Silverline Championship Rounds 11 and 12

When you arrive to blue skies and sunshine at Spa, you know you are definitely in for a good weekend. whatever the weather does next!

The Six Hours meeting, organised by the lovely Roadbook team, is always a great blend of quality grids and friendly atmosphere. 

Our Formula Junior entries here traditionally attract a mix of our UK and Lurani regulars, forging new friendships, with nearly 50 of us for our Friday Pizza evening, and special thanks to the Lange Brothers, Christian and Johnny (making his debut in the ex d’Alberti Lotus 22), for hosting a Saturday social under the Glutton tent. 

Qualifying on Friday afternoon was in the dry, and Manfredo Rossi, a year on from his last minute return to FJ, when he was driving Andrew Beaumont’s 22 in Andrew’s Covid absence in 2021.  This time he was in his own white liveried 22, getting a lot of track time over the weekend between FJ, Six Hour and Masters Sports Car drives. 

However, it was Beaumont’s CTL teammate, Lee Mowle, who this time was most definitely the man to beat in his Lotus 20/22, setting a pole position time of 2’49.392. Rossi was next, 1.5 seconds behind, with Philipp Buhofer third in his Lotus 27, ahead of Sam Wilson, who had a late invite to guest drive for one race in Hans Ciers drum braked Lotus 20. 

Also double driving this weekend were Guy Verhofstadt and his Stirling Moss Trophy race co-driver Laurent de Meeus D’Argenteuil, with the latter taking the start on Saturday, and Guy starting from the back of the grid on Sunday. 

So Saturday morning dawned, but only dimly, with damp and drizzle blocking the sun, and the sad news that Lee had to return to the UK to be by his father’s bedside.

This meant that in the early afternoon race, Stuart Roach (Alexis Mk4), having set a slower qualifying time down in 5^th for Saturday’s grid when scrubbing in new tyres in the dry, was not only relishing the wet but had also risen another place on the grid. After the traditional rolling start, Roach was already into second by Eau Rouge, having avoided a spinning Tim Child at La Source, and then he passed Buhofer to begin his pursuit of Rossi. On Lap 2 he did indeed get ahead of Rossi, and held him off for 2 laps, but it was the rear spray of the Lotus that he was tucked up behind for the remainder of the race, finishing 1.2 seconds behind at the line. So, Rossi was back on the top step of the podium again, as he had been in the second wet race in 2021, with Buhofer in third.

Championship leader, Nic Carlton-Smith, was 4^th across the line at the end of lap 1 in his Class C Kieft, but closely followed by Pierre Guichard (Lynx) and Christian Lange (Envoy), with a recovering Child behind. However, at the chequered flag, the order for these four was entirely reversed. An astounding drive for delighted local man Christian Lange gave him 5^th overall, and an equally happy David Watkins followed them home with a 2^nd to Guichard in Class D, in his Elfin.

In the Front-engined mix, Laurent took the honours on his debut in Guy’s Elva 100, after Barron (Gemini Mk II) had a near brush with a barrier following a spin, but luckily was able to carry on, and was the last of the unlapped finishers.

With the Sunday rain rather more significant than the day before, there were a number of non-starters throughout the field, opting to be sure of loading up themselves and their cars onwards for Dijon, and back home, in the same condition they’d brought them. So it was 17 brave starters who took to the grid for the 11am race start, including this time Sam Wilson (Lotus 20), starting on Row 1 alongside Manfredo Rossi. 

With the conditions so wet, it was a safety car start for 2 laps, and frustratingly, despite repeated requests to slow the safety car down, it kept a very fast pace, meaning Rossi already had a gap from the rest before the safety car pulled in and the race proper got underway. Sam, on drum brakes, could do little to keep up, and once across the finish line, Roach was straight past both Child and then the 20, however Rossi was lapping consistently fastest, and excelling in the conditions, so the gap never closed quite enough for Roach to challenge. Another spin for Child put paid to any improvement on Wilson, so it was Sam who took third overall, very happy to have had the chance to race after all, following a late withdrawal for his Cooper T59, which wasn’t quite ready. 

There was plenty of action lower down the field though, as FJHRA founder Duncan Rabagliati, true to Alexis form loving the wet, made his way up from 15^th at the start, to 10^th, taking the Class B2 win. Nic Carlton-Smith this time sealed the Class win, which secured him enough points to be declared our Silverline Champion, for the second year in a row, and only 3 years after his first ever test in a race car, something for any aspiring future members and racers to note.

All 17 starters, finished, which is credit to them all, and we celebrated with almost as many prizes as finishers, sheltered in the dripping Glutton tent for prizegiving, before goodbyes and good lucks were shared after a brilliant weekend, ahead of the Lurani finale at Dijon this coming weekend, and Silverline Championships conclusion at the Silverstone Finals the week after.

 

Chichester Cup 2022

Despite the very sad passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the Revival went ahead as scheduled, and after a somewhat quiet covid-affected 2021, the crowds and entries were back in full-force with many foreign tongues to be heard around the paddocks and grandstands.

For Formula Junior it was the turn of the drum-braked cars. There had been 70 drivers who had put themselves forward for one of the 30 grid places, not including those with a direct line to Goodwood, and the lucky 30′ represented 11 nations and no less than 21 marques (Alexis, Britannia, Caravelle, Cooper, de Tomaso (2!!), Elfin, Elva, Emeryson, Envoy, Gemini, Jolus, Kieft, Lola, Lotus, Lynx, RAM, Swebe, Tojeiro, Wainer and Wren).

