The Motor Racing Spectator

The Walter Hayes Trophy weekend at Silverstone is without question one of, if not the best weekends of motor racing in the UK. This was the 16th running of the WHT and is it really 13 years ago when the first running of the heats & knockout format took place? Where does the time go...I was in my 20's then....! Back in 2003 the final was won by Joey Foster and with Foster entered in the 2016 version, the WHT has a familiar, cosy feel to it year in year out. There is no better racing than Kent engined Formula Ford 1600 at it's best. I don't get to both days of 2 day meetings a lot these days but do try and go to both days of the WHT. Saturday morning saw qualifying for  the 6 Heats of the WHT along with  a couple of support races for Pre '70 Historics and Post '69 Historics. With just 10 minutes allocated to each Heat for qualifying, there was no hanging about by drivers eager to set a time. None of the expected front runners hit problems during qualifying thou...

The 66th running of the 750MC's Birkett Relay saw The Spectator off to Silverstone on a slightly misty Autumnal morning. An incredible entry of 70 teams meant that with the unique relay format, there would always be 70 cars on track for the duration of the 6 hour race...all being well!  I'd been to a few Birkett's in the past, even to the one-off 12 Hour relay at Snetterton in June 2000. Those were the days when enthusiasm knew no bounds!! My last Birkett was in 2004 on the National circuit at Silverstone that suffered from lots of accidents due to massive speed differential on the small National circuit layout. The 750MC then took the very wise decision to shift the event to the full GP circuit layout and the event continues to flourish with a capacity grid entering every year for the end of season gathering. 70 teams entered the 2016 version of the famous relay. With teams from the wide variety of championships run by the 750MC plus entries from other clubs, there ...

It was Finals weekend at Donington for the BRSCC...as it was for the BRSCC at Silverstone too on the same weekend! A very nice position to be in for the BRSCC to hire 2 circuits to give all their portfolio of championships and series a conclusion to 2016 racing activities. After a period in the wilderness several years ago, I have to say that the the good old BRSCC have returned  to former glories which is fantastic to see. All we need now is for the BARC to up their game and improve then the club racing scene in the UK will be very strong. Caterhams and their many forms were the headline act for the weekend at Donington. I only attended on the Sunday of the 2-day meeting and Saturday had seen the first race in double-headers for all the Caterham championships plus a couple of Historic Racing Drivers Club races that were only out on Saturday. The weather forecast for Sunday morning looked horrendous but, with the season quickly heading to it's conclusion, it was time to dust of...

October...Chilly mornings...rapidly darkening evenings....leaves falling...but perfect for Motor racing! Indeed it was perfect early on Sunday morning with not a cloud to be seen in the East Midlands skies. It was far from perfect the previous day as racing had to be abandoned following the lunchbreak due to heavy rain. All in all 7 races were lost, so organisers for the weekend, the 750MC added time onto those championships racing on Sunday in compensation. 13 races were scheduled for Sunday and the previous days only real casualty was the 45 Minute Roadsports encounter that was lost and could not be accomodated on Sunday's timetable. At least those who lost a race on Saturday could sleep well in the knowledge that Sunday would bring better weather and a chance to race! Unsurprisingly given the previous days deluge, the asphalt was glistening wet as qualifying began. After 3 sessions it was time for racing to start with Sport Specials kicking things off. Indeed the Sport Speci...

A very rare opportunity to witness a Car Meeting at Mallory Park these days saw The Spectator head to rural Leicestershire. The BRSCC were the organisers for a 10 race meeting that saw a triple header for the Toyo Tires Porsche Championship, 2 races for Monoposto Tiedeman Trophy, Toyota MR2Mk1 Series and a trio of races for assorted Nippon Challenge,Deutsche Marques Cup & Tricolore Trophy runners. A modest entry of 14 cars contested the 3 Porsche races. The Toyo Tires Championship caters for the Boxster plus provides a home for the positively ancient 924 version of the German marque. Despite the relatively small filed, there was some very good racing in all 3 races, all won by Rick Styrin's Boxster but with plenty of action going on behind. Things got a little too lively in Race 3 with an incident at the Hairpin involving James Coleman & Richard Avery bringing out the Safety Car. Post race results saw Coleman excluded plus a 5 place grid penalty for the next round...very...

