FJHRA Silverline UK Championship Rounds 11 & 12

FJHRA Silverline Front Engined Championship Rounds 4 & 5

The FJHRA Silverline UK Formula Junior Championship concluded at Silverstone on the National circuit on October 14^th and 15^th. Approaching the final rounds four drivers were still in contention for the overall Championship:- Alex Morton, Michael Hibberd, Nic Carlton-Smith and Horatio Fitz-Simon. Horatio was hoping to add the UK Championship to the Lurani title that he had gained the weekend before at Mugello.

An entry of 39 cars split was across two grids, one for the Front-Engined cars, the other for the Rear-Engined cars, providing four Formula Junior races over the weekend to excite the audience.

In the Front-Engined races Chris Astley was making his second appearance of the year in his Elva 100, whilst Gary Thomas had a run out in the Nota of Mark Haynes whilst still sorting his Kieft for next season.

The Rear-engined grid had a very competitive entry. At the front, Michael O’Brien would be racing the Lotus 27 of Nick Fennell, Cam Jackson was guesting in the family De Tomaso, whilst Sam Wilson had finally got a working first gear in his gearbox in his Cooper T59 to be able to do the standing start. James Denty was giving his Cooper T56 a run, making it four Coopers Nic Carlton-Smith would have to fend off in his class. Mark Williams, after his problematic debut at Castle Combe, was back in the De Sanctis. In class E1, John Gemmill was a new name in the ex-Kim Shearn Lotus 20/22, and Perry Tubb had fired up Greg Thornton’s Lotus 20/22 for a run out.

Qualifying Rear-Engined

The Rear-Engined qualifying was a disjointed session punctuated by a red flag and yellow flags too.

The session had only just started when Syd Fraser’s Lotus 20/22 ground slowly to a halt up against the pit wall. With no safe way to clear the car the session was halted while Syd’s car was recovered, luckily fixed later and would take part in both the races over the weekend.

Once restarted, the contest for Pole Position was fierce. Initially it was Michael O’Brien who took pole, setting a time on lap 7 that just bettered Cam Jackson, both in the 1min 4 secs bracket whilst the others were still in the 1min 5 seconds. Horatio joined them on the next lap but it was lap 9 before Sam Wilson completed a quartet battling for the top slot. Andrew Hibberd and Adrian Russell both in Lotus 22’s remained in the 1min 5 secs bracket, but times for all six fluctuated as they caught traffic on the fast but relatively short ex-airfield circuit.

Perry Tubb was struggling with the Lotus 20/22. He found the gear selection to be awkward and he could not get the car to pick up. He did briefly pull off on the Wellington Straight but was able to restart, doing two laps without setting a time. After qualifying he diagnosed a blocked fuel filter as the problem.

Following his off in the Historic Formula 3 qualifying, Mark Carter seemed a little circumspect, qualifying in 9^th place behind Tim Child and Geoff Underwood. Michael Hibberd would complete the top 10, leading Class D2 in his Lotus 20, ahead of Nic Carlton-Smith, a fellow contender for the Championship title who was leading his Class C2.

A spin by John Gemmill on the last lap at the exit of Woodcote left him stranded in the middle of the track facing the traffic as it passed either side of him. The double yellow flags in that sector brought the session to a close.

At the end of qualifying, it was Cam Jackson who had set the fastest time from Horatio Fitz-Simon, Michael O’Brien and Sam Wilson. However, Jackson, Wilson and Carter, having all set their fastest laps of the session on the last double yellow flag lap, had all their times disqualified and were penalised to start at the back of the grid.

 

Qualifying Front-Engined

Being later in the morning the conditions were dry with a bright sunny sky when the entry of 13 cars for the Front grid came out for their session. From the onset there were two cars contesting for Pole Position; Andrew Hibberd in the family Lola Mk2 and Ray Mallock in his U2. The pair traded fastest lap with Ray taking pole by just over 100^th of a second from Andrew, who was complaining of a gearbox issue.

Alex Morton in the Condor qualified 3^rd overall from Chris Astley in the Elva 100, with Graham Barron in the 1000cc Gemini Mk2 finishing in 5^th. Graham stopped on circuit just before the end of qualifying, but as he had parked up just round the corner after the end of the pill wall when the car lost drive, the qualifying was able to run its short remaining distance without interruption.

Dave Wall was a strong 6^th in his Gemini with Gary Thomas and Justin Fleming in 7^th and 8^th, being separated by just 0.02 seconds. John Arnold in his Elva was 9^th with Andrea Guarino qualifying 10^th. Andrea’s weekend unfortunately ended here due to a gearbox issue later further diagnosis of a broken diff, meaning his son Eduardo, also in an Elva 100, would maintain the family name inheriting the place from Andrea as he had qualified 11^th. Peter Fenichel (Stanguellini) and Peter Edbrooke (Lotus 18 – sole C1 runner) completed the grid.

Rear-Engined Formula Junior Race 1

With three very quick cars starting from the rear of the grid, this always promised to be an exciting race. Having qualified out of session following his problems, Syd Fraser lined up alongside Perry Tubb on Row 13 of the grid to complete a 26 car race. On Row 11 & 12 were the penalised cars, with Mark Carter sharing the penultimate row with Paul Clark who was having issues with his Lotus 20/22 and elected to start at the back.

The front the revised grid had Horatio Fitz-Simon on Pole with Michael O’Brien alongside, the next row was Andrew Hibberd, sharing with Adrian Russell. Behind them it was Geoff Underwood and Tim Child, Geoff’s Brabham being the only interloper in the otherwise Lotus dominated grid.

The additional worry for all was the darkening skies with showers popping up on the radar. Officially they were not due to appear until later in the day but there was a watchful eye upwards.

At the start it was Michael O’Brien who led from Horatio Fitz-Simon. Geoff Underwood had an off at Becketts, rejoining in 24^th place, just ahead of Mark Williams in the De Sanctis and Perry Tubb still not comfortable with the Lotus.

In 3^rd place on Lap 1 was Andrew Hibberd, from Adrian Russell, Tim Child and Alan Schmidt who had started 13^th on the grid. Cam Jackson was already close behind the group having made his way up to 7^th with Michael Hibberd 8^th, Sam Wilson 9^th and Crispian Besley 10^th, leading the Class C2 runners. Nic Carlton-Smith having had a poor first lap dropping back to 15^th and 3^rd in class.

On lap 2, Horatio had a moment at Luffield dropping him back to 6^th place when a local cloud burst caught out a few of the runners. The rain was focused purely around the Luffield/Woodcote area, and Tim Child was another to fall foul of the change of conditions which relegated him to 15^th place. Andrew Hibberd was now occupying the chase position as Michael O’Brien continued to pull away in the Nick Fennell Lotus 27. Adrian Russell remained in 3rd, whilst Sam Wilson had slipped past Cam Jackson into 4^th with Cam 5^th and Horatio shadowing them from 6^th place.

For the next three laps Adrian continued to come under pressure from the squabbling pair behind of Wilson and Jackson who continued to swap 4^th place between them, until on lap 5, Adrian succumbed to the attacks of the group behind him dropping all the way back to 6^th place as Jackson, Wilson and Fitz-Simon all swept past him. Michael Hibberd had lost 7^th place to the Rennmax of Adrian Holey and Nic Carlton-Smith had regained the lead of Class C2 with James Denty 2^nd and Crispian Besley 3^rd in the class behind Nic. The last of the penalised runners, Mark Carter, had made his way up to 10^th place.

