From rain through to shine, we may not have been gifted the view of the Pyrenees, but it was still a wonderful weekend in Pau for our pair of Non Championship races.

Most of the 23 FJ’s arrived on Thursday before the rain, setting up in the Tissie Paddock overlooked by a number of banners from an adjacent block of flats with messages such as – le Grand Prix est termine. The following day at the drivers’ briefing they were referenced by event organiser Laurent Vallery-Masson of HVM Racing, in answer to the question of the future of the event, but with a promise to try their best to ensure it continues.

Come Saturday evening the outlook was even better when at the Gala dinner organised by the city, set to a backdrop of live music, videos and interviews covering the history of both the circuit, and famous drivers of its past, the Mayor reassured those present that he was of the strong belief that the Pau Grand Prix and it’s history were too important not to protect.

So on to the event itself, and we were lucky in avoiding the early Saturday morning downpour, with our free practice session heading to the streets with almost no rain in the air, but all reported extremely slippery conditions on track. A number amongst our runners were getting sight of the circuit for the first time, and wisely used the session to learn their way.

Setting the pace however was Richard Bradley (Brabham BT2), who was relishing being back in Pau, after a debut in 2012 in modern F3, with Stuart Roach leaving Rossi questioning his future in FJ having bettered the rest of the field into 2nd spot in the front engined Alexis Mk 2. Only one driver sat out this first session, and that was Steve Futter, who earlier in the morning, amongst the heavy rain, had experienced an identity crisis and mistakenly rushed onto track at the tail of the HGPCA Pre 66 line up… only to be black flagged in after not recognising the gentlemen who waved as they passed him under blue flag!

Qualifying in the late afternoon was again very much on a wet track, with Bradley still the bravest man out there, but Manfredo Rossi in his Lotus 22 was finding his form now just 3.5 seconds down and Chris Goodwin, over for a father-son weekend with our President Doctor Tony Goodwin was similarly mounted and going very well on only his second ever session at Pau. Stuart Roach was still well ahead of the rest of the front engined cars in 4th overall, Nick Taylor in his Elva 100 being next in 16^th place, and doubling his weekend with a drive in his Ex Scuderia Colonia Lotus 18. Lukas Halusa was also taking advantage of additional track time, bringing his Lotus 20 in as the Class D leader, in addition to his entry in the family Maserati 250F. Finally, in our Invitation Class, Thomas Jamin was enjoying himself in his Boyer Racer.

Everyone was promising an improvement in the weather for Sunday, and so it proved, with the racing certainly not disappointing either! There was initial drama on the line as poleman Bradley’s clutch went, so he was hurriedly pushed into the pit lane, from where he managed to get going half a lap down for a race of catch up. This left Manfredo out front, but with every lap that passed, Alex Ames in only his third ever FJ event, and first time out at Pau, was gaining confidence in both the car (Halusa family Lotus 22) and the circuit, until lap 9 when he took the elusive win this season from Rossi, holding on to the flag, with some fantastic close racing between the pair of them throughout. Goodwin was a steady third saying after that it was just the race he’d wanted, to drive around and mind my own business. Unfortunately, the same fortune wasn’t to be had for Lukas Halusa, whose Lotus 20 contacted with an unlucky Martin Walford at turn 2 at the start of lap 2, but with quick work from the marshals both cars were successfully cleared under yellow flag.

Roach was holding on well to his 4th position until eventually Pietro Vergnano (Brabham BT6) caught and got past him going up the Ramparts, before the Alexis gearbox fell apart completely on the last lap, leaving him with only 4th, not ideal on this circuit.

Meanwhile Bradley had caught up and then worked his way up through field to finish an impressive 5th overall at the end, just taking Lee Mowle (Lotus 20/22) and Stephane Rey (Lola Mk 5A) on the last lap, who had been enjoying a repeat of a previous dice together at Portimao.

Caroline, unlucky to have missed the cut in the oversubscribed Hockenheim Lurani opener, was relishing being back in her beloved Brabham, and was keeping Beaumont and Guarino at bay for the first half of the race, before dropping back to have fun with David Watkins (Elfin), who took the Class D win, from an equally happy Jim Blockley, whose Caravelle was finally back on form thanks to Tom Smith.

