Tooms’s fast getaways fail to stop patient Barter
BRANDS HATCH HSCC 2-3 APRIL
“Three out of four wasn’t bad,” grinned
Paul Tooms, having burst his Lotus Europa through between Kevin Kivlochan’s
Morgan +8 and Jeremy Clark’s Lotus Elan to repeatedly lead the vibrant 70s Road Sports field into Paddock Hill Bend, the second leg being a three-parter! Tooms’s glory didn’t last, for Kivlochan growled back from a moment to pip Clark to win the opener as poleman Charles Barter retired his Datsun 240Z with a duff spark plug.
Kivlochan careered into the Druids gravel trap on lap one of the sequel, bringing out red flags, but was ushered back to P1 for the restart, which proved expensive. “The gearbox felt a bit sticky,” said Keki but, when his Rover V8 threw a rod on the Cooper Straight, he spun, followed by several others on the oil slick. Barter, who twice went from the back, regained the initiative in the four-lap decider from Clark, Tooms and David Tomkinson, whose TVR Vixen had rocketed momentarily ahead in one stanza.
Kivlochan’s fortunes turned on Sunday in his Historic Road Sports AC Cobra.
After a hairy traverse of Surtees, he beat Frazer Gibney (Elan) by 0.681 seconds.
Peter Garland (Morgan) and Jonathan Stringer (Lotus 7) tussled behind them.
Benn Simms stunned Historic Formula Ford 2000 rivals with his 48.628s (89.42mph) pole charge. With the qualifying heat canned, his Reynard was ahead when Saturday’s points race was stopped twice, initially after Jason Redding (Delta) could not avoid Ian Foley’s spinning Reynard at the foot of Paddock. With no time to run the five-minute dash before the 1830 curfew, it was rescheduled for Sunday morning. “My clutch wouldn’t have taken another start,” said Simms.
On the second anniversary of his father and mentor Paul’s passing, Benn nailed it and round two, with Andy Park and defending champion Graham Fennymore (also in clutch bothers) bagging a second and third apiece. Drew Cameron and Ian Pearson led Royale squabbles for fourth, with Lee Bankhurst whose front upright had failed in qualifying.
The promising Historic Formula
Atlantic category outnumbered Classic F3 in a combined grid, from which 44.774s (97.12mph) polesitter Rory Smith twice prevailed in his beautifully prepared
1984 Ralt RT4. Marc Mercer gave Smith a shock, bolting his March 73B out of the blocks to lead both races, but parked on Sunday promoting 18-year-old Samuel Harrison (1971 Lola T240) to second. Irishman Conor Murphy had the legs of the F3 set but retired, advantaging Anthony Hancock (ex-mike Blanchet Lola T670).
Chris Drake’s Terrier was straining at the leash at the ‘front-engined’ Formula Junior start and tore off to win. Nic Carlton-smith pursued stoutly in his
Kieft ‘pusher’, beginning his title defence with Class C2 victory. Alex Morton (Condor) was third, clear of Simon Goodliff in Ken Nicholls’s first Nike. After Trevor Griffiths parked his Emeryson at Graham Hill Bend following half-shaft failure, Crispian Besley (Cooper T56) repelled the tenacious John Hutchison Jr (Envoy) for fifth.
Mark Charteris claimed Classic Clubmans pole on Saturday, testing his now Ford-axled Mallock, but could not stay for Sunday’s races. John Harrison was thus shuffled into P1 and overcame Spencer Mccarthy for a double. Clive Wood matched Harrison in the Ff1600-engined division, remarkably remaining unlapped in race two. Old rival Barry Webb retired from the first when his
distributor disintegrated, but wafted his Delapena U2 through to second later.
Historic Touring Car champion Mike Gardiner won the first of two outings after a misfire and a track-limits penalty hobbled pacemaker Jack Moody’s A-frame Ford Lotus Cortina, dropping him to fourth behind Mini maestro Bill Sollis’s Cooper S. Moody retired after a lap of the sequel, leaving Sollis and Gardiner scrapping with Bob Bullen, whose Cortina’s gearbox broke. Gardiner went back ahead only to skate off at Druids on oil from Paul Wallis’s stricken Alfa. Sollis held off the recovering Gardiner for a superb victory, with Bill’s team-mates Nick Paddy and David
Ogden third and fourth.
Behind Mark Watts’ Ford Mustang,
Nigel Cox (Cortina) and young Harry
Barton (BMW 1800Ti) traded sixth place. Ultimately, the merest of brushes into Paddock destabilised Cox’s car, which broadsided into gravel and toppled languidly onto its driver’s side. A final quandary for hard-working marshals that inevitably stopped the race. Cox emerged unscathed.