Classic and Competition Car 24 September 2012

& c i s s Cla Competition Car

Issue 24!! September 2012

Endurance racing at Silverstone

CONTENTS

News Page 4

Retro Warwick Classic Car Show Page 11

Coys International Trophy Meeting Donington Park Page 14

Nostalgia meeting Shelsley Walsh Page 18

Bentley Drivers Club Race meeting Silverstone Page 22

Archive Photo of the Month Page 26

British GT Snetterton Page 27

British Formula 3 Snetterton Page 30

Wythall Carnival Classic Car Show Page 32

VSCC Speed Hill Climb Prescott Page 35

WEC 6 Hours of Silverstone Page 38

Classic Endurance Race series Silverstone Page 41

British Hill Climb Championship and Lotus Celebration Shelsley Walsh Page 43

Lotus Festival Brands Hatch Page 47

VSCC Precott

Š Mick herring

Andrew Morris Lotus T102 and Martin Donnelly Lotus 79 Lotus Festival Brands Hatch

Classic and Competition Car September 2012

Coys International Pre-66 FIA GP2 Touring Cars

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© Simon Wright

EDITORIAL

PETE AUSTIN

In the last month, we have been lucky enough to see some very rare and unusual cars high-lighting both the past technical innovations and modern technological break-throughs. At Shelsley Walsh we saw the Lotus 23 Rotorvic 6 engined sports car. The 12 cylinder cars Simon Wright engine consists of 6 Ariel Arrows Editor motorbike engines linked together in an attempt to produce a 1.5 litre Grand Prix engine in the early 1960s (See page 10).

Then at the World Endurance Championship at Pete is the man for Historic racing, with Silverstone we saw the Audi and Toyota hybrid cars an extensive archive of black and white dominate the 6 Hours of Silverstone race, but even more images covering the last few decades of interesting, in the paddock we saw the Green GT, a motorsport in Britain. Also keen on BRM hydrogen powered sports car which is entered for next MICK HERRING years Le mans 24 Hour race - This could well be the future of our sport, as the hydrogen to fuel the car, comes from water and produces zero harmful emissions. The hydrogen then powers electric motors without the need to stop and recharge the batteries every 100 miles or so. I look forward to seeing the progress this Swiss project makes in next years 24 Hours event. Most modern car technology has come from motor racing developments, lets hope that this is the next one which can filter down to the next generation of road cars. It is fitting for this special Lotus issue that we remember that Colin Chapman developed his road cars from his racing cars - like below. © Janet Wright Mick’s first love is GT racing, including Historics, especially the Lola T70 JANET WRIGHT

© Simon Wright Front Cover.

Mahe locks a brake and shoots flame as he passes another Porsche in to Village in his Porsche 935 at the Classic Endurance race at Silverstone © Janet Wright All content is copyright classicandcompetitioncar.com unless otherwise stated. All photographs are copyright the original photographer and cannot be used for commercial purposes unless by prior approval of the original copyright holder.

We try to ensure accurate and truthful reporting but if you spot an error, please contact us and will we verify and correct accordingly.

We do not organise any events which are mentioned and we are not responsible if the event does not take place or is cancelled. Please contact the event organiser before making a long trip.

To Subscribe for free and be notified when the next issue is published please click here. To check out our web site with additional photos please click here Classic and Competition Car is published by simonwrightphotos.com High View Drive, Kingswinford, West Midlands DY6 8HT E-mail simonwright57@hotmail.com Tel 07905 435973

Classic and Competition Car September 2012

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Janet has been taking photos for many years and is also skilled in video work. She likes Aston Martins.

Lotus 58

News

This Lotus Cosworth 58 Formula 2 car preceded the Lotus 72 by a couple of years and the family similarity can easily be seen.

The 58 was built in 1968 for Jim Clark, who was going to test the new design a week after the German F2 race in which he was killed. The car was tested at Hethel once by Graham Hill, then the project was abandoned. It was later restored by Classic Team lotus and made its racing debut in 2001. It was driven at the Lotus celebration at Shelsley Walsh by Malcolm Ricketts.

The car is powered by a Cosworth FVA 4 cylinder 1600 cc engine developing 225 BHP. It used DeDion suspension front and rear with twin radius rods and coil springs over dampers to help keep the wheels vertical and was equipped with a revolutionary four pedal dual braking system.

Š Simon Wright

Check out our new updated WEB site at www.classicandcompetitioncar.com regularly for additional photo galleries, wall papers and other additional content and join our Facebook Group Classic and Competition Car. Classic and Competition Car September 2012

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Toyota loopholes in wheel arch.

Volkswagen add Porsche to its stable

Toyota have increased their wheel arches on the TS030 Hybrid to extend either side of the rear wing in an effort to improve the aerodynamic properties of the car. In a clever interpretation of the regulations, Toyota have opened the wheel arch on the rear and the small winglets are the rearward part of the wheel arch. The rear wing has an end plate, then there is the rear part of the wheel arch, then there is a second endplate. This design can increase drag and down force, so was not used at this years Le Mans race, where the circuit is more suited to a low downforce configuration.

The changes to the rear wheel arch have led to some changes at the front of the car to balance up the additional down force generated at the rear.

Classic and Competition Car September 2012

© Janet Wright

The Volkswagen Group have now added Porsche to their already impressive stable of marques purchased. They already own Audi, Bentley and Lamborghini in the luxury market, Ducati on 2 wheels, and Seat and Skoda in the mass market. Volkswagen already owned half of the Porsche car making operation after a failed attempt by Porsche to acquire the much larger VW group in 2008.

This spectacular failure almost bankrupted Porsche and investors filed for billions of Euros in lawsuits claiming they were misled by Porsche. In the power struggle which followed, VW acquired half of Porsche ahead of a planned merger. When the merger failed last year, VW faced a €1bn Tax bill if they exercised their option to buy the remaining half of Porsche before 2014. However, using a loophole, the transaction will be classified as a restructuring, not a takeover, which will avoid much of the Tax. The porsche holding company will be paid €4.46bn and a single VW share for the remaining 50.1% of the Porsche company that it did not already own.

VW aim to surpass General Motors and Toyota to become the Worlds biggest car maker by sales by 2018. © Simon Wright

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Mike Hewland 1922 to 2012 Mike Hewland, founder of Hewland Engineering has died peacefully at home at the age of 89. His engineering company, which was formed in 1957, invented the bespoke racing car gearbox and has supplied the Worlds racing car constructors ever since. It has produced the gearbox on most modern Grand Prix cars during the 1960s, 70s and 80s. The first gearboxes produced were Volkwagen units modified for the Lola Formula Junior racing car. They then went on to produce the side plates and gear clusters, just using the VW casing. The first gearbox designed by Hewland was the HD4 in 1963. This was fitted with straight cut constant mesh gears with a dog selector. Without syncromesh there was room in the casing for a 5th gear. It also meant that the close ratio gear cogs could easily be changed at the track to match the characteristics of the circuit. Mike had retired from the business in 1991, with his son William taking over the helm. Mike was once described as “A classic example of what a man can achieve from scratch with determination, application and sheer hard work”. To his family and friends we offer our sincere condolences.

Jerry Grant 23rd January 1935 to 12th August 2012 American USAC Championship Car driver Jerry Grant died at Orange County Hospital, California at the age of 77 from Liver failure and Diabetes. He raced in the USAC series between 1965 and 1977 taking 54 starts including 10 at the Indianapolis 500. His best finish was 3rd at Ontario in 1974.

He nearly won the 1972 Indianapolis 500. He was comfortably leading Mark Donohue when with just 12 laps to go he got a puncture. He dived in to the pits but stopped at team mate Bobby Unser’s garage. His mechanics changed the tyre and refulled the car - from Unser’s fuel rig. Grant rejoined and finished 2nd on the road, but Al Unser’s team protested due to him receiving another drivers fuel supply and the officials upheld the protest and the final 12 laps were not counted, which dropped Grant back to 12th place. Grant was also the first USAC driver to break the 200 mph lap, achieving this at Ontario Motor Speedway on the 3rd September 1972.

He also drove some World Championship Sports Car races where he was within 2 minutes of winning the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1966 with Dan Gurney in a Ford GT40 MkII. The car suffered an engine failure with just 2 minutes to go. They would have been clasified 2nd, but Gurney tried to push the car over the finish line, which was not permitted under FIA regulations, and the car was disqualified. To his family and friends we offer our sincere condolences.

