FJHRA/HSCC “SILVERLINE” UK CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 5

Entry

A really splendid entry: 36 cars for this, the penultimate race of our reduced season – it must be said that the various agencies involved – Motor Sports Vision, HSCC, Motorsport UK, Castle Combe, and above all FJHRA have made quite magnificent efforts to produce what has been a most worthy season considering the obstacles and pooh traps to be overcome – well done all.

Sadly, there were 15 withdrawals including at least 2 potential winners and even more potential class winners. A combination of the dire weather forecasts, mechanicals, quarantine, and the odd issue in testing earlier in the week created the nonstarter list – never fear, we had 21 remaining for qualifying which promised close results with the usual heartening variety of different makes.

Good to see Keith Roach back in action after being AWOL for too long – the Roach family are very much part of the Formula Junior Team – a major part too! Another well remembered face (hiding behind the ubiquitous mask) was ex Lotus 20 driver Fred Boothby due to race his pre-war MG on Sunday (some chance!).

Qualifying

Held in a steady drizzle, it may have looked like a distinct improvement on the earlier downpour but it probably didn’t seem so to the brave participants, all of whom survived the extremely slippery surface without any inter-car contact. The spray and consequent rooster tails of sheet water made life a tad tricky.

It looked like the various Lotus 22s and 20/22s seemed most sure footed but Pete de la Roche had Pat Barford’s Lola Mk 3 really flying, rounding Camp Corner in superbly executed slides, he duly snatched pole by just under a second on his last lap of qualifying. Clive Richards in his immaculate Lotus 22 was next, followed by the first of the Front Engineds – Stuart Roach – an acknowledged Wet Weather Expert in his Alexis Mk 2. Next up was Adrian Russell in his equally well prepared Lotus 22: then, surprisingly far back, Sam Wilson in Simon Diffey’s gold Lotus 20: this had sounded rather sick before pitting to investigate – a plug led had chaffed, rendering one cylinder redundant – no problem for Sam and Rob to fix for the race.

Nick Taylor went well: not much wrong with an Elva 100 in good hands – he was 2^nd Front Engined. Tim Child was having his first ever single seater race outing in his recently acquired ex-Chris Merrick/Curt Lincoln Cooper T59. He coped magnificently with the very difficult conditions, looking in full control throughout.

All cars finished the session intact and were able to start but Chris Chilcott, having endured one soaking in his Frazer Nash, opted to withdraw his superb Brabham BT2 as it wasn’t handling as he wished, later diagnosed as needing a new steering rack.

 

The Race

Perhaps surprisingly, poleman de la Roche made an indifferent start and set off towards the fearsome Quarry Corner in 3^rd or 4^th place. Rounding Camp Corner at the end of lap 1, the order was: Richards, de la Roche, Wilson, Diffey, and the first 3 front engineds Roach (minor), Taylor and Morton.

Adrian Russell, an impressive 4^th fastest in qualifying, spun at Quarry on lap 1 and thereafter made only moderate progress through the field – hardly surprising as he had the worst of the spray to contend with.

On lap 3, leader Richards spun at Quarry and Wilson grabbed the lead which he held until lap 8 when de la Roche, right at the very edge, gained the lead from Richards and Wilson in that order with Roach driving smoothly and well, next up.

Having really excellent drives in increasingly heavy rain were Nic Carlton-Smith in his unfashionable but nicely prepared Kieft and Tim Child, being anxiously watched by previous owner Chris (and Val) Merrick, who were both overjoyed by the 6^th place result.

The order remained de la Roche, Richards and Wilson until the very last lap when Wilson squeezed past, gaining 2^nd place by 0.36 seconds.

Class winners were, E1 Sam Wilson, D2 Peter de la Roche, C2 Nic Carlton-Smith, B2 Stuart Roach, B1 Graham Barron. Viewed from the warm and dry environment of the Control Tower, it seemed abundantly clear that everyone who finished (and that was every starter) was a worthy winner on this day. Formula Junior enjoys a well-earned and excellent reputation in this regard – notably the Stewards of the Meeting praised the efforts of the Formula Junior Drivers for their skilful and safe performance providing a most exciting and close race when such racing must have been least expected.

