Classic and Competition Car 36

Classic and Competition Car September 2013

Issue 36

Aston Martin centenary at Shelsley Walsh

Contents Page 3 News Page 8 Aston Martin DB7 Vantage Zagato Page 9 It's a Sin Page 10 Donington Test Day Page 12 Archive Photo of the month Page 13 Car Fest North Oulton Park Page 20 VSCC Prescott Speed Hill Climb Page 24 Pre-war Aston Martins at Prescott Page 25 British GT Brands Hatch Page 28 Coopers Tyres British Formula 3 series Brands Hatch Page 30 Four Ashes Car Meeting Page 33 Bentley Drivers Club Race meeting, Silverstone Page 37 Wythall Carnival Classic car show Page 40 GT Cup Silverstone.

Page 43 BRDC Formula 4 Silverstone Page 45 British Hill Climb Championship, Shelsley Walsh Page 47 Aston Martin Centenary at Shelsley Walsh Page 50 European Classic race meeting CSCC Donington Park Page 59 Donington National Kit and Performance Car Show Front Cover.

Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato powers up Shelsley Walsh as part of the Aston Martin Centenary celebrations Š 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.

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Classic and Competition car

September 2013

Our Team Simon Wright - Editor.

Simon has been photographing and reporting on motor races for many years. Served an engineering apprenticeship many years ago. Big fan of the Porsche 917 Pete Austin.

Pete is the man for Historic racing, with an extensive archive of black and white images covering the last few decades of motorsport in Britain. Very keen on BRM. Mick Herring Mick's first love is GT racing, including Historics, especially the Lola T70.

Has an extensive knowledge of all things GT.

Janet Wright.

Janet has been taking photographs for many years, and is also very skilled in video. She likes Aston Martins Page

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Editorial Aston Martin has really made a tremendous effort to mark the centenary of the marque. They have held events World wide and have rolled out special vehicles at each event, and to all types of event to reach the widest possible audience.

In August they reached out to the hill climbing fan base with special displays at both Prescott with the VSCC meeting and special pre war cars on display, then moving to Shelsley Walsh they displayed some of their greatest modern racing cars, even running the gulf Lola Aston Martin DBR1/2 Le Mans car from 2010 up the hill along with the UK debut of the hydrogen hybrid Aston Martin Rapide GT racer.

As the BTCC headed north of the border to Knockhill in Scotland, Rob Austin powered his Audi to his first ever Pole position in the BTCC. In the race, Colin Turkington pushed himself further up the championship by taking two wins in his E-Bay BMW and Andrew Jordan won the third race.

© Simon Wright © Simon Wright

Aston Martin AMR1 at Shelsley Walsh

Classic and Competition car

News News

Austin First Pole in BTCC

Motoring enthusiast Rod Wade, aged 70 from Australia is going to drive his 1930 Ford Model A coast to coast across America, from New York to Los Angeles, against the clock – 110 years since the first coast to coast trip was made. He will be accompanied by co-driver Michael Flanders, former Crew Chief for Dick Johnson Racing.

The challenge will be done to raise money for the American Kidney Fund, where Rod is hoping to replicate his fund raising efforts for Kidney Health Australia.

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Second racing Jowett Jupiter appears.

By Simon Wright Competing in the FISCAR Historic Intermarque races, Richard Gane was thought to have the only Jowett Jupiter currently racing in the UK. Then at the Bentley Drivers Club race meeting at Silverstone, John Arnold appeared with another Jowett Jupiter. In the race Richard finished 14th overall, 3 laps behind the winner, while John finished in 19th and last classified finisher, 5 laps behind the winner.

The Jowett Jupiter is unusual in that the entire front end lifts up to access the flat 4 1486cc engine. Fitted with twin Zenith carburettors, this produced around 60 bhp propelling the car to a maximum speed of 85 mph and did 0 to 60 mph in 11.7 seconds. The engine is mounted well forward, ahead of the front axle with the radiator low behind it Š Pete Austin

Š Simon Wright

Richard Gane 1953 Jowett Jupiter finished 14th at BDC meeting

mounted over the 4 speed gearbox with a column change.

About 900 were built in Idle, near Bradford in West Yorkshire between 1950 and 1954. Richards is a 1953 version while John's car was built in 1952.

The model had a successful motor sport heritage with a class win at the 1950 Le Mans 24 Hours race driven by Tommy Wisdom and Tommy Wise to 16th place overall.

They took another two class wins in 1951 and 1952 with Frenchman Marcel Becquart and British driver Gordon Wilkins finishing 23rd overall in 1951 and 13th overall in 1952. The Jupiter also finished first and second in class on the 1951 Monte Carlo rally, an outright win in the 1951 Lisbon International Rally, and a class 1 - 2 in the Dundrod 4 hour sports car race in Northern Ireland.

Classic and Competition car

John Arnold 1952 Jowett Jupiter finished 19th at Silverstone BDC meeting.

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Mallory looses Court case.

The owners of mallory Park lost their court case and were found guilty of breaching noise levels on five occasions last year. They were fined £2,500 plus £23,000 court costs at Leicester Magistrates Court.

The two year dispute with the district Council related to breaches of a 1985 notice which dictates how many days the track can be used each year and restricted noise levels.

The Council took action after 153 complaints in 2012 from local residents in Kirkby Mallory, about noise levels which some claim were © Janet Wright intolerable. The Council want Mallory Park to continue in operation, but hope that Mallory Park will take the judgement in to account with relation to future events, and that the circuit will respond to residents requests for less noise and disturbance for the people that live in the local village. The Council have warned that if there are any future breaches, then they would consider stronger action.

Mallory Park owner John Ward had previously stated that the circuit may have to close if the Council had continued to pursue its legal actions. After the hearing, a statement issued by the circuit said that Mallory park was reviewing its legal and trading position and that it remains open for business and to discussions with the council. The circuit also stated that it was delighted that the case has now established a number of facts regarding the 1985 Notice which were previously unclear.

Mallory park has been in operation as a motor racing circuit for 57 years, since Classic and Competition Car the Grand Opening on the 13th May 1956. The circuit had stated that an Facebook Group economic impact survey had estimated that the business was worth £10.5 million We now have a Facebook Group a year to the local economy.

Classic and Competition Car - where you can join and keep up to date with additional Photographs, postings, and extra event photo galleries.

Please feel free to add postings and photos.

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Š Janet Wright

Bentley return to GT racing.

In the 1920s Bentley was a major force in long distance sports car racing, winning the famous Le Mans 24 Hours race 5 times in 1924, 1927, 1928, 1929 and 1930. They then took a break until returning to Le Mans with a purpose built racer, the Speed 8, winning the race again in 2003 with a works entry. Now they are returning to their roots and offering customers the chance to race a Bentley in modern GT racing. The new Bentley Continental GT3 is currently being developed by the factory and is available for private teams to purchase and race in 2014. The car is undergoing a development program before making its full racing debut in the 2014 Blancpain series.

The Continental GT3 is powered by a dry sump, race prepared version of the Bentley 4 litre twin turbo V8 engine, which develops 600 bhp. The efficient and

Š Simon Wright

compact V8 design is perfect for racing. All the usual wood, leather and luxury finish are removed to help reduce the weight down to below the target 1300kg. Even so, the steering wheel, seat and even door pulls are all hand trimmed by craftspeople at the Crewe factory to maintain that Bentley finish. The Car can be seen being demonstrated at the Bentley Drivers Club race meeting at Silverstone.

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2013/14 MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series Invitational Round 1 2013/14 MSC New Zealand F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series Formula 5000 Australia Cup Series (invitational round) Muscle Car Masters meeting, Sydney Motorsport Park, Sydney Fri-Sun Aug 30-Sept 01 2013

FOUR-STRONG KIWI TEAM FOR AUSSIE F5000 SERIES OPENER

A four-strong Kiwi team headed by ageless veteran Ken Smith (Lola T332) crosses the Tasman next week to contest the opening round of the Formula 5000 Australia Cup Series in Sydney over the August 31/September 01 weekend. The round - at Australia's big Muscle Car Masters meeting at Sydney Motorsport Park (nee Eastern Creek) - is the first © Fast Company/GroundSky Photography. of four (and possibly five) rounds of this season's Australian series which members of New Evergreen Kiwi veteran Ken Smith (#11 Lola T332) seen here leading Zealand's Formula 5000 Association have been invited to compete at.

Clark Proctor (#57 March 73A)

As such they complement the four rounds of the successful, this season strictly New Zealand-based, MSC F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series. Joining three-time MSC F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series champion Smith in the New Zealand squad are Clark Proctor (March 73A) and Andrew Higgins (Lola T400), both from Auckland, and Tim Rush (McLaren M22) from Feilding. The four will join 10 local drivers in the field led by last year's Muscle Car Masters meeting standout Bryan Sala (Matich A50) and including - amongst others - category stalwart Aaron Lewis (Matich A50), the father of V8 Supercar brothers Alex and Will, Richard Davison (Lola T332), and young gun Tom Tweedie in the ex Peter Gethin Team VDS Chevron B24.

