HSCC LEGENDS OF BRANDS MEETING; 10th July

It all looked really promising for Formula Junior’s annual visit to Brands Hatch, but, Oh, what a let-down it turned out to be. Just eight minutes of green-flag racing, which was very poor value for the time, effort and money spent by competitors. But more of that anon.

A total of 44 cars were entered at the closing date for the traditional 20 minute single-header, including a remarkable 13 in Class C2. By start of qualifying however it was down to 36 starters, with a late withdrawal from John Chisholm after discovering sand in the engine when settling down to prepare the car from the previous round at Cadwell Park, and too late to fit the spare.

Qualifying was wet, very slippery at the start, but drying towards the end, and the top three were, as expected, Chris Goodwin, Adrian Russell and Clive Richards (all Lotus 22s) then the front-engined Alexis Mk2 of Stuart Roach, as impressive as always on a wet track, followed by Tim Child (Cooper T59). The third row was completed by Richard Wilson (BT6), despite a spin on the penultimate lap at Clearways, bringing the yellows out. Both James Hicks and Richard Ferris had spun coming past the pits on successive laps, James getting away with it, beaching just short of the tyre wall, however Richard’s Donford suffered a damaged front suspension. Jeremy Bouckley (in the Denty T56, now with period ERSA gearbox) was running as an Invitation entry until it obtains its HTP and Colin McKay was back in B2 as his Gemini now had a class-legal cylinder head.

The race was scheduled for 16.55 but no less than four red-flags in the preceding races (including two for the Formula Fords 1600) meant that it was 17.21 by the time the race started, on what was now a dry track. Richard Ferris (Donford) was a non-starter and Bernard Brock (Elva 100) was also missing when a new (!) fuel pump decided to stop working after practice. As the cars lined-up for the start, Michael Hibberd (Lotus 22) coasted up to his start position in neutral and the engine just stopped, Michael saying that they think it was just a faulty battery. The marshals tried their best to get it started but it’s very difficult to bump start a hot FJ engine. The long hold was not too popular with the others as engines were beginning to get very hot. Probably the start should have been delayed and the car pushed off to the pit lane and not left on the grass on the outside of the start/finish straight but, as the meeting was behind schedule and there were two races still to go before the 18.30 curfew, this clearly did not appeal to the Clerk of the Course.

Goodwin was first away when the lights eventually turned green, and as they turned on to the Grand Prix loop the first three were as per the grid white Lotus leading blue then red, with Richard Wilson fourth and Roach, inevitably, dropping back. At the completion of the first lap the four leading cars were quite close, then a gap to Alex Morton (Condor) who had nipped by Roach, then Tim Child (T59), Nic Carlton-Smith (Kieft) who had made a great start, and Robin Longdon (Lola Mk3) who had only qualified 12th. On lap 2 Richards overtook Russell and Child demoted the front-engined pair of Roach and Morton, these two having exchanged places, with Longdon and Carlton-Smith next. Longdon gained another spot on lap three and on the next tour Wilson put Russell down to fourth.

Then the problems started. Besley and Griffiths were chasing Carlton-Smith for Class C2 when the Emeryson and the red Cooper tangled at Druids. Both cars ended in the gravel, this happening on their fourth lap. Incidents at Druids are pretty common and the usual procedure is use the safety car to allow the big yellow grabber to haul/lift the errant cars into the refuge that is there for that specific purpose. However, it was not until half the field had completed their fifth lap that the safety car signs were displayed and, for some reason, two flatbed trucks were despatched to recover the cars. Commentor Marcus Pye immediately said that they would never achieve recovery in the remaining minutes and, after a couple more laps under the safety car, the organisers (sic) reached the same conclusion and the chequered flag was shown early after 18 minutes so there had been only four laps of fully green flag racing. To add to the tale of woe, Griffiths car was damaged in the recovery process.

Somewhere in all this Richards had disappeared when his oil pipe came off, and Colin McKay stopped with overheating. Colin said I was still going pretty fast behind Chris Wilks who was trying to catch the train up so wasn’t really affected by the slow SC everyone was complaining about later. Manic temp gauge at Hawthorn suggested I should give up, suspect head gasket so hopefully new head not damaged, waiting for Iain to report back on that.

So, the results were declared after 8 laps with Goodwin winning from Wilson and Russell. Class D2 was a good win for Robin Longdon from James Hicks. The tightly contested C2 class went again to Carlton-Smith, keeping him on top of the points table, from Keith Pickering and Stuart Tizzard. B2 was the province of Stuart Roach from Alex Morton and Justin Fleming whilst Bob Birrell, Peter Edbrooke and Malcolm Wishart were unopposed in their classes.