A very poignant moment was the presentation of the Jon Goddard-Watts Memorial Trophy to the very deserving winner of the Front Engined Class – Stuart Roach. Jon was the much-admired sponsor of Formula Junior through his business, “Silverline”, and his two Bonds which he owned and ran “in period”. The presentation was made by his son Mark Goddard-Watts.

Those of us who deplored the miserable conditions ultimately had the better day: the Sunday races (day 2 of the Circuit’s 70^th Anniversary Meeting) were abandoned. The faithful heroes at marshalling posts were up to their knees in water and mud.

Final word from that enthusiastic fan of Castle Combe, Marcus Pye, who recalled the quote from the much missed Dan Gurney: There are 2 ways to learn nothing about a race car: first –  not to drive it at all, second to drive it in the wet!

by Bob Birrell

FJHRA/HSCC “SILVERLINE” UK CHAMPIONSHIP ROUNDS 3 & 4

ENTRY

A really splendid entry: 36 cars attracted by the recent famine and the truly inspiring circuit at Oulton Park – an additional attraction being that the aggregate winner of the Formula Junior races was to be awarded the famous Gold Cup: previous winners include Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham, Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, and John Surtees – and exactly 50 years ago it was our very own Howden Ganley who stood alongside John Surtees on the victory parade having won the F5000 part of the 1970 Gold Cup race – so quite an incentive to add one’s name to this list!

Notable entries included Tom Anstiss taking his turn in the family Lotus 20/22 from Peter, Stephan Jobstl, who had escaped the new Covid 19 quarantine from Switzerland , by arriving early, but had to miss Race 2 to catch the flight back. Syd Fraser from Aberdeen and Adrian Holey in the familiar ex-Vern Williamson Ausper T3 were having their first races in FJ, while Anna Wilson was having her first ever race in the ex-Jonathon Hughes Brabham BT6, joining husband Richard in his Lotus 27. Chris Merrick was a most welcomed returnee after his horrific inversion at Dijon last year. Martin Aubert from Madrid was with his familiar Lotus 20 and Chris Chilcott was giving his immaculate Brabham BT2 its first outing for 2 years.

QUALIFYING

As is becoming customary, Brabhams set the standard, Cam Jackson’s BT2 a comfortable 1.6 seconds ahead of Mark Shaw’s BT6. Lotus (Loti?) were next up some way behind: headed by hard trying tree surgeon, Clive Richards, then Adrian Russell with Peter de la Roche in Pat Barford’s Class D Lola Mk 3 separating the Lotus Tribe. With Robin Longdon’s Lola Mk 3 following, it reminded old hands how long it must have been since two well prepared and well driven Lola Mk 3s appeared on the same grid.

Qualifying revealed a certain mechanical fragility with casualties including Martin McHugh’s North Star with a broken drive shaft and bent shocker, with unfortunately none of the sportingly offered replacements fitting. Adrian Holey’s Ausper had the same trouble but a replacement was fitted for Race 1, and Peter Fenichel’s cracked oil cooler was also fixed for him to start in Race 1. Iain Rowley had differential trouble with Ian Robinson’s Lola Mk 2 completing only 2 laps, putting him out for the rest of the weekend.

There were excellent drives however by Keith Pickering who had his Britannia going as never before, Jim Blockley showing his experience and skill in the Caravelle and Trevor Griffiths setting a great time.

RACE 1

Like all other races over the weekend, it was with a rolling start, and everyone came through on the first lap exactly as per qualifying times. De la Roche battled his way past Adrian Russell and thereafter the leading group spread out with increasing distances between protagonists. This remained the case until with 3 laps to go, Mark Shaw was missing – his gearbox had eviscerated itself – Sue Longdon heard a loud bang – the gearbox casing had exploded no doubt as a result of some internal Hari Kiri.

Further down the field, Tom Anstiss made up several places with neat decisive overtaking moves. Keith Pickering really had his Britannia on the move: executing a 360 spin at Old Hall on the last lap – he made contact with the movable barrier – astonishingly, the barrier was unharmed and quickly shoved back in position. The Britannia too escaped unscathed and continued on its way; however it left 2019 Champion, Andrew Taylor in his Cooper T56 to take the Class C win on the first outing for Team Big Shed without Peter Green, very much missed.