The four Kiwis will leave their cars in Australia and return to contest the second round of the 2013/14 Australian series in Melbourne in mid-September before shipping them back for the opening round of the four-round 2013/14 MSC F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series at Manfeild over the November 9-10 weekend. © Fast Company/Alex Mitchell

2013/14 MSC New Zealand F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series Calendar Rnd 1: Nov 8-10 2013 'The Sound' MG Classic Manfeild Feilding Rnd 2: Jan 17-19 2014 NZFMR Ferrari Festival - 1 Hampton Downs Nth Waikato Rnd 3: Jan 24-16 2014 NZFMR Ferrari Festival - 2 Hampton Downs Nth Waikato Rnd 4: Feb 01-02 2014 Skope Classic Powerbuilt Tools Raceway @ Ruapuna Park Christchurch 2013/14 Formula 5000 Australia Cup Series (invitational rounds) Rnd 1: Aug 31-Sept 01 2013 Muscle Car Masters meeting Sydney Motorsport Park Rnd 2: Sept 13-15 2013 Sandown 500 meeting (V8 Supercar's) Sandown Melbourne Rnd 3: Nov 08-10 2013 Sandown Historics meeting Sandown Melbourne Rnd 4: March 07-09 2014 Phillip Island Classic meeting Phillip Island Melbourne Rnd 5: (provisional) March 14-16 2014 F1 Australian GP meeting Albert Park Melbourne Prepared by FAST COMPANY of behalf of the New Zealand Formula 5000 Association Top local driver Bryan Sala (# Matich A50) www.F5000.co.nz Page 7 September 2013 Classic and Competition car

Aston Martin DB7 Vantage Zagato

© Janet Wright

The Zagato factory in Italy has designed and hand built just 99 of the DB7 Vantage Zagato which was introduced at the Paris Motor Show in October 2002.

This is car 34, finished in Aston Martin racing green with a special bitter

chocolate coloured leather interior.

Built on an uprated DB7 chassis, the bare bodies were then finished at the Aston Martin factory. All 99 were sold with a list price of £165,000, before they were built. One additional car was built for the Aston Martin © Simon Wright museum.

The DB7 Vantage Zagato is powered by the 6 litre V12 engine with a © Simon Wright manual 6 speed gearbox. it has a top speed of 186 mph and a 0-60 mph time of just 4.9 seconds.

Most are rarely driven and stored in air conditioned garages. It was also produced as © Simon Wright a convertible Check out our new updated WEB site at model as can be www.classicandcompetitioncar.com regularly for additional photo seen here in a left galleries, wall papers and other additional content and hand drive join our Facebook Group Classic and Competition Car.

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It's a Sin by Mick Herring.

Making its racing debut in GT Cup on Silverstone's Grand Prix circuit in August was the Sin Motorcars Sin R1.

A stunning German supercar, the brainchild of Russian Rosen Daskalov, a former kart, BMW and Radical racer who was keen to return to the power-to-weight and balance of a kart.

Conceived over a two year period © Mick Herring in Germany, the FIA homologated © Mick Herring space-frame chassied car, in both racing and road guise is integral with a carbon fibre passenger cell.

The mid-mounted General Motors LS3 V8 engine fitted providing over 500bhp and in the 1,000kg racer, an Albins ST6 6-speed sequential transaxle. © Mick Herring Built in partnership with UK based Pro Formance Metals and unveiled at the 2013 Autosport show, with the road car demonstrated at Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Rosen Daskalov and his team chose the GT Cup's shorter format races as part of the car's development programme enabling them to focus on detail improvements and get a good understanding of how it will perform in a competitive environment.

A tentative first 40 minute race would see Rosen finish 4 laps behind the winner, © Mick Herring

with an unclassified second race but a strong showing in the final 25 minute race would yield an impressive 9th position.

With continued development the Sin R1 could be competitive alongside the similar specced cars offered by Mosler, Riley TDC and Ultima as well as the more sophisticated cars from Ferrari and Porsche.

With a projected price of £60,000 the road car may become a sight, albeit a rare one, on the roads of Britain. © Mick Herring

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© Mick Herring

© Mick Herring

Donington Test August 29th

By Mick Herring.

A fully subscribed test day at Donington, ahead of the Superstars world meeting gave several drivers and owners an opportunity to test their cars ahead of the Goodwood Revival meeting.

Reigning World Touring Car champion Rob Huff tested, backto-back, two Ford GT40s along with their owner, Richard Meins.

The predominantly white, with black one piece bonnet, prototype Coupe must rank as one of the rarest examples of the GT40 in existence and accompanied the later red production car on track. The differences readily apparent from the frontal shots. Fellow Touring Car ace and seasoned sports car racer, albeit from a couple of decades ago, Steve Soper did numerous laps in David Cuff's white GT40.

Mike Jordan tested Philip Walker's silver GT40 "1041" complete with road-legal silencers. Only the aural delight of the car was subdued by this fitment.

The Lola T70 honours were upheld by Nigel Greensall's ex-Chuck Parsons, Carl Haas Racing Mk3 and Gary Pearson's ex-Sid Taylor, Frank Sytner Mk3B. An interesting comparison could also be made against successive decades of GT car with the GT40s sharing the track with Mark Sumpter's flame -spitting Porsche 911GT1 and a contemporary McLaren MP4-12C CanAm. Also testing were Greg Audi in a Shadow DFV F1 car and Nick Padmore sampling the ex-Gunnar Nilsson Lotus 77, the Wolf DFV F1 and an F3 March 783 © Mick Herring © Mick Herring

© Mick Herring

Steve Soper

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Mark Sumpter Porsche 911 GT1

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World Touring Car Champion Rob Huff

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© Mick Herring

© Mick Herring

© Mick Herring © Mick Herring

© Mick Herring

© Mick Herring © Mick Herring

Top: Nick Padmore Wolf F1 Porsche 911 GT1 and Ford GT40 Gary Pearson Lola T70 Mk3B Middle: Adam Wilcox Aston Martin Nick Padmore Lotus 77 Greg Audi Shadow F1 Bottom: Nick Padmore March 783 F3 Nearly 50 years apart Ford GT40 and McLaren MP4 - 12C © Mick Herring

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Archive Picture of the month By Pete Austin It is 100 years since the founding of the Aston Martin marque with many Centenary celebrations taking place during the year including the Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb which you can read about in this issue. In the early 80s Aston Martin enthusiast and service agent Robin Hamilton instigated the building of an Aston Martin engined car which was eventually named as the Nimrod. The car shown in this months image is the example owned by Viscount Downe (then President of the Aston Martin Owners Club) and jointly entered by Pace Petroleum (which had a 50 per cent shareholding in Aston Martin Lagonda). Sponsored

by Bovis Homes it is shown during the 1982 Shell Oils 1000 at Brands Hatch driven by Ray Mallock (driving here) and Mike Salmon. The car finished 9th

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Š Pete Austin

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© Janet Wright

1961 Ferrari TR61

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© Simon Wright

CarFest North, Oulton Park. 2nd-4th August 2013

By Simon & Janet Wright.

Chris Evans charity brainchild moved in to its second year of operation with a new venue for the Northern show.

Moving a few miles up the road from Cholmondeley to the famous racing circuit Oulton Park which is celebrating its 60th anniversary. Also in a change from last year, the Northern show took place at the start of August before Car Fest South at Laverstock. The on-track action took place round part of the Oulton Park circuit, offering fantastic viewing facilities for the spectators.

First car out on Track on Saturday was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, now owned by Chris Evans, and driven by TV Chef Paul Hollywood on Saturday morning and by Chris himself on Saturday afternoon. It was a very popular car with the crowds, both September 2013

Ferrari 288 GTO. The 288 GTO was built to Group B race and rally specification. For homologation purposes, a minimum of 200 cars had to be built and Ferrari produced 272 cars between 1984 and 1986. The O in the car name stands for Omologato, the Italian for homologation.

Unfortunately after the death of rally driver Henri Toivonen and his co drover Sergio Cresto in the 1986 Tour de Corse rally, Group B was banned and the Ferrari never got to compete in competition, leaving all 272 as road cars.

The GTO was based on the mid engined 308 GTB, but fitted with a 2.8 litre V8, twin turbocharged, fuel injected engine (hence the 288 designation). Under FIA rules the turbo charged engine was rated at 3997cc, just under the Group B 4 litre limit. Unlike the 308, the mid engine was mounted longitudinally to make room for the intercooler and twin turbo chargers. The car had a top speed of 189 mph (304Km/h) making it the first street legal car to break the 300 km/h barrier. It could accelerate from 0-60 mph in just over 4 seconds and 0-125 mph in just 15 seconds. © Simon Wright

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young and old. As in previous Car Fest events, Chris Evans grouped the track action in to seven vehicles to represent various categories of motoring. Chris's own Magnificent Seven headed the entry with seven superb Ferrari sports cars, including a 1961 Ferrari TR61 again driven by Paul Hollywood on Saturday morning and Chris Evans in the afternoon, a 1963 250 GT SWB, a 1965 275 GTS Spyder, the ever popular 1973 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona, a rare 1985 Group B Ferrari 288 GTO, a 1990 F40 and a 2011 Ferrari © Simon Wright SA Aperta.

The next batch was the Iconic Seven Group 44 Jaguar which included the E-Type racer from America © Janet Wright Group 44 E-Type Jaguar convertible racing car from America, a Citroen DS convertible, a Rah Welt 911, a Chevrolet Corvette, a Caterham Lotus 7, a Chevrolet Camaro dragster, a Nissan GTR Skyline and Ed McDonough at the wheel of the Streamliner, a recreation of the 1954 Mercedes Benz W196 Grand Prix car which was fitted with a streamlined body for the races at Reims and Monza.

Next it was the turn of the Historic Motorbike seven to tear up the track. As © Janet Wright well as the 2 1976 Ex- James Hunt McLaren M23 Grand Prix car wheeled bikes, there was also a road legal racing sidecar with 3 wheels and a GG Quadstar complete with 4 small wheels. © Simon Wright It was now time for some of the fastest Supercar's in the World to wow the crowd. First out of the gate was the McLaren MP4-12C, followed swiftly by the Audi R8 V10, a Ferrari Aperta, a Lexus LFA, a Noble M600 and a Bentley Continental.

