ROSS DOES THE DOUBLE AS MG TROPHY DUELS THRILL
Standards for the weekend were set early on Saturday, as Graham Ross and polesitter Colin Robertson, both going for their first wins of the season, fought tirelessly for MG Trophy Championship honours.
Ross eventually claimed first place, due partly to a fantastic start, but Sunday was less fortunate for him as his car bellowed smoke right off the line and ended up in the grass on the exit of Copse corner.
A three-car contest for the lead ensued as Doug Cole and Jason Burgess turned up the heat on Robertson, who hung on by the tightest of margins to win. Burgess, having started 21st because of electrical issues, had already climbed up to third place by lap two of Sunday’s race, with one of the best comebacks of the weekend. Burgess’s astounding pace ensured that the excitement didn’t let up.
Paul Luti won Class B comfortably on Saturday in his ZR 170, but Sunday provided a huge contrast as he was given a strong challenge from Fergus Campbell. Luti ended up scraping another victory after passing Campbell on the penultimate corner of the last lap.
Running a 70,000-mile engine that had been sourced from a scrapyard, Dan Ludlow cruised to victory in Saturday’s MG Cup in his Class C ZS 180. The Class B MGB Roadster of Simon Cripps turned out to be Ludlow’s main competitor. Cripps lost ground later on after he run wide on a couple of corners. Regardless, Cripps earned a class win through that performance.
Though he qualified last on what was a bumper grid, Thomas Halliwell finished ninth overall and second in Class C with his MG ZR. Halliwell continued to make light work of the pack on Sunday as well, completing 12 overtakes on the first lap alone and earning a victory in his class.
The 41-car grid was shared with the MG Metro Cup. Mike Williams managed to grab pole position, starting well off the line, but he was overtaken by Ben Rushworth, who earned his third win of the season in his Rover 100.
A visibly delighted Rushworth completed a clean sweep in that Sunday race. Reigning champion Phil Gough failed to finish both races in his Rover 114 GTI.
Tamas Vizin’s first full season in Lotus Cup Europe has now resulted in him winning all six opening rounds in the Production Class, including Saturday’s race – a win on Sunday added to his burgeoning tally.
The only doubt that overall winner Jonathan Packer had in his Evora V6 was that the traction control was set too low for Sunday’s start resulting in copious amounts of wheelspin. Regardless, Packer dominated both Saturday and Sunday on his home track. Luckily for the other drivers, the sun stayed firmly behind the clouds – there was no chance of being blinded by Packer’s bright gold paint scheme.
Jean-baptiste Loup dived late into Brooklands on lap five and spun out in front of the BRDC Grandstand, before managing to produce a flurry of terrific overtakes to rescue first in the 2-Eleven Class on Saturday. He repeated the victory on Sunday with a comfortable lead over Christophe Lisandre.
The Iconic 50S/FISCAR race was won by the Lotus Elite of Mike Freeman. The Class 3 MGA Roadsters of Mark Ellis and Neil Cawthorn completed the podium. Alex Quattlebaum placed first in Class 2 very comfortably in his MG LECO 2.
Scott Quattlebaum started on pole for Saturday’s Equipe GTS, in which 58 cars competed. All the cars were required to run on historic tyres as per FIA rules, giving them less grip than modern slicks. After an aggressive overtaking move from Mark Cole’s MGB Roadster, Quattlebaum ended up in the gravel and had to retire early on. Cole took victory in Class 3 as a result of that scrap. Fifty-seven cars were in action on Sunday and Cole looked comfortable throughout, picking up another win.
A very closely fought Class A fight in the Midget/sprite Challenge was won by Sam Healey, who defended his position admirably in his Sprite. The BCV8 Championship shared the grid and added MGB GTS and MGC Roadsters into the mix, providing some tight battles. Rob Spencer held off Russell Mccarthy for the BCV8 win, with James Wheeler in third.
A light-hearted family feud was the centrepiece of Sunday’s AR Motorsport Morgan Challenge race in which Russell Paterson and his son, Elliot, were almost glued to each other gunning for second position – though they competed in different classes. Russell Paterson finished second overall behind the dominant Keith Ahlers. But Paterson did finish ahead of his son, with Elliot in third and taking a Class B victory.
Mark Mcaleer and Peter Morris shared the Porsche Club victories in two very tight races. Mcaleer overhauled poleman Morris in the opener before Morris held off his rival by just 0.2s in a drag to the flag on Sunday.
James Wheeler held off Neil Fowler for the Thoroughbred Sportscar laurels, while Ross Makar beat Gary Wetton in the Cockshoot Cup.