In the midfield disc braked pack, there was some close racing between recent newcomers Jobstl, Fraser and Ferris, finishing with less than a second between them.

Of the front engine brigade, Graham Barron in his superb 1000cc Gemini led an initially close train including John Arnold’s Elva 100 and Justin Fleming’s familiar Lola Mk 2.

DCPR had an entertaining duel with Mark Haynes, recovering well after recent illness, our leader (peace and blessings upon his name) was able to keep ahead throughout, finishing  0.2 seconds ahead. The demise of Shaw meant de la Roche in the older Lola gained 3^rd place and Robin Longdon in his similar car closed up on the much more sophisticated Lotus 27 of Richard Wilson.

Jackson set fastest lap on lap 6 – 0.9 sec faster than the long standing previous 2012 record set by Jon Milicevic.

Sadly there were a few more mechanical dramas: in addition to Shaw’s Brabham, Peter Fenichel suffered a broken gearbox selector fork on lap 3 in his immaculate Cooper T56, Rob Goodwin’s Kieft split its oil cooler (but he was back again going very well in R2), Trevor Griffiths retired his Emeryson with what was diagnosed as a plug lead adrift – but was later found to be more terminal engine dramas.

RACE 2

Race 2 was last of the day on Sunday,  keeping our content to a preferable compact two days, however this time out de la Roche didn’t make it – his Lola Mk 3 succumbed to the prevalent transmission failure on the green flag lap so a potential podium place was lost. With no Mark Shaw, Jackson was under no pressure and cruised to another win. He really is a very special talent – he never seems on the “ragged edge”, never seems to be taking too much out of the car, ultra-smooth and extraordinarily fast – wins in plenty of other categories too.

Clive Richards drove extremely well in his new to him, immaculate Lotus 22 “driving on the limit“ real ten tenths stuff and he narrowed the gap to Jackson to 1.6 seconds by the end – a great effort.

Robin Longdon in the surviving Lola Mk 3 was justifiably pleased with 4^th place overall and an easy winner of class D2.

Team Wilson had a minor coming together on lap 9 at the Knickerbrook Chicane – Richard’s Lotus 27 suffered a broken steering arm while Anna’s Brabham BT6 continued to the finish.

Class C is certainly experiencing great support this season, and at the front end of their entry it was a real race again between Keith Pickering and Andrew Taylor, with Keith coming home ahead this time, delighted with his first FJ Class win, but not without another spin on the last lap, as a class E car closed the gap as he overtook, but still determinedly keeping ahead of Andrew.

Graham Barron again was on fine form being the first front engine car and winning class B1 while Justin Fleming got ahead of John Arnold to win class B2. Further back in class the Alexis, with its misfire from Race 1 now cured by Iain Rowley, saw Duncan chasing down John Hutchison Snr in his Lotus 18 to finish just under 2 secs behind.

Another wonderful weekend back on track together, with everyone pleased to be out once more, HSCC did a great job in organising everything in obviously difficult times – Motorsport Vision had done their usual excellent job producing a well-staffed and tidy circuit – there were plenty spectators (no paddock access however), although down obviously on usual numbers for a Bank Holiday.

So, Cam Jackson was the very deserving aggregate winner and will have his name added to the Gold Cup alongside Moss, Clark, Stewart, Brabham and of course last year’s winner, Marty Bullock.

By Bob Birrell

FJHRA/HSCC “SILVERLINE” FRONT ENGINED CHAMPIONSHIP Round 1 – JOHN TAYLOR TROPHY RACE

ENTRY

An excellent entry of 20 cars: reduced to 18 when Mike Hibberd withdrew in the week preceding and Taff Smith the day before after mechanical woes testing his Elva 100 at an airfield (reportedly his own!).