The fastest production cars in the World were followed by some of Mobile Shed! the strangest - a mobile office Lamborghini celebrated 50 years

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© Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

consisting of a driving desk steered by a computer keyboard and a garden shed!

The track action lasted for almost 2 hours and included modern Formula 1 cars, rally cars, vintage cars, dragsters, Le Mans sports racing cars and a special Aston Martin seven as part of the continuing Aston Martin Centenary celebrations. There was also a large display of Aston Martin models in the centre of the circuit.

Lamborghini were also celebrating their 50th birthday with seven on track.

Car Fest is a lot more than just the track action. The paddock was filled Drag race up the hill with car clubs displaying everything, from the humble Mini through to © Simon Wright powerful Dragsters. There were rides in a Monster truck as it crushed cars beneath it and the centre area of the circuit was filled with food! Tents and marquees filled with cakes and pies, and every type of food imaginable was available. There was also © Janet Wright

Aston Martin Vantage celebrating 100 years

Classic

action in the air, with helicopter and air displays plus a flying display by the mighty Vulcan bomber.

And if all this was not enough, there was music, lots and lots of top acts performing on stage well in to the evening. Texas were the headline act on Friday while Ocean Colour Scene, the Feeling and Deacon Blue were all on stage on Saturday and Sunday finished with Jamie Cullum and Alfie Boe September 2013 and Competition car

Rally Car paddock

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© Simon Wright

© Janet Wright

IMSA Jaguar XJR-7 © Simon Wright

Audi Quattro Rally car © Simon Wright

Dancing Diggers

© Simon Wright

Pontiac © Janet Wright

Mustang P51

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Chevrolet Corvette

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© Simon Wright

© Janet Wright

© Simon Wright

Streamliner

© Simon Wright

Vulcan

All kinds of car clubs in the paddock © Simon Wright

© Janet Wright

1989 Lotus Type 101

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Nick Mason's Ferrari 250GTO

© Simon Wright

© Janet Wright

September 2013

© Simon Wright

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© Simon Wright Matra Seven.

One of the more exciting groups for the classic motor sport fan at Car Fest was the Matra Seven. The sound of the V12 wail as the cars drove around Oulton Park was magnificent. The cars included both Grand Prix single seaters and Le Mans Sports Prototypes.

The French armament firm went in to car production when it bought Automobiles Rene Bonnet in October 1964 and began manufacturing racing cars and sports cars. Starting off in Formula 3 and Formula 2 with considerable success in France and European championships, they progressed to Grand Prix racing in 1968 with Jackie Stewart winning several Grand Prix in a Ex Chris Amon Matra Simca MS120 Grand Prix car Tyrrell run Matra MS10, running along side the works team. For 1969 Matra decided to put its support behind the Tyrrell team running the Cosworth DFV engine in the Matra chassis with a car using structured fuel tanks even though that design would be banned for the following season. The decision paid off, with Jackie Stewart being crowned World Champion driving the Matra MS10. Matra went in to partnership with Simca in 1970 and ran their own V12 engine. Stewart and Tyrrell went their own way, as they were © Janet Wright backed by Ford and Elf, who had an agreement with Renault which precluded a deal with Simca. Matra ran their own all French Grand Prix team with drivers Jean Pierre Beltoise and Henri Pescarolo driving the MS120. Pescarolo finished 3rd in Monaco and Beltoise finished 3rd at Spa and Monza. The car was developed in to the MS120 B in 1971 and Pescarolo was replaced by New Zealand driver Chris © Simon Wright Amon who managed a 3rd place in Spain in his second race, which was the only podium placing for the team Tour de France winning Matra 650 during the year. Matra were down to just running one car in 1972 for Chris Amon, which managed a 3rd place in France and finished 8th in the championship.

By this point Matra had switched its attention to the Le Mans 24 Hours race, having been building sports racing cars since the Matra MS630 in 1967. The Sports car rules for 1968 limited prototype cars to a 3 litre

1973 Le Mans winning Matra Simca 670B

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© Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

engine which meant that the Matra V12 engine could be used in both Grand Prix and Sports car racing. In the 1968 race the MS630 driven by Johnny ServoGavin and Henri Pescarolo was a match for the 3 litre Porsche and the car was running in 2nd place at the Le mans 24 Hours race at the 22 hour mark before a puncture caused the car to crash out of the race. For Matra 650 circuit sports car with additional wings 1969 World Championship winning Matra Cosworth MS80 1969 Matra produced the fixed head MS640 and the open cockpit MS650. Unfortunately Pescarolo had a heavy crash while testing the MS640 and it was never rebuilt. The MS650 finished 4th at Le Mans and took its first victory at Montlhery driven by Pescarolo and Jean Pierre Beltoise. In 1970 and 1971 the 5 litre Porsche 917 and Ferrari 512 dominated sports car racing. The MS650 did manage to take 1st and 2nd place on the Tour de France and the new monocoque MS660 took a win at Montlhery. The team ran just one MS660 in 1971 with no success, but the faithfully MS650 was dusted off to again win the 1971 Tour de France. For 1972 the 5 litre sports cars were banned and Le Mans was dropped from the World Sports Car © Janet Wright Championship. Ferrari dominated the World Championship but did not enter Le Mans, but Matra was only interested in Le Mans and developed the MS670. This gave Matra a 1-2 finish at the 1972 Le Mans 24 hours race with former World Champion Graham Hill and Henri Pescarolo driving the winning car, and Francois Cevert and Howden Ganley finishing second. Matra decided to compete in the entire World Championship in 1973, deciding to concentrate on Sports car racing and withdrew from Grand Prix. The modified MS670B beat Ferrari to the World Championship and also won the Le Mans 24 Hours again with Pescarolo and Gerrard Larrouse winning the 24 hour race. In 1974 Ferrari withdrew from the Sports Car World Championship, leaving Matra to defend its crown with the MS670C, from Alfa Romeo and Matra scored their third successive Le Mans 24 Hour victory with Pescarolo and Larrouse taking a second victory. Having achieved their aims in motorsport, Matra withdrew from competition at the end of the 1974 season.

1974 Matra 670C World Sports Car Championship

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© Janet Wright

© Pete Austin

VSCC Prescott Speed Hill climb 3rd & 4th August.

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

The 75th running of the blue ribband speed event of the Vintage Sports Car Club, Prescott is always fully subscribed with a full entry of 260 cars. The club always run the original course which turns right at Orchard corner, ignoring the newer Ettore's bend loop. This years event was held in wet conditions after a dry practice day on the Saturday, but the rain stopped in the afternoon for the Georg Prugger 1930 Lea Francis Hyper second runs.

Fastest time of the day and the Mays-Berthon Trophy went to Mac Hulbert driving a 1938 ERA R4D in a time of 43.78 seconds, © Pete Austin over 2 seconds outside the current Colin Bullock Lea Francis Cirrus Special leaves record for his class, but only 8/10th the start line in the wet slower than his practice time from the dry Saturday. Mac only made one run on Sunday on the drying track in the afternoon, but it was enough to secure his victory.

The fastest Vintage car was driven by Robin baker. His 1930 Hispano/ Amilcar Special recorded a time of 45.15 seconds.

The Sam Clutton Memorial Trophy for the fastest Class 7 Edwardian car was awarded to Andrew Howe-Davies driving the 1911 Scat Racer. its 9.5 litre engine powered it up the hill in 57.91 seconds.

The Peter Hampton Tankard for the fastest Bugatti was taken by Chris Hudson in a Bugatti T35B, while the Silver Con-Rod Trophy, the Scrutineer's award, went to the 1924 Vauxhall 30-98 Velox of Paul Rogers. The final overall award was for the fastest unsupercharged sports car which was presented to Brian White with his 1934/38 Frazer Nash Mac Hulbert FTD 1938 ERA R4D

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Š Simon Wright

John Seber Wolseley Hornet Special

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© Pete Austin

© Janet Wright

BMW TT replica.

These Vintage events are about so much more than just the overall fastest honours. With cars ranging in size, age, power and weight, there is a comprehensive class structure to allow people to compete against similar cars, who don't have the fastest car overall, but can enjoy a good weekends competition against friends in a friendly atmosphere and still have a chance to take home a class award. At Prescott, there were 16 different classes ranging from Dr David Morley Riley 9 Class 1 Standard and Modified Sports Cars up to 750cc Unsupercharged up to Class 16 Pre 1941 Racing Cars over 3000cc. In Adam Painter 1935 Maserati 4CS each class there are usually at least 3 different awards, 1st overall in class, 1st Vintage in class and 1st handicap in class. It is possible to win more than one award in class depending on the results. © Simon Wright Ewen Getley in a Bentley 3/4 1/2 litre took both 1st overall and 1st Vintage in Class 11 Special Sports Cars over 3000cc Unsupercharged and over 2250cc Supercharged class.The closest class results were in the Standard and Modified Sports cars 2001-3000cc Unsupercharged and up to 2000cc Supercharged class where Norman Pemberton in a 1935 Talbot 95/105 took overall class honours by just 0.24 of a second from Miss Alex Pilkington in her 1930 Alfa Romeo 6 C 1750.

Other Class winners included William Way in an Austin 7 Ulster, Keith Pointing in a Riley Brooklands, Patrick Blakeney-Edwards Frazer Nash Super Sports, Adam Painter driving a superb 1935 Maserati 4CS, Jerome Fack at the wheel of a 1936 Brough Superior Alpine GS, Kevin Morton driving a 1931 Gillian Carr Vauxhall A/D Type

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© Janet Wright

Riley 9 Special Sports and Dr David Pryke in a 1936 Morgan/Riley 4/4.