Philippe Bugalski 12th June 1963 to 10th August 2012.

Rally champion Philippe Bugalski died at the age of 49 from injuries sustained after falling from a tree at his home in Vichy in France.

He was a works Renault rally driver in the French Rally Championship in 1994 and moved to Citroen in 1998 winning the French National title for 3 consecutive years 1998-2000. As a tarmac specialist, he was entered in several tarmac rallies as a third works driver in the World Rally Championship and won two victories in 1999, winning the 35th Rallye Catalunya in Spain and the 43rd Tour de Corse Rallye de France, both with Jean Paul Chiaroni in a Citroen Xsara Kit Car. Although a solid reserve driver, especially for tarmac events where he was often entered as the third works Citroen driver, after failing to secure a regular place in the WRC team, he quit professional rallying in 2003. To his family and friends we offer our sincere condolences.

William F. Milliken Jr 18th April 1911 to 28th July 2012 Born in Old Town, Maine, USA, William was an aerospace engineer, automotive engineer and race car driver. He competed in over 100 post war road races and was a founding member of the Watkins Glen Road Races, serving as head of the Rules Commitee.. He competed in the first Watkins Glen meeting in 1948, where he rolled his car. Milliken’s Corner on the circuit is named after him. He raced in North America for 15 years driving various cars such as Type 35 and 54 Bugattis. He was later chief steward of the US Grand Prix. He made a return to racing in later life and made several appearances at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and at the 50th anniversary of Watkins Glen. He drove the FWD Miller Indy car and his own MX-1 “Camber Car” at these events. To his family and friends we offer our sincere condolences.

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Audi Hedges . its bets.

Even after winning the Worlds toughest race, the Le Mans 24 Hour

Endurance race with its e-tron quattro hybrid, Audi still covered its bases for the 6 Hours of Silverstone by entering its Le Mans 24 Hours winning R18 e-tron Quattro hybrid car and the R18 Ultra diesel powered car to take on the other manufacturer involved in the series, Toyota, with its hybrid TS030.

The new Audi R18 e-tron quattro is the first diesel hybrid sports car with four-wheel-drive. Audi decided to take this two pronged attack and designed the R18 as a base for both models. The base is a compact 3.7 litre V6 TDI with a single turbocharger. This lightweight design allows for the additional weight of the hybrid system to be added to the e-tron, while making the Ultra the lightest sports prototype that Audi has ever built. The engine is a complete re-work on last years engine. The cars also use a new carbon fibre composite gearbox housing to improve weight distribution and a new electromechanical steering system is fitted to give more precise feedback.

To incorporate the quattro four wheel drive and hybrid drive resulted in an extension of the front section of the monocoque. This also had a positive effect on the overall balance of the conventionally powered Ultra.

The e-tron uses an Electric flywheel accumulator, max 500KJ WHP Motor Generator Unit developed by Bosch on the front axle, water cooled with integrated power electronics.

Even with the increased weight, both cars go to the grid with the same weight, but the Ultra can have its ballast added to give the best effect.

Audi R18 e-tron quattro

Classic and Competition Car Facebook Group We now have a Facebook Group Classic and Competition Car - where you can join and keep up to date with additional Photographs, postings, and extra event photo galleries. We also plan to add video clips where possible. Please feel free to add postings and photos and we look forward to hearing from you.

We have also updated our web site and are adding extra photo galleries, so please pop by and have a look on a regular basis to see what’s new www.classicandcompetitioncar.com Classic and Competition Car September 2012

© Janet Wright

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Audi R18 Ultra

© Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

The Future is here.

Welcome to the Green GT H2, the first Hydrogen powered sports prototype to be entered for the Le Mans 24 Hours endurance race. Green GT, based in Switzerland, and founded

by Jean-Francois Weber, Christophe Schwartz and Stanislas de Sadeleer. They have a base at Circuit Paul Ricard in France and

© Simon Wright

have developed the Green GT LMPH2 to compete in the toughest sports car race in the World. They have been invited to compete in the Le Mans 24 Hours next year, 2013 in what will be the ‘greenest’ car to take part in the great race. Using Solar energy to extract the H2 molecules from water using photolysis, the extracted gas is stored in tanks at 350 bar and can fuel a 100% clean car for 40 minutes with an engine output power of 460 HP. The team was formed in 2008 under the leadership of Jean Francois Weber, who has been involved for many years in motor racing and the Le Mans 24 Hours race. In 2005 he had developed an electric propulsion system for competition cars. The Green GT powertrain has previously been used in the Citroen Survolt Electric GT car in 2010 and now Green GT have unveiled the LMPH2, the World’s first racing car powered by a 300 KW hydrogen fuel cell. The car was on © Simon Wright display in the paddock at the WEC 6 Hours of Silverstone event Classic and Competition Car September 2012

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© Simon Wright

Steve Griffiths Lotus 101-Judd V8

© Mick Herring

On the gloriously sunny Sunday of the Lotus Festival at Brands Hatch, the circuit reverberated to the sound of four examples of F1 technology from the company's history and their current interpretation of the ultimate, rich, gentleman's trackday carriage, the Lotus T125.

Ably demonstrated by long-time Lotus tester and racer, Gavan Kershaw, the Lotus T125 is designed to give the ultimate F1 experience to it's lucky owner without the need for quite so many technicians to help you run it. Powered by a Cosworth developed 3.5 litre V8 producing 640bhp at 9,800rpm linked to a sixspeed paddle shift gearbox, in a car weighing a mere 560kg.

Lotus intend to produce no more than ten cars a year with a larger cockpit to accommodate those who can afford the $1,000,000 price tag.

Ex F1 star Jean Alesi has done much of the development work since the car's inception and the car has been featured on Top Gear, driven by Jeremy Clarkson.

Less physical to drive than a current F1 car due to it's lighter weight and more downforce than is allowed under current F1 rules.

Dave Newsham from Inverness took his maiden BTCC victory at the recent meeting at Snetterton and followed it up in front of his home crowd with another win at Knockhill in Scotland in the Team ES Racing Vauxhall Vectra.

© Simon

Wright

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Jules Bianchi (left) from France won the first Formula Renault 3.5 series race at Silverstone, supporting the WEC round in August. Local driver Sam Bird won the second race.

Classic and Competition Car September 2012

Unique 6 engined Lotus at Shelsley.

The 1964 Lotus 23 Rotorvic is unique as it uses six Aerial Arrow motorbike engines to provide a 12 cylinder experience to power this Lotus sport car. The project was the brainchild of R V Marchant, a senior engineer at the Lotus Cheshunt factory. Originally the project was an experimental engine for the 1961 to 1965 1.5 litre Formula 1 regulations. The engine is a V12 1483cc air cooled two stroke power unit made up from six Ariel Arrows twin 250cc engines. Each unit is © Simon Wright inclined outwards at 45 degrees giving a 90 degree angle between cylinders. © Simon Wright The engines are connected via a straight toothed pinion on each mainshaft which engages with a similar pinion on a shaft which runs down the centre of the engine. These gears are enclosed in housings and the shaft has a flywheel on its end which carries the single dry plate clutch and drives two distributors (in red in the left hand photo) of the electronic ignition system by a toothed belt. It is a unique bespoke solution which was exhibited at the Donington museum before being re-united with its chassis in 2006.

The original car was race prepared at Rotovic Developments for racing in 1965 by Bill Hill. It raced at Brands Hatch in October 1965 and had several other UK outings but was plagued with reliability problems. The engine in theory should have developed around 210-220 BHP, 35-40 BHP from each engine, which was similar to the BRM and Coventry Climax Formula 1 engines of the period.

Unfortunately due to lack of funding, the engine never realised its potential. One of the problems was trying to get all 12 cylinders firing correctly. A system of thermo-couples linked to an array of light on the dashboard allowed the driver to see which exhaust branches were not maintaining the correct working temperature to try to sort out the problem. © Simon Wright After the project was abandoned and the engine ended up in the Donington museum, it was out of action for 40 years. When the engine and chassis were re-united and restored, it made its debut at Goodwood in 2008 It was driven at the Lotus Celebration at Shelsley Walsh in August by Jeremy Deeley, where its unsilenced engine made an unusual sound as it powered up the hill. It was also the only car to be given permission to have a tow start before commencing its run up the hill.