It is to be hoped that the HSCC will have a good think about the issues surrounding this and other races during the weekend for “lessons learnt”, but one point seems blatantly clear Saturday’s timetable with a full schedule and the last race due to end at 18.25 was asking for trouble and it seems most likely that this was the driving force behind HSCC’s failure to red-flag and restart the race. Brands absence of run-offs and the gravel traps virtually guarantee the need to recover stranded vehicles. This places a huge premium on efficient incident management, which to this observer, seemed less than perfect in other races, such that it is almost false pretences to imply that competitors whose race is late in the day are going to get their money’s worth. To their credit the HSCC moved the last race to Sunday morning so that at least everyone got a race of sorts.

by Richard Page

2021 Lurani Trophy Round 1

Paul Ricard: GP de France Historique – June 11-13 2021

The “GP de France Historique” held at Paul Ricard during the weekend of June 11-13 2021, was the first round of the 2021 Lurani Trophy and the first Lurani FJ Race in Europe since 2019: a great occasion to be back on track with our FJ cars after the long stop due to the Covid!

25 FJ cars with drivers coming from 11 different countries, including Richard Spritz, from the US with his 1959 BMC (car based in Denmark) and Martin Aubert, from Argentina (driver based in Spain), with his 1961 Lotus 20.

Only 5 drivers from UK, a relatively small number due to the anti-covid restrictions, but a very strong group, including Chris Goodwin, son of FJHRA President Dr Tony, who is a professional driver, manager of Bruno Senna and tester of Aston Martin, with a superb 1962 Lotus 22.

Also the 5 Italians: the competitive “Tonetti Brothers”, Roberto in a Brabham BT6 and Pierre in a rare de Tomaso, Bruno Ferrari with his Branca FJ, Francesco Baldanza with his Lotus 22 and me, celebrating 20 year of races (2001 – 2021) with my beloved Wainer n. 46.

I was really excited to also see in the Paddock the wonderful Apache Fiat FJ previously owned by my good friend Franco Beolchi, with whom I had fought on track several times between 2004 and 2008, and it was a pleasure to meet again with the new owner, the Danish driver Erik Justesen (who won the overall FIA Lurani in 2003) and to discuss with him about his new car.

The free practice sessions were on Friday morning, however I decided not to participate: I came to Paul Ricard with Claudia, without any mechanical assistance and I needed to “preserve” the car for the races considering that the track is really demanding for our small engines!

Many cars had mechanical troubles during the free practice sessions, including the engine of the de Tomaso of Pierre Tonetti. Thankfully, he had a spare engine, and his team was capable enough to replace the broken engine during the night allowing Pierre to take part in the races, even though it meant starting from the back of the grid.

In the afternoon we were on track for qualifying; Chris Goodwin seems to come from another planet! With an incredible time of 2’27.959 he gained the pole, followed by Mark Shaw in his Brabham BT6 with the time of 2’30.689, separated by a gap of almost 3 seconds!

The second row was occupied by Alex Ames and Lee Mowle, and Roberto Tonetti was in the 5th place with his Brabham.

I qualified in 20th place, in front of Erik’s Apache and this announced a battle as in the good old times!

The Race 1 start was at 10.25 on Saturday morning: pre-grid outside the track, formation lap, stop in the correct position, 5 seconds: and then immediately start! A smart start procedure to avoid the boiling of the engines due to the hot temperatures!!

The start seemed to be ok but, unfortunately, at the first corner, Marc Amez-Droz in his Brabham had a spin and hit the following car, the Lotus of Andreas Halusa when coming back across the track. Fortunately, I found a space to pass on the right without damage: Immediately after I saw the SC signs blinking on the side of the track: and for a couple of laps we ran behind the Safety Car.

When the race re-started, I had an exciting battle with Richard Spriz, Francesco De Baldanza, Erik Justeseen and Hans Ciers. After a few laps the first 2 cars were too far ahead. Nothing for me to do about it against their Ford/BMC engines! But with Erik was a different story: we overtook reciprocally several times, and, at the end, I managed to pass him and to stay in front of him.

Chris Goodwin was always 2/3 seconds faster than the following cars and he won the Race with a huge margin of 24 seconds. Alex Ames kept second place until the 8th lap, when he lost his engine (and a lot of oil on track!!). This was a good opportunity for Roberto Tonetti who, with his Brabham, gained second place, 3 tenths in front of Lucas Halusa, third.

