron Lupton

route the chance to showcase their skills. The Ulster Centre came out victorious with the T-Register picking up the Register Trophy, while the Lincolnshire Centre won both the BMC and Longbridge trophies.

On Sunday, private owners had the chance to compete in the Autosolo in two classes – Rear Wheel Drive (RWD) and Front Wheel Drive (FWD). The overall RWD class winner was Ian Webb in the Midget Sprite, while the FWD class winner was Simon Ayris in the MG ZR. There were also special Spirit of the Event awards presented to various competitors including Helen Blake from the Yorkshire Centre, who secured the fastest time in both the Autotest and Autosolo out of all the female competitors.

For those who prefer polish to power, there was the Pride of Ownership and Concours sponsored by Meguiar’s. Whilst there was a raft of class winners, the three major trophies went to Louise Allen in her MG ZR for Best Modified MG, David Laidlaw in his MGB for Overall Pride of Ownership winner, and Nigel Scutt in the MGF for Overall Concours July 2017

Winner.

Away from the track, around 3,000 MG models spanning over 90 years of motoring heritage were displayed from the Club's various registers, along with a collection of models that have all made their mark in motorsport in the main MGCC marquee The Smartdriver Club Live Arena saw hosts Wheeler Dealers' Mike Brewer and Ant Anstead entertain the crowds with their own Father & Son relay race, daily car clinics, and the UK’s only performance in 2018 of stunt driving legend Russ Swift, who celebrated 30 years since his first appearance at Silverstone.

The new Village Green area proved extremely popular as visitors enjoyed the festival vibe, listening to a fantastic line-up of bands throughout the day and into the night, ranging from the stunning Glamophones with their swing-style retro harmonies to the foot-tapping rock classics from TFI Live.

MGLive! will return in 2018 with dates to be announced shortly. For more info, visit wwww.mglive.com

© Aaron Lupton

Page 10

La Vie en Bleu incorporating La Vita Rossa, Prescott.

27th May 2017.By Simon and Janet Wright.

Š Simon Wright

July 2017

Rob Hubbard Lancia Fulvia failed to set a time. Ferrari line up in the Orchard behind.

Page 11

La Vita Rossa is now in it’s second year as part of La Vie en Bleu French weekend at Prescott, organised by the Bugatti Owners Club. The Saturday is now Italian day, or ‘Life in Red’ and brought back the Ferrari Owners’ Club with a round of their Pirelli sponsored hill climb championship. With the Italian flag flying high over the © Simon Wright paddock, the venue took on an Italian theme, with a line up of Italian cars and the Ferrari Owners Club display in the orchard.

On the hill there was a class for invited Italian marques, including Lancia and Alfa Romeo. Another Italian high-light were some demonstration runs

by Duncan Pittway in his Fabulous 1911 Fiat S76, the Beast of Turin’.

Saturday also retained some of its traditional nonItalian championships, with the Pre-War Austin 7 championship, the Classic Marques championship and the MG Car Club speed championship. The French connection © Simon Wright

You can’t get more Italian than Ferrari

July 2017

© Janet Wright

Ferrari line up in the Orchard

remained with the Bugatti Owners Club handicap and some stunning demonstration runs by the new Bugatti Chiron and a couple of Veyrons. On Sunday it was the French flag flying and the invited car © Janet Wright clubs were Alpine Renault, Citroen Car, Matra Enthusiasts, Peugeot Sport and Renault which had cars displayed in the Orchard.

Each day was run as a separate event, The Beast of Turin on the start line

Page 12

© Janet Wright

© Simon Wright

The Bugatti Chiron takes to the hill

with practice runs in the morning and two timed runs in the afternoon. La Vita Rossa on Saturday saw a battle for Fastest Time of the Day (FTD) which saw Pete Tatham take the fastest time in his Force HC GSXR with his first timed run returning a 43.15 second run. James Wilson improved on his second run in his OMS PR R1 Yamaha to post a 43.26 second run, just 0.11 of a second behind for second fastest time. They were, however, running in the Bugatti Owners Members Handicap Racing Cars class which meant that the 1st place award on

© Simon Wright

Despite this lock up, Pete Tatham set the Fastest Time of Day in the Force HC GSXR

July 2017

handicap went to Nigel Andrews in a Modiale FF2000 with a time of 49.58 seconds. The 2nd place award went to John Huntley in a Palliser WDB3 Lotus with a best time of 50.58 seconds.

The best Bugatti was awarded 3rd place, the Type 35 of Bruce Stops with a time of 59.76 seconds.

The second class was again for Bugatti Owners Members handicap for sports cars and saw the fastest time set by Lawrence Loftus in a Nigel Andrews Modiale FF2000 won the Bugatti Racing Caterham Superlight R car Class on handicap with a time of 46.87 seconds, which was the fifth fastest time of the day overall. But being a handicap class, the 1st place award in class went to Richard Ploeg in a Mazda MX5 with a time of 53.27 seconds. The 2nd place award went to Martin Rutter in an Italian Fiat Bertone X1 9 with a time of 53.42 seconds and the 3rd place award went to Mark Newcombe driving an MGB with a 61.31 second best run.

The final Bugatti Owners Members Handicap was for saloon cars. Fastest time was set by Steve Bailey in a Peugeot 205 GTi with a 50.42 second run, but on handicap the 1st place award went to Mark Tooth in an Austin Mini 11275GT with a time of 57.26 seconds. Making it a Mini 1-2 was Julian Harber in a Mini Clubman with a time of 51.47 seconds while Bailey was awarded Page 13

© Janet Wright

© Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

Pauline Goodwin Ferrari 328 © Janet Wright

Tim Jeffrey Renault GTA © Janet Wright

The fantastic Bugatti Chiron leads a pair of Bugatti Veyron up the hill

July 2017

© Simon Wright

Martin Rutter Fiat Bertone X1 9 2nd in class

Page 14

© Simon Wright

3rd.

The MG Car Club Speed Championship pre 1996 Cars class was won by Rob Orford in an MGB Roadster with a time of 52.91 seconds. Peter Clark was 2nd in an MG Midget at 54.61 seconds and John Hawley was 3rd in another MG Midget with 57.37 seconds. The second class of MG Car Club Speed Championship cars was won by Andy Walker who set seventh fastest time overall in his

thirteenth fastest time overall, but the class was based on handicap and it was Ben Fidler in ERA AJM 1 B Type that took the 1st place award with a time of 52.57 seconds, while James Crabb was classified 2nd in ERA R12C with a 55.15 second © Simon Wright

© Janet Wright

Nick Allen Austin 7 Shelsley 3rd in class

MGB V8 with a 47.30 second run. Richard Watkinson was 2nd in his MG Midget in 50.30 seconds and Stephen Luscombe was 3rd in another MG Midget with a 53.37 second time.

The ERA club for ERA engined cars class saw five ERA cars entered for six drivers and one Riley ERA prototype. The cars looked as spectacular as ever and Nicholas Topliss set the fastest time in the class with a 49.93 second run, which was the July 2017

Ben Fidler ERA AJM 1 B Type took 1st place in the ERA class run.

The Classic Marques championship saw a large field entered, with a nice mix of mainly British sports cars entered. The German Porsche Boxster of Steve Lyle was 1st with a new class record 49.35 second run. He just beat Matthew Eady in a Ginetta G4 in to 2nd with a time of 49.72 seconds while Peter Watson was 2rd in a © Janet Wright powerful TVR Griffith 500 with a 51.56 second run.

There was only a small class of Pre War Austin 7 road cars for the Bert Hadley Championship Richard Fletcher Abarth 500 Essesse 3rd in class. Pete Fletcher won class in same car

Page 15

© Janet Wright

Jon Goodwin Ferrari 250 GT Lusso

which saw Bernard Cowley take 1st in an Austin Seven Special with a time of 66.15 seconds. The Track cars class of the same championship saw Paul Geering take 1st in an Austin 7 Pigsty Special in 59.08 seconds.

The Italian flavour was next out with a nice selection of thirteen Ferrari, ranging from a classic 250 GT Lusso right up © Janet Wright to a F430. Richard Prior was in stunning form to win the class in his Ferrari 355 GTB with a 49.37 seconds run, which was the ninth fastest run overall. Philip Whitehead was 2nd in class in a Ferrari July 2017

David Slade MGB GT

© Simon Wright F355 Berlinetta with a 49.76 seconds run and Mike Spicer was 3rd in a Ferrari 328 GTB with a 51.18 seconds Ian Sargent Opel Tigra run.

The final class continued the Italian theme with the Italian Marques Invitation class which saw a mix of Alfa Romeo, Lancia and Abarth entered. Two separate shared cars took the honours with Pete Fletcher 1st in an Abarth 500 Essesse with a run of 54.48 seconds, while Philip Stader was 2nd in an Alfa Romeo Berlina with a 54.51 seconds run. 3rd went to Richard Fletcher who was sharing the class winning Abarth 500 Essesse with a time of 55.35 seconds. © Simon Wright

Chris Pamplin MG Dargue Special

Page 16

© Simon Wright

1929 Alfa Romeo 6C

Alfa Romeo Montreal © Simon Wright

Lamborghini Miura

© Simon Wright

Alfa Romeo Spider

Lamborghini Jota

© Janet Wright

© Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

Lancia Aurelia

Alfa Romeo Montreal

Ferrari 250

© Simon Wright

© Janet Wright

Lamborghini Jalpa

July 2017

1933 Lancia Belna

© Janet Wright

Lamborghini Countach

Page 17

World RX of Great Britain FIA World Rallycross Championship Lydden Hill, 26th May 2017

By Syd Wall

© Syd Wall

July 2017

Ken Block takes an extreme tight line avoiding the ruts in Q4

Page 18

A Treasure Trove of 50 years of Rallycross clustered round the original 1967 Porsche 911

25000 spectators came to Lydden Hill this year knowing that Silverstone had been awarded the UK round of the World Rallycross Championship in 2018 for the next few years. But this wasn’t a wake, it was a festival. It was fitting that Lydden Hill, the home of Rallycross, should entertain the World Championship on the 50th anniversary of the founding of the sport.

Between rounds of the competition, cars from the complete history of the sport ran demonstrations on the track, from Vic Elford’s showroom Porsche 911 which won the very first event, to Group B favourites (a quattro was suspended from the welcome arch at the entrance to

the paddock) right up to recent supercars.

There’s no doubt that Petter Solberg is the crowd favourite but he’d © Syd Wall had no victories since Portugal 2016.

Last year’s Lydden round was particularly annoying for him, winning all 4 qualifying rounds and the semi final before losing out to Matthias Ekstrom in the final, mainly due to poor tyre management. He wasn’t going to make the same mistake again.