With Michael O’Brien extending his advantage to over 7 seconds, barring problems, his second win of the weekend (having won the HF3 race earlier) was beginning to look assured. On lap 7 it was Sam Wilson who brought his Cooper through to second place from Andrew Hibberd, who had the De Tomaso of Cam Jackson on his gearbox. On the following lap Cam was through too and Andrew had his last battle of the race with Horatio, who too went past pursuing the train in 2^nd and 3^rd. It was a bad lap for Andrew as Adrian Russell also went by relegating him to 6^th place. Sam and Cam continued their race with strategic lappery coming into play as each one tried to place a slower car in the way to try to break free from the tow of the other.

At the line, Michael O’Brien took the flag with a 9 second advantage of the battling pair behind, Cam coming home second by 5/100ths of a second from Sam. Horatio, following his early spin, could not make up the deficit finishing just over 5 seconds down in 4^th place, a result that did no favours to his Championship hopes. Fifth was Adrian Russell and Andrew Hibberd 6^th. Tim Child recovered from his spin to finish 7^th whilst 8^th and 9^th were the Speedsport Brabhams, Mark Carter BT6 leading Geoff Underwood BT2. Both drivers having clawed their way through the field.

Completing the top 10 was C2 class winner Nic Carlton-Smith followed in 11^th place by D2 class winner Michael Hibberd. Michael having overtaken 12^th place man Adrian Holey on lap 12. Kim Shearn, back out in the Penny Ford, was 22^nd winning his class, and Mark Williams had his first finish in his De Sanctis, in 24^th to win his class too.

The only non-finisher was Perry Tubb who retired on Lap 10.

 

Front-Engined Junior Race 1

With Andrea Guarino and Dave Wall (diff) non starters following qualifying it was 11 cars that took to the start, and as the saying goes, it only takes two cars to make a race. In the case of the Front-Engined Juniors those two were Andrew Hibberd and Ray Mallock.

At the start it was Andrew Hibberd in the Lola that pulled away from the U2 of Ray Mallock. Alex Morton was 3^rd and Chris Astley 4^th, with Chris’s energetic arms and elbows driving style entertaining the crowd watching from the BRDC stand. The drifting through Luffield always created an air of anticipation with each appearance. Luffield was not such a great joy for Graham Barron though as he spun there on the 1^st lap relegating him to last place giving him a chase to get back up the field.

At the front Andrew continued to head the U2 of Ray, but with the U2 like a terrier snapping at his wheels, it was proving difficult to break away. By lap 7 Andrew had his biggest margin of just over a second on Ray but the U2 came back again. It was on Lap 12 that Ray finally found the opening to take the lead.

Keeping the lead would be more difficult with Andrew close to his wheel tracks. On the final lap Ray came through well clear when Andrew pulled the Lola into the pits, but still taking second place, from Alex Morton and Chris Astley.

Initially John Arnold had held 5^th place behind Chris Astley, but he was passed first by Justin Fleming on lap 3 then Gary Thomas on lap 4. As the field gradually separated the interest in the lower order would be the progress of Graham Barron on his recovery drive. By lap 9 he was back up to 7^th, his target being Justin Fleming in the blue Lola. A very determined drive from Graham had him rise from being almost 8 seconds down on lap 9, to 6/100ths of a second ahead of Justin at the finish on Lap 18.

Peter Fenichel Stanguellini and Peter Edbrooke Lotus 18 were the other class winners.

Rear-Engined Formula Junior Race 2

Looking at the result for Race 2 after the event it would appear as though it was another straightforward win for Michael O’Brien, but at the beginning it did not look like it was going to go his way.

As in the first race, we had three penalised drivers starting from the back and again Michael would line up alongside Horatio. This time it was Horatio who got the better start to lead Michael. Andrew Hibberd was 3^rd, Adrian Russell 4^th, Tim Child 5^th, Michael Hibberd 6^th, Geoff Underwood 7^th, Cam Jackson 8^th, Sam Wilson 9^th and Nic Carlton-Smith having no problems this time 10^th.

Tim Metcalfe didn’t get off the line having broken a drive shaft in his Cooper T56, and Perry retired the Lotus 20/22 not long after, for some work over the winter.

Horatio held onto the lead for 3 laps before Michael O’Brien slipped past bringing with him Andrew Hibberd who maintained the pressure for a further two laps before Horatio regained 2^nd place. On lap 4 Sam Wilson was already up into 4^th place displacing Adrian Russell, with a 4 second deficit to make up before catching 3^rd place. Cam Jackson was also in pursuit from 6^th place.

Mark Carter who had come through the pack so well in Race 1 was really struggling in the second race, gaining places to only slip back again on the next lap. With just two Laps remaining, we got an idea of the issue when he entered Luffield, the car not wanting to turn and locked up in a straight line. Turning the car around Mark pulled off the circuit to retreat back to the paddock. A disappointing end for him in what had been a good season.

Back to the race, and it had settled into a steady order with Michael was leading Horatio, Andrew in third, and Sam closing the gap. On lap 9 Sam moved into 3^rd place with Horatio only just over a second ahead of him.

By lap 10 the interval second to third was measured in mere tenths of a second. Sam was in second on lap 13, with Horatio close on his heels and Cam up to 4^th, with Andrew once again slipping back to 5^th. Adrian Russell was 6^th, Tim Child 7^th and Geoff Underwood 8^th. Michael Hibberd was 9^th embroiled in a three-car battle, trying him best to influence the result of the Class C2 contest behind him involving Nic Carlton-Smith and James Denty.

The lappery was now intense as the pace of the battle for 2nd brought them higher up the placings, meaning by lap 17 Michael O’Brien had been able to extend his lead from almost 9 seconds, to just over 12.

Mark Williams unfortunately couldn’t make it two finishes this weekend in the lovely De Sanctis, pulling off at the Complex on lap 13 which brought out the yellow flags whilst he was pushed to safety. Tim Child also retired on Lap 15, when the coolant hose came loose. I felt a very hot shoulder, saw smoke in the mirror (steam) and got out of the car quickly!

In a dramatic final lap the last twist in the tale was revealed when behind Michael as winner just under 14 seconds clear of his rivals, Sam Wilson came in 2^nd, with Cam Jackson 3^rd ahead of Horatio by just 1/10^th of a second. 

A brilliant finale to a particularly good season of close racing at the front.

Front-Engined Junior Race 2

The dice between Ray Mallock and Andrew Hibberd had been close in Race 1 but Race 2 was even more engrossing, with Ray and Andrew swapping the lead at regular intervals, but neither gaining advantage to break away. On lap 1 it was again Andrew Hibberd that led Ray, but the lead would switch to Ray on lap 3. On lap 6 Andrew reclaimed the lead holding it up until Lap 13, when Ray took the lead for the final 3 laps to the flag.

Alex Morton held a secure 3^rd place throughout giving him sufficient points to finish 2^nd in the overall Championship and winner of the Front-Engined Championship. Graham Barron initially held 4^th place from Justin Fleming who was enjoying a dice with Chris Astley, then on lap 3 Chris came through in 5^th place with Justin having been shuffled back behind Gary Thomas in Mark Haynes Nota, to be 7^th.