Bruno Ferrari finished a good 5th place and also a very good finish in 9th place for Pierre Tonetti, considering that he started from last place of the grid.

I crossed the line in 17th place, with the satisfaction of being the “first of the Fiat Engines”, the position of the others being the two Volpini of Jac Nellemann (22nd) and of Silvio Perlino (23rd), slowed by overheating problems, and of the Apache of Erik that, due to a failure of the engine belt, concludes the race in 20^th place.

After the race, we had time to check and prepare the car for the second race and, in the afternoon, to visit the wonderful village of the Cadiere D’Azur. Then, in the evening, we were back to the circuit for the dinner party, enjoying the wonderful summer sunset from the box lodges: a good occasion to relax, drinking and speaking about our passion with other drivers and friends!

But, unfortunately, after the dinner we could not stay longer at the Party: we were due to wake-up early the next morning because the start of Race 2 was at 9.15!

On Sunday morning after the last car checks, I was again in the Wainer at 8.45. The good news was that the sun was not too hot at that time!!

This time for Race 2, no problems at the first corner and the race started regularly.

Once again, I had a lot of fun, in particular with Erik Justesen and Hans Ciers. Erik had replaced his engine belt and was determined to overtake me!: after some wheel-to wheel fighting, the Apache overtook my Wainer and for the following 5 laps Erik remained in front of me: I studied him to understand his “weak points” and, on the 6^th lap, I was faster than Erik at the exit of the “Saint Baume” corner, overtaking him on the straight, before the chicane North. I then managed to keep my position finishing the race in 17^th place, in front of Erik.

Chris Goodwin also led this second race and the podium was the same as in the first race: first Chris, second Roberto Tonetti and third Lukas Halusa. However, the race at the front was a thriller between R Tonetti and L Halusa, with no-one knowing who would triumph until the finish itself.

The aggregate ranking also gave the same result for the first 3 places overall, with Chris winning E1 Class.

The other Class winner were Class A: Erik Justesen; Class B2: Richard Spritz, Class D2: Martin Aubert and me for Class C2!

It was a wonderful race weekend together with all friends of FJ; many thanks also to Sarah who was able to organize the race and help all of us even if operating in remote working!

I can’t wait to race again and hope to see you all at Nurburgring OGP!

Carlo  Del Conte

 

Velodromloppet GP, Karlskoga (Sweden), June 19-20

Of the five double-header races in the Swedish Historic Cchampionship (open to all Appendix K cars with an HTP or corresponding National VIF), Formula Juniors are welcome at all, but usually we only see more than a couple of them at three of the events; Karlskoga in June, Knutstorp in July and Falkenberg in September.

For the Velodromloppet GP at Karlskoga there were eight Juniors entered, all of them from Sweden. These were; in Category E Ingvar Malm (Elva-BMC 100), Peter Pettersson (in Malm’s Focus-Peugeot Mk III), Magnus Ahlqvist (Stanguellini), Fredrik Bolander (Elva-BMC 100), Christer Larsson (Cooper-BMC T52), Anders Orrstjerdt (in Larsson’s MRS-Saab); and in Category F Hans Hillebrink (Lotus-Ford 20) and I, Lars-Goran Sjoberg (Cooper-Ford T59). It was an acceptable number of entries, but there was potential for more. There are four more cars in raceable condition in Sweden, which for various reasons were not entered. Further, Norwegian driver Petter Huse, who usually enters all the Swedish races, was unable to attend because of Norwegian COVID travel restrictions. Neither were there any entries from Denmark, where there are about half a dozen cars. The eight Juniors shared the grid with three pre-war cars, a formula 3/500 and a Lotus Eleven. We in Formula Junior and these other classes refer to ourselves as endangered species, since we usually don’t have enough entries to justify separate grids.

No spectators were allowed, so free practice, qualifying and two races were concentrated into two days, Saturday and Sunday, rather than the usual format of three days. Weather was hot with temperatures reaching 30 C, but there were some heavy showers on Saturday afternoon. 20 minutes of free practice was run before lunch on Saturday, and then 18 minutes for qualifying in the afternoon. A shower came in after only three or four laps of qualifying, thus all times were set early. Hans Hillebrink took pole position 2.5 seconds ahead of Ahlqvist, who was followed by Bolander, Larsson, Pettersson, Orrstjerdt and Malm. Then followed the Lotus Eleven, the 500 and the pre-war cars. A guiding bolt at the lower end of shift lever in my Cooper T59 decided to snap (the fracture surface indicated low-cycle fatigue) on the first flying lap leaving the gearbox in neutral, so I had to line up last on the grid in 13^th position. Other incidents during qualifying were that Christer Larsson, in the T52, managed to tangle with the MRS-Saab (which he also owns), but neither car sustained any damage.

