Circuit des Remparts; FJ Front Engined Race

Only in France!! Surely the last place in the World where the ancient City, liberated by the Allies in August 1944, becomes a Mecca for French and British classic car enthusiasts, many of the Brits it would seem still with their houses in France, and for a feast of French degustation (with quite a few pizzas as well) all around the City centre.

Main exhibits included Jaguar, TVR, of course Citroen and Renault: and Panhard oddities, including a fine road sports DB that I don’t recall ever seeing before; and around the main Town Hall/ Senate of Justice was a truly French exhibition of Motobloc cars, made near Bordeaux, both in restored and ‘as found’ condition. Fortunately this year the sun gods smiled and after some Thursday night rain it was a truly dry weekend.

The racing started here in 1939, and the circuit is unchanged!! Just some crash barriers erected in the obvious places, but for the rest, especially down the Remparts, you just have to avoid the pavement!!!

Of the other grids, enormous Edwardians, including Tony Lees in a monster 1913 C type Vauxhall fitted with a 1918 V8 Hispano Suiza 12 litre Aero engine, lots of Austin 7s, a field of vintage machines, almost won by 500 racer Chas Reynolds in his three wheeler Morgan -JAP; and a race for T51 Bugatti’s, which the commentator had us believe was more than had ever been gathered together in one race, Period or Historic, including two ladies (only one, after a practice incident, but from which she was fortunately only shaken but not stirred), although that session was somewhat curtailed; despite the logistics of clearing broken cars after each session, the organisers did a remarkable job in maintaining the timetable.

It was a baker’s dozen of beautiful front engined FJs that graced the paddock: Iain Rowley brought down Ian Robinson’s Lola Mk2 and the Alexis and Mogens Christensen was the courier of Rich Spritz’ ex-Ian Phillips European based BMC Mk1 (Rich now has a second one that made its debut at the recent Lime Rock FJ race). Ian Phillips himself was also a visitor to the event, now living as a French resident not far south, he and Bev joined by Mark and Rose Woodhouse as guests for the weekend. 

John Arnold, with Kate, brought  the Neil McFadden Elva 100, having a weekend off as preparer, as were Nigel and Robin Lackford in their own similar but red, Elva, while all the remaining FJs were also being towed by their owners, Graham Barron of course the subject of envy and amazement with his DB5 and tow bar. Whilst the rest of the ’Northern’ contingent comprised Richard and Karen Bishop-Miller with the pristine Autosport Mk2 (awaiting the debut of their new ex Jim Blockley Caravelle II for Spa and Dijon), Bernard and Ros Brock with the Charlie Graham built CG Elva 100, and Tony and Elaine Pearson with the Bandini. Nick Taylor had his familiar Green Elva 100 and last but most certainly not least amongst the UK cars were Alex and Louise Morton with their Condor SII,  while from France, local driver Jean-Luc Renard was intent on out foxing his opponents with the front wheel drive Monopole Renault, with engine ahead of the front axle and its original saviour, Gilbert Lenoir in attendance; finally, making a welcome debut in Formula Junior, from Cannes, was Eric Comba in his red Stanguellini 00186 which he had bought in road going condition with front and rear mudguards, and reputedly the previous owner had run it on the road between Milan and Monaco!! Eric has a large collection of cars, many being French ‘oddities’, but including the Bandini 750 Monoposto that was sold at auction in Monaco a couple of years ago; [the Warwick Monoposto racer with F1 Cooper streamlined ‘Reims ‘ body, ex Belly Bellinger] and a Tipo 500 F2 Ferrari of the Ascari era, but currently fitted with an Alfa Romeo engine!!

Many arrived on Thursday ahead of the weekend activities, so a meal that evening at Latitude Pub, in fact a very nice restaurant, sitting outside [until it rained !!] was the order of the day, and then new for this year was scrutineering at the ‘Welcome Espace’ out of town, but with plenty of space compared to the Town Hall central square! If you had found it, then mountains of paperwork followed, no problems over inspection, and then to park in the main ‘paddock’ in the City centre; strictly NO support vehicles allowed (except Graham’s DB5 which attracted more attention than many of the competition cars!!!!) Grant and Penny Wilson were holidaying with our ‘Hockenheim commentator’ Michael Ashley-Brown who lives locally, and on hand to help with any hiccups. 

Friday night meal was booked at the Red Lion in the Centre for six; well only 14 turned up!! But once he had recovered, the Italian proprietor was much obliging, and a fun FJ party was had.  

Saturday’s primary activity is the road rally for a huge variety and number of Classic cars which ended at the Military barracks and then a ramp with commentator, as the returning cars  approached the city centre Duncan was amused to find the much changed Austin Healey Sprite, once owned [or at least the Registration no  5116 HN !!] by brother Graham competing with  Rod Graham, the “Headlines from Healey” editor.

