That's All Folks.....!

 

The Spectator posts at last!! After giving it much thought, this will be the last ever post by myself...The Motor Racing Spectator will be updated no more sadly. It's been a losing battle over the the last few years to keep the blog regularly updated and I'm simply not going to as much racing as I used to plus the fact that when I do go, finding the time to update the blog, keeping it fresh, is becoming harder and harder to do. Indeed I can watch a humble clubbie live on YouTube these days and the blog has lost its immediacy that is required in the modern world. I started the blog in 2012 so it's fitting to end it 10 years later in 2022.  The world has changed in those 10 years and it's time to move on.

I thought I would give my thoughts on the meetings I have been to since May.

MALLORY PARK SUNDAY 22ND MAY

This was the second day of a 2 day meeting organised by the Classic and Modern Motorsport Club. The CMMC (as I'll word it from here on in!) is one of the youngest organising clubs in the UK, having only been formed in 2018. Its mantra is to provide a home for those series that struggle to get track time in the maelstrom that is the UK club racing scene. Indeed its portfolio of championships have been strengthened by having the mainly South-East based competitors of the Intermarque Silhouettes, Super Saloons and Tin Tops split from the BARC South-East club and join the CMMC. 

On what was a cool and overcast Sunday the days timetable saw 11 races scheduled with an additional 3 demonstration sessions from the British Historic Kart Club. The undoubted highlight of the day were the Pickups who had 2 25 lap races on the one-mile oval configuration. This was the only appearance on the oval at Mallory in 2022 for the Pickups as, sadly, Mallory Park doesn't have many car meetings these days. Indeed in 2022 there were only 4 car only meetings with none organised by the BARC who run the Pickups. George Turiccki wining both races on the day, my poor photos (I've always been useless at photography!!) taken at Turns 3/4. Also entertaining were a pair of Intermarque Silhouette races for the spaceframe hot-rods, who really should race on the oval instead of the normal circuit. 

The biggest issue on the day though was the fact that races for both Lansdowne Classic Bikes and 500cc Formula 3 were red-flagged due to noise issues. In all my years of spectating this was a first and it appears that noise meters positioned at the circuit automatically trigger when the decibel level is too high, thus forcing an immediate stoppage. Not good and it doesn't bode well for Mallory Park's further usage as clubs with "noisy" competitors will simply not book Mallory for use. With other races for a Classic Challenge (14 entries) and a Welsh Saloons/Modern Challenge (13 entries) the day was a curious mix of machinery and quality. Very good in places....very poor in places....but you can probably say that about a lot of meetings these days!

My only visit to Mallory Park in 2022 and with the circuit in immaculate condition one hopes that the circuit will encourage more clubs to visit more often in 2023. Admission was £15 on the gate and a very good programme was £3

DONINGTON PARK SUNDAY 29th MAY

A week after Mallory and it was to Donington for the visit of the British GT Championship package. A 3 hour GT race was the centrepiece of the Sunday with other races for Ginetta GT Academy, TCR UK Championship, GB4 and GB3 single-seater championships plus a single 40 minute race for the Classic and Sportscar Club's Slicks Series completing a 10 race day. 

On another cool and cloudy late Spring day this was a decent meeting. The British GT Championship is always worth a watch and with 17 GT3 and 13 GT4 cars making up the 30 car grid, the 3 hour race positively flew by! It was dominated at the front by the  Enduro Motorsport McLaren 720S of Marcus Clutton/Morgan Tillbrook who, having started from pole position, won by almost exactly a minute from the Mercedes-AMG of Lewis Williamson/James Cottingham. GT4 honours went to the fantastic looking Ford Mustang of Matt Cowley/Marco Signoretti. British GT continues to more than hold its own in these volatile financial times and there always appears to be a wealthy amateur driver willing to test their mettle (and spend their money!!) at the highest GT level in the country. SRO the series organisers are wise heads in the GT arena and long may the Championship (remarkably 30 years old in 2023!) last.

The UK's premier single seater championship, GB3, is also in good health. Run by MSV Racing, 2022 saw a brand new chassis for the series, the Tatuus MSV-022 fitted with the Halo device, a must now for contemporary single-seater racing. With a 2 litre Mountune engine producing 250bhp the cars are quick and a very useful stepping stone for the up and coming young driver. There were 22 entries at Donington and the two races on the Sunday were won by Americans Max Esterson and Bryce Aron.

A totally new addition tho the UK single seater scene is the GB4 Championship for 2022. Also run by MSVR this new series is being pitched at drivers who can't really afford the British Formula 4 Championship but who are looking to try and ascend the single seater ladder on a budget. 13 cars were on the Donington grid, the car itself being ex-Italian F4 championship Tatuus-Abarths...without Halo! It was heartening to see both races won by female drivers, the first by Megan Gilkes and the second reversed grid race by Logan Hannah. 

