Mallock’s U2 edges out dogged Terrier

DONINGTON PARK MSVR MASTERS HISTORIC 15-16 APRIL

Ray Mallock (U2 Mk2) and Chris Drake (Terrier T4 Series 1) twice battled mightily at the head of the front-engined Formula Junior races during the Donington Park Masters Historic meeting over Easter.

Mallock, in his 53rd season of racing, got ahead from the start on Friday in the 25-minute encounter, but Drake chased hard and worked the Terrier ahead midrace when Mallock was more cautious on some dropped oil. Even though he built a slender lead, Drake could never relax as Mallock’s pursuit was relentless. Over the closing stages, Mallock was right on Drake’s tail, and dived ahead to win by 0.6 seconds.

“We love our racing and we love our cars – there’s lots of respect,” said Mallock after winning in the car designed and built by his father. It was more of the same on Saturday, when Mallock came back strong in the closing stages to beat the Terrier once again, this time by 0.8s.

The opening rear-engined Formula Junior race was all about Alex Ames in his ex-mike Hailwood Brabham BT6, despite a slight concern over his clutch. He went clear from the start as Clive Richards gave chase in his Lotus 22, but Ames was able to control the race from the front. On Saturday, Ames elected to go from the back of the grid and battled to the lead, despite a determined challenge by Richards.

An entertaining hour-long Pre-’66 Touring Car race ended in victory for the Ford Mustang of Craig Davies after a fine contest with the Ford Falcon of Julian Thomas and Calum Lockie.

In the early laps, four mighty V8s delivered a stunning spectacle but, as the race developed, it was the Falcons of Thomas and Sam Tordoff that pulled clear. With an extra 40s added on to his pitstop as a pro driver going solo, Tordoff was up against it, but his race ended soon after the stop with a broken manifold.

Meanwhile, Lockie – in for Thomas – took a handy lead over Davies after the stops before a safety car for the removal of some debris allowed Davies to close up and move ahead of the tyre-stricken Falcon.

Thomas and Lockie got their win in the Gentleman Drivers enduro, where their Daytona Cobra was the class of the field. “He’s driven faultlessly all weekend,” said Lockie of his racing partner. John Spiers and Nigel Greensall ran a good second in their TVR Griffith 200.

Will Nuthall (Cooper T53) was dominant in the Historic Grand Prix Cars Association races and rocketed clear on Friday, while his main rival Peter Horsman started from the pitlane as a reserve entry. Speed differentials were enormous, and Nuthall also had to cope with a prodigious amount of oil on the track, but won at a canter.

Second place became a wonderfully sonorous battle between the V8s of Nick Fennell (Lotus 25) and Tim Child, first time out in a Brabham BT3/4, while Horsman worked his way through to sixth at the flag. Race two was pretty much a repeat as Nuthall again romped away from Child and Horsman.

Martin Stretton seemed to have done enough in the opening Historic F1 race as he warmed his Tyrrell 012 up for the Monaco Historique next month. But by mid-race Stretton was in trouble as a misfire set in and the car started cutting out due to a lack of fuel pressure. The problem got worse as the race developed, and allowed the chasing Steve Hartley to move his Mclaren MP4/1 onto Stretton’s tail and then ahead when the leading Tyrrell coughed again on the exit of Redgate. Stretton struggled home second and parked the Tyrrell just after the flag.

Polesitter and opening-lap leader Ken Tyrrell (Tyrrell 011) drove a fine race and battled long to keep Greg Thornton (Lotus 91/5) behind. Eventually, the Lotus racer edged ahead to take the final podium position after Tyrrell ran too deep at Redgate.

Stretton elected to go from the pits on Saturday, but sliced through the field to take the lead. With Hartley an early retirement, Thornton gamely tried to hold onto the fleeing Tyrrell but came up short.

Elsewhere, in Masters Sports Cars, Andy Willis (Lola T212) capitalised when Tom Bradshaw’s Chevron B19 refused to restart after the pitstops.

Soper/mann Ford Mustang leads the Pre-’66 Touring Car field

TYRRELL MAKING STRIDES WITH TYRRELL Ken Tyrrell showcased progress in Historic Formula 1 by taking pole in his Tyrrell 011. The 53-year-old American, who shares the name of the team founder, had done some racing at home before coming to Europe. “I did three events last year and I love coming here,” said Tyrrell. “This was kind of a big step [racing in Europe] and it’s so unbelievable. The car is now working superbly. It’s more about me getting up to speed than the car.”

TART DRIVES EX-BRABHAM CAR Andrew Tart drove the Cooper T53 of Rudi Friedrichs when the German was kept at home by family commitments. The 1960 ex-jack Brabham car, a part of the Australian’s championship-winning season, is prepared by Tart. “It was all ready to go,” said Tart, whose only previous experience of the car was a few testing laps at Brands Hatch. “It’s great to have the chance to drive such a famous car.” A failed crown wheel and pinion sidelined Tart on the first grid.

FALCON SOARS AGAIN AFTER REBUILD Sam Tordoff raced his Ford Falcon for the first time after a bare-shell rebuild by the Jordan Racing Team over the winter. The ex-mike Gardiner Falcon was raced last season by the former British Touring Car competitor. “The plan was always to start again with it and do Masters Historic Touring Cars,” said Tordoff. He will do a full Masters season with it and will also share a Lotus Elan with his father John in Gentleman Drivers races.

Drake (right) just fell short of beating Mallock on two occasions