The Non-Automobile engined Edwardian cars saw the unusual 1913/18 Vauxhall Viper Special of Tony Lees take the class win with a time of 52.09 seconds and finally John Gunn took the Pre-1941 Racing car class with his 1936 MG Q Type replica. © Pete Austin

Nigel Hall Lagonda LG45 Sports Tourer

Claire Furnell Austin 7 The Toy © Simon Wright

Jeremy Way Austin 7 Mrs Jojo

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© Pete Austin

Aston Martin - The pre-war era at Prescott.

On Sunday at Prescott there was a parade of pre-war Aston Martin - in the majority Bamford and Martin cars including an early Singer that Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford developed between 1912 and 1914. Two early cars, the Halford Special and Razor Blade were also paraded as well as competing in the main climb event.

1923 Aston Martin Razor Blade as driven

by Colin Shaw at Prescott. In 1923 Major Halford at Brooklands achieved 100 miles in one hour.

© Janet Wright

© Simon Wright

1919 Singer 10 similar to the one marketed by Lionel Martin in 1913 when he and used one for trials and hill climbs. He modified it from a 45 mph Tourer to a 80 mph racer.

1922 Green Pea Chassis No 1913. One of a pair of twin OHC 16 valve racing cars for Count Zborowski making their debut at the 1922 Strasbourg GP. In 1923 a SV Aston engine was fitted on its sale by Bamford & Martin. © Janet Wright

1923/25 Halford Special driven by James Cheyne © Simon Wright

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© Simon Wright

This 1924 Aston Martin Tourer is the only surviving Lionel Martin long Chassis four seater Tourer which retains its original bodywork. The last of 26 cars built by Bamford and Martin Ltd. In Concours it has won its class at AMOC meetings and Pebble Beach in America Page

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British GT Brands Hatch

By Mick Herring.

August 2013

After the long summer break the British GT Championship resumed on Brands Hatch's Grand Prix circuit.

Sadly, this would be without one of its longest serving protagonists, the late and much-missed Allan Simonsen.

As a mark of respect all cars carried a motif, the front row would be kept clear allowing Allan to take his customary position and a 60 second sounding of race engines would herald British GT's farewell to "The Great Dane".

Steve Tandy would start from pole position in the 888/Optimum BMW Z4, after Dan Brown's fast lap on Saturday afternoon, but relinquished the lead to Andrew Howard's Beechdean Aston Martin that had sat alongside.

With thirty two cars taking the start frantic action was guaranteed both on GT4 winner Rick Parfitt gets leaned on at Paddock by Osborne-May © Mick Herring and off track with collision damage accounting for some retirements, a lost door accounting for the Blendini Ginetta G50 and the LNT Ginetta G55 GT3 when it was hit by the flying door at 140mph with Zak Brown's United Autosports McLaren suffered a tyre blow-out ended his race after very heavy rear contact with the barriers.

The lead changed hands several times and Colin White's Ginetta G55 © Mick Herring © Mick Herring GT3 took a hard earned turn at the front after overcoming two BMWs and the Aston until a mistake put the Aston back in the lead with the Von Ryan McLaren of Gregoire Demoustier climbing from 19th to lead for a while.

Rick Parfitt Jr maintained his lead Remembering Allan Simonsen Patterson-Bell United Autosports Audi R8 at Druids 6th Page 25 September 2013 Classic and Competition car

© Mick Herring

throughout despite his Crohn's disease induced spell in hospital, until just a few days earlier and still weak, handing over the Optimum Ginetta G50 to Ryan Ratcliffe who maintained the lead to take their third consecutive GT4 victory, winning by 1minute 10 seconds from Alex Osborne/James May's G50. © Mick Herring

Race start Steve Tandy leads the field Chaos ensued in the pit lane when David Ashburn overshot his pit box causing the following cars to be out of place and blocking his exit until their stops were © Mick Herring

Duncan Tappy McLaren holds off Olly Bryant 0.8 secs at flag completed.

An exciting and action-packed race with 9 seconds separating the winning Beechdean Aston Martin from the Von Ryan McLaren now in the hands of Duncan Tappy.

Barely a second covered the BMW Z4s in 3rd and 4th with the Marco Attard/Oliver Bryant Ecurie Ecosse car heading 888 Optimum car of Steve Tandy and Dan Brown.

The next round is at Zandvoort in Holland.

Aston regains the lead from Demoustier McLaren at Druids

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© Mick Herring

© Mick Herring

Ecurie Ecosse BMW Z4 Attard-Bryant 3rd

One time leader Colin White Ginetta G55 GT3 12th

© Mick Herring

© Mick Herring

Rembert Berg-Warren Hughes Audi 14th

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GT4 winner Ryan Ratcliffe takes the flag by 1m10s Page 27

© Mick Herring

Cooper Tires British F3 International Series Brands Hatch GP By Mick Herring.

Cooper Tires British F3 International Series stalwart, Jazeman Jaafar, made the most of his pole position by converting it into a lights to flag victory in Saturday afternoon's first race on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit.

Such was the pace © Mick Herring that the first eight cars in the International class and National class winner, China's Sun Zheng, all completed twentythree laps in the 30minutes.

Colombian lady-racer Tatiana Calderon Second place went fends off a recovering Will Buller to Jordan King, who remained within two seconds within 2 seconds of his Carlin team-mate, closing to 0.428 at the flag.

Will Buller nears track limit Championship leader Will Buller was adjudged to have jumped the start going from 7th to 4th. His reward was a drive-through penalty but he would climb back to 6th, claiming an extra point for setting fastest lap. Third was Antonio Giovinazzi ahead of the the Carlin duo of Nicholas Latifi and Jann Mardenborough.

The grid for Race 2 on Sunday morning was determined by the reversal of the top eight from race 1.

Victory, his first, went to Brazilian Felipe Lopes Guimaraes who had finished 7th on Saturday managed to beat Antonio Giovinazzi by 2.6 seconds.

Will Buller repeated his jump start, with another drive-through issued.

He would make progress back to 5th on the road but penalties of 5 and 30 seconds, for track-limit infringements would drop him to 9th, another fastest lap his only compensation.

Jazeman Jaafar finished 3rd, a further 10.5 seconds back.

Nicholas Latifi also suffered twin track-limit penalties to finish 10th, however subsequent review of video evidence saw their penalties removed, placing them in 4th and 6th respectively.

Ed Jones took the National class victory in 8th.

Race 3 would net Jazeman Jaafar his second victory of the weekend and a Carlin 1-2-3, ahead of Jordan King and Nicholas Latifi.

Will Buller tangled Antonio Giovinazzi on lap two, the Italian eliminated on the spot National class leader Sun Zheng

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© Mick Herring

© Mick Herring Maiden win Felipe Lopes Guimaraes Double race winner Jazeman Jaafar with Buller's car damaged and needing pit work to enable him to rejoin and finish an eventual 12th. Fourth place was claimed by a distant Felipe Guimaraes with Jann Mardenborough close behind.

The National class was won by Ed Jones in 8th.

Heading into the final round at the Nurburgring, the championship standings are:- Jordan King 118pts, Will Buller 115pts and Antonio Giovinazzi 97pts, whilst the National class reads Sun Zheng 143pts, Ed Jones 103pts and Cameron Twyman 82pts.. © Mick Herring

Jumped starts R'us Will Buller 2nd in championship

Antonio Giovinazzi leaves Brands Hatch in 3rd place

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© Simon Wright

Four Ashes Car meeting. 1st August 2013.

By Simon Wright.

The first Thursday evening of the month sees car owners gather at the Four Ashes public house just north of the city of Wolverhampton in the Midlands. This once "free" meeting is now charging cars to park and display on the large field behind the pub, but it did not seem to deter the crowds on the lovely summer evening of the 1st of August.

These types of gatherings always draw out a large variety of cars, ranging from the odd vintage car, through a scattering of classic cars, right up to modern modified cars and various owners clubs who all come together to enjoy their passion for the automobile. Several hundred cars turned up and a collection of motorcycles and scooters, some of which should be classified as art works Four Ashes, where Classic and Modern meet. MGB GT and Austin A35 on the way out and new Ford Fiesta on the way in. due to the custom paint jobs they have. There were also several classic American muscle cars in attendance. These included a Ford Torino similar to the car in the TV series Starsky and Hutch, a new Ford Mustang with a yellow and black paint job like Bumble Bee from the Transformers movie and a Dodge Charger similar to the car from the Dukes of Hazzard. There was a © Simon Wright great looking 1964 Cadillac and a Pontiac Bonneville showing the big American saloon style of the 1960's without all the chrome and fins of the earlier 50s models.

There was an impressive line up of modern supercars, showing that even in the most austere of times, there is still money around 1970s Bristol Type 603 Scooter Art for great cars. The Audi R8 September 2013 Classic and Competition car

© Simon Wright

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convertible was resplendent in Red, matching the colour of the Ferrari 308 GT4 2+2 V8 which was a little further up the field. There was a fine example of a Lotus Excel and a modern Aston Martin to add a British flavour to the super car mix.

Several motoring clubs were in attendance, with members parking up together, including Various Ford Grandas and a line up of Vauxhall VXR hot hatch backs.

