MG Live, Silverstone GP

MG Live

Silverstone GP Circuit, 12/13 June 2021

Equipe Pre 63/50s (Equipe/FISCAR combined)

Preamble

The origins of this joint race with Equipe Classic actually goes back over 2 years when FISCAR thought it had agreement with MGCC, albeit verbal only, to race at that year’s MG Live event only to get a late call advising us that this was not the case. However, discussions with John Pearson and Rob Cull of Equipe led us to announce that we would run a joint 50s race at that very meeting. Unfortunately, as we all know, Silverstone decided to resurface the track for that year’s Grand Prix which immediately led to the loss of a number of meetings, one of which was MG Live.

During 2018/2019, I had actually had informal discussions with a number of clubs about race collaborations and although the goodwill was there, reaching any positive outcomes proved elusive! We have seen the way 50s sports car racing has gone in recent years, the limited pool of 1950s cars being spread thinly through various grids, often resulting in some very hit or miss mixed grids of which on the odd occasion even FISCAR became involved. It was not a success from our point of view as we have always attempted to adhere to the original basic principles and regulations that we outlined back in 2011 when FISCAR was formed. Of course, an element of pragmatism has to be entertained if grids are to remain viable and various clubs including ours have had to adapt. I believe FISCAR has achieved this without sacrificing basic principles. This is not the place for a full blown history of how 50s sports car racing has evolved, but I can say that Equipe’s regulations are more closely aligned to ours than those of most clubs. In fact, the only real difference that I have noted appears to be that they allow certain models with later engines (eg MGAs with MGB engines) and the later 1950s lightweight sports racing cars up to Coventry Climax FWB size whereas we restrict the latter to just the smallest version, the FWA. Provided FISCAR continue to enjoy our own traditional races (at VSCC, BDC and Castle Combe), there is absolutely no reason why we should not also be involved in races with Equipe, if, of course, they are are prepared to offer us those opportunities. The slight misalignment in cars allowed can easily be addressed by creation of appropriate extra classes and it simply allows FISCAR the opportunity to contribute to some different races and also addresses the fact that some drivers want more than one race in a weekend, and new challenges. In fact, I believe these are two of the reasons why a few of our former members moved to Equipe and it’s entirely understandable. It’s therefore more than a stretch to suggest that this approach presages a ‘take over’ and frankly, although a few members started expressing their concerns about this recently, it is not clear how such a rumour arose.

Now, back to this particular event. It had been agreed that two grids would make up this field, the Pre 63 cars starting ahead of the 1950s cars. A starting interval between 10 - 20 seconds had been envisaged. Since this was a 30 minute non stop race and was on the GP circuit, the likelihood of a lot of lapping of slower cars was minimised. However this track allows up to 58 cars and it became clear that the total number of entries received would not approach this figure. About a week before the event, John Pearson rang me to say that we had, if I recall correctly, about 26 cars entered across the two grids and I agreed that it made perfect sense to merge them. In the end, we actually managed to increase entries to 34 cars for the Saturday race but maintained the decision to keep the grid together. It worked very well, particularly since the 1950s cars represented about 75% of the grid and a number of them had qualified in the top 10! Incidentally, it is appropriate to record the fact, that as promised, all paid up members of FISCAR who entered as such, had their registration fee with Equipe returned which I regard as a fine gesture of goodwill. A few, of course, race with both clubs so for the purposes of this race report I will, for the most part, simply refer to 50s racers or Pre 63 racers by name.

Qualifying - Race 1

34 cars went out mid morning on Saturday with temperatures already high but all cars managed to set qualifying times, mostly without drama. A couple of transponders were noted by the timing officials to be poorly sited and Stuart Dean’s wonderful Dick Jacobs Special, a car I have long had a soft spot for, was in some trouble as water was being blown out under pressure, a known issue that Stuart had hoped he had addressed. As a result, he qualified last with a very hot engine and wasn’t sure he would make it onto the race grid.

At the front, it was inevitable that a number of the Pre 63 cars occupied the top places, but perhaps not as many as might have been anticipated. Mark Holme topped the timing charts in his very quick Austin Healey 3000 Mk2 and he looked odds on favourite to win the race since his time of 2.38.635, was over 3 seconds quicker than 2nd place Nigel Winchester’s superb Shelby Cobra MK 1. This early original Cobra has the 260 cubic inch (4.2 litre) engine unlike most of the Cobras you will see on track which have the ubiquitous 289 (4.7 litre) and was a joy to behold; it looked good and sounded good. Even though he has 3 compliant 1950s car in his collection, we could easily forgive Nigel wanting to give this car an opportunity to blast around Silverstone’s GP circuit. Just behind, 3rd on the grid was Roberto Giordanelli in his Jaguar E type. Roberto used to own the historic Dean Van Lines Lister ‘Knobbly’ Chevrolet in which he competed on a number of occasions in the Archie Scott Brown Trophy race (see race reports on this site) without ever quite managing to take what would have been a well deserved victory.