The full field was back in action for the start of Race 2 on Sunday afternoon, with Martin Walford and Jimmy having repaired the Lotus 22, and Stuart Roach and Dave Wall having made use of all the time available to modify and fit a new gearbox just in the nick of time.

Bradley repeated his push start from the pit lane, having planned to do so this time pulling in after the formation lap, unfortunately, also following him in was Race 1 winner Alex Ames, and into retirement with no drive. Chris Goodwin was first away from row 2, with a clear track ahead in the absence of Bradley, closely followed by Manfredo, determined to finally get back to winning form. Goodwin had actually pulled away a slight advantage second time round, but it wasn’t long until the waved yellows and SC boards were out around the track after Mowle had unfortunately contacted with the wall coming out of Chicane Foch and Kubota unsighted of the incident made head on contact. Both drivers were fine, but the cars will require some TLC from CTL. Thanks again to the quick efforts of the marshals the restart came 2 laps later, Bradley by this point having got halfway up the field already, and taking another 2 at the restart line. With the field now bunched up it was Manfredo who benefited leading into the first corner.

Unfortunately the restart wasn’t so positive for Martin Walford, who despite his best efforts to repair the car after the Race 1 incident, was well and truly out of luck when he was this time contacted by Thornton before the SC, and when back to full speed again, it was apparent his car was no longer handling right and he pulled into the pits.

So it was Rossi, Goodwin and Vergnano, who led away, until 3 laps from the end when Bradley ceased the chance of a podium finish, behind a delighted Rossi. However once the cars had come in, Goodwin’s on track position was dealt a 30 second time penalty for an anticipated start, which mean Vergnano who had held 3rd so long, was promoted back onto the final podium position.

This time Caroline proved victorious over the Lotus 22 pair of Guarino and Beaumont who were having a race long dice, and Halusa’s Lotus 20 fully fit again finished a very good 5th and took Class D honours this time.

Prizegiving for both races took place under Iain Rowley’s Delta awning, with Doctor Tony Goodwin and another visiting period driver, Hugh Dibley, kindly doing the honours in presenting the trophies, before enjoying being able to pack up in the afternoon sunshine.

The 2018 FJHRA Auction will take place on Sunday 2nd December, at Whately Hall Hotel, Banbury, UK, at approx. 2pm.

• If you are unable to be there in person, we invite you to email your bid to formulajunior[at]gmail.com
• We can also arrange telephone bidding on the day if required. Please email for details.

The proceeds will be divided between  2 charities;

ENTRY

A combined entry and 28 cars arrived for qualifying – a good turnout for the season opener – especially since we will be back for the Donington Festival in a few weeks time.

Front running newcomer was Chris Goodwin – son and heir of our President – Doctor Tony Goodwin – Chris was driving his recently acquired Lotus 22 – this was his testing session really.

Joining us were 2 invitees – Andy Raynor with his JBS Mk1 500cc F3 in Class F and Roger Fowler with his delectable Lola T60 SCA – a refugee from the barely alive Classic Racing Cars Series.

A few changes in cars for 2018 –  Peter de la Roche back in the Lola Mk3 of Pat Barford, and Simon Durling – highly enthusiastic about his upgrade to the ex-John Rees Lotus 22.

Robin Lackford raced at Silverstone the day before – his gallant son Nigel took the Silverstone car back home, collected the Elva 100 and returned to Donington – a great family effort.

The always happy and smiling Hans Ciers made another lightning dash from Belgium with his Lotus 20 – a true enthusiast.

THE CIRCUIT

Well it didn’t take long to assess the benefit of the MSV takeover – parking for latecomers has always been a nightmare – on arrival I was confronted by large areas of new tarmac paddock – plenty of room – someone with a bucketful of common sense has had a reassessment, removed fences and tarmacked redundant areas – well done. The new cafe drew lots of praise – who remembers decades ago when this was the collecting area subjecting supplicants to carbon monoxide poisoning before joining the grid.

