Howden Ganley Celebration Trophy Races

The Historic Formula Juniors placed themselves in pole position to start the last of the Silverstone Festivals in its current format. To celebrate the occasion, Formula Junior Patron Howden Ganley had donated a very special trophy to be presented to the aggregate winner from the combined finishing times of the two races.

Next year the August Bank Holiday slot at Silverstone has been announced as going to the Chris Evans Car Fest, and we wait for more details of a revised historic racing event which will revert to the traditional end of July date.

Some competitors were so eager to start the 2025 event, there were reports of some cars being in the assembly area before 6am on Friday for the 9am start!! With a full entry it is easy to understand why the faster drivers wanted to get some clear track before things got busy. The one advantage with the Silverstone GP circuit is that the width of the track combined with a dry circuit can provide a variety of lines that can be taken through the corners without compromising the overall lap times.

Turning to the entry, Sam Wilson was giving his Cooper T59 a welcome run, and Chris Goodwin was having a weekend off from his professional commitments to enjoy racing himself, with his Lotus 22, FJHRA President Tony Goodwin being present to watch his son race on the Sunday. Philipp Buhofer was a late withdrawal, however he too was represented by his son, with Lukas running in his Brabham BT6. Stuart Monument was delighted to be back out, having agreed ownership of the recently restored Denty 22, to make his Class E1 debut.  . A car returning to the circuit was the Gold liveried Lotus 20/22 formerly owned by Simon Diffey. Oscar Trepess, being the driver invited by the car’s new owner Jon Titmuss, to give it a shakedown at the Festival. Spencer Shinner was having a second run out this season in the Speedsport Lotus 22, but Formula Ford commitments at Donington Park meant that he would miss the Saturday race.

Qualifying

Horatio Fitz-Simon in the distinctive Yellow Brabham now prepared by Pearson Engineering, was quick to set a time of 2.19.666 that put him into a class of his own. Alex Ames was the closest to Horatio with 2.20.548. The following pack were into the 2.22.00s.

Nic Carlton-Smith had stiffer opposition in class D2 with Nathan Metcalfe being less than 3 tenths behind. The battle for class honours would be between those two. 

A similar time difference split the C2 class leader Chris Porritt’s Lotus 18 and Crispian Besley ‘s Cooper T56.  

Ray Mallock on home territory easily headed the front engine race from nearest rival Adrian Russell, continuing to go well in his Condor SII.

Tom De Gres in his Stanguellini in its brilliant red livery led class A, its FIAT engine note denoting its competitive aggression. Graham Barron in his Gemini Mk2, back after a bicycle accident, was the sole representative of Class B1, but for a welcome change, Richard Ferris (E2) in the Donford, was joined by Lawrence de Bruyne from Belgian, having his first FJ race abroad in the smart ex-Malcolm Wishart Cooper -BMC T65.

The most entertaining driver proved to be Niall McFadden in his Elva 100 who experimented with all the lines available through the bends as he tried to establish which would work best.

At the end of qualifying the top 10 were Horatio Fitz-Simon (Brabham BT6), Alex Ames (Brabham BT6), Sam Wilson (Cooper T59), Chris Goodwin (Lotus 22), Spencer Shinner (Lotus 22), Richard Wilson (Lotus 27), Stuart Roach (Alexis Mk4), and very welcome returnee Jon Milicevic (Brabham BT6), with an engine his son had built. Geoff Underwood followed in his Brabham BT2, with Mark Shaw (Brabham BT6) completing the top ten. Over 6 seconds was the gap from Horatio to Mark but contained within that order were some very close groups. All looked set for another gripping Formula Junior race to start the Festival weekend.

 

Race 1

Mark Shaw was a late withdrawal deciding it was no fun with a temperamental engine, and a new grid was issued. The first race did not however start well.  

The drivers were told by the marshals that they were going to head onto track a few minutes early, meanwhile the call was given late to the Safety car waiting at the International pits to come round to pick them up.  The drivers were waved out of the National paddock assembly area on to track, however with the safety car having just arrived, following them, rather than leading them.  Credit to Horatio for setting the pack in perfect formation without the safety car. So then as told in both the briefing, the final instructions, and indeed announced by Ed Foster on the live stream, the cars came round after their planned half a green flag lap to take the rolling start, only for them to be confronted by no lights on the gantry, but instead the marshal up there indicating to them to go around again, and a waved green flag. What no-one had told the organisers, the drivers, or the tv and commentary team, was that the officials had decided after the briefing had taken place,  to increase it from a half, to a one and a half green flag lap. In the confusion of the misplaced safety car, this added yet more chaos, as the full 52 car pack came round unsighted onto the startline. Earlier cars thought there was lights failure, later ones that the lights had already gone out, and proceeded to race.  Race control took the decision that the safest course of action was to take that as the race start, and desperately tried to contact the safety car, which had then waited at Maggotts for what he thought was a chance to pick them up on their second time round on a one and a half green flag lap, to get itself to the nearest track exit ASAP before the pack came round.  Many drivers, with decades of experience, described it as the scariest race start situation they had ever encountered.

A huge credit to the drivers who handled the opening laps with care and the race thankfully got underway without damage or injury, although Lawrence de Bruyne suffered a lurid spin under braking ahead, on the national pit straight. Only one was absent, as Jon Milicevic did not make the start when a rear drive shaft coupling started to break up and he pulled to the side of the circuit.