Ford have always been a major car supplier in England and it was reflected in the cars that were on show representing © Simon Wright Vauxhall VXR line up the modern history of Ford with such models as the Anglia, Escort, Capri, Granada, Mondeo, Fiesta and a replica GT40. © Simon Wright Amoung the unusual cars at the meeting was a Volvo 1800 ES estate, their sporty coupe with an extended back. There was © Simon Wright Riley RMD also a Ford Anglia which had been lowered and modified with a 4 cylinder twin overhead cam turbo charged engine fitted and a Classic Riley RMD painted Black and Pink,

Volvo 1800 ES Estate

which I don't think was a factory option paint job! With cars in to the hundreds, this gathering certainly remains a popular meeting during the summer months.

Ford Granada

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© Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

Jaguar MkII pair

Dodge Charger R/T

Ford Anglia

© Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

Rover 9

Ford Torino 390 © Simon Wright

Ford Mustang

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© Simon Wright © Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

Sunbeam Rapier

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Ford GT40

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© Simon Wright

Bentley Drivers Club race meeting, Silverstone10th August 2013.

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

The paddock at the Bentley Drivers Club meeting at Silverstone is usually more impressive than the race track, as vintage Bentley models are displayed with pride by their owners who may not be willing to risk their priceless pride and joy to the rigours of the circuit. However, the Bentleys that do grace the track are not restrained because of their value, but are raced as fast as they will go, in clean and fair competition. As well as races for Bentleys of all ages, there are other sports car series invited to take part in the meeting giving an on track history to road going sports cars through the ages.

The first race was the Fifties Sports Car Racing Club Historic Intermarque race for sports cars from that era that are as close as possible to their Paddock displays were impressive original specification. Brian Arculus in his Lotus Elite managed a fairly easy win after seeing off early challenger Spike Milligan in a HWM Jaguar while Andy Shepherd in his AC Ace finished 3rd. © Pete Austin Next up was the Vintage and Pre War Scratch race which saw six Bentley's out to take on a mixed field of vintage British sports cars with Wolseley, Riley, Morgan, Vauxhall, Lagonda, Austin and Aston Martin all © Janet Wright represented.

However it was the ERA R4A of Nicholas Topliss that dominated proceedings, leading all the way from Pole position to the chequered flag and also took fastest lap. He even beat a 10 second penalty that was Nicholas Topliss dominated the Vintage race in his ERA R4A

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Matthew Wurr Aero racing Morgan Challenge

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© Simon Wright

Simon Worthington Bentley GT (rainbow car) cuts through traffic when lapping in the Bentley Scratch race. Richard Frankel Bentley TT leads the pack

applied to his time after starting out of position. Tim Greenhall was the only other competitor on the same lap to take 2nd place in his Wolseley Hornet Special while Stuart Morley was the first Bentley to finish, taking 3rd place in his Bentley 3/4 1/2. Special mention must be made of Paul Lawrence who was driving the smallest car, both in size and engine capacity. His little Austin 7 with a 750cc engine took on the big boys and beat most of them, finishing 4th overall.

The third race was a combined MG T register, AC and Morgan race. William Plant was on Pole position in his Morgan +4 and after passing Greg Dixon-Smith on the second lap, Plant went on to win by over 13 seconds from Dixon-Smith in his Morgan +4 Supersport while Tony Hirst in a Morgan +4 Baby Doll finished 3rd. First MG home was Graham Coles in his MGA Coupe finishing 4th and Andy Shepherd's AC Ace was 7th and

the first AC to finish. © Janet Wright Now it was time for one of the main races of the day, the Bentley Scratch race.

Michael Haig in his Bentley T Special took a very close pole position ahead of Simon Worthington in his rainbow coloured Bentley Continental GT. On the © Pete Austin first lap, the Bentley T Special developed a fault and was retired from the rest of the days activities, leaving Worthington an easy victory in the most Paul Myatt MG Parson special in the MG T Register race finished 18th modern car (2005) in the field. Sue Shoosmith led home the rest, finishing 2nd in her Bentley MkVI Special and the only other car to go the race distance. Ewen Getley was third, a lap down, driving a Bentley 3/4 1/2.

After the Bentley race it was time for the British built Morgan to take to the track for an Aero Racing Morgan Challenge. This proved to be an easy victory for Matthew Wurr in a Morgan Plus 8 who led from start to finish to win by Mike Peck 1934 Austin 7 Allcomers handicap for slower cars

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© Janet Wright

3.771 seconds from Philip Goddard and Richard Plant. This was followed by an Allcomers handicap for slower cars. This saw an interesting mix of modern and classic saloons and sports cars out on track together. Top Qualifier was Jon Lee in a 1300cc Austin Rover Mini ahead of Henry Williams in a 2011 Morgan 4/4 Sport. Lee was the fastest car on the circuit, setting the fastest lap of the race in 1 minute 10.492 seconds, but he could not beat the handicap which gave victory to Dave Gibson in a Morgan +4 ahead of Richard Frankel in a gorgeous 1959 Alfa Romeo SS with Andrew Frankel third in another Alfa Romeo, this one being a 1954 Gulietta Sport. © Simon Wright Race 7 was a Bentley handicap which unsurprisingly saw Stuart Worthington fastest in qualifying Robert Gate Bentley MkVI Special has a quick spin at Luffield in his rainbow 2005 Bentley GT ahead of three 1950s Bentley Mk VI Specials of Paul Forty, Sue Shoosmith and Robert Gate. Worthington also set the fastest lap of the race in 1 minute 12.122 seconds, but could not beat his handicap. He finished down in 16th place overall, second from last place. The winner was Peter William Butler in a 1924 4.4 litre Bentley 3/4 1/2 who after 8 © Pete Austin laps was 4.913 seconds Chris Randall Lotus Europa passes Paul Atkinson MG B Roadster in the Allcomers Handicap for faster cars ahead of Paul Carter driving a 1936 Bentley 4 1/4 while Andrew Frankel was classified 3rd in a 1921 Bentley TT. Now it was time for the more modern sports cars and saloons to take part in the Allcomers Handicap for faster cars. Chris Randall made his 2006 Lotus Europa the fastest car in qualifying and the quickest car on track during the race with a fastest lap of 1 minute 1.671 seconds. But this outright speed was again defeated on the handicap giving victory to Malcolm Mitton in a Lotus Elan +2 who won by just 0.006 of a second for the closest win of the day. That very close 2nd place went to Trevor Clarke in a Westfield Ford Zetec while Graeme Smith was 3rd in a Caterham 7 Jonathan Moorhouse 1963 MGB and James Tiller 1950 Allard J2 Classic. battle in the Allcomers Handicap for Faster cars

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© Pete Austin

© Simon Wright

Trevor Clarke took another 2nd place in the Sunbeam Challenge and Invitation Scratch race with his Westfield from Pole Position. David Smallridge upheld Sunbeam honour to take the win in his 1965 Sunbeam Tiger while Dave Coyne was a Mark Butterworth Allard K3 in the Allcomers Handicap for distant 3rd at the wheel slower cars. Finished 4th of his Jaguar E-Type.

Paul Clayson 1965 Sunbeam Tiger finished 6th in the Sunbeam The tenth and final race of the day was a 15 minute Allcomers Scratch Challenge

© Simon Wright

race. Again Chris Randall proved his Lotus Europa was fast on a single lap to claim Pole position. This time with no handicap to deal with, Randall made it an easy win for the Lotus, with a pair of Morgans hard on his heels. Matthew Wurr was 2nd and David Rushton 3rd, both at the wheel of similar Morgan Plus 8s.

In the lunch break, 2003 Le Mans 24 hours winner Guy Smith gave a demonstration of the new Bentley Continental GT3 which is available for private teams to buy to take part in next years Blancpain series or other GT3 category series.

Left: Trevor Swete 1931 Invicta S Type (7th) leads Richard frankel 1959 Alfa Romeo SS which finished 2nd in the Allcomers Handicap for Slower card

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Wythall Carnival,

Sunday 11th August 2013. By Simon and Janet Wright.

© Simon Wright

MGB line up

This is a typical classic car show at a well organised village fete during the summer months and is duplicated up and down the country. This is a long standing show at Wythall, on the outskirts of Birmingham and near Solihull. It has always drawn a large entry of classic and modern vehicles and has a large field for the display area, separate from, but connected to the rest of the stalls and activities of the normal fete. This village is located very near to Longbridge where Austin cars used to be produced, and not that far from the Land Rover factory in Solihull. Many of the owners were former employees of British Leyland, or will have some link to the © Simon Wright former motoring giant, and this is reflected in the large number of British Leyland associated manufacturers cars shown.

The display area is not a regular shape, so there are cars scattered all around the border of the field, some groups in small alcoves amongst the trees and the vintage cars are given pride of place in the middle. This year there was a large display of MG Sports cars lined up across the back of the © Janet Wright field from the local MG car club, while opposite them in the corner was the Birmingham Mini Owners club with a line up of classic Longbridge built Minis. The Leyland Classic Minis marques continued with several Triumph and Jaguar models plus some of the more unusual cars such as the Daimler Dart, a sports car from the luxury saloon manufacturer in the early 1960s.

Ford has been the best selling car manufacturer for many years, so it was Daimler Dart appropriate that Ford was well represented at Wythall. Most unusual car

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was a perfect example of the Ford Executive Mark IV. Based on the Ford Zodiac saloon. The Executive is an upmarket estate version of the Ford Granada saloon. Powered by the 3 litre V6 engine, producing 136 Bhp and mated to automatic transmission, the car could reach a top speed of 100 miles per hour, with a reasonable 0 to 60 time of 13.1 seconds bearing in mind the weight and bulk of this vehicle. This was also reflected in the poor 17.2 miles per gallon fuel consumption. Remaining with the Ford theme, there were a pair of cars parked next to each other to show that the Zephyr and Zodiac were basically the same car.

