COMPS
MGLIVE! SILVERSTONE REPORT The sun shone brightly for most of MGLive! By Martin Price
T
he annual pilgrimage to Silverstone was again a superb three-day affair, with all manner of attractions for young and old alike. Indeed the weather was very kind for all but the last couple of races on Sunday and for the very first time we were racing on the historic Grand Prix circuit. This meant that for the opening and final quarters of each lap it was business as usual, as they left the startline and headed through Copse, Maggotts and Becketts. However, instead of taking the tight right down to Abbey, the drivers headed to Chapel Curve, down the incredibly fast Hanger Straight, right through Stowe, then onto Vale, Club and back up the Farm Straight to Abbey. After this point, they would find the familiar Bridge, Priory, Brooklands and Luffield complex, before crossing the finish line to begin another tour. Friday saw untimed testing and this gave drivers the opportunity to not only make sure their cars were well, but also to familiarise themselves with the longer course and by the time that qualifying began on Saturday morning, most were quite excited by the challenge. As has become the norm, there were a couple of races before lunch and the first of these was a combined affair which included both the Drayton Manor Park MG Metro Cup competitors and also Classes A + B of the Lancaster Insurance MG Owners’ Club Championship. No fewer than 42 cars took to the grid and the two championships proved to be very evenly matched and produced some outstanding racing. Pole position was snatched by reigning champion, Andrew Ashton, driving his Class C Metro GTi, with Mike Williams only 0.3sec slower. Row two found Simon White alongside the fastest MGOC driver, Will Sharpe. As the lights went out, it was Mike Williams who made the best get away, leading the
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pack through Copse and up to Becketts. Andrew Ashton and Simon White were in close contention, less than a second splitting the leading trio as they began lap 2. Jim Baynam was going well in fourth spot, keeping Sharpe and Dunkley behind him. On lap 2, Williams was forced to retire with ignition problems and White took the lead; this started a brilliant battle between himself and Ashton. Next time round, Ashton made a slick passing manoeuvre to regain the lead, which he would hold until lap 6, when White squeezed past again, but the battle was not over. These two scrapped all the way to the flag, often side by side and never more than tenths of a second apart. A very relieved White slipped over the line just half a second ahead to secure victory. Sharpe grabbed a well-deserved third place overall and won the Lancaster Insurance battle. One of the best fought scraps was between the MGB of Jim Baynam and the Metro of Tony Howe; these two crossed the line with just 0.011sec between them, a truly great dice. There was also a super fight for the Class B Metro honours, as Lee McNamara
and Tom Sanderson exchanged blows for the Class title; finally 0.4sec split them at the flag, in McNamara’s favour. There was amazingly close racing throughout the field and this was a great way to kick off the meeting. Race 2 brought some fantastic machinery to the grid for the MG Car Club Historic British Sportscar event. Divided into five Classes, we saw outstanding examples of Aston Martin, Austin Healey and MG, as well as a group of very interesting GT and sports cars. Qualifying had seen the superb Marcos GT of Chris Conoley and Allen Tice quickest by nearly a second, sharing the front row with the beautiful Austin Healey 3000 of David Grace; Bruce Montgomery, driving another big Healey was on the second row, alongside the MGB of James Cottingham. From the start, the race was dominated by the Conoley/Tice Marcos; Montgomery and Grace tried valiantly, but could do nothing about the leading car’s pace, as it was gaining over a second a lap from its nearest rival. This was a pit stop race and some drivers began pitting early. However, the leading group stayed out and
www.mgcc.co.uk
25/06/2010 16:52