 

The driver with the most positive reaction to the situation was Ray Mallock who led the field at the end of lap 1 from his starting position of 17th on the amended grid. Alex Ames and Horatio Fitz-Simon followed with Richard Wilson 4th, Chris Goodwin 5th and Sam Wilson 6th having taken a more precautionary start. Mark Woodhouse from 16th was 8th Paul Thomas from 15th 9th with Stuart Roach dropping back more cautiously to complete the top ten.

The order began to be restored on lap 2, with the lead group having formed back into grid order; Horatio leading from Alex Ames, Sam Wilson and Chris Goodwin.

After his lap in the lead, Ray Mallock slipped back through the order to be down in 10th by lap 4. Horatio had built up quite a lead to just over 1.6 seconds; behind him Sam Wilson was now lapping a second a lap quicker and he had passed Alex Ames to take 2nd place.

The top three had stretched out an advantage of almost 8 seconds to Chris Goodwin, who, having been out of the Lotus cockpit for some time, was very happy with his performance. As he explained post-race, the leaders had the advantage of being able to slide the cars with confidence through the bends. He admitted it was great to watch and was confident that with each session he was learning and anticipated being much closer to learn more from them in the second race.

Throughout the field there were little battles taking place, such as Mark Woodhouse and Lukas Buhofer who were contesting 8th place. Paul Thomas and George Diffey for 11th place, with Jeremy Flann holding off Chris Porritt and Keith Pickering who were contesting class C2 honours.

Nathan Metcalfe held a healthy lead over Nic Carlton- Smith his class rival and Ray Mallock continued at the head of the front engine runners.

At lap 5 the front runners had started to pass the slower cars and Sam Wilson continued to close in on Horatio to within 4 tenths of a second. Passing and placing slower cars between them was now the strategy for Horatio to maintain his lead.  On the following lap Horatio made contact with Andrew Gemmill and went off and Sam Wilson took the lead but Sam now had Alex Ames to contend with who had been holding a waiting brief to see what happened ahead.  Alex got to within a tenth of Sam on lap 8 but that was his best chance, finishing .895 of a second behind at the flag.

Chris Goodwin completed the podium positions with Horatio recovering in 4th place. Down the order Nic Carlton-Smith had been closing in on Nathan Metcalfe to claim 12th place and the class win from Nathan by .385 of a second.

Lappery sadly saw the demise of Ray Mallock from his class winning position following a brush with George Christodoulou’s BMC Mk 2. Both drivers retired, George unfortunately with chassis damage that would put him out for the rest of the weekend.  Adrian Russell, again, claiming the prize and hoping for a reprise race against Ray on the Sunday as he would be switching back to his older used tyres which he believed would be quick than his newer race tyres: he felt they were creating an imbalance in the handling.

Behind Adrian, a very close battle between the two Elva 100’s of Nick Taylor and Chalie Besley had raged for second place in the class which went in the favour of Charlie on the last lap. Charlie’s father Crispian retired on lap 6 with an engine down on power. Other retirements were George Diffey on lap 7, thinking a flag he saw was the chequered flag, Lawrence De Bruyne on lap 6 with mystery electrical problems, Andrew Gemmill on lap 5 as a result of the contact with Horatio Fitz-Simon, and Chris Wilks with a broken suspension rose joint.

Race 2

It was still a very strong grid of 49 cars which assembled for the second of the Formula Junior races on Sunday Morning, this time, fully briefed by a now informed Sarah, on a confirmed 1.5 green flag laps. Mark Shaw remained out, also absent were George Christodoulou after his brush with Ray Mallock, Cliff Gray returning to visit his unwell mechanic, and Jeremy Deeley unable to make a previous commitment sufficiently flexible to stay. Jon Milicevic had been home to his garage, ruffled through the inherited spares box and found the driveshaft et al he needed to repair his Brabham. Andrew Gemmill had a new wheel on his car to replace the one cracked in the previous day’s contact, whilst at the front of the grid Spencer Shinner was able to take his 5th place position.

With the safety car this time leading out, and the drivers clear on the start procedure, it was a clean start by all. Horatio took the lead whilst Chris Goodwin briefly held second place with Sam Wilson taking a more cautious approach, briefly dropped back to 5th place.

At the end of lap one the order at the front had Horatio leading from Alex Ames, Sam Wilson with Chris Goodwin now settled back into 4th place, Stuart Roach had a really good first lap in the Alexis to promote himself to 5th place from 8th on the grid, 6th was Spencer Shinner, 7th was Jon Milicevic with Richard Wilson 8th, Geoff Underwood 9th and Michael Hibberd completing the top 10.

 Ray Mallock held a slender lead with the U2 in the front engine classes but Adrian Russell in the Condor was shadowing closely to take the position the following lap. It looked like the change of tyres was working in Adrian’s favour. Jeremy Flann in his Ian Walker Racing Lotus 22 had joined the tussle and was now splitting the front engine battle.

Horatio at the head of the field had one target; to break the tow and get as far ahead as he could. Following on from his 4th place in Race One, if he wanted to win the Howden Ganley Celebration Trophy for the combined aggregate result, then he needed to be over 11 seconds ahead at the Chequered flag.

Sam Wilson and Alex Ames had other ideas with Sam unchallenged moving into second place with a plan to tow the pair of them close to Horatio and perhaps even look to take the lead.

On lap 2 Nathan Metcalfe in the Lotus 20 and Paul Thomas Brabham BT6 had a touch at Luffield. Paul on the grass on the inside and Nathan on the outside. Both cars continued, restarting in 35th and 36th place respectively.

