The FIA Lurani Trophy headed to Estoril for the final round of the 2019 Championship. Only Crispian Besley (Cooper T56) could match Bruno Weibel’s points, although he himself could still be beaten by Jeremy Deeley in C2. Sadly, transport problems from Italy had seen the withdrawal of the only other Championship contender, Daniele Salodini (Taraschi).

Almost all cars took advantage of at least one of the three test sessions on Friday, shared with the HGPCA, to acquaint or reacquaint themselves with this taxing circuit.

Saturday morning qualifying set the pattern, with Richard Bradley (Brabham BT2), a man equally at home with Nissan LMP2 or a prewar Aston Martin Ulster, at the head of the times, but with Bruno (Lotus 22) and Mark Shaw (Brabham BT6) almost inseparable behind him. Newcomer Stephan Joebstl was settling in well to the Hall and Hall run ex- Greg Audi Lotus 20/22.

Race1, and Bradley led, with Bruno close behind, before Bradley drew ahead to leave a frantic battle between Bruno and Mark Shaw, with places swapping until Mark got by again and held on to the flag.

Another race long battle behind for 4th, with Richard Wilson much enjoying his ex-Jonathan Hughes Brabham BT6, working ahead of Richard Smeeton (Wainer 63), Team Lotus run Andrew Beaumont (Lotus 22) and Texan, Robert Hoemke (Lola 5A), till the latter pitted.

Close encounters all the way through the field in fact, with a much improved Martin Aubert (Lotus 20) just keeping ahead of the two Cooper T56’s of Besley and Deeley swapping places behind. Marty Bullock’s Wren blew a fuse, and Alan Baillie (Lola 2) had a mild excursion, and was unable to catch the flying Dr. Stephane Rey in the Scorpion for front engined honours.

Although rain was threatened, it remained dry for Race 2 on Sunday and another convincing race win for Richard Bradley, although, with a comfortable cushion, he kindly slowed on the last lap to allow Duncan’s Alexis to remain unlapped!!

Behind him came another great dice between Bruno and Mark Shaw. Proceedings were interrupted on the fourth lap when David Drew in the newly rebuilt Ausper T3 missed a gear, and spun at the sharp turn 3, collecting Mark Haynes (Elva 200), and a safety car period intervened. Mark Shaw took advantage of the restart and a lap later they passed by, side by side, Mark holding on for the second podium place.

The action behind was an equally exciting repeat of R1, save that Marty Bullock in the drum braked Wren was now in the heart of the Wilson /Smeeton/ Hoemke/ Beaumont battle, Wilson heading Smeeton and Marty at the flag, while, behind, Aubert, Besley and Deeley, were split by less than a second.

Stephane Rey again took front engined honours, this time from Colin Nursey’s California built BMC Mk 1, while the unfortunate Richard Bishop-Miller had a head gasket go, after jubilation the previous day on seeing the chequered flag.

Duncan presided over a jolly end of season prizegiving, with Bruno the new Lurani Champion, his third victory, and Crispian Besley leading the three car Cooper T56 team in the closely fought C2 Class.

With bumper grids this year in Lurani and an extremely exciting calendar ahead for 2020, after a trip for some to South Africa in January, Formula Junior remains in very good spirit.

DCPR

FJHRA/HSCC “Silverline” UK Championship Rounds 8 & 9
FJHRA/HSCC “Silverline” Front Engined Championship Rounds 5 & 6

There were dominating doubles for Richard Wilson (Brabham BT6) and Chris Drake (Terrier T4 Series 1) in the racing, but it was the views and the welcome that dominated the weekend.

The circuit Manager Annette Freeman openly fell in love with our cars, and the feeling was certainly reciprocated towards her circuit.

There’s been a fair amount of talk recently about returning to the good old clubbie meetings of yesteryear, so taking a break this year from the Silverstone Classic, our traditional July jaunt, we instead returned to the Welsh isle, 11 years on from our last visit in our 2008 Golden Jubilee year.

A smile and a warm welcome at the gate were all that were needed for every arrival, be they competitor, official or friends and family, to know they were in for a good weekend : of course the scenic drive to the gate was a pretty good indication of the stunning location too!

Arrivals started already on Thursday, with many keen to learn the track during the Friday Test Day, unfortunately it was also to be the end of the track action for Robin Longdon (Lola Mk 5A) and Roger Woodbridge (Volpini) both with drive shaft failures. David Watkins also had problems, but he just keeps riding the rollercoaster of issues with his Elfin.

On Friday evening the Longdons kindly hosted a very well attended paddock social, before the Front Engined FJ’s started off the race meeting with qualifying on the chilly Saturday morning.

Front Qualifying

With Bernard Brock (Elva 100) a last-minute withdrawal, and the Volpini out the previous day, we were down to 10 FJ’s plus regular guest entrant Hans Ciers in his F3 1000cc U2 Mk 3.

Chris Drake (Terrier Mk4 Series 1) set an early lead on lap 3, but out on the same lap with more terminal problems was Richard Bishop-Miller and his Autosport when the engine tightened up.