Race 1 at 10 o’clock on Sunday was for 15 minutes plus one lap and the weather was dry. Magnus Ahlqvist in the Stanguellini made a perfect start and held the lead for about half a lap, but he was then passed by Hillebrink’s Lotus 20. Behind these two, a close fight developed between Fredrik Bolander (Elva) and Peter Pettersson (Focus) which lasted for several laps before Bolander finally got by and managed to draw away. Bolander was steering with one hand, since he had to keep the other on the shift lever to prevent the box from jumping out of gear. In the meantime me and my Cooper T59 had passed the slower cars and got by Pettersson and Bolander on lap 2 to move up into 3^rd place and two laps later passed the Stanguellini into second. On lap 8 Ahlqvist’s Stanguellini lost first and second gear amid expensive noises from his new gearbox cluster, so he was forced to retire and so was I after a loose radiator cap caused the Cooper to overheat. At the end of the 12^th lap, Hillebrink was flagged off as winner 45 seconds ahead of Bolander, who was followed by Pettersson, Malm, Magnus Nergaard in the Lotus 11 and then the two Larsson cars with Orrstjerdt ahead of Christer himself. The bolt securing the clutch pedal in Christer’s T52 had fallen out, so he was unable to shift gears, since the Cooper interlock prevents shifting unless the clutch pedal is pushed. He was therefore forced to drive the last part of the race in 3^rd gear.

Grid positions for race 2, which was of the same duration as race 1, were decided by lap times in race 1 and saw Hillebrink on pole position. I should have shared the front row with him in the T59, but was unable to start because of damage caused by the overheating in race 1. Likewise, Ahlqvist’s place on row 2 was also empty, since the damage to the Stanguellini’s gearbox was severe. Thus, two empty slots and then followed Bolander on the outside of row 2. Row 3 comprised Peter Pettersson and the Lotus 11, while Ingvar Malm and Anders Orrstjerdt occupied row 4. Last of the Formula Juniors was Larsson’s T52 on the inside of row 5.

This time, Hans Hillebrink had no problem being first away at the start and he built up a lead which he held until the chequered flag. Behind him Peter Pettersson beat Fredrik Bolander off the line, but was passed by Bolander on lap 2. Ingvar Malm followed in 4^th position. Behind him, Nergaard in the Lotus Eleven and Christer Larsson had an internal fight and at the same time were catching Malm. On lap 5, bad luck struck Ingvar Malm when the step-up gear in the Elva broke forcing him to retire. Soon after, Larsson temporarily lost control of his Cooper while trying to out-break the Eleven which caused his right rear wheel to hit the Lotus, but both were able to continue. After the race, Christer Larsson very sportingly offered to pay for the repair of the dent in Lotus’s bodywork. In the end, Hillebrink cruised home to win by 40 seconds ahead of Bolander, Pettersson, Larsson, the Lotus Eleven with Anders Orrstjerdt last of the Formula Juniors.

Next race in Sweden will be at Ring Knutstorp the first weekend of July, where we will once again share the grid with the pre-war cars. At the time of writing, there are only four Formula Juniors entered, but Denmark is not far away, so maybe we can see from entries from there?

Text:  Lars-Goran Sjoberg

Photos:  Bengt-…ce Gustavsson / RACEFOTO

 

CADWELL PARK; 5th – 6th JUNE 2021

FRONT ENGINED GRID

Entry

A really impressive entry all the usual quick runners Drake, de la Roche, Roach, Morton, Mallock, Woodhouse, Longdon and so the list of talent goes on. We even had two delectable Class A cars in the form of a Bandini and Volpini, and even more unique was Alan Croft in his Graham GR2 the history of which was a mystery to me but I hear Duncan will enlighten us in the next magazine. Also making a really welcome return after his sad sabbatical was Keith Roach in his Condor.

Cadwell was looking at its very best: everyone looked forward to taking on its demanding contours and the quality of runners throughout the field promised some exciting racing in the manner seen at Donington.

