FJHRA Championship Rounds 2 & 3
Historic Formula Junior Front Engine Races
Entry & Qualifying
Whilst not taking part in the Front Engine race as the Bandini still awaits parts, Tony Pearson made a very welcome appearance on Friday night armed with the Fish & Chip supper; his valued contribution to the tradition of Formula Junior at Cadwell Park . Another person dedicated to the community, he and now daughter, Sarah Mitrike, had created is Duncan Rabagliati who without a drive came to oversee the races and award the post-race prizes. Whilst not being physically present at this meeting Sarah maintained a watching vigil from her home in Lithuania.
The Junior paddock is such an enticing draw especially at Cadwell Park that some drivers will go to all lengths to take part. Mark Woodhouse, firstly rectifying a problem on his car, then the trailer, endured a delayed six hour drive to get to the circuit. Mark and his wife were still talking, and he did have the rest of the weekend to compensate for the difficult start.
18 cars took part in the Saturday morning qualifying, with a strong A class entry, Martin Sheppard joining Peter Fenichel in a Stanguellini with Roger Woodbridge in his Volpini. Tony Olissoff was having the last race of his European excursion before heading home, to Auckland. His class rivals in the 1000cc Class B1 being the ever quick Graham Barron (Gemini Mk II), and Bernard Brock (Elva 100 CG) who unfortunately withdrew as his engine was not ready, but he and Ros were present nonetheless, as was Alan Croft, contemplating a retun to the track his Front engine RG.
Class B2 was the largest class of the entry, Alex Morton and Adrian Russell in the Condor S II’s being the anticipated front runners The Class entry reading in fact reading a little like a Noah’s ark roll call, as Make and model were represented in duplicate. Mark Woodhouse and Andrea Guarino were Elva 100 mounted, Justin Fleming and Robin Longdon, Lola Mk2, Mark Russell and James Owen finding a wing man in Neil Hodges to make a triplet of Geminis.. All the way from France was Stephane Rey in his Scorpion, once owned and raced by Duncan, Richard Bishop-Miller exercising the Autosport Mk2 and Charles Cook’s Nike Mk1.
Conditions were tricky for the morning qualifying, particular in the area of the Hall Bends and Barn Corner, where the trees sheltered the track. The good weather of previous days had deteriorated into cool blustery conditions and some overnight rain. On the opening laps of Qualifying it looked like it would be the Blue Condor of Adrian Russell that would would head the time sheets, but then Alex dialled himself into the familiar track, putting his Red Condor firmly on pole with Adrian making it a Condor front row lock out.
Mark Woodhouse having got all of his issues sorted on Friday was third fastest in his Elva 100 from the Lola of Robin Longdon. Tony Olissoff in the red Wee Warrior intended to make the weekend a memorable farewell claiming 5th overall time and heading the B1 class through the undulations of the Wolds track; Charles Cook in the Nike would be 6th , and Tony’s class rival Graham Barron 7th over two seconds slower than the flying Kiwi on the row in front. 8th would be James Owen, 9th Richard Bishop-Miller and 10th Stephane Rey.
Matin Sheppard was the fastest of the Class A runners, and Mark Russell whose throttle cable broke at the start of qualifying would start from the back of the grid. With the qualifying having established the grid for both races Mark would be in for an interesting double header.
Race 1
At the start it was the Condor pairing of Alex Morton leading Adrian Russell. In third place was Mark Woodhouse, Robin Longdon 4th with Charles Cook 5th. Graham Barron was leading the class B1 in 6th with James Owen in 7th, separating Graham from class rival Tony Olissoff in 8th place. Mark Russell had moved up four places from his back of the grid start to be ahead of Class A leader Martin Sheppard. Peter Fenichel retired to the pits before the start, with a brake drum problem
For Robin Longdon, his one lap in 4th place would be his only race lap of the weekend retiring to the paddock with overheating and a suspected blown head gasket. On lap 2 Adrian Russell moved into the lead, Adrian and Alex allowing the Condors to spread their wings and fly off into the distance. Mark Woodhouse had a lonely race into 3rd place; behind him Charles Cook looked to have a comfortable 4th.