After participants forgathered that evening for the compulsory briefing (fortunately partly in English), the evening activity was a huge welcome party at the aforesaid military barracks, participants ferried there in historic buses: food and drink (and live music) was a plenty, with (inter alia) literally piles of delicious rock oysters to one’s heart’s content!!!! 

 Racing wise, everything happened on Sunday: Formula Junior were due out at a leisurely 11am, delayed only by the warring Bugattis, but poor Richard Spritz was having trouble with the BMC battery, and ultimately with the delay failed to get out from the holding area: at least he had snuck out into the traffic on Saturday and managed a couple of laps of the circuit!!! Alex Morton was the powerhouse of the day, with Graham Barron in his wake while Nick Taylor, a former winner for FJ on the Copenhagen street circuit, held third before gearbox trouble intervened; and Iain Rowley’s hopes as another Copenhagen winner were thwarted as he pitted early with a mechanical issue. Richard Bishop-Miller was outstanding, Oulton Park having clearly been a turning point in Autosport history and Duncan thoroughly enjoyed himself in the Alexis despite the three first gear changes at the hairpins, but called practice, time, when the brakes began to seriously fade : Jean-Luc was just smiling, as was Eric Comba, even though this was his first competitive race, and was lapped several times by the leading duo; poor Tony Pearson was an early stopper as the bumpy track broke the exhaust bracket, leaving the pipe trailing; The remaining Elvas all ran well and uneventfully.

The race itself ran out at around 5.30: only Nick Taylor would not run, a fix being beyond Fiona’s powers as ‘mechanic’, as no magic solution emerged from the E-book !!, Iain Rowley having fixed both the Lola and welded up Graham Barron’s holed sump, while they thought that the BMC problems had been resolved, and Rich started from the back.

The grid was a F1 type Standing start but the ‘off’ is when the French flag is RAISED: Alex was away into the lead, but in mid field, Duncan had rather overheated in the old holding area and made a very stuttered start, to be overtaken by both Bernard Brock and Jean-Luc, so a bit of fun was had getting past them, in Bernard’s case twice, on the inside of the first hairpin; then Iain Rowley spun the Lola at the paddock corner, almost completely blocking the track, but amazingly without hitting anything, and brought all behind him to a halt, Duncan eventually creeping between the Lola tail and the barrier, and freed of Bernard and Jean-Luc. With three or so laps to go, Graham’s engine burst, leaving a trail of oil around the whole circuit, and he finally expired halfway up the hill after the first hairpin by which time the oil had made any racing academic and the red flag was shown. 

All the rest finished, bar Rich whose electrics failed again, and with the countback Graham was second and a worthy John Arnold who has done so much to help Elva 100 owners, and is in the process of saving two more such cars, 3rd ahead of a disappointed Robin Lackford: the organisers were asked to check the result but it is only MSUK rules that disqualifies a car not running at the red flag and Graham’s place stood for a well-earned  2nd place Trophy.

The sun continued to shine as Angouleme Sunday evening eating drinking and music continued into the night!!

DCPR

 

Historic Formula Junior Championship Rounds 7 & 8

August Bank Holiday, for Formula Junior it has to be Silverstone and the Festival held on the Grand Prix circuit with the Historic Vale corner. The Festival is one of the biggest events of the year for Classic and Historic Race cars. The 20 races encompassing all eras from Pre War Sports Cars to the Modern GT 3 & 4 cars of the Masters GT Trophy. In the single seater classes alongside Historic Formula Junior are the Historic Grand Prix Cars Association echoing each other in the evolution of Formula racing which graduated into the Formula 2, Formula 3 and F1 cars of the 70s and 80s.

Off track there are the Car Club displays, food and drink tastings and demonstrations along with live music during the day and evening. Weather permitting the evenings culminate with a balloon display into the dark. A great event to celebrate the closing of summer and the early shadows of approaching autumn.

The festival historically always presents a full if not oversubscribed entry, it would be 50 cars that assembled for the start of qualifying. Martin Halusa was present, as was the ex-Geoghegan ex-Fyda 22, but he had injured his back and was unable to participate, while  Nathan Metcalfe had his gearbox explode on the ex-Andrew Thorpe Lotus 20 in Thursday testing, so father, Tim, stepped down to put Nathan in his Cooper instead.

A mixed bag of weather was promised for the weekend starting on the Thursday night with high winds that lasted into the morning leaving a wet track with a drying line appearing for the commencement of qualifying at 9.00 a.m.

There were several spinners in the opening laps as the conditions varied around the circuit. Jeremy Flann was into the gravel at Stowe, but the marshals had him out again. Richard Ferris pronounced his Donford a great car for the dry, but very skittish in the damp conditions of the qualifying. Richard and his mechanic working hard in the garage post qualifying to soften the car for the predicted rain for the Saturday race.

