THOMAS AND LOCKIE SHINE

Julian Thomas was one of the big stars of a tremendous weekend of historic racing on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit as he shared his Jaguar E-type with Calum Lockie. An epic victory in the Jaguar Classic Challenge was so nearly backed up with a GT and Sports Car Cup win.

Rain on Saturday and sun on Sunday made this a weekend of two halves, and some of the closest finishes came in Saturday’s treacherous conditions. On a slightly drying track, Fun Cup racer Thomas showed that he is now a match for the best of the historic establishment.

Lockie did a typically strong opening stint in the 40-minute Jaguar race before Thomas took over during a lengthy mid-race safety car period. It all then came down to the final two laps as Thomas went head-to-head with E-type aces Martin Stretton and John Pearson.

On the penultimate lap Thomas was elbowed back to third but kept his nerve and used a slingshot out of the loop to set up a dive down the inside at Brooklands to grab the lead back from Stretton. They were almost side-byside as the cars twitched through the damp of Woodcote, but Thomas got the verdict by a quarter of a second, with Pearson close behind in third.

“That was exciting,” said Thomas with a touch of understatement. “It was fantastic racing side-by-side with Martin because you can trust him.” Stretton agreed: “He drove fantastically well.”

On Sunday, Lockie and Thomas could have added GTSCC spoils and Lockie had just grabbed the lead from the AC Cobra of Leo Voyazides and Andy Wolfe when the red flags came out with 10 minutes to run. Brian Lambert had rolled his MGB at Club, fortunately without injury.

The results went back a lap and handed victory to Voyazides and Wolfe, who accepted their good fortune. Right in contention when the race was halted was the Lister-jaguar of Tony Wood and Will Nuthall.

With regular partner Simon Hadfield away at his daughter’s wedding, Voyazides shared his Lola T286 with Wolfe for a commanding win in the Pre ’80 Endurance race. Martin O’connell put in a typically determined drive in Sandy Watson’s Chevron B19 and led the early laps but the Cosworth Dfv-power of the Lola was just too much even for the former F3 ace. Voyazides duly handed the lead over to Wolfe who brought the Lola home. “That’s just the most sublime car I’ve ever driven,” said the reigning FIA Historic Formula 1 champion.

Voyazides made it an excellent weekend by taking Historic Touring Car victory in his Ford Falcon. Warren Briggs wanted to try and go after the Falcon in his Ford Mustang but was occupied with a determined challenge from Andy Wolfe, now at the wheel of his own Lotus Cortina.

Thirty-nine years after James Hunt won the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, his Mclaren M26 took two more victories in the Derek Bell Trophy double-header in the hands of Michael Lyons. In a shake down for this weekend’s Historic Formula 1 races at Brands Hatch, Lyons had his first proper taste of driving the M26.

In the dry on Sunday, Andrew Smith was never going to keep the F1 car in sight in his Formula Atlantic March 79B, but in Saturday’s rain he kept Lyons honest from a spectacular grid of cars. In the concurrent Classic F3 contests, father and son Simon and Dominik Jackson took a win apiece.

There was more family rivalry in the 70s Road Sports, run in slippery conditions on Saturday. Julian Barter guested in Jim Dean’s Lotus Europa and was able to keep the Datsun 240Z of his father Charles at arm’s length.

Later the Historic Road Sports delivered another close finish as Peter Shaw just held off the fastclosing John Davison in a battle of the Lotus Elans.

With his father Stuart racing his Lotus 23B for the first time, George Tizzard had the family’s Lenham Spyder all to himself for the Guards Trophy race and he made good use of it to overhaul the Martin O’connell/ Sandy Watson Chevron B8 and win the 40-minute race. “The car was amazing; I’m just lucky to drive it,” said Tizzard.

Watson, meanwhile, had to nurse a B8 that was short on tyres and brakes. “The car was terrible by the time I finished,” admitted O’connell after his opening stint.

Sam Wilson was the class of Formula Junior in either conditions and duly took a double win, although Cameron Jackson was unfortunate to lose out on Saturday when a suspension problem halted his Brabham. Jack Woodhouse, on his Brabham debut, and Andrew Hibberd led the chase.

Finally, category debutant Jon Milicevic took a commanding Historic F3 win during the only rain of Sunday, and Ian Pearson and Andrew Park took the spoils in the combined Classic and Historic FF2000 contest.