Classic and Competition Car September 2012

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© Simon Wright

Retro Warwick Sunday 12th August 2012.

By Simon & Janet Wright.

A Classic and Retro Show for pre 1990 classic vehicles was held in the picturesque Market place in the centre of Warwick on a beautiful and sunny summers day. The free event drew a large crowd and a good selection of classic vehicles parked all around the Market square and surrounding roads. The various Cafes and Restaurants had laid out chairs to give a continental feel to the event and at times the square was

Cars lined up in the Market Square in front of the Randolph Turpin statue © Simon Wright

Classic and Competition Car September 2012

Plymouth Roadrunner

full of people and cars, making the most of a rare summers day in what has been quite a wet summer.

Warwick always attracts lots of American visitors and this show drew quite a collection of classic American cars, ranging from a fairly modern Dodge Challenger to a low rider 1952 Hudson. There was also the classic 1957 Chevrolet © Janet Wright Belair with its big fins and lots of chrome that typifies the big American cars of that period. On a sportier note there was also a Corvette Stingray and a Plymouth Roadrunner.

There were also a selection of American Hot Rods on show. European Sports cars were well

Volkswagen Beetle Pickup truck

© Janet Wright

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Hillman Minx Convertible dashboard

© Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

represented with a Ferrari 348TS and a 328 GTS, a Lotus Elite, Triumph Spitfire and GT6 Mk3, E-Type Jaguar and an unusual Piper P2 Sports car. Volkswagen enthusiasts also had a strong presence at the show with several classic VW Beetles, scirocco, Microbus and Transporter and an unusual VW Beetle pickup.

An excellent turn out of interesting cars which entertained a good crowd. © Janet Wright

1952 Hudson Pacemaker Coupe

Austin 7

Austin Seven and E-Type Jaguar

Piper P2 Sports car

Classic and Competition Car September 2012

© Simon Wright

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1954 Chevy

© Simon Wright

© Janet Wright

Toyota Sera

Corvette Stingray and Dodge Challenger © Janet Wright

Classic and Competition Car September 2012

1936 Jowett Kestrel

© Simon Wright

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Ford 103E Popular and Ford Prefect

© Simon Wright

Coys International Trophy Meeting, Donington Park.

28th July 2012

By Simon & Janet Wright with additional photos

by Pete Austin & Mick Herring.

The Historic Racing Drivers Club organised this 5 race meeting at Donington on the 28th July run by the BRSCC under the Coys banner.

High-light of the meeting was the Pre-66 FIA Gp2 Touring car race. Mike Gardner and Nick Faulkner put their Ford Falcon on pole position with Mike Wrigley sharing the front row in his Ford Mustang. The circuit allowed the powerful American muscle cars to stretch their legs to head the field, but special mention must be given to Nick Swift who put his Morris Mini Cooper S on the second row. The hour long race proved to be pretty much a flag to flag win for Gardner and Faulkner, with them only temporarily loosing the lead during the pit stops. Nick Swift managed a fantastic second overall, only 1 minute 10 seconds behind the Falcon in his Mini Cooper S and Phil Anning also achieved a superb 5th overall in his small © Mick Herring Riley Elf. Ben © Pete Austin Start of the TC63 & TC65 Pre 64 and Pre 66 Historic Gp2 type touring cars

Shuckburgh won his class in his Alfa Romeo Giulia Super and the other class was won by Dutton and Pittaway in his Alfa Romeo GTA. Interest in the race was provided by TV Chef James Martin, sharing an Austin Mini Cooper S with Andy Harrison. They finished a creditable 10th overall and 3rd in class.

The Grand Touring Greats for Pre-66 GT cars under 1500cc saw Nigel Bancroft put his Lotus Elite on pole position, but the © Pete Austin early leader was Ian Hulett in the WSM Sprite Sprint. Bancroft eventually hit the front and managed to open up a 12 second gap by the finish with Hulett finished second and Brian Arculus finished 3rd in a WSM Midget.

The Pre-66 Historic GT cars over1500cc saw the TVR Griffith of Michael Whitaker on the pole with another TVR Griffith driven by Andrew Marler and Dan Eagling next to it on the grid. The two 4,7 Micky Bolton spins at Redgate in his 1963 Studebaker Lark Daytona 500 litre TVRs proved to be the class of in the Pre-66 FIA GP2 Touring Car race.

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The TVR Griffith of Whitaker leads the Griffith of Marler/ Eagling as they lapped the rest of the field.

Š Mick Herring

Touring Greats Jaguar Mk7 of Graham Love and Chris Logue has a problem with a rear door in front of the Austin A50 of Peter Blanchett

the field, lapping every other competitor in the one hour race with Whitaker winning by 30.403 seconds. Mark Halstead and Stuart McPherson finished 3rd overall in their Lotus Elan S1 winning their class, Keith Ahlers Morgan Plus 4 SLR was 5th overall and another class winner, while TVR took another class win with the Grantura of Robi Bernberg and Adam Richardson. Finally the Invitation class winner was the Ginetta G12 of Chris Blewett and McDonald.

In this 50th anniversary year for the MGB, the event included an MGB50 celebration race for Historic MGB cars along with invited Historic MG cars, including several MGTC, a couple of MGA and a MG 1100 saloon. Andy Newall put the JCB Works MGB Roadster on pole for the 30 minute race, led from start to finish and won by 8.833 seconds from Adrian Johnson and Peter Edney, both driving MGB Roadsters. Jim Baynam in a Willhire MGB Roadster won the Invitation class, Andrew Cox won the MGTC class and Steve Atkinson was the last classified finisher and took the TC class in the MG 1100 saloon.

The other saloon race on the programme was the Touring Greats for Pre-60 Historic Touring cars. This race had a large entry and Nigel Webb and Anthony Reid put the Jaguar Mk 1 on pole position and led for the first 3 laps

Š Janet Wright

Paul Tarry Austin Healey Sebring Sprite heads Gordon Elwell in another Austin Healey Sebring Sprite

Classic and Competition Car September 2012

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© Simon Wright

before eventual winners Nick Naismith and Young took the lead in their Austin A95 Westminster. Butterfield and Dorlin led for a while in their Jaguar Mk1 but could only manage 3rd by the finish, leaving the Volvo Amazon of Malcolm Harrison and Paul Taft to finish 2nd overall and win their class. Other class winners included William Lynch in an Austin A35, Rochez and Mills in the

Great mix in the Touring Greats. Malcolm Harrison and Paul Taft Volvo Amazon in front of James Turner Ford Zodiac Mk2 and Victoria and Charles Beever Rover 105S

Jaguar XK150, Brian Arculus in a Hillman Minx, Mark and Andrew Cross driving a Morris Minor and finally Nick Leston driving a Gregory V8.

A really great meeting with a wide range of cars from the 1950s and 60s with something to © Janet Wright

Classic and Competition Car September 2012

© Simon Wright Above: Unusual car in the MGB50 race was this 1954 Lester MG of Robert Allen.

Left: Grant Touring Greats for sub 1500cc Historic GT cars head in to the chicane with the WSM Midget of Brian Arculus leading the white WSM Sprite of Rae Davis, the red Austin Healey Sebring Sprite of Gordon Elwell and the Lotus Elite of Nigel Bancroft

entertain the motor sport enthusiast. It also shows the great range of British cars from the period, many of which were later combined into BMC and then British Leyland and whose names, like Riley, Wolseley, Standard and even Austin and Morris have been lost to us at present.

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Touring Greats British Leyland owned all these manufacturers at some point. In the Touring greats race some more popular than others with the different models entered.

Š Simon Wright

Standard Ten

Wolseley 1500

Morris Minor

Austin A50

MG Magnette

Jaguar XK150

Classic and Competition Car September 2012

Austin A40

Jaguar XK140 FHC

Rover 105S

Jaguar Mk7

Austin A95 Westminster

Austin A35

Riley 1.5

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Standard Vanguard Vignale III

Jaguar Mk1

© Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

Classic Nostalgia Shelsley Walsh By Simon & Janet Wright.

28th and 29th July 2012.