The first of the 1950s cars was the Austin Healey 100/4 of Nick Harris, in a superb 4th place in a time of 2.43.253, and ahead of Jonathan Smare’s Austin Healey 3000. Some of you may recall that Jonathan used to race with us in a Lotus Elite but decided he wanted more power. His Austin Healey is interesting in that it started life as a 100/6 produced in 1957 but now fitted with the later 3000 unit. Completing the third row, and competitive as ever, was Jonathan Abecassis in his left hooker Austin Healey 100/4. Next up was Tom Andrews in the second of the E types and alongside him, only 4 thousandths behind was Paul Kennelly in his Austin Healey 100M. The top 10 was rounded out by Brian Arculus in his Lotus Elite in a 2.46.1, with Nick Matthews alongside in his Austin Healey 100/4 in a 2.46..613, but from his racing days with FISCAR, I rather expected Nick to be quicker in the race. So, 5 of the top 10 cars were 1950s cars - 4 Austin Healey 100s and one Lotus Elite.

Another I expected to be pushing harder in the race was Robin Ellis in his Lotus Elite which was complete with a ‘just married’ sticker (congrats to him and Eudy), which also adorned his beautiful Shapecraft Elan, entered in the other races. He qualified 11th in 2.46.743 but he would surely be getting amongst those cars just in front of him. On his day, he is a really press on driver. Alongside him was Rick Willmott’s Jaguar XK150S. 13th on the grid was the Pre 63 entry of Jonnie Kent in the, I’m told, one off Fletcher Ogle GT, as if the Ogle SX 1000 wasn’t rare enough, and arguably the smallest car on the grid. Alongside him on the 7th row was Ben Low in the first of the 3 Turner Mk2s entered. Robi Bernberg, who I know better from racing his Cooper T39 Bobtail (currently in bits!) qualified 15th. Occupying the next 3 places were 3 MGAs, the first of which was driven by one of our hosts, John Pearson (the other, Rob Cull, also has an MGA but was this weekend running his TVR Grantura in both Equipe GTS and Equipe Libre) followed by Richard Lawson and Mark Ellis in his Twin Cam version. Noel Leonard was 19th in the next Turner Mk2, sharing row 10 with Alex Quattlebaum in his LECo XPAG, followed by Jim Campbell on a 2.55.922, just a tenth behind Alex. In fact, times all the way down the field suggested some great dicing would be the order of the day. Behind Jim, was the third of the Turners, in the hands of Jamie Mason. David Cottingham was next up, in what was, surprisingly, the only AC Ace in the race although it did have one of its offspring on the front row! Two more Austin Healeys came next, Nicholas English in 100/4 and Rob Pinchbeck in his 100M Replica. In 26th was the glamourous Alfa Romeo Disco Volante of Chris Mann (see photo above in Preamble), just ahead of Martin Stowe’s MGA and Peter Blanchett’s RGS Atalanta. FISCAR members may remember Chris Guest racing his RGS Atalanta fitted with an Aston Martin DB2 engine, quite regularly. These are rare cars, about a dozen built and were fitted with a number of different power units. Peter’s version has an MGA engine and was completely new to me, not surprising, since he rescued this car about 4 years ago as several boxes of parts, and only relatively recently managed to put it all together after much toil and expense. Absolutely fantastic that special cars like these still emerge and get into the hands of enthusiasts prepared to get them running and back on track.

The last 6 places on the grid were filled out by the ever enthusiastic Alan House in the Morgan +4, George Edney in his Lester MG (great to see George and the Lester out again), Glenn Tollett in his lovely MGA Sebring Coupe (now up engined to a ‘B’ after the original 1600 ‘had been re-bored within a millimetre of its life and had to be scrapped’), Nick Brayshaw’s MGA, Chris Wilks MGA Twin Cam and, as mentioned above, Stuart Dean’s MG DJS Coupe.

Pre63/50s Race 1

This was the first of two races that we were involved in over the weekend;  a non stop 30 minute blast around the GP circuit and surely one to relish although heat was to become an issue for some cars with marginal cooling. This was a really interesting grid, and whilst, in an ideal world, it could have been larger for the GP circuit, 34 cars is plenty. As John Pearson said, at any other circuit, including the Brands GP circuit, we would have regarded this as a superb grid and that is absolutely true. It provided a great spectacle of 50s and early 60s cars, and indeed, we actually had spectators at this event albeit in limited numbers and confined, I understand, to a couple of stands and the outside of Luffield? They were in for a treat as this race provided not only a wonderful variety of classic cars but some great racing both at the front and throughout the field.

On pole, I fully expected Mark Holme to take control of the race with his practice lap times suggesting an edge over Nigel Winchester in the Shelby Cobra and Roberto Giordanelli in the E type but behind I envisaged some fine close racing between the quickest of the 1950s cars and the second tier of the pre 63s. The latter certainly occurred but Nigel had not read the script and jumped the Cobra ahead of the Austin Healey off the line whilst Roberto getting up to speed in the heavier E type held a watching brief. This was to become a truly epic race at the front.