Autumn is the best time of the year in my opinion for watching motor racing in the UK. Usually it means slightly cooler (and more comfortable!) weather to spectate in plus championships reach their conclusion and there is always an "edge" to most races as vital points are on offer. End of season scores, feuds and grudges can be settled at times too....! Therefore it was off to Donington for the season finale of the British GT Championship with support from BRDC Formula 3, Ginetta GT5 Challenge, Volkswagen Cup, Ginetta Racing Drivers Club and a pair of Saloon & Sportscar Trophy races with entries compiled by weekend organiser the BRSCC. This was my first meeting for 4 weeks...I should have gone to Donington on August 28th for a very good looking BRSCC meeting but alas my car suffered a terminal engine problem the day before and it was an AA Sunday instead. I felt like going to Alcoholics Anonymous rather than the Automobile Association to be honest but thanks to my frien...

The latest meeting for The Spectator saw me at Donington for a MSVR organised meeting that saw 8 races on the Sunday of a 2-day meeting. My Meetings have been very sporadic in the Summer of 2016, indeed this was my first visit to my local circuit for a couple of months. Walking down the the Old Hairpin on Sunday morning I was shocked to see that where once stood the Donington Supporters Club enclosure is now a barren patch of grass!  A Sad Sight The Club had given notice that they were to be evicted and are now based in Hospitality suites near Redgate corner. However it was as though they had never existed as, despite the remnants of some paving slabs, the entire area the Club had worked so hard to maintain has been wiped off the face of the Earth. Rumours of a Grandstand being built on the Hollywood banking can only be the reason for the rather drastic action the Circuit management have taken. The club has its foundations from the time Tom Wheatcroft fought to re-open...

For many years the Formula Renault 3.5 series was the headline category on the Renault World Series package. Thousands of free tickets were given away to meetings at Donington then subsequently Silverstone and the series provided some very good racing and saw some very good drivers pass through the single seater ladder. Renault however took the decision to withdraw their support for the series last year. With the FIA very keen on establishing a more regimented ladder for the aspiring single seater driver, the series saw itself "demoted" on the Superlicence points list and with a similar car & performance to the GP2 category, Renault were keen to support the 2.0 litre championship instead. The Spanish based RPM organisation headed by Jaime Alguersuari Sr. took over the running of the category over the winter and it is now called Formula V8 3.5...which doesn't exactly trip off the tongue! With RPM already running the EuroFormula Open and International GT Open champion...

Having not been to any motorsport of any kind for 4 weeks, The Spectator's feet were itching so for the first time in nearly 2 years it was time to watch Speedway! After an abysmal Summer so far weather wise, it was on a gloriously sunny and warm Monday evening in Wolverhampton that I chose to head to the Black Country. August 2014 saw my last visit to Monmore Green Stadium, home of the Wolverhampton Wolves. After a couple of years of struggling in the Elite League, the Wolves are top of the table this season. Swindon Robins were the visitors and with Swindon lying 3rd in the table a tight match looked to be in prospect. However this proved emphatically not to be the case as Wolves simply dominated the night's proceedings wining by 62pts-30pts. Such was their dominance that Swindon only provided 1 heat winner all evening, Nick Morris in Heat 4. The tight confines of the Wolverhampton track (264 metres in length) obviously didn't suit the Swindon riders whose home trac...

As Summer arrives in the United Kingdom, invariably so does the rain! After a quite appalling week of very wet weather in the East Midlands, it was with some trepidation that I arrived at Donington on Saturday morning. The previous weekend had seen the Download Festival take place at the circuit and the internet was full of scenes of rivers flowing through campsites and mud everywhere! As expected on arrival at the circuit there was a sense of the calm after the storm as the giant clean-up operation was under way and as parking was unavailable outside the circuit perimeter, I was directed to park in the Formula E factory units and ended up parked directly outside the Mahindra racing team's front door! Thankfully the main stage at Download is located outside the boundary of the actual circuit but there was still quite a lot of flotsam and jetsam left over at the Old Hairpin where hardy campers had been camping on the steep slopes of the spectator banks...The cleaners had found a...

