THRUXTON STRIKES GOLD
FULL REPORT FROM 50TH ANNIVERSARY EVENT
On a glorious Sunday when 1992 Formula 1 world champion Nigel Mansell and Murray Walker opened the new Thruxton Centre and Karun Chandhok exercised a WilliamsCosworth FW08C to mark the ultra-fast BARC circuit’s 50th Anniversary, Historic Formula Ford and Minis lived up to their reputation, enthralling an enthusiastic audience.
Eight points adrift of Cameron Jackson after Donington and Cadwell Park double-headers, Ben Mitchell pulled off two astonishingly close wins in a Merlyn Mk20 to top the Historic Sports Car Club Formula Ford 1600 table. In repeating his 2015 double (in father Westie’s sister chassis), Mitchell emulated the car’s first owner Rob Cooper’s July 1972 victories at Thruxton.
Having led four times previously, as a writhing seven-car snake embroiled title rivals Jackson, reigning champion Richard Tarling and Callum Grant, plus Max Bartell, brother Sam Mitchell and veteran Tiff Needell (in his original Autosport prize Lotus 69), Mitchell left it to the final corner before rounding Bartell boldly in race one. With Tarling robbing Grant of third on the line, the first four missed the chequered flag, indeed Bartell thought he’d won it a lap later! “The kids should have been disqualified, then I’d have won,” smiled Needell.
Ben Mitchell waited patiently in another breathtaking slipstreamer later, drafting through from fourth to edge Jackson by 0.147s, with Bartell, the clutchless Tarling and Ed Thurston, who had raced from the back to seventh in the opener. Grant started in the pitlane, scrutineers having spotted that his roll hoop stay pin was missing, but shot through to sixth.
The Mini championship races were equally frenetic, although Tom Sanderson broke the tow, unusually, to win Saturday’s 1000cc Se7en opener by 5.699s. Sunday’s sequel was brewing up on lap four when Daniel Budd, in the lead group, had a monumental accident having clipped Max Hunter at around 115mph on Woodham Hill and somersaulted over the guardrail ( see racing news). Budd and a marshal escaped serious injury. Darren Thomas was leading Spencer Wanstall, from row five, and Sanderson when red flags flew.
The slick-shod Miglias, pulling 130mph with 1293cc engines screaming towards 9000rpm, hunted in packs as ever. Sunday morning’s opener lost Alfie Brown, double champion Rupert Deeth and Charlie Budd in an early incident at the chicane, but points leader Dave Drew, Nick Padmore – eight days after his Historic F1 Williams FW07C win at Brands Hatch – Aaron Smith and 2009 champ Kane Astin (whose 1m29.270s lap was the weekend’s best) were blanketed by 0.65s at the finish.
Second time out Smith beat early pacemaker Drew by a second after the six-car lead battle distilled to the pair of them. They finished clear of a train embroiling Astin (almost overcome by petrol fumes with his car’s filler cap off), Colin Peacock, Budd, Jason Porter and Deeth, who set fastest lap in his patched-up car. Robert Howard was unable to join them.
Motor Racing Legends’ sportscar miscellany, combining RAC Woodcote Trophy Pre-1956 and Stirling Moss Trophy Pre’61 contenders, was popular and the racing up front was very close as many debutants learned the unforgiving track. Honours were shared between the vastly experienced and versatile Chris Ward in a rorty Lister-jaguar and Oliver Bryant in a nimble Lotus 15.
Bryant had a rear wheel work loose in the opener but, following overnight hub machining by Clive Robinson, bounced back to win a wonderful Sunday dogfight. The duo, who traded places constantly through the Noble, Village and Goodwood sweepers to Church, were followed onto the podium by Billy Bellinger, in Keith Ahlers’ little Lola Mk1 Prototype.
Coopers had finished third and fourth on Saturday, the T49 Monaco of Justin Maeers (who survived a hairy wobble at Church) and the intrepid Charlie Martin crossing the line ahead of the Jaguar-powered T38 of Patrick Blakeney-edwards.
Ric Wood’s Ford Capri won both Historic Touring Car races, its crossover-injected Weslake V6 engine sounding magnificent. British Touring Car leader Adam Morgan tamed it on Saturday, when James Hanson led initially in Paul Pochciol’s Broadspeed Jaguar XJ12C replica. The Chevrolet Camaros of Tony Dron Trophy Group 1 winner Olly Bryant and Alex Thistlethwayte, and American Fred Wakeman’s Rover V8 displaced the Jag once in Pochciol’s hands.
Hanson led Wood until the stops on Sunday. Thereafter Ric was unstoppable and Bryant ousted Pochciol from second. Patrick Watts and John Spiers enjoyed a heady Group 1 Capri tussle when Watts’ Levis Frank & Jeans car lost out to Spiers’ Hermetite version when it ran out of fuel.
The HSCC Guards Trophy round reminded older onlookers of the BARC’S Castrol/ Motoring News sportscar races of the early ’70s in which obsolete Chevron B6s and B8s featured. They are now at the sharp end, although once Graeme Dodd had relayed son James in their Ginetta G16, intermediate leader James Schryver (B8) was destined for silver. Yorkshiremen John Waggitt – on his Thruxton debut – and Peter Needham made it a three-marque podium with the former’s Lenham.
The GT section was pretty intense, John Spiers earning top honours in his thunderous TVR Griffith. In the Lotus Elan class defending champion John Davison (Ian Walker Racing Gold Bug tribute 26R) was pressed extremely hard by local ace Paul Tooms who, having been hindered by pesky Chevrons, went out when a driveshaft let go at Allard.
Star of the Spirit of Thruxton single-seater races, which drew a small two-litre field, was Uk-born Australian Stephen Weller’s works March 722-5 – in which Niki Lauda finished third behind reigning champion Ronnie Peterson and Francois Cevert in the venue’s European F2 round in 1972.
Although the ‘soft’ Bda-engined car was ultimately hobbled by fuel pump issues, Weller ran second on Sunday, behind runaway winner Andy ‘Ginetta’ Smith, whose Saturday debut in the F3 March 783-2 was curtailed by electrical failure, benefiting Paul Smith (Ralt RT3), with whom he’d been dicing.
With Andy charging from the back, Paul Smith was leading on Sunday when a broken damper forced retirement. Andy lapped ever quicker to claim the Jochen Rindt Memorial Trophy. Two exemplary drives by Scott Blakeney in dad Pat’s FF2000 Delta netted fine runner-up placings, over Tom Smith (Royale RP27) and Chris Levy (Van Diemen RF83) respectively.