Behind the first 3, who started to move clear of the pack quite rapidly, and already 3 seconds ahead at the end of lap 1, there was much jockeying for position. Jonathan Abecassis had a great start and made up 2 places to cross the line for the first time, in 4th place, just ahead of Nick Harris, both in Austin Healey 100/4s, ahead of the Austin Healey 3000 of Jonathan Smare, Robin Ellis (Lotus Elite), Tom Andrews (Jaguar E type), Nick Matthews (Austin Healey 100/4) , Paul Kennelly (Austin Healey 100M) and Brian Arculus (Lotus Elite) in 11th. Another gap of just over 3 seconds had opened up behind Brian with Rick Willmott’s Jaguar XK150S leading a whole gaggle of cars making up the 3rd group including Mark Ellis who had made great progress up the order to 13th from his 18th grid starting position in his MGA Twin Cam. Robi Bernberg had his 100M in 14th, so there were 7 Austin Healeys in the top 14 with a couple more further back. Behind Robi was John Pearson in his MGA, closely followed by the little Fletcher Ogle GT of Jonnie Kent, Ben Low’s Turner Mk2 , Alex Quattlebaum’s little LECo XPAG, Richard Lawson’s MGA and Jamie Mason’s Turner Mk2 completing the top 20. There was to be quite a bit of place swapping in this group and it was not to end there since Jim Campbell had his Austin Healey 100/4 just a tenth behind Jamie and pretty much alongside as they crossed the line for the first time!  

Two seconds back from Jim was David Cottingham in his gorgeous AC Ace Bristol but he was well clear of the man next up, Peter Blanchett in the RGS Atalanta in 23rd, another to have improved his grid position by 5 places on the first lap. Martin Stowe’ s MGA followed with Christopher Mann’s Alfa Romeo Disco Volante less than a second behind, Chris being closely tailed by George Edney’s Lester MG. A couple of seconds further back Nick Brayshaw and Stuart Dean came through in close order in MGA and DJS Coupe respectively, Stuart having made up 3 places from his last place starting position. The final 3 places were taken by Glenn Tollett, who’d had a poor start in his MGA Sebring Coupe, Alan House (Morgan +4)  and Nicholas English who had dropped right back from his 24th starting position, but barring mechanical mishap would surely start to make up ground. 52 seconds had elapsed since the leaders had gone through with the Cobra holding off a very determined Mark Holme challenging, and we had almost a couple of minutes to take in what we had just seen before the leaders came through again!         

Since it has been commented upon, I should at this point state that although there was no mention of FISCAR in the MGCC race programme, the commentators were fully aware of our contribution to this grid so someone had briefed them and it wasn’t me! Whilst we waited for the cars to reappear, we were, of course, listening to their commentary,  and they were already getting excited about the race for the lead as Nigel Winchester fought to keep the Shelby Cobra ahead but was under severe pressure from poleman, Mark Holme in the Austin Healey. The Cobra had the edge on the straights but under braking and through the corners the Austin Healey was better and it was surely only a matter of time before it snatched the lead. Just a couple of seconds behind was Roberto Giordanelli in the Jaguar E type grappling to keep in touch in the event of a mistake from the leaders. As the three swept over the line to complete lap 2, they were now on their own with over 5 seconds separating them from the chasing group, led by Jonathan Abecassis and Nick Harris, the two Austin Healey 100/4s split by less than two tenths and they had both eased away, somewhat surprisingly, from Jonathan Smare’s Austin Healey 3000, by as much as 3.5 seconds but this may be accounted for by the fact that Jonathan had his mirrors full of the Lotus Elite of Robin Ellis who was pushing hard. Behind, Nick Matthews had displaced the E type of Tom Andrews for 8th, but otherwise the top 11 places remained unaltered, the last of these being Brian Arculus, the Lotus Elite dropping away a little from those ahead but pulling well clear of the next pursuers. It was to be Brian’s fate for the rest of the race, stuck in no-man’s land, not able to focus on a target ahead but way too quick for the rest of the field and therefore to have anyone to race with. He was to more than make up for it on Sunday!

After his superb start, Mark Ellis was not able to retain his 12th place in the MGA Twin Cam and he was passed by cars that were simply a bit quicker - Robi Bernberg (Austin Healey 100M), John Pearson (MGA) and Jonnie Kent in the Fletcher Ogle GT. Alex Quattlebaum had dropped a couple of places to 20th, losing out to Richard Lawson’s MGA and Jamie Mason’s Turner Mk2. The LECo goes very well but the XPAG engine wasn’t exactly state of the art even in the 1950s, so I imagine gets a bit breathless on the longer straights of the GP circuit. Jim Campbell now had his Austin Healey 100/4 firmly on the tail of the LECo and they were about to embark on a great dice which was to last for most of the race. Behind Jim, the cars were still sorting themselves out and a number of places had changed hands with some very close racing. David Cottingham’s AC Ace had lost a place to Noel Leonard’s Turner Mk2 which had also passed Peter Blanchett’s RGS Atalanta. Further back, Glenn Tollett had moved his MGA ahead of Stuart Dean’s DJS and backmarker, Nicholas English in his Austin Healey 100, had gathered pace and was homing in on the back of Alan House’s Morgan +4.

