May 2019

December 22, 2019

Mallory Park 5th May

Silverstone 12th May

Sunday May 5th saw The Spectator at Mallory Park for a 750 Motor Club meeting. The revived Mallory was looking in fantastic shape with new fencing and spectator banks in pristine condition. Real Motorsport Ltd have done a great job in turning the place around from the circuit's dark days of the recent past.

Mallory Park looking in great condition

11 races were on the cards for the day and were highlighted by 3 frenetic Formula Vee encounters. The entry was split into 3 groups so each group raced twice across the days trio of races. The action was a little too fenetic in the first race with second placed James Harridge disqualified for forcing Graham Gant onto the grass down the Stebbe Straight. Gant did get some consolation later by winning Race 3 with Race 2 being won by Ben Miloudi's Storm. With 33 cars entered Formula Vee is still one of the most popular budget single-seater championships around and with over 50 years in the books long may it continue.

The Classic Stock Hatches had a pair of races won by the Ford Fiesta of Lee Scott with No.1 on the door...The 750 Formula Championship had a pair of races won by the Racekits Falcon of Mark Glover with No.1 on the door too!!

The Clio 182 Championship continues to be fun to watch with Gerards bend a great place to watch the Clios from...a car that was always just on the edge in it's heyday on the TOCA package. The modern Clio being far more sorted! Don de Graaf and points leader Ryan Polley sharing the spoils.

An unusual 750MC v VSCC Austin 7 10 lap Handicap race saw lots of Austin 7's on track...quite exactly what was going on was another matter but I can tell you that Dave Hubble was declared the winner.

With F.Vee, Classic Stock Hatch and Clio 182's on the timetable you may have expected a few red flags but the days Red Flag action was provided by the genteel Historic 750 Formula! Not once but twice. Firstly an off at Gerards saw a stoppage with a car in a dangerous position and then the restart was stopped following what turned out to be a spectator requiring medical attention at the top of the hill near the Hairpin. With doctors and ambulances needing to cross a live track to get to the scene the race was halted for quite some time but eventually reached a conclusion.

Admission on the gate was £13 and a programme was £3. Typically of a Bank Holiday weekend, the weather was a bit 4 seasons with it becoming decidedly chilly as the afternoon wore on but it did stay dry thankfully. A cracking little meeting this from the ever excellent 750MC on a Mallory circuit that always produces good racing.

Sunday May 12th A week later and it was to Silverstone for what is always one of my favourite meetings of the year with the visit of the Blancpain GT Series and their 3 Hour endurance series race. The GT3 juggernaut of recent years shows no sign of letting up and another mammoth 48 car grid took the start at 3pm on a sunny and warm Sunday afternoon. Sadly 48 cars didn't survive the first lap with a spinning car on the exit of Chapel curve causing chaos near the bridge over the Hangar Straight and 4 cars ending up badly damaged and a 20 minute safety car period to clear up the mess. When the race did get going there were only 2 more safety car periods thankfully, one of which caused by a bizarre incident when the Lamborghini Huracan of Taylor Proto was leaving the pits on the exit of Copse he wasn't seen by another car and was immediately side-swiped and exited stage right into the barriers with some force. With the pole sitting GRT Grasser Lamborghini suffering a puncture whilst leading the race was eventually won by the Ferrari 488 of Miguel Molina/Mikhail Aleshin/Davide Rigon. All 3 very good drivers and in a series where there is a mixture of pro and amateur drivers, the cream will always rise to the top.

Only 2 other races on the day following qualifying in the morning for the Blancpain GT and Formula Renault Eurocup. The Eurocup has long been an important step on the single-seater ladder and this season has produced a new Tatuus (with halo) chassis along with a new 1.8 litre turbo engine. The waters are muddied in the single seater world these days as Renault had originally wanted to win the tender for the FIA's new Regional Formula 3 concept. When that was awarded to the Italian governing body, Renault decided to go it alone anyway! A healthy 20 car grid with strength in depth was in evidence at Silverstone so I would say that Renault chose wisely as the actual Regional F3 series struggled for numbers in 2019. What doesn't change in most single seater races sadly is processional racing and Oscar Piastri won what wasn't the greatest race I'd ever seen. Good training for Formula One though!

Last but not least was a 50 minute Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe pit stop race. Wealthy amateurs (with the odd bit of talent) racing across Europe in the Huracan. The Polish pairing of Bartosz Paziewski/Karol Basz taking the spoils.

Admiision on the gate was £26...a touch overpriced in my opinion and as you can see from my photo not the busiest at Stowe at times! To be fair the crowds on the Silverstone GP circuit are usually to be found around Luffield and the pits area and it was a struggle to leave the car park in the evening. A very good programme was £5. It's always good to see a huge grid of GT3 cars but think this meeting needs a few more support races next year and one wonders if the GT3 bubble could burst sooner rather than later..we shall see.