It was back to Mallory Park for The Spectator's latest meeting in 2016. After giving serious thought to going to Silverstone for British GT/BRDC F3 action , I plumped for Mallory as, not only is it nearer to home, but also the lack of meetings at Mallory this season means that a meeting is a rare event . With Silverstone being abandoned for the day at 5pm following a heavy rainstorm, I think I chose wisely! 750MC were in charge for a 12 race schedule that saw double headers for Formula Vee, Classic Stock Hatch, 750 Formula, Historic 500cc F3, Stock Hatch/Hot Hatch & 750 Trophy. Rain was forecast but the days qualifying started dry and even when the expected rain did start to fall it was never that heavy thankfully. Indeed the days heaviest rain came during the lunch break so given the events at Silverstone, Mallory was fortunate to escape the pleasures of Summer weather in the UK! With 4 reserves in the 28 car entry list, Formula Vee is seeing a resurgence after a few year...

For the first time in 2016 it was time for a visit to Leicestershire's "other" motor racing circuit, Mallory Park. Long gone are the days of a meeting every Sunday at Mallory (Cars or Bikes),indeed this was the first car meeting of the season. With only 6 car meetings scheduled this year, The Spectator felt the need to journey the 20 miles South down the A447 to Mallory.  The last few years have been tough for Mallory. Previous circuit operators, BARC, left the circuit ( celebrating it's 60th Birthday in 2016!) in somewhat of a mess both physically and legally. The physical scars are being tidied up gradually, but a tightening up of the noise limits imposed at the circuit by the local council have seen a drastic reduction in race meetings compared to the glory days of the past. The new operators, Real Motorsport, seem enthusiastic about the circuit's future but one wonders what does the future hold for the small 1.35 mile speed bowl around the lake. Ironica...

After a 3 week break The Spectator dusted off the Thermos and Ruck Sack and got his backside trackside again. Silverstone was the venue as the fantastic Blancpain GT series rolled into "The Home of British Motor Racing" After almost going to Brands Hatch the week before for the Sprint version of the Blancpain series, it was a no-brainer to head to Silverstone as a 52 car entry was declared for the 3 Hour Endurance Cup race on Sunday afternoon. While the World Endurance Championship does cater for GT machinery, it's fair to say that the Le Mans Prototypes steal the headlines somewhat so the Blancpain series gives an opportunity for entrants to battle on a more even playing field. I say even playing field but a Balance of Performance equation is used to keep a certain level of parity throughout the grid consisting of various examples of Audi R8, Bentley Continental, Jaguar G3, Lamborghini Huracan, Nissan GT-R, Ferrari 458/488, Mercedes-AMG, BMW F13 M6, Aston Martin Vanta...

After just about thawing out following the snow of Silverstone the week previously, it was time to return to Donington and a good looking Motor Sport Vision Racing organised meeting. Yet more snow was forecast earlier in the week but thankfully none materialised on a day that started cold and sunny and ended cold and damp (ish)! This was the second day of a 2 day meeting and, as MSVR are one of the leading organising clubs in the country, a large entry saw the Donington paddock full on Sunday morning. Kicking off racing was a 32 car grid for the VAG Trophy. The massed ranks of VW's plus the one SEAT always provide some lively racing and did so today with a pair of very good races. Race 1 was spoilt though with half the race taking place under the safety car, indeed finishing under the safety car frustratingly following a car recovery from the gravel trap on the inside of Craners. Darelle Wilson taking the flag but in race 2 was a first lap spinner at Redgate leaving the win to ...

Compiling the fixture list over the winter, the weekend of April 16/17 saw a glaring fixture clash the likes of which only British motorsport could come up with! World Endurance at Silverstone...Touring Cars at Donington..British GT/F3 at Brands Hatch plus the Historic Sports Car Club's 50th Anniversary meeting at Castle Combe....Crazy really and a shame that such a situation could occur but not exactly a surprise. As I'm a huge fan of the fantastic LMP1/LMP2 prototypes seen in the World Endurance Championship and European Le Mans Series there was only one place to be on this particular weekend. The night before, The Spectator was alarmed to see that Snow was forecast for Saturday morning! Knowing that Silverstone is always 10 degrees colder than what is actually forecast then I knew full well that snow would be a factor come the day itself! Travelling down the M1 it got gradually wetter and as the WEC cars came out for Practice at 9.00am sure enough the rain turned to snow...