Grant the master of older machinery
As well as finishing a strong 15th in the overall final, Callum Grant also won the Pre ’93
final in his Van Diemen RF91. Grant, who normally races a Merlyn Mk20, finished 12s ahead of Richard Tarling, despite only having driven the car a handful of times before the race. Tarling, in his new Jamun M92, made a superb recovery drive after dropping to the back of the pack from second place on the grid. He had struggled for grip off the startline and had contact at the first corner.
Further back, Pirelli engineer Doug Crosbie’s Van Diemen RF89 followed Tarling past a scrapping Jaap Blijleven (Reynard 89F) and Nicolas Beloou (Van Diemen RF91). Crosbie had qualified fourth but was initially passed by the flying Blijleven and Beloou.
The Pre ’82 final resulted in another dominant win, from Ed Thurston this time. This was Thurston’s first time out in a Merlyn MK20A, run by Classic Team Merlyn. He was followed quite closely by Mark Armstrong in his Van Diemen RF80 but the Irishman was unable to get within passing range. Rick Morris was third driving a patched-up Royale RP29, seven seconds behind having not quite kept in touch with the front two.
Vic Nutter won the HSCC Closed Wheel Allcomers race, capitalising on erstwhile leader David Wale missing a gear in his Mallock to sneak his red Osella PA3 into the lead on the penultimate lap. Natalie Mcgloin (Porsche Cayman) won the BWRDC
Ladies’ race on scratch after a spirited battle with Katie Milner’s Ginetta, but Milner won on handicap.