Of special note were the newly restored De Tomaso 61 of Martin Sheppard and the much refreshed RAM 04 ex David Drew, now owned by Laurence Auriana for Joe Colasacco. The RAM only had a few laps at Lime Rock under its belt before being airfreighted to Luxembourg, and a nail-biting customs delay, before being released for Goodwood.

Martin’s De Tomaso was a completely different story, the first and only known survivor of the 61 model, rescued as an almost unrecognisable FA V8 engined special ex USA by Pat Barford. It was the subject of detailed research, with Martin finding original plans and photos, and then countless hours of work by David Abbott and Chris Beaumont right up to the Revival, and only a shakedown at Turwestonto prove that everything worked.

All were present and correct for qualifying on Friday afternoon and it was good to learn that those travelling from the Continent with trailers had experienced no difficulties with Customs. Although there had been a sprinkling of rain earlier, the track was fully dry, as it was to be on Saturday and Sunday when a warm sun gave wonderful weather for the whole event. Peter de la Roche (Lola 3) set the best initial time with 1’28.630 (for comparison the unofficial drum-braked lap record is Peter’s 1’25.583 set at last year’s Members Meeting). Second was Stuart Roach (Alexis 3) on 1’29.700. Over the next few laps Peter did not improve but Stuart whittled his time down lap-by-lap until he went to the top of the list with 1’28.448 on the sixth tour. Next time through Peter was back on top (1’28.105), then Andrew Hibberd popped up with 1’27.346. Final attempts were, however, aborted when Mike Gregory (de Tomaso) hit the bank at St Marys and brought out the red flag and, as there were only a few minutes left, the end of the session, so we didn’t see the full potential of de la Roche and Roach, who were both faster than Hibberd on the first sector of that final lap. The front row would therefore be Hibberd, de la Roche and Roach. Row 2 held Chris Drake (Elva 300), who was one of several to have spins, and Joe Colasacco (RAM-Fiat). Others in the “rotation club were New Zealander Phil Foulkes, at the wheel of Robin Longdon’s Lola 3, Phil performing a spectacular 360^o at Woodcote, John Hutchison Jr (Envoy) and Ivo Gockmann (Jolus), racing for the first time since 2019.

The race was at 9.35 on Sunday morning. The front row got away cleanly but further back the Caravelle of James Hicks was already out, due to finding there was no 2^nd gear away from the line. As the cars streamed back down the straight towards Woodcote, the first three had opened a gap, with Hibberd leading from Roach and de la Roche, but the Lola dived ahead of the orange (what else!) Alexis under braking. On the next lap Peter had taken the lead whilst Stuart had to pull-off at Woodcote with engine trouble. Next up was Chris Drake, then Colasacco, Gockmann and Sir John Chisholm (Gemini 3A), followed by an endlessly varied field, each engaged in their own tussle. Lars-Goran Sjoberg had made the lengthy drive from Sweden to Goodwood to race his often troublesome Swebe-Cooper and it was good to see that he had gained places from 26^th on the grid to 21^st but, sadly, it did not last as the car went on to 3 cylinders on the second lap.

Then the safety-car boards came out as the Lola of Phil Foulkes broke its suspension and gave Phil a wild ride across the grass before coming to rest in a dangerous position. It took three laps to deal with this, the restart being given on lap 7. Andrew had a very quick spin at Lavant when he put a wheel on the kerbing but, remarkably, this cost him less than 10 although dropping him behind Drake, a loss he very quickly restored. However, it meant that de la Roche now looked unassailable. It was therefore particularly unfortunate that rear wheel of Peter’s Lola clipped the front wheel of Bill Hemming’s Tojeiro when lapping, sending both into the bank and the red flag to be waved. Although the flag was shown on the eleventh lap, count-back declared the results after 9 laps and, of course, de la Roche was excluded from then as he was not running at the time of the red. This left Hibberd first from Drake, Colasacco, Gockmann and Chisholm. In the mid-field there was a great scrap between Christian Lange (Envoy), Trevor Griffiths (Emeryson), Clinton McCarthy (Lotus 18) and John Hutchison (Envoy), ending in that order with only 1.5 covering the four of them. Other than those already mentioned, only Keith Pickering fell by the wayside, due to a misfire after one lap.

So, Andrew Hibberd was a happy recipient of the Chichester Cup, driving the Lotus 20-J-892 this he had started his career with in 2002 and with which father Michael had won the Chichester Cup in 2001 and the Hibberds had subsequently reacquired it, Michael having raced it at the Classic. This was Andrew’s third win in the Chichester Cup, and completed the “set: of wins in Fronts, Discs and Drums. The only thing he missed out on was the lap record by 0.112. The car had originally been sold to Irish motor-cycle racer Reg Armstrong, whose career included 2^nd in both the 500cc and 250cc world championships in 1953.