As the leaders crossed the line for the third time, the Cobra had almost a whole second on the Austin Healey! It was to be the biggest recorded gap between the two cars for the whole race and it was not really representative as it was usually much closer around most parts of the lap. On the other hand, the E type had clawed back a few tenths so that the gap between 1st and 3rd was under 2 seconds, as Roberto Giordanelli continued to try to get on terms with the 2 leaders. These 3 were now completely in a race of their own, 9.5 seconds clear of their nearest pursuers, the pair of Austin Healeys of Nick Harris and Jonathan Abecassis, which had swapped positions, Nick now assuming the lead of the 1950s cars. The gap back to Jonathan Smare had not really grown any further but he still had his hands full of Robin Ellis’s Lotus Elite and the pair were now 5 seconds to the good over next man, Paul Kennelly, who had taken his Austin Healey 100M passed Nick Matthews, also Austin Healey mounted. The Tom Andrews E type was only 3 tenths behind Nick and although Brian Arculus had put in a lap quicker than the cars immediately ahead he was still not sufficiently close to get involved and over the course of the race the gap grew. He also now had a massive 13 second gap behind him back to Rick Willmott’s Jaguar XK150S in 12th place. As a result, Rick was probably more intent on what was going on behind him than ahead, as the unlikely combination of John Pearson’s MGA and Jonnie Kent’s Fletcher Ogle GT were starting to home in on the Jaguar. Both had passed Robin Bernberg’s Austin Healey 100M during the course of the lap but behind, the status quo was pretty much maintained apart from the sad departure of the Peter Blanchett RGS Atalanta which had clutch failure. So everyone thereafter moved up a place, although Stuart Dean then headed to the pits at the end of the lap as the Dick Jacobs Special had a repeat of its practice problems  –  water spraying out under pressure leading to overheating.  Let’s hope that Stuart gets this issue sorted so that we see this unique and pretty car out again soon.          

The leaders continued to draw away from their pursuers at around 2 seconds a lap, Nigel Winchester soaking up a huge amount of pressure from Mark Holme, still with Roberto Giordanelli holding on but not quite getting up to them. Behind these leaders, Nick Harris was having a great drive, confirming his qualifying pace and once passed Jonathan Abecassis, he started to pull away, and both were stretching away from the three close running cars dicing for 6th place - the Austin Healey 100M, Austin Healey 3000 and Lotus Elite of Paul Kennelly, Jonathan Smare and Robin Ellis respectively with Nick Matthews also very much in touch in his Austin Healey 100/4. There were only a few changes of places during this middle part of the race, but it belied the closeness of some of the racing. Rick Willmott, John Pearson and Jonnie Kent were immersed in battle and clearly having great fun in their disparate trio of cars -  Jaguar XK, MGA and Fletcher Ogle GT, whilst Ben Low, in his Turner, had scrambled his way passed Mark Ellis in the MGA Twin Cam and Richard Lawson was clawing them both in, in his MGA. Jim Campbell’s Austin Healeyn 100/4 came through ahead of Alex Quattlebaum’s LECo2 at the end of lap 5 and Nicholas English had finally made his way passed Alan House’s Morgan +4, so it was fair to say that there was plenty of close action from first to last. As the leaders fired onto lap 6, they were finally closing in on the tail order cars to lap them. Still only 2 seconds covered this leading trio as the Cobra, Austin Healey 3000 and Jaguar E type continued to provide a superb racing spectacle for those few spectators privileged to see it, and they were also much entertained by all the battling going on behind. Rob Pinchbeck obviously had a ‘moment’ during the course of this lap as his Austin Healey appeared many seconds behind George Edney’s Lester MG, a car that he had been well ahead of at the end of lap 5.          

As the lead cars came through at the end of lap 7, having lapped 5 cars, Mark Holme had his Austin Healey right on the tail of Nigel Winchester’s Cobra; it was the closest he had been at this particular point of the circuit so far, as it was usually on the straights that Nigel was able to pull a few lengths clear. Furthermore, Roberto Giordanelli had finally got his E type up to them and into contention since just 3 quarters of a second covered all 3 cars. Just over 11 seconds behind this leading group, Nick Harris was absolutely flying in his Austin Healey 100/4 and in a very strong 4th place,  10 seconds clear of Jonathan Abecassis in his similar model.  Jonathan Smare was now 7.5 seconds behind Abecassis, his later A-H 3000 seeming at a pace disadvantage to it’s older siblings, but like Brian Arculus, Jonathan made amends in Sunday’s race. Paul Kennelly and Robin Ellis were still together in 7th and 8th respectively with almost a 4 second gap back to the E type of Tom Andrews who was still being shadowed by Nick Matthews rounding out the top 10 in his Austin Healey 100/4.