Clinton McCarthy in the Lotus 18 was another with issues following qualifying. He had a new set of tyres on and he found they were out of balance making for a very uncomfortable qualifying session.

On circuit the battle for pole position was in full swing, the continually drying track seeing the drivers see-saw up and down the order. Michael O’ Brien was the driver who held the top spot for most of the session. Samuel Harrison was showing great speed in the unique Rennmax of Adrian Holey at one time lying second in the standings. With other familiar names from previous epic Silverstone scraps coming to the fore, these included Alex Ames, Andrew Hibberd, Tim de Silva, Sam Wilson, Callum Grant in the ‘Magic Merlyn’ and Horatio Fitz-Simon in the Brabham BT6. Having got into the top 4 the throttle cable on Horatio’s Brabham broke and he retired with 8 minutes of the session still left.

Ray Mallock in the U2 Mk2 was easily heading the front engine runners, and for part of the session running just outside of the top 10. As the track dried he did slip down the timing sheets, with Charlie Besley in the Elva 100 setting the fastest time with his final lap with Ray Second and Charles Cook in the ex-Simon Goodliff Nike Mk1 in the third front engine spot.

Nathan Metcalfe claimed the class C2 honours with the Cooper T56, from Stuart Monument, again going very well in the Lotus 18, with Gary Thomas 3rd in the ex-Gil Duffy Kieft, despite an early pit stop after problems selecting top gear. Post qualifying, he resolved this by filing the gate to give a wider opening.

As the Chequered flag went out it looked like Michael O’Brien in the Nick Fennell ex-Ecurie France Lotus 27 would be on Pole. Many drivers were pushing hard to take advantage of the drying track. One of those pushing to the limit was Nick Fennell himself in his ex-Japan Lotus 22, completing his final lap with a 90 degree spin that had him briefly pointing at the pit wall, fortunately keeping it ‘all together’ to complete the slow down lap. As others took the flag, Alex Ames was setting purple sector times all the way around the circuit to snatch the pole position as he crossed the line.

The final top 10 order being Alex Ames Brabham BT6, Michael O’Brien Lotus 27, third Samuel Harrison Rennmax (the car being christened ‘Dolly’ by Tim,  Samuel’s Dad, the car apparently having characteristics somewhat similar to a well-known singer rather than a cloned sheep); Sam Wilson Cooper T59 would line up 4th ahead of  Andrew Hibberd’s Lotus 22, Callum Grant (Merlyn Mk5/7), Tim Da Silva ( BT2,) Horatio Fitz-Simon (BT6), Stuart Roach’s Alexis Mk4 and Peter de la Roche in the Hibberd family Lotus 20 completed the top 10 and headed the class D2 running order. Nic Carlton-Smith was2nd in class in his Lotus 20, 3rd place being Pierre Guichard in the Lynx T3.

It was an exciting qualifying with everyone returning safely despite the varying conditions. The one question would be, if he had run the full session where Horatio would have finished. Saturday could turn the grid on its head with rain forecast, and  some who favour the wet conditions starting further down the order. The stage was set for Race 1

Race 1

As predicted the rain came for the Saturday morning. It would be a wet race with only the volume of race cars on the circuit to create a potential dryer line. Sam Wilson was feeling unwell, and would be a non starter, along with Sharon Adelman in the Ecurie France ex-Jo Schlesser Brabham, electing not to race in the conditions, making 48 starters listed on the grid.  The race was abandoned on the warming up lap due to the track conditions with a very soggy group of drivers returning to the garages. Opinions varied upon whether they should have raced in the conditions but for the Festival all racing was delayed as the rain continued. 

A second attempt to run race 1 was made. A gap in the weather appeared to give an opportunity for Race 1 to take place. As the race started the rain came again. There was a start in which Alex Ames led away with Michael O’Brien second with Samuel Harrison in third. On the entry to Wellington Straight Michael O’Brien took the lead with the cars going three abreast down the straight. These first trio had a gap to the pursuing pack of Andrew Hibberd, Callum Grant and Tim de Silva. Horatio was starting to move through following his problems in practice.

Jeremy Flann’s problems continued and he retired to the pit lane at the end of lap 1. As the intensity of the rain increased, both Alan Schmidt and Syd Fraser spun on Hanger Straight, and then John Timoney, making his debut in the ex-Alex Morton David Drew Ausper T3, spun into the infield at Vale: another yellow flag disappointingly became a RED!  Meanwhile at the head of the field Michael O’Brien had been leading, as Alex Ames and Samuel Harrison duelled side by side. Behind them,  Ray Mallock was using the advantage of his U2 to move up the order: too late,  the race was abandoned, and a ‘no contest’ without points was declared.

Race 2

The rain cleared and the Juniors were first out again, on the Sunday. It was a full grid of 50 cars that formed for the green flag laps and the rolling start, with both Sam Wilson and Sharon Adelman assuming their grid positions from qualifying. 