The weekend was a celebration of various anniversaries, Saturday for the 50th anniversary of the MGB while Sunday remembered 100 years of Sunbeam and pre war 20’s and 30’s cars. Demonstration runs were also given by the latest Chevron GT3 sports racing car and the W196 Streamliner recreation driven by American journalist Ed McDonough, but instead of a sedate drive up the hill, both cars set competitive times as event entries. To help add to the flavour of the event, spectators had been encouraged to dress in period costume from the 1940s, 50s and 60s and an award was presented in the Courtyard on Sunday afternoon to the best dressed male and Fastest time of the day went to Martin Jones in the Chevron B42 female.

For this event classes were split to group similar types of cars together from similar time periods so as not to have to introduce handicaps for the competitive runs. There was also a Concours © Janet Wright MG B 50th Celebration d’Elegance competition for cars that had been driven to the event.

The weather on Sunday morning was bright and sunny but mid morning the sky went dark and the heavens opened causing the hill to almost become a river as the cars continued to practice. When the Period costume timed runs commenced it was the Chevron B42 of Martin Jones that set the fastest of the day at 28.19 seconds, almost matched by Peter Cox in the same car, who was second fastest in 28.45 seconds. Keith Harris made it a Chevron 1-2-3 with a time of 29.17 seconds in his Chevron B25. The fastest non-single seater was the loud and powerful Chevron GT3 in 30.96 seconds, 7th fastest overall on its first hill climb event at Shelsley Walsh, beating the impressive sounding Triumph TR7 V8 of Nigel Elliot by over a second.

Richard Withers MG B GT managed a time of 38.42 seconds Classic and Competition Car September 2012

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© Janet Wright

There were several really interesting cars taking part in the meeting including an American Chaparral Mk1 driven by Ian Wright (left).

© Simon Wright

David Fletcher-Jones GN Instone Special Martyr (right) managed a 41.95 second climb.

Geoff Hunt Lotus 22 (below) throws up the spray during the cloud burst mid morning.

© Janet Wright

Type to enter text

© Simon Wright © Simon Wright

David Gower-Poole in his pretty little Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint at Bottom S

Classic and Competition Car September 2012

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Ed McDonough in the W196 Streamliner recreation

© Janet Wright

© Simon Wright © Janet Wright

© Mick Herring

Above Edwardian Sunbeam display to celebrate 100 years since Sunbeams finished 1-2-3 at the Coupe De L’Auto section of the 1912 Dieppe Grand Prix.

Right Winners of the period costume awards

© Mick Herring

Chevron GT3 about to leave the start line

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AC Cobra parade on Sunday lunch time

© Simon Wright

© Janet Wright

© Simon Wright

© Janet Wright

© Simon Wright

© Janet Wright

Top Left: Part of the Concours d’Elegance entry drive up the hill during the Sunday lunch break.

Top Middle: Andrew Wilson in the Frazer Nash Norris Special.

Top Right: Part of the Alfa Romeo display at the top of the car park.

Bottom left: Leon Bachelier in the Jaguar Mk2 Coombs through Kennel Bend.

Bottom Right: Quite a few people made the effort to dress in period costume and take part in the competition in the courtyard Classic and Competition Car September 2012

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© Janet Wright

Bentley Drivers Club Silverstone Race meeting, Saturday 11th August 2012.

By Simon and Janet Wright with additional photos by Pete Austin.

The annual race meeting was the 63rd consecutive meeting held at Silverstone and celebrated a couple of historic dates in the Bentley calendar. It was 90 years ago in 1922, that WO Bentley entered a 3 litre car in the Indianapolis 500 in America and the same year that a team of three 3 litre Bentleys were entered in the International RAC Tourist Trophy race on the Isle of Man. With WO Bentley at the wheel of one of the cars, they won the team prize.

This years event was run on the National circuit at Silverstone and drew a large entry for the 9 race programme. As well as the races for Bentley cars, there was an Equipe GTS race for Pre-66 period specification sports cars, a Morgan, AC, and MG T Register race and an Historic Fifties Inter-Marque race, allowing other historic and classic cars to compete. During the lunch break the Bentley EXP Speed 8 Le Mans winning car from 2003 was demonstrated at high speed around the circuit.

First race was the Allcomers Handicap for ‘slower’ cars. This had a mixed field of non-Bentley cars and was won by Jim Deacon in a MG B

Simon Worthingtons colourful Bentley Continental GT

Roadster by just over 2 seconds from the Talbot 105 of Adrian Van Der Kroft.

Tasmin Doyle was a little way behind in third place at the wheel of a Morgan Plus 8. The Bentley drivers took to the track next in the Bentley Scratch race.

Beside all the vintage Bentley cars entered, there were 3 modern and unusual cars entered. Richard Wood won the race in his unusual Bentley T racing prototype but was chased hard by the brightly coloured 2005 Bentley Continental GT of Simon Worthington and the slightly more normal looking Bentley Turbo R of Stuart Worthington with Stuart taking 2nd place by the finish and Simon 3rd in the rainbow car. Sue Shoosmith lead the older Bentleys finishing 4th and winning her class. Other class winners included Chris Williams in his thundering 24 litre Napier Bentley, Ewen Getley in a Bentley 3 4 ½ and Jock Mackinnon in a Bentley 3 litre.

Next up was the Equipe GTS race for Pre-66 Period Specification GT carsJohn Andon took pole position in his Triumph TR4 and led off from the start, but by the second lap Mike Thorne in the Austin Healey 100M was in front as the Triumph retired. Thorne led for the majority of the race while there was an interesting battle for 2nd place between the MG B of Till Bechtolsheimer, the TVR Grantura III of Colin Elstrop and the Triumph TR4 of Dominic Spicer. With only 3 laps tp go Bechtolsheimer put the MGB in front but Thorne managed to lead the last lap to take the win by just 0.29 of a second from the MG B. Spicer was a close third in the TR4. Race 4 was a Classic and Competition Car September 2012

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© Pete Austin

Stanley Mann Bentley 4 1/2

© Pete Austin

Morgan race with a couple of AC Ace and an MG A added for good measure. The race was won by Richard Plant in a Morgan 4/4 from Tim Harrison in a similar car. Andy Shepherd was the first of the other cars in 7th place in his AC Ace Bristol.

The Keston Pelmore Challenge for Pre-war cars saw a good turn out with several Bentleys in the entry. Robert Cobden in a Riley Sports was the clear winner after 15 laps, winning by 34.89 seconds from the AC/GN Cognac of Tony Lees. Clive and Stuart Morley were the first Bentley to finish in 3rd place in their Bentley 3 / 4 ½ . The Aero Racing Morgan Challenge series saw a pure Morgan entry on circuit for another exciting rce. Paul Conway won in his Morgan Plus 8 from Matthew Wurr in another Plus 8.

Now it was time for Bentley action again with the Bentley handicap race. This saw the cars starting in groups with © Simon Wright performance taken in to account. This gave Guy Northam the chance to win outright in his 1928 Bentley 4 ½ litre by just 0.71 of a second from the colourful modern 2005 Bentley Chris Williams Napier Bentley class winner in the Bentley Scratch race Continental GT of Simon Worthington. Stuart Worthington was third in the modern Bentley Turbo R. The Historic Fifties Inter-Marque race organised by the Fifties Sports Car Racing Club is part of the clubs first year of MSA competition. The thirty minute race drew a varied field of fifties sports cars, including Austin Healey, AC, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Lotus, Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Porsche Bentleys ancient and modern on display in the paddock and Lancia. Brian Arculus took the win in his Lotus Elite, taking a comfortable win by 12.25 seconds from Andrew Sharp in an Aston Martin DB2 and Gareth Burnett in a Porsche 356. The last race of the day was the Allcomers Scratch race which saw several cars out that had not competed in any other races at the meeting. This field was again a varied mix of classic and modern, ranging from a Ford Sierra Cosworth saloon to a 1937 Austin Single seater racing car. Although there were some serious racing car entries it was the Lotus Europa of Chris Randall that won from Matthew Wurr in a Morgan Plus 8 and Steven Dickens in a Mallock Mk29.

The entire meeting was a pleasure for the motoring enthusiast, with a wide variety of cars on track and some very special Bentley displays in the paddock, something I’m sure that WO Bentley would have been proud to attend.