In a now very lonely 11th was Brian Arculus in his Lotus Elite, since Rick Willmott was 15 seconds behind in the Jaguar XK150S. Rick however, still had his hands full of Jonnie Kent and John Pearson who had swapped places in their attempts to displace the big Jaguar.  Robi Bernberg was on his own in 15th, his A-H 100M well clear of Jamie Mason’s Turner Mk2  who was running just ahead of a great 4 car MGA /Turner battle between Richard Lawson’s MGA, Mark Ellis’s MGA Twin Cam, Ben Low’s Turner Mk2 and Noel Leonard’s Turner Mk2. Alex Quattlebaum had again got ahead of Jim Campbell in their excellent dice , and they were able to enjoy it without fear of being caught, other than by the race leaders, as the next position was held by David Cottingham in the AC Ace, over 40 seconds behind. David, however, was not alone as Martin Stowe had hauled his MGA up to the back of the Ace and the final unlapped cars in 25th and 26th respectively were Christopher Mann’ Alfa Romeo Disco Volante and Nick Brayshaw’s  MGA.

During the 8th lap Roberto Giordanelli was close enough to have a go at the leaders as they headed into Brooklands. He went up the inside of Mark Holme and got almost alongside Nigel Winchester but locked up in a cloud of smoke and couldn’t make it stick. The E type had a propensity for running on in the corners, not able to turn in as well as the Cobra and Austin Healey, the weight/tyre combination pulling the car wide as Roberto battled to keep it on track and in contention,  so as they completed lap 8 the status quo was restored, 1.3 seconds covering this superb battle. Mark Holme was still determined to win this race and had got alongside and even ahead on a few occasions but was unable to prevent the Cobra blasting back to the front on the straights, Nigel Winchester equally determined to take the chequered flag first.  Lapping was now truly underway but presented no problem on this big track. Positions down the order changed little, although some gaps got larger and some smaller. It was noted that Paul Kennelly had closed on Jonathan Smare, the 100M only 6 tenths behind the 3000 at the line. Further back, Noel Leonard had passed the Ellis MGA to even out their inter-marque battle. Jim Campbell had repassed Alex Quattlebaum, and they were now the last of the unlapped runners in 21st and 22nd.

The lead battle went on unabated for the remaining 3 laps, the three cars locked together, separated by never  much more than a second and they were pretty much line astern as they entered lap 11, the last lap. Despite Nigel Holme’s and Roberto Giordanelli’s racelong best efforts, the order was unchanged as the flag fell after what had been a titanic race. Nigel Winchester’s defence of the lead in the Shelby Cobra had been pretty impressive as had the relentless attack of Mark Holme in the Austin Healey 3000, and Roberto Giordanelli ‘s sheer persistent and determined effort in hauling the recalcitrant Jaguar E type up to the back of this pair was no less praiseworthy and in doing so, he had actually posted the fastest race lap of all. Nigel had managed to go almost 2 seconds quicker than his qualifying time which was just enough to negate the inherent natural pace of the Holme Austin Healey which, without a clear track ahead, never got closer than 1.5 seconds to his own pole time.  This had been proper racing and a real joy to watch. It was unfortunate that Roberto, who had finished only one second behind the winner, was penalised 5 seconds for exceeding track limits, although he easily retained his 3rd place.

Whilst the 3 leaders had the race, and therefore, the Pre 63 part, sewn up, and, unsurprisingly, clear of the pursuers by over half a minute, the 1950s cars had really got among the other pre 63 cars to good effect. The quickest, and in what should have been a very secure 4th place, was Nick Harris’s Austin Healey 100/4. He had entered the last lap no less than 17 seconds ahead of the Jonathan Abecassis left hand drive example but was cruelly robbed of the place when the car started to splutter, short on fuel, and he trickled into the pits, handing the position to Jonathan. What I don’t quite understand is the fact that the official timings have Nick completing 11 laps and cutting the beam in the pits in a time which would have placed him 5th, yet he is recorded as a DNF and unplaced! A fine drive unrewarded.

Behind Jonathan Abecassis, who, these days, is always quick and usually in the action at the front of any 50s race, Paul Kennelly in his Austin Healey 100M crossed the line 5th,  12 seconds behind Jonathan. Sixth overall and 4th in the pre 63s, was Jonathan Smare in his Austin Healey 3000, just 2 seconds down on Paul and 2 seconds ahead of the Jaguar E type of Tom Andrews.  Not quite able to able to stay on the tail of the E type, Robin Ellis finished just 8 seconds behind in his Lotus Elite after 30 minutes of flat out racing. In the process, he had staved off Nick Matthews in his Austin Healey 100/4. Brian Arculus was 10th in his Lotus Elite, making it 5 cars from the 1950s section of the race in the top 10.

Rick Willmott finished 11th, having fended off both Jonnie Kent’s Fletcher Ogle GT (12th) and John Pearson’s MGA (13th) for most of the race. They had provided another fine racing spectacle, circulating together, and in fact the Fletcher Ogle was just 3 tenths behind at the flag, the power of the Jaguar no doubt counting where it mattered. Robi Bernburg appeared to have had a pretty quiet race to 15th whilst less than 3 seconds covered Jamie Mason’s Turner Mk2 (16th), Richard Lawson’s MGA (17th) and Noel Leonard’s Turner Mk2 (18th). Mark Ellis had dropped away just a little in this 4 car battle but took a clear 19th place in his MGA Twin Cam.  Ben Low in the third of the Turner Mk 2s had a couple of slow laps before pitting at the end of lap 10 to retire. Jim Campbell had overcome Alex Quattlebaum partly due to the fact that on lap 9, Alex had outbraked himself at one point in the LECo, allowing Jim a clear run to the flag. Alex tells me that he felt lucky to complete the race, in 20th, as the battery had not been charging during the race.