1 Julian Thomas/ Calum Lockie (E-type); 2 Martin Stretton (E-type) +0.265s; 3 John Pearson (E-type); 4 Gary Pearson (D-type); 5 Marcus Graf von Oeynhausen (E-type). Class winners G Pearson; John Burton (E-type); Marc Gordon (XK150). Fastest lap Thomas 2m39.563s (82.11mph). Pole Thomas/ Lockie. S 35.

1 Leo Voyazides/andy Wolfe (AC Cobra); 2 Julian Thomas/ Calum Lockie (Jaguar E-type) +1.230s; 3 Will Nuthall/tony Wood (Lister-jaguar); 4 Frank Stippler/ Marcus Graf von Oeynhausen (Jaguar E-type); 5 John Clark/ Alasdair Mccaig (Jaguar E-type); 6 Martin Hunt/ Patrick BlakeneyEdwards (Jaguar E-type). CW Nuthall/ Wood; Jeremy Welch/ Martyn Corfield (Austin-healey 3000); Rick Bourne/ Malcolm Paul (TVR Grantura); Tim Reid/alex Montgomery (Lola Mk1); Ewan Bason/ Paul Bason (Lotus Elite). FL Thomas 2m25.526s (90.03mph). P Gary Pearson/john Pearson (Jaguar E-type). S 50.

1 Leo Voyazides/andy Wolfe (Lola T280); 2 Martin O’connell (Chevron B19) +37.820s; 3 John Burton (Chevron B26); 4 Michele Liguori (Lola T296); 5 Robert Parker (Osella PA5); 6 Nick Sleep/ Bill Wykeham (Lola T70 Mk3). CW O’connell; Burton; Sleep/ Wykeham; David Axisa/ Gary Pearson (Tiga SC79); Hans Huebner (Porsche Carrera); Bob Brooks/ Vicky Brooks (Lola T212); Chris Wilson/ Nigel Williams (Porsche 911RS). FL Wolfe 2m02.970s (106.54mph). P Voyazides/ Wolfe. S 21.

1 Leo Voyazides (Ford Falcon); 2 Warren Briggs (Ford Mustang) +14.446s; 3 Andy Wolfe (Ford Lotus Cortina); 4 Greg Thornton (Ford Mustang); 5 Rob Fenn (Ford Mustang); 6 Ross Hyett (Ford Mustang). CW Wolfe; Endaf Owens (Mini Cooper S); Simon Benoy (Hillman Imp); Roger Godfrey (Austin Cooper S); David Alexander (Alfa Romeo Sprint GT). FL Voyazides 2m31.508s (86.48mph). P Voyazides. S 32.

1 Michael Lyons (Mclaren M26); 2 Andrew Smith (March 79B) +5.217s; 3 Greg Thornton (Surtees TS11); 4 Martyn Donn (Lola T670); 5 Frank Lyons (Gurney Eagle FA74); 6 Dominik Jackson (March 803). CW Smith; Thornton; Frank Lyons; Jackson; Alan Cook (Mallock Mk20); Torgny Johansson (March 782); Glenn Eagling (Ensign LNF3); Jennifer Ridgway (Reynard SF78). FL M Lyons 2m21.607s (92.52mph). P M Lyons. S 31.

1 M Lyons; 2 Smith +15.805s; 3 Neil Glover (Chevron B37); 4 Dean Forward (March 782); 5 Mark Dwyer (Lola-chevrolet T330/332); 6 Paul Campfield (Chevron B24). CW Smith; Glover; Forward; Simon Jackson (Chevron B43); Cook; Adrian Langridge (Dastle Mk10). FL M Lyons 1m57.210s (111.78mph). S32. 6 Steve Cooke (Lotus 7 S4). CW C Barter; Brian Jarvis (Porsche 924); Chris Fisher (MG Arkley); Mark Bennett (MGB); Steven Camplin (Lancia Beta Monte Carlo). FL Julian Barter 2m46.159s (78.85mph). P C Barter. S 33.

1 Peter Shaw (Lotus Elan); 2 John Davison (Lotus Elan) +0.263s; 3 Robin Pearce (Morgan +8); 4 Kevin Kivlochan (Morgan +8); 5 Frazer Gibney (Lotus Elan); 6 Robert Rowe (Lotus Elan). CW Pearce; Kristy Brooks (Lotus Elan); Nik Spencer (MGB); James Owen (Triumph TR5); Dick Coffey (Turner Mk1). FL Shaw 3m03.639s (71.35mph). P Davison. S 24.