From the line it was again Alex Ames that took the initiative into Abbey, but Michael O’Brien quickly slipped past into the lead that he was not to lose. He extended his advantage to over 13 seconds when the chequered flag was shown. Callum Grant initially held second place with Alex Ames in third. Following close in Alex’s wheel tracks were Samuel Harrison from Horatio Fitz-Simon, and Sam Wilson, all slightly ahead of Andrew Hibberd.

By lap 2 Horatio had moved through to 3rd place opening a gap back to Ames, Wilson and Harrison, the trio dicing together allowing Andrew Hibberd to close. On lap 3 Samuel Harrison had a quick spin at Woodcote rejoining in 14th place. Horatio had moved into second place with the top three spacing out as they started lapping the slower cars. Sam Wilson was now 4th and Alex Ames 5th.

On lap 5 Callum Grant would retire after a tangle, lapping Ralph Carter’s Speedsport 22. Horatio was now in lonely pursuit of the rapid Michael O’Brien.   With the order established, the result would be a clear win for Michael O’Brien in the HASU Racing Lotus 27, uncaught by Horatio Fitz-Simon,  with Sam Wilson third in the Cooper T59, ahead of Alex Ames (BT6), Andrew Hibberd (22) with US visitor Tim de Silva next up in his  BT2. Seventh and winner of Class D2 was Peter de la Roche. In 8th, having chased Peter down hard throughout that last lap was a recovering Samuel Harrison in the Rennmax, with the lotus 22s of Lukas Halusa and Nick Fennell making up the top ten.

Class C2 was a good win for Stuart Monument in the Lotus 18 from Nathan Metcalfe in father Tim’s, Cooper T56, ahead of Gary Thomas in the continually improving Kieft. Class B2 was won by Ray Mallock in the family U2 from Charlie Besley Elva 100 and Charles Cook in the Nike. The remaining class winners were Peter Fenichel, Richard Ferris and Andrea Guarino.

By Alan Jones

 

The Copenhagen Historic Grand Prix for 2024 took place over the first weekend of August at the Bellahöj street circuit in north-western Copenhagen, a track that has been home for this race since 2013, where it was moved from its previous location at the Faelledsparken right in the city. Formula Junior was, as usual, the only single-seater grid on the programme and the Formula Junior drivers were, also as usual, given a VIP treatment by the CHGP supremo Jac Nelleman. This  included a welcome dinner on Thursday evening at the Östergo roof-top restaurant and a table of cold-cuts in the paddock for Saturday lunch, and, not to be forgotten, ”goodie bag”.

Sadly, the number of entries were somewhat disappointing with only 12 drivers remaining when it was time to get out on the track for the first time.  There had been a hope for more Scandinavian drivers this year, but the usual ”car not ready” excuse prevailed. So, in the end, we had six from the UK (Robin Longdon, Iain Rowley, Nick Taylor, Vern Williamson, John Chisholm and Martin McHugh), two from Sweden (Jan Christians and Lars-Göran Sjöberg), and one each from Australia (Kim Shearn), Denmark (Lars Jansen), Norway (Petter Huse) and Finland (Reijo af Heurlin). It was nice to see John Chisholm back in his first Formula Junior race after his nasty crash at this venue last year (although he has participated in a couple of F3/500 races in between). Sir John drove the Ausper Mk 4 owned by Vern Williamson. Others who had ”borrowed” cars were Iain Rowley in a Lotus 22 owned by Erik Justesen and Kim Shearn in Jac Nelleman’s Alfa Dana. Of the others, Longdon had his Lola Mk 5, Taylor his Elva 100, Williamson his Lynx T3, McHugh his Lotus 22, Christians his Elva 100, Sjöberg his Cooper T59, Jansen his Elva 100, Huse his Focus Mk IV, and Heurlin his RV Special.

The race format was a free practice late Friday afternoon, then, on Saturday a timed session to decide the grid positions for the qualification race held in the afternoon. This decided the grid postions for the all-deciding ”Grand Finale” on Sunday. Before the racing started on Friday, there had been the traditional parade into a reception at the Copenhagen Town Hall. Williamson and Chisholm took the risk of taking part in the parade with their race cars but, not suprisingly, got some issues with overheating on the way back.

The untimed practice on Friday started badly for Heurlin, whose car refused to start because of what was later diagnosed as fuel pump issue. Another one who had problems was Christians, whose engine at first refused to fire and then his starter motor failed.  Anyhow, a push start got him out onto the track. On track, Longdon’s engine died on the first lap (loose lead to the coil) and Sjöberg returned to the paddock on the second with oil surge under braking. Huse was quickest almost two seconds ahead of Rowley with Taylor fastest front-engined car.

