FJHRA Silverline Formula Junior UK Championship – Round 1
Following an overnight thunderstorm the sun was shining bright on the Front Engine Formula Junior cars as they lined up in the assembly area at Donington Park to be the first cars to qualify at the Donington Historic Festival.
The three-day event is organised by MSVR on behalf of the new look Motor Racing Legends under the full control of Shaun Lynn. This was not the first race of the Formula Junior season as the Lurani Trophy International Series had started the previous weekend at Paul Ricard, as part of the French Historic Grand Prix.
Historic Formula Junior Front Engine Qualifying
The 18-car front engine entry lined up without Duncan Rabagliati and the famous or is that infamous orange Alexis. The driver rather than the car being rested for this event, but still there to support, however in the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger, he will be back very soon.
Niall McFadden in his Elva 100 and Mark Russell Gemini Mk2 have joined the Front engine racers having raced a number of cars notably Jaguars over the years. Niall having raced his Elva 100 twice previously in the 7 years of his ownership, the car having been kindly lent to others, including John Arnold over the years too. Like so many drivers he admits that the Formula Junior cars are great fun to drive.
A car and driver combination making an occasional appearance in the Northern Hemisphere is Tony Olissoff, in the Emeryson Experimental Elfin Mk1, the side of the car carrying the identity ‘Wee Warrior’. Tony enjoys touring with the car, in his yellow van, including a trip to America last summer, where on occasion she was the only Formula Junior on the grid. From the stickers on the side of his car, 2016 may have been his last UK appearance.
Adrian Holey had added a new car to his stable, the Terrier Mk4 Series 2, ex-Jonathon Hughes. This is the car raced in period by Brian Hart. The very sleek car looks very advanced amongst some of the earlier cars. Adrian halted his qualifying session when he smelt overheating and pulled off the track at the entry to Coppice having set 5th fastest time. Nothing was detected upon the cars’ return, but some precautionary work took place before the race.
Neil Hodges was a welcome returnee, having purchased Mike Fowler’s Gemini Mk II over the winter, and was making a first appearance.
At the head of the timing sheets throughout the session was Ray Mallock in the U2 Mk2. Ray was the first to post a sub 2 minute lap time, with the qualifying and races taking place on the longer Donington circuit using the Grand Loop. Nick Taylor in the Elva 100 kept Ray company with a sub 2 minute time.
As the qualifying progressed Charles Cook in his Nike Mk1 went ahead of Nick Taylor, with the pair being separated by just under .348 of a second at the end of qualifying. Neither looked to be in danger of challenging Ray Mallock who had an advantage of almost 4 seconds. Charlie Besley in the distinctive Red & White Elva 100 set 4th fastest time, whilst despite his early stop Adrian Holey was 5th. Niall McFadden completed the top 6. 7th was Andrea Guarino (Elva 100) with Graham Barron 8th leading Class B1 in the Gemini Mk2. Mark Russell in his Gemini Mk2 headed to the grid in 9th completing the top ten and second in class B1 Tony Olissoff. Martin Sheppard in his Stanguellini headed class A, with Peter Fenichel 2nd and Roger Woodbridge Volpini 3rd.
Historic Formula Junior Front Engine Race
All 18 front engine cars formed on the grid with Ray Mallock leading the field into Redgate for the first time. Charles Cook was slow away and it was Nick Taylor who claimed 2nd behind Ray with Charles 3rd.Charlie Besley 4th Graham Barron 5th from 7th on the grid with Andrea Guarino 6th.
Mark Russell’s race lasted the maximum of 100 yards when the drive coupling broke and he was pushed off onto the grass. As he said afterwards, he was so glad it did not fail when he was entering the Craner curves or one of the other fast corners on the circuit. At the end of the lap both Adrian Holey and Bernard Brock had retired to the pits, Bernard having popped a core plug. Antony Olissoff also retired on lap 1 when the front suspension arm disconnected from the chassis.
In the race Ray Mallock was pulling progressively away from the field, whilst the initial lead that Nick Taylor had over Charles Cook started to reduce. By lap 5 Nick’s almost 2 second advantage had reduced to 2 tenths. For the remainder of the race the pair would engage in a fascinating cat and mouse battle. With Charles getting ahead on the straights only to lose his advantage on the low speed corners as he had to hold the car in 2nd gear to prevent it from popping out. On the final lap the dash to the line was a dramatic chase. Nick having played a tactical game managed to just hold onto second place to the end. Both drivers were very pleased with their podium finish having had a good clean race.
Charlie Besley finished 4th having had a lonely race, 5th was Niall McFadden very happy with his return to Formula Junior having improved on his personal best lap time which was half a second faster than Charlie ahead of him on the road.
The final retirement was Justin Fleming in his Lola Mk2, running in 6th place when his car started overheating, he came into the pits on lap 5. Graham Barron was 7th winning class B1, and Martin Sheppard in 8th place was the winner of Class A for the Italian engine cars.
Historic Formula Junior Rear Engine Qualifying
Just one hour after the Front Engine Juniors had been out to qualify it was the turn of the rear engine cars to enter the circuit. 29 cars assembled for the qualifying. Amongst the entry was Spencer Shinner, trying Formula Junior for the first time after a successful two seasons in Historic Formula Ford.
A late deal placed Spencer into the SpeedSport Lotus 22 raced last year by Ralph Carter. Qualifying was the first time young Spencer had driven the car. Ralph was also in the entry driving a Brabham BT2 he had acquired from Richard Bradley. Assisting him on his first outing with the car was Iain Rowley.
