Thruxton Retro; 21st - 22nd June
While many choose to go further down the A303 to Stonehenge for Midsummer’s, there was no better place for FJ to celebrate the longest day of the year, than at sunny Thruxton.
The first dedicated Historic event at the circuit was back in 2018 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Thruxton. This then evolved into the annual Thruxton Historic which FJ last attended in 2019, and it has now been rebranded from this year as Thruxton Retro, with the circuit under the new ownership of Alex Thistlethwayte. Organisers BARC welcomed us warmly for our first visit to them as an independent Championship, and put on a very friendly and well organised meeting.
For Britain’s fastest race circuit, it was somewhat surprising that the entry only included two disc braked cars, however it provided a very special showcase of the breadth of FJ, featuring 20 different marques of FJ amongst the 27 entries.
Our entry had been bolstered last minute by Iain Rowley in his Lotus 22, to celebrate 50 years since his first ever FJ race, here at Thruxton, in the Lola Mk 5A, then of Alan Baillie, which he also later raced under the ownership of Ian Robinson, the car recently having been sold to Brad Baker.
With the paddock open from Friday morning, many took advantage of the opportunity to arrive early and have a relaxed set up in the heat, before getting scrutineered in the afternoon.
Qualifying
A few drops of rain took everyone by surprise early Saturday morning, ahead of 9am qualifying, but it was effectively dry and already hot as the cars headed onto track. Stuart Roach, back in his rear engine drum braked Alexis Mk3 this weekend, set the unbeatable pace for qualifying, with nearest challenger Nic Carlton-Smith (Lotus 20) having his session curtailed with a broken throttle cable. At least he missed the stag which jumped out on track ahead of Mark Woodhouse (Elva 100)! Nathan Metcalfe (Lotus 20) completed the all Class D2 top 3, this marking the weekend he was able to graduate from novice status and more than deservedly take off his yellow cross on the back of the car. Fourth in class, and qualifying fifth overall was James Hicks (Caravelle Mk III), returning after a year off.
Class E1 is normally the front of the field, but this time Iain Rowley (Lotus 22) and Alan Schmidt (Speedsport Brabham BT6) had to settle for 7th and 8th respectively. Sadly though, Iain only managing 5 laps before pitting with a terminal issue, which he later reported as either a liner that had moved or a crack in the block.
The Front engine cars were led by Ray Mallock (U2 Mk 2), whose time put him on the second row, in fourth overall, but it was clear early on Adrian Russell (Condor SII) would probably have more to give as the weekend progressed, and James Owen (Gemini Mk II) completed the Class B2 top three, but unfortunately his diff gave way with 2 laps to go, and that was his weekend over.
Chris Porritt was finally making his FJ debut after a couple of false starts, with his beautifully prepared red Lotus 18, but not quite fast enough, yet anyway, to beat Keith Pickering (Britannia). Trevor Griffiths (Emeryson), was third in this Class C2, and was delighted to have chatted to Spencer Elton who may be able to help finally track down what happened to the missing Guernsey Emeryson. Duncan Ross, with his tartan 18, had taken 4 days off work determined to get the car sorted in time, and with two friends along to help, as Bob Juggins was away in Zandvoort, he was very happy to have a solid finish in the session, with a pit visit just to check all was well.
Finally Class A was represented by a pair of beautiful Stanguellinis, Martin Sheppard taking the honours over Peter Fenichel.
Race 1
The cars lined up in the assembly area just before midday, and once again a few drops of rain could be felt amongst the airfield breeze.
Stuart led off from pole, but with Nic in close pursuit, he had to drive the rubber off his tyres to stay ahead, until lapping intensified giving him a bit of a buffer to take the win by just over 5 seconds at the flag. Nathan kept them in sight as long as he could, describing it as a brilliant but terrifying circuit for his first time!
There was plenty of action throughout the field too, with Adrian Russell pursuing James Hicks for a number of laps before getting past and leaving us to wonder if he’d have Ray by the end, as he began closing the gap at such a pace that he set fastest Front engine lap time. In Class C2 Gary Thomas (Kieft) was going really well to start shadowing Trevor Griffiths (Emeryson), but unfortunately retired to the pits on lap 9 when a misfire reappeared, leaving David Watkins (Elfin) to pick up the battle with Trevor, coming out ahead by the flag. Photo finish however went to Keith Pickering (Britannia) and Chris Porritt (Lotus 18), with Chris just 0.032 ahead at the timing line, both having thoroughly enjoyed the race, even if Keith not so much the outcome!
Post race interviews were conducted in parc ferme before prizegiving on the adjacent podium, with awards being presented by Howden Ganley our Patron, who had kindly come to join us for the day.
Race 2
We were out again just after midday for Race 2 on Sunday, but after being held a little too long on the line, Nic Carlton-Smith was slow to get away, letting Nathan through into second. It didn’t take Nic long to get up to full speed though, and by lap 5 he was past both into the lead, and Stuart’s backup tyres still lacked enough grip to give him any chance of keeping up, so it was a very well deserved first ever race win for Nic in his Indy themed Lotus 20, run by Dave Abbott.
Alan Schmidt, sole runner in Class E1, had another solid race, but unfortunately, the Class C2 dual ended prematurely with Chris Porritt retiring into the pits with smoke coming out of the back, luckily just a failed coolant hose and nothing more serious, so class honours went to Keith Pickering this time, from Gary Thomas, fixed and competitive again. Trevor Griffiths took the third Class C2 spot, after another good race on track with David Watkins, who himself was out for his penultimate race with us, before the Elfin goes to a new owner.
Ray Mallock had a rare DNF as his U2 Mk 2 succumbed to a cracked block, allowing Adrian to pass with relative ease before Ray pulled off into retirement, so Alex Morton made it a 1-2 for the Condor S II’s, and Mark Woodhouse (Elva 100) was third in class.
There was a great battle however between Justin Fleming (Lola Mk 2) and Andrea Guarino (Elva 100), but with one lap to go, James Hicks (Caravelle Mk III) clipped Andrea, coming through to overtake them both, ending the race for both Andrea and James. Justin was however delighted to have finished again, after a recent bout of issues.
Last, but not least, having a very enjoyable early race were Martin Sheppard (Stanguellini) and George Christodoulou (BMC Mk II), with Peter Fenichel in the blue Stanguellini, bringing up the rear.
Another fun prizegiving, with an abundance of Silverline tools for prizes and podium jumps aplenty, rounded off a brilliant fun weekend! Next stop for the FJHRA Championship is Oulton Park Gold Cup end of July, with a bumper grid!
Report by Sarah
Photos by Motorsport Classics Media