Qualifying

The writer had expected at least half a dozen cars to post times within a tenth or so – while this may not have happened, Chris Drake in his unique Downdraught carburetted Terrier and Pete de la Roche in Pat Barford’s Lola Mk II set about the lap record with a vengeance – Drake took pole by the narrowest margin (0.040 sec) from de la Roche. Roach was perhaps surprisingly a couple of seconds down on the two leaders while Mallock and Morton were separated by a tenth. Further down the order the times promised some close battles in the races. Sadly, the Graham didn’t last long on its debut, with some engine teething problems.

Race 1

Drake’s Terrier made a perfect start and led away up the hill followed by the Mallock U2, the Morton Condor with 5 makes of cars in the first 5. A great advert for Formula Junior. Further back Keith Roach was going really well and all present were truly delighted to see Richard Bishop-Miller going reliably and well in the Triumph Herald engined Autosport.

Pete de la Roche had made a leisurely start dropping (very briefly) to 4^th. He then sliced effortlessly through to take the lead on lap 3. Thereafter, he pulled away comfortably to a 28 second gap by the end. Stuart Roach was a consistent third, but never able to catch the lead two, with the only real battle at the front being between Ray Mallock and Alex Morton.

There was also a great scrap further back between Bernard Brock’s Elva 100 CG and “Fish and Chip” procurement chief Tony Pearson in his Bandini.

Unfortunately, non-finishers included Duncan whose Carrot tyre valve sheared, Iain Rowley in Ian Robinson’s Lola which broke a driveshaft UJ on lap 1. Stuart Roach after going well had the differential break two laps from the end. Finally on the last lap, Graham Barron’s superb Gemini suffered – er  fuel starvation on the last lap.

Race 2

Three of the race 1 retirements had resuscitated their mounts by Sunday. Iain Rowley had repaired the Lola driveshaft, Duncan’s puncture had been healed by the Avon Tyre Crew present at the meeting, and Barron’s issue was  – er a simple fix. Sadly, Stuart Roach’s spare diff was alive and well, but at home 200 miles away.

Pete de la Roche drove superbly gaining almost a minute over Ray Mallock by the flag, meanwhile pulling steadily away from Chris Drake whose Terrier rear universal joint soon failed – no doubt surrendering to the unusually high demands of the Cadwell topography. Chris entertained us with his graphic description of his surprise/fright/terror when the UJ breakage allowed the Terrier’s right rear wheel to assume its own destiny being only vaguely attached to the rest of the car inevitably at the fastest point of the circuit.

Peter in the process set a new lap record, as he had in race 1, leaving it 3.493 faster than the previous record held by Stuart Roach. Ray Mallock in turn was 7.5 seconds clear of Alex Morton and so on it went  what might have been a less enthralling race at the front, was certainly enlivened by spirited dices further down the order. Graham Barron and Justin Fleming had a great battle throughout – Barron just got the position at the line by 0.2 seconds, with Keith Roach and John Arnold, in his beautiful Indy livery Elva 100, keeping lying in wait having their own dual just behind.

Bernard Brock in his Elva 100, Tony Pearson in his Bandini and Roger Woodbridge in his Volpini resumed their earlier dice however they became separated so at the finish, Tony Pearson had pulled out a handy 20 second gap over his playmate.

And so ended a race with glorious cars, in glorious weather on a glorious circuit.

If anyone ever harboured the slightest doubt that Formula Junior was in superb health, expertly guided and administered by Sarah and Duncan then listen to this.

At the prizegiving (informal as ever) I remarked to Second placed Ray Mallock that I was a tad disappointed not to have seen a stunningly close race such as we had recently at Donington. He replied that he too was disappointed – this from the man whose CV includes – class wins at Le Mans 24 Hours, Formula Atlantic Champion, Formula 2, Front runner in British F1 and owner/developer of the successful Ray Mallock Racing, developing Works Cars for worldwide Touring and GT races – what an endorsement: yes Sarah, Duncan, even with a pandemic to contend with you really have got it right.

Bob Birrell

Cadwell Park Wolds Trophy; 5th – 6th June 2021

Rear Engined Grid;

An excellent entry of 29 cars arrived at the picturesque Cadwell Park circuit for the 4^th and 5^th rounds of the Silverline Championship. Some competitors arrived on Friday to take advantage of a day of testing, and whilst rain in the afternoon curtailed most people’s activities, there were many takers for Tony and Elaine Pearson’s fish’n’ chip paddock delivery service!