The top four positions had stabilized with Sam Wilson and Horatio Fitz-Simon trading fastest laps, ensuring that the lead gap never got to more than 3 seconds.

Spencer Shinner who was readjusting to his FJ drive after the previous days different outing, was trying to close down the advantage that Stuart Roach had in 5th place whilst defending from Jon Milicevic and Richard Wilson who were both in his wheel tracks.

When the opportunity came it was Jon Milicevic who took 5th place on lap 5 with Spencer Shinner 6th Stuart 7th and Richard Wilson close on his heels. On the following lap Spencer made a brief mistake dropping him back to 8th place. Spencer saying ‘his feet were too big’ and he did not brake as intended. Stuart was finding he was experiencing handling problems with his Alexis from lap 4. Post race he found the issue he had driven through was a cracked chassis.

Ray Mallock and Adrian Russell were in control of the front engine race. Adrian’s drifting style being caught on the live stream feed. Hopefully this will be repeated for the terrestial television broadcast highlights of the event later in the month. Adrian and Niall McFadden both demonstrating what fun these cars are.

Further down the order was Charlie Besley in his Elva 100 lying third in the front engine race. Following Charlie was his dad Crispian Besley in the Cooper T56 who was second in class C2 following the retirement with clutch problems of Keith Pickering on lap 6. Chris Porritt was leading the class in his Lotus 18, one handed on the steering wheel, entering Brooklands balancing the car the entire time on the throttle.

A brief period of yellow flag on the Wellington straight was the only showing, when Oscar Trespass retired the ex-Simon Diffey Lotus 20/22 with suspected overheating.

As the race drew to its close, Sam Wilson narrowed the gap to Horatio down to just over a second to ensure Sam and the Cooper would claim the Howden Ganley Celebration Trophy. Alex could not keep up the pace of the two front runners and finished a comfortable third. Chris Goodwin came in fourth; however Jon Milicevic had a fight on his hand as the clock ticked down with both Richard Wilson and Stuart Roach latching on to his tail. John claiming 5th place by just .257 second on the line.

Nic Carlton-Smith had an untroubled drive to finish 12th and the winner of Class D2, Nathan Metcalfe after his spin recovered to 22nd place to take second in class, his Lotus however sounding decidedly flat, Nathan saying that the engine was now due a refresh and a winter rebuild. John Timoney in the Ausper took 3rd position in the class.

Richard Ferris in the Donford had a great dice with Paul Clark in the Lotus 20/22 on his way to his class win, Graham Barron in the Gemini Mk2 in 30th place was the winner of Class B1.

Chris Wilks following his retirement in Race 1 was third in class C2 with the Deep Sanderson FJ.

A feature of the early part of the race was Duncan Rabagliati in his Alexis dicing with the two Class A cars of Daniele Salodini and Peter Fenichel. Duncan dropping back on the last lap with a suspected electrical trouble which was later found to be a detached plug lead. Daniele in the Taraschi narrowly fended off Peter Fenichel in the Stanguellini for second place in the class, Tom De Gres in the glorious sounding Stanguellini being the class winner.

Next stop for the Formula Junior Championship will be the Autumn Classic at Castle Combe in September.

 

 

Lurani Trophy Round 4

Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit

The Lurani Trophy International Series reached its midway point with Round 4 at Brands Hatch on 12th & 13th July. The races coincided with the second of the Summer Heatwaves to hit the UK. With temperatures set to reach over 30 degrees a cool head was going to be required.  

Almost everyone arrived on Friday, some testing, and to take advantage of early scrutineering. Then followed the traditional Lurani social, kindly laid on by the host nation’s British ladies, with pimms and nibbles a plenty, and a fantastic turn out, under the shelter of the Morton paddock easy up and adjacent awnings!

The entry of 33 cars, contained nearly all of the leading Championship contenders and many of the race winners.  The notable absentee was the points leader of the Trophy Manfredo Rossi di Montelera.

In accordance with the provisions of the FIA International Series regulations, entries were accepted from Motorsport UK National licence holders, as the host nation, , but these were not eligible for Lurani points and prizes running in separate national classes.

Heading the Brands Hatch entry was Horatio Fitz-Simon in his Brabham BT6, Horatio having 3 race wins to his name this season. His competition would come from fellow Brabham runner Mark Shaw, Callum Grant in the Merlyn Mk5/7, Michael Hibberd Lotus 22, Richard Wilson Lotus 27 and Stuart Roach Alexis Mk4.

In terms of the Trophy positions the two drivers to most benefit from Manfredo’s absence were Floris-Jan Hekker in his class B2 Rayberg FJ, second overall in the Trophy,  just two points behind the leader, and Richard Bishop Miller (Caravelle MkII) running in Class D2 third overall in the points, 6 points behind Manfredo and 4 behind Floris.

Both would however face some very stiff competition. In class B2 Floris faced the dominant Condor S II of Adrian Russell. Richard Spritz would be racing his BMC Mk1, with Duncan Rabagliati back in the Alexis HF1. Richard looked to have a somewhat easier run: James Hicks was fielding his Caravelle Mk III, John Chisholm his Gemini Mk3A and David Watkins in the Elfin FJ.