Whilst it was a UK round, the race had several continental visitors. Phillip Buhofer had his Lotus 27 out prepared by Hall and Hall. Lukas Buhofer joined him in a Brabham BT6. Alex Ames was a late entry with his Brabham BT6, having been persuaded by customers Martin and Andreas Halusa (both Lotus 22’s) that he should enter, and completing the continentals was Luca Hoefer, Lotus 22. John ‘Chip’ Fudge (Lightning Envoyette) was on weekend two of three of his European visit from Oklahoma.
George Christodoulou (BMC Mk 2) was embarking on his dream of a season racing with Formula Junior that had formed over 30 year ago. Donington wasn’t however his first ever race in a Junior as he did have a brief trial in 2019.
At the start of qualifying, it was Phillip Buhofer and Alex Ames battling for pole position. Alex ended his session after 6 laps, when the travel on his brake pedal became scaringly long. Phillip came close to Alex’s time towards the end of qualifying being just 0.147 seconds slower to complete the front row.
Second row was Spencer Shinner in the Lotus 22 who qualified 3rd quickest although his margin back to Luca Hoefer alongside was a little more generous at .552 seconds. Both would be looking in their mirrors at the start as George Diffey the Veedol Lotus 20/22 was just .114 seconds away from Luca’s time. George looking really relaxed and at home in the car. The similar Lotus of Mark Woodhouse lining up alongside him to complete the third row. The Lotus chassis continued to fill the remaining two rows to complete the top 10 in the order: Michael Hibberd Lotus 22 7th, Adrian Russell Lotus 22 8th (having made a last minute switch from his front-engined Condor SII), Nic Carlton-Smith lined up 9th in his Lotus 20 and fastest of the drum brake class D2: Jeremy Flann completed the top 10 in his Lotus 22.
Nathan Metcalfe made his Donington debut, in the Lotus 20, lining up second in class D2, 12th fastest, alongside Lukas Buhofer in the Brabham BT6.
2024 Championship runner up, Stuart Monument, was the quickest of the Class C2 runners in his Lotus 18 although lining up alongside him on the grid was class rival Gary Thomas in the Kieft. On paper the rear engine race looked set to be another very close race.
Historic Formula Junior Rear Engine Race
Alex Ames, made a very good start leading into Redgate for the first time, Phillip Buhofer lost time when he had wheelspin off the line, but he managed to return in 2nd place with Spencer Shinner 3rd. Mark Woodhouse was the benefactor when George Diffey made a poor start promoting Mark to 4th from his 6th place starting position. Michael Hibberd and Adrian Russell following Mark into 5th and 6 place respectively with Luca Hoefer in 7th then George Diffey. Nic Carlton-Smith passed the pair of them on lap 2, and Gary Thomas had made a good start passing Stuart Monument with Gary lying in 16th place overall whilst Stuart had dropped back to 20th behind fellow class rival Crispian Besley.
At the front of the field Alex Ames had clearly sorted out his brake issues, establishing a lead that would not be challenged. Phillip Buhofer was in an equally strong 2nd position. It was Spencer Shinner who would start to come under threat as Luca Hoefer and Adrian Russell put in consistently quicker laps than those ahead.
As befits Formula Junior there were dices going back down the field including a good scrap between Chris Wilks (Deep Sanderson) and Andrew Gemmill (Lotus 20/22).
On lap 4 Gary Thomas was forced to retire the Kieft when a rear hub came loose, which handed back the class lead to Stuart Monument who had passed Crispian Besley on lap 2.
By lap 6 Spencer Shinner’s third place was coming under threat, with both Mark Woodhouse and Adrian Russell homing in onto the Lotus gearbox like guided missiles.
Michael Hibberd following in 5th was also coming under attack from Luca Hoefer.
In 10th place Jeremy Flann was being shadowed by Robin Longdon in his Lola Mk5a. Unfortunately, a promising scrap came to a halt on lap 6 when Robin made an over ambitious late braking manoeuvre at Fogarty Esses that ended the race for both drivers resulting in a Safety car being called for cars stranded in an unsafe position.
On lap 8 there was a steady stream of retirements, Nic Carlton-Smith pulling in when his car went to firing on two cylinders as result of the carburettor linkage breaking. Eddie O’Kane and 3rd place man Spencer Shinner retiring also, into the pits, under orders of Mike O’Brien to stop if it showed signs of overheating.
The race ended on lap 10 with the safety car leading the field home. The podium presentations were made to Alex Ames, from Phillip Buhofer with Mark Woodhouse 3rd. Given his progress without Spencer’s retirement, the place may well have gone to Mark, and it was a well-earned podium. 4th Adrian Russell 5th Michael Hibberd 6th Luca Hoefer. 7th Lukas Buhofer in his Brabham BT6, George Diffey 8th. George admitting to being swamped off the start but pleased with his race. He felt he needed to do some work on the position of the gear change as he was finding it difficult at times, but it was a broad smile at the end of the day from the young man looking forward to his next race. 9th was Geoff Underwood in his Brabham BT2 and 10th and class D2 winner was Nathan Metcalfe making a rewarding ending for his first Donington Park race. Stuart Monument 13th was the winner of Class C2.
Everyone gathered at prizegiving after a thoroughly enjoyable first day out for the UK season, and Duncan presented Class awards and Silverline tools aplenty.
Next stop for the UK Championship will be Cadwell Park, on yet another Bank Holiday Weekend. This time both grids will be having two races, the Rear Engine cars racing for the Barry Westmoreland Trophy.
By Alan Jones