It was sunshine however for Saturday morning when the cars ventured out onto the track. An early casualty was James Buckton who was having his first drive both in FJ and in Vern Williamson’s Lynx. After just a lap he stopped with what was initially thought might be fuel pump failure but turned out to be a problem with the fuel tank changeover valve. Everyone else was able to start chipping away at the times and Child, Sykes, Drake and Pickering were on the pace immediately and set their best times on only their second lap. It soon became apparent though that after a minor issue with seat position had been resolved with the scrutineers, Adrian Russell (Lotus 22) was going to be the man to beat. On only his second lap he set a time that would prove good enough for pole but he improved still further on his final qualifying lap.

Second fastest with a time not quite a second slower than Russell was Tim Child going very well in his Cooper T59. Next up was an excellent performance from Nic Carlton-Smith showing that perhaps the Kieft has always been under-rated or maybe the driver is just astonishingly good! Completing the second row was John Sykes making a welcome return in the familiar Merlyn Mk.5/7 after only a handful of appearances in recent years and bemoaning the plight of old tyres for a lack of speed that still had him fourth fastest.

Chris Drake’s Elva and Jonathan Fyda’s U2 occupied the third row, the former dialling himself back into the Elva 300 and the latter struggling with a wayward gearchange.

Martin Aubert’s Lotus 20 had a trouble-free run to the fourth row alongside James Hicks in the Caravelle III. James overcooked it in Hall Bends, spun and stalled and Jeremy Deeley spun in sympathy. Deeley was soon on his way but it took the Caravelle a while for the engine to return to duty and continue. Trevor Griffiths Emeryson and Peter Anstiss Lotus ran reliably to make up the fifth row.

Of the rest, Keith Pickering returned having repaired the damage caused by drive-shaft UJ failure at Snetterton but was disappointed to be a couple of seconds slower than on Friday ending up thirteenth. Crispian Besley had a flat battery in the collection area and needed a push-start after which he felt he would have gone quicker except for a mysterious misfire. Bill Cowing returned, this time in his attractive Ginetta G8 and having had a medical matter attended to since he was last at Cadwell he was feeling better and looking forward to having a good race. However, a scrutineer then noticed that the top of his helmet was above the top of the roll-hoop; no amount of hammering Bill down into the cockpit would have helped so, sadly, he was sidelined for the rest of the weekend. David Drew’s Ausper managed four laps before the throttle cable snapped but this was fixed in time for the race start. For Peter Fenichel, it was his first time at Cadwell in a Junior, having previously raced pre-war cars here some ten years prior. Chris Wilks was back for the first time this year with the fascinating Deep Sanderson, the engine of which had seized last time out but had now been rebuilt. 

Race 1.  

When the lights changed it was Adrian Russell that made the best start from pole and led into Coppice. Tim Child started in second gear by mistake and was swallowed up by the pack. John Sykes briefly took Nic Carlton-Smith for second as the pack streamed through Coppice and on up to Charlies. By the Mountain, Nic was back up to second. Chris Drake was hot on Sykes tail in the Elva while behind him was a gaggle of cars wanting to be fifth led by Hicks, then Aubert, Jonathan Fyda still struggling with gears, Griffiths Emeryson and Peter Anstiss Lotus. Child was down in tenth at the end of lap 1 but determined to make forward progress. 

Keith Pickering suffered a hub failure and stopped on the first lap remarking afterwards that the driveshafts were now stronger so maybe the hub was the weakest part next in line for attention. Chris Wilks in the Deep Sanderson also failed to complete a lap with his car being stuck in fourth gear. 

On lap 2, Russell continued to lead unchallenged, pulling out a couple of seconds a lap on the others until the end. Child quickly made up several places to get in amongst the fifth place scrap and by the end of lap 4 the place was his. Those behind him had become a little more spread out and James Hicks in the Caravelle had tumbled back to fifteenth after a moment. John Fyda’s Brabham had been making steady progress and reached 7^th place before sliding back down the field and finally spinning gently into the tyre wall in Hall Bends on lap 10. Jonathan Fyda persevered with gearchange difficulties but called it a day on lap 8. James Buckton in the Lynx was quickly becoming acclimatised to the car and was up to tenth by the end of lap five before he too succumbed to gear selection issues and had to be winched off the circuit at the top of the Mountain. Gears and their linkages take a bit of a pounding at Cadwell! Geoff Underwood in the Dolphin retired with engine maladies and Simon Hewes braked too late for Park on the penultimate lap and spun off into retirement.

Martin Aubert’s early charge appeared to lose momentum about halfway through and he fell back into the clutches of Peter Anstiss and Trevor Griffiths and the three of them enjoyed a nice battle. Aubert held on ahead of the other two to the finish and Griffiths squeezed past Anstiss with a couple of laps to go. 