Pete de la Roche (Lola Mk 2) was next up but 2.3s adrift, down on compression and Alex Morton (Condor S II) was in third. The beautiful pair of Bonds driven by Andrew Tart and Michael Walker were 4th and 5th, followed by Fleming (Lola Mk 2) and Ian Phillips (BMC Mk 1) all within 0.15s of each other, a sign of some great racing to come.

David Innes was the sole Class A entry, loving the more forgiving nature of a front engined car, taking “Stanley” for his first outing in his new ownership.

Rear qualifying

In the rears we also had a couple of last minute withdrawals from Pete Morton (sprained thumb, but still enjoying the holiday aspect) and Sam Wilson, which left the race prospects wide open, and as it turned out, to another Wilson, Richard (Brabham BT6), to take pole.

Bill Hemming confused those on the pit wall, when he pulled off into the short circuit club corner on lap 1, appeared to sit there for a few laps, and then just set off again. Apparently he wasn’t having a snooze, but fixing a loose connection.

Chris Drake, this time in his Elva 300, was second, although 1.5s slower than in the Terrier, with John Fyda (Brabham BT6) in third. First of the five Aussie visitors with us for the weekend was Marty Bullock, in his drum braked Wren, with David Watkins in control of the Elfin issues once more, a close fourth. These were the fastest of a fantastic eight car Class D entry. Barely represented by contrast were Class C, with just Trevor Griffiths (C2 Emeryson) and Peter Edbrooke (C1 Lotus 18). David Kent (Lynx Mk 3) completed the Classes in his E2 Lynx Mk 3.

Front Race 1

The first three took off in order, and were each left to their own devices to admire the sea view, while behind in the battle for fourth, Justin Fleming had a spin on the first lap and took a bit of time getting going again, leaving it a three-way race between the two Bonds and Ian Phillips.

To begin with it was Tart being chased by Phillips with Walker not far behind, until he caught up and took the BMC briefly into the hairpin, but Phillips was back ahead coming down the hill into the bus stop. The Bond pair were then together for a few laps before Mike missed a gear coming out of hairpin on lap 7 and Ian nipped through, to challenge Andrew on the next lap. It was then he who was under pressure, and he locked up going into the bus stop, coming out Phillips spun, and Walker too in avoidance, leaving the finishing positions Bond, BMC, Bond.

Graham Barron was the only retirement on lap 3, when his Gemini Mk II driveshaft popped out.

Rear Race 1

Some marshalling confusion coming out of the assembly area had Richard Wilson driving through the pit lane, but he took up his place at the front of the grid in time for the start, however it was Marty in lead at the end of lap 1. Marty and his Wren managed to hold off the later disc braked Brabham until lap 4 when Wilson got ahead with John Fyda not far behind in third.

Jonathan Fyda (U2 Mk 3) was also going well, right up with Watkins on lap 3, but unfortunately pulled off into retirement two laps later, leaving Watkins to chase Drake. Meanwhile Chisholm was having issues with his brakes, which allowed Sykes to catch and pass him, before getting right up with Watkins. He had a look down the inside coming into target, the first corner, but Watkins held position and it finished in that order.

At the other end of the field Martin McHugh (North Star) and Hemming (Tojeiro) were enjoying a great dice, with Martin taking the lead on their 8^th lap and holding to the finish.

Front Race 2

First sight of the start, once we’d got on the pit wall, was when they came through the back straight, and it was Drake from Morton and de la Roche, but it wasn’t long before Pete was back ahead of Alex with Drake already pulling away at the start of lap 2.

After a first lap spin for Andrew Tart (Bond) this time, it was down to him to play catch up in the battle for 4^th. In the meantime, it was close between Phillips, Fleming and Walker. At the end of lap 2, Fleming was ahead of Phillips from Walker, all on similar lap times, but Tart was lapping quicker and making up lost ground. There wasn’t much in it when Tart caught up by lap 9, and Walker was ahead of Phillips on the same lap. As Ian Titchmarsh remarked from the commentary box; “Ian is going to feel bonded”.  The Bond progress continued with Walker taking Fleming going up the hill, and Tart also following suit by the end, to finish in 5^th.

Everybody clapped everybody from the pit wall, as Phillips made one last push to the line finishing just 0.2 behind Fleming.

Innes unfortunately retired Stanley on lap 6 when the points closed off.

Rear Race 2;

Our final race for the weekend ran through lunch, with Jonathan Fyda unfortunately a non-starter.

Marty was again into the lead at the start, but it was Tom Anstiss who was impressing in only his second ever race meeting, taking a turn in the family Lotus 20/22. At the end of the first lap he was already right on the tail of David Kent’s Lynx, and ahead the next time round, with a nervous Dad watching from the pit wall. Nervous that is, because he suspected Tom would suggest investing in a new engine.

