SMITH SLIDES TO WIN AS BATTLE RAGES BEHIND
Equipe GTS provided the biggest grids and the best drama at Snetterton, with the GTS ‘A’ race just edging it for action.
Tom Smith was the best of the 43 entrants, repeating his 2018 win at the same meeting. Smith claims to not be a huge fan of the Norfolk circuit but he looked completely at home as he powered away into a large lead, timing the compulsory pitstop perfectly in his MGB and retaining his advantage.
While Smith was impressive, the real drama was behind him. Neil Fisher narrowly edged out Ollie Neaves for second in his Austin Healey Sebring Sprite, passing around the outside at Riches on the final lap. Neaves, in an MGB, had started well and retaken Fisher fairly late on, before being caught again.
Lee Atkins was fourth on-track in his TVR Grantura, but dropped to
29th after a three-lap penalty for pitting too late. He was also reprimanded for his scuffle with Rob Cull’s Grantura on the first lap – Cull retired with a gear linkage problem later. David Keers-trafford (MGB) had challenged for a podium early on, but gearbox troubles left him needing a tow at the end of the race.
GTS ‘B’ ran alongside the Pre ’63 cars, making up another giant grid. It was an Austin-healey-heavy affair, with the first seven cars being Healeys. Mark Holme (Austin-healey 3000) credited his endurance racing experience for his win, settling himself in third place, putting in consistent laps and acing his pitstop before turning it up for the win at the end. Richard Hywel Evans, in another big Healey, started from pole but ended up second after a disastrous start: the car’s gear knob came off and then the overdrive started to malfunction, meaning Evans had to recalculate all of his racing lines. Jonathan Smare, whose 3000 was third after leading early on, was happy with the result. “It’s a masterclass driving with guys like this,” he said afterwards.
Keers-trafford won the GTS ‘B’ class in his MGB, finishing 13th overall. Ben Tinkler led the class in a TVR until a couple of spins dropped him down the order. The first non-healey home was the Morgan of Andrew and David Wenman in eighth place.
British Touring Car driver Jake
Hill won the GT Challenge race with Paul Whight, sharing an Aston Martin Vantage GT2. The favourites, Gleb Stepanov and Stephen Tomkins in a Vulcan, were hamstrung by a combination of success penalties, a slow pitstop and an out-of-practice Stepanov not quite being up to Tomkins’s pace. Tomkins led by two minutes at one point, but the pitstop troubles allowed Hill/whight and Nigel Jenkins’s Ferrari 458 through.
Roger Wills won the Jack Fairman Cup race in dominant style in his
Lotus 15, even though a rain shower slowed him down considerably. The experienced Kiwi was never seriously challenged by Anthony Ditheridge’s Cooper Monaco or third-placed John Young’s Jaguar Mk1. Young hounded Ditheridge for the whole race but Ditheridge kept a gap of at least a second throughout.
Robi Bernberg’s stark unpainted Cooper Bobtail was fourth, having not got away too well and skirmished fiercely with Martin Brewer’s unique Aston Martin DP 214. Brewer had the upper hand until quite late, but Bernberg proved quicker in the corners.