Qualifying

Callum Grant in the red Merlyn with the yellow stripe led the cars down the pit lane and out onto a very warm track to commence qualifying. Two cars back was Horatio Fitz-Simon in the all yellow Brabham BT6. As they descended down to Graham Hill bend Horatio had passed the two cars to chase after Callum, setting the fastest lap for lap 2. Callum responded on the following lap to top the timing sheets. Horatio’s fastest lap would be his fourth but that would be sufficient to secure a front row slot alongside Callum in what was a punctuated qualifying session.

An exit from the circuit at Druids by Richard Spritz created the first red flag of the session. Richard’s car being returned on a recovery truck. At the same time Clinton McCarthy’s Lotus 18 was recovered after pulling off on Cooper Straight.

When qualifying restarted Callum Grant again led the pack away, to establish his fastest lap of the session 2.3 seconds faster than fellow front row man Horatio Fitz-Simon.

The re-start invigorated a number of the field, Mark Shaw would be third fastest on the timing sheets with his Brabham BT6, 0.118 second slower than Horatio, Mark being the most successful of the Trophy contenders. Completing row 2 was Richard Wilson in the Lotus 27, 2nd to 4th position being separated by just one second.

Row 3 was Stuart Roach in the Alexis with Michael Hibberd alongside separated by 0.17 second. The race at the front was looking close.

Row 4 was Luca Hoefer Lotus 22 with Richard Smeeton in the shark nose Wainer FJ lining up beside him. Completing the top 10 was Nic Cartlon-Smith competing in the National C2 class outside of the Trophy points with Martin Aubert completing the top 10 in his Class D2 Lotus 20, leaving Richard Bishop-Miller with a lot of work to do finishing only 5th fastest in the D2 times.

In 12th place on the timing sheets was Adrian Russell, leading Class B2 with his Condor SII,giving Floris Jan-Hekker an even bigger task than Richard Bishop Miller as Floris was 5th in his class.

Phillippe Lenoir in father Gilbert’s  Elva 200 was fastest in class C2 with Peter Fenichel in his Stanguellini was top of Class A.

Race 1

Callum Grant from Pole position blasted off the line to take an easy lead into Paddock Hill Bend. Behind him, Mark Shaw missed a gear and was struggling to get away as the rest of the pack negotiated their way around him, Mark eventually cleared the line mid field.

Horatio Fitz-Simon also had a bad start and a lot of interest in the race would be the progress of Mark and Horatio back towards the head of the field.

At the end of lap one Callum had a clear lead from Stuart Roach, behind him was Richard Wilson, Michael Hibberd and Richard Smeeton. Nic Carlton-Smith in the Kieft came through in 6th place followed by Luca Hoefer, Tony Lees, Class D2 leader Martin Aubert with James Hicks completing the top 10. After their poor starts Horatio was 11th and Mark Shaw 13th with Class B2 leader Adrian Russell between them in 12th place. Philippe Lenoir the class C2 leader in 17th place. At the end of lap 1 Peter Fenichel retired from the race and on lap 2 Andrea Guarino retired with gearbox problems.

At the head of the field Callum Grant was extending his lead lap by lap with Stuart following, continuing to extend his advantage over Richard Wilson. By lap 5 the two delayed at the start were running fifth and sixth and closing on Richard Wilson and Michael Hibberd ahead of them.

On lap 8 Nic Carlton – Smith retired to the pits his car overheating. Further down the order Philippe Lenoir, making the Elva 200 go as never before, and Richard Ferris in his Donford were involved in a fantastic duel for 15th place. Adrian Russell was further ahead in 10th place.

Lap 11 and the race for third place was reaching a climax, Richard Wilson holding 3rd place, Michael Hibberd 4th Horatio 5th and Mark Shaw 6th. Further back in the pack there had been a good dice between Charles Cook, Nick Taylor and Trevor Griffiths. Nick being the only one of the trio racing for Trophy points. The group having been overtaken earlier by Clinton McCarthy, who after a troubled qualifying, made his way from 24th on the grid to finish 16th.

On lap 12 Horatio was close enough to Michael Hibberd to challenge for 4th place. The dice between the two left a space for Mark Shaw to move through to take the position and chase after Richard Wilson. Adrian Russell had taken avoiding action elsewhere on the circuit landing him into the gravel trap and a Red Flag was called as Adrian’s car was in a vulnerable position.

The cars were brought to a halt the drivers strapped in with Stuart Roach saying afterwards. ‘That felt like the longest race of my life. When we sat in the car following the Red Flag I really hoped they would not restart.’

With over 20 minutes of the race completed the result was declared at lap 12. One can only imagine Mark Shaw’s disappointment as on lap 13 he had moved into 3rd place. With a second race on the Sunday, he would be looking for a clean start and a chance of a race podium to balance his aggregate score.

The result was therefore  a win for Callum Grant, 11.19seconds clear of Stuart Roach in second, Richard Wilson 3rd, with Mark Shaw 4th just 0.161 behind. In 5th  place came Horatio Fitz-Simon followed by 6th Michael Hibberd, 7th Richard Smeeton, 8th Luca Hoefer, 9th Tony Lees, 10th Martin Aubert Class D2 winner. John Chisholm in 11th was second in D2 with James Hicks in 14th third in Class.

Philippe Lenoir in 13th place was the winner of Class C2 with Clinton McCarthy 16th overall second in class.

Classified as 15th Adrian Russell won Class B2, from Nick Taylor 19th overall and Justin Fleming 24th overall.