This year Solberg really dominated, now driving a VW Polo Supercar as part of the PSRX Volkswagen Sweden team rather than his own team's Citroen DS3. He was fastest in the Sunday

Dave Halford was seen wandering round asking if anyone had seen his ex-Herbert Breiteneder quattro

July 2017

© Syd Wall

Page 19

Š Syd Wall

The speed and commitment through the finish line esses was truly stunning. Bakkerud in the Ford Focus RS RX

July 2017

Page 20

© Syd Wall

Loco drinkers Janis Baumanis and Guy Wilks at the Joker lap jump

warm up, in 3 out of 4 qualifiers and in his semifinal and was still able to save three new tyres for the semi final and final use.

The track was particularly abrasive this year and other drivers had trouble making their tyres last, notably Guy Wilks who had to use new nearside tyres in Q2 and Q3 and then a puncture in Q4 scuppered his chances of making the semis in his Loco team VW Polo, Kristoffersson’s car of last year. The track developed ruts in the broken tarmac at the bottom of Hairy Hill towards the start/finish Esses as the weekend went on and on Sunday morning after the RX2 class Q4, the supercar drivers came out to examine the track. This was after some cars in the other classes experienced broken suspension during their Q4 runs. In fact, after the supercar Q4, Mark Flaherty’s Metro 6R4 and Barry Stewart’s ex Rolf Nilsson 911 both lost nearside rear wheels during the nostalgia final demos. No repairs were made and the drivers had to make the best of it..drive through the ruts or take a different line.

Solberg’s VW team mate, Johan Kristoffersson was his only rival this weekend after winning the last round in Belgium. The pair of them July 2017

took 1st and 2nd in all but one session, including the final. Andreas Bakkerud was the best of the rest, taking third in the final, the longer wheelbase Focus RS RX well suited to the long fast bends of Lydden.

Fourth, fifth and sixth were Sebastian Loeb - Team Peugeot-Hansen Peugeot 208, Mattias Ekstrom - EKS Audi S1 and Timmy Hansen Team Peugeot-Hansen Peugeot 208 . All three suffered left rear punctures, Hansen first, then Loeb. Loeb still managed to hold off Ekstrom before the Audi punctured too. Despite the puncture, Loeb was still only 3.4s behind Bakkerud - who needs inflated tyres?!

BTCC star Andrew Jordan had his first rallycross start for 18 months, deputising for Timo Scheider who was on DTM duty at the Nurburgring. Jordan made the semi finals after winning his Q4 race but he was scuppered by a broken propshaft, perhaps as result of a hefty impact with the wall between Pilgrims and Chessons on his first lap during the Sunday warmup. British rookie Oliver Bennett gave a solid performance in the ex Olsbergs Fiesta, racking up a series of 20th positions in each qualifying round. © Syd Wall

Q2 action from Seb Loeb, Ken Block & Andrew Jordan

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© Syd Wall

Perhaps inspired by Homer Simpson: the 2017 helmet of Andreas Bakkerud

© Syd Wall

Dan Rooke’s RX2 bodywork comes lose as he bottoms out in the ruts with the front leaving the ground

July 2017

Page 22

© Syd Wall

Johan Kristofferson left Lydden with the championship lead, his first time at the head of the table, followed by Ekstrom, Solberg, Timmy Hansen, Loeb and Bakkerud.

Last words must go to Petter Solberg: “I’m really sorry that it’s the last World Rallycross at Lydden, because it’s been fantastic. The weather, the spectators, the volunteers around the track, they were all so happy and they’ve given so much energy back to us drivers. I think © Syd Wall

Typical drifting trough North Bend form Loeb and Ekstrom during the final

For 2018, see Silverstone’s plans at www.speedmachine.com © Syd Wall

Not many UK rallycross fans will have seen this unfeasibly quick Simca 1000 Rallye 3 before

it’s a sad thing but to win here at least, for the last time, will go down in the history books and that means a lot to me. I want to say thank you to everybody involved in Lydden Hill for so many years, and all the volunteers for doing such a fantastic job”, said Solberg.

Since the UK round, the Norwegian round at Hell ended with a 2nd win of the year for Kristoffersson with Solberg going out in the semis.

There was no change in the top six.

July 2017

Petter Solberg celebrates victory and spots his doughnuts right in front of me

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© Syd Wall

The start of semi final two © Syd Wall

© Syd Wall

Andrew Jordan’s Sunday warm-up moment which might have led to Q4’s propshaft failure

July 2017

It was only Q1 but Solberg and Kristoffersson were already taking their standard 1-2 positions for the day

Page 24

Silverstone Historic Festival, 20th-21st May 2017

By Simon & Janet Wright with additional photos by Stuart Yates of Motorsport Imagery and Pete Austin Š Janet Wright

July 2017

First lap of the GT & Sports Car Cup race with Phil Keen leading the field in his E-Type Jaguar

Page 25

© Motorsport-imagery

The HSCC International Trophy meeting on the full Silverstone Grand Prix circuit used the Heritage paddock and pits as a tribute to the International Trophy Meetings that commenced in 1949. In the early 1970s it was non-championship Formula 1 races that were attended by many of the current Grand Prix teams of the period. The numbers were usually made up with powerful 5 litre Formula 5000 cars which had bigger sized engines than the Grand Prix cars of the period, but were not as technically advanced.

The Historic Sports Car Club (HSCC) had assembled a 15 race programme for the weekend, with over 400 cars entered, plus they had a vintage funfair and other family entertainment round the circuit. The Saturday was the usual HSCC mix of races with Historic Formula Junior having a couple of races over the weekend, starting the racing on each day. Sam Wilson took both wins in his Lotus 20/22 from Mark Woodhouse (Lotus William Plant takes the win in Saturdays Historic Road Sports race 20/22) in race 1 and Michael Hibberd (Lotus 20/22) in race 8 on last lap. He retired with one lap to run, leaving victory to William Sunday. The Historic Road sports had a single race on Saturday Plant in a Morgan Plus 8 ahead of Kevin Kivlochan in another and it appeared to be a walk over for John Davison who led Morgan Plus 8. every lap in his Lotus Elan S1 except the most import lap, the The Historic Formula Ford were also just having a single race on © Pete Austin © Motorsport-imagery Saturday and again saw a last lap change for the lead. Michael O’Brien had led at the end of every lap from the start in his Merlyn Mk20 but it was Richard Historic F Junior - Richard Smeeton - Wainer

July 2017

Heavy rain delays the Historic Formula Ford race

Page 26

Tarling in the Jamun T2 that slipped past to grab victory by just 0.430 of a second at the end of the six lap race.

The 70s Road Sports race saw Julian Barter in a Lotus Elan S4 © Pete Austin win and 2nd place went to Charles Barter in a Datsun 240Z, with both winning their respective classes.

A special Porsche 928 was entered for ex Le Mans Winner Richard Attwood to drive and he finishd a 70s Road Sports - David Erwin Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV creditable 3rd overall.

One of the high lights on any HSCC meeting is a Derek Bell Trophy race and this meeting had one on Saturday and another © Pete Austin

on Sunday. These are the closest to the International Trophy races of the 1970s with a mix of Formula 1 and Formula 5000 cars plus with added Formula 2, and Formula Atlantic cars of 2 © Motorsport-imagery litre and 1600cc engine sizes. You would expect on the full Grand Prix circuit that the 3 litre Grand Prix cars and 5 litre Formula Neil Glover Chevron B37 at the end of a very wet Derek Bell Trophy race 5000 cars would dominate the race, but in the very wet conditions on Saturday, it was the rumble Formula 2 March 742 of Richard Evans that was awarded victory after leading all four laps of the race. He was over thirty seconds ahead of Martin Donn in a Formula Atlantic Lola T760 in 2nd place while Jamie Brashaw was nearly forty seconds behind the winner in his © Simon Wright

Derek Bell Trophy - Max Smith Hilliard - Fittipaldi F5A

July 2017

Simon Taylor F5000 Chevron B28 dicing with current Champion Martyn Dodd F Atlantic Lola T760

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Formula 5000 March 73A in 3rd place, all three winning their respective classes. The second race on Sunday was held in dry and bright conditions and yet again it was the nimble Formula 2 March 742 of Richard Evans that led from start to finish for the full eleven laps, finishing over twelve seconds ahead of Jamie Brashaw in the Formula 5000 March 73A. Max Smith Hillard got his bright yellow Formula 1 Fittipaldi F5A in to 3rd place with again all the first three winning their respective classes. Even though the track was dry, Steve Chaplin was in 8th place on lap 4 when he ran wide and spun out at Luffield in his Formula 5000 Lola T332. © Simon Wright

Steve Chaplin F5000 Lola T332 off in the gravel in Derek Bell Trophy race 2

The longest race of the weekend was a ninety minute GT & Sports Car Cup race on Sunday for pre ’66 GT cars and pre ’63 sports racing cars which saw a massive forty car field fill the hanger straight at the start. Phil Keen grabbed the early lead in a Jaguar E Type for a couple of laps before the Robert & Daniel July 2017

© Janet Wright

The R&D Bremner/Reid AC Cobra leads the GT & Sports Car Cup race

Bremner AC Cobra they were sharing with Anthony Reid took over at the front for the next eleven laps. It was then the turn of the Martin Hunt and Andrew Hall E-Type Jaguar to be at the front for a couple of laps before the AC Cobra of Leo © Simon Wright Voyazides and Simon Hadfield took the lead, which they kept till the end of the race. But unfortunately they and several other cars were given a 90 second penalty for contravention Gordon/Finburgh Jaguar XK150 in GT & Sports Car Cup race of the pit stop regulations, which gave victory to the AC Cobra of Robert and Daniel Bremner and Anthony Reid. Voyazides and Hadfield were still classified 2nd overall, almost 57 seconds behind, while Fred Wakeman and Patrick Blakeney-Edwards finished 3rd overall in a Lister Jaguar Coupe. The GT3 class was won by Nils Nyblaeus and Jeremy Welch in their Austin Page 28

© Janet Wright

Healey 3000 in 6th overall. The GT2 class went to 14th placed Malcolm Paul and Rick Bourne in a TVR Grantura Mk3. The SP1 class was won by Rick Haythornthwaite and Andy Keith-Lucas in a Lotus 11 and the final class winners in GT1 were Paul and Ewan Mason in a Lotus Elite.