David Cottingham managed to stay just clear of Martin Stowe. They finished 21st and 22nd in AC Ace Bristol and MGA respectively. Chris Mann brought the exotic Alfa Romeo home 23rd, just one second clear of Nick Brayshaw’s chasing MGA. Rob Pinchbeck’s Austin Healey 100M Replica, and Nicholas English’s 100 were 25th and 26th, the latter chased home by George Edney in the Lester MG, a mere 8 tenths behind. The final 3, taking the official finishers up to 30 were Chris Wilks (MGA), Alan House (Morgan +4) and Glenn Tollett (MGA) whose position did not reflect the pace of the car. Glenn reports that ‘ I got bogged down at the start. Then a misfire, but managed to retrieve a few places but on the penultimate lap, the misfire worsened and running up at 212 degrees, parked up at Vale for a short while to let the traffic through and then limped home’ .

All told, some great racing and only 11 cars were lapped and then only once, everyone finishing on either 10 or 11 laps. We were looking forward to more of the same on Sunday.

Race 1 Gallery

(All taken by JT from the BRDC stands so apologies for the singular lack of different photo angles!)

 Qualifying - Race 2                                           

The field for Race 2 qualifying was reduced from that of Saturday’s through a combination of attrition resulting from retirements from Race 1 and those who had only entered the Saturday race. Among those that went home on Saturday evening were Alex Quattlebaum who flew home to the US and Chris Mann who had jumped in his Alfa Romeo Disco Volante and drove it home!  On the other hand, a few extra entrants turned up on Sunday, namely, Marc Gordon (Lotus Elite), Graham Love (Jaguar XK150), Tristan Bradfield (Sunbeam Alpine Le Mans) and Jack Willmott with the lovely little WSM Sprite. These additions were not sufficient to balance the loss from the previous days race but certainly provided very welcome new blood to the grid. Three cars had new drivers in them, Sam Binfield was in for Roberto Giordanelli in the E type, Adrian King took over from David Cottingham in the latter’s AC Ace Bristol and Rory Tollett was in for his Dad, Glenn, in the MGA Sebring Coupe. The points to the latter had been adjusted by Richard Woolmer, and seemed rather fitter for its second race of the weekend.

All told, 26 cars went out for practice on Sunday. Pole was again taken by Mark Holme in his Austin Healey 3000 with Nigel Winchester alongside in the Shelby Cobra Mk1, so their previous day’s battle seemed likely to be repeated. Third in qualifying was again the E- Type Jaguar, Sam Binfield not quite able to match Roberto Giordanelli’s time from the previous day, but more than enough to secure the position on the grid, 2.5 seconds ahead of Jonathan Smare in his Austin Healey 3000 alongside. Row 3 was to be occupied by a pair of Lotus Elites, in the hands of Brian Arculus and Marc Gordon which promised a great battle as their times were very close. Just a fraction behind was Jonathan Abecassis, the previous day’s 1950s victor in his Austin Healey 100/4, and sharing row 4 with him was Robin Ellis in his Lotus Elite. Paul Kennelly was on row 5, his Austin Healey 100M in the company of Noel Leonard’s Turner Mk2.  Row 6 was occupied by Jamie Mason’s Turner Mk2  and Adrian King in the AC Ace. The products of Abingdon held sway on row 7, Mark Ellis in his Twin Cam MGA and John Pearson in his MGA. Ben Low in the third of the Turner Mk2s shared row 7 with Jim Campbell’s Austin Healey 100/4, although almost 2 seconds separated their qualifying times. Much closer to Jim was Harry Willmott on the next row the XK 150, a mere few hundredths behind. Harry had Rory Tollett alongside in the MGA Coupe. Richard Lawson (MGA) and Alan House (Morgan +4) shared row 10 although well over 4 seconds separated their times and Nicholas English (Austin Healey 100/4) and Graham Love (Jaguar XK150) occupied row 11. Tristan Bradfield qualified the Sunbeam Alpine Le Mans 23rd but the last 3 cars, Chris Wilks (MGA Twin Cam), Martin Stowe(MGA) and Jack Willmott (WSM Sprite) have no qualifying times against their names, although 2 of them are recorded as having gone out to practice.   Martin Stowe has explained his absence of lap times - ‘I went out to qualify on a brand new set of tyres only to have a puncture on the first lap at Becketts! With a 5th new tyre of the day fitted I was allowed to start the race from the back of the grid.’ Martin had, of course, raced on the circuit the day before.

Pre63/50s Race 2

Sunday proved to be even hotter than Saturday and there were a few cars that having just about negotiated qualifying did not make it onto the track. As well as qualifying, a few had done more than one race and just weren’t sufficiently healthy to take to the tracks again so the number that went to the grid for Race 2 was reduced from the 26 cars that qualified to 21 starters. There had been, sadly, a pretty expensive prang (drivers all OK) in the second of the Equipe Libre races which took out a number of cars including the E-type that Sam Binfield was due to race. Robin Ellis, who had had a superb win in the first Equipe Libre race in his beautiful Shapecraft Elan, found that he was unable to race at all on Sunday, since the Elan decided to shut down and for this race his Elite had lost its edge and in fact spluttered to a halt in the paddock, so that was 2 down. John Pearson’s MGA was marginal on temperature and failed to take the start, and neither Noel Leonard (Turner Mk2) nor Graham Love (Jaguar XK 150) appeared on the grid, quite possibly for the same reason (and I will amend this if/when I find out!).

