BARC Thruxton Retro 2025

 Preamble

This was our third year in succession at the Thruxton Retro meeting and I really had expected our best grid ever this year but it was not to be. We finally mustered 16 entries, albeit excellent ones, after late entries from Barry Dye and Nigel Winchester, just about got us into the high teens! There were some suggestions as to why this would be but it should be noted that the majority of this grid were made up of Motoring News Series cars and just 3 in the Peter Mann series race, so the reasons seem rather more prosaic. A number of cars were in need of engine work (Mark Shears Morgan and Martin Stowe’s MGA for starters) and a few cars were being saved for the Le Mans Classic. Both business and holidays had an impact and I have to take some of the blame for failing to publicise the correct date intially. Whilst the quality was there as always it was nevertheless, numerically, a disappointing entry and our lowest for about 3 years. I hope that we did enough to retain this slot and it has to be said that there were a couple of smaller grids there on the day. We needed about 25 entries to cover all our costs, but fortunately FISCAR’s finances are sufficiently robust enough to take the occasional hit! Anyway, enough of the negatives!

There were two quite unexpected entries in the form of Chris Mann’s delectable Alfa Romeo Disco Volante and Nigel Winchester’s Series 1 Lotus 7. Chris has always been a great supporter of FISCAR but he is usually away for the Thruxton event, and Nigel’s was a late decision to air the little Lotus that hadn’t run with us for some years. In the light of what happened during the day, they both might have wondered why they turned up, but I’m very pleased that they did! It was actually touch and go in respect of the Lotus as the race harness was life expired but Nigel managed to obtain and fit a new one on the Saturday before the event.

Qualifying

Qualifying had its own problems! Jeremy Woods couldn’t take the Triumph Italia out because of scrutineering issues which had to be addressed before he was allowed onto the circuit and these could not be immediately resolved and certainly not until long after qualifying was over. More dramatically, and on the first flying lap, the front offside wheel of Mike Henney’s ‘Tatty’ Turner Climax parted company on a flight of its own, the hub having sheared, so sadly that was an early end to Mike’s participation. Qualifying was stopped whilst the car was recovered to the paddock.

Upon restart, it was no surprise to see David Alexander and Jonathan Abecassis post times that would put them on the front row, David in the Lotus Elite with a 1.36.549 just over a second quicker than Jonathan in his Austin Healey 100/4 on 1.37.605. They were well clear of the field, but 3rd and 4th positions were a bit of a surprise as the Andrew Mitchell/Mark Morgan Lotus Elite took 3rd in a 1.40.849 and Christopher Mann, a 1.41.992 in the Alfa Romeo Disco Volante. Where was Brian Arculus you may ask? Well, his time of 1.43.100 was only good enough for 5th, but it transpired that he had throttle problems, so if sorted, he would certainly be more competitive in the race. Nigel Winchester put the diminutive Lotus 7 Series 1 alongside Brian in a time of 1.44.395.

Tristan Bradfield qualified 7th in the Sunbeam Alpine LM in a time of 1.46.696 with Mark Hoble’s Turner Climax alongside in 1.47.373. Row 5 had Nicola Burnside and Anthony Binnington, on a 1.47.442 in the MGA Twin Cam and Gareth Evans on a 1.48.666 in the second of the Sunbeam Alpines. Zaheer ‘Ed’ Shah qualified 11th in a time of 1.49.555 in his Elva Courier sharing the row with Andy Cox on a 1.50.689 in his Triumph TR3 Falcon. Barry Dye was next up in his Lotus Elite in a time of 1.59.896, and shared row 7 with Tim Stamper in the Aston Martin DB2/4 in what must have been a very unrepresentative 2.02.378.

It would be fair to say that after qualifying, a number of our cars were less than healthy and I was very concerned that our grid, already relatively small, would not be far above single figures. The Lotus Elite of Brian Arculus was clearly a worrying proposition with an intermittent throttle which at times was failing to close when required. Much work ensued involving the linkage, stripping of carbs and the replacement of throttle cables without satisfactory resolution but, whilst not perfect, Brian decided to take the start. The Triumph Italia took a while to sort out but it was finally made ready for the race. Although Jeremy had not done any qualifying laps, Clerk of the Course allowed him dispensation as he had raced at this event last year but the car was required to start from the pitlane. The Sunbeam Alpine of Gareth Evans had lost one of the caps to the carbs and had been, rather alarmingly, spraying fuel into the engine bay, and since he had no spare, a rather ingenious solution was used to resolve the problem, sufficient at least to enable the car to start the race. In the meantime, Ed Shah’s Elva Courier had mysteriously dropped onto 3 cylinders but the car became surrounded by helpful fellow competitors and the various obvious solutions were tried without immediate success but it eventually came back on song after MGA expert, Neil Burnside gave it a threatening look that it could hardly ignore!! Finally, Tim Stamper announced that the clutch on his Aston was slipping badly and although he had adjusted it, he was not very confident that it would last the race. So it was, that despite all the issues, we were back to 15 of the 16 entries able to start the race.