The early demise of Robin Longdon released James Owen in his Gemini to take up the chase to catch Charles in the Nike. Graham Barron in 6th, had his class rival ,Tony Olissoff, following and Tony soon found himself embroiled in a dice on the road with Justin Fleming who was now the sole Lola representative.
After a terrible first lap that left him in last place Stephane Rey was another driver coming back into the field enjoying a race with Class A leader Martin Sheppard in the Stanguellini, Neil Hodges Gemini and Richard Bishop Millar in the Autosport.
On lap 6, Justin Fleming overtook Tony Olissoff for 7th place. Mark Russell had elevated himself into his finishing position of 10th, with Martin Sheppard following in 11th leaving Neil Hodges and Stephane Rey to fight over 12th place.
On lap 7, James Owen caught up with Charles Cook to commence the challenge for 4th place. James taking the position on lap 8, quickly losing it again to Charles on the following lap. Charles holding on to the place to the flag.
Tony Olissoff who had dropped as far back as 8th found himself sandwiched between, the Lola of Justin Fleming and the Elva of Andrea Guarino. On lap 9 Justin’s engine ran sick dropping him down the order with Tony closing in on Graham Barron. Tony making his move on lap 10 ahead of Graham into the class B1 lead.
The race was completed with a dominant win for Adrian Russell, from Alex Morton, the pair having extended a lead to almost a minute in the 12 laps of race, lapping all the runners down to 6th place.
After his fraught Friday, it was a happy Mark Woodhouse who came home in 3rd place; 4th after his race with James Owen was Charles Cook in the Nike. James Owne finishing 5th in the Gemini and the last of the unlapped runners was Tony Olissoff 6th, Graham Barron having allowed Tony to slip by, mistaking the Emeryson for a flying Condor!!8th overallwas Andrea Guarino, 9th Justin Fleming and completing the top ten was Mark Russell. Martin Sheppard in the Stanguellini was 11th and winner of Class A, from Roger Woodbridge in the Volpini, having his only scheduled race of the weekend.
Race 2
It was a bright and fresh day on the Sunday for the second of the front engine races. There had again been overnight rain with a were both non-starters in race 2,leaving Martin Sheppard as the only class A representative. From the start it would again be, Alex Morton, again,had the best start from pole position. Graham Barron, hooked up one of his demon starts coming through in 5th place just ahead of James Owen and Tony Olissoff; 3rd place was in the capable hands of Mark Woodhouse with Charles Cook 4th.
On lap 2 there were some dramatic changes in the race order. Adrian Russell was now leading but in second place was Charles Cook, Alex Morton third with Mark Woodhouse 4th;pPost race reports of oil on track being the cause in the change of order.
Tony Olissoff retired when his radius arm fell off, Neil Hodges whose engine had been running rough retired to the paddock, with Justin Fleming coming through a very distant last. Andrea Guarino and Martin Sheppard had also made some of the best starts, being in 8th and 9th places respectively whilst Richard Bishop-Miller was another driver who found himself falling down the order to be 11th from an 8th place starting position.
On lap 4 Justin Fleming retired to the paddock with permanent engine maladies, while Adrian Russell had consolidated his lead to almost 7 seconds, from Charles Cook who now had Alex Morton and Mark Woodhouse in close attendance. Graham Barron had James Owen in his wheel tracks and Stephane Rey was closing onto the tail of Andrea Guarino.
Lap 6 was the Condor moment, when Alex Morton slotted back into second place demoting Charles Cook to 3rd place with Mark Woodhouse 4th. James Owen overtook Grahame Barron for 5th place. On lap 8 Graham was caught by Andrea Guarino, Andrea taking the place on lap 9, Graham not completing the following lap as he retired on circuit when his rear wishbone pulled out.