In the timed session on Saturday, Huse was even more ahead with a time almost 2.5 seconds quicker than that of Longdon, who was closely followed by Taylor and Rowley, then a gap to McHugh and Christians (who had replaced the starter)  in turn followed by Chisholm, Williamson and Shearn, then Jansen, Sjöberg (who only drove one flying lap, since the oil surge was no better despite having added more oil) and Heurlin (with the fuel pump now working).  Williamson came into the pits early with the gearbox stuck in gear and McHugh also had an issue, a misfire.

In the qualifying race on Saturday afternoon, pole sitter Huse was quickest away ahead of Taylor and Rowley. Longdon made bad start, but had moved up to second position within a couple of laps. Rowley was stuck behind Taylor for several laps before finding a way past into third position.  Longdon showed that Huse’s superiority from the timed practice was a thing of the past and after about two thirds of the race, he was on Huse’s tail. The two of them then made several position changes, which entertained the spectators who showed their apreciation with lots of both chees and gasps.  On the next to last lap Huse made a decisive move and passed Longdon on the outside going into the bus-stop chicane, Longdon locking all four wheels to avoid a collision. Longdon had an advantage on the start/finish straight, but Huse managed to take the chequered flag first, but with a margin of only 1/10 of a second.  Had the finishing line been some 10 metres later, Longdon would have gotten by.  They were followed by Rowley a long way back, who was not that far ahead of Taylor, then Chisholm one lap down, Christians, Shearn and Heurlin, the three of them two laps down. McHugh still had a misfire despite having replaced the distributor and retired. Williamson also retired after having left his braking too late and touched the barrier at the second corner, resulting in a bent steering arm. One who also retired was Jansen, who had a gearbox issue and had spent the race closely following Heurlin until the last lap, when his clutch gave up.

The Finale on Sunday afternoon was delayed about one hour because of heavy showers. Only eight drivers remained on the grid. Those who did not start was Jansen, Williamson, Chisholm and, of course, Sjöberg.  Williamson had got a straightened steering arm, but then found damage to the lower wishbone, which could not be repaired in time for the race, while Chisholm decided not to provoke his luck on the still wet track. Shearn had a leaking radiator in the first race, but this was repaired in time for the second and McHugh had finally cured the misfire.

The sun was out, but the track was still wet when the race started. Pole sitter Huse made a lousy start (not in gear when the lights went out). Rowley was quickest away ahead of Taylor and Longdon, while McHugh directly made it up to fifth from his position at the back of the grid. Taylor then passed Rowley on the outside going into the second corner on lap 2 and pulled away. Meanwhile Huse had passed Longdon, who did not look comfortable on the still slippery track. Rowley then started to feel more confident and started catching Taylor again on the drying track, but after only four laps, there was another very heavy shower resulting in almost no visibility, and the chequered flag was waved after the next lap, which was about half-distance.  Taylor won by some four seconds thereby repeating his win from last year. Rowley followed next six seconds ahead of Huse, who held a similar margin to Longdon. McHugh was fifth and then followed Christians, Heurlin and Shearn, the two latter lapped by the winner.

Next year’s Grand Prix will take place on August 8-10.

by Lars-Goran Sjoberg

Lurani Trophy Round 4

A brilliant weekend in Brno, where the very warm welcome was definitely matched by the heat!

The approach to the circuit on arrival on Thursday evening had us in the Revival spirit right from the get-go, as the narrow winding road leading to the circuit was in fact a section of the old street circuit! Following Free practice on Friday afternoon, the organisers treated us to a brilliant bus tour of the full 30km circuit after free practice, guided by the author of two books on the circuit, providing us with a fantastic insight into its history – fair to say those were some brave drivers!

Saturday dawned sunny again, however Friday night was a different story, as the dark sky in the distance suddenly turned from a few drops to a relentless wind whipped deluge within seconds, leaving those in the paddock literally hanging on to their tents to keep them grounded.  None had ever been so wet fully clothed in their lives! The kind organisers were immediately round offering free garage space to those affected, and Stephan Joebstl took in the dripping clothing of our refugees to dry.

Qualifying was late morning, with times ever increasing as all learnt the circuit, new to most, but very much rated but all, before the race mid-afternoon. It only takes two to make a race, and there were pairs dicing throughout, earning a very enthusiastic and well-deserved applause at the end from the packed grandstand! Philipp Buhofer (Lotus 27) made a brilliant start alongside poleman Clive Richards (22), and the race was on for the first few laps, until Philipp experienced clutch issues, and Clive pulled away to take the win. Outstanding battle for fifth place, was between Stephan Joebstl (Lotus 22) and Petter Huse (Focus), changing places numerous times and never more than a cars length between them, if that, Stephan having the edge at the flag. Hans Hillebrink (Lotus 20) put in a brilliant performance in his drum braked Class D car, in his dual with Tony Lees (Lola Mk 5A), making up for his qualifying time, by gaining four places by the flag. Also excelling in his class, B, was Alex Morton (Condor SII), giving chase to Peter Laier (Brabham BT2).