As a footnote to Brian’s throttle problem and I quote ‘The following day I eventually discovered the culprit - a broken return coil spring on the throttle pedal assembly that was catching (but not all the time).  I now have a lovely smooth throttle pedal again.... Oh the joys of racing old cars.’

Race.

Stationed at the exit of Allard and out of sight of the startline, I had expected a red car followed by a white one come through first since although David Alexander was on pole I expected him to be outdragged by the more powerful Austin Healey of Jonathan Abecassis, as last year. But, hold on, two red cars came through first! Jonathan was indeed in the lead but he was being pursued by Chris Mann’s magnificent Alfa Romeo Disco Volante. Chris had made a superb start and he had even considered having a go at Jonathan but thought better of it, in order to hold his line against David’s Elite. Next up was Andrew Mitchell going better and better in his Lotus Elite, already with a clear gap over a gaggle of cars led by Tristan Bradfield (Sunbeam Alpine) who was closely followed by Nigel Winchester’s Lotus 7, Andy Cox’s TR3 Falcon and Brian Arculus, who had compounded a relatively lowly, by his standards, grid position, by dropping to 8th. Brian was closely followed by Mark Hoble and Gareth Evans in Turner Climax and Sunbeam Alpine respectively. Anthony Binnington was next up in the Burnside MGA Twin Cam followed by Barry Dye in his Lotus Elite. Already slightly detached was Ed Shah in his Elva Courier, and as this group of cars headed over the brow at Campbell going into Cobb, Jeremy Woods was charging out of the pitlane in the Triumph Italia. There was one missing! Tim Stamper had not lined up on the grid, having headed straight for the pits, the Aston’s slipping clutch making it a pointless exercise to take the start.

During the course of the first lap, Chris Mann couldn’t hold off David Alexander’s Lotus Elite, and David came across the line 1.7 seconds behind Jonathan, whilst Chris had his mirrors full now of another Elite in the hands of Andrew Mitchell. Nigel Winchester going well in the Lotus 7 was up to 5th and already clear of Tristan Bradfield’s Sunbeam Alpine LM by 4.5 seconds. Mark Hoble was up to 7th having made up two places, edging ahead of Brian Arculus, still only 8th, both having displaced Andy Cox in the TR3. Gareth Evans came through next followed followed by the MGA Twin Cam and Barry Dye’s Elite. Jeremy Woods had already caught and passed Ed’s Courier and 20 seconds covered first to last.

By the end of lap 2, the Elite had closed to within 3 tenths of Jonathan’s Healey, and in performance terms these two were in a league of their own, now 13 seconds clear of Chris Mann, who was still holding off Andrew Michell’s Elite. They were both now being shadowed by the nimble little Lotus 7 of Nigel Winchester, who had opened up a big gap to the chasing group. However, the chasers were now led by Brian Arculus who had finally made some progress and, throttle problem permitting, would be leaving the group behind to make inroads into the Lotus 7. Tristan Bradfield (Sunbeam Alpine LM), Mark Hoble (Turner Climax), Andy Cox (TR3 Falcon), Anthony Binnington (MGA Twin Cam), and Gareth Evans (Sunbeam Alpine) were line astern - a great sight. Barry Dye’s Lotus Elite was a few seconds back and had Jeremy Wood’s Triumph Italia closing in, bringing Ed Shah’s Elva Courier with him.

The battle for the lead became ever more intense with David Alexander’s Lotus Elite now just over a tenth behind the Austin Healey as they completed lap 3. They were now 20 seconds clear of their pursuers, a steadfast Chris Mann still holding Andrew Mitchell at bay. Nigel Winchester was struggling to keep up and Brian Arculus was homing in, having taken 3 seconds out of the Lotus 7 on that lap alone. Brian had gapped Tristan Bradfield’s Sunbeam who was being challenged by Mark Hoble but the gaps behind had opened up. The last of that group, Gareth Evans in the Sunbeam Alpine was 10 seconds clear of the next car, which was now the Triumph Italia of Jeremy Woods which had passed the Barry Dye Lotus Elite and Barry was now coming under pressure from Ed Shah’s Elva.

David Alexander grabbed the lead from Jonathan Abecassis on lap 4 and completed the lap just under half a second ahead. The pair were now fully half a minute ahead of the rest of the field which was still led by the Alfa Romeo Disco Volante of Chris Mann. Chris was being trailed still by Andrew Mitchell’s Lotus Elite but seemed to have the situation contained and it was a fine performace by the Alfa driver. Only a couple of seconds behind, Nigel Winchester was pressing on in the Lotus 7, as Brian Arculus who had closed in on Nigel took to the pits for his mandatory pit stop. Brian was followed in a few seconds later by Mark Hoble in the Turner Climax. Tristan Bradfield was 8th in the Alpine LM, almost 3 seconds clear of Anthony Binnington in the MGA twin Cam, with another 3 second gap to Andy Cox in the TR3 Falcon. In fact there was also a similar gap to Gareth Evans in his Sunbeam Alpine, so the four cars were pretty evenly spaced out and in sight of each other. 12 seconds further away, with lap times that suggested that he wouldn’t make any further places, Jeremy Woods was nevertheless enjoying himself in the Triumph Italia, now well clear of Ed Shah, who had taken his Elva Courier passed Barry Dye’s Lotus Elite.