The Pre 80 Endurance Challenge Series had a single one hour race also on Sunday and saw a healthy twenty six car field entered. Leo The S, C & J Morley MGB & Sports Car Cup Voyazides and Simon Hadfield were out again, this time in a Lola T282 and led the first lap, but were passed on lap two by John Burton in a Chevron B26 who managed to lead until lap 7 when Andrew Kirkaldy grabbed the lead in his Chevron B19 and maintained his advantage to win by nearly 80 seconds. The two early leading cars both retired,

which gave Philip Hall 2nd in his Lola T212 while Andrew and James Schryver were 3rd overall in their class winning Chevron B26. Peter Hallford brought the deep throbbing Chevrolet Corvette in to 7th place, winning the GT1 class. An unfortunate accident at Becketts saw Jonathan Loader spin his Tiga SC80 right in front of Robert Parker in his unusual Osella PA5 resulting in a collision and body damage to both cars, though they both got to the finish, with Parker finishing 4th overall and 2nd in class while Loader finished 8th overall, winning his class. © Simon Wright

Loader Tiga SC80 spun and was hit by Parker Osella PA5 Pre 80 Endurance race © Simon Wright

Early leader Voyazides/Hadfield Lola T282 ahead of Burton Chevron B26 Pre-80 July 2017 Endurance race

Classic Formula 3/URS races were held on both days. Richard Trott in a Chevron B43 won both races, while David Shaw in a Ralt RT1 took 2nd in the first race, only just over four seconds © Pete Austin behind after nearly 20 minutes of racing. Shaw then took 3rd in the second race. He swopped places with Simon Jackson who took 3rd in the first race, then 2nd in the second Classic F3 - David Thorburn Ralt RT3

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race in his Chevron B43.

Moving further back in time, the Classic Racing Cars/Historic Formula 3 races , again held over both days saw Mark Goodyear

© Janet Wright

© Simon Wright

Guards Trophy Schryver W&M Chevron B6 leads Whitaker and Gardiner/Cox TVR Griffiths

Paul Waine in the De Sanctis F3 69 Historic F3 race

The Guards Trophy Race over 40 minutes, saw a walkover by the Chevron B8 with a win for Andrew Kirkaldy and Sandy Watson in the Chevron B8, from Steve Brooks and Robert Beebee in another B8 and James Schryver in a third B8. © Simon Wright

win in his Lotus 59 on Saturday from Robs Lamplough in a Winkelman WDB2 and Jonathan Milicevic in a Brabham BT21B. On Sunday it was Milicevic that took victory in the Brabham BT21B from Andrew Hibberd in a Brabham BT18 and Peter Thompson in a Brabham BT21. © Simon Wright

Simon Hadfield Shelby Daytona Cobra finished 5th in Guards Trophy race

Andrew Hibberd Brabham BT18 spins out of the lead Historic F3 race Two

July 2017

The final race of the meeting was a HSCC/HRSR Historic Touring Car race which saw the big engined American muscle Page 30

© Pete Austin

© Janet Wright

Michael Steele Ford Galaxie 11th in Historic Touring cars

cars dominate over the Grand Prix circuit. Jack Drury won in a Ford Falcon from Rob Fenn in a Ford Mustang and Julian Thomas in another Ford Falcon and Peter Halford in another Ford Mustang. Richard Belcher managed 5th in his class winning Ford Lotus Cortina from John Spiers in his Class K2 winning Ford Lotus Cortina. Simon Benoy was 7th overall in his class winning Hillman Imp ahead of 8th placed Bob Bullen in his class winning Ford Anglia.

Historic Formula Ford - Wet Start © Motorsport-imagery

© Janet Wright

Current Champion Simon Benoy 3 wheels his Hillman Imp in the Historic Touring Cars race

July 2017

A quick team talk for Kirkaldy and Watson GT & Sports Car Cup

Page 31

© Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

First lap of Guards Trophy race with three Chevron B8s at the front © Pete Austin

© Janet Wright

Peter Halford Ford Mustang Historic Touring Car race Derek Bell Trophy - Frank Lyons - Gurney Eagle FA74 © Simon Wright

Taylor/Wareing McLaren M6B Pre 80 Endurance race © Janet Wright

© Motorsport-imagery

Tognola/Monk Porsche 911 GT & Sports Car Cup

July 2017

Louis Hanjoul Argo JM1 Classic F3 race

Freddie Lillingston-Price and crew take a rest before qualifying

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Snetterton 300 British GT Championship Snetterton 27th-29th May 2017.

By David Goose & Stuart Yates - Motorsport Imagery.

Š Motorsport-imagery

Black Bull Garage McLaren 570S leads the GT4 pack.

July 2017

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Race one start for the British GT.

© Motorsport-imagery

Two races at Snetterton in this years ultra competitive British GT Championship saw the usual candidates challenging for race victories in both thrilling encounters.

Qualifying saw Jack Mitchell in the Macmillan Motorsport Aston Martin take its maiden British GT pole, whilst Phil Keen, no stranger to British GT success put the Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan on pole for race two.Alex reed in the Lanan Racing Ginetta and Joe Osborne in the Tolman McLaren took the qualifying honours in the GT4 class. © Motorsport-imagery

Reigning Champions Jonny Adam and Derek Johnston.

July 2017

A thrilling race one saw a victory for Phil Keen and Jon Minshaw however it was gained only after a long dice with the Macmillan Aston Martin. Re-joining the race after the pit stops, the Aston Martin in the hands of James Littlejohn was not quite as competitive due to success penalties earned at the last round meant that he © Motorsport-imagery could only respect the ultimate speed of the Barwell Lamborghini which broke its own GT3 lap record during the race. Phil Keen eventually overtook Race One GT3 Podium.

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© Motorsport-imagery

Team ABBA with Rollcentre Racing Mercedes AMG.

Littlejohn with just under ten minutes of the race remaining. The second Lamborghini driven by Sam Tordoff inflicted more pain on the Macmillan Aston Martin in the closing laps earning the Barwell team a well deserved 1-2 finish.

Despite a very lacklustre race one, Le Mans bound Jonny Adam and team mate Derek Johnston bounced back in race two.

Starting third on the grid, Jonny Adam quickly overtook front row starter Sam Tordoff at the start but pole sitter Phil Keen again set a blistering pace to lead the race before the pit stops. However once again success penalties would act as the intended leveller in the race. Keen and Adam were

in theory almost together as they entered the pit stop period, the Lamborghini team leading by nine seconds but with a ten second penalty just led on the road from the TF Sport Aston Martin. The Aston Martin was blocked in the pit lane and this gave the Lamborghini a clear lead in the race, however a miscalculation in pit stop timings gave the leader a drive through penalty, thereby gifting the win to the grateful Derek Johnston and Jonny Adam.

The win by © Motorsport-imagery Jonny Adam Seb Morris and Rick Parfitt's Bentley lead the Mercedes AMG. was his 11th in the British GT Championship, all in Aston Martins, equalling the record held by Hector Lester and David Ashburn. It's only a matter of time before the record is held outright by Jonny Adam.

After the results over the weekend, Jon Minshaw and Phil Keen lead the 2017 Championship by an increased margin of 23 points moving into the next round at Silverstone.

The Mini Challenge continues to provide a worthy support race series to the GT’s with three

© Motorsport-imagery

July 2017

MacMillan Aston Martin cutting through the GT4 field.

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© Motorsport-imagery

© Motorsport-imagery

Keen/Minshaw preparing for the race in the Barwell Huracan.

TF Motorsport Aston Martin leads from Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan. © Motorsport-imagery

© Motorsport-imagery

Race two GT3 Podium.

© Motorsport-imagery

TF Sport Aston Martin of Mark Farmer and Jon Barnes

July 2017

Richard Neary/Martin Short Mercedes AMG GT3

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© Motorsport-imagery

Barr and BTCC Ace Jeff Smith completed the top three grid slots.

The Mini Challenge continues to be a very open series with Jeff and Brett Smith securing first wins of the season, making it seven different winners in the first seven races. In race one, pole sitter Rob Smith retired from the race with an electrical fault but drive of the day must surely have gone to David Grady who turned a weather dictated 27th on the grid to an excellent 6th place overall in the race. Race two saw the leading two Eurotech cars driven by father and son Jeff and Brett Smith finish 1-2, with Brett beating his father to the top step on the podium. Race three of the weekend saw Brett Smith become the first driver this year to win two races. © Motorsport-imagery

Rob Smith had pole for race 1 of the Mini Challenge

races over the weekend all ending in victories for the Eurotech “Smiths”. Torrential rain, thunder and lightning greeted the competitors in the qualifying session and led to a massively confused grid. Rob Smith gained his first pole of the season but with the session being interrupted by the weather, the rest of the field resembled a reverse grid. Championship leader Reece © Motorsport-imagery

Brett Smith on his way to a brace of victories.

July 2017

Race 1 victor Jeff Smith

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© Motorsport-imagery

© Motorsport-imagery

Cane, O'Keefe and O'Keefe dice for the lead.

Unlike the mini challenge qualifying, the Formula 3 session was run on a drying circuit following a © Motorsport-imagery rain storm just as the session was starting. The session ended as a Carlin Motorsport display with James Pull taking pole position from team mate Enaam Ahmed with Toby Sowery in third place for Lanan Motorsport.

Race one was the complete opposite of qualifying with dry conditions, the top three on the grid fighting out the podium places. At the chequered flag, Enaam Ahmed took the top step by almost three seconds from team mate James Pull, with July 2017

Sowery in third.

This was Ahmed’s 5th win in 7 races in a dominant season for him.

Race two saw sixteen year old James Pull started race 1 from Pole position Jordan Cane on pole position racing for the Douglas Motorsport team. Cane led from the start with team mate Callum O’Keefe helping him to achieve his first F3 victory by pressurising 2nd placed Cameron Das into a defensive performance, allowing the leader Cane to maintain a healthy lead to the finish line.

Race 3 saw Enaam Ahmed once again dominate and gain his sixth victory of the season, with Toby Sowery and James Pull completing the Podium.

F3 dominance for this season so far belongs to Enaam Ahmed.

From Snetterton the British GT Series moves to the full Grand Prix Circuit at Silverstone over the weekend of the 10th and 11th June.

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Coventry MotoFest 2nd-3rd June 2017.

By Simon Wright

Š Simon Wright

July 2017

The Roman Judd powers away from the start line of the Ring Road sprint course

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July 2017

W rig ht

on

Si m

Drifting TVR lays down a smoke screen off the start line

The fourth running of this motoring festival took over the city centre and part of the ring road for the first weekend of June, and is probably the largest free motoring event in the country. The high-light for many people is the Bennetts Sprint circuit which uses part of the Coventry ring road, which is closed to normal traffic for the © Simon Wright weekend. The event is not a competition, and it’s not timed, but with the roads closed and the spectators all located above the course, the drivers and riders are able to put on some great demonstrations. The

© Simon Wright

course includes several chicanes made from plastic blocks, which slow the vehicles down, but also makes it a much more enjoyable experience for spectators, especially when the drifting cars tyre smoke their way round the corners and off the start line. The entry of vehicles was quite amazing, with supercars, sports cars, rally cars, racing cars including a couple of single seaters, plus loads of competition and high performance motorcycles, plus a souped up invalid scooter. As you would expect from Coventry, there was a parade of Jaguar sports cars which went from an old SS sports car and a Jaguar C Type racing sports car right through to the latest F-Type.