The Mark II versions were introduced in 1956. The blue 4 door Zodiac has a slightly different front grill, while the 2 door Zephyr © Simon Wright

Ford Executive Mk IV

© Janet Wright

was a very unusual convertible soft top version. Due to the inherent structural weakness in convertible designs, very few have survived, though this white example was in perfect condition. The power operated hood gave the car an upmarket feel. The 6 cylinder 2.5 litre engine produced 86 bhp and was matched to a 3 speed manual gearbox with optional overdrive, or a Borg Warner automatic transmission system. © Simon Wright

Ford Zodiac and Zephyr Mk II

Another unusual Ford was the Consul Classic which was built between 1961 and 1963. Styled after the American cars of the 50s with fins and a two colour paint scheme. The two at the show were fine examples of the 2 door and 4 door models.

Ford Consul Classic

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Š Janet Wright

One corner of the show had a interesting line up of historic vehicles.

Jowett was a manufacturer of light cars and light commercial vehicles between 1906 and 1954, based in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The most famous of the Jowett range is the Jupiter but here they had three vehicles on display, the centre one of which was a Bradford by Jowett Commercial vehicle with a convertible roof. The Bradford was available as a light truck, van or utility vehicle. They were powered by a 1005cc side valve flat twin engine. They were produced between 1946 and 1953 during which over 38,000 were built. To the right was the Jowett Javelin, which was launched in 1948 with a 1486cc Flat four OHV engine. The Javelin remained in production until 1953 and over 23,000 were built. It also achieved various success in motor sport achieving a class win in the 1949 Monte Carlo Rally and the Spa 24 hours race and an outright win on the 1953 International Tulip Rally. The car on the left Jowett Line up is a 1930s Jowett Grey Knight de-luxe saloon which has a flat twin cylinder horizontally opposed 907cc side valve engine. Production at Jowett ceased in 1954. Š Simon Wright Another unusual car found lurking in the park was a 1914 Sigma Type AL2. This was built by Society Industrial Genevoise de Mechanique et Automobiles (SIGMA), a Swiss firm from CheneBougeries. The original cars were built in the former PickerMoccand factory in Switzerland and were medium sized 4 cylinder cars with 8/11hp engines. In 1911 the company started to produce the Knight sleeved engine under license in 18 and 28hp sizes and they also produced a 15 and 25 hp poppet valve engine. From 1913 to 1928 they were built at Lavallois-Perret, Seine in France by Society des Automobiles Sigma and used a variety of 4 cylinder Ballot engines. This particular car is believed to have spent most of its life in a French museum and is completely original. It is missing the acetylene generator. The body is almost rust free and appears to have been tinned, In 1988 it was sold to a dealer in New York and then to a museum in Japan. It arrived in the UK in 2006. It is powered by an 1100cc Fivet engine supplied by Maurice Poyet of Paris.

1914 Sigma Type AL2

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GT Cup Silverstone 17-18th August 2013. By Mick Herring © Mick Herring

Few racers would pass up the chance to race on Silverstone's 3.66 mile Grand Prix circuit, so the fifth round of the GT Cup championship boasted not only its now traditional bumper grid, the world racing debut of the Russian-German-British Sin supercar (profiled in this issue), Jonny Mac Gregor's ever-improving Ultima GTR but also two front-running British GT cars, one of which would go home with two wins.

Saturday's longer, 40 minute pit stop race was immediately dominated

by Mark Poole's Aston Martin, leading away Ron Johnson's BMW Z4, both run here and in British GT by Barwell Motorsport, Martin Short's R1 Glow of success Abra-Poole Aston Martin © Mick Herring Rollcentre Ferrari 458 Challenge, running in the GTO class, was in hot pursuit. An early safety car slowed the pace for a few laps but at the restart Kevin Riley raced strongly in 4th until fuel pick-up problems saw him drop to an eventual 17th. After the pit stops were completed Mark Poole consolidated his lead to 33 seconds at the flag but some of the cars now taken over by their more experienced drivers would climb up the field especially when the rains fell later. Bob Berridge would bring the Riley TDC up to 2nd after taking over from Nigel Mustill, passing Ron Johnson's BMW late on. A rapidly closing Aaron Scott's Ferrari 458, in from Arwyn Williams first half R1 Duyver-Hollings Ferrari GTC winners 6th was 1.1 seconds adrift in 4th place but 27 seconds behind was Martin Short's Ferrari. The Jacques Duyver/Charlie Hollings GTC Ferrari 458 © Mick Herring Challenge was first non-GTO class car in 6th.

Sunday's first, dry, 25 minute race required a 5 lap safety car immediately.

A first corner collision between Chris Dockerill's lime green Ferrari 430 and Chris Randall's Lotus would eliminate them and 4 more cars on the spot, including Kevin Riley's Mosler, fortunately without any injuries to the drivers.

Racing resumed with five laps remaining and Mark Poole had built a lead of 18 seconds at the flag, his second of the weekend, from Ron Johnson's R2 Remains of Dockerill Ferrari

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© Mick Herring

BMW Z4.

Third place in GTO and overall was Ian Dockerill's Porsche 911 RSR ahead of Alex Martin was 4th, 4 seconds ahead of the rapidly improving Jacques Duyver, both in GTC class Ferrari 458 Challenge cars.

Don Grice won GTB convincingly in his BMW V8.

R1 Mustill-Berridge Riley TDC Mk22 2nd

Race 3 started cleanly with Arwyn Williams' Ferrari 458 GT3 getting the drop on Ron Johnson and leading convincingly until Bob Berridge's Riley TDC Mk22 got past the BMW Z4 in © Mick Herring © Mick Herring

R2 Aston Ahead for 10 secs of racing. pursuit of Williams.

Having set the race's fastest lap, Berridge caught the Ferrari and the pair touched as he attempted to pass, the Ferrari spinning out and colliding with Johnson's BMW, ending both of their races.

Ian Dockerill brought his Porsche home nearly 14 seconds behind the Riley.

Alex Martin was 1st GTC car in 3rd followed by Jacques Duyver and Toby Tarrant-Willis all in Ferrari 458s.

The improving Sin of Rosen Daskalov finished 9th, taking Invitation class honours, whilst Jeff Wyatt maintained his GTA position with 2nd in class.

The next GT Cup round is at Snetterton on 7th/8th September.

R2 Don Grice BMW winner GTB 11th

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© Mick Herring

R2 Improving Ultima Jonny MacGregor 8th

R1 Loggie-Jones Porsche winners GTB 13th

© Mick Herring

R1 Oversize and over here American muscle fuel starvation drops Kevin Riley Mosler as (Mustill)-berridge Riley TDC laps him to 2nd

© Mick Herring

R3 Rosen Daskalov Sin Inv winner 9th

© Mick Herring © Mick Herring

R1 Race of the race sam Smeeth(42) 10th continual place swapping from all three, Toby TW(38) 12th and Alex Martin(9) 11th

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R3 Alex Martin 1st GTC 3rd, Ian Dockerill would overtake

© Mick Herring

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© Mick Herring

© Mick Herring

BRDC Formula 4 Silverstone.

By Mick Herring.

Coming into Silverstone it is difficult not to see the impact that the BRDC F4 Championship has had on single seater racing in its short period of existence.

Statistics show Jake Hughes, on 272 points, leads his nearest rival, Seb Morris by just 16 points having taken two wins against Seb's none. In third place is Jake Silverstone race winner Matty Graham Dalton, also with two wins and 249 points. Matt Bell, with 3 wins to his credit enters Silverstone down in sixth.

The draw of F4 encompasses the globe with the grandson of a world champion in Pietro Fittipaldi having taken one win.

Race one on Saturday afternoon saw Matty Graham, in his Sean Walkinshaw Racing prepared car take his second win in © Mick Herring successive weekends. Jake Hughes was next nearly 4.5 seconds behind with Charlie Robertson a similar distance behind in 3rd.

The second Sean Walkinshaw car of Jack Barlow was 4th.

Race two, on Sunday morning provided a win for Ross Gunn, his second of the year and a convincing 4.6 seconds ahead of Jack Barlow. Most significant was the driver in 3rd place, the private entry of James Greenway, taking his first podium after a 5th in race one, serving to prove that a self-run car is capable of delivering results and James is hopeful of taking a win this season.

Pietro Fittipaldi grandson of a world champion

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Race three, the final F4 race of the weekend, Jake Hughes claimed a near 7 second margin after 10 laps of close racing after a fantastic

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© Mick Herring

Race 3 winner and championship leader Jake Hughes

overtaking move on lap three for the lead. Race one winner, Matty Graham headed Seb Morris by a similar margin with Jack Barlow and Charlie Robertson close behind.

The fight at the top got a little further apart as Jake Hughes, on 339 points, further extended his lead over Seb Morris with 305 points, Jake Barlow climbed to third with 300 points. Another climber, Matty Graham edged Jake Dalton back to fifth.

The penultimate round takes place at Snetterton on 7th/8th September.

© Mick Herring

© Mick Herring

Jake Hughes race winner and championship leader

Raoul Hyman and Jake Barlow © Mick Herring

© Mick Herring

Charlie Robertson

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Matt Bell 3 time race winner

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© Simon Wright

British Hill Climb Championship, Shelsley Walsh.

17th and 18th August 2013.

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

The British Hill Climb Championship returned to Shelsley Walsh over the weekend of the 17th and 18th August as part of the Aston Martin Centenary Celebration meeting at this oldest motor sport venue. Saturday was practice day, allowing all the competitiors to have a couple of runs up the hill, to familiarise them selves with the track.