 

by Richard Page

 

FOOTNOTE – CHICHESTER CUP ROLL OF HONOUR

1998  Jean-Michel Farine  (Lotus 20/22  20-J-820)

1999  Martin Walford  (Lotus  22-J-02)

2000  Ian Scott  (Elva 100/59A)

2001  Michael Hibberd  (Lotus 20-J-892)

2002 Martin Walford  (Lotus 22-J-02)

2003  Robin Longdon  (Lola 2  BRJ 3)

2004 James Hicks (Caravelle III)

2005  Edwin Jowsey (Lotus 22-FJ-61)

2006  Robin Longdon  (Lola 2  BRJ 3)

2007 Sir John Chisholm  (Gemini 3A  Mk3/2/61)

2008  Michael Hibberd  (Lotus 27-JM-32)

2009 Derek Walker (Terrier T4  LT4-03)

2010 Benn Simms (Elva 200/017F)

2011  Sam Wilson  (Cooper T59  FJ-38-62 PMF02)

2012  Joe Colasacco (Stanguellini  00169)

2013  Chris Drake  (Elva 300/003)

2014  David Methley  (Brabham BT6  MSA/FJ/63/1)

2015  No race

2016  Andrew Hibberd (Lola 2  BRJ 18)

2017  Stuart Roach  (Alexis Mk3  HF 302) 

2018  Andrew Hibberd (Lotus 22-J-32)

2019 No race

2020 No race

2021 Peter de la Roche (Lola 2  BRJ 4)

2022  Andrew Hibberd (Lotus 20-J-892)

 

With The Velodromloppet Historic GP at Karlskoga being the premier historic in event in Sweden, there is usually a turnout of more Formula Junior cars than seen at other Swedish events. Well, a good turnout is relative.  This year there were eight Juniors for their two races, one on Saturday, one on Sunday, with Petter Huse (Focus-Ford Mk IV) from Norway being the only non-Swede. The Swedes were Hans Hillebrink (Lotus-Ford 20), Jorgen Brynne (Merlyn-Ford Mk 3) and Lars-Goran Sjoberg (Cooper-Ford T59) in the 61-63 class. In the 58-60 class we had Peter Pettersson (in Ingvar Malm’s Focus-Peugeot Mk III), Ingvar Malm himself (Elva-BMC 100), Fredrik Bolander (Elva-BMC 100) and Anders Orrstjerdt (in Christer Larsson’s MRS-Saab). Two competitors were missing, Christer Larsson (Cooper-BMC T52) who have been forced to give this season a miss due to health reasons, and Ulf Pettersson (Lola-Ford Mk 3), who preferred a family holiday rather than going racing. In addition to the Juniors, there were also a Lotus Eleven and a supercharged MG TC on the Junior grid.

The schedule had two practice sessions on Friday, followed by qualifying on Saturday morning with race 1 in the afternoon. Race 2 then followed on Sunday. Unfortunately, Bolander got into serious gearbox issues already in first practice and therefore decided to pack up.

Qualifying saw Huse quickest with a time of 1:17,668 with Hillebrink not far behind at 1:18,149. Then there was a large gap to Brynne who had several issues with his car, which he has not raced at all for a couple of seasons. Pettersson was next ahead of the car’s owner, Malm and then Orrstjerdt.  Sjoberg’s Cooper still suffered the hot-start problem seen at Hockenheim, and additionally decided to stop at the first corner, so no time recorded.

Hillebrink was quickest away at the start of race 1 ahead of Huse, but on the next lap, he braked too late for one of the corners and had to use the escape road. This left Huse with a comfortable lead, which he kept until the finish with Hillebrink 12 seconds behind. Brynne followed in third but had already been lapped once after a spin and in a car which clearly had issues, with Pettersson four seconds behind. Malm was fifth ahead of Neergaard in the Lotus Eleven and then Orrstjerdt. Sjoberg was a non-starter with a cracked engine block (the oil looked like Bailey’s Irish Cream but tasted worse).

In race 2, Hillebrink once again was quickest away but he was soon caught by Huse, who waited until he felt it safe to pass given that Hillebrink’s braking seemed rather desperate, on several occasions going into the corners with locked wheels. Once ahead, Huse had no problems to win the race with a gap of eight seconds over Hillebrink. Brynne had been forced to retire after only two laps with a very rough-sounding engine, which elevated Pettersson to third ahead of Malm, with Neergaard’s Lotus Eleven less than a second behind, and then Orrstjerdt.

By Lars-Goran Sjoberg

Photos: Bengt-…ce Gustavsson (Racefoto).

A couple of years ago, the Copenhagen Historic GP, which is traditionally held on the first weekend of August, seemed to have established itself on the FJ calendar with a decent number of entries. This despite being squeezed by other major events both the weekend before and the weekend after. Sadly, last year as well as this year, Formula Junior entries fell to single digit numbers. It would be a great loss if Formula Junior would have to be dropped in the future because of lack of entries. It is indeed a great event on and off track (if one is not intimidated by the concrete walls lining the track). The weekend includes a parade, with police escort, into the city centre with a reception at the town hall, the famous town hall pancakes and then back to the track at Bellah¸j. Those Formula Junior drivers who stayed at the track were driven to and from the town hall by Jac Nellemann himself in his early fifties American “Woody” station wagon. Perhaps it was best that Jac drove it himself, since in the past, when driven by Robin Longdon or Iain Rowley, it had showed a certain reluctance to start.  Anyhow, those of us in the car got a good chance to practice our “royal wave” to the crowd lining the streets. To continue on the non-racing theme, we were also treated to an excellent dinner in the elevator at the –stergro restaurant. Those who have attended the Grand Prix before, know what I mean. And before leaving the paddock on Sunday evening, the Formula Junior drivers were treated to a “goody bag” with champagne, three bottles of beer and two small bottles of gin (and tonic to go with it) and some non-liquid stuff. Thank you very much, Jac Nellemann.