At the front of the grid, another close battle between Nigel Winchester’s Shelby Cobra and poleman, Mark Holme’s Austin Healey 3000 was anticipated. However, once again Nigel blasted the V8 into the lead and Holme’s challenge was not helped by a superb start from Jonathan Smare who grabbed 2nd going into Copse, in his Austin Healey 3000. It gave Nigel a bit of a breathing space and allowed him to open up a small lead so that at the end of Lap 1, he steamed through 2.3 seconds ahead of Mark who had recovered 2nd place from Jonathan. The other Jonathan, Mr Abecassis, had had another good first lap in his Austin Healey 100/4, coming through in 4th place albeit already 9.5 seconds behind the leading Cobra. Paul Kennelly was next through in his 100M, pretty much on the tail of Jonathan and a more competitive Brian Arculus was chasing them hard in his Lotus Elite, possibly because he had fellow Elite pilot, Marc Gordon, in his mirrors. A gap had already opened up to Jamie Mason’s Turner Mk2, but Jamie had Adrian King in the AC Ace Bristol for company. Completing the top 10 was Jim Campbell in his Austin Healey 100/4.

Harry Willmott’s XK150 was in touch with Jim’s Austin Healey but another small gap had opened up to Ben Low’s Turner Mk2 in 12th place. Richard Lawson was hanging onto Ben, in his MGA but was probably more concerned with how large Jack Willmott’s WSM Sprite was looming in his mirrors, whilst Rory Tollett’s MGA Coupe was very much part of this early 4 car battle. They were already 10 seconds clear of the next group of cars - Sunbeam Alpine Le Mans (Tristan Bradfield), MGA (Martin Stowe), Austin Healey 100/4 (Nicholas English) and MGA Twin Cam (Chris Wilks). Alan House was just off the tail of this group and was actually the last to cross the line on the track as, very unfortunately, Mark Ellis trickled into the pits to retire his MGA Twin Cam. We were down to 20 cars after just one lap.

At the end of lap 2, Martin Holme had closed the gap to Nigel Winchester to 1.6 seconds and they were both now well clear of Jonathan Smare’s Austin Healey 3000. Jonathan however, was 3 seconds clear of the Abecassis 100/4 and seemed determined this time not to give best to the earlier cars. In 5th place was Paul Kennelly in his A-H 100M, with a combative Brian Arculus trying to close the gap to Paul, in his Lotus Elite. The depleted field were beginning to string out, although there were still some good battles. The Jamie Mason (Turner Mk2 ) Adrian King (AC Ace) dice for 8th was very close, and looked like going the distance, and less than 2 seconds covered Jim Campbell (A-H 100/4), Jack Willmott (WSM Sprite), Richard Lawson (MGA), Ben Low (Turner Mk2) and Rory Tollett (MGA), this group making a stirring sight as they crossed the line in close formation. Martin Stowe was next up, in 16th. He had gained several places from his last place starting position but the group ahead were already long gone and it’s unlikely he could even see them since they were no less than 18 seconds ahead! Behind Martin followed Nicholas English (A H 100/4), Tristan Bradfield (Sunbeam Alpine Le Mans), Chris Wilks (MGA Twin Cam) and Alan House (Morgan +4).

The order remained almost unchanged at the end of lap 3 but for the first time, the Martin Holme Austin Healey 3000 crossed the start/finish line in the lead albeit by 9 hundredths of a second. It seems likely that by Copse, however, Nigel Winchester was back ahead in the Shelby Cobra. He certainly completed lap 4 in front. The other place change however, occurred in the pitlane as Rory Tollett sensibly brought the MGA Sebring Coupe in to retire, the engine running too hot for comfort.

The battle for the lead between the Cobra and the Austin Healey swept on over the next few laps with Nigel Winchester holding a small advantage over Mark Holme. Jonathan Smare in the other Healey 3000 held a solid 3rd place over Jonathan Abecassis, who in turn, was well established in 4th, several seconds ahead of Paul Kennelly in the 100M. Paul had had a bit of a breather as the attention of Brian Arculus in the pursuing Lotus Elite was starting to look rearwards as Marc Gordon, in a sister car closed in, and Marc got by Brian during lap 5 and this dice had enabled Paul to eke out a 3 second lead over the pair of Elites. Some way behind Jamie Mason was keeping his Turner ahead of Adrian King in the AC Ace but they were surely enjoying their tussle, and were untroubled by Harry Willmott, some seconds behind in the XK150S. Harry was by now on his own, as Jack Willmott was now 6 seconds behind in the WSM Sprite, and also on his own as a further 6 seconds back, Jim Campbell had his hands full of Richard Lawson’s MGA and Ben Low’s Turner. Over half a minute behind, Martin Stowe’s MGA was now well clear of the remaining cars. Nicholas English was embattled with Chris Wilk’s MGA Twin Cam and just about keeping them both in sight was Tristan Bradfield in the Sunbeam Alpine Le Mans. Playing tail gunner for these remaining 19 runners was Alan House in the Morgan +4.

