Running a two-day race meeting on the Silverstone Historic GP circuit is a hugh undertaking and major financial gamble but Equipe Classic Racing pulled it off yet again. They were rewarded by the loyalty of their regular racers and attracted many new faces who swelled the entry lists which including guest appearances from Mini7, Monoposto and Sports 2000.

With MSVR handling the race administration, Senior Clerk of the Course, David Scott, and his team presided over a thoroughly entertaining event which produced many high speed battles for position undeterred by the heavy rain which fell during Saturday afternoon.

The Syd Segal Memorial Trophy

The Syd Segal Memorial Trophy for Austin Healeys was an undoubted highlight of the weekend. Named after a well-known Healey racer from the 1960s and 70s, there were some cars with a great racing pedigree included in the 42-car entry which is believed to be the largest grid of Austin Healeys assembled anywhere during the last 30 years or so. Some of the cars are so famous that they are referred to in Healey circles by the registration numbers they still carry. For example: 

46 BXN is an alloy bodied Sebring Sprite that has raced continuously since 1960 and claimed third overall in the 1961 Nurburgring 500km race.

 

54 FAC, was raced by the works team in the 1963 Sebring 12-Hour race with Paddy Hopkirk and Donald Morley at the wheel.

DD300, competed in the 1960 Le Mans 24-Hours before being raced by David Dixon, hence the registration plate.  It was then campaigned for decades by Healey legend John Chatham whose sons, Jack and Oliver, were sharing another Healey 3000 in the race.

With the Fogey Sprite on Neil and Drew Cameron non-starting, 41 cars took to the grid with Healey 3000s filling the first eight rows. Jack Chatham was on pole with Jaap Sinke alongside him in P2. Ahead of them was a 40-minute race which featured a compulsory pitstop to be made during a 15-minute pit window.

When the lights went out Sinke surged into the lead of the field which made a spectacular sight as the cars accelerated towards Copse Corner. However, it was Chatham who exited Woodcote first at the end of lap 1 with Joe Willmott in P2 which heralded the start of a race-long battle between them for victory and the prestigious Memorial Trophy.

Willmott grabbed the lead at Becketts on lap three but Chatham quickly regained the place. Michael Russell circulated in P3 ahead of a battling train of five cars contesting fourth place. Jack Chatham pitted at the end of lap seven to hand over to brother Oliver. When Willmott pitted two laps later Richard Woolmer inherited the lead but he, in turn, pitted a lap later as car after car took to the pit lane while pit window was open.

Once all the pit-stops had been completed Willmott headed the time sheet with a two and a half seconds advantage with Oliver Chatham in P2. The latter then set out on a charge to reel in the leader and the pair both pushed hard as they worked their way through backmarkers with both cars twitching on the edge of adhesion as they powered through Woodcote to end each lap. As they started lap14 Willmott’s lead was less than 0.5sec but, try as he might, Chatham could not find a way past and, when the flag flew after 16 laps of superb racing, he crossed the line a mere 0.313s behind the victor. Willmott was relieved to have survived the intense pressure and punched the air in delight as he crossed the line. Russell claimed third but only just as Jack Rawles produced a masterful drive in the 3000 started by Sinke to climb up the order after the pit stop. He missed out on a podium position by just 0.208s.

Further down the order Dominic Mooney won the battle of the Sprites and finished P16 in his Ashley GT well ahead of much more powerful machinery. Of the 41 starters all but six crossed the line to finish the race, a testimony to the standard of preparation of these historic racers.

Equipe GTS

Big grids were a theme of the entire weekend and it was the same for the Equipe GTS race with 46 cars talking to the track for qualifying. The entry was numerically dominated by MG Bs and it was the Joshus Holmes/Murray Shephard machine that headed the times over 1 second ahead of Chris Ryan’s TVR Grantura with Jonathan Abecassis third in his Healey 100/4.