Now, it was not all about socializing. We had some racing to do as well. Those who attended were past winners Petter Huse (Focus Mk IV) and Robin Longdon (Lola Mk 5A), Tony Olissoff (in Nelleman’s Alfa Dana), Hans Hillebrink (Lotus 20), Rich Spritz (BMC Mk 1), Lars-Goran Sjoberg (Swebe-Cooper) and John Neel (Lova-DKW). Finally, period F3/1000 racer Ole Vejlund (87 years old but still active) in a borrowed Lotus 51 Formula Ford was a late entry to make up numbers. Dave Watkins (Elfin) was also entered but had to give the event a miss in order to figure out why his engine had been pushing out oil at Oulton Park the previous weekend. Anyhow, it was a truly international grid with drivers from Norway, UK, USA, Sweden, New Zealand and Denmark. Had Dave made it, we could also have added Australia to the list. Sadly missing was Jac Nellemann himself. The gearbox in his Volpini failed at last year’s race, and it has not yet been repaired.

Qualifying started late at around 7 pm on Friday evening on a mostly resurfaced track (no bumps worth mentioning this year). The layout had a small change, since the first chicane (on Hulgaardsvej) had been changed from being a bumpy left-right-left to a smooth right-left-right.

Longdon was the first one out on track, but already on the second lap, Hillebrink overdid it under braking for the bus-stop corner and ran into the back of Longdon’s Lola, causing damage to both cars. This left Huse to secure pole position 14 seconds (!) ahead of Olissoff. The times recorded by Hillebrink and Longdon before the collision gave them third and fifth position on the grid with Spritz in fourth. Sjoberg got a technical flag for a non-functioning transponder, but back in the pits it gave a signal. Not so, however, when out on the track so he would have to start from the back of the grid with no recorded time. Vejlund’s Formula Ford had some issue and although he recorded a very slow lap, decided to pack up and go home. John Neel, in the noisy Lova-DKW did not go out for qualifying and would therefore join Sjpberg at the back of the grid. The Lova makes a most amazing noise but seems to idle at at least 5000 rpm and shows no signs of torque throughout most of the speed range. Maybe some milder porting would be an idea? It is doubtful that it would have been below the allowed noise limit, so maybe that is why Neel stayed in the paddock.

The damage to Longdon’s car included bent radius rods, a damaged damper as well as a damaged silencer. Everything was repaired overnight by Nellemann’s mechanic Enrico Reck, who also found time to straighten a bent steering rod on Hillebrink’s car, so both cars were ready to race. Olissoff had found the Alfa Dana’s brakes somewhat doubtful, so new brake shoes were installed.

Race 1 on Saturday afternoon, for 15 minutes plus one lap, only served as a race to decide the grid positions for Sunday’s all-deciding finale. Huse took the lead from the start, but already after the first corner Longdon moved up to second position. Part way round the lap, the leaders caught the safety car and van towing the Lova and Robin was somewhat quicker on the throttle after they cleared the obstacle and took the lead but Huse quickly re-established himself in front. The race developed into a terrific battle between Huse and Longdon, the two of them changing positions several times and never being further apart than one-two car lengths. When the two of them passed the start/finish line after 15 minutes with Longdon in the lead, they were shown the sign two laps remaining, so Huse’s strategy was to make a pass on the final lap. Much to their surprise, they got the chequered flag next time around with Longdon still leading, half a second ahead of Huse. To make sure that the flag was not a mistake, Longdon continued for another lap, while the others went back into the pits, with the exception of Olissoff. He had obviously found a liking to waving to the crowd during Friday’s parade into the city centre, so he put in an extra lap to wave at spectators and marshals. Of the others, Hillebrink could not really keep the pace of the two leaders and after five laps, his lap times got slower and the engine sounded worse and worse, but he still managed to finish third, albeit a lap down. Olissoff finished fourth with Sjoberg in fifth (who was very conservative with both engine revs and braking distances, since he had an invitation to Goodwood Revival and did not want to risk anything) and Spritz in sixth, both two laps down. Neel managed to make it to the grid for the start, but not any further, his engine starting to boil just before the lights went out. Compared to qualifying, the lap times in race 1 dropped significantly as more and more rubber was laid on the new track surface.

For Sunday’s finale, the cars lined up according the results of Saturday’s race, but sadly Hillebrink was missing. His Lotus had been diagnosed with a defect lifter and/or camshaft. Missing was also Neel in the Lova, so the grid only comprised a disappointing five cars. Just before the start, a very local shower made the track very slippery from the start/finish line and halfway through the lap, while the second half remained completely dry. Longdon led into the first corner but was passed by Huse on the following straight. The battle between them from then on continued as in race 1 with passing and repassing, much to the delight of the spectators. This time, however, Huse made no mistake after the 15 minutes had gone and made sure he was at the front when the sign for 1 lap remaining was shown. Further down, Olissoff held on to a lonely third position and managed to finish on the same lap as the leaders. Spritz initially challenged Sjoberg for fourth position by some spirited braking in the wet, but was handicapped by only having third and fourth gear, so after a couple of laps, he dropped back. Sjoberg thus finished a lonely fourth and Spritz a likewise lonely fifth, both of them lapped once by the leaders. And Olissoff once again made an extra lap of honour waving at spectators and marshals. Champagne and flowers for the three podium finishers, and in addition winner Huse also got a Garmin dash-cam.