Mark Woodhouse continued to pursue Charles Cook for the final podium place, finishing just under half a second behind the third placed Nike.
The final finishing order being Adrian Russell the winner again with Alex Morton second, Charles Cook third, Mark Woodhouse fourth, James Owen 5th Andrea Guarino 6th Stephane Rey 7th Richard Bishop-Millar eigth with Mark Russell ninth as the final finisher.
It had been a good weekend with a few perhaps considering asking Duncan where they could find a Condor after the runaway success of Alex and Adrian. [Ed: the S I Condor is still in N.Ireland, ripe for restoration].
Historic Formula Junior Rear Engine Races for the Barry Westmoreland Trophy
The rear engine races were again well supported with an entry of 23 cars across four classes.
These races would be the first where a new perpetual Barry Westmoreland Trophy would be presented to the aggregate winner of the two races . Barry was a great enthusiast and much loved character. It is hoped the Trophy will help to continue his memory and association with Formula Junior racing at Cadwell Park.
Heading the entry for the rear engines was the Merlyn Mk5/7 owned by John Sykes but raced by the very talented Callum Grant. For a number of years this car, one of two known as the ‘Magic Merlyn’ , the other being the Formula Ford Merlyn Mk11a raced among others by Jody Scheckter, was raced by the much missed Denis Welch,an enthusiast at all levels of the sport perhaps best remembered for racing his Austin Healey 6200 NO. John Sykes, who is also an enthusiast has a special collection of Merlyn race cars which it is understood could be coming to his home circuit of Oulton Park for the Gold Cup meeting.
Class C2 was once the dominant home of Nic Carlton Smith and his very rapid Kieft: now Gary Thomas continues to hope his Kieft will bring him the same success that Nic’s car did, however he had to face stiff opposition from Stuart Monument in his Lotus 18 and Trevor Griffiths’ Emeryson.
Class D2 is the home of Lotus 20s, with the top three finishers from 2024 returning to see if they could repeat there success. 2024 Champion Andrew Hibberd heading the entry with fellow podium finishers Nic Carlton-Smith and Martin Aubert joined by the very rapid example of Nathan Metcalfe.
Last year’s class E1 top placed finisher Adrian Holey returned with the Rennmax, Michael Hibberd was entered in his spare Lotus 22, along with Richard Prior making his debut in the ex-Peter Froude Race Retro auction car, although Richard is familiar with the circuit, having won last time out at a 750 meeting, Jeremy Flann, and Adrian Russell. Tony Lees was the sole Lola representative in his Mk5a.
Qualifying for the Rear Engine cars would be difficult, like for the front engines, with drying track conditions leaving slippery traps for the unwary. An early safety car to retrieve a spinner punctuated the qualifying but from the start Callum Grant looked to be unassailable, his opening lap being a full five seconds quicker than Andrew Hibberd in the Lotus 20. Whilst the remainder of the field where many seconds behind.
With a drying line, the times were tumbling. Callum maintained his gap at the, front Andrew and Nic had a very close contest for who would be alongside him on the front of the grid. Adrian Russell in his Lotus 22 for this grid, had elevated to 4th overall. Trevor Griffiths’ Emeryson headed class C2 from Stuart Monument’s Lotus 18.
The top 10 for the grid would look like this, Callum Grant at the head with Nic Carlton-Smith second, Andrew Hibberd third on the grid. Adrian Russell 4th Nathan Metcalfe 5th followed by Adrian Holey, Alan Schmidt in the first of the Brabhams 7th Michael Hibberd 8th David Watkins in the Elfin 9th with Trevor Griffiths 10th from class rival Stuart Monument.