QUALIFYING

As anticipated, the battle for pole featured Sam Wilson and Andrew Hibberd in Lotus 20//22 and 22  respectively – they traded fastest laps with Wilson a couple of 10ths clear – on the final lap, Hibberd tried a monster effort which ended in the chicane gravel to end the session.

Pete Morton ran them both close – he had the Lightning really flying – smooth as you like. James Murray was expected to be up with the pole battlers – a lack of recent track time and some elderly tyres contributed to a couple of spins which blunted his efforts.

In the front engine class, a real battle looked on for the race with Mark Woodhouse, Alex Morton and Nick Taylor covered by less than a second.

THE RACE

After a quite breath taking FF1600 race (the first 8 covered by 1 second) we expected something of the same with ourselves –  a steady drizzle however fell making the track surface extremely slippery. Sadly, the expected close lappery up front didn’t quite happen, James Murray made a storming start, leading for 200 yards, but it was then Wilson and Hibberd – but Hibberd spun out at Mcleans and Goodwin’s gearbox failed going up the hill however those who have seen him win in his McLaren M1B will share my conviction that he will win races with us before long.

Man on the move was Pete Morton, he reeled in James Murray for second place passing neatly on lap 6. The slippery conditions meant Sam Wilson’s lap times were 9 seconds slower than qualifying – the rest of the field suffering a similar margin. There looked like a bit of excitement brewing when Morton started to reduce the defecit to Wilson. The leader however had matters well under control, winning by 2.7 secs, with James Murray falling away to finish 25 seconds adrift.

Peter De La Roche drove well in 4^th place, leading the D2 class until 3 laps from home when gearbox trouble parked him.

The front engine class featured the expected duel – Mark Woodhouse struggled with rear brakes and finished 9 seconds down – leaving Nick Taylor to battle with Alex Morton, but Taylor’s Elva was attracted to the gravel on the last lap, leaving Morton as a convincing winner.

There was an intriguing Cooper battle being played out between Steve Jones, Andrew Taylor and Crispian Besley who retired with 1 lap remaining and Steve Jones eventually overcame Andrew Taylor in his much cherished T56.

NOTES

Lots of spins in the difficult race conditions – no car to car contact or car damage – well done guys.

The Clerk of the Course interviewed 2 of our experienced hands  after qualifying – wanted to assure himself that the hand signals between them did not signify any aggression or loutish behaviour – as Driving Standards Officer, I assured him that we in Formula Junior didn’t behave in such a way – turned out these two were acknowledging each other after a gentlemanly  “after you Claude” moment.

The Clerk of the Course was later impressed by the sportsmanship of Crispian Besley and Nick Taylor, who, having independently ended up in the Chicane gravel, then helped each other push their cars out of the way.

Philip Walker is my neighbour and drives a Crossle 16F – he is subject to regular entreaties to swop to FJ and remains a friend to many of us – he had a monster shunt on Saturday – the car is quite beyond repair and Philip while very sore and bruised is up and about, talking of a return.

By Bob Birrell

Only in June we were in Sweden, and, five weeks later, we are back in the Nordic Countries for the Copenhagen Historic Grand Prix on the familiar street Circuit around Bellahoj camping park.

Jac Nellemann has been long hoping for Formula One in Copenhagen and this year offered a very appealing package to attract two grids of HGPCA cars: with longtime supporters, Formula Junior able to enjoy their breakfast and lunch hospitality, as well as two special evenings at the Ostergro roof top restaurant which Jac most generously hosted personally for his FJ friends from around the World, with a FJ grid double in numbers since 2017.

With an MSA Historic meeting at Colnbrook on the Tuesday, Duncan and Mair headed for Harwich and the overnight Stena Ferry to Hoek van Holland after enduring miles of queues for the Dartford Tunnel where everybody seemed to be breaking down or catching fire that evening!

Wednesday evening was spent in the sun with Cooper T56 owners Claus and Heinke Myhr at their lovely farmhouse in the Dithmarscher region north of Hamburg and then via the Puttsgarden -Rodby Ferry (where we met up with Iain Rowley and Paul and the Alexis in the Delta truck) to Copenhagen. Most FJs were motorhoming in the paddock with some at Hotel Sct Thomas, as last time with Barrons and Pearsons, and others at the Avenue Hotel, where we had stayed a few years previously. That night we found an amazing Italian staffed, but allegedly Danish Restaurant, called FAMO with four course set menu and 4 wines to go with it!!