Notably present however were Rudolf Ernst from Hamburg with his fascinating Mitter DKW, with both Simon Hadfield and Tim Bishop on spanners, Covid survivor Richard Bishop-Miller persevering with the Triumph Herald engine in his Autosport – I imagine he eagerly awaits the restoration of his Stanguellini project. Adam Bruzas was having his first ever race as an invitation entry in his recently US imported Lotus 18 ex Roger Ealand and then Kim Shearn, Xavier Kingsland his first FJ race for almost two years in his unique and very pretty Hillwood. For interest, we discovered that we had raced against each other in FF1600 in 1972: he (no doubt currying favour with DCPR) in an Alexis 18B, me in a Hawke DL2B  – and very certainly last but not least Duncan Rabagliati was back on track (peace and blessings upon his name) having not driven any car (road or race) since March!

PRACTICE

Yes, its practice – this is after all VSCC. A dry track and some committed and talented drivers – actually, from the sidelines, it looked almost as if the race had started already! Mark Woodhouse (Elva 100) and Alex Morton (Condor SII): going at it Hammer and Tongs – passing and repassing. Mark just made it to pole by 0.32 seconds from Alex – maybe an unfair advantage by having a skilled engineer from the very highest professional levels engineering his car (yes, you guessed – son Jack). Third fastest was Robin Longdon in his faithful Lola Mk 2 – actually, after a few laps he looked distinctly and uncharacteristically hairy through the Esses – it came therefore as no surprise when Sue later informed us that the car was withdrawn as a rear shock absorber has broken. Fourth fastest was Jonathon Hughes giving his well turned out Terrier T4 Series 2 its first race in his hands. John Arnold and Crispian Besley were well matched in their Elva 100s promising a close race being 0.03 apart after practice: however it was never to be. Ah well, that’s the way the croissant crumbles! Adam Bruzas went steadily and well in this, his first ever race outing – he had a dramatic slide at the Esses but handled it perfectly and neatly – just the right amount of opposite lock.

Sadly, a few further cars succumbed to their unaccustomed exercise and were posted as non starters as follows; Rob Goodwin Kieft – Handling and brakes, after an impressive 5^th fastest in practice despite misfire and Crispian Besley – differential. Relative newcomer Jeremy Knight had fuel pump trouble with his Elva 100 but Elva guru John Arnold set about a cure while healing his own Elva 100 which had expired with ignition trouble towards the end of practice. Richard Bishop – Miller’s Autosport completed only 1 lap of practice but the most helpful and understanding Clerk of Course arranged for him to complete the required laps behind the course car in the lunch interval despite a very tight schedule, but the problem sadly returned and prohibited a race start.

THE RACE

The predicted rain fell on time shortly before our race: it’s an inevitable fact that many pre- war racers distribute more than their fair share of oil on the track surface – this combined with the rain produced an exceptionally slippery surface – it is to the great credit of all drivers that there were few spins (I observed only one), no contact between cars, no car damage and no loutish behaviour – well done everybody – exactly the spirit of Formula Junior.

The start was a standing start, first into Gerards from the second row was Jonathon Hughes pursued by Alex Morton with polesitter Mark Woodhouse already falling back. First time through a very slippery Esses the order was, Hughes, Morton, Woodhouse, Haynes, going really well in the Nota, Barron, Rabagliati, having passed Arnold on the outside of Gerards: revelling in the slippery conditions in which he excels, Rudolf Ernst flying in the 2 stroke Mitter, Pearson, Bruzas, Brock and Kingsland. We had already lost Jeremy Knight after the green flag lap, when he became aware of a brake problem, then about halfway round the rear bodywork came loose , so he diverted to the pit lane and got the help of a Marshal and a Clerk to refit the bodywork, however when the start lights went out and he pulled away in the pit lane, upon trying the brakes realised the problem was too much to continue so diverted to the paddock. Jerry’s mentor John Arnold also retired after two laps with carburettor flooding causing the engine to badly cut out on circuit.

On lap three, Graham Barron, driving so very smoothly swopped places with the remarkable Nota and Rudolf Ernst was on the move – the 2 stroke DKW sounding glorious as he moved up the order – reaching an eventual 5^th place, catching out Duncan and Mark with his pace as he overtook them fooling them into believing he was lapping them, his fastest lap was just a few tenths shy of 3^rd place Mark Woodhouse’s best – wow!