The start went Ryan’s way and he was ahead at the end of lap one with Shephard in second. The latter grabbed the lead on lap four with the top ten cars all in close attendance. The MGB of Neil Fowler was ahead at the end of the following lap with similar car of Tom Smith right behind him and Rob Cull’s TVR Grantura in P3. Smith and Cull made their pit-stops on lap 6 but Fowler stayed out for a couple more laps until he, too, made his stop before the pit window closed.  Cull was sidelined on lap 8 with an overheating engine, the last of only five retirements from the fray. Shephard pitted and handing over to Joshua Holmes on lap nine by which time the rain was making conditions tricky.

Once all the pit-stops had been completed Smith, who revelled in the wet, headed the field 3.7secs ahead of Fowler and and had an untroubled run to victory with Fowler unable to make inroads into his advantage though he did set the fastest lap time on lap 12. William Reed took P3 making it three MG Bs on the podium.

Equipe 70s

The first of two races for the Equipe 70s was a 20-minute sprint in very wet conditions on the Saturday afternoon. From his pole position Nick Whale powered into the lead in his Mk2 Escort but that was short lived as Steve Dance claimed the place in his Ford Capri RS2600 on lap 2. In tricky conditions Dance controlled the race ahead of Whale and Rob Cull’s similar Escort, the latter unable to get into a position to challenge for P2, and the trio went on to take the podium positions in that order.

Behind them battle for P4 raged with Philip Walker’s Escort under intense pressure from the MGB GT V8 of James Wheeler. Wheeler finally grabbed the place late in the race and crossed the line just 0.5sec ahead.

The 70s second outing of the weekend was a 40-minute pitstop race on the Sunday morning. With Dance only racing on the Saturday there would have a new winner. Harry Whale was on pole in the family Escort for this race with Rob Cull’s Escort alongside.

Whale led the field away while Connor Kay slotted his TVR Tuscan into second as the pack went through Becketts. Kay was soon under pressure from Cull who got past down the inside into Copse on lap lap three. Kay immediately came under pressure from Nick Matthews’ Capri and, after losing another place later in the lap, he pulled off at Abbey to retire.

Whale and Cull both pitted to make their stops on lap 8. As the race progressed Whale stayed clear of Cull to make it an Escort one-two at the flag with Matthews claiming third. Walker was fourth across the line while a highlight of the latter laps was the battle for fifth between Frazer Gibney’s Elan and the Porsche 911 RSR of Robi Bernberg; Gibney’s advantage at the line was just 0.401sec!

Equipe Libre

It was a race each day for the Equipe Libre field. Oliver Reuben gave his new TVR Griffith its first outing and claimed Saturday’s pole. He duly led the field away and opened a gap ahead of Graham Moss in his Shelby Daytona second. Rueben extended his lead even when the rain made conditions slippery with Moss holding second. Behind them the order shuffled with Michael O’Brien climbing up the top ten to move the Lotus Elan Shapecraft he shared with Mike Flewitt into third.

O’Brien was the first of the lead group to stop once the pitstop window opened. He was followed in by David Methley’s Cobra that was running fourth with Reuben and Moss pitting a lap later just as the safety car came out to close up the field. They started racing again as they headed into lap 11 with Rueben once more at the front but another incident with a car stranded by the circuit seeing the race cut short by the red flag. Rueben won from Moss with the Elan shared by Andrew and Jonathan Pace a worthy third having run in the lead group race long.

It was another big Libre grid on Sunday, Rueben again leading the field away and Moss who had a good start from the second row of the grid. David Methley’s AC Cobra was fourth but under pressure early on from O’Brien who was now sharing the Elan with Mia Flewitt. Elans filled in the next few positions with Nick Powell ahead of Darren Edwards.

Moss was hit with a ten second penalty for an out of position start but continued to push hard opening a gap to O’Brien while Methley stayed clear of Powell and John Tordoff moved his Elan into P6. O’Brien and Tordoff pitted first at the end of lap seven for their compulsory stops and once everyone had cycled through the pits it was Rueben back ahead from Moss, Eddie Powell now in the Elan started by Nick was third. Methley was fourth but about to retire with a transmission issue.

Rueben duly made it two wins out of two. Moss claimed P2 despite his penalty and Eddie Powell came home third to claim Lotus Elan honours.

