May 2018

Donington Park Saturday 5th May 2018

Time for another monthly update dear readers...Following on from a decidedly chilly Touring Car meeting at Donington on April 29th, it was back to Donington just 6 days later for the first raceday of the annual Donington Historic Festival. Organised this year by MSVR and not the HSCC, Saturday morning saw bright blue sky and a +20 degree change in temperature from the weekend before! 

Qualifying for the weekend's activities had taken place on the Friday so it was wall to wall racing on Saturday with 10 races on the programme.

The Donington Historic Festival (DHF) has always sat somewhat uneasily in the over-crowded Historic racing season since it's inception in 2011 in my opinion. Various FIA Historic series have visited in the past but as for this year there was nothing particularly headline grabbing. 

Racing is racing though and there were 2 separate races for Formula Junior, front-engined and (you've guessed it!) rear engined. It was the front-engined race that provided the most exciting racing with a close throughout battle for the lead between Christopher Drake's Terrier and Ray Mallock's Mallock U2 with Drake taking the flag after 20 minutes hard racing. I say 20 minutes but the race was red-flagged a touch early with a car off at Redgate.

The rear engined brigade race was won by Cameron Jackson in his Brabham BT2. The Formula Junior races weren't the only single seater races as the "big bangers" of the Derek Bell Trophy for Formula 5000 and Formula 2 were out on track. Sadly a rather thin grid of 13 took the start and only 8 finished their 20 minute race. The mighty Lola T400 of Michael Lyons lapped up to 3rd position as he stroked away at the front to take the win ahead of Jamie Brashaw's March73A.

12 started the Super Touring race and only 5 of those were pukka Super-Tourers. James Dodd's Honda Accord edging  former BTCC Champion John Cleland in his period Vauxhall Vectra. If only Steve Soper had took part in this race and not in other races on the day then Cleland and Soper could have re-enacted their infamous coming together at Silverstone in 1992...!

More tin-top action came in the form of the Historic Touring Car Challenge which saw cars from the 70's and 80's provide a large grid and entertaining action. Nick & Harry Whale sharing the BMW M3 E30 that Nick used to race in period BTCC in the early 1990's.

Touring cars from the 1960's were catered for in the U2TC Trophy for under 2 litre Touring cars. The 40 minute race was red flagged a touch early due to an incident on the back straight and saw a Lotus Cortina 1-2, Andy Wolfe ahead of the aforementioned Steve Soper.

Even more Touring car action came in the 45 minute HRDC Touring Greats race which saw cars ranging from 1949 to 1964. Despite the age of the cars involved this one saw the appearance of the safety car on 2 separate occasions. Firstly on lap one at the Old Hairpin there was a 3 car coming together, then later in the race motorcycle racer turned racing driver Maria Costello got out of shape at the Old Hairpin and rolled in her Austin A30. She had the presence of mind to drive off the circuit in a relatively undamaged car but it didn't stop the safety car being deployed. Father and son duo Mike and Andrew Jordan winning in their amusingly titled Austin GT40.

Sportscar races on this particular Saturday saw a 60 minute Pre-'63 GT race that had erstwhile leaders Martin & Lukas Halusa's Ferrari 250 "Breadvan" retire whilst leading at the Old Hairpin. The car was deemed to have been left in an unsafe position so another safety car appearance, the second of the race. The glorious Aston Martin DB4GT of Wolfgang Friedrichs/Simon Hadfield taking the flag.

The Royal Automobile Club Woodcote Trophy hour long race for Sportscars of the 1950's was won by the Cooper T38 of Pat Blakeney-Edwards/Fred Wakeman and rounding off the days proceedings was yet another hour long race this time for the Jaguar Classic Challenge. Featuring mostly E-Types this was a very entertaining way to finish off the days racing and one which saw Callum Lockie and Julian Thomas take the flag.

Under glorious clear blue sky this was a nice way to spend a day at Donington. A Spitfire flypast at lunchtime added to the retro theme and that it was captured on video on my phone but for some reason I can't seem to upload it to this blog alas! I didn't purchase a programme as I had printed off the entry lists from the MSVR website saving myself £8 I believe. I had also walked through an empty gate to enter the circuit in the morning near the Exhibition centre and Esses. My season ticket was made redundant on this occasion and I wonder how many more people got through the unmanned gate?? 

Silverstone Sunday 20th May 2018

Sunday 20th May saw my first visit of the year to Silverstone and one of the highlights of the season in the form of the Blancpain GT Endurance Cup. The pan-European series caters for GT3 machinery and this was the second round of the Endurance Cup following a visit to Monza in April. A mere 50 entries took part in a 3-part qualifying session on Sunday morning. Rewarding consistency amongst a 3 driver line-up, the grid was formed by the average time of the individual car across the 3 separate sessions set by 3 different drivers. It sounds complicated and if the car had a problem, which a few did, then that particular car would be towards the back end of the grid. Emerging from all that to take pole position was the R-Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage of Mathieu Vaxiviere/Jake Dennis/Nicki Thiim ahead of the Team Akka ASP Mercedes-AMG of  Raffaele Marciello/Adam Christodoulou/Tristan Vautier. One could argue that 4 out of 6 of those mentioned drivers could easily be/should be in or around Formula One but isn't, not only shows the crop of talent in the Blancpain GT series but also the dire lack of opportunities for talented single seater drivers in the modern age. 