Sunday was competition day, and it was another bright and sunny day making for near ideal conditions for the timed runs. As usual in the British Hill climb championship events, the fastest twelve competitors in the timed runs go in to two championship run offs, one Wallace Menzies DJ Firestorm fastest in the first Championship run-off © Simon Wright

after the first timed runs, and the second at the end of the meeting. These run-offs are always competitive and local driver and MAC member Alex Summers from Tenbury Wells was voted 'Man of the meeting' after two fantastic climbs in the two run-offs. His supercharged 1340cc DJ Firehawk was competing against much more powerful cars, and the steep Shelsley hill is definately considered a power hill, yet he managed to beat many of the more powerful cars to finish 3rd and 6th in the two run-offs.

Alex Summers DJ Firehawk

Scott Moran Gould GR61X fastest in 2nd championship run off

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© Janet Wright

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© Simon Wright

© Pete Austin

Scottish driver Wallace Menzies was fastest on the first Championship run-off in a time of 23.48 seconds to take maximum points in his DJ Firestorm Cosworth while Ludlow driver Scott Moran driving a Nicholson McLaren Gould GR61X was fastest in the second Anthony Shute Lotus 61 Championship run-off in a time of 23.31 seconds to maintain his lead in the Championship.

Current Champion Trevor Willis from Worcester could only manage 2nd and 4th in the two Championship run-offs in this V8 powered OMS 28.

Martin Bolsover McLaren M6 GT Another local driver was Clive Austin from Clifton on Teme who was driving a new Empire Wraith for the first time at Shelsley. The Formula 1 designed car showed plenty of potential by giving Clive a personal best time of 29.3 seconds in the 1100cc racing car class. © Janet Wright meanwhile reigning Midland Hill Climb Champion Mike Turpin from © Simon Wright nearby Hereford won his class in his supercharged Vauxhall VX220 with a time of 30.25 seconds and is currently looking like he will keep his championship Tim Cross OMS SC1

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Keith Edwards Audi Sport Quattro

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Aston Martin at Shelsley Walsh. Š Janet Wright

Lola Aston Martin DBR1/2 in action up the hill

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As part of their year of Centenary celebrations, Aston Martin arrived in force at Shelsley Walsh. A couple of weeks before the Shelsley meeting, there had been a display of Vintage Aston Martins at the VSCC Hill Climb meeting at Prescott (See report in this issue). This time it was the turn of the more modern cars to be displayed to the crowds.

History was made when the three works Aston Martin DB2s from 1950 and 1951 were re-united for the first time in 62 years.

George Abecassis drove VMF65 at Shelsley Walsh in 1950 and then drove XMC77 the following year while sister car XMC76 was driven by Reg Parnell. All of Page

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© Simon Wright

© Janet Wright

Aston Martin Ulster LM © Simon Wright

these works cars have never been back to Shelsley until now.

High-light was seeing the Gulf Lola Aston Martin DBR1/2 run up the hill after the morning parade of 35 Aston Martins in time line order, starting with LM10. Another first was the UK debut of the Aston Martin Lagonda Hydrogen Rapide S taking to a UK track for the first time. Touring Car star Aston Martin Lagonda Hydrogen Hibrid Rapide S made its UK debut Tom Onslow-Cole was given the task on Sunday of driving this car up the hill, and delighted the crowd with a 64 foot burnout from the start line on his final run.

There were also lots of static displays, both around the paddock and in the car park of both © Pete Austin racing and classic Aston Martins.

Only seen for the second time in public was the Gulf Aston Martin AMR-One Le Mans prototype from 2011. In the courtyard was a display of 4 racing Aston Martins, including the AMR1 and the DBR9 GT1 and the curent GTE.

Aston Martin DBR9

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George Abercassis Aston Martin DB2

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© Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

Aston Martin DBR3 © Pete Austin

2011 Aston Martin AMR One © Pete Austin

Aston Martin Centenary Vanquish © Janet Wright

Aston Martin parade

Classic and Competition car

1951 Aston Martin DB2 Ex Works Le Mans car and Reg Parnell

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European Classic Race meeting Donington Park 24th-25th August 2013.

By Mick Herring and Simon Wright with additional photos by Janet Wright.

This two day International race meeting organised by the Classic and Sports Car Club (CSCC) welcomed German and Dutch drivers to Donington Park to compete in three Triumph Competition with British GT races. The packed two day program consisted of sixteen races of saloon or sportscar action. Besides the European races adding some variety, there were also two Special © Janet Wright Saloon races, one each day, © Simon Wright which brings together some of the classic Super Saloons from the 1970s.

The first race was a 40 minute Modern Classics which saw a mixture of sports cars and saloons from the 1990s and 2000. David Kempton led from the front row in his BMW M3 E36 3200 and pulled out a slight lead until his pitstop on lap 14. He began to make his David Kempton BMW M3 E36 3200 had a big crash at Redgate causing damage to his car and the wall, but he walked away way through the field and was back up to 3rd place when on the 21st lap, he went straight on at Redgate corner, skipped across the gravel and hit the tyre barrier hard enough to break the concrete retaining wall behind the tyre barrier and bounce the car back so it was facing the track action.

It took several minutes before the driver emerged from the wreck, but he © Simon Wright was able to walk to the ambulance to be taken for a checkup. This left race victory to Tim Bates at the wheel of a Porsche 911 SC 3000 ahead of another Porsche, a 944 S2 2900 of Luke Johnson. Third place went to the Mark Smith/James Moulton-Smith BMW M3 E36 3000.

Race 2 was for the Jaguar saloon and GT cars and David Howard got the lead on lap 2 and managed to keep his works colour scheme Jaguar XJ12 in front to the chequered flag finishing just 0.864 seconds ahead of class winner Thomas Barclay in a Jaguar Coupe. Chris Palmer was the first XJS home finishing 4th overall, while Chris Pizzala in another XJS was the final class winner.

David Howard won both Jaguar races in his XJ12

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© Mick Herring

The second Jaguar race was Race 9 on Sunday. The Jaguar XJ12 of David Howard took its second win of the weekend after a close and intense race against Thomas Barclay's Coupe 4.2, winning by nearly 1.7 seconds after being barely feet apart for the duration.

Gail Hill was 6th overall and 3rd in class in her XJ40, hoping to improve the cars performance for next year with a small weightloss programme to the car in an effort to remain competitive with some of the more developed cars ahead of her.

Derek Pearce's venerable Jaguar Mk2 3.8 proved once again its abilities and those of its driver by finishing a credible 8th overall.

Next on the bill was the MGCC Thoroughbred Sportscars race which was dedicated to the memory of Roy McCarthy. Roy last raced at Donington in Septembeer 2010 just 4 weeks before he died. He had raced in and supported the championship from its beginning in 1976 and the competing cars were all carrying a sticker in memory of him. Robert Spencer led the field round for the start in his 'Martini' coloured MG BGT V8. Neil Fowler got the best start and led in to Regate the first time but by the © Janet Wright end of the first lap Spencer was back in front where he remained for the rest of the race as he won easily from Neil Fowler and Ian Prior who were also driving MG BGT V8s. Simon Cripps won the Standard over 2.4 litres and road modified up to 2 litres class in an MGB in 7th place overall. The Road modified over 2 litres and up to 4.5 litres class was won by Christian Marx in his Triumph TR4 in 9th place and the final class winner was Rene Grueter at the wheel of an MG B in the Standard cars to 2.5 litres class, finishing in 26th place overall, one lap down on the overall winner.

Bruce Cologne-Brookes gets sideways to 20th as Gail Hill XJ40 avoids him to finish 6th

Winner Robert Spencer MG BGT V8 leads the Thoroughbred Sports car race

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© Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

Barry Holmes MG BGT V8 had a spin at Redgate in the Thoroughbred sports car race

© Mick Herring

Jubilant 2nd Chris Edwards Lotus 7 S4 © Janet Wright

Nick Wade Jaguar XJS battles with Simon Blunt Jaguar XJS in the Jaguar Classic Parts Saloon and GT Championship

Classic and Competition car

Robin and Thomas Grey Pontiac Trans Am Disqualified from Future Classic race © Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

Nick & Ethan Whittaker Ferrari 308 GT4 in the Future Classics race © Janet Wright

Marcus Weidenback Triumph TR7 V8 Triumph Competition and British GT race

© Janet Wright

Future Classics VW Corrado driven by James Broad and Mark Lloyd-Jones

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Chris Olive Honda Civic Tin Tops race Class winner

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© Simon Wright

The Future Classics had another large field of 1970s and 1980s saloons, sports cars and GT cars. There was a large contingent of Porsche entered covering most of the different models available, 911, 928, 944, 964 and 924. but it was the British TVR Tuscan 5200 of Tim Davis that was the dominant car, taking Pole position and a win in the race from Tim Bates Porsche 911 SC and the Triumph TR7 V8 of Martyn Adams. At the start it looked like Nicholas Olson in the Lotus Esprit would be a challenger for the win, leading in to Redgate corner and holding Harvey/Neal Porsche 964 Carrera 2 spins off at Redgate on the first lap of the Future Classics race second © Janet Wright place for the first four laps before retirement. Davis and Bates both won their class, with Tom Brenton Ford Sierra in 4th, Clive Bailye/Paul Black Mazda MX5 in 9th and Simon and Chris James Ford Escort RS200 in 28th also taking class wins. The great Pontiac Trans Am of Robin and Thomas Grey was disqualified after the race for failure to comply with the black flag.

The Special Saloons were down for two races, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. These cars are always a big favourite with the fans. Massive engines in unlikely cars always provide great entertainment and then there are the David and Goliath acts where the smaller but excellent handling Imps climb © Simon Wright Future Classics winner Tim Davis TVR Tuscan all over the bigger cars.