Equipe Sports Prototypes

It was a very wet track when Saturday’s 20-minute Equipe Sports Prototype race started, the impressive field led away by the rumbling Norma M30 of Bradley Smith, Graham Charman’s Juno second at the end of lap one with Anthony Ayres’ lead Radical in third. Shane Kelly snatched third from Ayres on lap two in his Revolution and started to close on Charman.

Smith was in fine form despite the conditions and eased away from the opposition as the race progressed. Kelly moved into second when Charman spun on lap six. With the rain intensifying Smith took the win from Kelly, Charman held onto third while the Praga R1 of Leon Wilson came through to take fourth, just clear of Ayres.

It was a dry track for Sunday’s pitstop race. Smith again took the lead off the rolling start and Charman was second at the end of lap one but with Joe Lock’s Spire 400R right with him. Lock was past on lap two and Charman also slipped behind the Wilson as Smith pulled away at the front.

Lock was under pressure from Wilson for lap after lap, the pair the first of the leaders to make a pitstop as they stopped in unison at the end of lap nine only for Lock to retire with overheating.  After the stops it was still Smith in the lead and he held his advantage to the end. Wilson came home second well clear of Charman and Jonathan Edwards was fourth in his Chiron.

Equipe MG Cup

I

The Equipe MG Cup runners had two races on Sunday, and in the morning race a great start from the MGA of Max Cawthorn saw him lead into the first corner from the third row of the grid. However, pole sitter Stuart Emmett had his ZR190 in the lead as they reached Stowe. Emmett then pulled away. Cawthorn was secure in second. Archie Styant’s ZR170 was initially third only to lose out to Gianni Picone’s similar car but the latter’s impressive run came to an end when he retired on lap 7.

The leader had the pace to ease away from the field while Cawthorn was able to stay clear of his pursuers. Later in the race George Streather joined in the dice for third in his ZR190. Emmett took the win from Cawthorn while Streather grabbed P3 from Styant with two laps to go. Dan Ludlow brought his ZR190 home in P5 having started at the back of the grid but his car trailing smoke late in the race which did not bode well for race 2.

With Ludlow’s car retired from the meeting Stuart Emmett generously handed his car over to his teammate so Ludlow would again start from the back of the grid for the afternoon race.

It was an all action during the opening lap with several lead changes on the opening. Styant was ahead at the end of the lap followed by Streather and Cawthorn. Ludlow was on a mission and had climbed eight places on that opening lap.

The lead trio ran close and Cawthorn moved past Streather heading into Copse at the start of lap four. He then passed Styant and into the lead by the end of that lap. Ludlow continued his charge and was into P3 by the end of lap 5 but his race was cut short when he was tapped into a spin and found the gravel trap at Becketts.

Cawthorn held on at the front and duly took the win in the MGA. Class C winner, Streather, crossed the line in P3 but was promoted to P2 in the final classification. The ZS180 of James Moreton was third to seal Class B victory. Class A victory went to Freddie Ugo, to match brother Charlie’s similar great result in race one.

Goodyear Mini Challenge

As always the Mini7s entertained in their inimitable style. Ian Curley dominated the proceedings taking pole in his Mini Miglia and the win in both 20 minute races. Ian Fraser and Julian Proctor were both winners in the Mini Libre class. Bradley Jordan and Ross Billison both triumphed in the Mini Seven class while Joel Wren took a brace of Seven S class wins.

Sports 2000 Championship

Joshua Law was on pole in his MCR S2n for the first of two 20 minute encounters for the 33 Sports 2000 runners. Although he held the lead for the first 8 laps he faded in the latter stages of the race and finished in P3 behind Michael Gibbins and Mackenzie Walker who’re separated by only 0.250sec at the flag.

Law got his revenge in race 2, taking the win 0.861sec ahead of Gibbins and Walker.

Monoposto Championship

The Monoposto runners provided more close single-seater action. George Line put his Dallara F308 on pole for the first race and went on to take the win from Tony Bishop’s Dallara F311 and Bert Chapman’s Jedi. 

Line and Bishop took P1 and P2 respectively in race 2 with James Williams’ Dallara F308 in P3.