The single seater racing cars included a classic Formula Atlantic Lola T760 driven by Martin Donn, the 2016 winner of the HSCC Derek Bell Trophy and an unusual Roman VJ which John © Simon Wright Fellows of Tracksport acquired from the late Mark Colton in the late 1990s. John installed a more powerful Judd CV ex Formula 1 engine in the car, producing 598 bhp, to compete in the British Sprint ©

© Simon Wright

Local built© Jaguar C Type on the Ring Road sprint course Simon Wright

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© Simon Wright

Martyn Donn Formula Atlantic Lola T760

Championship. Despite never having the time to complete a full season, John was still placed in the top ten contenders for 4 years in a row.

Some other high-lights from the track action included the old Morris Marina Rally car, former BTCC star Ollie Jackson driving a Ginetta G55, the Power Maxed Racing BTCC Vauxhall Astra, © Simon Wright

Morris Marina rally car, still good to rock and ROLL

July 2017

© Simon Wright

the Nissan R35 GT-R FIA GT1 race car, Charlie ButlerHenderson in a Mini Challenge saloon, and the patriotic Union Jack flag on the top of the Pre 93 Touring Car series German BMW E30 of Andrew and Michael Sheraton.

As well as all the track action, the cars that were taking part on the sprint course were also available to Ollie Jackson Ginetta G55 view close up in the paddock area between runs, along with other display vehicles and stands from places like the British Motor Museum at Gaydon, that had several cars on static display and a 1925 Morris Oxford ‘Red Flash’ which they also ran on the sprint course.

A little bit further along from the paddock and under another part of the ring road was the Action Arena, located just behind © Simon Wright the large Ikea store in the centre of Coventry, which also had rally and oval racing cars on static display right outside the store. The Action 1925 Morris Oxford ‘Red Flash’

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© Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

Nissan R35 GT-R FIA GT1 race car © Simon Wright

Lamborghini Murcielago © Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

Mini Spinner knocking blocks. © Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

Pre 93 Touring Car BMW E30 of Andrew and Michael Sheraton.

July 2017

Nissan Driftcar smokes off the start line

Aston Martin DBR1

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© Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

Not what you would normally get from Ikea on a Sunday afternoon

Arena was a short oval track where they were able to run two cars, on parellel oval courses or several Legend cars together, like a race. It appeared that the aim was to create as much tyre © Simon Wright

July 2017

smoke as possible. By the end of the day, the entire area under the ring road was just a bank of tyre smoke. © Simon Wright Moving in towards the city centre there were classic cars on display on every available area.

Broadgate, next to the Lady Godiva statue in the centre of Coventry was full of individual classic cars. This gave a great variety where there were American Ford Mustangs parked next to local built Triumph saloons, German BMW 3.0 CSL saloons were next to small Austin 7 saloons from nearby Birmingham, and shoppers were enjoying seeing the cars in the sunshine. The Standard Motor club had assembled another great

Armstrong Siddeley on the British Motor Museum Page 43 display

© Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

Coventry Stag with Lady Godiva © Simon Wright

Made in Coventry: Jaguar and Humber

display of locally build Standard cars outside the Flying Standard public house.

Coventry Transport Museum had a large gathering of cars on display outside the museum in Millennium place, and on the other side of the city, there were cars made in Coventry on display in the small park in front of the Council House. These include several Armstrong Siddeley saloons, as well as Jaguar and Hillman models, plus Jaguar and Triumph.

Mini’s outside the Council House

July 2017

© Simon Wright

Made in Coventry: Armstrong Siddeley Hurricane

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© Simon Wright

Sunbeam Rapier

© Simon Wright

Ford Capri and Austin Mini Traveller line up in Broadgate © Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

American Ford Cougar from the early 90s

July 2017

Outside Coventry Transport Museum

Page 45

© Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

Locally built Standard Vanguard

Motorbikes are an important part of Coventry history

Triumph 1300 © Simon Wright

Armstrong Siddeley made in Coventry

July 2017

© Simon Wright

Fiat 500 Giardiniera

Lagonda © Simon Wright

Page 46

The Race at the Park, BTCC Oulton Park

Š Motorsport-imagery

19th-20th May 2017.

By David Goose Motorsport Imagery

Aiden Moffat in his Mercedes leading Jason Plato’s Subaru Levorg

July 2017

Page 47

© Motorsport-imagery

practice was expected from Dan Lloyd in the Triple 8 Racing MG6 who has always enjoyed good results at the Cheshire circuit, however poor qualifying and races would see Lloyd and © Motorsport-imagery

Still to find his usual form, Jason Plato continues to struggle to get good results in this years Subaru Levorg

Matt Neal’s Halford Yuasa Racing Honda Civic Type R

Round four of this years British Touring Car Championship saw the series visit the popular and possibly most picturesque venue, Oulton Park in Cheshire. Qualifying on the Saturday was held in mixed weather conditions with several of the support series setting practice and qualifying © Motorsport-imagery times in almost un-drivable conditions.

BTCC practice on Saturday morning saw Matt Neal in the Halfords Yuasa Honda Civic, fastest, but in very mixed weather conditions his lap was over seven seconds slower than the fastest qualifying lap of Dan Cammish in the Porsche Carrera Cup qualifying. Sixth place in July 2017

the MG team going their own way after the Oulton Park meeting.

Matt Neal then converted his practice pace into pole position in qualifying.

Race one saw the customary bullet start from the rear wheel drive cars with Andrew Jordan in his BMW taking the lead from Matt Neal, with the two of them contesting the lead for most of the 15 laps, but with Jordan eventually taking victory. Third place finally went to Ash Sutton in his Subaru, despite an incident involving Sutton and Aiden Moffat, which led to Sutton taking to the grass and losing time to Moffat and Colin

Colin Turkington’s West Surrey Racing BMW

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© Motorsport-imagery

Turkington’s BMW. This incident only fired up Sutton who regained the two places to take the final step on the podium.

Race two started in a similar way for Matt Neal, with him being passed in the early stages by fast starting rear wheel drive cars.

Andrew Jordan maintained the lead but carrying maximum ballast it was only a matter of time before the hard charging © Motorsport-imagery

Championship contender Gordon Shedden

and the Norlin Racing Chevrolet of Dave Newsham. Moffat clipped the Chevrolet and ended up hitting the barriers very hard © Motorsport-imagery

Andrew Jordan’s Pirtek BMW splashing through the rain at Knickerbrook

young gun Ash Sutton who maintained the lead and took the top step on the podium. The ballast in Jordan’s car continued to hamper his progress and he was eventually passed by Rob Collard and the Honda duo of Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden.

The third and final BTCC race of the weekend saw the Honda team take a one-two success, Shedden coming out on top but only after a controversial move on Josh Cook’s Focus which left the Ford driver with suspension damage and out of the race. As usual, race three was more aggressive than the previous two races with a notable accident involving Aiden Moffat’s Mercedes July 2017

Ash Sutton continues to outperform his team-mates in the Subaru

Page 49

at Hilltop, bringing out the safety car for a number of laps until the wreckage had been cleared. Despite a fairly indifferent weekend, Tom Ingram in the Speedworks Toyota Avensis left Oulton Park with his championship lead intact.

The 2017 Porsche Carrera Cup saw Dan Cammish take a clean sweep with two pole positions, fastest laps and race wins and in the process regained the championship lead from Charlie Eastwood as they left the circuit on Sunday evening. Heavy rain before and during Saturdays qualifying led to a number of spins and relatively slow lap times, with some questioning the wisdom of running in the conditions. Race one started with the 21 car field being cut by nine cars at the first corner following a massive collision, with Graeme Mundy although being damaged in the incident, managing to get his car back to the pits. On the restart he was the only competitor left in the race and therefore won the class. In the overall standings, Dino Zamparelli shadowed Cammish through most of the race, although he eventually

Š Motorsport-imagery

finished second in the race, he was subsequently penalised two points in the championship for his part in the first corner chaos.

Race two was a much more normal race until lap Rupert Martin Team Parker Racing 12 when David Fairbrother and Iain Dockerill fighting for third place in Pro Am 2 brought out another red flag but this time to bring an end to the race.

Š Motorsport-imagery

July 2017

Despite the weather and poor visibility, qualifying was closely contested

Page 50

© Motorsport-imagery

© Motorsport-imagery

Patrik Pasma leads Logan Sargeant through Knickerbrook in the sister Carlin run car © Motorsport-imagery

Euan Mackay runs ahead of Dan Cammish in the heavy rain during qualifying

In the FIA Formula 4 Championship, Pirtek Racings teenage Jamie Caroline extended his Championship lead with an eighth win of the season, also taking pole from Carlin team mate Logan Sargeant. Disappointment followed in race two when Caroline, starting from sixth on the grid after the reverse grid, had two collisions ending in a spectacular crash in race two which to the surprise of many he walked away from. Despite his failure to finish, Caroline left the Cheshire circuit with a 90 point lead in the standings. Scheduling delays due to the weather on Saturday meant that only two of the three races over the weekend for the F4’s could be completed. Oscar Piastri in the Arden Motorsports car improved on his sixth place finish in race one by winning in the second race of the weekend.

July 2017

2017 Formula 3 Superstar Jamie Caroline

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British Racing Green Shelsley Walsh.

3rd - 4th June 2017.

By Simon & Janet Wright

© Janet Wright

July 2017

Alex Summers DJ Fire Storm

Page 52

© Simon Wright

Awaiting the Start Christopher Aspinall Empire Wrairh

For their second event of the year, the Midland Automobile Club (MAC) staged two one day meetings under the banner of British Racing green. The event was a round of the Midland Hill Climb Championship as well as rounds of the BOC New Barns, Pirelli Ferrari and Porsche Club championships. Apart from these special vehicles, there was a normal Midland hill climb competition taking place. Reigning champion Mike Turpin in a Vauxhall VX220 won the Modified Production class to consolidate his current lead in this years championship.

The New barns Championship saw

© Janet Wright

a victory for Graham Ramsey in a Triumph TR7 from Thomas Franklin in a Westfield Mega S2000 and Pete Fletcher in an Abarth 500 Essesse. Richard Jones Brabham BT29X The Porsche Club National Hill Climb Championship class was taken by Paul Howells in a 911 RSR, while the Pirelli Ferrari Hill Climb Championship class was won by Nick Taylor in a Ferrari F430 Coupe.