The traditional race car drive with police escort to the Town Hall was no more: apparently Police time being needed for real criminals, although Denmark appeared as always to be a most peace loving country, but Jac in his XK 120 did lead a few Classic cars before we were greeted by the Mayor and Chairman of the DK ASN with warm speeches in front of HKH Prince Joachim (also Vice President of the FIA HMSC) and his family. Interestingly ex FJ Condor S I owner Jo Fairley has a cousin whose son’s wife’s sister was once married to the Prince: they met once before, twenty years ago!

After a somewhat “Alice through the Looking Glass” scenario of having to be scrutineered before signing on, Friday afternoon was a free practice session for all FJs who were not familiar with the track to run with a slightly reduced field of HGPCA front engined cars. Chris Drake (Elva 300) who had turned up to discover that he had forgotten to enter his FJ (also running the ex Alan Baillie Cooper T71 in F1) came in after one lap with oil everywhere.

Friday night was the first of Jac’s dinners in the Lift, with a strong Antipodean flavour: guests that is, not food!! As they only serve food grown or bred in the roof garden, so for things live, only bees, hens or rabbits not kangaroo!!!

9.20 Saturday morning and qualification: poor John Neel making his debut in the bright yellow Lova/DKW Mk 10, once owned by Duncan, still working on the car, and Nigel Russell’s Sadler expiring on the second corner. It had not been specifically stated in the briefing that the field would be led by the safety car, so when Andrew Beaumont (22) came out near the end of the field, seeing green flags, he began overtaking, only to realise the error of his ways, disc braking sharply, leaving Lars-Goran’s Swebe with no chance of stopping with his drums, so broken chassis and bent radiator for the Swebe, ending it’s track weekend, while Andrew made a hasty pit stop for tape but then ground to a halt half a lap later.

To add to the fun, Niklas Leed in the earlier Lova also stopped on Circuit, with blown head gasket, so by the time the SC had pulled in, there were only a couple of laps left in which to score a time, Drake being comfortably ahead of Iain Rowley in Ian Robinson’s Lola 5 and Reine Bergstrom’s Spider with Robin Longdon (Lola 2) the leading Front engined runner.

The Qualifying race was somewhat delayed, the weekend’s timetable being rather optimistic as to the time taken to remove cars after each race, on a circuit that has very few “escape hatches” from the concrete lined track.

Chris Drake led from start to finish, but for most of the 15 minutes plus one lap, he was chased hard by Iain Rowley, only for the latter to lose a little time as they moved through the rear of the field, sometimes twice, with  the speed differentials of early front and late rear, even though the 300 is nominally a 61 car, it having the latest engine that Geoff Richardson can supply and an experienced driver!!

Reine Bergstrom, in David von Schinkel’s Spider was not far behind, harried at the end by Andrew Beaumont, also benefitting from HGPCA track time in his Lotus 24,moving up swiftly from the back of the grid in his Lotus 22 after his practice mishaps.

James Hicks was next up in the Caravelle III, after wheel contact with Nick Taylor’s Elva 100 saw Nick sidelined, and last of the lead runners, but delighted that his engine maladies appear over was Petter Huse from Norway in the Focus IV.

Larry Kinch was an early pit visitor after dropping his oil at the last corner, which sent Phil Foulkes into a lurid spin in his 20/22, fortunately without hitting anything but crossing the yellow line to exclusion, at least for this race: several others, too, had anxious moments, including Duncan, with no oil flags being shown. Poor John Neel, who has credit for founding Historic Racing in DK some 30 years ago, did at least get on track but never made it round to the start line.

That evening many of the FJs gathered around the Longdon Motorhome for a splendid barbecue, Petter and Elisabeth Huse having the cutest of Historic mobile home /vans and “Doc” Lindberg, helped by Lars Fritz eventually emerging from under the Elva; Ulf not having a good week after a long battle with Coys to get his money from their May Monaco auction, still not over.