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© Simon Wright

© Janet Wright

Andrew Moore MG A in the MG T Register, AC and Morgan race, with the Silverstone Wing in the background

Bentley EXP Speed 8 Le Mans winner demonstration © Simon Wright

© Janet Wright

Richard Wood Bentley T winner of the Bentley Scratch race leads 2nd place Stuart Worthington Bentley Turbo R

Steven Dickens Mallock Mk29 leads David Hughes Ford Sierra Cosworth and Nicholas Ruddell Aston Martin Mk III

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Classic and Competition Car September

© Janet Wright

James Tiller Allard J2 finished 11th in the Allcomers Handicap race

David Cottingham Ferrari 500 TRC leads John Hilbery Lotus Elite in the Historic Fifties Inter-Marque race © Simon Wright

© Pete Austin Mike Thorne Austin Healey 100M won the Equipe GTS Race ahead of 4th place Colin Elstrop TVR Grantura III

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Archive photo of the month

Š Pete Austin

By Pete Austin

This has been a special year for the Lotus marque with celebratory events being held at Goodwood, Shelsley Walsh and Brands Hatch amongst others. This months image is of Emerson Fittipaldi in the JPS Lotus 72D during the John Player Challenge Trophy at Brands Hatch on 22nd October 1972. Believe it or not this circuit catered for Formula One teams on four occasions that year with the Race of Champions, British Grand Prix and Rothmans 50,000 also being held at the venue. Fittipaldi was out of luck on this occasion though, retiring with low oil pressure. Jean Pierre Beltoise went on to take a rare victory in the BRM P180. However Fittipald had by this time already claimed his first World Championship.

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© Mick Herring

British GT Snetterton 4th/5th August McLaren MP4-12C first BGT win and first double race winners of 2012.

By Mick Herring.

August, Summer, Snetterton, Norfolk, England, Torrential Rain and superb racing.

With the two Avon Tyres British GT free practice sessions safely run either side of Saturday lunchtime on the Snetterton 300 circuit, the rest of the schedule for the day (and some of Sunday) was thrown into chaos by torrential rain storms.

The pitlane, paddock and parts of the track were flooded twice by the afternoon deluges.

With water pumps already in strategic places, the Snetterton track crew and marshals worked valiantly to combat the efforts of nature at its most extreme.

Track curfew would preclude either scheduled GT qualifying sessions running, so times set in those free practice sessions would determine grid positions for Sunday's races. Sunday promised further rain, fortunately not during either British GT race as it happened, no time would be available in

United Autosports McLaren takes the first British GT win in race 1

© Mick Herring

the morning.

The Speedworks Corvette finished 12th in the first race

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Trackspeed's David Ashburn would start from pole position but the United Autosport McLaren MP4-12C, of start driver Charles Bateman, and Matt Bell who would be the victors from 6th on the grid, giving the McLaren its first British GT win.

Danielle Perfetti would come from 3rd to challenge Ashburn but ran wide later on lap 1, with Andrew Howard's Beechdean Aston Martin closing the gap and taking the lead just before the start of lap 2.

The waiting © Mick Herring McLaren caught the Aston Martin, passed it and proceeded to stamp it's dominance on the race.

The laps leading up to the pit window would witness many Winners Pla/ concerted attempts by so many cars to move up the order Lamborghini finished 9th in race 1

© Mick Herring

at every opportunity.

As the McLaren left the pits after it's stop, now with Matt Bell at the wheel it was closely followed by the Ferrari 458 Matt Griffin of (in for Duncan Cameron), but a too-short Ferrari pit-stop and consequent drive through penalty soon halted that chase.

Additions to the minimum pit stop lengths being used this year to determine the Balance of Power for the cars and respective driver grade.

Despite brake pedal pressure problems the McLaren maintained a good gap from the pursuers to win by 16.276 secs from Michael Caine's Motorbase Porsche GT3R (shared with Danielle Perfetti), Jonathan Adam Beechdean Aston Martin (Andrew Howard) 3rd, Matt Griffin Mtech Ferrari 458 (Duncan Cameron) 4th ahead of the three Trackspeed Porsche 997 GT3Rs of Steve Tandy/Joe Osborne, David Ashburn/Richard Westbrook and Jon Minshaw/Tim Harvey in 5th-7th respectively.

Returning to British GT after several seasons away, GTC honours would © Mick Herring

Trackspeed Porsche trio © Mick Herring

Gt4 1-2 in race 1 Mowle/Murrells and Wenham/Evans Ginetta G50

go to Gary Eastwood's FF Corse Ferrari 458 Challenge(shared with Ryan Hooker) and GT4 was won by Optimum Motorsport's Ginetta G50 by Lee Mowle/George Murrells.

Race 2 would herald the first double winners of the year with Steve Tandy/ Joe Osborne repeating their victory at Rockingham earlier in the season.

This belies the frantic race that unfolded for everyone involved and it was stirring to witness the three Trackspeed Porsches racing hard against each

Stanton/Rattenbury Ginetta G55 GT3 finished 14th in the first race

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Š Mick Herring

other, with Tim Harvey defending the lead from a determined Joe Osborne.

The pace took it's toll with several retirements in the opening laps including Jonathan Adam's Beechdean Aston Martin the, race 1 winning, McLaren MP4-12C of Matt Bell due to brake failure on the fast Bentley Straight whilst still doing over 100mph and also Richard Westbrook's lead Trackspeed

Perfetti/Caine Porsche lead the field through Palmer on the first lap

Porsche.

After the pit stops were completed the Trackspeed Porsches of Jon Minshaw(for Tim Harvey), Steve Tandy(Joe Osborne) and the Nissan GTR GT3 taking the first three positions.

With a quarter of the one hour race left, fuel pressure problems began to affect Minshaw, allowing Tandy to close in and take the lead that he would hold to the flag to win by 1.414secs.

This gap would see-saw as the intermittent fuel pressure problem returned, requiring much effort to keep the Nissan and the closing Ecurie Ecosse BMW Z4 at bay.

Fifth was the Caine/Perfetti Motorbase Porsche ahead of the, rapidly improving, John Dhillon Scuderia Vittoria Ferrari 458 (shared with Aaron Scott).

After a torrid practice and race 1, seventh was the Invitation class Chevron GT3 of Jordan Witt and Anthony Reid.

A creditable ninth overall was the Gary Eastwood/Ryan Hooker Ferrari 458 Challenge, again taking GTC honours.

GT4 was taken by the WFR Ginetta G50 of Jody Fannin/Warren Hughes to retain their class lead

Classic and Competition Car September 2012

Š Mick Herring

Accident to the Nissan caused it to not finish

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F3 Snetterton 4th/5th August 2012

© Mick Herring Race 1 winner Jack Harvey © Mick Herring

By Mick Herring Monsoon 2 - Summertime 1 Round 21 of the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series started under a dark sky on a damp track on Saturday afternoon, following an earlier thunderstorm, but torrential rain would see it halted after nine of the anticipated sixteen laps had elapsed.

The race was won from pole by a soaking wet Jack Harvey by 4.6 seconds ahead of Felix Serralles with Alex Lynn in third.

A first lap, three car, incident at the Montreal hairpin would lead to the retirement of Carlos Sainz Jr and Harry Tincknell would pick up © Mick Herring a puncture Torrential rain halts race 1 after 9 laps from the debris and require a pitstop. Jack Harvey took fastest lap and the championship lead.

Round 22 on Sunday morning was thankfully dry.

After yesterday's puncture, which saw him finish 12th overall, Harry Tincknell took full advantage of the reverse-grid draw which gave him pole position ahead of the two National class leaders.

Tincknell won by 3 secs ahead of Jazeman Jaafar, who started in sixth position and made short work of passing the the National cars in front of him by lap 2. The extra point for fastest lap was also his.

Third place went to Nick McBride, the Australian claiming his first British F3 podium.

The downside of the reverse-grid draw put yesterday's winner Jack Harvey in 12th grid slot and a momentous drive through the field netted seventh on lap one and an eventual fourth. Carlos Sainz Jr was 10th after his back of the grid start.

Race 2 winner Harry Tincknell

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© Mick Herring

Round 23 Sunday afternoon on a streaming wet Snetterton 300.