The 3 hour race started at exactly 3pm and ran incident free without the need for full course yellows or safety cars thank goodness. The race at the head of the field though was strangely static and the the front row qualifiers eventually finished first and second overall too. Jake Dennis was the standout driver though as he emerged in second place following a tardy pit stop, hunted down Vautier and passed him at Brooklands/Luffield and pulled away easily to maintain the lead. One reason perhaps why the race was a little static was the implemented mandatory pit-stop time for each car. Endurance racing needs variety and strategy differences to spice things up, the 3 hour 3 driver format is simply one hour each of each driver driving as flat out as he or she can then handing over to another driver to do exactly the same. The series also has a 100km and 24 hour race on it's calendar so perhaps a wider variety of race length could be the way to go. With 50 cars then maybe 4 hours would be better than 3? I'm not complaining too much though because the sight of 50 GT3 cars heading down the Hangar Straight into Stowe is always a joy on the first lap. With 12 different marques represented, the Blancpain GT Sereis is still in very rude health and long may it continue.

Only a couple of support races on this day to report. The Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup second race of the weekend saw a 2-part 30 minute qualifying session in the morning with the 28 entrants split into 2 groups of 14. Quite why is a mystery has surely the aspiring single-seater driver should learn how to negotiate slower traffic on a full circuit in a bid to set a fast qualifying time. Passing on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit is always difficult and apart from a coming together at Club on the first lap this was a very static race with poleman Charles Milesi winning ahead of American Logan Sargeant and Chinese driver Yifei Ye.

The only other support race was a 50 minute Lamborghini Super Trofeo 2-driver affair, also the second of the weekend. A big grid of identical 5.2 litre V10 Huracans saw an entertaining race ensue with a wide variety of driving talent on track! The wealthy amateur driver has the perfect car to drive if they can afford it. The winning pair was Giacomo Altoe/Daniel Zampieri and worth a mention is the Thai driver Supachai Weeraborwornpong...surely the longest surname ever to adorn a race car. The graphics applicator will charge double for that one I'm sure........!

Admission was £20 with an advanced purchased ticket and a very good programme was £5. Silverstone are celebrating their 70th anniversary this year and the old place seemed to be in good condition. The building of the "Silverstone Experience" is evident at the entrance to the circuit. Designed to be a museum and visitor centre I look forward to it's opening in the near future. 

Snetterton Sunday 27th May 2018

The purchase of a MSV season ticket this year gave me the perfect opportunity to head East and to Norfolk for my first visit to Snetterton since August 2009. Much has happened in the world since then....and even Snetterton itself has changed in the intervening 9 years. The addition of an infield section from the old Sear corner has opened up a whole new area for spectators to view from and increased to length of the lap considerably.

After a 6.00am start it was a long drive on the never ending A14 & A11 eventually to arrive at a sunny but breezy Snetterton in time for the days proceedings. The photo below is from the banking overlooking Williams corner and a decent view it is. Dare one say it's a bit Rockingham-esque with perhaps too much going on in front of your eyes as several corners can be seen at any one time.

The headline action on this MSVR organised meeting was for the British GT championship with a pair of 60 minute long races plus support races from BRDC British Formula 3, Ginetta G40 Cup, Volkswagen Cup, Northern Sports/Sallons and Mini Challenge.

The Mini Challenge -JCW  version had raced on the Saturday so had just the one race on the Sunday. With 30 identical cars, racing in this championship is frenetic to say the least! The appearance of the safety during the 20 minute race wasn't entirely surprising. Just 0.02 secs separating winner David Robinson from runner-up Jac Maybin.

The Darlington & District Motor Club organised Northern Sports/Saloons was making a rare foray South of it's Northern outpost of Croft. With 26 entries the diversity of entrant summed up what club racing should be. Where else would you find a Ford Falcon Australian V8 Supercar in the same race as a Peugeot 205?! After a qualifying session first thing on Sunday morning, one in which the Ford Sierra of Guy Blummer clouted the barriers on the exit of Williams, the championship had 2 races on the day. A cracking 3 way lead battle between Bill Addison's Caterham Superlight, Alan Henderson's Ginetta G50 & the Ford Falcon of Andy Robinson raged throughout with the trio finishing in that order. Roles were reversed in the second race with Henderson overcoming Addison this time round.

Ginetta is now one of the mainstays of the UK racing scene and their Ginetta G40 Cup caters for the driver who has probably started their race career in the Ginetta Racing Drivers Club series and wants to put one foot on the ladder to progress through to Ginetta GT5, Supercup and British GT and beyond. On a day of close finishes at the line, race 1 was won by 0.266 secs this time with Rob Keogh pipping Jack Oliphant. Race 2 was red flagged after a first lap crash then restarted over the full race distance of 15 minutes. Tom Golding, the reigning Ginetta Racing Drivers Club champion, romped away to win easily.