Class A was won by Arnold Herreman in the Volpini and the National class winners were Charles Cook (B2), Trevor Griffiths (C2), John Timoney (D2), Andrew Gemmill (E1) and Richard Ferris (E2)

 

Race 2

As per the regulations the grid for Race 2 was formed from the qualifying times that had set the grid for Race 1, the only changes being any cars that withdrew following Race 1, these being James Hicks, Andrea Guarino, and David Watkins. This left 30 starters for the second race but this number reduced to 29 on the formation lap when Horatio Fitz-Simon retired the car into the back of the inner paddock with a very sick sounding engine.

Lights out and Callum Grant again took the lead from Mark Shaw, Stuart Roach and Richard Wilson. In 5th was Michael Hibberd who, unusually, made a mistake at the start incurring a ten second time penalty for an out of position start.

Sixth was Richard Smeeton, in 7th was Adrian Russell, leading Class B2, with Nic Carlton Smith 8th (Nat Class C2), 9th  Luca Hoefer and 10th was Philippe Lenoir (Class C2),  with Martin Aubert in 11th ((Class D2).Arnold Herreman was leading Class A.

On lap 2 Stuart Roach moved into second place and the following lap Mark Shaw retired, having spun on some oil at Sterlings Bend, bringing out the . safety car which picked up the field mid pack to bring the race under control quickly as there was a possibility the race would have to be suspended while the recovery was completed.  On the same lap Phillippe Lenoir retired with a broken wishbone.

 The Brands Hatch team were able to clear the stranded car far quicker than anticipated, so after only two laps under the safety car the race was able to continue. Safety cars have blighted previous FJ races at Brands Hatch but this year things went a good deal better, and the whole meeting kept to schedule.

Under the safety car Andrew Gemmill brought his car into the pit. Testing the car on circuit he pulled off back to the pits twice without going onto the Grand Prix loop, retiring with a problem to the wheel nut.

At the restart, Callum led away again controlling the race to maintain an 8 second gap back to Stuart Roach for the remainder of the race. The on track race would be between the Lotus 22 of Michael Hibberd and the Lotus 27 of Richard Wilson. Michael took the final podium position on track but forfeited the position  to Richard after his start penalty was applied.

At the end of lap 10 John Chisholm slowed going across the finish line to coast the car to a halt on the grass on the inside of the approach to Paddock Hill Bend. Hopping out the car, John wheeled the apparently brakeless Gemini into the area where the recovery crew could help him roll into safety. At the time John had been lying in 10th place leading the D2 class. His retirement handing the lead to Martin Aubert. Martin enjoyed a race long dice with Richard Ferris for what would be 10th place, Martin claiming the position on the last lap.

The Final drama of the race occurring on lap 13 when Charles Cook and Clinton McCarthy spun in tandem at bottom of Graham Hill bend leaving Charles broadside on the grass to the race pack descending down the hill. Happily everyone responded well to the waved flags and other than pride nothing was damaged.

The Final result for Race 2 was as follows:

1st Callum Grant (Merlyn Mk5/7), 2nd Stuart Roach (Alexis Mk4), 3rd Richard Wilson (Lotus 27), 4th Michael Hibberd (Lotus 22), 5th Richard Smeeton (Wainer FJ), 6th Nic Carlton-Smith (Kieft), 7th Tony Lees (Lola Mk5A), 8th Luca Hoefer (Lotus 22), 9th Adrian Russell (Condor SII), 10th Martin Aubert (Lotus 20).

The winners were presented their awards by Parc Ferme, with class prizegiving following in the FJ Paddock, and a farewell to David and Kathy Watkins, having had his last FJ race this weekend, with the Elfin going to a new owner shortly.

By Alan Jones

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

FJHRA Silverline Championship Rounds 4 & 5

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 (Dad/Iain to confirm) 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 Emersyon.  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!

by Sarah

FJHRA Silverline Formula Junior UK Championship   – Round 1

Following an overnight thunderstorm the sun was shining bright on the Front Engine Formula Junior cars as they lined up in the assembly area at Donington Park to be the first cars to qualify at the Donington Historic Festival. 

The three-day event is organised by MSVR on behalf of the new look Motor Racing Legends under the full control of Shaun Lynn. This was not the first race of the Formula Junior season as the Lurani Trophy International Series had started the previous weekend at Paul Ricard, as part of the French Historic Grand Prix.

Historic Formula Junior Front Engine Qualifying

The 18-car front engine entry lined up without Duncan Rabagliati and the famous or is that infamous orange Alexis. The driver rather than the car being rested for this event, but still there to support, however in the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger, he will be back very soon.

Niall McFadden in his Elva 100 and Mark Russell Gemini Mk2 have joined the Front engine racers having raced a number of cars notably Jaguars over the years. Niall having raced his Elva 100 twice previously in the 7 years of his ownership, the car having been kindly lent to others, including John Arnold over the years too. Like so many drivers he admits that the Formula Junior cars are great fun to drive.

A car and driver combination making an occasional appearance in the Northern Hemisphere is Tony Olissoff, in the Emeryson Experimental Elfin Mk1, the side of the car carrying the identity ‘Wee Warrior’. Tony enjoys touring with the car, in his yellow van, including a trip to America last summer, where on occasion she was the only Formula Junior on the grid. From the stickers on the side of his car, 2016 may have been his last UK appearance.