Edoardo Guarino had a spin at Becketts on lap 1 losing him a lot of time to rejoin in last place, but gradually he closed the gap to the cars in front.

On lap 6 Chris Astley slipped past Graham Barron who would retire from 5^th place on lap 11 handing the place to Gary Thomas. The race finished with Ray Mallock as the winner making it two in a row for the local man, with Andrew Hibberd just 0.432 seconds behind. Alex Morton 3^rd, Chris Astley 4^th, Gary Thomas 5^th, Justin Fleming 6^th, John Arnold 7^th with Edoardo Guarino 8^th. Peter Fenichel and Peter Edbrooke completing the order both winning their classes.

Prizegiving was a jolly end to a social weekend, with not just the drivers who were entered present, but many visiting too, all making the most of the tea turn and garage shelter, as Nic was confirmed as 2023 Champion, his third in a row.

by Alan Jones

FJHRA/HSCC “Silverline” Championship Round

It was a glorious September morning that greeted the Historic Formula Junior runners in a single race event that combined both the front and rear-engined classes. In amongst the 27-car entry were a few new faces, including Mark Williams who was having his first run out in the 1960 De Sanctis he had bought from Martin Sheppard, a car that had been previously owned by Pat Barford.

Mark who normally races Renault Clios bought the car several years ago without an engine as a piece of art. He had fallen in love with the lines of the little Italian car with no plans to race it. Fast forward a few years and Martin Sheppard was on the telephone again. He had found an original Fiat engine that Mark must buy. Engine installed, the next thing to do was to take the car racing. Castle Combe became the destination and, after a day of testing getting used to a historic car and open wheels, Mark was ready to go.

Martin had brought along his De Tomaso and the red cars looked resplendent in the assembly area side by side as they lined up to qualify. The other newcomer was Paul Booth in the newly purchased ex-Andrew Garside Lotus 20/22. He had tested it at the Silverstone Festival, and this was to be his first race. Ian Robinson was another face who had not raced in Junior for some years, out in the Lola Mk2. Also returning after a break, albeit a shorter one, was Chris Drake who had been living the Rock Star life for the past 6 months and was ready to get back behind the wheel of his Elva 300. Anna Wilson swapped 4-legged horsepower for 4 wheels in the family Brabham BT6, following her success in a National 3-day horse Trial where she finished 2nd the previous weekend, while husband Richard elected to enjoy himself racing the Maserati 250S in the HSCC Griffiths Haig Trophy Race that would qualify immediately after her.

Qualifying

Horatio Fitz-Simon in his Lotus 22 established an early pace setting the fastest lap on lap 6 of the qualifying, being the only driver to go under 1min 15secs. Stuart Roach in the Alexis Mk4 and Mark Carter in the Brabham BT6 appeared to have a contest brewing for second place, until Stuart produced a lap to confirm second on the grid just under 4 tenths slower than Horatio.

Mark Carter was placed third on the grid heading a Speedsport trio of Geoff Underwood (Brabham BT2) in 4^th with Alan Schmidt in the Lotus 22 in 5^th. Andrew Hibberd led the Front-engined runners with 6^th quickest time in the Lola M2 giving the Hibberd team first in front and rear-engined runners.

In 7^th heading his class C was a very happy Nic Carlton-Smith back in his Kieft, engine now running well. Eighth was Robin Longdon in the Lola Mk3 with Chris Drake in the Elva just behind him in 9^th place, only 2 tenths separating them in their class D battle.

Completing the top 10 was Alex Morton in the Condor SII, Graham Barron was 15^th heading class B1. Graham had a few problems to resolve following qualifying which included a flat battery and a misbehaving clutch. It did not stop him setting a time very close to Anna Wilson one place further up the grid.

Unfortunately however, qualifying would see the withdrawal of both Mark Williams with clutch problems and Edoardo Guarino in the Elva 100, with a broken rear trailing arm.

Race

As befits Historic Formula Junior, the cars and drivers were awarded star status lining up for the start of their race early so that the spectators could come down and enjoy a lunch time grid walk. Lending an extra Razzamatazz were the troop of 4 dancers in costume to pose for a group shot at the front of the grid. The presentation did add a little extra pressure on Andrew and Michael Hibberd who were trying to resolve a problem on the Lola, work being conducted amongst the crowd on the grid.

In the assembly area prior to going to the grid Robert Goodwin had been remembering earlier times in the 1990s at Castle Combe when he had raced and beaten Paul Sleeman in a Formula Ford race, Paul having been one of the men to beat at the time. Robert did not think he could replicate that form today particularly with Nic Carlton-Smith ahead of him in his class.

 With the fun over, the cars were led around behind the safety car before forming up for a standing start. From the lights Horatio led away from Stuart Roach, the pair quickly getting away from the pursuing pack. Robin Longdon’s race ended at Quarry on the first lap. Going in a little too quickly on the outside, Robin got onto the grass before coming to a halt against the tyre wall.

Geoff Underwood had made a good start, taking him into 3^rd place ahead of his teammate Mark Carter, whilst Nic Carlton Smith and Andrew Hibberd had slipped past Alan Schmidt. Chris Drake, in the absence of Robin Longdon, had moved into the lead of Class D2, in 8^th place following Alan Schmidt. Crispian Besley in the Cooper was 9^th with Alex Morton rounding out the top 10.

Graham Barron with his car now repaired had leaped up to 12^th place with Paul Booth and Dave Wall coming through having a great scrap for 19^th place. The end of lap 3 and there were some dices brewing. At the front, Stuart Roach had stayed in the wheel tracks of Horatio, Mark Carter was homing in on Geoff Underwood and Andrew Hibberd had slipped back into 8^th place behind Alan Schmidt and Chris Drake.

On lap 4 a number of those watching the timing screens could not believe their eyes. Mark Carter was leading from Geoff Underwood. Where were the front two? As the leaders had come up to pass Peter Edbrooke then Ian Robinson, Ian had spotted the blue flags and attempted to make space, but unfortunately he had misjudged Horatio’s position. Horatio took to the grass in avoidance, but the bumpiness of the terrain caused him to spin back onto the track, and in the ensuing melee all three cars were out. Horatio tried at first to continue, but with coolant coming into the cockpit and a front brake caliper that became detached he decided to park up in a safe place.

By lap 6, Mark had extended his lead to over 4 seconds and it looked like the contest for first was run. In third, Nic Carlton-Smith had a comfortable one second gap back to Alan Schmidt in 4^th who was being caught by Chris Drake. Crispian Besley was being caught by Alex Morton as the second place front-engined runner, and Anna Wilson had found her own sparring partner in Robert Goodwin.

With lappery now coming into play Mark Carter adopted a more circumspect approach to passing slower cars and his advantage back to Geoff Underwood dramatically reduced, coming down to under 4 tenths on lap 10. On the Speedsport pit wall palms were getting a little slippery as the pair looked to be headed for a close finish.

Nic Carlton-Smith in 3^rd place had Chris Drake following but managed to maintain a gap of around one second, Alan Schmidt was in 5^th place with Andrew Hibberd pressing on a lonely 6^th. Alex Morton had however managed to pass Crispian Besley to take 7^th place.

