FOUNDATION CORNER

Graham & Marina Goodwin continued their fine season with more success as BDC crews flew the Bentley flag both at home and abroad, reports Review. Photos: Courtesy of Gerard Brown/Rally the Globe and Will Broadhead/Blue Passion

Graham & Marina Goodwin cracked open the champagne after winning the Vintage class, and finishing fourth overall, in their 1929 4½ Litre Le Mans on the Highland Thistle rally (left).

Also competing in the Vintage class were fellow Club Members Carl-Peter and Carl-Ferdinand Forster (1926 3/4½ Litre), who

Classic Endurance

rallying SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2021

John & Daisy Pyle’s 4½ Litre carefully negotiates a narrow cliffside lane during the Highland Thistle rally

came home 24th overall, and John & Daisy Pyle (1928 4½ Litre), who were classified 28th overall within the 35-crew field.

Organised by Rally the Globe (RtG), of which Graham is a founder, the five-day event covered more than 1,125 miles of challenging but scenic minor roads across the Scottish Highlands, and included around 10 regularities and tests along the way.

The rally started and finished at St Andrews, and visited the Cairngorms (the UK’s largest national park), Tay Bridge, Oban, The Quiraing, Skeabost and Achnagairn.

Meanwhile, Graham & Marina, this time at the wheel of a 1927 3/4½ Litre Corsica, were again the toast of the BDC field when they finished 13th overall, fourth in the Vintage class, on the Carrera Italia rally.

Just behind were Clint & Dawn Smith (1925 3/4½ Litre), who finished 14th (fifth in class), following 10 days and 2,400km of competitive motoring which included regularities and tests. Hugh & Lesley Apthorp (1931 4½ Litre Blower) were classified 33rd (eighth in class) of the 38 finishers after suffering frustrating oil-related issues.

Also organised by RtG, the event started and finished in Sanremo, and took in testing mountain roads and lakeland areas along with race tracks, such as the Circuito Tazio Nuvolari. Crews passed through beautifully scenic areas such as Lake Como, the Dolomites, the Ligurian Sea and the Adriatic coast, with a little Tuscany and San Marino thrown in for good measure.

Elsewhere, Andy Buchan, partnered by Roy Buchan, determinedly upheld Bentley honour on the Scottish Malts rally with a sterling performance.

The duo’s 1928 4½ Litre Le Mans was the oldest entry in the 58-car field, which also included a 1976 Corniche. Andy and Roy were classified 40th overall, and ninth in the pre-1958 class, of the 49 finishers.

Organised by HERO-ERA, the rally saw crews tackle 930 miles of challenging yet scenic Scottish roads, with tests and regularities thrown in, across five days.

The rally started from and finished at Dalmahoy Hotel near Edinburgh, and visited Pitlochry, Inverness, Aberdeen and Crieff.

Ben Collings’ 3/4½ Litre Vanden Plas defied a treacherous surface to be the first Bentley driver home in the Revival’s Brooklands Trophy race

Goodwood

SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER 2021

Ben Collings and Clive Morley were the stand-out Bentley runners at Goodwood’s Revival and Members’ Meeting, as Review reports. Photos: Courtesy of Stuart Adams (Revival and Members’ Meeting), Peter de Rousset-Hall and Matt Welch (Revival)

Ben Collings earned the sportscars built from 1924 to the bragging rights for driving start of World War II in 1939. the highest placed Bentley in Ben shared his car with Duncan the Brooklands Trophy race Pittaway – who also drove the raceat this year’s Revival meeting which winning Frazer Nash – after original took place from 17-19 September. team-mate Rowan Atkinson, the

Goodwood regular Ben overcame legendary comedian and actor, had a late change of car and rain-hit pulled out. conditions to bring home his 1925 “Rowan had tested my 1926 3/4½ Litre Vanden Plas in 13th 4½ Litre Park Ward Saloon quite place in the two-driver event for extensively and was very keen to race a saloon,” explained Ben, “but when the car suffered problems, forcing me to make a late switch to the 3/4½ Litre, he opted not to take part.”

Rounding out the top 20 in his trusty 1929 4½ Litre Blower was Martin Overington, who won the Brooklands Trophy two years ago. Martin shared with Guy Stevens in the half-hour encounter.

Four Vintage Bentleys made up the impressive 28-car field, which featured rock god and keen historic racer Brian Johnson who finished 15th (with William Medcalf) in a 1929 4½ Litre.