The end of lap 6 presented the biggest gap between the leaders, the Cobra rumbling across the line 2.9 seconds ahead of the Austin Healey, Mark Holme having had an uncharacteristically slower lap and we wondered whether the car had lost a bit of its edge in the hot conditions. A few places back, Brian Arculus had recovered 6th place when Marc Gordon spun his Elite. Marc was able to recover the track but had lost a lot of time and 3 places. Richard Lawson’s MGA did not complete the lap (cause unknown) and Alan House had just been lapped by the Cobra. 18 cars remained in what was becoming a bit of a race of attrition, due mainly, I believe, to the heat.

As the leaders came through to complete lap 7, the Holme Austin Healey, whilst having picked up its pace, had made no impact on the 2.9 second gap to the Winchester Cobra and it did look as though Nigel was now in control of the race outcome. With one exception the other positions had remained unaltered. That exception was Tristan Bradfield who had come through some way ahead of the Chris Wilks MGA Twin Cam and since Chris had a particularly slow lap, a moment of drama somewhere around the circuit is suspected!

Mark Holme had actually closed the gap to the Cobra by over a second on lap 8 and his challenge wasn’t done yet. Jonathan Smare’s Austin Healey was 37 seconds behind the pair but was now 8 seconds clear of Jonathan Abecassis. Brian Arculus, without the company of Marc Gordon, was now returning his focus on the back of Paul Kennelly’s Austin Healey 100M, whilst Marc had recovered to 6th but no less than 21 seconds behind Brian with no prospect of closing the gap significantly over the remaining laps. Adrian King was still hounding the Turner of Jamie Mason and they had only briefly been split by the recovering Lotus Elite. Ben Low’s Turner Mk2 had closed to within half a second of Jim Campbell who was 12th in his Austin Healey 100/4, so there was still some action within this depleted field.

On lap 9, the race for the lead was all over. Mark Holme parked up the Austin Healey 3000 to retire, an unfortunate end to his hugely entertaining race for the lead, enabling Nigel Winchester in the Cobra to finally ease off the pedal a bit, and Nigel took the chequered flag at the end of 10 laps, the Cobra having not missed a beat. The race was shortened by a lap because of the delays following the clear up after the Equipe Libre incident mentioned earlier. The retirement of Mark Holme’s Austin Healey meant that fellow 3000 racer, Jonathan Smare, inherited 2nd place, and whilst his fastest lap was not as quick as the previous day, his excellent start and consistent fast pace had kept him clear of the 1950s battles going on behind him making amends for what, for him, would have probably been an unsatisfactory outcome the previous day. Some 7 seconds behind, Jonathan Abecassis came in a fine 3rd overall in his Austin Healey 100/4 and well clear of his pursuers.

Brian Arculus, also in stark contrast to the day before, had been engaged in one battle or another all race. His pressure on Paul Kennelly’s Austin Healey 100M had paid off, as Paul ran wide on the last lap, allowing Brian to slip by to snatch an excellent 4th place by less than three quarters of a second. Although Marc Gordon had recovered to 6th following his spin, his Lotus Elite finished 23 seconds behind the 100M. The battle between Jamie Mason and Adrian King went down to the wire, the little Turner Mk2 crossing the line a mere 3 tenths ahead of the AC Ace, to take a fine 7th overall. Harry Willmott brought the Jaguar XK150 home in a lonely 9th place but 10th placed Ben Low, in his Turner Mk2 had Jim Campbell’s Austin Healey 100/4 for close company, less than 9 tenths separating them at the flag. Jack Willmott unfortunately, didn’t finish in the classification having retired after 9 laps, so Martin Stowe completed the top dozen in his MGA. Tristan Bradfield kept the Sunbeam Alpine Le Mans clear of Nicholas English’s Austin Healey 100/4 to take 14th, whilst Chris Wilks brought his MGA Twin Cam in 15th, 7 seconds behind Nicholas. Alan House’s best lap time suggests that he was never going to be anything but last in the Morgan +4 but he’d had a particularly slow lap on lap 6, I suspect getting out of the way of the lapping leaders, and he never quite got up to his normal pace thereafter, so he was further behind at the flag than expected, in 16th place, last of the classified runners. In fact, it is interesting to note that most of the cars lapped a bit slower than in the previous days race no doubt due to some very hot and tired cars and drivers. One standout exception was Chris Wilks in the Twin Cam. He had found no less than 5 seconds on his best the day before, so one can guess that the car had not been performing to its best on Saturday. The heat had undoubtedly taken its toll but whilst a reduced field completed the second race, there had still been some notable battles during its course.

I’m hoping Mark Campbell will be able to provide IoP results in due course - JT

Race 2 Gallery

(Includes Paddock and Qualifying shots)

Tailpiece