On the penultimate lap it looked like Geoff Underwood could make a challenge for the lead. In the end he finished just 4 tenths back from his teammate Mark Carter, with Nic Carlton-Smith taking 3^rd place, and the three of them enjoying a lap of honour, heads poking out of the sunroof of the circuit’s Honda. Andrew Hibberd and Alex Morton finished 1^st and 2^nd in the front-engined classes with Graham Barron finishing 3^rd, in 9^th overall and winning class B1. In class C2, behind Nic Carlton-Smith, Crispian Besley brought the Cooper T56 home 2^nd with John Hutchison Jnr in the Envoy Mk1 completing the top 10 and taking 3^rd in the class. Robert Goodwin was 11^th and 4^th in the class having lost his sparring partner when Anna made a little mistake which had her brushing the tyre wall without damage to finish 14^th. Martin Sheppard was 15^th in the De Tomaso won class C3 and Peter Fenichel in the Stanguellini was the winner of Class A, after a race long battle to catch Duncan’s Class B2 Alexis, tantalisingly, just ahead. Horatio Fitz-Simons fastest lap of 114.863 shaved 0.031 from Sam Wilson’s (unofficial) lap record, Barron and Carlton-Smith also setting new records in their classes.

It had been a race with an unpredicted result, but amongst the competitors afterwards it was an event that was very much enjoyed, and were pleased to be back at again on rotation, on a circuit that has changed little in front of a very enthusiastic and knowledgeable audience.

by Alan Jones

 

 

 

The Copenhagen Historic Grand Prix was held on its traditionl date – the first weekend of Auguston the street circuit at Bellah in western Copenhagen. This year there were 17 entries, well up from last year, although two dropped out before the race weekend, leaving eight drivers from the UK, three from Sweden, two from Denmark and one each from Norway and Finland.

Some of the UK participants travelled via Harwich-Hoek van Holland overnight and some via Calais: on board Stena Line were the Rabagliatis, Chisholms with the white Gemini 3A, engine rebuilt by Sam Wilson, Taylors with the Elva 100 and full Team GENK-P with their long motorhome and trailer, which really must be quite a handful on German no overtaking roads, but that is if you do obey the rules and (unlike the late David Stevenson) don’t get caught!! Calais bound were Iain and Stewart Rowley,  now with two car trailer containing the Alexis and Stephen Bulling’s Elva 300, for Iain to drive, and the Longdon and Ferris motorcades, with Robin this time in the Mk 5A. We would have had Peter Anstiss in Lotus 20/22, but Peter’s back had given way in the preparing period, so Peter wisely called off the trip, rather than risk a setback and leaving Jan to repatriate motorhome and Lotus. Late arrival was Vern Williamson’s Class D Lynx 115 brought along by two of his friends, Steve and Chris Gibson, from the Darlington and District Motor Club, more usually found at Croft Circuit.

Scandanavia-wise, the entry was headed by organiser, Jac Nellemann in the Volpini, but sadly that was still without gearbox, but his familiar Alfa Dana was there with Danish hot-shoe, Johan Schwartz thoroughly enjoying his maiden run; also from Denmark was Lars Jensen in the ex-David Grant Elva 100, poor Lars suffering permanent long covid damage, but that has not stopped him also acquiring the ex-Syd van der Vyver Cooper- Alfa Romeo T43 F2-22-57 direct from South Africa and a F3  T83 screamer F3-1-66. Also entered was Alan Bach-Srensen with the Saxon-DKW, but he withdrew pre-race just as at the Karlskoga race in June. Petter Huse came from Norway with wife Elisabeth and the Focus IV: Lars-Gran Sjberg had the Swebe- Cooper (although the T59 was tucked up in the trailer as a spare, but primarily intended for the Oldtimer GP the following weekend). Also from Sweden were Ulf Pettersson in Lola Mk3 BRJ33 and Christer Larsson (with wife Ann) in his T52 Cooper. Christer’s daughter and grandson were also there and Grandad was making encouraging noises for the future about the MRS-Saab. Finally from Finland was the Lotus 20/22 inspired Elhoo with Reijo af Heurlin, a car last seen at Copenhagen in 2013.

As ever, the social part is important at the CHGP, so for the FJ participants the event started off on Thursday night with a champagne reception (with tasty snacks) hosted by the CHGP supremo, Jac Nellemann.

The social element continued on Friday with a parade into the city centre and a reception at the Copenagen Town Hall before it was time for a free practice session in nice weather, contrary to the heavy showers of Thursday. The two white cars (the Elhoo of Rejo af Heurlin and the Gemini of Sir John Chisholm) were immediately in trouble, the Elhoo with an engine that just stopped and the Gemini with a loose clutch slave cylinder. Ulf Pettersson (Lola Mk 3) and Christer Larsson (Cooper T52) both had gear selection problems. For the rest nothing dramatic happened with Petter Huse (Focus Mk IV), Robin Longdon (Lola Mk 5), Nick Taylor (Elva 100) and Keith Pickering (Britannia) being the fastest.

The schedule for Saturday comprised qualifying for the first race before lunch time and then the race in the afternoon. As usual in Copenhagen that first race was just to decide the grid positions for Sunday’s all deciding final. The weather had changed to overcast, but no rain was expected until Sunday.

Fastest qualifier was Robin Longdon with 118.4 followed by Taylor, Pickering, Huse, Chisholm and Rowley, this group of six covered by a little over four seconds. Then there was a gap of another four seconds down to the next group of Sjberg, Schwartz, Ferris and Jansen covered by only two seconds. The remaining grid was headed by Williamson, who was followed by Rabagliati, Larsson, Pettersson and finally af Heuriin, who only managed to crawl around for one lap. Petter Huse had suffered a loose rear wheel bearing, just as at Karlskoga, despite having made and installed new parts. Chisholm had a loose oil union and for Pettersson, Larsson and af Heurlin, their problems from Friday’s practice session continued. On top of his gearbox problems, Larsson was selected for a noise test and did not pass. An extra addition to the silencer solved the problem. Finally, Lars Jansen was moved back four places on he grid after having run over one of the floppy corner markers at one of the chicanes.

The start of race 1 was delayed because of crashes in earlier races. The impression is that this happens almost every year; it seems that the organisers never manage to include enough time in the time table for clearing the track. Once let out on the track, more delays followed; the first start was abandoned for yet another formation lap to allow for the recovery of af Heurlin’s Elhoo, which once more stopped on the track before being able to reach the grid. When the starting sequence began for the second start effort, Pickering signalled that he was in trouble, so the red lights remained lit, but that did not stop the others from roaring off as if it was a proper start. The safety car intervened and after following it for two more laps, the field was once more lined up on the grid in their correct positions (there had been some overtaking in between) but without Pickering, who had fried his clutch. Also missing were af Heurlin and Pettersson, who could not find any gears (or more specifcally, he found the reverse when he should have found third).