Fastest time of the day went to Wallace Menzies in his new Gould GR59M with a time of 24.04 seconds. The other class winners included Richard Brant in a Renault Clio 172 Sport, Robert LancasterGaye in a Porsche GT2, David Warburton in a Caterham 7, Paul Jones in a Lotus Exige and Ash Mason in a Westfield SEi. The other class winners in the sports and racing car classes saw wins for Robert Kendrick in a GWR Raptor, © Janet Wright

July 2017

Steve Owen OMS 28

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© Simon Wright

Tom Poole Empire EVO

Neville Rollason in a Jamun, Stuart Ridge in a Pilbeam MP53, Michael Henney in a Lotus Elan S3, Steven Mogg in a TVR Griffith 500, Richard Hollingworth in a DJ Firehawk, Philip Stader in an Alfa Romeo Berlina and Robin Nicholson in a Mallock Mk20.

© Janet Wright

Robin Nicholson Mallock Mk 20.

By the time the Top Ten Challenge run-offs took place, the rain had started, which affected the leading runners. The first run off went to local driver Trevor Willis in his OMS 28 and the second run-off was won by Ed Hollier in his 1600cc Empire Evo. © Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

Wallace Menzies Gould GR59M

July 2017

Ed Hollier Empire Evo

Page 54

© Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

Philip Stader Alfa Romeo Berlina

Bill Drysdale Porsche 904 FF Special

© Simon Wright

© Janet Wright

Callum Barney Ford Cortina GT

Karl Schollar Spectre MK7 © Janet Wright

Terry Graves Gould GR55

July 2017

Mike Spicer Ferrari 328 GTB

© Simon Wright

© Janet Wright

Sparks up the finishing straight

Ben Stephenson Empire Evo 2

Page 55

© Simon Wright

© Janet Wright

VW Golf R Estate car

The club also like to be innovative and the Green in the title was a play on Green for environmental with a class for invited vehicles, including Electric and Hybrid, with invited manufacturers supplying some interesting vehicles to take part. The Invitation class was split into various sub classes, which included Hypercars, Estate cars, EV cars and SUV. Some of the vehicles were just doing demonstration runs, while others were competing.

The star attraction for the event was the single Hypercar, the mighty £2.5 million Aston Martin Vulcan, driven by Peter Dumbreck, who did several demonstration runs over the weekend. The sound of the 7 litre V12 engine echoed round the hillside as the car was driven very briskly up the hill, and it left the longest ever strips of rubber away from the start line. The only Estate car entered was a Volkswagen Golf R driven by Simon During who managed a time of 35.65 seconds, while the SUV class had the Worlds fastest, most

© Janet Wright

July 2017

Ford Focus Electric

Bentley Bentayga

© Simon Wright

Land Rover Discovery Si6

Page 56

© Simon Wright

Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV

powerful, most luxurious and most exclusive SUV, the Bentley Bentayga entered by Bentley Motors and driven by Vicky Parrott. This luxury SUV is powered by a 6 litre W12 twin turbocharged engine which develops 600 bhp and can go from 0-60 mph in just 4 seconds and has a top speed of 187 mph. Vicky drove the large vehicle with great accuracy and set the first ever ladies hill record for an SUV with a time of 35.53 seconds, eighty years after Bentley last held the ladies record at the Hill Climb course, set in 1927 by Miss May Cunliffe in a 3 litre Bentley. It was pitted against the 3 litre Supercharged Land Rover Discovery Si6 driven by Darren Gumley to a time of 41.88 seconds. The EV class for Electric and Hybrid cars had an interesting selection with Renault well represented with an electric Renault ZOE Dynamique ZE 40 entered by Renault for Steve Cropley and Sam Sheehan from Autocar magazine and between them set a time of 48.63

© Simon Wright

Renault ZOE Dynamique ZE

© Janet Wright

July 2017

Renault Twizzy

© Simon Wright

Tesla Model S P85

Page 57

Š Simon Wright

Aston Martin Vulcan sounded tremendous on it’s demo runs up the hill.

seconds. They also had the Renault Twizzy electric car entered and driven by Matthew Collett as a demonstration car. The Ford Motor Company responded with a Ford Focus Electric driven by current leader of the British Hill Climb Championship Trevor Willis, while the last all electric car was the Tesla Model S P85 + entered by Phil Davies as a demonstration run only. The final vehicle in this class was the hybrid Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, entered by Mitsubishi Motors for Simon Clark who recorded a time of 44.78 seconds. It was the Ford Focus Electric that won the EV class with Trevor Willis recording a 45.29 second run. He was pleasantly surprised by the performance of the vehicle and really wanted to take it home with him at the end of the meeting.

July 2017

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Silverstone 500 British GT Championship 10th-11th June 2017

By David Goose & Stuart Yates - Motorsport Imagery

Š Motorsport-imagery

July 2017

Liam Griffin & Sam Tordoff Lamborghini Huracan

Page 59

© Motorsport-imagery

GT4 Winners Adam Balon & Adam Mackay Track-Club McLaren 570S

With the season approaching halfway, it was the turn of Silverstone to host the now famous Silverstone 500 three hour race. After the scorching sun on race day at Snetterton we were again blessed with fine weather for the weekend.

In qualifying it was Macmillan AMR's James Littlejohn and Jack Mitchell claiming pole position by the smallest of margins, only 0.092s ahead of Team Parker Racing's Rick Parfitt Jnr and Seb Morris. Duncan Cameron and Matt Griffin in the Spirit of Race Ferrari 488 take third place alongside Barwell Motorsports Jon Minshaw and Phil Keen to complete the second row.

TF Sport Aston Martins were both struggling and ended up further down the Anna Walewska getting focused on the grid July 2017

© Motorsport-imagery

grid than usual, Derek Johnston and Jonny Adam in seventh, and Mark Farmer and John Barnes ninth.

Past a deserted Wing early in the race The GT4 grid would be led by championship leaders, HHC Motorsports Will Tregurtha and Stuart Middleton ahead of Black Bull Garage 59ís Sandy Mitchell and Ciaran Haggerty.

On to race day, and after the Supercar Parade it was down to action. As the lights went green it was Rick Parfitt Jnr who got the jump on Jack Mitchell and had taken the lead as they turned into Copse, the lead soon going up to five seconds. Further back things were changing after Duncan Cameron made a poor start dropping back to seventh. A poor weekend got even worse for TF Sports Derek Johnston who had a halfspin at the Loop then a power steering fault made his and Jonny Adams Aston virtually undrivable.

At the 40 minute mark Team Parker Racing opted for the first pitstop and in came Parfitt Jnr to hand over to Seb Morris, this was 20 minutes ahead of the © Motorsport-imagery Macmillan AMR driver change, Morris had Page 60

by now increased his lead to 29 seconds as James Littlejohn got behind the wheel. © Motorsport-imagery

The Team Parker Racing Bentley Continental GT3 of Rick Parfitt Jnr and Seb Morris

With this being the only three hour race of the season different strategies would come into play. The early driver change by Team Parker Racing paid off and Parfitt Jnr and Morris never really looked in trouble. Their second Bentley crashed out in the final hour with Ian Loggie at the wheel, his team mate Callum Macleod © Motorsport-imagery still managed Sunoco Fastest Driver of the Weekend Award with a new GT3 lap record.

Rick Tim Eakin & Kelvin Fletcher UltraTek Racing

July 2017

© Motorsport-imagery

Parfitt Jnr had a brief scare when his Bentley made contact with the Aston Martin of Mark Farmer resulting in Farmer spinning at Stowe. This was deemed a racing incident The Macmillan AMR Aston Martin Vantage of with no further action taken.

William Phillips & Jan Jonck In the end it was a convincing win for Rick Parfitt Jnr and Seb Morris with a winning margin of 1:03.650s from James Littlejohn and Jack Mitchell in second and Duncan Cameron and Matt Griffin third. This means Jon Minshaw and © Motorsport-imagery Phil Keen still lead the championship but by only 4 points ahead of Morris and Parfitt Jnr. In the GT4 championship, leaders HHC Team ABBA with Rollcentre Racing Richard Neary / Martin Short / Motorsport's Adam Christodoulou Mercedes AMG GT3 Stuart Middleton and Will Tregurth had a torrid race being forced to withdraw very early on with a broken driveshaft. By the time the race got into it's second hour things were hotting up with UltraTek/RJNís Nissan dropping back and then suffering a puncture, Jan Jonck maintained Macmillan AMRs Page 61

© Motorsport-imagery

An excellent third place for Duncan Cameron & Matt Griffin

lead by a small margin over Adam Mackey. At the second round of stops Balon emerged ahead of Moore, Phillips and Hoggarth.

This was a lead which Track-Club would not lose with Adam Mackey doing the final stint and taking the flag 2.8s ahead of the Academy Motorsport Aston Martin of Will Moore & Matt NicollJones. This now means Alex Reed and David Pittard lead the championship by 3.5 points from Adam Balon and Adam Mackey. © Motorsport-imagery

© Motorsport-imagery

Rick Parfitt Jnr and Seb Morris show off the days Silverware

British F3 Championship.

In Race one Toby Sowery took his first win of the 2017 season starting on pole he made the most of the clear track ahead while the two Carlin drivers Enaam Ahmed and James Pull took second and third. Race two and Toby Sowery could only manage a second place with James Pull again in the third spot, it was Ben Hingeley who took the win, his second of the season, going

© Motorsport-imagery

One off return for Adrian Barwick & Bradley Ellis in the Optimum Motorsport Ginetta G55 GT4

July 2017

Ben Hingeley Race two winner

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© Motorsport-imagery

© Motorsport-imagery

Max Bladon race two winner.

James Pull two third, and a second place in the three races

into the lead from fourth on the grid at the start. Completing a near perfect weekend Toby Sowery took his second win of the meeting, again ahead of theCarlin drivers James Pull in second and Enaam Ahmed third. After receiving the trophy Sowery said "It's almost a perfect weekend; I couldnít have asked any more from the team, I’ve been really happy with how it has gone.

James and Enaam kept up for the first few laps and we managed to slowly eke a gap, but it wasn’t easy out there."

Mini Challenge JCW. Brett Smith took a lights to flag win in race one giving him three consecutive victories this year. It also extends his championship points lead. Second place went to Rob Smith who tried his hardest to get past Brett all race, third went to Mark Wakefield.

Max Bladon took victory number two of the season in race two, with Rob Smith and Mark Wakefield again in second and third. © Motorsport-imagery

© Motorsport-imagery

Toby Sowery two wins and a second, not a bad weekends

July 2017

Mark Wakefield two third place finishes

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Archive Photo of the month.