Several other BDC Members also competed, in a variety of marques, including Martin Hunt, who finished third in a Frazer Nash; Gregor Fisken, sixth in a Vauxhall 30-98 Brooklands Special; Richard Frankel (MG K3 Magnette); Jonathan Turner (Triumph Dolomite 8C SS); Nigel Batchelor (Talbot AV105) and Graham Goodwin (Delahaye 135 CS).

Meanwhile, Clive Morley – the 2020 BDC Racing Driver of the Year – finished a fighting seventh in the Earl Howe Trophy race at the 78th Members’ Meeting on 16-17 October.

Clive, at the wheel of his 3/4½ Litre, also enjoyed the distinction of being first driver home for the Aubigny House, cars representing one of four houses in the 11-lap encounter for two-seater Grand Prix and Voiturette cars that raced prior to 1932.

Following his Revival outing, Martin Overington returned in his usual Blower and was classified 17th in the 28-car field; he was also sixth in Darnley House.

Club Members in other races:

Salvadori Cup: 9th – Gregor Fisken (HWM-Jaguar), 14th – Ben Eastick (Jaguar D-Type); Moss Trophy: 5th – Fisken (Jaguar E-Type).

GT racing

Paddock Motorsport’s Continental GT3 leads the field in round seven of the British GT series at Oulton Park

A challenging season, punctuated with occasional high spots, has drawn to a close for the Continental GT3 teams competing in the UK and Europe, as Review reports. Images: Courtesy of individual championships

Aflying Kelvin Fletcher scored his and Paddock Motorsport’s maiden

British GT Championship

pole position in round seven at Oulton Park.

Actor Fletcher, the 2019 Strictly Come Dancing champion, blasted round the challenging Cheshire track to grab P1 by more than 0.3 seconds – the only car to top an average lap speed of 101mph.

Unfortunately, despite the promise of a maiden victory, the wheels of the Continental GT3 he shared with Martin Plowman metaphorically fell off in the one-hour race. This was mainly due to a 30-seconds post-race penalty imposed for multiple tracklimit indiscretions which relegated the Pro-Am duo to a disappointing ninth place.

Plowman qualified an encouraging sixth for round eight – the second race of the meeting’s double-header – but a troubled run saw Paddock eventually classified 22nd, four laps adrift, in the 60-minute encounter.

New boys Tolman Motorsport celebrated a successful debut with its Continental GT3 in the series finale at Donington when the team scored a podium finish in the Silver-Am class.

Despite a lack of pre-race testing with their new car and being hampered during the wet two-hour race with tyre-pressure issues, Jordan Witt and Ian Stinton finished a promising 11th overall – boding well for next season.

Paddock, meanwhile, came home 10th overall – ensuring it finished ninth in the teams standings, with Fletcher and Plowman 11th in the drivers championship.

Highlights of a challenging season for Paddock were second place in the fifth round at Snetterton – the team’s maiden podium – and pole position at Oulton Park.

GT World Challenge Europe – Sprint Cup

CMR’s Nelson Panciatici and Stéphane Richelmi scored their best result of the season, eighth place, in the opening race of the fifth and final round at Valencia in Spain.

The sister CMR Continental GT3 of Ulysse De Pauw and Pierre Alexandre Jean led the team home in the second race in 15th place. De Pauw/Jean were forced out of race one after a collision with another car while Panciatici/Richelmi retired from race two early on.

CMR – the sole Bentley outfit – was classified sixth overall in the final standings.

Tolman Motorsport earned a Silver-Am podium on its debut with the Conti GT3 in the British GT series finale at Donington

CMR’s Nelson Panciatici/Stéphane Richelmi scored their best GTWCE Sprint Cup result of the season at Valencia

GT World Challenge Europe – Endurance Cup

A tough race for the CMR trio of Stephane Tribaudini, Stuart White and Pierre Alexandre Jean in the fourth round of the series – a threehour encounter at the Nurburgring in Germany. The Continental GT3 crossed the line in 28th position overall, 11th in the Silver Cup class.

And the season-ending three-hour race at Barcelona fared little better with the trio classified 32nd overall, 12th in class.

CMR – the only Bentley team competing in the Endurance Cup – finished the season placed 13th in Silver Cup, with the team’s undoubted highlight being its maiden Super-Pole qualifying appearance at the blue-riband Spa 24 Hours.