Adrian Holey had added a new car to his stable, the Terrier Mk4 Series 2, ex-Jonathon Hughes. This is the car raced in period by Brian Hart. The very sleek car looks very advanced amongst some of the earlier cars. Adrian halted his qualifying session when he smelt overheating and pulled off the track at the entry to Coppice having set 5th fastest time. Nothing was detected upon the cars’ return, but some precautionary work took place before the race.

Neil Hodges was a welcome returnee, having purchased Mike Fowler’s Gemini Mk II over the winter, and was making a first appearance.

At the head of the timing sheets throughout the session was Ray Mallock in the U2 Mk2. Ray was the first to post a sub 2 minute lap time, with the qualifying and races taking place on the longer Donington circuit using the Grand Loop. Nick Taylor in the Elva 100 kept Ray company with a sub 2 minute time.

As the qualifying progressed Charles Cook in his Nike Mk1 went ahead of Nick Taylor, with the pair being separated by just under .348 of a second at the end of qualifying. Neither looked to be in danger of challenging Ray Mallock who had an advantage of almost 4 seconds.  Charlie Besley in the distinctive Red & White Elva 100 set 4th fastest time, whilst despite his early stop Adrian Holey was 5th. Niall McFadden completed the top 6. 7th was Andrea Guarino (Elva 100) with Graham Barron 8th leading Class B1 in the Gemini Mk2. Mark Russell in his Gemini Mk2 headed to the grid in 9th completing the top ten and second in class B1 Tony Olissoff. Martin Sheppard in his Stanguellini headed class A, with Peter Fenichel 2nd and Roger Woodbridge Volpini 3rd.

Historic Formula Junior Front Engine Race

All 18 front engine cars formed on the grid with Ray Mallock leading the field into Redgate for the first time. Charles Cook was slow away and it was Nick Taylor who claimed 2nd behind Ray with Charles 3rd.Charlie Besley 4th Graham Barron 5th from 7th on the grid with Andrea Guarino 6th.

Mark Russell’s race lasted the maximum of 100 yards when the drive coupling broke and he was pushed off onto the grass. As he said afterwards, he was so glad it did not fail when he was entering the Craner curves or one of the other fast corners on the circuit. At the end of the lap both Adrian Holey and Bernard Brock had retired to the pits, Bernard having popped a core plug. Antony Olissoff also retired on lap 1 when the front suspension arm disconnected from the chassis.

In the race Ray Mallock was pulling progressively away from the field, whilst the initial lead that Nick Taylor had over Charles Cook started to reduce. By lap 5 Nick’s almost 2 second advantage had reduced to 2 tenths. For the remainder of the race the pair would engage in a fascinating cat and mouse battle. With Charles getting ahead on the straights only to lose his advantage on the low speed corners as he had to hold the car in 2nd gear to prevent it from popping out. On the final lap the dash to the line was a dramatic chase. Nick having played a tactical game managed to just hold onto second place to the end. Both drivers were very pleased with their podium finish having had a good clean race.

Charlie Besley finished 4th having had a lonely race, 5th was Niall McFadden very happy with his return to Formula Junior having improved on his personal best lap time which was half a second faster than Charlie ahead of him on the road.

The final retirement was Justin Fleming in his Lola Mk2, running in 6th place when his car started overheating, he came into the pits on lap 5. Graham Barron was 7th winning class B1, and Martin Sheppard in 8th place was the winner of Class A for the Italian engine cars.  

Historic Formula Junior Rear Engine Qualifying

Just one hour after the Front Engine Juniors had been out to qualify it was the turn of the rear engine cars to enter the circuit. 29 cars assembled for the qualifying. Amongst the entry was Spencer Shinner, trying Formula Junior for the first time after a successful two seasons in Historic Formula Ford.

A late deal placed Spencer into the SpeedSport Lotus 22 raced last year by Ralph Carter. Qualifying was the first time young Spencer had driven the car.  Ralph was also in the entry driving a Brabham BT2 he had acquired from Richard Bradley. Assisting him on his first outing with the car was Iain Rowley.

Whilst it was a UK round, the race had several continental visitors.  Phillip Buhofer had his Lotus 27 out prepared by Hall and Hall. Lukas Buhofer joined him in a Brabham BT6. Alex Ames was a late entry with his Brabham BT6, having been persuaded by customers Martin and Andreas Halusa (both Lotus 22’s) that he should enter, and completing the continentals was Luca Hoefer, Lotus 22. John ‘Chip’ Fudge (Lightning Envoyette) was on weekend two of three of his European visit from Oklahoma.

George Christodoulou (BMC Mk 2) was embarking on  his dream of a season racing with Formula Junior that had formed over 30 year ago.  Donington wasn’t however his first ever race in a Junior as he did have a brief trial in 2019.

At the start of qualifying, it was Phillip Buhofer and Alex Ames battling for pole position. Alex ended his session after 6 laps, when the travel on his brake pedal became scaringly long. Phillip came close to Alex’s time towards the end of qualifying being just 0.147 seconds slower to complete the front row.

Second row was Spencer Shinner in the Lotus 22 who qualified 3rd quickest although his margin back to Luca Hoefer alongside was a little more generous at .552 seconds. Both would be looking in their mirrors at the start as George Diffey the Veedol Lotus 20/22 was just .114 seconds away from Luca’s time. George looking really relaxed and at home in the car. The similar Lotus of Mark Woodhouse lining up alongside him to complete the third row. The Lotus chassis continued to fill the remaining two rows to complete the top 10 in the order: Michael Hibberd Lotus 22 7th, Adrian Russell Lotus 22 8th (having made a last minute switch from his front-engined Condor SII), Nic Carlton-Smith lined up 9th in his Lotus 20 and fastest of the drum brake class D2: Jeremy Flann completed the top 10 in his Lotus 22.