Finally the race got underway, reduced by the number of laps spent behind the safety car, with Longdon taking the lead ahead of Huse. They changed positions once, but Longdon retook the lead and kept it. Chisholm held third place ahead of Taylor. Sjberg had made a good start, and was ahead of Rowley during part of the first lap, but then a misfire caused him to drop back to retire after six laps, not because of the misfire but becaue the clutch pedal refused to move (later diagnosed as being caused by a broken engine mount allowing the engine to drop down on one side). On the eighth lap, Chisholm took the turn into the bus stop chicane too tightly and hit the concrete wall head on causing a red flag. He was taken to hospital with injuries to his back, face and feet.

The race was not restarted so the results were declared on count-back to the lap before the red flag giving Longdon the win a little over a second ahead of Huse and then Chisholm (!) in third with Taylor in fourth and fastest front-engined car. Then followed Rowley, Ferris, Schwartz and Jansen all on the same lap as the winner; next one lap down were Williamson, Rabagliati and Larsson, Larsson with a bent nose after having hit one of the styrofoam corner markers. Sjberg was also classified in 12th and last position. Fastest lap was credited to Longdon with 117.314.

The weather forecast for Sunday said there was a risk of rain about the time when the FJ race should start. Had the start been on time, the rain might have been avoided, but that was not to be. Delays in preceding races meant that the FJ race set off more than 1.5 hours late and by then there was a light drizzle making the track very slippery. Non-starters were Chisholm, af Heurlin having given up on trying to complete more than one lap, and Sjberg who, when having made a temporary engine mount, heard unpleasent noices from the Renault gearbox. Pettersson made yet another effort, but something was seriously wrong inside the Lola’s transmission. The rear-wheels locked on the formation lap causing an extra formation lap for the rest of the starters while the Lola was towed back to the pits with locked rear wheels.

Longdon took the lead off the grid but was passed by Taylor in the Elva before the second corner for a lead that he would keep until the chequered flag. Taylor and Huse seemed to pull away from Longdon, but he caught up with Huse once again and managed to pass only to brake too late into the corner after the start/finishing straight where he had to take an extra turn to get back on the racing line. This allowed Huse back into second but some 5-6 seconds behind Taylor. The race finished with Nick Taylor having his first race win in seven years, his previous one also being at Copenhagen. Then followed, at long intervals, Huse and Longdon ahead of Rowley and Pickering (up from last on the grid), Ferris, Schwartz, Rabagliati, Jansen, Williamson and Larsson. Huse made fastest lap with 129.525, but was not able to keep up with Taylor’s front-engined Elva.

As so often before, the social part of the weekend ended with a five-course dinner hosted by Jac Nellemann in the famous elevator (= the VIP dining room) at the –stergro roof-top restaurant. The weather this time, with rain pouring down and a strong and gusty wind, did not allow for the welcoming drink to be had outside, so instead it was shifted to nearby motorcycle club – The Dead Cat Motorcycle Club. As far as we could see, they neither belonged to Hell’s Angels, nor Bandidos but proved to be nice veteran motorcycle enthusiasts.

By Lars-Goran Sjoberg (with DCPR)

FJHRA/HSCC “Silverline” Championship Rounds 6 & 7

Of the 29 entries, 28 cars assembled to qualify on the Friday afternoon for their two races of the weekend. Top Kieft runner and Class C leader Nic Carlton-Smith had blown his engine in testing. John Arnold came to the rescue for Nic’s Championship hopes with the offer of Niall McFadden’s Elva 100. Nic reappeared on Saturday morning starting with a race to Scrutineering to get himself onto the back of the grid, bringing the total back up to 29. Sarah Mitrike had organised sunshine albeit in blustery conditions for the qualifying and all hoped her skills would continue to prevail for the rest of the weekend.

Qualifying

Lotus cars dominated the top of the timing sheets with the first 7 all being Lotus chassis. At the start it appeared that Horatio Fitz-Simon in his Lotus 22 would have some competition from Sam Wilson in the Lotus 20/22 for pole position, but on laps 4 and 6 Horatio put in a pair of times that left him with a 1.3 second advantage over his pursuers. The gap between Sam Wilson and Clive Richards being a lot closer, Sam having the advantage of just 5/100^th from Clive in the Lotus 22.

Nick Fennell in the Lotus 27 completed the top 4, with Tim Child 5^th and Philip Buhofer in the second Lotus 27 6^th. Adrian Russell would finish 7^th with the Brabhams of the SpeedSport teammates Mark Carter BT6 and Geoff Underwood BT2 8^th and 9^th respectively with Michael Hibberd in his Class D2 Lotus 20 completing the top 10.

11^th was John Sykes in the Magic Merlyn bearing the tribute to its former owner Denis Welch on the side. Alex Morton in the Condor S2 headed the front-engined runners. Adrian Holey in the ex-Bubbles Horsley Ausper T3 was fastest in class D2, with Robert Goodwin in his Kieft inheriting Class C2 honours for the Kieft marque.

Anna Wilson woke up a number of the gentlemen classifying 14^th in her Brabham BT6 as she found her form late in the session, recording a time two seconds quicker than her previous best, and was rightly very pleased with her time. It was only the second time she had been in the Brabham at Oulton Park, the last time being in 2020, her race skills having been homed in an MGB and the evidence of her progress was clear with her grid position.

Bill Cowing having his final race outings in his Ginetta G8 won his class battle with Kim Shearn in the Penny Ford to qualify 21^st and 22^nd respectively.

Race 1

The cars formed up on the grid in sunshine on Saturday morning for the first of their two 25-minute races. From the start it was Horatio Fitz-Simon who set off into the lead but close on his tail was Sam Wilson. The two broke away from Clive Richards in 3^rd place whilst, behind, Nick Fennell and Tim Child were embroiled in a three-car battle that included Philip Buhofer. ^Adrian Russell was 7^th with Mark Carter in 8^th and Michael Hibberd heading class D in 9^th with Geoff Underwood completing the top 10.

Best start came from Graham Barron in his Class B1 Gemini Mk2 who came up from 17^th on the grid to 13^th on the opening lap.

For four laps Sam Wilson harried Horatio, the gap never being more than a tenth of a second from laps two to four. On lap 5 however, Horatio appeared with a clear lead from Clive Richards, Sam having had to retire when his car’s throttle stuck open. Horatio continued to extend his advantage from Clive who had opened up a very comfortable gap of 16 seconds from the dicing trio of Fennell, Child and Buhofer.

On lap 7 the trio would become a duo as Tim Child pulled into the pits when the selector fork broke on his Lotus 22. On lap 5 Nic Carlton-Smith’s drive from the back of the grid ended when he retired from 22^nd place with a seized diff. Both Kim Shearn and Justin Fleming also retired on lap 5, Justin Fleming when a diff output shaft sheared and Kim having engine problems which resulted in a suspected bent valve.

 As the race settled the main dice was for the final position on the podium between Nick Fennell and Philip Buhofer, with Adrian Russell settled into 5^th place, Mark Carter following in 6^th, a cv joint failure causing Mark’s Brabham to pull off on lap 10. Bill Cowing’s race long duel with Sharon Adelman unfortunately ended in the gravel trap for the Ginetta at Cascades, a trip onto the grass proving to be unrecoverable.