By Pete Austin.

Š Pete Austin

The central theme of this years 'Festival of Speed' at Goodwood will celebrate the contribution Bernie Ecclestone has made to motorsport. He is shown here in conversation with Jackie Stewart during the 1974 British Grand Prix meeting at Brands Hatch.

July 2017

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Formula Vintage Oulton Park Saturday 10th June 2017.

By Simon & Janet Wright

Š Janet Wright

Edward Williams Frazer Nash Super Sports in the Bill Phillips Trophy race

July 2017

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David Lewis Alvis Firebird/Speed 25 leadingSteven Smith in the Hotchkiss AM80 in Race 0 Scratch race for pre-war cars

The weather forecast for Oulton Park was rain all day for the second round of the VSCC Formula Vintage race series.

However, upon arrival at the Cheshire circuit it was dry but overcast and remained that way for most of morning practice.

Due to a cancellation of one of the invited supporting series, an additional scratch race was added to the programme before lunch, a 20 © Janet Wright minute scratch race for prewar cars. This was officially race zero and saw Justin Maeers take the first win of the day in the GN Parker. He had a comfortable Tom Walker Amilcar Hispano Special leading the first race

© Simon Wright

lead at the end of the seven lap race, winning by just over 28 seconds from Tom Walker in the Amilcar Hispano Special. In 3rd place was Class A winner Christian Pedersen in his Austin 7 Special. The other award winners were Edward Williams in a Frazer Nash Super Sports who finished 4th, winning Class B and the handicap. The final © Simon Wright award winner was Ian Fyfe who won Class C in his Alvis 12/70 Special.

After lunch, the first race was the Oulton Park trophy for special pre-war sports cars and saw a three way fight for the lead.

Dougal Cawley in GN/Ford Piglet held the other two at bay to win the Oulton Park Trophy, Class D and be the first vintage car home. In 2nd place was Andrew Mitchell only 1.28 seconds Dougal Cawley GN/Ford Piglet won race 1

July 2017

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behind in his HRG 1 1/2 Litre, winning class B while 3rd place went to Mark Giles in the Aston Martin Monoposto. The other © Janet Wright award winners were Tom Waterfield in 7th driving a GN Special to 2nd in Vintage Tom Waterfield GN Special and 16th placed Ian Fyfe who was 1st on handicap in his Alvis 12/70 Special.

Next up was the first of the invited series races with the first race of the day for the Pirelli Ferrari Formula Classic Series.

There was an accident where the No 12 Ferrari of Evers hit the barrier head on at Island. This was at the start of the race and the safety car was deployed to control the field, but it failed to pick up the first three cars. After the crashed Ferrari had been recovered, the race was released from the safety car and after

© Simon Wright eight laps Gary Culver was declared the winner in his Ferrari 328 GTB, also winning Group 4. Peter Fisk was 2nd in his Ferrari 550 Maranello, winning Group 6 and Chris Butler was 3rd in Evers damaged Ferrari is recovered another Ferrari 328 GTB, winning Group 3. The other two class winners were 4th placed Christopher Goddard in a Ferrari 308, winner of Group 2 and 13th placed William Moorwood in a Ferrari 308 GT4 winner of Group 1. © Simon Wright

© Janet Wright

Chris Butler Ferrari 328 GTB leads a group through Cascades

The Moulden/Kearney Ferrari F355 Challenge car in the first race

July 2017

The Standard & Modified pre war Sports cars came out next and saw a very close battle for the win with victory, the Bill Philips Trophy, first vintage and Class B going to Andrew Mitchell in his HRG 1 1/2 litre by just 0.63 of a second from Edward Williams in a Frazer Nash Super Sports. Tim Kellers Page 67

© Simon Wright

for Keith Ahlers in his Morgan Plus 8 from Elliot Paterson in a Morgan ARV6 just 0.63 of a second behind. © Simon Wright

Miss Anne Boursot MG PA heads down towards Lodge corner Bill Phillips Trophy race

was best of the rest in 3rd place in a Riley TT Sprite. In 6th place and first standard car was Trevor Swete in an Invicta S Type, while John Everett was the winner on handicap in 16th © Simon Wright place in an Austin 7 Ulster Sport. The other two class winners were Mark Butterworth in a Lagonda V12 winning class E and Ian Standing in a Riley Brooklands who was first in Class A. The next invited series was the AR Motorsport Morgan Challenge, which saw another very close finish with victory Christopher Mann Alfa Romeo RL Targa Florio

July 2017

Craig Hamilton Smith Morgan Plus 4 Babydoll

We were now half way through the afternoon and the forecasted rain decided to arrive at the circuit. To start with it © Janet Wright was just fine drizzle which made the track slightly damp for the Boulogne trophy for Vintage Race Cars to take to the circuit. Tom Walker got his revenge for the first race of the day when he won this race in his Amilcar Hispano Special, beating Justin Maeers in Tony Lees AC/GN Cognac leads Charles Gillett Frazer Nash Super Sports Page 68

© Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

Dougal Cawley GN/Ford Piglet

the GN Parker in to 2nd place, over five seconds behind. Mark Walker who was as spectacular as ever in the ever sideways GN Thunderbug was 1st on handicap in 6th place overall, while the other two class winners were 4th placed Charles Gillett in his Frazer Nash Super Sports and Nick Hayward-Cook in his © Simon Wright

Tom Walker Amilcar Hispano Special

July 2017

Riley 9 Monoposto who was 8th overall.

We then had the main featured race, the Hawthorn Memorial & Spanish Trophies race and it was raining.

Mark Gillies showed considerable skill to win the race in his ERA R3A to claim the Hawthorn Spanish Trophy ahead of 2nd placed Charles Gillett in a Cooper T43. The Sideways Frederick Harper in the Kurtis Indy-Roadster chasing Charles Gillett Cooper T43 winner of the Hawthorn Memorial Trophy was 3rd placed Frederick Harper in the Kurtis Indy-Roadster. The winner on handicap was Nick Taylor who was 4th overall in the Elva 100 Formula Junior car, while Julian Grimwade in the Frazer Nash Single Seat was the first un© Simon Wright supercharged pre war to finish in 5th place.

By the time the Ferraris got out for their second race it was raining heavily and there was Mark Gillies ERA R3A winner Hawthorn Spanish Trophy

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race for pre war cars which saw Simon King drive a masterful race to win in a Morgan 4/4 Le Mans. Alan Harpley was 2nd in an Avon/Alvis Special and Robert Moore was 3rd in an Austin 7.

Always popular, the Formula 3 500 cars were in trouble from the start when the Petty spun off at Deers leap at the start and just gently kissed the barrier with the rear of the car. Even in the rain, the cars and drivers provided a great spectacle for the fans

© Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

Richard Moseley Ferrari 328 GTB at speed in the rain

plenty of spray around. Gary Culver took his second win of the day in his Ferrari 328 GTB. Chris Butler improved on his third place in race one to come 2nd overall © Simon Wright and win Group 3 again. Peter Fisk in a Ferrari 550 Maranello made it a double class win for him in 4th place, with Goddard and Moorwood also winning their respective classes again.

The heavy rain continued for Carl Burgar Ferrari 328 GTB on a the Handicap very wet track

July 2017

Charles Reynolds Kieft CK 53 F3 500

with Richard de la Roche in a Cooper Mk5 winning by just 0.41 of a second from Mike Fowler in another Cooper Mk 5. Darrell Woods was 3rd in a Cooper Mk12.

The rain had eased by the time of the last race of the day, a Scratch race for pre war cars. Mark Gillies took his second win © Janet Wright of the day in ERA R3A, over 45 seconds ahead of Justin Maeers GN Parker in 2nd and winning his class. Tony Seber was 3rd in his Wolseley Hornet Special, also winning his class. The final class winner was Mark Elder who finished 8th in his Austin Sports Special. The winner on Handicap was David Daniels in a Riley Grebe replica.

Douglas Martin Hillegass Sprint car leads Mark Elder Austin Sports Special

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© Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

Robert Moore Austin 7 All Comers Pre War scratch race © Janet Wright

Tristan Simpson Ferrari F355 Challenge leads a pack through Cascades © Janet Wright

© Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

John Briggs Aston Martin Ulster Tony Lees AC/GN Cognac

© Janet Wright

© Simon Wright

Edward Williams Frazer Nash Super Sports

July 2017

F3 500 Petty of Jim May spun off in the wet conditions

F3 500 podium

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Richard Gatley finished 2nd in his Frazer Nash BMW 319 Type 45 Saloon

Stephen Kay Austin 7 Ruby

© Janet Wright

AutoSolo.

Behind the main paddock, in the secondary paddock area there was another AutoSolo event run for people who wanted to enjoy some competition without having to enter a race. The AutoSolo is an auto test where cars compete round a course marked by traffic cones. There were over twenty entries for the event, road going pre-war touring and sports cars, that were ready to tackle the driving test challenge. It was the nimble Austin 7 Ulster of Jon Fleming that took victory ahead of the Frazer Nash BMW saloon of Richard Gatley. Nicolas Williams was the winner of the long wheelbase class in his Morris Sports Tourer.

© Janet Wright

© Simon Wright

Colin Bromley in his Standard 9 LWB Tourer

July 2017

© Simon Wright

Nicolas Williams Morris Sports Tourer won the Long Wheelbase class

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There was a large area of the infield car park given over to car clubs to display their vehicles and there was also the long standing Cheshire Life Concours for VSCC members to enter.

There were several interesting cars on display and the winner was Brian Green with his 1934 Lagonda M45.

© Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

The winning Lagonda M45 of Brian Green

1945 Star 12/25 Sports of John Warburton

1938 Darracq Talbot Lago of Paul Wilson

July 2017

© Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

1914 TT Humber of William Wrather

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Drive it Day 2017, Vauxhall meet , Webbs garden Centre. 23rd April 2017

By Simon Wright.

© Simon Wright

July 2017

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© Simon Wright

Drive it day has become a national institution now with events springing up all over the country. Some events have grown in to large, national gatherings of like minded motorists who wish to celebrate their classic cars, while others are much lower key, but still reflect the desire to share the owners passion of their motoring heritage. This event took place at Webbs Garden centre, © Simon Wright between Bromsgrove and Droitwich, not far from the M5 motorway. It was a low key meeting originally set up for Vauuxhall owners, though a few other owners joined in July 2017

and were welcomed. The aim of Drive it Day was that owners of classic cars should bring them out on to the road on the day to share their treasured classic car, built before 1990.

A group of Vauxhall owners met together on the overflow car park for the garden centre, away from the normal Sunday shoppers, but within sight of the entrance. Although only a few owners had turned up, the cars on display were in excellent condition and reflected Vauxhall history from the 1950s through to the turn of the millennium.