After the trials of the previous two races, Carlos Sainz Jr regained his form in the challenging conditions to win by 12.4secs from Felix Serralles

Pipo Derani takes to the wet grass in Race 3

and pole man Jack Harvey another 7secs behind in third. Alex Lynn was fourth ahead of Jazeman Jaafar. Adderley Fong enjoyed victories in the National class in all three races and lies third in class1

© Mick Herring Pedro Pablo Calbimonte hops the kerb on the wet track © Mick Herring

Adderley Fong clean sweep in National Class, taking class wins in all three races

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Wythall Carnival & Classic car show - 19th August 2012

by SImon & Janet Wright.

These three Classic Rolls Royce cars made an interesting centre piece for the show

(c) Simon Wright

Typical of many village fetes and carnivals, Wythall held its annual summer carnival on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Located south of Birmingham, between Longbridge, former home of the Austin car plant and current MG factory, and Solihull, home of Land Rover, there are lots of people in the area with a connection with the motor industry past or present. This annual village fete (c) Janet Wright always draws a good collection of classic (c) Simon Wright cars for the Classic Car Show. Many past British manufacturers vehicles are represented along with a few foreign and modern exotica. The cars are displayed in a separate field next to the Fete, and this year, as you entered the show, there was a display in the middle of the area of three vintage Rolls Royce Immaculate MG B series engine with twin carburettors motor cars next to a Jack Jones the Butcher Dad’s Army wagon of the type that appeared in the Triumph sports car line up TR4, TR3 and a couple of Stag

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(c) Janet Wright

MG C GT with sunroof and wire wheels

(c) Simon Wright

popular TV series Dads Army, along with 4 dummies that looked like some of the characters from the show. Many of the cars on display were from local car clubs, and were displayed in groups around the edge of the

field.

There were many cars there from the 1950s,60s and 70s as well as older and more modern cars. There was a good selection of MG Bs on display to celebrate the cars 50th birthday, plus a more unusual MG C GT. The MG C GT was built between 1967 and 1969 during (c) Janet Wright which time 9002 were manufactured in GT or Roadster layout. It came with a larger 2.9 litre 6 cylinder engine instead of the 4 cylinder 1800cc B series unit. Triumph The Austin A30/A35 were built just down the road at Longbridge was represented with a selection of sportscars including a Spitfire, TR3, TR4 and Stag. Other ex-Leyland models and marques included a selection of Mini, Austin 1100, Austin Ambassador, Daimler Dart, Triumph Dolomite Sprint and several Jaguars, plus various Ford and Vauxhall classics. There were a few American cars including a 1933 Ford V8 which was in the process of being restored.

Classic and Competition Car September 2012

Martin with his 1933 Ford V8

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(c) Simon Wright

One of the more unusual cars on display was this 1927 Crossley Fabric Saloon. When new, it cost £1012.50 delivered to Oxford, about the same price as four semi-detached houses. The original owner was Principle of Brasenose college in Oxford from 1948 to 1956 and kept the car until he died in1961. After his death, the car was sold at probate for £15 to Hudsons Bookshop. They had the car restored and after a few years use, it was sold for £75 to a private owner. In 1979, they moved to Australia and took the car with them as furniture.

Sammio Spyder

(c) Simon Wright The car was never registered in Australia. After the owner died, it was bought by the current owner who shipped it back to England and restored it to its current condition. It has an aluminium body covered in fabric, fitted to a steel chassis. It is powered by a 6 cylinder 3 ¼ litre 20.9 HP engine and could do 0-50mph in 25 seconds with a maximum speed of 70mph. It had a fuel consumption of around 15 miles per gallon. It was a luxury car with semi-automatic windows. You pulled the window down and locked it with a special catch mounted on the wooden trim on the interior of the door. When (c) Simon Wright you pull the catch up, the door glass automatically raises up to the closed position.

Classic and Competition Car September 2012

(c) Janet Wright

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1967-8 Dodge Polara 4 door sedan

(c) Janet Wright

VSCC Hillclimb Prescott 4-5th August 2012

By Simon & Janet Wright.

The Vintage Sports car Club (VSCC) made its annual trip to Gloucestershire in August to take part in the Prescott Speed Hill Climb event. The VSCC still use the original short course up the hill, by-passing the Ettore’s loop by using Orchard corner. This is the same course that was originally run by the club in 1938 when the fastest time of day was set

by Fry driving the Freikaiserwagen in a time of 47.62 seconds.

This years event saw a slightly faster time set Best Time of Day : 43.43 seconds by Terry Crabb in his ERA R12C to win the Mays-Berthon Trophy. The fastest Vintage car was Nicholas Topliss driving a 1921 GN Gnome in a time of 45.87 seconds. Prescott is owned by the Bugatti Owners Club, so there was a special award for the fastest Bugatti which went to Geraint Owen in a 1930 Bugatti T35B with a time of 46.07 seconds. There were various other awards, Dr Fastetst time of Day went to Terry Crabb in his ERA R12C The event also celebrated the Worlds first Sports David Pryke car - ‘Alfonso’ Hispano Suiza with two examples entered by Nick Harley and Tom Walker. The car was the fastest unevolved from their racing version used for Coupe supercharged sports car in a de L’Auto racing which they won in 1910. The 1936 Morgan/Riley engine capacity was increased to 3.6 litres and 4/4 while Mark produced 64 BHP. Mounted in a chassis which weighed only 13 cwt it was capable of reaching 80 Walker in his 1905 Darracq 200HP mph. took the Sam (c) Janet Wright Clutton Memorial Trophy for the fastest Edwardian automobile engined car at 49.61 seconds.

The Scrutineers’ award of the Silver Con-Rod Trophy was presented to Christopher Scott Mackirdy in a 1933 Aston martin Le Mans.

John Dennis Berleiet Curtess Tom Walker Hispano Suiza Alfonso

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(c) Simon Wright

(c) Janet Wright

Class winners were as follows: Class 1 - William Way Austin 7 Ulster. Class 2 Duncan Cartwright Riley Ulster IMP 2STR Class 3 - Edward Williams Frazer Nash TT Replica Class 4 - Jeremy Brewster Lea Francis Hyper Class 5 - Roger Buxton Alfa Romeo 6C Zagato Spyder Class 6 - John Guyatt Darracq Talbot Lago T150C Class 7 Mark Walker Darracq 200HP Class 8 - David Furnell Austin 7 The Toy Class 9 - Dr David Pryke Morgan/Riley 4/4 Class 10 - Jonathan Mellor AC/GN Beetle Class 11 John Earle Marsh Alvis Silver Eagle Class 12 - David Baker Piccard-Pictet Special Class 13 - Mark Purnell Riley Special Class 14 - Terry Crabb ERA R12C Class 15 -

Centenary for the Vauxhall D Type

First announced at the 1912 Olympia Motor Show, the D Type 4 litre 25 HP was a completely new model at the time for Vauxhall. Its engine incorporated several new design features including an integral inlet manifold in the monobloc and the cam and magneto drive shafts were driven by inverted tooth chains from the crankshaft making them much quieter in operation than previous engines. The D Type remained in production for many years, proving to be a great work horse during the (c) Simon Wright First World War. When production ceased in 1922, around 3,900 had been built Miss Gillian Carr Vauxhall A/D Type

(c) Janet Wright

Jim Young Aston Martin Competition runs out of track at Rolt corner

Nicholas Topliss GN Gnome Class 16 - James Baxter Frazer Nash Single Seater. For full results go to VSCC web site at www.vscc.co.uk.

(c) Janet Wright

(c) Simon Wright

Class winning James Baxter Frazer Nash Single seater

Classic and Competition Car September 2012

Lucy Delaney Lea Francis Hyper

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(c) Simon Wright

David Wood triumph Super 7

(c) Janet Wright

(c) Simon Wright

Ian Baxter MG Bellevue Special

Paul Compton Wolseley Aerees Special

(c) Janet Wright

Patrick Blakeney-Edwards Frazer Nash Saloon

Ken Hawes Frazer Nash Terror III rounds Pardon

Classic and Competition Car September 2012

(c) Simon Wright

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World Endurance Championship 6 Hours of Silverstone. 24-26th August 2012

By Simon and Janet Wright with additional photos by Pete Austin.

