Jim Russell Memorial Meeting
Snetterton’s ace tutor honoured with Lotuses
Snetterton echoed to the screams of Formula Junior, Ford and F3 engines at its Jim Russell Memorial Meeting. Singleseater and sports-car racer Russell, who died in 2019 aged 98, set up his eponymous Racing Driver’s School at the circuit in 1956, training countless future champions including Emerson Fittipaldi and James Hunt.
Chevron B38
This striking F3 car made its post-restoration debut at Snetterton after spending years languishing unused in garages. ‘It was Beppe Gabbiani’s second B38,’ said restorer Simon Hadfield. ‘He crashed his first – a red car – and ordered this second one in time for a race at Monza in June 1977. He finished fourth in the European F3 Championship that year, and used this car to win races in the Italian Championship. When we announced we were restoring the car on Facebook, Gabbiani popped up and started telling us about it!
‘The car was sponsored by Gabbiani’s family business, although he was a great driver in his own right. He stayed loyal to Chevron with his own cars – Trivellato, the Italian Chevron importer, was just down the road from Gabbiani – and at the time it was the car to have; the previous year Riccardo Patrese had won everything in an F3 Chevron.
‘Gabbiani went on to race works Bmw-marches in F2, then entered F1 with Surtees and later Osella. His B38, however, was shelved by the arrival of ground effect in F3, which rendered it instantly uncompetitive; it sat overlooked but unmolested. Richard Trott picked it up seven years ago, and had it for sale for what seemed like forever, and we restored it as a lockdown project.
Lotus 22
Another making its post-restoration debut, this Lotus Formula Junior has a claim to fame in the pages of an iconic series of French comic books. ‘It was originally raced by Henri Grandsire, the inspiration behind Jean Graton’s Michel Vaillant character – hence the unusual shade of French Racing Blue,’ said owner Adrian Russell.
‘Grandsire raced it in 1962. He only did a few events, including the support race for the 1962 Monaco Grand Prix, although he didn’t finish the race.’ Grandsire went on to win the 1964 French F3 Championship before joining the Alpine works endurance racing team, culminating in Le Mans class wins in 1966 and 1967.
‘After Grandsire’s ownership, this Lotus was hill climbed, then bought in 1980 by John Arnold, a UK collector who spent most of his life in the USA. He drove it once in 1980 and had an accident, then got Ken Nichol of Nike to make him a new chassis, but he never actually fitted it or restored the car.
‘John Arnold died in 2014, and I bought it from his son, Michael, in 2016. It’s now been restored by Peter Denty. It was important that we got it back to that original colour though – we had to find rare period colour photos to get the match right.’
Lotus 61
This unusual Lotus Formula Ford has just been restored to its original specifications, reflecting its dramatic early life. Owner Glenn Eagling explained, ‘It was displayed at the Earls Court Racing Car Show in 1969 under a banner reading “Win This Car!” – a competition run by Autosport. The guy who won it raced it at Silverstone, crashed it and decided single-seater racing wasn’t for him! It was then bought by Dave Lowe, who rebuilt it and raced it. I bought it from him in 2018.
‘I’d raced a Lotus 61 when I was 17, so I wanted one to bring back memories. Lowe had modified it though, with side-pods, so I had to return it to historic specification.’