By Lars-Goran Sjoberg

Photos: Peterej Photo

 

FJHRA – The Silverstone Classic. 26^th – 28^th August 2022

“Silverline” Championship Rounds 9 & 10

The Classic at Silverstone is the official title for the event. 2022 for Formula Juniors will certainly be an event that will be long remembered for all the right reasons. This annual gathering is normally the single largest entry for Historic Formula Juniors. The original entry featured 70 cars but as the race weekend approached entries reduced with reasons varying from mechanical failures to illness and other unforeseen events. It still remained a quality entry, supplemented at the last minute by the Lotus 18 of Adam Bruzas, without anyone being disappointed for being listed as a reserve. The entry featured previous race winners at the Classic along with a mix of returning drivers after some absence as well as a collection of new faces all welcomed at the Friday briefing. Fresh from her family holiday Sarah Mitrike came to UK to assist Mum and Dad to ensure everyone had a good weekend.

Memories from the past years were rekindled as competitors, team supporters and friends gathered in the assembly area on the Friday morning for a minute’s silence to remember an absent friend. Simon Diffey; the Association’s loyal supporter and competitor and one of those people who could always make you smile. His son George led the tribute with a few words before climbing into the Veedol Lotus 20/22 to lead the field of 52 cars, sporting the Diff stickers, from the assembly area onto the track to commence qualifying.

From the outset Michael O’Brien in the Speedsport Brabham BT6 in its new blue livery laid down the marker that he would be the car to beat. Pursuing were Cameron Jackson in Martin Walford’s Lotus 22, Alex Ames Brabham BT6, Horatio Fitz-Simon (Lotus 22), Andrew Hibberd (Lotus 22), and Sam Wilson in the Cooper T59. During the qualifying Cam reduced the gap to Michael to within 6 tenths of a second but ultimately the difference at the end of qualifying was 1.125 seconds. Cam headed a trio, separated by a little under half a second, of himself, Alex and Horatio.

Tim De Silva was 7^th in qualifying, he and his father Harindra making a welcome return to the grid, although both had been racing their futuristic Gemini Mk IV’s at Monterey the previous week. Jon Milicevic, who had raced Alan Baillie’s Foglietti at Mallory Park last Sunday in the VSCC Pre’66 race, made his very welcome return to Formula Junior with his Brabham BT6 formerly owned by John Truslove. The car and driver combination anticipated moving further up the grid as the pair get to know each other. Mark Woodhouse was having his first run of the year in his Lotus 20/22, commenting that the long layoff had worked in his favour as he qualified 11^th. Benn Simms, shoulder repaired, was back in Jim Blockley’s Caravelle Mk2 and 12^th overall heading class D2 from Stuart Roach Alexis Mk3 and Chris Drake, out in his rear-engined Elva 300 rather than the front-engined Terrier.

Tim Child looked to be a little out of position given his podium performances in the previous Championship rounds. After qualifying he admitted that he just could not find a clear lap, leaving him as one of the drivers expected to improve during the race. Ray Mallock in the U2 Mk2 headed the front-engined classes from 16^th on the grid.

Mark Carter was back out in the Speedsport Lotus 22, thoroughly enjoying the car although the grip level on the Historic tyres was taking some acclimatising to compared to the Historic Formula Ford to which he is more accustomed.

Local man Mark Haynes has been spending this season on the hills, timing his return to circuit racing at his home event. Drivers not doing so well included Jeremy Deeley, who had a suspected electrical problem as the Lotus 18 would not run above 6,000rpm and Crispian Besley, in Peter Mullen’s Kieft, who was experiencing overheating problems with a possible airlock in the cooling system. Duncan Rabagliati, in the flying carrot, used qualifying to bed in his brakes, although he did have a mysterious misfire to to keep Iain Rowley busy during the day.

Richard Wilson, having had an eye problem on Friday morning, started on the back of the grid for what would have been a 53 car start. Unfortunately, on the parade lap David Watkins ground to a halt on the International start line first time past, luckily this being only half way through the one and a half lap green flag lap, leaving 52 cars, although the next casualty was Eddie O’Kane when his head gasket failed and he put a con rod through the side of the engine. Eddie admitted there was an upside as he parked close to where John Watson was standing and spent the ensuing 20 minutes talking Crossle with John about the cars with which he started his racing career.

Michael O’Brien did not make the best start and this was to be the first signal of an engine problem that would plague him throughout the race. Into the first corner it was Cam Jackson and Alex Ames that contested the lead with Michael holding a watching brief in third and Sam Wilson fourth. Horatio Fitz-Simon also lost time at the start, dropping down two places. On the following lap Michael moved into second place ahead of Alex and, together with Cam Jackson, started to break away from the following pack. As the leading two took an early advantage, Sam Wilson was into third with Alex Ames losing another place. Recovering from the start, Horatio was closing in on both Sam and Alex, setting the fastest lap of the race on lap 5. Down the order Richard Wilson, starting from the back of the grid along with Duncan Rabagliati, was making progress through the field. Richard being 25^th by the end of lap 3. On this lap Keith Roach came into the pits to retire following a brief off course excursion due to a stiff gear selector. Keith heard a nasty metallic noise and called it a day.  