Winners Fassler, Lotterer & Treluyer Audi R18 e-tron quattro hybrid

ARX - Honda 03a which he shared with Nick Leventis and Jonny Kane while the smaller LMP2 fastest car was Martin and Alex Brundle with Lucas Ordonez in the Zytek Nissan Z11SN. Over 35,000 fans packed in to Silverstone to watch the race started under cloudy skies and the No 1 Audi, the hybrid grabbed the lead at the start but the Toyota Hybrid managed to get second place off the grid, while the JRM HPD ARX 3a of Brabham/Chandhok and Dumbreck got tagged in to the first Classic and Competition Car September 2012

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The World Endurance Championship rolled in to town at Silverstone for the final European round of this years championship, with Toyota fielding a single Hybrid car against Audi who had both a diesel and a hybrid entered.

Local team Aston Martin, based just up the road at Banbury, had three Vantage V8s entered in this fourth round of the series, with one car in the GT Professional class and two in the GT Amateur class. Previous time out at Le Mans, Audi had claimed victory with the Audi R18 e-tron quattro hybrid car and for this race Toyota were hoping to continue to show the performance they had shown in France to try and challenge Audi for victory. In qualifying there had been a heavy rain shower before the GT cars went out for their 20 minute qualifying session, which made the track a little slippy, but Richard Lietz and Marc Lieb were fastest in their Porsche 911 RSR (997) while Roland Goethe and Stuart Hall in their Gulf Aston Martin V8 Vantage were fastest of the Amateur class. Next out were the prototypes and local hero Alan McNish lost out on pole position by just 1/10 of a second to the Audi Hybrid of Marcel Fassler/Andre Lotterer and Benolt Treluyer while the fastest of the privateer teams in LMP1 were Strakka Racing with Danny Watts claiming Š Pete Austin fastest time for the class in the HPD

(c) Simon Wright

2nd place Alex Wurz, Nicolas Lapierre,Kazuki Nakajima finished 2nd in the Toyota TS030 Hybrid

corner and were spun out but were able to continue. After 10 minutes the prototypes were already lapping traffic and after 20 minutes, the leading Audi got boxed in by some slower lapped traffic as they rounded Copse corner and the Toyota was through and in the lead of the race. After 39 minutes the Toyota stopped for its first pit stop, handing the lead back to Audi.which managed a further 3 laps before it also pitted. By the first hour mark, the Toyota was back in the © Janet Wright lead. By half distance Aston Martin were continuing to lead the GT class and at the four hour mark Audi were leading overall with the hybrid car leading the Toyota by over 22 seconds with the diesel Audi back in third a lap down.

Rebellion racing were best of the rest with Nicolas Prost and Neel Jani 4th overall in their Lola Toyota B12/60 Coupe. With over an hour and a half still to © Simon Wright

Jean-Philippe Belloc, Christophe Bourret & Pascal Gibon Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR1

go, the safety car was deployed after first the JRM HPD spun off in to the gravel at Copse, then the Signatech Nissan Oreca 03 driven by Jordan Tresson managed to drive himself in to the wall at the start of the Hanger straight.

At the end of the 6 hours, Audi won with Fassler/Lotterer/Treluyer bringing the Audi R18 e-tron quattro hybrid home just 55.675 seconds ahead of Wurz/ Lapierre/Nakajima in the Toyota TS030 hybrid while Kristensen/McNish were third also on the same lap in their diesel Audi R18 Ultra. First privateer home in 4th place was Andrea Belicchi/Harold Primat in the Rebellion Racing Lola Toyota B12/60 Coupe. LMP2 was won by John Martin/Jan Charouz/Tor Graves Giancarlo Fisichella and Gianmaria Bruni Ferrari F458 Italia won the LMGTE Pro class in the ADR-Delta Oreca Nissan 03 who were 8th overall. The GT Pro class was won by ex Grand Prix driver Giancarlo Fisichella and Gianmaria Bruni in an AF © Pete Austin Corsa Ferrari F458 italia while the Amateur GT class was won by the sister car of Piergiuseppe Perazzini/Marco Cioci/Matt Griffin. © Simon Wright

The Oreca 03 Nissan of Nelson Panciatici, Pierre Ragues and Roman Rusinov has a quick spin at Chapel in practice

Brabham, Chandhok & Dumbreck- HPD ARX 03a Honda

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© Pete Austin

© Janet Wright

Lola Judd B12/60 Coupe of Alexander Sims and Julien and Maxime Jousse goes off at Village in practice taking with it the Porsche of Christian Reid/Gianluca Roda/ Paolo Ruberti

Fernandez, Mucke & Turner Aston Martin Vantage V8

© Janet Wright

© Simon Wright

The Zytek Nissan Z11SN of Lucas Ordonez and Martin and Alex Brundle passes the green Ferrari F458 Italia of Tracy Krohn, Niclas Jonsson and Michele Rugolo

Thomas Holzer Mirco Schultis and Chrstijan Albers Lola B12/80 Coupe - Lotus

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Classic Endurance Racing Silverstone 25th August 2012. By Simon & Janet Wright & Pete Austin.

© Simon wright

By Simon & Janet Wright with additional photos by Pete Austin.

The Classic Endurance Racing series is now in its ninth year of racing all across Europe. Supporting the World Endurance Championship at Silverstone is very apt as these were the cars that used to be at the legends of World wide Endurance races between 1966 and 1979. The entry for Silverstone brought a mouth watering array of classic sports racing cars to the grid and included entries from Matra, Lola, Chevron, Porsche, Ferrari, © Janet Wright Ford and BMW. Rob Hall put the fantastic blue 1974 Matra 670B on Pole position, the wail of its V12 engine Winner Rob Hall Matra 670B leads 2nd place Martin O’Connell in his Chevron B36 could be heard half way round the circuit. Rick Hall put the second Matra in third place with Martin O’Connell splitting them in his Chevron B36. At the start of the race, Rob planted his Matra in the lead which he © Pete Austin

Michel Lecourt/Raymond Narac the Porsche RSR 3.0 Litre

would hold till the finish. By the finish Rob Hall had extended his lead to over one and a half minutes from the Chevron of Martin O’Connell and Sandy Watson. The second Matra held 3rd for the first few laps but an incident on the 12th lap saw Rick Hall out of the race.

This left 3rd place to fall to Patrice Lafargue in the Lola BMW T298.

One of the high-lights of the entry was the fantastic blue 1979 Ferrari BBLM driven by Paul Knapfield. The car performed as well as it looked and sounded, finishing 7th overall and winning the GT2 class.

The Proto 1 class was won by Sandy Watson in a 1971 Chevron B19 who finished 6th overall and the final class winner was Michel Lecourt and Raymond Narac who won GT1 at the wheel of a Porsche RSR 3.0 litre

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Paul Knapfield Ferrari BBLM winner class GT2

© Simon Wright

© Pete Austin

Bernard Moreau 1973 Porsche 911 RSR 2.8 Litre applies opposite lock in to Club corner as he chases the Ford GT40 of Claude Nahum and Bernard Thuner © Simon Wright

© Mick HerringPatrice Lafargue Lola BMW T298 finished 3rd © Janet Wright

Proto 1 class winner Sandy Watson 1971 Chevron FVC B19

Classic and Competition Car September 2012

Doug Hart 1975 March BDG 75S

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© Mick Herring

MSA British Hill Climb Championship & Lotus Celebration Shelsley Walsh 18th-19th August 2012

By Simon & Janet Wright, with additional photos byPete Austin

Trevor Willis OMS 25 flashes his way to retain the lead in the championship after Shelsley Š Simon Wright

The British Hill Climb championship came to Shelsley Walsh with a field of over 200 cars ready to tackle the 1000 yard course. Trevor Willis arrived leading the championship by 25 points from Scott Moran who had missed the previous two rounds at Wiscombe and Craigantlet along with his father Roger. Scott missed out on the first Top 12 run off when a shower of rain hit the hill during his qualifying run. His father Roger made the most of his sons absence and won the first Top 12 run off in the shared 3.5 litre Gould NME GR61X. Jos Goodyear finished 2nd in his 1.6 litre GWS Raptor which had qualified fastest in the damp conditions.Trevor Willis finished 3rd in his 3.2 litre OMS 25. The second Top 12 run off saw Scott Moran back to the front to take the win in the Gould from his father by nearly 0.4 of a second as he set the Fastest Time of the Day at 23.41 seconds. Wallace Menzies 3.2 litre DJ Firestorm managed to snatch 3rd place from Trevor Willis by 0.01 of a second.30 points, but with the six lowest scores being dropped at the end of the season , and Scott has five zero scores so far, Trevor’s lead may not be as secure as it appears.