Nathan Metcalfe made his Donington debut, in the Lotus 20, lining up second in  class D2, 12th fastest, alongside Lukas Buhofer in the Brabham BT6.

2024 Championship runner up, Stuart Monument, was the quickest of the Class C2 runners in his Lotus 18 although lining up alongside him on the grid was class rival Gary Thomas in the Kieft. On paper the rear engine race looked set to be another very close race.

Historic Formula Junior Rear Engine Race

Alex Ames, made a very good start leading into Redgate for the first time, Phillip Buhofer lost time when he had wheelspin off the line, but he managed to return in 2nd place with Spencer Shinner 3rd. Mark Woodhouse was the benefactor when George Diffey made a poor start promoting Mark to 4th from his 6th place starting position. Michael Hibberd and Adrian Russell following Mark into 5th and 6 place respectively with Luca Hoefer in 7th then George Diffey. Nic Carlton-Smith passed the pair of them on lap 2, and Gary Thomas had made a good start passing Stuart Monument with Gary lying in 16th place overall whilst Stuart had dropped back to 20th behind fellow class rival Crispian Besley.

At the front of the field Alex Ames had clearly sorted out his brake issues, establishing a lead that would not be challenged. Phillip Buhofer was in an equally strong 2nd position. It was Spencer Shinner who would start to come under threat as Luca Hoefer and Adrian Russell put in consistently quicker laps than those ahead.

As befits Formula Junior there were dices going back down the field including a good scrap between Chris Wilks (Deep Sanderson) and Andrew Gemmill (Lotus 20/22).

On lap 4 Gary Thomas was forced to retire the Kieft when a rear hub came loose, which handed back the class lead to Stuart Monument who had passed Crispian Besley on lap 2.

By lap 6 Spencer Shinner’s third place was coming under threat, with both Mark Woodhouse and Adrian Russell homing in onto the Lotus gearbox like guided missiles.

 Michael Hibberd following in 5th was also coming under attack from Luca Hoefer.

In 10th place Jeremy Flann was being shadowed by Robin Longdon in his Lola Mk5a. Unfortunately, a promising scrap came to a halt on lap 6 when Robin made an over ambitious late braking manoeuvre at Fogarty Esses that ended the race for both drivers resulting in a Safety car being called for cars stranded in an unsafe position.

On lap 8 there was a steady stream of retirements, Nic Carlton-Smith pulling in when his car went to firing on two cylinders as result of the carburettor linkage breaking. Eddie O’Kane and 3rd place man Spencer Shinner retiring also, into the pits, under orders of Mike O’Brien to stop if it showed signs of overheating.

The race ended on lap 10 with the safety car leading the field home. The podium presentations were made to Alex Ames, from Phillip Buhofer with Mark Woodhouse 3rd. Given his progress without Spencer’s retirement, the place may well have gone to Mark, and it was a well-earned podium. 4th Adrian Russell 5th Michael Hibberd 6th Luca Hoefer. 7th Lukas Buhofer in his Brabham BT6, George Diffey 8th. George admitting to being swamped off the start but pleased with his race. He felt he needed to do some work on the position of the gear change as he was finding it difficult at times, but it was a broad smile at the end of the day from the young man looking forward to his next race. 9th was Geoff Underwood in his Brabham BT2 and 10th and class D2 winner was Nathan Metcalfe making a rewarding ending for his first Donington Park race. Stuart Monument 13th was the winner of Class C2.

Everyone gathered at prizegiving after a thoroughly enjoyable first day out for the UK season, and Duncan presented Class awards and Silverline tools aplenty.

Next stop for the UK Championship will be Cadwell Park, on yet another Bank Holiday Weekend. This time both grids will be having two races, the Rear Engine cars racing for the Barry Westmoreland Trophy.

 

By Alan Jones

 

 

 

2025 Lurani Trophy Round 1

If it was a late start to the year, it was worth waiting for the beautiful South of France weather!!  However, even then, several were not yet ready to launch their season. JP Campos Costa’s Lola, now with Andrew Hibberd, changed schedule to concentrate on the UK races, Daniele Salodini’s Taraschi and a putative entry for Pietro Tenconi’s longtime family owned Stanguellini, and Gianluigi Candiani (Branca) all delayed till Hockenheim. The Crois-en-Ternois team reduced to one while the 22 needs more work, so Belgian Pierre Dessy took his FJ debut in the Brabham BT6 seat, with Patrick d’Aubreby lined up for Hockenheim. Mauro Scotti Lotus 22), son of former BT6 FJ racer, Ivan Scotti, not ready, Duncan giving priority to a medical appointment, and saving Nigel Lackford a long trip with the Alexis,  Emmanuele Guglieminetti’s Wainer having a hole in the block on the last race lap at Goodwood, and Richard Bishop-Miller bringing the Caravelle II, this one, successfully ex Goodwood, rather than the front engined Autosport, all in all leaving only three front engine cars this time, so reduced points there to the winner.