Saturday evening we enjoyed a lovely group meal in the city centre, giving an opportunity also for a stroll through the beautiful lit up historic buildings of the Moravian capital, on what was still a very warm night.

Race 2 on Sunday was early afternoon, and Clive ran out the well-deserved winner again, not without Philipp keeping him on his toes this time, while Adrian Russell (Lotus 22) pushed Rudi Friedrichs (Lola Mk 5A) all the way to the finish, but couldn’t quite take 3rd place from him. In the Front-engined class however, Floris-Jan Hekker (Rayberg) and Jan Christians (Elva 100) crossed the line side by side, with Floris just having the advantage and gaining 10th overall. A few mechanicals (drive shafts and clutch) were the DNF’s, but still smiles aplenty, and looking forward to a cold beer!

It’ll be a few years until we’ll be back again, but we’ll definitely be back, the drivers loved the circuit and it’s always a pleasure organising a meeting where you’re truly appreciated by both the circuit and the spectators – so chalk it up for your future wish lists!

Sarah

 

Lurani Trophy Round 3;

Exciting racing, sunshine and seaside socials, what’s not to love about Zandvoort?!

It was the first time for FJ on the new banked circuit, and suffice to say the drivers relished the chance, and loved what they found.

The early Wednesday arrivals were soon followed by the overnighters from the Harwich-Hook ferry, and many were already set up ready for scrutineering by Thursday lunchtime.  This allowed for a leisurely afternoon before the track walk and Swedish midsummer FJ paddock party kindly hosted by newcomer Jan Christians and Lotta, Lars-Goran Sjoberg, and Hans and Merja Hillebrink.  Not too much schnapps though, as it was a 9am briefing on Friday morning, a chance to welcome our other newcomers Arnold Herreman (ex-Ashley-Brown Volpini), Tony Lees (ex-James Murray Lola Mk 5A), and Luca Hoefer (Lotus 22), having his first ever race!

So it was a fantastic sight of 30 FJ’s out onto track for qualifying at 10.20, and once they’d spent a few laps learning the lines, and establishing whether to go low or high into the corners, the order started to be set. It was Series leader Clive Richards (Lotus 22) who took pole, but less than a second covered 1st to 4th on the grid, made up behind him of Alex Ames (Brabham BT6), Manfredo Rossi and Lukas Halusa (both Lotus 22s).  Marty Bullock (Wren) was clear Class D leader, Clinton McCarthy (Lotus 18) was ahead in Class C, with Erik Justesen (U2 Mk2) a couple of seconds clear in Class B, while newcomer Arnold Herreman was clearly having no issues first time out in his Volpini, leading Class A. 
Most impressive however was Luca Hoefer, taking 15th on the grid, on his racing debut.  

We had the best of the Friday weather on track, as not long after our qualifying, rain came, and got progressively heavier.  It eased up just in time for our evening BBQ at Sablon, one of the beach pavilion restaurants, and a brilliant evening enjoyed by all, with the sky clearing completely just in time for us to enjoy the wonderful sunset. 

Saturday morning was an early race start, and very sadly for young Fabien Fabek, his Lotus 22 ceased on the start, thankfully everyone safely avoiding him, but when the tow truck pulled him off the grid through the pit wall gate, it broke his donut which in turn caused chassis damage so that was the end of his weekend.  In a very kind gesture, he then offered his wheels to Paul Booth if needed, after Paul had a puncture in the race.

So it was the safety car out, but only for one lap, and on the restart Ames was tucked right up behind Clive keeping him in check until he got past on lap 3.  Meanwhile Manfredo and Lukas, in almost matching white 22’s, were place swapping until lap 5 when Lukas started to pull away in pursuit of the leading pair.

Danny Baker was making cracking progress on his qualifying position and had worked himself up from 10th to 6th by lap 3, and was ready to pick up the battle with CTL teammate Lee Mowle for the rest of the race, taking the edge by a second at the flag.

Another great race unfolding was between Tony Lees and Luca Hoefer, in fact they were side by side on the last lap, and most definitely both grinning from ear to ear on arrival in parc ferme.

Back at the front though, Clive kept Alex in touch the whole way, but it was to be Ames who took a well-deserved victory, with Lukas 13 seconds adrift in third, and it was a jolly awards presentation on the main stage podium, following live music to warm up the crowd gathered.

Saturday evening was the usual fun parade into town, no FJ’s taking part this year, perhaps wisely, given the low nature of the cars on the public roads, however we were back in action on track at primetime on Sunday, just after midday. Non-starters from Saturday’s retirees were Nick Taylor (engine) and Fabian, but David Watkins had repaired the Elfin radiator, Booth his puncture, Sjoberg the Lola’s floor, Clinton’s 18 had undergone a gearbox change by the Setford boys, Sam Wilson had changed the leaking clutch cylinder on Lees’ Lola,  and Hall and Hall had changed just about everything electrical to rid Buhofer’s Lotus 27 of its gremlins, so it was 27 cars who lined up on the grid for race 2.