With Mark Carter retired, his SpeedSport teammate Geoff Underwood in the Brabham BT2 moved into 6^th place. Michael Hibberd, leading class D2, was now 7^th, with Martin Mc Hugh having a stunning drive from 15^th place at the end of the first lap to finish 8^th. John Sykes brought the magic Merlyn into 9^th place with Alex Morton completing the top 10 in the class B2 winning Condor S2. Robert Goodwin was 12^th with Anna Wilson coming home 13^th from 17^th at the end of lap 1. Graham Barron and Peter Edbrooke completing the list of Class Winners.

Race 2

An HSCC paddock is always a great place when you are in trouble. Hall and Hall were able to come to the rescue for Mark Carter. Robin Longdon was able to rescue Justin Fleming as he had the part back in the workshop. However, no quick fixes for Kim Shearn and Nic Carlton-Smith, whose Penny Ford and borrowed Elva 100 could not be returned to the grid for the second race. Additionally, Peter Fenichel was having gearbox problems with the Stanguellini, and having lost 2^nd gear he did not want to create anymore damage prior to Silverstone at the end of the month.

With the cars in the assembly area waiting to line up for the grid, the rain that had long held off began to fall. At this point Philipp Buhofer decided not to start and headed back to the paddock. Luckily it started as a drizzle and not the potential downpour as threatened, but the race would become progressively wetter with all the drivers hunting for grip on the increasingly slippery surface.

At the start Horatio Fitz-Simon made an impressive getaway with an opening margin of over 3 seconds which he was able to consolidate. Sam Wilson was able to contain Horatio’s advance taking the fastest lap of the race on lap 3 in his pursuit. Horatio appearing to always have a little bit left in reserve to take his second win of the weekend. Following Horatio and Sam was Clive Richards in an unchallenged 3^rd position with a fixed Tim Child settling into 4^th place from Adrian Russell.

Nick Fennell starting from 4^th on the grid had a disastrous first lap plummeting down the order to 24^th. Nick retired into the pits on lap 8 only having recovered to 17^th place.

Following Adrian Russell was Mark Carter in the repaired Brabham BT6 who had Michael Hibberd following for a lap before he was deposed by John Sykes in the Merlyn. Those two, along with Alex Morton, having slipped past Geoff Underwood at the start.

On lap 4 Underwood did manage to repass Hibberd and Morton, but the places continually swapped over the remaining laps. With Underwood enjoying one battle, ahead his teammate Mark Carter was being kept equally busy by John Sykes. On lap 6 the Merlyn moved into 6^th place for two laps before Mark in the Brabham regained position.

Michael Hibberd did eventually take 8^th place overall by just 0.6 seconds on his way to winning class D2. In 9^th place was Geoff Underwood and completing the Top 10 was Alex Morton, class B2 winner.

Anna Wilson concluded her race coming home 11^th having kept at bay class B1 winner Graham Barron in the Gemini Mk2 and Martin McHugh who was almost sharing the cockpit with Barron as the difference in time was only 1/1000^th of a second.

Our final retirement was Justin Fleming whose rear suspension broke on one side, causing the car to instantly spin off into the barrier. Justin luckily was unharmed, but the Lola will need some repairs before its next outing.

Chris Wilks in the Deep Sanderson ended the run of Kieft victories in Class C2 taking the honours from Robert Goodwin. Bill Cowing ended his racing career with a class win in the Ginetta which will now be up for sale. Bill is going off on his next venture celebrating 50 years of marriage with a little bit of globe trotting, to compensate his wife for the years he spent racing. Peter Edbrooke completed the class winners in his C1 Lotus 18.

Under umbrella’s and easy up, the final prizes were awarded with Howden Ganley holding a watching brief as Sarah kissed her way through the presentations.

Judging by the broad smile at the end of the race it would appear that Sarah coaxing John Sykes to return to Oulton with the magic Merlyn had been really enjoyed. Hopefully we will see him take part in  a few more races soon.

By Alan Jones

FJHRA/HSCC “Silverline” Championship Rounds 8 & 9

Undoubtedly the biggest event of the year for Formula Junior is the Silverstone Festival, formerly known as the Classic. The meeting brings together Historic Racing from across the years, mixed with a variety of entertainment, ranging from static displays of modern era Formula One cars, to on track demonstrations celebrating 75 years of Silverstone Grand Prix, along with a similar anniversary for the American NASCAR. There were car club displays, stage performances, interviews, a fun fair and a foodie fest with celebrity Chefs demonstrating their culinary arts. The evenings featured musical performances from some famous acts.

Of course, the real action was in the National Paddock where the Formula Junior family got together to party and enjoy the hospitality in the garage. I think it must have been the selection of cakes being prepared that had lured so many out. It was a truly International entry of 56 cars vying for the 54 spaces available on the grid. We had Danny Baker from California experiencing an English summer for the first time. Danny’s Lotus 27 arrived in Europe in April, he raced at Lurani Dijon in June, and following the Festival he will be taking part in the Goodwood Revival before going onto Mugello. Rich Spritz had been busy at home in the USA, his run in the BMC Mk1 being his only visit for the year, whilst also joining us in the Trans-Atlantic Challenge were Timothy and Harindra de Silva in Brabham BT2 and Lola Mk 2 respectively, under the supervision of Team Hibberd. Andrew and the team had plenty to keep them busy in the Junior race. They were fielding Michael, and Andrew Hibberd, along with Horatio Fitz-Simon, Clive Richards plus the de Silvas. Andrew was hoping for a clean sweep of the pots with his spread bet approach, but they had lots of competition for those podium spots throughout the field.

Katsu Kubota was having one of his rare appearances in the UK with the Mirage Team, whilst SpeedSport Team were competing with the Hibberds on both quantity and quality, with 4 cars. Regulars this season Geoff Underwood (Brabham BT2), Mark Carter (Brabham BT6) and Alan Schmidt (Lotus 22), were joined by Michael O’Brien in a Lotus 27 loaned by Marty Bullock, hoping to repeat his double wins of the previous year.

Thursday was a dedicated test day for the event, which did prove to be just that, testing. Nic Carlton-Smith found the new engine in the Kieft was not all plain sailing, but luckily Mark Haynes was able to loan him the Elva 200 in his effort to maintain his Championship position but that did require some work to have it ready for the Friday, the Elva having been used on the hills rather than circuits recently. The session also proved difficult for Michael O’Brien as a number of issues became apparent, including an off clipping Danny Baker, as Michael struggled with the brakes, which were to be resolved overnight.

Nic’s woes were not over when testing finished, however, when on Friday morning he found himself locked out of his Streamliner Caravan after having taken a shower. Peter Anstiss, Martin McHugh and many others rallied round to ensure Nic was suitably suited and booted with borrowed items aplenty in time for qualifying but he was not to be reunited with his clothing until his wife arrived on the Friday evening.

Qualifying

The qualifying that took place on Friday gave everyone a taste of the race potential to come, with Michael O’Brien sitting at the top of the times for most of the qualifying session with Horatio Fitz-Simon hard in his wheel tracks. If you combine all of Michael’s best sectors he would have been on pole, but he could not find that final link. As the session drew to a close Sam Wilson put together the time that would give him pole in his Lotus 20/22, with Michael second, Horatio third and Clive Richards fourth. The top 4 were covered by less than a second.

Team Hibberd was on a roll. Andrew Hibberd was easily top of the front engine runners starting 17^th on the grid, with Andrew’s Dad Michael 20^th on the grid heading class D2 and Andrew’s class rival Ray Mallock was unusually far back in 21^st.