Nearer the front, Nick Fennell in his Lotus 27 was being caught by Mark Woodhouse’s Lotus 20/22 and Westie Mitchell’s 62 De Tomaso who slipped past him on lap 3 dropping him to 11^th place.

Alex Ames car had developed a worsening misfire on lap 4, his times dropping by 7 seconds from his best. This was the start of his slide down the field, first being passed by Tim De Silva, followed by Andrew Hibberd in the Lotus 22. At the head of the field Horatio had moved up to third place drawing Sam Wilson with him to form a four car dice at the front. Both Cam and Michael were suffering from down on power engines and were becoming increasingly vulnerable to the fast approaching Horatio.

All of the front runners were now demonstrating the drifting qualities of the Formula Juniors as they parried against each other through the corners. Lappery required careful planning as the leaders continued their dice. Having waited for the right moment, Michael on lap 6 took the lead from Cam. He was followed by Horatio and Sam Wilson. With a worsening misfire Cam lost another place to Tim De Silva on the following lap.

The stage was set for a thrilling final three laps with Michael O’Brien, Horatio and Sam Wilson dicing with Sam briefly taking the lead until he was at the rear end and then coasted the Cooper to a halt at Copse corner. Horatio had the speed down the straight into Stowe and at least twice, including last lap, took the lead only for Michael to regain it through the final corner, taking the win by one tenth of a second. The final step on the podium went to Tim De Silva with Cam 4^th Andrew Hibberd 5^th and Nick Fennell climbing back to 6^th overall. Jon Milicevic was very pleased with his return to the Formula Junior family, finishing 7^th after a terrific scrap with Westie Mitchell, Mark Woodhouse and Benn Simms, the winner of Class D2, whilst from his back of the grid start Richard Wilson had made his way up to 17^th. We all hoped that Simon Diffey was cheering his lad on from above as George raced against Peter Anstiss in the duel of the Lotus 20/22’s.

Nic Carlton-Smith continued his unbeaten streak of wins to claim class C2. Ray Mallock won the front-engined class B2, also being awarded the Jon Goddard-Watts Trophy as the highest placed finish by a front-engined car. Ray’s fastest lap time was a new class lap record, as were those of Benn Simms and Horatio.

The awards for this first race on Saturday were presented post-race by our FJ Period legends Howden Ganley and Peter Procter who handed the top prize awards to fellow BRDC members Michael O’Brien and Ray Mallock.

Regrettably in post race scrutineering 5 cars were found to be under weight, the most notable of these was Philip Buhofer, who had raced Lee Mowle to the line. All of the cars were penalised for this race, Round 9 of the Championship, with the standard penalty of disqualification. With the weight problems rectified in time for Round 10  the following day, they were able to assume their Friday qualifying positions on the Sunday.

With a day to remedy any problems, 50 cars assembled on Sunday morning for race 2 of the weekend. Those missing were Chris Drake who only entered for the Saturday, Charlie Besley who had a blown diff, and Eddie O’Kane’s Crossle. Eddie himself did race in Iain Rowley’s Lotus 20/22 with Eddie commenting on how nice the car was. He hoped Iain had not thought he had blown the engine on the Crossle deliberately to get a chance to race the Lotus. Jeremy Deeley was now in his Cooper T52, having brought it up late Saturday to sub for his Lotus 18 which had suffered various problems in race 1.

Michael O’Brien’s team set to work on changing the electrics on the car and after a quick call to Turweston to arrange a brief test session they were hoping for a clean run in the second race. Sam Wilson and his team had remedied the problems that saw him retire and he was also hoping for a better second race. Cam Jackson simply required a new rotor arm in his borrowed Lotus.

Michael O’Brien made no mistakes on the second start getting away cleanly from Alex Ames and Cam Jackson. Horatio Fitz-Simon made a very good start but then went very wide off track, hoping to keep with Michael and maybe repeat his attack for the win. Using all of the road, plus a little grass too, he was into third place briefly on Lap 2 at Copse with Cam retaking the position before the finish line. With the following pack dicing for position, Michael O’Brien had a clear track ahead of him and he took the opportunity to put in his fastest lap of the race on lap 3, which claimed the lap record from Horatio, to give himself a comfortable gap. Being able to choose his line he eased away to win by 13.5 seconds to celebrate a very special and emotional victory for himself and the family team.

Having regained second place Cam Jackson looked set to pull away from Horatio, extending the gap to 1.5 seconds before fluid dropped onto his brake pedal and he ended firmly in the gravel at Village. With Horatio inheriting a secure second place on lap 5 with a 3.5 second gap back to Alex Ames in third it looked like the spectators would be cheated of a dramatic finish, however from 6^th place on the grid, Sam Wilson was soon moving up the order after a cautious first lap. By lap 5 he was only 4 tenths of a second behind Alex Ames having passed Tim De Silva on the previous lap.

Further back in the opening laps there was plenty of action to keep the spectators entertained. Nick Fennell had Jon Milicevic in his mirrors after Westie Mitchell had a brief off course excursion on lap 4. Benn Simms was clinging onto the wheel tracks of Mark Woodhouse, whilst Tim Child and Philipp Buhofer were having much better races than the first day. Richard Wilson had really got the hang of starting from the back making up 19 places on the 1^st lap.