Delays in the Saturday races, meant the two Barry Westmoreland Trophy races would take place on the Sunday both starting and ending the days racing. This was fortunate for Jeremy Flann who had been unable to attend on the Saturday, could enjoy two races on the Sunday. Joining Jeremy would be Richard Prior, who had failed to leave the assembly area in qualifying, despite much pushing effort, whilst Adrian Russell withdrew the Lotus, a full rebuild in prospect
Race 1
Callum Grant from Pole position led the field away, from Andrew Hibberd, Nic Carlton-Smith and Nathan Metcalfe with Michael Hibberd 5th from Adrian Holey Alan Scmidt David Watkins and Class C2 leader Trevor Griffiths.
Completing lap 1, Callum Grant led by over 4 seconds from Nic Carlton-Smith. Andrew had gone off at Barn corner damaging the front suspension, as had the Elfin with front and rear suspension damage. Following Nic would be the fellow Lotus 20 of Nathan Metcalfe. Michael Hibberd was 4th with Adrian Holey 5th, and Alan Schmidt 6th. Richard Prior having pulled off earlier with electrical problems.
At the end of lap2 the Safety car was scrambled as they removed Andrew’s car from the barrier. Michael Hibberd retiring to the pits.
On lap 5 the cars were released with Callum leading the pack back into the race. With each lap Callum worked the Merlyn’s magic to extend the gap back to Nic Carlton-Smith. Behind Nic, Adrian Holey in the Rennmax briefly grabbed 3rd place from Nathan Metcalfe. But Nathan was not going to be denied, taking back the final podium position on the following lap. Alan Schmidt occupied a comfortable 5th place in the SpeedSport Brabham BT6.
Stuart Monument was 6th and leading his class from Trevor Griffiths: however Martin Aubert slipped into the fight for 6th place which briefly became a 5 car chain headed by Stuart, with Martin following. Trevor Griffith looking to reclaim the class position from Stuart along with Paul Clark and Gary Thomas. Just outside of the top 10 would be Jeremy Flann who had started from the back of the grid having missed the Saturday qualifying.
At the end of lap 9 Stuart Monument pulled off the circuit when his crown wheel & pinion failed.
The final result for race 1 being a win for Callum Grant almost 25 seconds clear of second place Nic Carlton-Smith maintaining his run of podium finishes at Cadwell Park. Third place went to Nathan Metcalfe, Adrian Holey would be fourth, Alan Schmidt fifth Martin Aubert sixth, Trevor Griffith seventh and Class C2 winner, eight Paul Clark in his Lotus 20/22 with Gary Thomas ninth, and, completing the top 10, Jeremy Flann from the back of the grid.
Race 2
From the original entry of 21 cars that started Race 1, 17 cars would return for the Final race of the day. Starting from his pole position Callum Grant again led the pack away from Nic Carlton-Smith and Nathan Metcalfe who had the very fast starting Michael Hibberd in pursuit.
Adrian Holey having dropped down to 8th place from his 4th place starting position. George Christodoulou having the shortest race of the day crawling just past the startline when his drive shaft failed. A quick safety car lap to retrieve George to the paddock and the race was back in full swing.
Gary Thomas retired at the end of lap one when the electrical problems that have been plaguing him all season returned.
For the opening laps Nathan Metcalfe stayed close to the rear of Nic Carlton-Smith but by lap 6, Nic had gained a secure advantage and the podium positions were set in a repeat of race 1 with Callum extending his lead from race 1 by a further 32 seconds.
Michael Hibberd looked to have 4th place secured, but behind him Adrian Holey was pushing on to recover the places he had lost on lap 1. By lap 5 he had returned to 6th place, closing the gap to Alan Schmidt to just over a second. The following lap Adrian was 5th and now lapping well over a second faster than Michael Hibberd. It was on the final lap that Adrian finally passed Michael for 4th place.
Alan Schmidt would finish 6th, Tony Lees in the Lola seventh, Jeremy Flann completing his weekend with an eighth place finish, Martin Aubert 9th and completing the top 10 Paul Clark. Finishing 11th and winning his class was Trevor Griffiths.
By Alan Jones