This time Clive held on to his advantage from the go, but not without serious chase from Lukas Halusa, who was past Manfredo across the line at the end of lap 1.  Alex sadly picked up a misfire a few laps in, so let Lukas through to give charge on the leader, the result being just 0.6 of a second at the flag separately the first two, and both thrilled at the fun of it.

This left Manfredo to race with Lee and Danny this time round, the CTL Lotus’ having the edge at the end, with Danny once again the victor of the two.  Behind them, Stuart Roach (Alexis Mk 4) was chasing down Buhofer’s 27 and making up the top 10 were Adrian Russell (22), finally putting the bad gearbox luck of Hockenheim and Pergusa behind him, and Rudi Friedrichs, having just got his car repaired in time to catch enough laps of qualifying on Friday morning.

Another jolly prizegiving on the stage, with the Class Winners [Marty Bullock – D, Keith Pickering – C, Erik Justesen B, Arnold Herreman – A], getting the opportunity to be on the podium spraying champagne too, before goodbyes until Brno in mid-July.

by Sarah

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HSCC/FJHRA Silverline Historic Formula Junior Championship Round 4

Donington Park 08.06.24

Entry

The Silverline Historic Formula Junior Championship gathered at Donington Park for Round 4 of the UK Championship. A 36 car entry (minus James Owen, with broken ribs after a mountain bike accident) took part in the single qualifying for the event with the entry being divided into separate races for the Front and Rear engine classes.

It was a cold and gloomy morning with some heavy rain having passed through early before the event started. The promise of improving weather had to wait for the afternoon to appear. Three of the victorious Lotus 20s from Cadwell Park were featured but Andrew Hibberd had switched to his Lotus 22. The Metcalfe family were hoping for better luck for Nathan in the Lotus 20 and Tim Metcalfe in his Cooper T56. Gary Thomas was reunited with his Kieft after his two races in Mark Haynes’ Elva 200.

Charles Cook had his first FJ race in 10 years, replacing his previous rear engine Envoy, with his very recent acquisition, the Nike Mk1, in the front engine race. Later in the day Charles would be sharing with Andrew Hibberd in the Guards Trophy Race with Charles’ Merlyn Mk4 sports racing car, Andrew having shaken down the Nike previously owned by Simon Goodliff at Silverstone on the day before the Donington meeting.  Both cars Charles would be racing being very different from the mighty Attila Chevrolet with which Charles had competed previously.

Tony Lees was having his first run in the ex Winkleman Racing Lola Mk5a formerly owned by James Murray. Sam Wilson was entered in his Cooper T59 along with Nick Fennell in the Lotus 27 and Clive Richards in his Lotus 22. Whilst Mark Bates was running the Lynx Mk2 which J believed he had raced at Donington the previous year, and again at the Silverstone Finals.

Qualifying

As the cars left the assembly area, Andrew Turvey remained stranded, a broken gear linkage being the problem. He was pushed down into the pit lane where they managed to get the car into 4th gear and he was able to qualify his Lola Mk5a. It was not a good session for Lola Mk5a’s as Tony Lees encountered problems with his car when the rev counter stopped working.

5 cars were late starting, those being of Crispian Besley, Martin Aubert, Charles Cook, Charles Besley, and Justin Fleming. All presumably caught out by the club getting ahead of time.

The battle for pole was close with Nick Fennell being the first to top the timing sheets before Clive Richards moved ahead. Sam Wilson came to join the party being the first to go into the 1m 17sec bracket only for the time to be disallowed for exceeding track limits. He rebuilt his lap times before taking pole with a time in the 1m 16 sec bracket. Nick Fennell also got into the 1m 17 7/tenths to join Sam on the first row, and 6/tenths clear of Clive Richards in 3rd place on the timing sheets. Completing the second row would be Andrew Hibberd just 2/tenths behind Clive, with the three class D2 Lotus 20s occupying the next places on the grid, Nic Carlton-Smith being ahead of Nathan Metcalfe and Martin Aubert. Martin sharing row 4 with the first of the front engine runners Alex Morton in the Condor SII. Stuart Monument in his class C2 Lotus 18 was 9th and Robin Longdon this weekend’s stand in for Sarah & Duncan completed the top 10 in his Mk3, being the highest placed Lola. Crispian Besley in 11th would complete row 5 of the rear engine grid.

Charlie Besley in the family Elva 100 would share the front row of the front engine grid with the flying Alex Morton. Chris Astley in his Elva 100 would be on Row 2 with Nick Taylor in his Elva 100. Charles Cook breaking the Elva run with his Nike was joined by the Lola Mk2 of Justin Fleming. Graham Barron in Gemini Mk2 would be next from Mark Russell, having a storming debut for the John Arnold team, and Eduardo & Andrea Guarino all in Elva 100. Bernard Brock would be the final Elva runner whilst the two Stanguellini of Peter Fenichel and Peter Edbrooke completed the Front Engine grid.