1 George Tizzard (Lenham Spyder); 2 Martin O’connell/ Sandy Watson (Chevron B8) +13.524s; 3 Charles Allison (Chevron B8); 4 James Schryver/ Will Schryver (Chevron B8); 5 Hugh Colman/ Mark Colman (Chevron B8); 6 Andrew Hibberd/ Miles Griffiths (Lotus 23B). CW O’connell/ Watson; Hibberd/ Griffiths; Mark Halstead/ Stuart Mcpherson (Crossle 9S); Mike Whitaker (TVR Griffith); John Davison (Lotus Elan); Paul Pheysey (Lotus Elan); Bruce Chambers/ Jonathan Loader (MGB); Peter Aylett/ Steven Farrall (GSM Delta). FL Tizzard 2m18.236s (94.78mph). P O’connell/ Watson. S 43.

1 Sam Wilson (Lotus 20/22); 2 Jack Woodhouse (Brabham BT6) +3.312s; 3 James Murray (Lola MK5A); 4 Alex Ames (Lotus 22); 5 Andrew Hibberd (Lotus 22); 6 Alex Morton (Lightning Envoyette). CW Nick Finburgh (Envoy Mk1); Pete Morton (Ausper T3); Steve Jones (Cooper T67); Jonathan Fyda (U2 Mk3); Simon Durling (Lotus 18); Anthony Goddard (Cooper T56/53). FL Wilson 2m52.786s (75.83mph). P Cameron Jackson (Brabham BT2). S41.

1 Wilson; 2 Hibberd +2.697s; 3 Murray; 4 Woodhouse; 5 Ames; 6 Greg Thornton (Lotus 20/22). CW Jones; Wilkinson; Andrew Taylor (Cooper T59); James Owen (Gemini Mk2); Durling. FL Wilson 2m21.301s (92.72mph). P Jackson. S37.

1 Jon Milicevic (Brabham BT21B); 2 Simon Armer (March 703) +7.499s; 3 Peter Thompson (Brabham BT21); 4 Leif Bosson (Brabham BT28); 5 Steve Smith (Chevron B15C); 6 Marcus Mussa (Tecno). FL Milicevic 2m21.144s (92.83mph). P Milicevic. S 19.

1 Ian Pearson (Van Diemen RF83); 2 Andrew Park (Reynard SF81) +4.105s; 3 Nelson Rowe (Reynard SF79); 4 Marc Mercer (Van Diemen RF82); 5 Benn Simms (Reynard SF77); 6 Andrew Storer (Reynard SF79). CW Park; John Stapleton (Tui BH2); David Margetts (Dulon MP21). FL Pearson 2m12.287s (99.04mph). P Pearson. S 26.

run off at Jim Clark Esses before spinning out at Sunny, leaving Shepherd well clear of Luke Sedzikowski and Matthew Wallis.

It took 10 laps of the second race before Shield reeled in Shepherd’s lead but on this occasion the first place man retained the upperhand throughout in a close finish. Sedzikowski completed the podium as Andy Knowlton secured a Super Cooper Cup double too.

Billy Albone lost out at the start of both RGB races, but still fought back for a double win. Spire team-mate John Cutmore led race one and, once Albone had snatched second into Tower on lap two, the gap came down rapidly until Albone got by at Tower two laps from home. Scott Mittell was a clear third after Oliver Hewitt pitted. Matthew Higginson’s AB Arion was fourth after Daniel Larner was excluded for failing the ride height check.

Although Albone and Cutmore shared the front row of the race two grid, Hewitt’s Mittell split the duo to lead into Clervaux. He held on for three laps before Albone went by into Tower for win number two, with Cutmore and Mittell both following through at Hawthorn and Tower a lap later, leaving Hewitt to take fourth.

With Darren Berris’ Westfield V8 lapping the whole field, Ed Mckean’s BMW 325i and Mark White’s Lotus Elise completed the Armed Forces Race Challenge podium.

Rob Johnston’s Cyana might have lost out at the start of the first Sport Specials race but, once he had claimed the lead from Martin James’ Ariel Atom into Tower, he was never headed. Clive Hudson’s Eclipse secured second a lap later and left James to duel for third with fellow Atom racer Matthew Ellis. They shared a couple of exchanges before James made it safe.

It was a brave move at the Complex in race two that secured Matthew Booth’s MK Indy RR a first win. Hudson had second from lap two and made slight inroads before Booth consolidated his advantage, while Johnston settled in third after a great scrap with James.

Patrick Fletcher won both Clio 182 races. Pete Morgan retired from second place on the second lap, but Philip Wright and James Bark joined Fletcher, all three running in close formation to the flag. Mark Balmer came home in fourth place.