The star vehicle was a 1968 Brabham Viva SL. Jack Brabham took the standard Viva 90 and modified the engine with twin C.D. Stromberg carburettors with separate air filters, raised 9:1 compression ratio, new inlet manifold and a twin branch exhaust manifold with a Brabham straight through big bore exhaust system, with a single silencer and chromed tail pipe. He added power-assisted front disc brakes and gave it a wide track with low profile tyres. To © Simon Wright make it stand out, they added racy contrasting white stripe across the bonnet and along the sides of the vehicle, with the name Brabham on the front wing and on the boot at the rear. For the princely sum of £37 10 shillings, the standard Viva could be converted to the Brabham Viva with 79 hp, 10 hp more than the standard Viva SL. The Vauxhall Brabham had a top speed of 90 mph and a 0-60 mph time of 14 seconds. This is one of only nine known left in existence.

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© Simon Wright

The oldest car was a 1959 Vauxhall Victor F Series 2 Deluxe, in excellent condition, the two tone paintwork, in green and yellow, showed no visible sign of rusting. As was typical of cars of that period, there was plenty of chrome work on and around the front grill, front and rear bumpers and detailing side stripe down the side of the vehicle, splitting the two different colours of the bodywork. The F series Victor was originally launched in 1957 and when production ceased in 1961 390,745 had been produced. The car was powered by a 1507cc 4 cylinder OHV engine, fitted with a single Zenith carburettor, producing 55 bhp.

It was fitted to a three speed gearbox which had synchromesh on all forward gears and operated by a column mounted gear change. The front suspension was independent coil spring with an anti-roll bar fitted, while the rear suspension was a live rear axle and semi elliptic leaf springs. The steering was of the recirculating ball type, and drum brakes were fitted all round.

July 2017

Parked next to the Victor was a 1959 Vauxhall Cresta, again with a two tone colour scheme, this time being blue with a white roof. This was the larger model of the two fitted with a 2262 cc engine. The Cresta model was originally introduced in 1954 and was build until 1972, having various major updates in between.

The car on display was a Cresta PA which was introduced in 1957 and was built to 1962 during which 81,841 were built. This was Vauxhalls attempt to mimic the American cars of the period, with plenty of chrome and large rear tail fins. It was loosely based on the 1957 Buick Special. Vauxhall only ever built the Cresta PA as a 4 door saloon, though some were converted to estate cars by Friary of Basingstoke. The inline 6 cylinder 2262 cc engine fitted with a single Zenith carburettor produced 82.5 bhp and gave a top speed of 89.8 mph with a 0-60 mph time of 16.8 seconds. It returned around 25 mpg fuel consumption. It was fitted with independent coil spring front suspension fitted with an anti-roll bar, while the rear suspension was a rigid axle and semi-elliptic leaf springs, drum brakes all round. © Simon Wright

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© Simon Wright

Moving forward in time, there were a nice pair of Vauxhall Victor FB series, a white Deluxe saloon from 1963 and a grey estate car also from 1963. The FB series ran from 1961 to 1964 during which 328,640 were produced in either 4 door saloon or 5 door estate versions. They were both fitted with the 1508cc straight 4 OHV engine and the option of the new 4 speed all synchromesh gearbox with floor mounted gear change. The engine produced 49.5 bhp and gave a top speed of around 76 mph with a 0-60 mph time of 22.6 seconds. © Simon Wright

July 2017

Continuing our journey through the Vauxhall time line, the next model was the classic Vauxhall Viva HC. Again there were a couple on show, the saloon from 1972 in a bright yellow finish and a green estate version from 1977.

The saloon was fitted with the 1256 cc 4 cylinder engine, while the newer estate was powered by the 1759cc © Simon Wright slant 4 cylinder engine. The Viva HC model was built between 1970 and 1979.

Next up was a grey blue 1987 Vauxhall Nova 1.3 GL 4 door saloon.

This was General Motors © Simon Wright first attempt to build a super mini to take on the Ford Fiesta in the market place and it was launched in Europe as the Opel Corsa. It’s one advantage over the Fiesta was that as well as the hatchback, there was also this saloon version, though the saloon never sold as well as the hatchback version.

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The newest Vauxhall to arrive was a 2004 Vauxhall Zafira, showing how the popular vehicle has changed over the fifty year period. This 2 litre diesel powered family vehicle shows how we have evolved from the normal saloon car of he 1950s through to MPV (Multi Purpose Vehicle) and SUV vehicles of today as the popular forms of transport. The Zafira first appeared in 1999 and is still in current production.

The other stand out vehicles were a pair of Bedford Dormobile

© Simon Wright

Moving slightly further forward and definitely up market, there was a white 1989 Vauxhall Senator 3.0 i. This was the luxury 4 door saloon of the Vauxhall Opel range. This was a Senator B which were built between 1987 and 1993 and powered by a 2968cc straight 6 engine. The 24 valve 3 litre engine was introduced in 1989 and produced 201 hp and had a top speed of 149 mph and a 0-62 mph time of 7.8 seconds.

© Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

July 2017

campervans. Bedford is the commercial side of the Vauxhall General Motors operation and the Dormobile was a con version of the basic Bedford CA van to convert it to an early motor caravan for people to take touring holidays without a separate caravan. The more modern version was a 1963 model in pale green while the other was only slightly older, built in 1961. They both had sliding front doors. a legacy of the commercial van they were originally based on and a pair of opening rear doors.

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© Simon Wright

Although this meet had been arranged by the Vauxhall owners, there were another couple of vehicles that made an appearance, a nice red 1968 Sunbeam Alpine sports car and a white 1980 1275cc Austin Allegro.

© Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

July 2017

Vauxhall Cresta PA front lights

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CSCC Silverstone Spectacular Race Meeting.

Silverstone, 27th-28th May 2017.

By Simon & Janet Wright.

Š Janet Wright

Paul Samuels MGB GT V8 finished 11th in the first Special Saloon & Modsports race

July 2017

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© Simon Wright

Seven S3. Richard Plant was 3rd in his class winning Morgan Plus 8, but he was reprimanded and given 2 penalty points for driving in a manner incompatible with general safety under MSA regulation C1.1.5. The final class winner was last placed Rassmuson and Navon in their Jaguar E-Type, 5 laps behind the winner. This was followed by the Swinging Sixtes Group 1 which saw Tim Cairns win in his Austin Healey Frogeye Sprite from Richard Belcher in his Ford Lotus Cortina, who also won his class. The other class winners were Paul Wybrow in his © Janet Wright

Tin Tops with the Enduro Series for Ford cars heads down the Hanger straight

For their first visit of the year to Silverstone, The Classic Sports Car Club (CSCC) staged their Silverstone Spectacular round the 1.85 mile International (Southern) circuit, out of the Wing Pits.

The two day meeting had a total of thirteen races for all the usual Categories, © Simon Wright including Special Saloons and Modsports.

Saturday saw six races starting with Swinging Sixties Group 2 and a win for Mark Campbell in his Triumph TR5 well ahead of class winning John Muirhead in a Lotus Super

Whelen/Farrell Porsche 911 993 RSR Modern classic passes Nicholas Jackson Ford Puma Nextec Puma Cup

MGB Roadster in 16th and 18th placed Glenn Canning in an NSU TTS. The CSCC Advantage Motorsport Future Classics were next with another 40 minute race. At the end it was Bill Lancashire in his TVR Tuscan who was over 11 seconds clear of 2nd place and class winners A & T Blake in their Porsche 911 RSR. The other class winners included Miles Masarati in a Porsche 911

Ian Hall Darrian Wildcat T98 GTR in the Special Saloon and Modsports race

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© Janet Wright Sprint and finally Peter Bower in another MG B Roadster.

This was followed by the first 20 minute race for Jaguar Saloons and GT Tom Lenthall Jaguar XJS leads a bunch in the Jaguar race championship Having dropped to the back of the field, the Leigh/Marcussen BMW M3 Evo cut through traffic to 7th of the weekend. Colin Philpott took a narrow victory from Turbo in 7th, 11th placed David Bryant in a Toyota MR2, the Rodney Frost, both driving Jaguar XJS 4 litre sports cars and Bullock and Hanson Porsche 944 S2 in 12th followed by Mark both winning their class. Adam Powerham was 3rd in a class Luck in a Ford Escort RS2000 Mk1 and finally 26th placed Philip winning Jaguar XJR, and the final class winner was 13th placed Danby in a Toyota Corolla.

Lawrence Ball in another Jaguar XJS. CSCC Mintex Class K had a one hour race that saw the Lotus The final race of the day was a 15 minute blast for the CSCC Elan S2 of Halstead and McPherson almost a complete lap ahead Meteor Suspension Open Series. This saw an easy win for of 2nd placed Rice and Conoley in their Marcos 1800 GT. The Jonathan Pittard driving a Caterham Superlight R. He finished class winning Jaguar E-Type of M & K Grey was 3rd overall. The over 14 seconds ahead of class winning Connaire Finn in a © Simon Wright other class winners were Ginetta G50 Cup. The other Edwards and Lyddall in a Ford class winners included 8th Falcon in 6th, Chambers and placed Matthew Chamberlain Loader in an MG B Roadster in in a Lotus Elise, Tony Blake in 10th, 12th placed Thompson 9th in a Porsche 911 RSR, and Wolfe in a TVR Grantura Andrew Greenwood who was Mk III, Snowdon and Longdon 11th in a Caterham in their 16th placed Austin Mini Supersport, Stephen Riley in Cooper S, Steve Chapman in his 17th placed MK Indy R the 17th placed Triumph TR4 and finally in 22nd Charanjiv SLR, Steven Byrne in 20th Khera in a Mini Cooper S. driving a Alfa Romeo Giulila Sunday was a bright sunny © Simon Wright

July 2017

Philpott won both Jaguar saloon & GT races in his XJS

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day, with more qualifying in the morning and a further seven races after lunch. First off the blocks was the second race of the weekend for the Jaguar Saloon and GT Championship with another twenty minute race. This provided another close win for Colin Philpott, less than half a second from Patrick Doyle in another XJS with Frost 3rd this time. All three won their respective classes. The final class winner in this race was Simon Blunt in 13th overall in yet another XJS.

© Simon Wright

© Janet Wright

Battle for 2nd in the Special Saloon & Modsport first race, between Sibley Lotus Elan Modsport, Parker Morris Peugeot 309 GTi and Stapleton Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV6

Hexagon Midget.

