Cole powers Richards to victory in Lotus
Mark Cole shot Dafyd Richards’s Lotus 11, liveried per the period Corgi model, ahead in Sunday’s Royal Automobile Club Woodcote/stirling Moss Trophy Pre-’61 sportscar race, among the highlights of Motor Racing Legends’ seasonal finale on Silverstone’s Historic Grand Prix circuit. If the first-year rookie owner/ driver was nervous, it didn’t show, as he coolly completed a consummate 58-second victory – “an emotional journey” – over
Ben Adams’s Lola Mk1. “Dafyd was my Porsche race engineer in 2002, so being here for him was special,” said Cole.
Adams’s tussle with Andy Newall, wrestling Malte Muller-wrede’s 5.4-litre Allard J2R Le Mans, which took some stopping, entertained onlookers. Newall netted pre-’56 Woodcote gold from Ben Eastick/karl Jones (Jaguar D-type) and Rick Bourne/malcolm Paul (Lotus-bristol Mk10). Third overall was a bonus for Newall after Nigel Greensall, flying in Tarek Mahmoud’s Lister-jaguar, had the gear lever snap off in his hand on the last lap and Andrew Smith (Cooper Monaco) missed the pit window.
Tactics also decided Saturday’s threehour RAC Pall Mall Cup contest and the Historic Touring Car Challenge race.
James Thorpe’s selfless early pitstop, under a safety car, sowed the seeds of a one-lap victory in the former. The subsequent speed of Phils Quaife and Keen and reliability of Thorpe’s Valley Motorsport Jaguar E-type crowned his first season with it.
Fourth for team-mates Rob Fenn/james Barclay/paul Whight (Lotus Elan) secured the Pall Mall Trophy for the Wheelie Fast squad, despite brake issues forcing the retirement of Michael Birch’s ex-works Lotus 15 with initial leader Gareth Burnett up. Second and third on scratch were Mark Farmer/andy Jordan’s clutchless Elan and Harry Barton/oliver Reuben (see right).
“Medium hard” slicks and his Nissan Skyline’s four-wheel drive helped Ric Wood to HTCC victory on a damp track. “For the first three or four laps, I thought I’d made a mistake, then they came in,” he said, having overhauled Andy Middlehurst in Jonathan Bailey’s ex-japanese Touring Car Championship Skyline, on intermediates. Darren Fielding (BMW
E30 M3) screamed ahead on wets, then changed to slicks when they wilted. James Thorpe/sean Mcinerney (Chevrolet Camaro) won the Tony Dron Trophy split and Mike Gardiner/josh Cook a frenetic U2TC bout in Gardiner’s new Lotus Cortina.
Ford V8s trumped rivals in three splendid Historic Racing Drivers Club grids on Sunday. Having qualified in torrential rain, the 50-strong Allstars field left from a standing start in bright sunshine, yet still on a treacherous track. Dave Methley slithered his AC Cobra clear from third, while Michael Whitaker twitched his TVR Griffith from 10th to deny son Michael Jr (Mustang) second on the final lap. “Thirty minutes of 400 horsepower karting,” said Sr. Driving a borrowed Giulia Berlina, Steve Monk outran David Alexander
(Giulia Sprint GT) and Jonny Horsfield (Alfetta GTV) to win the concurrent
Classic Alfa Challenge race. “Like driving on tagliatelle,” summed up Alexander.
Jim Morris led the Gerry Marshall
Trophy set superbly in the shrill VW
Golf GTI that father John raced 40 years ago, resisting pressure from Bill Shepherd’s Boss Mustang to the stops, but a 5s stop/go penalty for exceeding the pitlane speed limit undid partner Tom Shephard’s efforts to repel Bill’s son Fred. GT racer James Dorlin set fastest lap in finishing less than five seconds adrift in the Ford Capri started by Tom Butterfield, with Shephard third after overheating stopped Old Hall Performance stablemates Cameron Evans/ Mat Jackson’s ex-tony Lanfranchi Scirocco.
Safety cars twice split the Jack Sears Trophy action, which finished against a backdrop of lightning. Even British Touring Car ace Josh Cook in Gardiner’s Cortina couldn’t unseat Tom Sharp’s Ford Falcon. Ben Colburn (Cooper S) defeated the rest of the Cortinas for third, while Chris Snowdon/grant Williams’s Jaguar Mk2 was a class-winning seventh, despite a drivethrough for stopping pre-window.
Four snarling E-types coloured the
Classic Jaguar Challenge’s initial phase, with Jonathan Mitchell, Andy Newall, Matt Wrigley and Danny Winstanley bucking and writhing as they disputed the lead. Newall slowed with a broken anti-roll bar and Mitchell was hobbled by wet settings, leaving two. They stopped on successive laps, but Winstanley clocked 66km/h in the pits, earning a drivethrough, leaving Wrigley victorious. Oli Webb relayed Guy Ziser’s FHC to a class win, with Phil Keen haring after him in Grahame Bryant’s example.