For Sunday, the Juniors were the mid-morning attraction. Reine Bergstom had found that a bearing in the steering had seized after R1, but working with EBA FJ owner, Kent Boe, they had this fixed in time after a complete strip down. This time Drake had a more comfortable win, with the battle behind between Rowley and Beaumont. Petter Huse got slightly squeezed by Hicks, but it was gears that terminated his run, with Tony Olissoff’s Elfin Mk 1 following down the same escape road to exclusion. Front engined honours developed into a great Longdon/Taylor battle, with Taylor actually getting ahead at one point but Robin was back when it mattered to win the front engined Tissot watch with Colin Nursey, guesting in Jac’s Volpini in 3rd in the front class ahead. Next in class were Duncan and Jens Nilsson, in the ex-David Grant Elva 100, locked in battle the whole race, Duncan still heading the down on power Elva at the flag. Christer Larsson seemed to be under his T52 Cooper all weekend, but obviously to good effect as he completed his second finish. Both John Neel and Nicklas again failed, but it was great to see Reijo Heurlin from Finland, driving the RV Special, as the Elhoo was still awaiting vital parts, bringing the car home to a finish in both races, albeit completely without brakes in race 2.

Chris Drake, too, received his watch with acclaim with Andrew and Iain in 2nd and 3rd on the podium.

After all the packing, it was a final evening for those FJs who had not participated on Friday to join Jac and Birgitta, at Ostegro.

A terrific four days in Copenhagen: and we never saw The Little Mermaid!

DCPR

Well we started even with reserves, but that soon reduced.

John Chisholm’s collateral damage at Silverstone proved more extensive than at first sight; the Fyda’s found their intended Ferry already booked out; Buhofer was no longer able to participate; Serge Kriknoff – Lotus was not ready, poor Leen’s back was “krank” necessitating last minute withdrawal by Hans Ciers, but it did not stop there, and Gunther Leidig had a gudgeon pin snap in the Thursday tests, and Alan Baillie’s Lola Mk  2 was still misfiring, so packed up home for a rolling road test before any more track outings: Andrea Guarino brushed the wall in his 22, but nothing that tape could not fix.

A very civilised lunchtime Friday qualifying brought more drama with Pierre Tonetti breaking his camshaft (but a spare motor was to hand), Arlette Muller spinning her 22 and unluckily swiped by Jorgen Brynne’s Merlyn Mk 3, eliminating both for the weekend, and Bob Birrell seemingly without brakes, ploughing into the barrier in the 20, causing the first red flag.

Lars-Goran, now in the T59, stopped, but later inspection could find nothing wrong, but poor Duncan had the centre come out of the oil temperature gauge, gradually losing all oil and with no red light was blissfully unaware; so second red flag!!

Up front it was a surprise to see Richard Smeeton back on form in the Wainer, and it would be him on pole on Saturday after Mark Shaw was docked one grid position for R1 for crossing the white line out of the pits. Alex Morton was an impressive front engined leader in the Condor S II, while the most heart-warming sight were the four Taraschi’s, Graeme Smith rejoining the team for this event, all under the control of Flora’s miniature pooch being pushed around in a doll’s pram.

Another very civilised start at lunchtime on Saturday for Race 1. Mark Shaw (BT6) was slow away in 2nd gear, while Smeeton was quickly overwhelmed by Bruno Weibel and Tonetti, and Drake spinning away his challenge at the first chicane, before resuming well down. 2nd lap and Greg Thornton (20/22) was in the pits, engine gone.

3rd lap and a good battle still in prospect with Tonetti ahead followed closely by Weibel and Shaw with Smeeton adrift, while Drake was now catching up through the field. There was a good battle between JP Campos Costa Jnr, finally having his first FJ race in the ex-Duncan ex-Vern Scorpion-Ford, sandwiched between Larry Kinch, happy in the Gemini, and Salodini’s leading Taraschi. At the back Carlo Maria Del Conte’s Wainer seemed to be knocking and he pitted, only to re-emerge a lap or two later in much better form.