There was a Class A battle between the two voluptuous Italian cars – Tony Pearson in the Bandini and Roger Woodbridge in his gorgeous Volpini, this internecine battle was narrowly won for Yorkshire by Pearson. Meanwhile Rabagliati was as usual in difficult conditions really pressing on in the almost silent flying carrot. This meeting has a rare dispensation from Mallory Park for 108 db noise – Duncan’s car seems to emit hardly any noise at all – could he to his son’s delight be running a hybrid electric motor?

The big story was, though, at the front – Alex Morton was close up behind the Terrier – for the entire race – at times he seemed to be fractionally quicker through Gerards but not quite able to get alongside on the short stretch before the Esses – in fact both drivers drove with great skill and sound judgement – it must have been tempting to make a do or die attempt on the lead with potential and predictable tears – Hughes knew exactly where to place his car – perfectly fairly and without intimidation – without leaving any invitation to pass either! This guy has after all won a front engine Formula Junior race at Monaco.

And so the race ran out, Morton finishing just 0.24 sec adrift after a most impressive drive by, it must be said, the entire field – despite really difficult conditions with so little grip.

There was as is the new norm, no prizegiving after the race – In period Formula Junior driver Jeremy Bouckley conducted a small ceremony, presenting Hughes with the Magnificent John Taylor Memorial Trophy – John Taylor was a most accomplished driver who drove in Formula Junior, F3, F2 and F1 for Bob Gerard – he held the outright lap record at his local circuit – Mallory and in 1966 drove an F1 Brabham in the German Grand Prix on the Nurburgring  Nordschleife – It was extremely wet damp and gloomy – I was there in the press box in the old wooden grandstand – I saw the aftermath of John’s accident on an indistinct black and white TV screen, John survived initially but succumbed to his injuries a week later. How fitting it is that we remember this fine man and fine driver at his second home, Mallory Park.

By Bob Birrell

The first International event of 2020, after the European lockdown, has been the “Dix-Milles Tours”, organized by Peter Auto during the weekend of July 23-26, 2020.

A great numbers of cars (more than 350) of different categories raced at the event, including  22 FJ and  F3 1000cc  cars for the “Eric Offenstadt Cup”, a race dedicated to the eclectic French F3 driver of the ’60 Eric Offenstadt.

Considering that the FIA Lurani this year was cancelled due to the COVID-19 emergency, this race was a fantastic opportunity to race a Formula Junior in an International event and I was more than happy to participate with my little Wainer Fiat FJ, even if, being the only “C2” car with Fiat Engine, there was no chance to have a “battle” together with any of the other faster competitors.

So, Claudia and I loaded the Wainer in our trailer and reached the FJ/F3 family in the South of France!

The weather at the wonderful track of Paul Ricard was lovely: sunny but not too hot, due to a fresh “Mistral” wind that blew during the entire weekend.

On Friday the qualifications immediately revealed the level of the competitors: 3 F3 were leading the grid: Jeremy Timms, in a Chevron B15 was the “poleman” with 2:27.557, followed by Christoph Widmer in a Brabham BT18A and then Francois Derossi, with aChevron B17.

In 4^th place, first of the FJ drivers and first of the Italians, was Tommaso Gelmini with Branca FJ; with reference to the other Italian drivers, Bruno Ferrari was in 11th with his Branca FJ, Emanuele Guglielminetti in a Wainer-Ford of ’63 was 14^th and I was 19^th; troubles for Angelo Delea with his Brabham BT14 F3, 20^th, and for Andrea Guarino put him in last place with his Lotus 22.

After qualifying an appetizer was offered in the paddock by the organizers of F3 Historic, Christoph Widmer and Francois Derossi. It was a nice opportunity to share a drink and a chat with the other drivers, and to get to know some of the wonderful “Racing Families”!

First of all the “Timms” Family: Jeremy Timms, the poleman, and Jason Timms, 10^th with a Brabham BT21, are, respectively, nephew and son of Jim Timms who, with a Brabham BT21, set the 5^th fastest time but, unfortunately, he broke the engine. Jim started racing “late”, when he was 50 years old, but he spread his passion for historic racing with his entire family and now, being 84 year old, not only is he still a good racer (faster than his son!) but he manages the family Team, driving the Truck loaded with the racing cars all around the European race tracks!