Adrian Russell reeled off the remaining laps to take a fine and dominant victory overall and in Class E1. Tim Child was fourth overall and second in class E1 but had the consolation of fastest lap of the race, over a second faster than pole time. Nic Carlton-Smith was second overall and took the Class C2 win and Chris Drake took the final podium place and class D2. The final class win went to Bob Birrell in class D1 who only had to be in it to win it!

Race 2.

With just over 21 hours between the end of Saturday’s race and the start on Sunday quite a few of the competitors who didn’t see Saturday’s chequered flag had work to do to be on the grid the following day.

Keith Pickering’s rear hub had been welded up thanks to help from Stuart Roach. Chris Wilks now had a full set of gears in the interesting Deep Sanderson. Simon Hewes and John Fyda who had both spun off had not incurred any significant damage so were ready for another go. Jonathan Fyda tried again with the U2 and Crispian Besley’s team had changed most of the ignition components on the misfiring Cooper so he was hopeful of a better run. James Buckton in the Lynx and Geoff Underwood in the Dolphin both withdrew as their problems were not so easy to fix. A late addition was Stuart Roach in father Keith’s front-engined Condor who was allowed to start from the back having been unable to participate in the second front-engined race following his retirement from the first in his Alexis Mk 2.

Once again, it was poleman Adrian Russell who got the jump on the rest as the lights went out. Nic Carlton-Smith slotted in behind followed by a fast-starting Chris Drake who was up to third. Tim Child followed and then John Sykes. Jonathan Fyda’s U2 was already slipping back from his third row starting position suggesting that yesterday’s gear change problems had not been successfully fixed. By lap 6 the struggle became too much and he retired.

As Adrian Russell consolidated his lead, the battle for second was far from over. Tim Child got past Chris Drake on the seventh lap and took second place from Nic Carlton-Smith on the eighth. That was how they finished with John Sykes some way back in fifth and Martin Aubert completing the top six.

Crispian Besley said his misfire had seemed slightly better at the start of the race but then worsened. He stopped at the pits to by-pass the master switch but when that made no difference he pulled into the paddock after completing 8 laps. Stuart Roach in the Condor completed a frustrating weekend with retirement after 10 laps, with a broken gear lever, but not before a remarkable drive, getting the front engined car up to 6th overall. Finally, James Hicks in the Caravelle had an alarming moment when the throttle return spring failed and put him into a spin (which was fortunately harmless) and out of the race. 

Adrian Russell raced to another comfortable overall and class E1 victory with 20 seconds in hand over second placed Tim Child. Adrian also took fastest lap some eight tenths faster than Nic Carlton-Smith had managed on Saturday. He remarked that the Lotus 22 was an absolute delight to drive and gave credit to Andrew Hibberd who had been responsible for the overall set-up of the car. Winning both races meant that he was also the winner on aggregate and was therefore awarded the Barry Westmoreland Trophy to add to his collection.

Nic Carlton-Smith completed a great weekend for the Kieft with class C2 victory and Chris Drake took third overall and the honours in Class D2. Bob Birrell once again had Class D1 all to himself.

This is my first report for FJ and I would like to thank all those competitors who willingly took a few moments to tell me about their problems and successes and how their weekend was going. I learned everything I know about race reporting from Peter Anstiss who used to do such an outstanding job in Monoposto in the 1970s and 80s. He always tried to make time to speak to everyone and I know I didn’t quite achieve that so if I missed your particularly exciting moment or spectacular disaster, please accept my apologies!

John Fox.

FJHRA/HSCC “Silverline” Historic Formula Junior Championship

For 1958-1960 Cars

Donington Park Historic Festival 01/05/2021

The second event of the 2021 Formula Junior season took place at the Donington Park Historic Festival Meeting over the May Day Bank Holiday weekend. After an impressive start at the earlier Snetterton meeting in April, it was good to see a big entry for both the front and rear engined Juniors at the Leicestershire circuit. Several of the entries were making their first appearance of the season after the longer than usual winter lay-off. Among the previous regular competitors who were much missed, was Bill Grimshaw and his unique Moorland, so it is hoped that he and others will swell the numbers as Covid restrictions and concerns are eased further.

Despite it being the beginning of May the weather was cold but importantly it was dry. With over 20 entries for the “Silverline” sponsored Championship race for Classes A,B,C+F there was plenty of action all the way through the field, as well as a tremendously exciting battle for the lead.