Lap 4 and Tonetti was drawing ahead of Shaw, who had just passed Bruno, while Drake continued to climb back, now ahead of Chris Merrick in the Ex Curt Lincoln T59. JP Jnr was now getting his legs and was drawing away from Kinch and Floris-Jan Hecker (Rayberg), while Salodini was dropping back.

Next lap and change again, Shaw now ahead of Bruno and Tonetti, and Drake catching up to Pierre Guichard’s Lynx Mk3 for Class D, which he soon passed, while another good dice was between Christian Lange (Ex-Nick Finburgh Envoy), Colin Nursey (18) and Nick Taylor’s Elva 100, with Lange being overtaken by both on the following lap.

Tonetti was dropping back, but a lap later so was Bruno, with a broken fork, eliminating 4th gear, and a lap later Tonetti retired with broken engine leaving Mark with a comfortable victory from the ailing Bruno still keeping the purple Wainer at bay.

Pierre Guichard is really enjoying the Lynx and on lap 7 passed the remarkable Condor SII of Alex Morton into the back chicane but two laps later, in lapping the two Taraschi’s, he lost it at the hairpin and retired much annoyed with himself with a bent wishbone.

Much work overnight, and sharing of parts, saw Bruno Weibel, the Lynx and Steve Futter (starter motor failure in R1 pre grid) all fixed, while Tonetti’s team had planned to make the best of the two broken engines but a couple of clips had disappeared into the block and it was not to be.

Race two at 13.40 on Sunday had only 24 lined up which must be a record low for FJ at the OGP, but still twice as many as Masters F1, who were down to 12.

There seemed to be a long delay after the green flag lap but eventually the field were away, but not Smeeton, so Bruno led from Mark Shaw, Chris Drake in the drum braked Elva 300 and Iain Rowley and the Wainer a very long way behind in the middle of the pack.

Lap 2 and Shaw was now ahead and creating a gap from Bruno Weibel, Drake, Bruno Ferrari and Andrea Guarino, with Rowley now at the back of this bunch.

The Wainer was now past Chris Merrick on lap 2 and the Condor at the chicane next time round: further back there was a great and close battle between Nursey, Lange’s Envoy, Nick Taylor and JP Jnr’s Scorpion, while Tony Olissoff pulled up with engine maladies.

Just then Larry Kinch spun on oil at the hairpin and hit the wall hard in the Gemini, bringing out the safety car for three laps and bunching the field: a visit to the medical centre ensued, but Larry was fortunately largely unscathed.

On release it was Shaw, Weibel, Ferrari and Drake together and Smeeton just ahead of Guarino. Bruno then got ahead with Mark retaking the lead with a lap to go but Bruno was on his tail and only inches behind at the flag.

Smeeton lost his fourth spot on the penultimate lap, trailing in behind Alex’s Condor, while Nursey had escaped his battling partners, now led by Futter and Marc Schmidt was going extremely well, engaging the Rayberg.

Parc Ferme saw cars weighed and Drake’s engine examined but all were in order and another jolly prize giving ensued.

DCPR

Photo: Gruppe C Photography

Exactly 60 years ago today, on 25^th April 1958, a public holiday in Italy, the first ever Formula Junior race took place at Monza.

There were 8 Formula Junior starters of six different makes that day, and the race was won by Roberto Lippi in a Stanguellini.

It’s been an incredible journey for Formula Junior racing, from its relatively short 6 year lifespan in period; 1958 – 1963, through to 1975 when it was the first ever past formula to be revived as an historic series, to today where we have 3 Championships in Europe, together with active racing also in Australia, New Zealand and North America.

2018 marks the culmination of our amazing 3-year Diamond Jubilee World Tour, by the end of which, we will likely have seen close to 350 drivers taking part as we’ve travelled around the Globe.

Thank you to each and every one of you, for your role in creating, nurturing, and supporting the adventure, whether you are one of our Period, early HFJ or current Drivers, mechanics, family members, press, or fellow organisers.

Long may the dream continue we’ll be making a special visit to Monza on 29^th June – 1^st July for FIA Lurani Trophy Round 3, and concluding our World Tour with a record breaking entry, well over 100 cars, in two separate grids at the Silverstone Classic.