Chevron anniversary glory goes to Kirkaldy
OULTON PARK GOLD CUP AUGUST 25-27
Former British GT champion Andrew Kirkaldy beat Andy Wolfe and David Pittard to win Monday’s evocative Chevron B8 50th anniversary race, centrepiece of the Historic Sports Car Club’s Oulton Park Gold Cup.
Period factory personnel, star drivers past and present, as well as cars and enthusiasts, made the pilgrimage to celebrate Derek Bennett’s most iconic brainchild, styled so memorably by Bob Faulkner.
They were treated to masterclasses in parallel Avon and Dunlop-tyred competitions as the photogenic field played on the glorious undulating circuit where Digby Martland scored the first Chevron GT success on his B3 twin-cam’s debut in 1966.
A late safety car allowed Pittard and
Wolfe to close up to Kirkaldy – driving Sandy Watson’s ex-johnny Blades 1600cc Cosworth Fva-engined CH-DBE-54.
The chasers’ order changed on the final lap when a missed gear apiece brought contact and Wolfe darted past Pittard for second. The Dunlop [slower than the Avon equivalent] battle between Dan Eagling – in Mark Halstead’s 1790cc Fvc-engined example – and Simon Hadfield in Andy Yool’s, ended when the latter’s rear hub collapsed. Martin O’connell finished 6.3s behind Eagling, with the pair fifth and sixth.
Ross Hyett started Watson’s B8-BMW in Sunday’s superbly supported Guards Trophy race, but in Kirkaldy’s hands the ex-tony Beeson CH-DBE-57 – originally with a 2.7-litre Climax engine – came alive in the rain, slithering to victory as B8s finished 1-2-3-4.
At points Kirkaldy was lapping more than 10 seconds quicker than the rest, led by Charles Allison’s ex-trevor Twaites
1970 RAC title-winning CH-DBE-32. A 30-second penalty for stopping too soon dropped Allison to fourth behind reserve Hadfield – who started Yool’s car from the back, without a windscreen wiper and held its door closed – and his own team-mate Philip Nelson.
The concurrent GT race’s form book was ripped up when Eagling, debuting Halstead’s 1965 Sebring 12 Hours Ginetta G4R twin-cam, beat champion John Davison’s Lotus Elan 26R and Martin Stretton/stefan Ziegler’s Jaguar E-type. The Nick Fennell/ John Milicevic Lotus 23B was the first early sportscar in seventh.
Calum Lockie’s long-held ambition to race the Dodkins brothers’“ballistic” 8.8-litre March-chevrolet 717 – based on Helmut Kelleners’ 1970 Croft Interseriewinning 707 – came to fruition. It resulted in a memorable Pre-80 Endurance double over period Chevron star John Burton’s
B26 in a predominantly two-litre field. Spectacular through Druids in Sunday’s rain, Lockie lit the blue touch paper on Monday, cutting a stunning 1m36.728s (100.18mph) best lap, after Kent Abrahamsson touched the grass and biffed his B19 on Clay Hill.
Following a shower, fast-starter John Williams (Porsche 911SC) passed poleman Will Leverett’s Yokohama-shod Lotus Europa as it slewed sideways at Hislops for 70s Road Sports victory. “My first win in it for 20 years,” beamed Williams. Russell Paterson was third, his Avon-tyred Morgan +8 being caught by returnee Adam Bagnall’s E-type from 18th.
John Davison (Lotus Elan) was harassed in Historic Road Sports by Paul Tooms, who from row three fired his Turner-ford Mk3 – an ex-tony Broom car he’d worked on as a lad – onto his tail. Davison finished a second clear of Tooms, pursued by Kevin Kivlochan and Peter Garland in Morgan +8s.
Debuting a newly built Valley Motorsport E-type, British GT Lamborghini pairing
Jon Minshaw and Phil Keen outran Jaguar Classic Challenge rivals. Ben Short and Dave Coyne made the initial running, pursued by Minshaw, but their car owners could not match Keen. Ziegler pounced on Nick Riley for third in the E started by Stretton.
John Cleland aced both Super Touring races. A switch from qualifying’s experimental Dunlop slicks – a trial for 2019 – to control Hoosiers for Sunday’s wet race rendered his Vauxhall Vectra eligible again. Neil Smith (Alfa Romeo 156) led the chase both days, after winning Monday’s entertaining bout with Mark Jones (Renault Laguna) and Jasons Minshaw (Volvo V40) and Hughes (Vectra).
BTCC veteran Rick Belcher completed
a Lotus Cortina Historic Touring Car hat-trick on Monday. In a fine 25-car field, poleman Barry Sime (Mini Cooper S),
Steve Platts (Singer Chamois), Adrian
Oliver (Hillman Imp) and Rob Wainwright (Austin A40) chased valiantly. The sequel was derailed when Mark Watts’ Ford Mustang vaulted the inside kerb at Hislops and took leader Belcher out, leaving Sime an overjoyed victor over Platts and Oliver in a one-lap sprint following a caution.
Two safety car periods and a drivethrough penalty for Ric Wood – for pitting his
Ford Capri pre-window – made the MRL Historic Touring Car Challenge confusing to follow. Paul Hogarth/chris Boardman triumphed in the ex-tim Harvey BMW M3 over Mark Smith/arran Moulton-smith’s ex-works version. Behind Wood, giantslayer Tom Burgess drove his Ford Fiesta brilliantly to finish fifth overall, beating ‘Skid’ Scarborough/peter Ratcliff (Capri) and balls-out Jason Minshaw (Escort RS2000) for Tony Dron Trophy Group 1 victory.