Qualifying

At the front, Ray Mallock put his U2 on pole position just ahead of Andrew Hibberd in his Lola Mk II, only six tenths of a second behind. They were closely followed by Alex Morton, Condor, Nic Carlton-Smith, Kieft and Chris Drake in his Terrier. The next group included Crispian Besley, Cooper, Nick Taylor, Elva, Trevor Griffiths, Emeryson and Robert Goodwin also going well in the second Kieft. Trevor was pleased with how his Emeryson was performing, though the gearbox was a bit tight as this was his first outing after rebuilding it over the winter. This gearbox issue was probably a contributing factor to his spin at Redgate towards the end of the session, fortunately without contacting anything.

Unfortunately, Richard Bishop-Miller, in his Autosport Mk 2, had a serious problem with the diff on his first practice lap, and this prevented him from having any further involvement over the weekend. Graham Barron, Gemini, was also having trouble with a recurrence of his distributor problems, so he had to qualify out of session by joining the later rear-engine practice. Hasty work and helpful assistance solved the problem enabling him to qualify to start the race from the back of the grid. Duncan Rabagliati, Alexis, had to make an early pit stop as his water bottle was found to be rolling around his foot pedals! Fortunately, this was easily remedied before causing any problem, and he qualified well on the sixth row of the grid. Duncan was ahead of Richard Tyzack, Elva, Tony Pearson, leading class A in his smart Bandini and Bernard Brock who led class B1. A welcome addition to the race was the guest driver Andy Raynor who was going well in his 500 c.c. F3 JBS-Norton.

The Race

The front-engined Formula Junior race was the third event of the day and when the cars assembled the weather was still dry. Unfortunately for Crispian Besley, he found that he had a flat battery on his Cooper before going to the marshalling area. After overcoming the battery issue, he then discovered a clutch hydraulic fault which prevented him from joining the race at all. A disappointing end after qualifying on the third row of the grid.

When the race did get underway, it became a great race long battle at the front between Ray Mallock, Andrew Hibberd, and Chris Drake, who had made a fine get away from the third row. Alex Morton, in his Condor, also made a fine start from the second row. Unluckily he was squeezed out at McLean’s on the first lap, when having to avoid one of the leaders who locked a brake and slid slightly wide. Alex controlled the car well and managed to keep going through the gravel trap and re-joined the race though now down in about 10^th place.

The three at the front exchanged places almost every lap with Ray Mallock generally leading early on, before Andrew Hibberd took the lead on lap 5 as all three of them crossed the start and finish line side by side. In 4^th place, and holding on to the leaders well, was Nic Carlton-Smith driving a fine race in his Kieft. It took Alex Morton until the third lap to get up to 5^th place, but the gap to the Kieft ahead was just too much to allow him to mount a challenge.

Bernard Brock was closing on Duncan Rabagliati, Alexis, when the diff broke on his Elva and he had to pull off at Coppice on lap 3 to retire. Graham Barron, after having had to start from the back of the grid in his Gemini, had a great first lap and was up to 10^th place. The car was now going beautifully with the ignition issue fixed and Graham continuing to make his way through the field and finally finishing in an excellent 8^th position and 1^st in Class B1.

Behind Alex Morton, there was a fine dice for 2^nd place in Class C2 between Trevor Griffiths, Emeryson, and Robert Goodwin in his Kieft. Trevor led until lap 8 when he missed a gear on his tight gearbox and Robert overtook him going into the old hairpin. It was not until lap 13 that the Emeryson was able to retake the position, at the same corner, and that was the order in which they finished in 6^th and 7^th places overall. They were also 2^nd and 3^rd in Class C2 behind class winner Nic Carlton-Smith in his Kieft.

Justin Fleming, Lola, and John Arnold, Elva, had a good race finishing closely together in 9^th and 10^th places followed by Jeremy Knight, Gemini, Peter Fenichel, Cooper, Richard Tyzack, Elva, Duncan Rabagliati, Alexis, and Class A winner Tony Pearson in his Bandini. The three remaining finishers were Andy Raynor in the JBS-Norton, Roger Woodbridge, Volpini, and Peter Edbrooke in his Lotus 18.

At the front there was no let up in the battle for the lead with Chris Drake and Ray Mallock frequently swapping positions and with Andrew Hibberd keeping a watching brief just behind them. The result was in the balance right until the end, with Chris winning from Ray by less than a second and with Andrew just a further two seconds back. An exciting race which made great YouTube viewing and one that spectators, when they are soon allowed to return, would very much look forward to enjoying.

by Graham Rabagliati