Ex Touring car racer Martin Depper won the only VW Cup race in quite unusual circumstances. His VW Scirocco was shown the Chequered flag but it was then withdrawn so Depper cruised around on what he thought was a slowing down lap only to be passed by drivers not shown the flag! Thankfully common sense prevailed and the results were taken back a lap and Depper declared the winner.

The BRDC British F3 Championship, whilst never quite filling the gap of the late lamented British F3 Championship, is the UK's premier single seater championship and has attracted a decent grid of 17 cars for 2018. One of which is the car of Billy Monger, a quite remarkable return to competitive driving for the young driver who suffered life changing leg injuries last year after ploughing into the back of a stationary car at full speed in a F4 round at Donington. New for this season is a completely reversed grid for race 2 of the weekend from finishing positions in race 1. I'm not quite sure if this a particularly good idea but can understand in this day and age of "entertainment first" that it's a way of spicing up proceedings. Manuel (cousin of Pastor) Maldonado therefore finished last in race 1 but won race 2 from pole position. The perils of a reversed grid were evidenced when championship front runner Nicolai Kjaergaard clashed with Tom Gamble at Palmer corner and retired. Kjaergaard's championship rival Linus Lundqvist rose to 4th place from near the back of the grid in race 2 then won race 3 from pole position in what was a tense but rather static affair, Kjaergaard in 2nd.

Last but not least and the British GT championship. 33 entries split 11 GT3 & 22 GT4 so a good grid this season in both classes. GT4 was once the domain of a smattering of Ginetta G50's but now it is a multi-marque class with McLaren, Jaguar,BMW,Nissan,Aston Martin, Mercedes and Toyota joining the fray. The main GT3 class has seen numbers dip a little of the last few seasons but with a strong GT4, the imbalance in class numbers isn't that noticeable with lapping slower traffic a key to success in GT3 and creating action on track. The Aston Martin Vantage was definitely the car to have at Snetterton this day with both TF Sport entries wining a race each. Mark Farmer/Nicki Thiim taking the first race then team-mates Derek Johnston/Marco Sorensen the second.
I really enjoyed my day at Snetterton, the weather stayed sunny and warm all day thankfully as dark clouds built up gradually from the East in the afternoon. I was slightly surprised there wasn't a bigger crowd than there was, maybe the added spectator banking spread the crowd out a bit compared to the old days. The GT/F3 package is a good one and it's good to see big grids and entertaining racing on a high profile package. 

Mallory Park Monday 28th May 2018

After a few hours sleep it was off to Mallory Park for the first time since Boxing Day 2016 for a rare Bank Holiday Monday car race meeting. The BARC were in charge for a 10 race meeting that featured 8 races from the Classic Touring Car Racing Club (CTCRC) and a double header for the Hyundai Coupe Cup. The troubled recent history of Mallory Park has seen the amount of meetings decrease significantly at the circuit. When once there was either a car or bike meeting every weekend from March to October, there is now a much reduced schedule of meetings but thankfully 2018 has seen an increase in the amount of meetings. The circuit is now in fantastic shape compared to a few short years ago with everywhere looking neat and tidy. The Shaws Hairpin area is now surrounded by acoustic barriers on both sides in a bid to shelter the residents of Kirkby Mallory from as much noise as possible. The effect of these large green barriers when spectating is highly unusual as it feels like you are inside! The noise is amplified trackside and they are a great protection from the elements too.
The CTCRC's portfolio of championships are wide reaching these days and virtually any Saloon is catered across the clubs 4 sets of races. The Group 1 Touring Car races saw Mark Osborne's Triumph Dolomite and Stephen Primett's Ford Escort share the wins. 
It was good to see a couple of competitors I had seen racing at Snetterton the day before make the trip like I had to Mallory the day after as Andy Robinson's Australian V8 Supercar Ford Falcon finished 4th & 3rd in the Classic & Historic Thunder Saloon races having been in Norfolk only hours previously. The ridiculously fast Subaru Imprezza of Dale Gent lapped almost all of the field in both races to take the flag on both occasions.
It was good to see a healthy grid of 22 in the Pre'66 Touring cars races, with so many different championships for older cars to race in across the myriad historic scene. Alan Greenhalgh's mighty Ford Falcon won race 1 but didn't take the start for race 2 leaving the way for David Heale's Hillman Super Imp to win. 2 very different machines but both capable of winning!
3 different categories - Pre'93, Pre'03 & Pre'05 Touring cars were merged to form a large 30 car grid and with it provided the days only appearance of the safety car in race 1. Ray West's BMW M3 wining both races.
The Hyundai Coupe Cup has grown steadily over the last few years and 21 examples of the make made it to the East Midlands for qualifying. The bonnet of Ray Harding's car didn't make it to the end of qualifying however and it's departure from the car led to the session being stopped briefly to retrieve it! Steve Kite and Alex Cursley taking a win apeice.
After a cool overcast start to the day, the sun appeared in the afternoon and a rare dry Bank Holiday Monday with no rain! A thoroughly enjoyable days action at Mallory and it was good to be back at the "Friendly Circuit" for the first time in a while. Admission was £13 on the gate and a programme was £3