There were some surprises too, with Simon Jackson running Cam Jackson’s De Tomaso 63, heading the chasing pack in 5^th on the timing sheets. Alongside him was the highly competitive Tim de Silva (Brabham BT2), with Samuel Harrison in Adrian Holey’s ex-Roger Ealand Rennmax alongside Alex Ames in his Brabham BT6, having his first run in the Junior for this year. Samuel’s effort was more remarkable as he first drove this car in testing on Thursday. Completing the top 10 on the Grid were Lukas Halusa (Lotus 22) and Nick Fennell (Lotus 27). Philipp Buhofer’s Lotus 27 would have been part of that top 10 but he had to withdraw his car with a blown engine following qualifying. Philipp would get to compete in the race, starting from the back however, as his Hall and Hall team went back to base to pick up his Brabham BT6 which son Lukas has been campaigning in Lurani this season, and Rudi Friedrichs in Philipp’s loaned Lola Mk 5A had to return home allowing space in the capacity field.

With Nic Carlton-Smith not in the formerly ultra reliable Kieft, it was Andrew Taylor who headed class C2. Richard Ferris in the Donford (E2) and Tom De Gres (A) in the Stanguellini being the other class leaders.

Chris Wilks in the Deep Sanderson was the other unfortunate retiree from qualifying with a substantial hole in his engine. For Chris this was the end to his racing for the weekend, but the Deep remained on display. The expiration of Chris’s engine did result in a few hairy moments for the unwary as some found the oil laid at the end of the qualifying session, Crispian Besley being the spinner although Andrew Taylor had put his hand up to warn the following pack. Sharon Adelman retired early in the session in her Brabham BT6 following a first lap incident. However, she qualified out of session in her Ginetta to enable her to take her place on the back of the grid.

Following qualifying there was some work for the teams to be ready for the race on Saturday morning. Michael O’Brien was having problems with the gearbox, Horatio had a broken rocker cover that caused him to finish the session early and Alex Ames had gear linkage issues. Samuel Harrison felt the engine was down on power and that he was losing time on the straights, the handling however was good.

That evening was the annual Marshal’s BBQ, arranged by Iain Rowley, which raised £450 towards the costs and donation to the Marshals Club, helped by the huge support he had from the Formula Junior Paddock. Well done to everyone.

Race 1

Friday evening had seen heavy rain pass through, and Saturday morning dawned dull and chilly, with the wet creating a mist and leaving the track very damp and slippery in parts. The opening laps were going to be a challenge for the drivers. Sam Wilson commented that he was not too concerned where he was in the opening laps so long as he was part of the leading group.

Starting their formation laps from the National/Heritage Pits, 53 cars were led around by the Safety Car for one and a half laps, ready for the rolling start from the modern wing complex. Katsu Kubota’s team were still getting him going in the Wing paddock as they went out on track, and despite them getting to the National paddock with permission to join the race late, the engine troubles couldn’t quite be resolved.

At the start Michael O’Brien led, pulling out a lead that was not to last for even one lap. Michael pulling off at Becketts with a gearbox that had destroyed itself, leaving last year’s double winner a spectator.

The man who had chased Michael to the line last year, Horatio Fitz-Simon, led across the line at the end of lap one, with Sam Wilson in 2^nd place, Samuel Harrison 3^rd from 7^th on the grid, and Alex Ames who shared the row four with him up, to 4^th place from 8^th.

These four quickly established a lead over the pursuing group, which was headed by Tim de Silva from Clive Richards, and like the front four, these two would break away to have their own race long battle.

Clinton McCarthy was another first lap retiree, and then on lap 2 at Copse the slippery conditions led to what Crispian Besley, who was following, described as a frightening accident. Stuart Monument and Andrew Beaumont locked wheels briefly, pitching Stuart into a roll. Both drivers were thankfully able to walk away from the accident, but Andrew suffering concussion necessitating a hospital check up, having been impacted twice on the head as the Lotus rolled over. Credit to the marshals and the officials, who had the cars safely away meaning no Safety Car was needed.  

Back to the race lead, and the event camera team had their lenses glued to the battle at the front of the field, as the four drivers provided a superb demonstration of how to race closely and cleanly. The cameras showed the different strategies of dealing with slower cars to maintain or gain advantage over your opponents combined with exploring alternative lines into the open corners of the Silverstone circuit. Horatio was probably the best at the latter, but as the race progressed his exit and entry into some of the corners was becoming a cross between rally driver and Gerry Marshall as the tail hung out in a bid to maintain momentum. With just three minutes left on the clock, a half spin exiting Stowe left the door wide open for his opponents to nip through.

It was now a two-horse race for the top step between Sam Wilson and Alex Ames. Samuel Harrison who had not fared as well in some of the heavy traffic kept a watching brief in a safe third place with Horatio now following in fourth place. With Alex Ames leading, Sam Wilson found the gap entering Luffield to take the inside and the lead when Alex missed a gear. Alex was not going to give up, with the pair running side by side, with time on the national pit straight to look across to each other and exchange a cheeky wave, no doubt accompanied by broad grins on their faces. Sam took victory by just 2 tenths of a second. Samuel Harrison coming home 3^rd in what could be a first podium for the Rennmax, from Horatio in 4^th place.

Behind the action on camera, Tim de Silva and Clive Richards continued their close dice for 5^th place, Tim taking the place with an even narrower margin of .017 seconds. The Juniors do know how to put on a race.

Andrew Hibberd finished 10^th to win the front engine classes (B2) having had a great race with Richard Wilson in the Brabham BT6. Following them Nick Fennell, Lee Mowle and Stuart Roach had enjoyed a super tussle for 11^th place. Michael Hibberd (D2), Andrew Taylor (C2), Richard Ferris (E2) and Tom De Gres (A) all won their respective classes.

From the back of the grid Philipp Buhofer finished 25^th, whilst Nic Carlton-Smith in the Elva 200 finished 32^nd and 4^th in his class.

Other retirements were Simon Jackson who tangled with Stuart Tizzard during lappery, Rich Spritz who has a rod connection to the throttle and the securing bolt unfortunately became detached leaving him powerless. Crispian Besley was the last retirement with alternator problems.

Race 2

Following the Race 1 incidents, and mechanical problems from qualifying, there were still 49 healthy runners and riders who took to the start for the second Formula Junior race which opened proceedings on Sunday morning. The names at the front of the grid were familiar with Sam Wilson starting alongside Horatio Fitz-Simon. Clive Richards had Tim de Silva sharing the second row and on row 3 were our race 1 podium finishers of Samuel Harrison and Alex Ames.

Starting from the back in the Brabham BT6 with which he won the two Silverstone Classic races last year was Michael O’Brien, Mark Carter having stepped down from the drive to give Michael a shot at the podium.

The opening lap was hectic, with Horatio taking the lead from Alex Ames, Sam Wilson shuffled back to 3^rd and Tim de Silva 4^th. Contact in the opening corners had led to Peter Strauss spinning off into the gravel trap, having made contact with Tom De Gres and that was Peter’s race exit. Tom pitted but was able to restart. Pierre Guichard then pulled off at the exit of Becketts and required a full lift, and this introduced the Safety Car. Some confused communication between the driver and the officials making the rescue a little slower.