The TCR UK Championship has struggled to assert itself in the UK since its launch in 2018, primarily as the British Touring Car Championship is SO strong, but 2022 has seen an upsurge in interest and 25 cars were entered for their double-header at Donington. Racing mainly on the Time Attack/ Modified Live racedays, the TCR UK boys and girls were making a rare appearance on a "normal" raceday. The Hyundai i30 N of Max Hart wining both races quite comfortably. The CSCC's Slicks Series race saw a disjointed opening with a long safety car period at the start following the Lotus Evora of Kevin Riley being embedded in the pitwall at the rolling start which meant the race, which promised much with a great entry, never really got going. Brothers Morgan and Marcus Short triumphing in their Mosler. Two unimpressive Ginetta GT Academy races rounded out the programme, the first race of which was declared after just 1 racing lap due to incidents and oil on the circuit. Admission on the gate was a touch pricey £25 and I was given a programme...cheers Ken!!

DONINGTON PARK SUNDAY 3RD JULY

Equipe Classic Racing have teamed up with MSVR in 2022 to run their own meetings. A club that was born out of the boom in historic and classic racing, used to run with the MG Car Club but with ever increasing competitor interest they have took the plunge and booked their own track time. This was an unusual format at Donington (on British Grand Prix day at Silverstone, so it was very quiet!) as it was time for the Equipe Super Sprint. Put simply a driver has one qualifying session then depending on where they finish in their first race, gets put in a set format to progress through three races and a final.

This meant that there were 15, 10 lap races throughout the day all with 18 cars in each race. It sounds confusing but I was surprised by how much I actually enjoyed this meeting! The enormous paddock at Donington looked empty but with 55 entries it would! But when qualifying ended and with each entrant assigned a colour, Red, Green or Yellow, the fun began. The basics of the day were that if you finished in positions 1-6 you went into one race, then positions 7-12 in another then positions 13-18 into another. So by the finals at the end of the day the cars should be roughly in natural speed groupings. With retirements it didn't quite run that way but the Red Final for the faster cars was won by TVR Griffith of Jamie Boot who had a terrific scrap with Austin Healey 3000 of Mark Holme

 

I think this Super Sprint format is an excellent way in giving an entrant plenty of tracktime during a reace meeting and keeping the watching marshals and spectators entertained. The complex flow chart that was printed in the programme to work out who went where in each race took a bit of getting used to but the anorak in me quite enjoyed writing in the results and grids of all the races!!

Admission was free thanks to my friend John who has recently taken up marshalling and gave me a spare ticket and a spare programme too. Here he is in action...he's the one in Orange!! Thanks John.

DONINGTON PARK SUNDAY 10th JULY

On a blisteringly hot Sunday it was the British Racing & Sportscar Club (BRSCC) in charge for the second day of a 2 day meeting. This looked a cracker on paper with races for Mini Se7en and Mini Miglias plus the full portfolio of the Caterham factory series - Caterham Seven UK, Roadsports, Seven 310R & 270R aswell as a pair of Ford ST/XR & Civic Challenge races. Ending the days activities was a 3 hour race for the Citroen C1 Endurance Series.....more of that anon!! 

One of the success stories of the last few racing seasons has been the resurgence of the Mini Se7en Racing Club's Se7en and Miglia offerings. The Se7en grid is now bolstered with a S Class for 1275cc Minis as opposed to the 998cc Se7en. The Miglia grid is also filled out with a Libre class for 1380cc's with the Miglias being 1293cc's. There's always great racing from any Mini race but the Se7en clubs pair of championships have always been this authors favourite Minis to watch over the years. While the Se7en race was won by an unusually large margin of 8 seconds by Connor O'Brien the Miglia race was true to form and a slender 0.166 marging separated Rupert Deeth and ex-BTCC Champion Andrew Jordan at the flag.

The highlight of the 5 Caterham races on the day was easily the 20 minute Roadsport thrash, described in my notes on the day as "A great race, lots of battles!" and won by Geoff Newman. It was interesting to note that in the week prior to the meeting, Caterham announced that they were to be moving their championships from the BRSCC to the BARC for 2023. This is happening more and more in UK racing as track time, circuit choice, paddock space plus costs play an increasingly important role in defining what makes a race series successful. 