There was a good 16 car field for this meeting with Simon © Mick Herring Allaway in his 5.5 litre Lotus Esprit Silhouette Special grabbing Pole position for the first race from Ian Hall in the 5.2 litre Darrian Wildcat T98 and lurking in the middle of the grid was Joe Ward in Vauxhall Baby Bertha, probably the most famous of Simon Allaway Lotus Esprit Silhouette won both races

Classic and Competition car

Joe Ward Vauxhall Baby Bertha 3rd in race 1

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© Mick Herring

© Simon Wright

Martin Baker Hillman Imp spaceframe takes to the kerb battleing Chris Isaacs Morrid Minor

Ian Hall Darrian Wildcat T98

© Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

Mike Bratby AG Shrigley Hillman Imp © Simon Wright

Thomas Carey Honda CRX

Classic and Competition car

© Janet Wright

Neil Claxton Suzuki SC100

David Beatty Honda Prelude © Mick Herring

© Simon Wright

Bob Claxton Renault 21 Turbo

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Steven Moss Ford Anglia spaceframe

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© Simon Wright

all the Super Saloons. At the start of the first race Lotus Esprit of Allaway and the Darrian of Hall broke clear of the field with the two running together. But by just short of half distance, on lap 6 Hall headed for the pits to retire, leaving Allaway to run to an easy first win of the meeting. From the battling bunch behind, 2nd place went to Paul Sibley in his Lotus Elan Modsports 1600 while Joe Ward came through to bring Baby Bertha home 3rd for the final podium © Mick Herring placing. All three won their respective classes. The other class winner was Bob Claxton in his Renault 21 Turbo.

Danny & Ricky Morris Peugeot 309GTi Turbo finished 3rd On Sunday Simon Allaway won his second CSCC Special Saloon/Modsports race of the weekend with a lights to flag victory by 49 seconds from Paul Sibley's Modsports Lotus Elan.

After a spirited drive by Joe Ward in the iconic Vauxhall Baby Bertha 5700, which highlighted the multiple position-trading race-long duel with the Morris family Peugeot 309 GTi Cosworth, Joe would finally have to give best to the Peugeot. He finished 2.06 seconds behind in 4th position. A fitting return for Paul Sibley Lotus Elan 2nd in both Special Saloon races the most revered Special Saloon ever built after the sad end to last year's race when Baby Bertha went home bearing significant damage after brake problems.

Following the Special Saloons were the CSCC Tin Tops with MS Society race. After © Janet Wright forty minutes of close racing, mandatory pit stops and the chance to change drivers © Mick Herring the CSCC Tin Tops race was won by Nigel Tongue in his Peugeot 306 2000. He finished just 3.9 seconds ahead of Simon Taylor's Honda Civic Type R. In third place the Peugeot 306 of Carl Chambers. In this company the racing of the various marques is always very close Nigel Tongue Peugeot 306 Tin Tops winner and it was unusual to see Nigel Tin Tops field spread out down the straight

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© Mick Herring

Ainge's Honda Integra classified in last position, four laps down, instead of his customary win or podium finish.

Rounding off Saturday and opening Sunday morning's race programme were the Triumph Competition and British GT cars, a series organised by the TR-Register Germany and run throughout the major circuits of Europe.

Saturday's closing race proved exciting from the start as the Triumph © Mick Herring TR4s of Philippe Vermast and Brian White vied to take an immediate lead and ended up helping each Start of race 1 Triumph Competition and British GT race other across the gravel at Redgate corner. Vermast would recover to an eventual 6th position, whilst White retired after 8 laps. This allowed the red TR4 of Christian Marx to take an immediate lead but the race long attention of Paul Conway's Morgan Plus 8 saw the pair swap the lead several times over the course of the 30 minute race. Paul Conway would © Mick Herring take the verdict by 0.579 seconds from Christian Marx, a win he would repeat the following morning by the enhanced margin of 2.2 seconds, again from Marx.

The final of the three R1 British echelon Werner Huls TR3 24th races made up for Brain White's disappointment of a non-finish in race one, with a win in his TR4 from the similar car of Robert Hamilton. Georg Nolte was 4th in his Jaguar E-Type after a bonnet bending retirement from race 1.

With 26 finishers in the first two races and 22 in the last of their three races, our European visitors were both well represented and R3 after briefly contesting lead, battle-scarred Marcel Van Mulders TR3 21st

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© Mick Herring

© Mick Herring

most welcome visitors to Donington with their dedication to British sports cars and the desire to race them.

Both of the races on Sunday for the MGCC BCV8 Championship provided dominant wins for Robert Spencer's spectacular three-wheeling MG BGT V8 3900. James Wheeler would finish 17 seconds adrift in the afternoon's first encounter, with Neil Fowler a further 4 seconds behind.

In the final race of the weekend Spencer would consolidate his dominance on the category with an 18.9 second victory over Neil Fowler's BGT V8 3900 and Ollie Neaves' similar car another 5.25 Early race, Joe Parrington BGT V8 seconds behind.

5th despite gravel trap trip Early race Robert Spencer dominant three-wheeling win Sunday saw a return to the Swinging 60s at Donington with two races . The Group 2 race is for the more powerful 6 and 8 cylinder cars plus all Lotus models. The Group 1 race is for the less powerful 4 cylinder models plus a few 2 litre 6 cylinder cars. First out were the Group 2 cars. With forty minutes of racing ahead of them and a 90 second pit stop penalty to serve, for previous race success, the Dave Boland/ Roger Lee Lotus 7 S11 needed to get a move on from the start and so it did. Plans came to nought © Mick Herring following a spin which dropped the car to 4th, handing the lead to Chris Edwards' Lotus 7 S4 with the sleek Marcos 1800 GT of Richard Skinner rapidly catching and passing the yellow Lotus. The fast starting Lotus of Boland/Lee recovered and soon overcame the S4 Lotus 7 which had regained the lead when the Marcos made its © Mick Herring pit stop. The Marcos would soon re-establish and keep the lead to win by 24 seconds from Marcus Miller's Triumph TR6 2500.

Winning Marcos 1800 GT Richard Skinner After their pit stop eternity, Boland/Lee would race back to an eventual 5th place.

The 40 minute Swinging Sixties Group 1 race was enlivened considerably following the dramatic engine blow-up suffered by John Davies' Triumph Vitesse.

Dramatic Blow up John Davies Triumph Vitesse puts oil down

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© Mick Herring

With several cars sliding on the oil deposited on the racing line, it would be the spin suffered by Simon Pages' Austin Healey Frogeye Sprite that prompted the safety car being deployed when the precariously parked Sprite could not be moved readily.

Although headed mid-race by the second place Austin Healey Frogeye Sprite of Tim © Mick Herring

Simon Page spins on oil and is unable to restart causing safety car in the Swinging 60s Group 1 race

Cairns it would be Russel Martin/Chris Edwards Triumph TR4 that would win by 1minute 6 seconds. Alex Heynes and Max Whitehouse would take a closer 3rd place in their MG Midget 1380cc. Philip Britten was a further 2minutes 22seconds adrift in 4th.

The remaining race on the card was for the Magnificent Sevens, all based on the original Lotus Seven design from the 1950s. These days there are many different types of Seven raced, including Caterham, Westfield, Elite, Stuart Taylor and Raw, though here at Donington the Swinging 60s Group 1 race winning Edwards-Martin Triumph TR4 majority of the grid were in Caterhams.

Peter Ratcliff took pole position for the 40 minute race, which included a mandatory pitstop. By the end of the 40 minutes it was Richard and Pascal Green in a Caterham C400 who took victory with Ratcliff 2nd in his Caterham and third place went to Mike Aikens in a Caterham CSR. Class winners included Mike Aikens in 3rd, James Weekley Caterham R400 K series in 6th, John Schneider Caterham 7 in 10th Barney Pryor Caterham C400 in 12th, Rick and Alex Potter Caterham Supersports in 15th and finally Chris Robinson Westfield SEW in 30th position overall.

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Š Mick Herring

Donington National Kit & Performance Car Show 24th/25th August

By Mick Herring.

The Donington National Kit and Performance Car Show may not have been as large as it has been in some previous years but it was, nevertheless, well supported by the industry and its enthusiastic buyers and builders.

With all the elements in place it showcased the diversity of the industry with the well-established Gardner Douglas Cobra and Lola T70 replicas at the top end of the market, alongside other Cobramakers and several different interpretations of the traditional Gardner Douglas Lola T70 and Cobra replicas

Š Mick Herring

Classic and Competition car

Budget blasters from MEV

Lotus 7 concept, many now being built from the Mazda MX5.

Component and tool suppliers stocking most items were equally well represented.

Of particular interest in this area was the initiative from Mike Newman, a multiple blind record holder, and his Speed Of Sight organisation.

This new initiative revolves around an initial run of ten totally dualcontrolled cars built by MK and featuring dual steering wheels and pedals, enabling people with nearly all forms of disability to experience every sensation of a track day car alongside a professional instructor. Also a large collection of "The ones that got away" made for nostalgic viewing.

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© Mick Herring

Outside the exhibition centre there were multiple displays of precision driving by the BTRDA Autotest drivers, probably the cheapest form of motorsport available. The Westfield Drift Experience and numerous Kit Car Club areas focusing on just about every possible car manufactured.

The future of the industry, a concept car

BTRDA precision Autotesters

© Mick Herring

© Mick Herring

© Mick Herring

Above: Mazda Eunos GT Above right: Rover V8 powered Venom Right: Honda powered Westfield Above Left: Dax Cobra replica Left: Tools and components © Mick Herring

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© Mick Herring

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