Further down the order Andrew Hibberd was not having such an easy time in the front engine class as he had Ray Mallock for close company. Michael O’Brien had hoped for a Safety Car to keep him in contention and within the first lap when it was introduced, he had cleared half of the field to be lying in 25^th place.

When the Safety Car was able to release the pack again, it was Horatio who led from Alex Ames, Alex then running wide, allowing Sam Wilson through into second place, with Tim de Silva 4^th, Samuel Harrison in 5^th and Clive Richards 6^th. Sam Wilson then took the lead from Horatio for a couple of laps, and these six broke off into pairs with Sam and Horatio creating a gap that would not be bridged again. The following four continued to squabble and at one point the battle between de Silva and Ames created a four-car chain before Alex finally broke clear.

For Michael O’Brien the Safety Car period looked to work against him as the cars in front of him were not close enough at the restart for him to be able to take full advantage. However, he did battle through to 8^th place with a car he described as being down on power.

The race amongst the front-engined runners was a lot closer this time, with Ray Mallock pushing Andrew Hibberd really hard, but not as hard as Horatio was chasing Sam Wilson. Their battle for the lead, bringing an even closer finish. This time the margin was .021secs on the line when on the final corner Horatio again ran wide and Sam Wilson was able to take the opportunity to take the inside line out of club to score his second and well deserved win at the Festival.

Alex Ames came home in 3^rd place to complete his podium double. Fourth was Tim de Silva, Clive Richards 5^th and Samuel Harrison 6^th, with Lukas Halusa 7^th. Michael O’Brien was 8^th with Richard Wilson in 9^th place leading the trio with Mark Woodhouse and Nick Fennell in close contention.

Ray Mallock also left his challenge for the front-engined race to the last lap. He waited until entering Luffield so he could complete the manouevre in front of the BRDC Clubhouse. Another day of great close racing, as he took the front victory.

The only remaining retirements were Crispian Besley again falling foul of electrical gremlins with Stuart Roach completing the list of retirees, coil being the reason. Tom De Gres, who lost so much time in the pits having his car checked over, put on a terrific display as he caught the Safety Car chain, eventually finishing 40^th and winning his class. The other class winners were, Michael Hibberd, Andrew Taylor and Richard Ferris.

Prize-giving took place each day, with Silverline Tools and trophies aplenty, and Sam Wilson was awarded FJ driver of the weekend. A great atmosphere in the garages, and another wonderful FJ weekend.

by Alan Jones

 

 

 

 

 

 

FJHRA/HSCC SILVERLINE Championship Round 5

The fifth round of the UK Championship was on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit at the HSCC Legends of Brands Hatch Superprix – but it was to turn out to be anything but Super – perhaps the Brands Hatch Safety-Car-Prix?

FJ had an excellent entry of 31 cars, after Dave Wall had withdrawn due to injury, with 30 taking to qualifying after James Hicks was a non-starter following an impact with the tyre wall in pre-event testing in his Caravelle. Very rapid pilot Chris Astley made his second FJ appearance in his dad’s Indy Elva 100, looking very American in its number 13 paint-job, whilst Andrea Guarino joined son Edoardo in the Elva ranks at the helm of Niall McFadden’s car. Kim Shearn guested in the Penny F3 and James Buckton drove Adrian Holey’s Ausper T3, Adrian being absent from the entry as the Rennmax’s engine was not yet repaired.

The weather forecast had not been very promising, but, aside from a strong gusty wind, the day was pleasant with sunshine and the occasional very brief shower scudding through on the wind. Qualifying was a 12.05 and there was a dark cloud over the GP loop so a quick early time looked like a good plan and Clive Richards was quickest on the first flying lap with 144.645. Simon Jones then spun at Bottom Bend and was unable to restart, his car broadside across the track, which meant out came the safety car and six minutes were lost whilst it was decided to send a tow-car from the pit lane, round Paddock and Druids to tow him the 100 yards to the back of the pits – no doubt there is some rule preventing the obvious move of the tow-car coming from the back of the pits…..

Once the green flag appeared Horatio Fitz-Simon put in a 141.349 to pip Clive’s 141.790. It then started to spit with rain. Although it was not enough to wet the track, it perhaps had a psychological effect and the times did not fall until the very last lap when Clive crossed the line with 141.199, but Horatio followed him across with 140.817 to nab pole. There was over 1.5 to Nick Fennell (Lotus 27) in third, with Stuart Roach (Alexis Mk4) making up the second row. Nic Carlton-Smith, visibly quick through Paddock, was a most commendable eighth and, naturally, fastest in C2. Alex Morton (Condor SII) was ninth and first B2 with Michael Hibberd (Lotus 20) eleventh and best in D2. Chris Astley, also looking very fast, was best of the flotilla of five Elva 100s by over six seconds!

The race was scheduled to be the penultimate of the day, which is usually bad news with Brands strict curfew and the HSCC’s very ambitious timetable. Only 12 minutes down-time between races leaves no chance of recovering from delays and, as previous years have shown, HSCC Brand GP events are notorious for red-flags, safety cars and the need to recover stranded cars after races. So it was no great surprise that the timetable was running 25 minutes late (mostly due to a red-flag in the F.Ford race and the bizarre decision to restart it over the full distance despite them having already run three laps and effectively costing the timetable some 20 minutes), and so the Junior’s race was cut to 18 minutes from the bought & paid for 25.

But this was only the start of the woes. Into Paddock on lap 1 Horatio led Clive, Nick and Stuart and it was the same at the end of the lap, with the pair of red Lotus 22s already clear of the next couple, then a clear gap to Rudolf Ernst, flying in his Lotus 22, Tim Child (also Lotus 22), Carlton-Smith and Adrian Russell (blue Lotus 22). Clive got ahead of Horatio on the second lap but the order changed back at Surtees so next time through the order was unchanged except for Adrian passing Nic. Then the safety-car came out as Peter Fenichel (Stanguellini) visited the Paddock gravel. Peter Said I … slid sideways so actually didn’t spin around but ended up, luckily, only a few feet into the gravel but the car flooded so look it a few minutes to get restarted. Very good work by the marshals as they waited until I got the car restarted and then pushed me just hard enough to get rolling and not dig deeper in the gravel. Had to then wait quite some time on the rumble strip for an opening to rejoin. As a result the safety-car was, perhaps, unnecessary and it came in after one tour.

But, the oft quoted saying safety cars breed safety cars proved only too true. Horatio approached the green fairly slowly so the field was in a very tight bunch and it came undone at Druids where Richard Ferris (Donford) tangled with Alan Schmidt (Lotus 22) and out came the safety car again. Unfortunately, the safety car train was just coming to Clearways as the second car was towed back to the pits so another lap of the safety car was required, meaning that in all some 10 minutes were lost and there was just one green flag lap to the chequer. Fitz-Simon led and although Richards swept out of his slipstream it was Horatio’s win by 0.147. Class winners were Carlton-Smith, Hibberd and Morton with Shearn and Edbrooke who were unopposed in theirs.

One could only feel sorry for the drivers, many of whom had made long trips, only to get a total of 19 minutes green flag running compared to the expected 20 + 25 minutes.

by Richard Page