Bark and Fletcher were virtually side-by-side for the first half of race two’s opening lap, until Bark slowed at the Jim Clark Esses and pulled off. Wright moved in to challenge too and was alongside into Tower on consecutive laps but couldn’t quite nose ahead as Fletcher secured his second win. Balmer gradually slipped back in a safe third, with Scott Sharp fourth.

Defending Formula Vee champion Paul Smith remains undefeated this season after another winning double in his AHS Dominator. He made a first lap break in race one after Alex Jones spun his Bears GAC. James Harridge’s Maverick led a four-car fight for second, but lost out to David Hughes’ Bears GAC on the main straight. Harridge continued to lose ground, leaving Paul Taylor to complete the podium, with Harridge recovering fourth from Ian Jordan on the last lap.

Smith and Harridge had a couple of swaps on the opening lap of race two before Smith took a commanding lead. With spinners and standing water, the race was red flagged and declared at three laps, with Harridge and Harry Webb joining Smith on the podium.

Kristian White fought his way past a duelling Jim Davies and Stuart Nicholls to win the first Toyota MR2 race. Davies led from halfway in race two to secure victory over Lewis Ward and Michael Wells.

Carl Swift won both Civic Cup races. Jon Peerless held off BTCC racer Sam Tordoff for second in race one, but Ben Sharpe’s Class A car snatched second in race two on the last lap from Martin James.

1 Tim Neat; 2 Ben Powney +0.58s; 3 Martin West; 4 Richard Bradley; 5 Glenn Boyer; 6 Danny Andrew. Fastest lap Powney and Lee Emm 1m45.33s (71.77mph). Pole Emm. Starters 39.

1 Jack Coveney; 2 Ian Allee +6.81s; 3 West; 4 Tim Penstone-smith; 5 Boyer; 6 Powney. FL Allee 1m53.73s (66.47mph). P Coveney. S 38. 1 Adam Shepherd (BMW E46 M3); 2 Luke Sedzikowski (BMW E46 M3) +28.43s; 3 Matthew Wallis (BMW E46 M3); 4 John Brown (BMW E46 M3); 5 Peter Isherwood (BMW E46 M3); 6 Jamie Ingram (BMW E46 M3). Class winner Andy Knowlton (Mini Cooper S). FL Carl Shield (BMW E46 M3) 1m36.21s (78.58mph). P Shepherd. S 16.

1 Shepherd; 2 Shield +0.44s; 3 Sedzikowski; 4 Kevin Dengate (BMW E46 M3); 5 Brown; 6 Isherwood. CW Knowlton. FL Shepherd 1m34.77s (79.77mph) record. P Shield. S 16.

1 Patrick Fletcher; 2 Philip Wright +0.42s; 3 James Bark; 4 Mark Balmer; 5 George Williams; 6 Scott Sharp. FL Wright 1m40.05s (75.56mph). P Fletcher. S 20.

1 Fletcher; 2 Wright +0.70s; 3 Balmer; 4 Sharp; 5 Nick Garner; 6 Pete Morgan. FL Fletcher 1m40.24s (75.42mph). P Fletcher. S 18.

1 Smith; 2 Harridge +6.73s; 3 Harry Webb (AHS Dominator); 4 Jordan; 5 Jamie Harrison (Sheane Jordan); 6 Alex Jones (Bears GAC). CW Harridge. FL Smith 1m58.62s (63.73mph). P Smith. S 20.

Race one winner Norman Pemberton was given a 20-second time penalty after starting in the wrong group as well as getting a jump start, this relegated him to fourth place behind Seber, David Asplin and winner from the second group Cyril Hancock’s Fiat.

David Seber’s dad, Tony, then took victory in the second handicap race, starting in the penultimate group, which started 100 seconds after the first car.

The meeting also welcomed grids from the 500 Owners Club, Historic Racing Drivers Club and the Morgan Three-wheelers. It was the Morgans who were first out onto the circuit following a heavy lunchtime downpour, but that didn’t make any difference to Hamish Bibby who, after wins at Loton Park, took victory yet again.

Mark Halstead won the HRDC Allstars race from pole, although he admitted he almost didn’t make it, after getting “very close to the barriers in qualifying”, while Jonathan Lewis’ Austin Cooper S was 38 seconds ahead of the duelling Minis of Steve Jones and Tim Harber in the Academy and A-series challenge.

Peter De La Roche was victorious in the F3 500s, piloting his Cooper MKV from third.