The first of the forty minute races was the CSCC Modern Classics with Nextec Puma Cup. This race had a large entry with seven Ford Puma cars added running for the Next Puma Cup. The main race was won by Stuart Daburn in his TVR Tuscan Challenge car, almost thirty seconds ahead of Michael Russell in a BMW E36 M3 Evo. Drive of the meeting should probably go to the Leigh/Marcussen BMW M3 Evo E36 which Special saloon & Modsport double winner Chris Southcott in the MG Modsport started on pole position and © Simon Wright after problems was last but This was followed by the first of two fifteen minute CSCC one at the end of the first lap.

Special Saloon and Modsports races. For many fans , these The recovery drive through the were the stars of the show, with a variety of highly modified field was impressive, finally saloons and sports cars. It was the Peugeot 309 GTi of Parkerfinishing in 7th. Nicholas Morris and Morris that started from pole position but from the Olson was a class winning 3rd start it was the black and green MG Midget of Chris Southcott in his different wedge shaped that took the lead and maintained it till the chequered flag. The Peugeot initially fell behind the swift Darrian Wildcat T98 GTR of Lotus Esprit S3 only just Ian Hall but that retired on lap 2 and Ricky Parker-Morris too 2nd behind 2nd placed Russell. A & J Broad also won their class in the 309 over 11 seconds behind the Midget at the end. They both won their respective classes, as did 3rd placed Paul Sibley in 4th place in their Porsche in his Lotus Elan. The other two class winners were James Plant Boxster S. The other class winners were13th placed Matt in 5th in the Allard J2 and 7th placed Tim Cairns in his MG Nicholas Olsan Lotus Esprit S3

July 2017

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© Janet Wright

James Clare and Nicholas Jackson fight for 3rd in Nextec Puma Cup, positions reversed at flag

Nossiter in a BMW E36 328i and 16th placed Woodman/ Hemsworth Lotus Elise S1. The winner of the Nextec Puma Cup class was Hamish Brandon who was in 19th place overall.

The CSCC Gold Arts Magnificent Sevens were out for their forty minute race, which saw Gary Bate take the win in his Caterham CSR. Richard Carter was 2nd in his Caterham R300, winning his class. Only six cars were on the same lap at the end of the © Janet Wright

3rd Christian Pittard Caterham CSR Magnificent Sevens

July 2017

© Simon Wright

race. There were eight other class winners in this race, including 8th placed Justin Armstrong in his Caterham 7, 9th placed Carl Nairn Caterham 420R, 10th placed Hugh Coulter Caterham C400, 15th placed Storey/Tidy in their Caterham Blackbird, 16th placed E & N Powell in their Caterham Supersport, 19th placed Alex Harbour 6th Challis Porsche 997 New Millenium Caterham Supersport, 20th Michael Moss in a Westfield SE/w and finally 21st Martin Dolan in a Caterham Academy.

The CSCC RSV Graphics New Millennium was a BMW benefit with Colin Wells in a BMW M3 E46 beat Piers Reid in a similar car by over thirteen seconds. Connaire Finn was 3rd and got a © Simon Wright 5 second penalty for exceeding track limits in the Ginetta G50 cup car but still won the class The other class winners were Peter Challis in a Porsche 997 in Dennis Hays Ford Mondeo ST New Millenium class winner

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© Simon Wright

6th, Simon Hands in a Lotus Exige S1 in 14th, Keith Issatt in a Mini Cooper S in 16th, Dennis Hays in a Ford Mondeo ST in 18th and last placed Robert Hosier in a Seat Leon in 19th. © Simon Wright

Richard Siffleet spun his Lancia 037 recreation at club in the Special saloon race, here passed by Bob Claxton Skoda 110R Coupe

This was followed by the second of the two Special Saloon and Modsport races which saw another Southcott victory in his MG Midget, this time just over 3 seconds ahead of class winning Danny Morris in the Peugeot 309 GTi. Ian Stapleton took 3rd place in his black Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV6, pushing class winner Paul Sibley in his Lotus Elan back to 4th overall. Plant took another class win in 5th in the Allard J2 and Cairns completed the class winners again in 8th in the MG Hexagon Midget. © Simon Wright

Earle/Holding Peugeot 206 GTi 180 dives inside Max Livens Honda Civic Type R Tin Tops

William Hardy in a Vauxhall Corsa Sri, Tom Mensley in a Renault Clio 172 and Andrew Windmill in a Honda Civic Type R, all winning their respective classes. The winner of the Enduro Series for Ford Cars was Paul Mensley in a Ford Fiesta ST who was 7th overall. He would have been 3rd overall but had received a stop/Go penalty for unsafe release from his pit stop and then got a further 60 second penalty and 3 points on his license for failing to comply with the black flag. © Janet Wright

Class winner James Plant Allard J2 Special Saloon & Modsport race

To finish the days racing, there was a final forty minute race for the CSCC Tin Tops with the Enduro Series for Ford cars race.

This was won by Martin Addison in a Peugeot 106 GTi ahead of July 2017

Ainge/Cassar Honda Integra Type R failed to complete a lap in the Tin Tops race.

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BENTLEYS DOMINATE IN ENDURANCE RALLY ASSOCIATION’S INAUGURAL BALTIC CLASSIC RALLY. Text supplied by Andrea Seed Poppyseed Media Ltd. Photos by Gerard Brown / ERA

© Gerard Brown/ERA

Nicholas & Barbara Phillips 1928 Ford Model A

July 2017

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© Gerard Brown/ERA

Dougie & Kate Lawson 1936 Lagonda LG4s

The vintage Bentleys dominated the Endurance Rally Association’s inaugural Baltic Classic Rally taking the three top spots in the Vintageants category. Peking to Paris European Cup winners Bill Cleyndert and Jacqui Norman added to their trophy cabinet, which also includes win of the 2015 Road to Mandalay, after holding their lead from the Copenhagen start to the Berlin finish in the 1925 Bentley 3-4½.

Bill recounted that for him, driving the WRC stages was a real thrill but the entire route was fantastic.

Jacqui added: “It’s been a fabulous rally with some really tough July 2017

navigation to keep us on our toes.

I thought that we'd blown it in the airfield regularity and was very relieved to see that © Gerard Brown/ERA everyone Rene Declercq and Eric Claeys (B) 1972 Datsun 240Z else had as well!”

They were followed by Graham and Marina Goodwin in the 1925 Super Sports in second place after a tough battle with Lars and Annette Rolner who had to settle for third place, with just 00:12 between them.

Starting from Copenhagen’s Clarion Hotel on 28 May, the 14-day rally journeyed through Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland before finishing in Berlin on Saturday 10 June, covering over 4,200 kilometres.

In the Classics category, it was the 1972 Datsun 240Z of Belgium’s Rene Declercq and Eric Claeys who claimed the victory, just 00:39 ahead of Gavin and Diana Henderson’s 1965 Porsche 911. Third place went to David © Gerard Brown/ERA and Jo Roberts in the 1968

Mike & Lorna Harrison 1963 Volvo PV544 Sport

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© Gerard Brown/ERA

© Gerard Brown/ERA

Anton Gonnissen / Inge Willemen, 1929 Bentley Speed 8 Triumph TR250.

Rene said: “Along with winning, the best thing about being on the rally was meeting old friends and making new ones. We will come back next time to defend the victory - in an even faster car.”

A special ‘Spirit of the Rally’ award was presented to the well © Gerard Brown/ERA

Jim Grayson / Simon Spinks, 1969 Ford Escort

July 2017

Andrew / Ann Boland, 1934 Talbot AV105

liked and well travelled crew of Charles and Nellie Bishop with their Vauxhall 30/98.

ERA Rally Director Fred Gallagher said: “What a fantastic two weeks of rallying. We have been lucky to use some of the same terrain as the Rally greats as well as enjoying amazing scenery and great company. The Baltic Classic has been a great success and is sure to become a regular fixture in the ERA calendar.” © Gerard Brown/ERA The next event on the ERA calendar is another brand new rally, the Blue Train Challenge.

Held from 18-22 September, the Blue Train recaptures that nostalgic age of travel with an Ludovic Bois / Julia Colman, 1969 Volvo Amazon

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© Gerard Brown/ERA

Jayne / Paul Wignall, 1965 Sunbeam Tiger

exciting five-day journey of discovery. The event starts from Deauville and finishes in Cannes, with entries still available.

Visit www.endurorally.com for more information.

Class Winners: 1. Vintageants – Pre 1932 type cars Winner: Andrew / Ann Boland, 1934 Talbot AV105 Second: Clint / Dawn Smith, 1929 Bentley Speed 8 Third: Mark Winkelman / Victor Silveira de Conceicao, 1932 Plymouth PB3 Coupe 2. Vintageants – 1932 to 1948 type cars Winner: Anton Gonnissen / Inge Willemen, 1929 Bentley Speed 8

Second: James Gately / Tony Brooks, 1937 Cadillac Convertible Sedan Third: Arthur / Anna Manners, 1933 Lagonda M45 3. Classics – all 1949 to 1961 type cars and 1962 to 1969 type cars up to 2200cc Winner: Jim Grayson / Simon Spinks, 1969 Ford Escort Second: Jesse Smaal / Jack Boers, 1956 Studebaker Power Hawk Third: Marco Rollinger / Marianne Hengesch, 1957 Lancia Aurelia 4. Classics – cars of Swedish origin Winner: Ludovic Bois / Julia Colman, 1969 Volvo Amazon Second: Claudine Bloom / Andrew Twort, 1965 Volvo Amazon 122 Third: Tim / Matt Wheatley, 1966 Volvo 122S 5. Classics – 1962 to 1969 type cars over 2200cc and all Porsche 911 under 2000cc Winner: Jayne / Paul Wignall, 1965 Sunbeam Tiger Second: Philip Prettejohn / Christopher Strakosch, 1968 MGC GT Third: Hans Geist / Herbert Pinzolits, 1969 Mercedes Benz 280 SE

© Gerard Brown/ERA

© Gerard Brown/ERA

Steve / Julie Robertson, 1974 MGB GT V8

July 2017

Spirit of the Rally award winneres Charles and Nellie Bishop with their Vauxhall 30/98

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© Gerard Brown/ERA

© Gerard Brown/ERA

David & Susan Danglard (USA) 1973 Porsche 911

6. Classics – 1970 to 1975 type cars Winner: Steve / Julie Robertson, 1974 MGB GT V8 Second: Rachel Vestey / Owen Turner, 1972 Austin Mini Third: Graham Briggs / Julian Pitts, 1978 Mercedes Benz 280S

John & Nicole Whitelock 1939 Ford Coupe in a ditch © Gerard Brown/ERA

© Gerard Brown/ERA

Barry nash and Malcolm Lister 1969 Rover P5B

July 2017

Jesse Smaal and Jack Boers (NL) 1956 Studebaker Power Hawk

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