An early ‘free’ practice on Friday brought out almost all the participants, except Floris-Jan Hekker (Rayberg) and the Caravelle, although several front runners were without transponders – perhaps hiding their light[s] ender a bushel! It was good to welcome ‘Brit’ Paul Thomas with the ex-Peter Strauss Brabham BT6 FJ-4-63, run by Team Setford, as was Hans Ciers (Lotus 20); to welcome back Mark Shaw in the familiar Tom Smith run BT6, and to see Horatio Fitz-Simon (BT6) with us again, now also with Tom. The highlight however was without doubt the sight of TWO De Tomaso ’63 monocoques out together, for Pierre Tonetti and Simon Jackson (ex-Westie Mitchell, who now has Cameron’s ex-De Sanctis to rebuild …) Of the timed runners, Manfredo Rossi was streaks ahead of the (published) field in his white 22; both Drum brake class leaders , Pierre Guichard (Lynx Mk 3) and  Clinton McCarthy (Lotus 18) were going well.

Qualifying followed just after lunch, with Horatio stamping his name on the proceedings, but Manfredo, and Wimbledon’s Lee Mowle (Lotus 20/22) were close behind, and a sterling effort from Simon Jackson’s de Tomaso was to be watched; Danny Baker (Lotus 27) had most of his times deleted for exceeding track limits (clarified over dinner that evening what the definition of the track limit actually was….), and Luca Hoefer (ex-Mags Diffey 22) was another unintendedly serial offender. Pierre was best in D2, well ahead of Clinton in C2 this time.

Some hasty alternative routes were needed Saturday morning to get all the competitors to the track in time, through the thousands of spectators on the same route desperate for a glimpse of Charles Leclerc, Alain Prost, Jean Alesi et al. Some visitors literally sat in traffic for up to 4 hours crawling up the scenic road to the extremely slow parking procedures.

However, all were present and correct in the assembly area, including Luca who’d had to abandon his car and get rescued by Team Sema’s scooter! Race One start was immediately before lunch, run in glorious sunshine, from our usual standing start, however it was not Horatio immediately into the lead, but good order soon prevailed, and he led Manfredo, in his slipstream, at the end of lap 1. Manfredo tried his absolute best to keep him honest, and did so for the first few laps, and at one point executed the most perfect ‘Formula One Verstappen’ pass round the double curves, to take the lead, but a lap or so later, Horatio again nosed ahead, and that is how it stayed, with Manfredo visibly dropping back around half distance after an optimistic dive into the chicane on the back straight to overtake Sharon Adelman (Brabham BT6 run by Hall & Hall), led to him dropping back, and Sharon retiring with a broken wheel and suspension damage, for which he was apologetic. Next up were the CTL Lotus twins of Lee Mowle and Danny Baker; nothing to split them, but for a late spin by Danny, handing Lee a deserved 3rd podium spot. Battles continued behind them down the field, with Simon Jackson even heading Mark Shaw for 5th spot for a couple of laps. Paul Thomas (BT6) dropped several places at what was his first ever FJ start, but recovered well ahead of the Lynx  at the end; eldest of the Halusa brothers, Andreas, made a welcome appearance, just leading home ‘Chip’ Fudge in the ex-Morton Lightning Envoyette, and Pierre Tonetti, the pair battling throughout, while Christian Lange had to serve a drive through for a jump start, but still took C2. Clinton dropped out with gearbox issues, and the only other retirement, apart from Sharon, although Hans Ciers stopped on the home straight with the flag in sight: it looked as if he had run out of petrol, but apparently, he had taken avoiding action from a spinner, stalled, and could not restart. Adrian Russell led the front engine brigade in the ex-Keith Roach Condor SII.

The Podium anthem started with the ‘Stars and Stripes’, but Horatio soon made clear that although he lives largely in USA, he is a ‘Brit’ and races on a UK licence, so this was stopped in train, and a rousing ’God Save the King’ ensued; luckily there were no flags, so no ‘Star Spangled Banner’ to haul down!!

Race two, and how conditions can change; Lurani were the first competitive race of the day, and already there was dampness in the air (later in the day, the CF3s had heavy rain…). A full complement again, both Sharon with minor repairs, and Clinton after gearbox ‘surgery’:  this time  

Horatio made the best of the start, and although Manfredo harried him for the first few laps, the gap began to lengthen; behind these two was a most excellent performance by Simon Jackson, in the De Tomaso ’63, although for the last few laps the battling trio of Lee Mowle, Danny Baker, and Mark Shaw  got ever closer; a nearly off course escapade having dropped Lee behind both Mark, and his teammate, and a determined last lap by Danny, saw him take Mark and hold on to the flag. Luca Hoefer led the rest, a lonely race, after the demise of Paul Thomas with engine failure, but Pierre Guichard only just held off Pierre Dessy, and Andreas Halusa; Clinton won class C, Richard Bishop-Miller was very happy to finish intact, despite a spin, and Floris got lots of YouTube time with his iconic Rayberg, and won the front engine classes, as a determined Adrian Russell, passing two cars on lap 1, tested the power onto the drive shaft/stub axle ab extremis, and failed even to complete one lap, thereby foregoing any Championship points this time.  Tom de Gres stopped with the Stanguellini popping out of 3rd gear, and no fun to drive, despite the personal attention of Dan Setford in the pit lane. ‘Chip’ Fudge also failed to complete a lap with a crack in his distributor cap.

Another good win for Horatio; Simon Jackson just made the Podium (not used to it !!) and by now the umbrella girls were shielding rain not sun. 

The usual jolly FJ prizegiving followed, conducted by Sarah, before a quick pack up before the heavens really opened.

DCPR