The old mainly North Western based Ford XR2 and XR3 championships have gradually morphed into the ST-XR Challenge, the days of battered XR3 Escorts and XR2 Fiestas appear to be over though as there was only a solitary XR2 at Donington with the grid made up of the Fiesta ST150. On a separate grid but in the same race was a small Civic Challenge entry, a new series for 2022 that appears to be for the driver who can't (or doesn't want to) race with the main Civic Cup. Both races were won by Ben Griffiths in the Civics and Chris Jones in the ST-XRs.

Last but not least we come to the Citroen C1 endurance......

As you can see from  the photographic evidence the tiny little C1's were, on occasions, a little bit of a handful!! There was a 50 minute qualifying session just before lunch and the 3 hour race started just before 4pm. The boom in the "small racing car" market is huge at the moment and there were 50 cars entered at Donington. With most entries being shared by 3 drivers then it's obvious that this is a value for money concept. Slightly worrying was the fact that I saw 3 rollovers, one in qualifying and 2 in the race. All from over corrections and at relatively slow speeds but this is an area of concern for cars of this nature. I remember seeing a Smart car roll at Mallory Park a few years ago and the high centre of gravity coupled with short wheelbase mean that they are very top heavy. One hopes that drivers are prepared for this eventuality when they race! I watched the first hour of the race then headed home...

HEDNESFORD HILLS SUNDAY 31st JULY

My last visit to Hednesford Raceway was back in 2016 and I always enjoy short circuit action so it was to the hills high on Cannock Chase overlooking the town that I headed on a sunny but cool last day of July.  With a 1pm start time and a 5pm finish, the organisers Incarace ran a very slick 15 races with 5 different formulas on show.

There's always a Championship or a title to be won at most oval racing meetings and this one was no different! The Grand Prix Midget World Championship took place over 30 laps of the bowl-like oval and was won by Nick Price. The Oval Track Legends (pictured above) were having their National Championship aswell and that was taken by Sy Harraway. Also on the bill were Super Rods (pictured below) Bangers and the most entertaining races of the day were for the Stock Rods.

DONINGTON PARK SUNDAY 7th AUGUST

This was an unusual meeting whereby the second day of a 750 Motor Club meeting was taken over by the BMW Car Club GB and then turned into the BMW Sommerfest by circuit owners MSV! The usual 750MC classes were out and were joined as the last race of the day by a 45 minute Ultimate BMW Race. Other BMW themed fare was provided by a 90 minute 116 Trophy enduro and a double header for the BMW Car Club Racing Championship. Non Bavarian motorcars were seen out in a couple of Formula 1000 (nee Jedi) races, 2 5Club Mazda MX5 races and a brace of Sports 1000 races.

Dare one say it but the non-BMW action was a lot more entertaining than the BMW fare on offer. A crazy second Formula 1000 race that nobody wanted to win being the stand-out that saw Dan Gore emerge after others either crashed or retired. There were 27 F1000's entered at Donington which is the highest ever for the series that started life with the BRSCC as Formula 600 then became Formula Jedi and the championships move to the 750 portfolio appears to be bearing fruit.

Also evolved over the years is the Sports 1000 category (nee RGB) which features a growing cottage industry of manufacturers who build highly effective bike engined sportscars. The Spire GT3 of Richard Webb winning both races on Sunday and the good old Mk 1 Mazda MX5 saw an enormous grid out in the 5Club races both won by serial winner Ben Short.

There were large grids for all the BMW races but they seemed to lack the spark of the days other races. The Ultimate BMW race was won by Kevin Clarke's mighty M3 CSL but only after battling with the E36 M3 of novice Jack Smith who was a Sim racing expert by all accounts. Smith led in parts but was excluded post race for passing under yellows, but one to watch for the future.

The summer of 2022 was down on record as the hottest of all time and this was another Sunday spent in the relentless heat of the English Midlands! The infield area of Donington looked to be very busy with displays and activities for all things BMW. The outfield areas were there usually quiet self though. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the BMW M-Sport brand the £5 programme featured some retro BMW adverts from the early 1980's plus great photos from the BMW M1 Procar visit to Donigton in 1980 plus the BMW 635 saloons in action when Donington hosted the European Touring Car Championship in the mid 80's. You can't beat nostalgia!

CADWELL PARK SUNDAY 21st AUGUST

To high in the Lincolnshire Wolds on yet another sunny Sunday for my first visit in a decade to the glorious ribbon of asphalt that is Cadwell Park. The BRSCC in charge with a mammoth 16 races on the timetable on the second day of a two day meeting.