Front Engine Race

Alex Morton led away from pole with the Condor taking flight into an ever extending lead he was not to lose. Bernard Brock’s race only lasted long enough for him to leave the grid and pull off onto the grass on the run down to Redgate. His core plug having failed.

Chris Astley came through in second place with Nick Taylor following in third. Charlie Besley was running in 4th with a noise coming from the car that was encouraging him to be cautious. Charles Cook in the Nike was 5th, Justin Fleming 6th Mark Russell, 7th Graham Barron 8th Eduardo Guarino 9th from Andrea in 10th.

On lap 4 Nick Taylor retired with gearbox problems. Charlie Besley having dropped back on lap 1 was now the second fastest car on the track, closing the gap to Chris Astley following the retirement of Nick Taylor.

Peter Edbrooke would be the next retirement with ignition problems on his newly restored Stanguellini.

Charlie Besley closed to within 1/tenth of a second of Chris Astley but was not quite able to make the pass. Charlie detected a noise in the car which was later diagnosed as a loose bearing. With a secure 3rd position Charlie gave up his chase of Chris Astley who closed a little on the dominant Condor of Alex Morton to finish just over 6 seconds behind the winner. Charlie Besley was 3rd, over 25 seconds back from his earlier rival. In the final lap Charlie lost several seconds to Charles Cook who finished 4th just 4 seconds down on the podium place ahead.

Graham Barron finished 7th to take class B1 honours whilst Peter Fenichel completed the top 10 in the Stanguellini to take class A honours.

Rear Engine Race

22 cars lined up for the Formula Junior Rear Engine race.  Conditions were still cloudy but the temperature had risen a little from the morning chill. Nick Fennell made a slow getaway from the front row with Sam Wilson leading the field into Redgate.

At the end of lap 1 it was Sam Wilson leading with Clive Richards in his wheel tracks. There was an almost 2 second gap back to Andrew Hibberd who had Nick Fennell glued to his gearbox. 5th would be Nic Carlton-Smith in the leading Lotus 20 with Nathan Metcalfe and Martin Aubert completing the top 7 places. Robin Longdon in the Lola would be next with Stuart Monument Lotus 18 leading his class in 9th place and completing the top 10 would be James Denty in the family Cooper T56. Paul Booth had an awful first lap dropping back to the very last place in his Lotus 20/22. Tony Lees had made a good FJ debut start from the back of the grid following his problems in qualifying to move up to 16th place.

On Lap 4 the Safety car neutralised the race, when Stuart Monument had the throttle stick open on his Lotus 18 taking him into the gravel trap at Coppice. The car was easily recovered with the race resuming for a lap. This gave Paul Booth an opportunity to pass Ralph Carter moving him to the penultimate position on the track. Unfortunately, at the restart Robin Longdon found his way into the gravel trap at Redgate and the Safety car had its second run of the race.

Once again, excellent work by the Marshals and the recovery team had the circuit ready for racing again two laps later with the race resuming on lap 9. Sam Wilson was never allowed to relax as Clive Richards chased him hard all the way to the flag. Clive did briefly snatch the lead out of the chicane on one lap but he was not able to hold onto it for when they crossed the timing line. Andrew Hibberd had an easier race holding a watching brief in third place with Nick Fennell not being able to close the gap.

John Hutchison Jnr would be the last of the retirements in the Envoy Mk1.

Tony Lees had moved up to 14th place just under a second behind the Lynx of Mark Bates. Andrew Turvey had a slow lap on the next circuit dropping him down the order after his recovery run from the morning problems, with Tony passing Mark Bates on the very last lap to take 12th overall from the back of the grid.

Nic Carlton-Smith finished 5th winning class D2 in his Lotus 20 being shadowed all the way to the flag by Nathan Metcalfe. Nathan having a much better race than dad Tim, who developed a misfire with overheating in his Cooper T56 forcing him to nurse the car in top gear to get to finish the race.

Martin Aubert in his Lotus 20 completed the all Lotus D2 podium. James Denty was 8th winner  of class C2 with Gary Thomas finishing 9th and second, whilst completing the top 10 and the C2 podium in his Cooper T56 was Crispian Besley.

Howden Ganley was on hand to assist Robin and Sue Longdon in the HSCC hub for the awards presentation. The UK championship now takes a short break before making the trip north to Oulton Park for the Gold Cup meeting, where the circuit will roll back the years when Formula Junior will be joined by their Grand Prix counterparts of Historic Grand Prix Cars Association for the next of five gatherings where the UK championship is on the same event programme this year.

By Alan Jones