On lap 6, having already overtaken Alex Ames, Sam Wilson also caught a slowing Horatio Fitz-Simons who was experiencing fuel starvation in the Lotus. On lap 7 Horatio retired when the engine cut out on him, leaving Sam with what looked to be a comfortable second place with over a second gap back to Alex and Tim De Silva who was catching the podium pair. As Michael O’Brien selectively passed the slower cars in front of him Sam had a more difficult time with Alex Ames applying his race craft to take back second place.

Michael O’Brien took a fine well judged win. Both of his weekend wins being dedicated to his mother Julia who passed away earlier in the year. It was her wish for him to win both races at the Classic and he kept his promise to her.

There was now a trio fighting for the remaining two places on the podium. In a grandstand finish Sam took second place by two tenths of a second from Alex Ames whose margin over Tim De Silva was only one tenth of a second. A truly spectacular finish to a Classic weekend. Probably one of the loneliest drives of the weekend was that of Andrew Hibberd who finished 5^th in the “Monza wager” green Lotus 22. Mark Woodhouse came home 6^th followed closely by Class D2 winner Benn Simms, Martin Aubert being second in that class with David Watkins making up for his early retirement in Race 1 with a third in class on the Sunday. Tim Child who had a much better second race finished 8^th, Philipp Buhofer was 9^th and Nick Fennell rounded out the top 10.

Ray Mallock finished 12^th again winning Class B2 from Harindra De Silva and Ralf Emmerling. For the first time this year there was a new C2 Class winner in Andrew Taylor, driving his Cooper T56, whose daughter Katherine is proving to be a good mechanic. In the future we wonder if she will be suggesting to dad that she swaps the spanners for the helmet and overalls. The C2 classification had Stuart Monument in his Lotus 18 second, another of the disqualified cars from Race 1, whilst third in class was Jeremy Deeley in his Cooper T52.

Other notable drives came from Geoff Underwood starting 24^th on the grid to finish 14^th, Mark Carter in his first chequered flag with the Speedsport Lotus 22, who started 27^th and finished 18^th. For Mark this was a consolation for his late retirement in race 1 when the throttle stuck open. The improved driver of the day had to be Richard Wilson again starting from the back of the grid, he finished 15^th overall.

As there are winners we had a few losers too. The Roach family, Keith and Stuart, both retired with gearbox issues. Stuart Tizzard retired his Cooper T56 from both races, joking later he was trying to save money on fuel. The unfortunate incidents were Nic Carlton-Smith whose record streak of class wins was ended by a spin at Luffield. Anthony Binnington, in his attempt to avoid a backwards heading Nic, unfortunately had nowhere left to go but to ride over the wheels of the hapless Kieft. Both drivers were unhurt and Nic was able to drive his car back at the end of the race. John Chisholm also had a rare mistake with a spin leaving him sitting in the track looking at the approaching traffic. In his haste to get going and avoid the two cars bearing down on him as he pointed the wrong way, he did not notice a car slipping by on the inside, the resulting incident leading to his retirement. Justin Fleming stopped on lap one with a suspected blown head gasket and Mark Haynes retired on lap 2. Jon Milicevic stopped on lap 7 , and on the same lap Keith Pickering sensed a mechanical issues so pitted his Britannia in the International pits with a hub failure, but took the flag in the pit lane to be classified.

There were many memorable events from the two days of Formula Junior racing. On the track, Michael Hibberd thoroughly enjoyed himself in the return to the track of Lotus 20-J-892, rebuilt after the last owner’s accident at Hockenhiem and now back in Hibberd family ownership, and splendid FJ debut races for Stuart Monument, Nigel Lackford (son of Robin) in the family Elva 100, and a fun weekend for Eddie O’Kane, finishing race 2, even after two spins, in Iain Rowley’s 22. Whilst off track, it was simply a wonderful atmosphere, and the best of FJ camaraderie, including birthday celebrations for Adam Bruzas on Sunday, and Alan Baillie quietly acknowledging his 60 years continually holding a competition licence, when collecting the 2021 season Ladies Trophy on behalf of Anna Wilson.

Most poignant of all was George Diffey bringing home the Veedol Lotus 20/22 appropriately numbered 17 for his 17^th place finish on the second race.

Sarah Diffey joined us at prizegiving to thank everyone for their support and donations to the Simon Diffey Heritage Motorsport Apprentice Award. Such a wonderful way to remember one of the paddock personalities whose presence is always with us. Especially at Silverstone where his ashes were scattered. If you have not already donated, do try to support this very worthy initiative.

The next round of the Formula Junior Championship takes place at the Spa Six Hour Race Meeting before returning to Silverstone for two separate grids for the Championship Finals on the National circuit.

 

Report by Alan Jones

Brands Hatch the Super Prix Historic Formula Junior Race

FJHRA/HSCC “Silverline” Championship Round 6

Brands Hatch combined with a summer heatwave, does that seem familiar? Well, it has been known for the two-day event on the Grand Prix circuit in the fabulous Kent countryside, but 2022 will go down as an exceptional event. Previously only those who race in Europe regularly have experienced such high temperatures within a race car.

26 cars were entered for the single Sunday race, this being a little break from tradition as Formula Junior normally has the single race slot on the Saturday. It does still leave room for a Saturday evening get together at the pub and a convenient lie in with qualifying not being able to start until 10.00 a.m. at Brands Hatch.

Among the special guests in the paddock were Howden Ganley and Tony Goodwin, having one of his rare post Covid outings. Also returning to Brands Hatch after what he thought was a three-year interval was Grant, with wife Penny.