And what about Christoph Widmer? He is the organizer of the F3 Historic Championship, a very nice and fast driver, he came to Paul Ricard together with all his beautiful family and his son, Austin Widmer, took part in his first ever race with a beautiful Lotus 61 FFord.

Three members of the Halusa Family, Lukas and Nikolas, with two Lotus 22 FJ’s, and Andreas with a Lotus 20 FJ raced with us, but they were racing also with some other wonderful cars in other categories so we did not meet them in our paddock.

We missed the best “Racing Family” of the FJ clan, the Rabagliati, but Sarah was a perfect organizer, virtually with us before and during all the weekend, assisting the competitors and sharing all the needed information during the entire race meeting!

Saturday afternoon we were on track for Race 1. Jeremy Timms immediately took the lead and won without any problem. Christoph Widmer kept his second place, while Francois Derossi hads some trouble on the 4^th lap and was overtaken by Tommaso Gelmini who took third place and victory in the FJ Class.

I finished at the 17^th place without problems.

After Race 1 Angelo Delea invited everyone to share a wonderful drink in the paddock to celebrate his 70th birthday: his fresh and delicious sparkling wine was perfect after such a hot race!

The last social event of the day was a fantastic dinner in a good French restaurant in the village of Le Beausset; during the dinner we had the opportunity to meet and to speak with Eric Offenstadt who delighted us with the stories of his extraordinary racing career!

On Sunday afternoon we were back on track for Race 2. It was really hot. The start was delayed for about one hour due to an accident in the previous race.

Our race started without problems. The first 3 places were the same as for Race 1: Jeremy Timms was the winner, followed by Christoph Widmer and Tommaso Gelmini.

I have a nice battle with Delea, who, due to some problems with his carburettors, was not really fast in the straight, allowing me to fight and to overtake him on the fourth lap – what fun!

I concluded the race in 17^th place (first and only one in class C2!).

Everything was fine: it was a wonderful race weekend and my little Wainer did his job without any issue!

We had a lot of fun after a very sad period and it was good to see so many drivers enjoying again the feeling of the race!

In the paddock we met new friends from different countries, we spoke with an extraordinary driver, Eric, and we met some “Racing Families” in which the passion for historic racing is transmitted from the old to the young generations – this provides some good hope for the future – and, in this period, we will need good hope for the future in all sectors of our life!!

And I hope to meet again soon on track all our racing friends!

by Carlo Del Conte

• 2024: Clive Richards (Lotus 22)
• 2023: Horatio Fitz-Simon (Lotus 22)
• 2022: Erik Justesen (U2 Mk 2)
• 2021: Roberto Tonetti (Brabham BT6)
• 2020: Covid Year – No Lurani Trophy
• 2019: Bruno Weibel (Lotus 22)
• 2018: Colin Nursey (Lotus 18)
• 2017: Bruno Weibel (Lotus 20/Stanguellini)
• 2016: Chris Drake (Terrier T4 Series 1)
• 2015: Bruno Weibel (Lotus 20)
• 2014: Jonathon Hughes (Brabham BT6)
• 2013: Andrew Tart (Bond)
• 2012: Pierre Tonetti (Brabham BT6)
• 2011: John Delane (Lotus 18)
• 2010: John Delane (Lotus 18)
• 2009: Dan Collins (Lotus 18)
• 2008: Jason Wright (Stanguellini)
• 2007: John Delane / Robin Longdon (Lotus 18/Lola Mk 2)
• 2006: Martin Walford (Elva 200)
• 2005: Kevin Musson (Lotus 18)
• 2004: Kevin Musson (Lotus 18)
• 2003: Erik Justesen (U2 Mk2)
• 2002: Martin Borch-Christensen (Lotus 18)
• 2001: David Stevenson (Cooper T56)
• 2000: Ian Scott (Elva 100)
• 1999: Tony Steele (Lola Mk 2)
• 1998: Tony Thompson (Lotus 27)
• 1997: Tony Thompson (Lotus 27)
• 1996: Tony Thompson (Lotus 27)
• 1995: Serge Leoni (Stanguellini)