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Another rare car was the Lotus 35 powered by the 3 litre Martin engine. The car was © Pete Austin built in 1966 when Charles Lucas and Roy Thomas bought a crashed Formula 2 Lotus chassis and fitted it with the compact Martin V8 engine. The engine was an alloy construction using forked con rods, so it was small and light and had a good power to weight ratio delivering 275 BHP. Thomas did the engineering on the car and it made its debut at the Boxing day meeting at Mallory park in 1966 driven by Roy Pike. The Formula libre race was held in wet conditions but Roy managed to finish 3rd. It was tested in early 1967 at Goodwood where it was a match down the straight with the Eagle Westlake of Dan Gurney.

The Car qualified 14th at the 1967 Race of Champions at Brands Hatch driven by Piers Courage but the engine blew up and the car did not start the race. It next appeared at Snetterton for testing. Piers powered past the BRM H16 of Jackie Stewart down the straight, missed his braking point and badly crashed the car. It then caught fire and was written off and never raced again in period.

The car was subsequently rebuilt 35 years later when Allan Rennie found the engine lying in a workshop in Horsham in 2003. A chassis, only 2 numbers different from the original, was then purchased in 2005 at the Bonhams Monaco sale. After a further 4 years rebuilding both car and engine, the finished vehicle was run for the first time in March 2009. It made its ‘new’ race debut at the HSCC Snetterton Guards Trophy meeting the same year and after the leading two cars retired, won on its debut. More Lotus Elan 50th celebration line up work was required to improve the handling and the car runs at many Historic The meeting had a very Lotus flavour as it celebrated 50 years of the meetings around the UK. Alan did a couple of demonstration runs up Shelsley.

Lotus Elan. There were displays in the car park of Lotus cars, and two © Janet Wright invitation classes in the event of Lotus Sports and Racing Cars. There were several © Simon Wright interesting and unusual cars entered in these classes. The most unusual was the Lotus 23B powered by 6 Ariel Arrow motor cycle engines giving a total capacity of 1500cc (See separate article on page 9). A Formula 1 Lotus 35 powered by the Martin V8 engine had a Allan Rennie Lotus 35 Martin V8 F1 couple of runs Classic and Competition Car September 2012

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Roger Bevan in the ex-Emerson Fittipaldi F2 Lotus 69

© Pete Austin

© Janet Wright

Don Hand - Lotus 18 Alfa Romeo F1

Doug Bennett Sylva Striker © Pete Austin

© Simon Wright

Ian Parmenter Lotus 36 Elan S4 FHC cuts tight to the bank round Kennel bend

Barrie Williams Lotus 15 Buick with David Gidden’s Lotus 23B in background

Classic and Competition Car September 2012

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© Simon Wright

© Pete Austin

Roger Moran won the first Top 12 run off in his Gould GR61X

Malcolm Ricketts Lotus 58 F2 © Janet Wright

© Simon Wright

Martin Depper 1400cc Rover Mini Cooper

Classic and Competition Car September 2012

Keith Edwards Audi Sport Quattro

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Lotus Festival Classic Sports Car Club Elan 50 race Brands Hatch 19th August 2012

By Mick Herring.

Still looking remarkably fresh, it is hard to believe that just like the Jaguar © Mick Herring E-type last year and also the MGB, the Lotus Elan is celebrating its 50th birthday.

With an illustrious racing pedigree from the start it is fitting that a thirty minute, single driver, Elan only race would be held here at the Festival.

The cars would be split into two classes, the FIA Appendix K regulation cars running on Dunlop Historic Tyres and the "Classic" for cars running to either CSCC Swinging Sixties or HSCC Roadsports regulations.

The winner of the FIA class would receive "The Colin Chapman Trophy" donated by Clive Chapman and the "Classic" winner would win "The Ron Hickman Trophy" provided by Club Lotus, for each to keep.

The importance of this race and the opportunity to race their cars in England would see several Elans from Europe join the fray together with examples of the Elan +2 variety.

The race was dominated by Andy Wolfe's FIA car to win by 24secs(and fastest lap) but a race-long duel between the "Classic" cars of Al Fleming(Elan 26R) and Paul Tooms would see it resolved in Fleming's favour for 2nd(also fastest lap) and 3rd whilst another constant battle raged between Vicky Brooks and Andrew Marler(both FIA cars), this one being resolved in favour of the fast learning Vicky Brooks(see the March 2012 edition of www.classicandcompetitioncar.com for my impressions of this car from the passenger seat) against her more experienced opponent

Three wheeling contest Guy Fawe 10th

© Mick Herring

for 5th and 6th.

Ahead of them both was the "Classic" 26R of Peter Shaw in 4th.

First European home was the FIA car of Christophe Van Riet in 7th despite a trip © Mick Herring across the gravel at Paddock Hill, having been close more than once.

The contest for who could lift a front wheel highest down Paddock Hill's cliff face would be shared equally between Van Riet, Paul Keevill and Guy Fawe.

Winner Andy Wolfe The second race of this commemorative series will take place at Donington Park on September 15th/16th.

Race long battle Al Fleming (white car) 2nd and Paul Tooms 3rd

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Lotus Festival Lotus Technology Showcase, Brands Hatch.

By Mick Herring The Lotus Festival at Brands Hatch gave enthusiasts an opportunity not only to bring together examples of the company's illustrious history and also for Classic Team Lotus to showcase their preservation of important F1 cars in a race-ready state under the direction of Clive Chapman, it also gave the the Lotus of today the chance to © Mick Herring demonstrate that it has always 100cc Lotus Kart been at the cutting edge of technology, not only in the production of it's road cars but also the spin-off technology allied to the space age materials © Mick Herring Lotus Six used.

From the enthusiast's Lotus 6, Seven, Elite, Elan, via the restored Lotus 18/22 F1 car raced by Stirling Moss, Esprit, on to the latest road or racing Evoras, the © Mick Herring Exige V6 Cup/Race cars and culminating in the contemporary F1 car were all represented.

Also on display was the lightweight and aerodynamic Lotus Type108 carbon fibre Pursuit bike which enabled Chris Boardman to break the world one hour record at the Barcelona Olympics twenty years ago.

The Lotus Kart also represents Group Lotus as the only car manufacturer to have a presence at the entry level of motorsport, with the 100cc racing kart.

In the paddock there was an extremely rare Lotus Elan Estate, also known as the Elanbulance, one of only two ever built and based on the Elan Sprint by Lotus dealer Hexagon Garages of Highgate.

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Lotus Elan Estate or Elanbulance

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© Mick Herring

Lotus Festival Brands Hatch August 19th Lotus F1 Demonstrations

By Mick Herring The first demonstration runs in the morning had the T125 driven by Gavan Kershaw, a beautiful example of the revolutionary Lotus 49B 3 litre Cosworth DFV in the iconic Players "Gold Leaf-Team Lotus" colours driven by Classic Team Lotus boss Clive Chapman, son of Lotus founder Colin Chapman, ex-works Lotus F1 driver Martin Donnelly in the 1978 Lotus 79, also DFV powered and in the subsequent "John Player Special" livery ,the everenthusiastic Steve Griffiths relishing the opportunity to drive his 1989 ex-Satoru Nakajima Lotus T101 3.5 litre Judd V8.

The prize for the best engine noise would have to be awarded to the latest "proper" F1 car on view, that of the 3.5 litre Lamborghini V12 engined Lotus T102 of the type that Derek Warwick and Martin Donnelly drove in period and indeed the model in which Martin Donnelly had the accident which ended his contemporary F1 career, driven today by Andrew Morris. © Mick Herring

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Clive Chapman Lotus 49B

Later in the afternoon the cars would come out to entertain the crowd again but this time with the revision that everyone had hoped for.

This time Andrew Morris and Martin Donnelly would swap cars and Brands Hatch would echo to the sight and sound of Martin reunited with the type of Lotus in which he carved his F1 reputation. He would once again drive the glorious Lotus T102 Lamborghini. © Mick Herring

Andrew Morris Lotus 79

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Martin Donnelly Lotus 79

Steve Griffiths Lotus 101-Judd V8

Š Mick Herring

Classic and Competition Car is published by simonwrightphotos.com E-mail simonwright57@hotmail.com

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