Missing from the original entry were David Kent in his Lynx Mk3 lowline and Kim Shearn Lotus 20/22, however following a discussion with Duncan, Kim was able to substitute the Lotus for his one litre Formula 3 Penny Ford, but this, unfortunately, seized its engine during the Historic Formula 3 race so we will wait to look forward to Kim joining the grid later in the year. One late entry was Hans Ciers in Adam Bruzas – Lotus 18.

Sunday morning began with a revised timetable following the loss of the final race on Saturday due to some incidents during the day’s racing. Qualifying was a mixture of attrition for some and careful timing for others to get in a decent qualifying lap, as the Lotus 18 of Simon Hewes had a spin at the bottom of Paddock Hill bend, parking on the circuit whilst encouraging the car to restart. During this period the safety car was called as Peter Fenichel had spun into a gravel trap leaving his Cooper beached and requiring a lift to remove the car from its resting place.

The laps clicked by with many cars having to settle for their fastest qualifying time clocked prior to the safety car. Those who did were Michael O’Brien in the Brabham BT6 and Clive Richards in the Lotus 22 who were separated by a mere three tenths of a second. This was a great effort from Clive against the young rising star. Rounding out the top three with an early quick lap was James Murray. The truncated qualifying made for an interesting starting line-up with some faster runners being further down than would be expected.

It was good to welcome back into the U.K. Philipp Buhofer with his Lotus 27 whilst completing the international line up were Rudolf Ernst having a strong showing in his Lotus 22 qualifying in 10^th place and Martin Aubert’s Lotus 20 in 17^th place. It is always good to mention a new face on the grid too, and whilst he has raced with us once before at Castle Combe in 2017, Dave Wall is having a run out in Keith Roach’s Gemini MkII this season while he finds a suitable car to join us full time.

I mentioned qualifying was full of mixed fortunes. Crispian Besley’s Elva 100, along with Simon Hewes (engine) and Stuart Tizzard all retired suffering from mechanical woes. Crispian’s Elva had a suspension breakage and resulting off so back in the paddock it was sprouting tufts of grass from places where grass should not be. Stuart was sporting a fine awning purporting to have some involvement with polo. I did ask where he had stabled the horse, but he said his only involvement with polo was the mint with the hole in the centre.

Hans Ciers had to retire to get back to Belgium and Benn Simms, after a fine Formula Ford 2000 win the day before and a solid qualifying in the Formula Junior, had to withdraw with discomfort from an existing shoulder injury. The departure of Hans Ciers did however signal good news for Crispian Besley, as Adam handed over the Lotus 18 to his safe keeping as a substitude drive for the race.

For Row one of the grid, with an advantage of over 4 seconds per lap against their closest rival in qualifying, barring incident or mechanical failure, it was plain that it would be either Michael O’Brien or Clive Richards who would win this race.

Both drivers made a good start, with Michael leading by almost a second at the end of lap 1, but Clive kept with him in the early stages and during the lappery near the end came back to within 8 seconds before slipping back to 11 seconds on the final lap. On his way to winning Michael established a new lap record for Historic Formula Junior with a lap of 1 min 38.8, a lap time that may take some time to equal or better.

Following the two leaders, there was an exciting race taking place with battles all the way down the order. Philipp Buhofer (Lotus 27), having had to make the tricky uphill start behind the pole man, missed a gear and made a poor start leaving the door open for Stuart Roach (Alexis Mk 3) and Robin Longdon (Lola Mk 5A) to make flying starts, coming over the line in third and fourth respectively. Philipp recovered to cross the line in 7^th place behind Rudolf Ernst, who was driving like a man possessed. His racing was certainly inspired at Brands Hatch. 

By lap 3 we had a train of seven cars headed by Robin Longdon, followed by James Murray, Rudolf Ernst, Tim Child, Stuart Roach, Philipp Buhofer and John Chisholm.

On lap 2 the luckless Peter Fenichel was posted as the first retirement. The close pack fighting for third place started to break up on lap 4, when Tim Child tried a braking manoeuvre at Graham Hill bend that saw him spin without contact, the ensuing confusion enabled Philipp to re-establish his position passing both Rudolf and Stuart to move back to 5^th place. Back in 10^th place Tim started his progress back through the field gaining 9^th from Nic Carlton-Smith on the following lap and closing in on Sir John the following lap.

Back at the head of the pursuing pack, James Murray had passed Robin Longdon and was now sitting in 3^rd place but over 26 seconds behind second man Clive Richards. Sadly this was to be the pinnacle of James performance at this race as he retired at the end of lap 5 when his engine cut out, handing back the third place to Robin Longdon. Robin held the position for one more lap before Philipp Buhofer overtook him to take the final podium position for the day.

Tim Child in his recovery drive to 5^th overall set the 4^th fastest lap of the race on the very last lap. The best scrap of the day though was reserved for Duncan Rabagliati, Keith Roach and Syd Fraser resulting in a photo finish for 15^th place, it going to Duncan just ahead of Syd.  

After his superb start Stuart Roach finished 7^th winning class D2, Nic Carlton-Smith claimed the Class C2 win with Justin Fleming heading up the front-engined race with a lonely B2 win. After the spills and drama of some of the other races over the weekend, the Historic Formula Juniors produced another great race with action throughout the field and no safety cars.

 

By Alan Jones