The tight confines of Cadwell mean that there is always an incident or two or three or four!! Indeed the very first race of the day, bright and early at 9am saw action last as far as the first corner before the red flags flew. The Fiesta Juniors have increased in number over the last couple of seasons, with the BRSCC putting a lot of effort in to bolster grid numbers and look to the future with a new MK7 being introduced to help modernise the series.14 entries were at Cadwell and it was a good job that they were as 5 cars were involved in the first corner shunt (pictured above), with a couple not to be seen for the rest of the days 2 other races. Sid Smith wining all three encounters and a name to look out for in the future no doubt. The 14-16 year old racing market is well covered in modern racing with along with the Fiesta Juniors there is the BARC run Junior Saloons and the Ginetta Junior championship on the TOCA package. 

As well as running the Citroen C1 Championship, the BRSCC have instigated the City Car Cup, a series for not only the C1 but also caters for the Toyota Aygo and Peugeot 907 and a large entry of 30 cars swarmed around Cadwell with 3 races altogether. The safety car making an appearance in 2 out of the 3 with the obligatory roll in race 2 for the Peugeot 907 of Elliot Lewis at the Gooseneck!

More disruption was caused in the Fiesta Championship double-header...indeed I wasn't that impressed by the driving standards on display at Cadwell. The first race being red flagged after a shunt at Chris Curve and a safety car in the second race with an off at Mansfield corner.

Less destructive races that also took place were two for the ST-XR Challenge, a pair of Mazda MX5 Supercup races that were very entertaining along with their older cousins , the Mk1 MX5's

Single races were also run for the BMW Compact Cup and for the Modified Fords Series. Dave Cockell's mighty Escort Cosworth overtaking everyone from the back of the grid having spun on his out lap from the paddock right in front of me at Hall Bends!

In the 10 years that had passed since my last visit to Cadwell, a new pedestrian bridge has been built across the circuit enabling spectators to cross over much more easily than the old days when you had to wait for the circuit crossing to be opened at the foot of the Mountain. Indeed it's such a pleasure to visit Cadwell Park, the lack of debris fencing around the circuit along with being very close to the action at several places around the circuit mean a good day out. An enjoyable day and BRSCC did very well to run all 16 races and finish pretty much on schedule. Traditionally a bike racing mecca, indeed the BSB meeting a week later on the bank holiday weekend pulled in its usual enormous crowd, but car racing clubs have realised that Cadwell is such a great circuit and there are lots more car meetings than there used to be. Admission on the gate was £16 and with no programmes it was printed entry lists as is the way for most meetings post-Covid alas!

DONINGTON PARK SUNDAY 11th & SUNDAY 18th SEPTEMBER

I thought I'd group together the final two meetings of my year as both were fairly average affairs that didn't really leave me enthused! 

On 11th September it was the Classic Sports Car Club (CSCC) on offer at Donington with the second day of a two day meeting featuring Special Saloons & Modsports, Turbo Tin Tops/Puma Cup, Tin-Tops, New Millennium Series, Magnificent Sevens and the Open/Slicks Series. The CSCC offer 40 minute races for the vast majority of their series, which while beneficial to the entrant, I've never really enjoyed as a spectacle as races get broken up with pit stops and success penalties. Despite the economic gloom of living in the UK in 2022, there were plenty of entries at Donington with just the Special Saloons being a touch light as just 10 cars took the start of their restarted Sunday race, restarted due to 2 cars in the Redgate gravel trap at the original time of asking.

There should have been 7 races on this day but there was a red flag in the penultimate race of the day, the Open/Slicks Series, with the Porsche 997 of Peter Challis making heavy contact with the barrier on the inside of the circuit between McLeans and Coppice. The barrier damage causing not only a premature end to that race but the abandonment of what should have been a second Magnificent Sevens race. Thanks to John for his spare ticket for entry to both meetings and no programmes again, either for the CSCC or the MSVR meeting a week later on September 18th.......

On an unusually cold September day this was the second day of a meeting headlined by the GT Cup Championship along with races for Monopostos (pictured above), Radical Challenge, Bernie's V8 & Historic Outlaws and the Trackday Trophy. Highlights included, as ever, the GT Cup which had two races. The 50 minute two-driver race won by the McLaren 720s of Simon Orange/Michael O'Brien.

The Trackday Trophy had an enormous entry for their 45 minute race and an intriguing Radical Challenge were good to watch. Less good were 4 Monoposto races that were split into engine capacity. 2 large grids would probably have been better than 4 small grids and I was alarmed by the poor reliability on show especially in the second race for the F3,1400 and 2000 competitors. An eclectic entry for Bernie's V8 saw quite a few TVR Tuscans plus old NASCARs, a Plymouth Cuda and a Jaguar XJ Coupe out!

I had an operation in late September so that is that for spectating in 2022 so that is that for this blog ladies and gentleman......!! Thank you all for spending the time reading it over the last 10 years.