Lap 5 completed and the Lotus Elite had pulled out another few tenths on the Austin Healey, but Jonathan was never likely to give up, and he had a marginal performance advantage on the straights over David which partially offset the better handling of David’s Elite through the tighter sections. Andrew Mitchell was up to 3rd in his Lotus Elite but only because Chris Mann had headed into the pits for his mandatory stop. Nigel Winchester was nowhere to be seen as he had pulled the Lotus off the track during the lap, unhappy with the rising temperature of the little BMC engine. The positions behind remained unchanged.

The lead went out to 1.6 seconds at the end of lap 6 but Jonathan Abecassis cut the lead dramatically on lap 7. They had both been slowed by lapping cars which allowed Jonathan to get close enough to have a go into the chicane but David emerged still in the lead. In the meantime, both Andrew Mitchell and Gareth Evans (Sunbeam Alpine) had pitted. Andrew handed the Lotus Elite over to Mark Morgan. Tristan Bradfield was up to 3rd, trailed by the MGA Twin Cam of Anthony Binnington with Andy Cox, 5th in the TR3 Falcon and Jeremy Woods a distant 6th. All 4 had yet to pit, whilst a lap down Ed Shah (Elva Courier) and Barry Dye (Lotus Elite) pressed on chased by the also lapped Chris Mann in the Disco Volante and Brian Arculus in the Lotus Elite, both in the process of recovering their positions following their stops.

David Alexander headed for the pits at the end of Lap 8, whilst Jonathan Abecassis thundered by into the lead. Tristan Bradfield also took to the pits in the Alpine LM and he was followed in by Anthony Binnington who handed the MGA Twin Cam over to Nicola Burnside. This all meant that by the end of lap 9 only Jonathan and David were on the same lap, the latter having rejoined the race. Ed Shah was the next to pit in his Elva Courier. It all became a bit messy after that as at the end of lap 10, David came back in to the pits to serve a drive through, thinking that he had been penalised for speeding in the pit lane. The problem was that, as reported by several drivers, the black flag did not clearly display the car number being called in. In fact only 2 cars had been called in, Chris Mann’s Alfa Romeo and Ed Shah’s Elva Courier, both having breached the pitlane speed limits, but a couple of drivers either missed or misread the signals - more of which anon.

David Alexander was so far ahead of the rest of the field that he still emerged in 2nd even after this needless pit visit but it had pretty much scuppered his chances of victory and worse was to come for him! Andy Cox was now up to 3rd overall albeit a lap down, in his TR3 Falcon but was yet to pit. Jeremy Woods was 4th, still to pit and Chris Mann was back up to 5th, being rapidly closed down by Brian Arculus in his Lotus Elite with Tristan Bradfield’s Alpine LM, back on track, in 7th. Mark Hoble was 8th in the Turner Climax and Barry Dye had taken his Elite into the pits for his mandatory stop. Mark Morgan was next up with Nicola Burnside getting back up to speed after taking over the Twin Cam. Gareth Evans was also well underway in the pale green Alpine.

We were now well into the second half of the race but there were still 3 cars yet to take their stops including the leader, Jonathan Abecassis in the Austin Healey 100/4 and he completed lap 11 ahead of David Alexander by just over 1 minute 18 seconds. The pair were a complete lap ahead of everyone else, as Jeremy Woods took to the pitlane in the Triumph Italia. The field was pretty spread out and even Brian Arculus had yet to catch Chris Mann’s Disco Volante and actually lost ground on his lap 10, possibly attributable to the throttle problem manifesting itself. At least we had lost no more cars since Nigel Winchester’s early retirement.

Jonathan Abecassis finally pitted at the end of lap 12 and he was followed in by Ed Shah in the Elva, serving a drive through for speeding in the pitlane during his earlier stop, and now 2 laps down, as a result. Unfortunately, Ed was deemed to have negotiated the pitlane too quickly for a second time and so got himself another penalty. Andy Cox, also in the pits was the last to serve his mandatory stop. He had been up to 3rd, but whilst stationary, was inevitably displaced by several cars that had pitted earlier. Barry Dye had also dropped 2 laps behind, distinctly unhappy with his pace in the Lotus Elite which he put down to lack of seat time - it really does make such a difference - he had hardly raced in the past year.

To be continued! Please note that I am now away for a few days and will return to this next weekend. JT