John Sykes (Merlyn Mk 5/7) had a relaxed start to the race following the Lotus 20/22 of Kim Shearn and John Chisholm (Gemini Mk 3A) for a while, but he must have switched a mental fuel injection switch at the half way mark, as the second part of his race was a different story. He passed the pair of them, and then the battling Class D cars of Drake and Watkins too, to finish a great 4^th, at his favourite circuit.

AFJA President Kim Shearn also got past Chisholm, and Watkins, but unfortunately Chisholm retired on lap 5 with a reoccurrence of his brake problems, and Shearn a lap later, another drive shaft gone.

So it was Wilson who had the lead at the end of lap 2 to the flag, while behind Fyda got ahead of Marty too this time, but never managed to pull away.

Trevor Griffiths (Emeryson) had a mostly lonely race, until Richard Ferris (Donford) really got going, working his way up the field, and passing him before the finish. Hans Ciers (Lotus 20) also had a slower start to the race, but sped up to leave Hemming and McHugh to play again, side by side up the hill and changing places.

Sunday prizegiving was around the podium for all, with Annette Freeman joining a jolly group photo.

Sarah

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.

FJHRA/HSCC “Silverline” UK Championship Rounds 10 + 11

Despite qualifying not being scheduled until Friday afternoon, many were already set up as the drizzle stopped and mist lifted on Thursday afternoon, leaving a relaxed 24 hrs in the warming sun, for social and fettle time side by side.

Qualifying;

46 cars headed out to qualifying; unfortunately, early in was Richard Bradley (Brabham BT2), suffering a cam shaft breakage, and a whole host of people were docked their fastest time in the culpable lap for exceeding track limits.

Early session leader was Chris Chilcott (Brabham BT2), but Chris Goodwin (Lotus 22) was soon lapping faster and faster, enjoying at last the full potential of his car now the Goodwood misfire was fixed and he took pole with a 2m 48.742. Greg Thornton (Lotus 20/22), like Goodwin, was benefiting from the experience of having had more lap time earlier in the day in qualifying for other races and was 2nd (2m 53.451) with Stuart Roach in his Alexis MK 4 in 3rd (2m 54.447).

First timers out not only at Spa, but in their recently acquired cars, were newcomer Keith Pickering in the ex-Michael Ashley-Brown Britannia, and David Drew, in the ex-Alex Morton Ausper T3. Whilst Drew went on to take 2 chequered flags, and a 13 sec improvement on lap times, with a huge grin inherited from Team Morton, sadly Keith’s qualifying ended prematurely with a misfire and lack of power, and his race never got going as he pulled off with a broken cam shaft on lap 1.

Also not completing the session were James Murray (Lola MK 5A), whose distributor came loose, changing the ignition timing and melting a piston, which put him out for the remainder of the track action, and Adrian Russell (Lotus 22). Adrian saw his gearbox problems however as another race opportunity, so set off shortly after qualifying with his son James around 6pm, back to the UK to load up the spare gearbox and return in time for Race 1 the next morning! They made it back and were so close…another 45 mins and he’d have been on the start.

Jeremy Deeley (Cooper T52) reported a crunching sound at the back, which miraculously cleared enabling a fun session, and Tony Olissoff (Elfin MK 1) was fine tuning his one-handed driving skills, having to hold fourth gear in place.

The end of the session unfortunately came a few minutes prematurely with a red flag, when Peter Fenichel (Cooper T56) had a moment and made sliding contact with the wall, settling up partially on track. Before the results were out, there were already Cooper T56 vultures borrowing pieces of his car for their own.

Race 1

FJ were first out on the chilly track on Saturday morning, but a perfect formation rolling start led by Chris Goodwin, with Roach tucked as close as possible behind, headed into La Source. However, not all who went in, came out, and as the mid field pack bunched, Niklas Halusa (Lotus 20) was clipped, and as he spun, Tom de Gres path was blocked leaving him with a split radiator and damaged Cooper nose as a result. Further on round, Thornton (Lotus 20/22) spun, dropping him back to 10th. As he made his way back up through the field, unfortunately an optimistic move at the bus stop on lap 3 meant his Lotus caught the Brabham BT6 of John Fyda. After what seemed like an initial clean escape, it escalated quickly, as it transpired that the contact had ripped the tyre valve off Fyda’s rear wheel, and by Eau Rouge, the Brabham lost control with its tyre now fully deflated. Pete de la Roche squeezed through the narrowing gap but Chilcott next through had nowhere left to go and the Scottish Brabham duo had a sad end to their weekends, luckily with no physical harm.

So, Goodwin and Roach’s somewhat actionless races up front initially, were livened up when the safety car pulled in – at least in Stuart’s case. He just kept ahead for second, but Bullock (Lotus 27) got him on the run down to Eau rouge, after which he tucked into Marty’s slipstream along the Kemmel straight, before making the pass that he held onto to the flag, behind Goodwin. Mowle and Buhofer were hot on their heels too, and a few held breathes on the pit roof as they all negotiated the bus stop for the last time.

Further down the field, Pete de la Roche had transferred his skills beautifully from playstation to track on his first outing at Spa, and made up position from 12^th in qualifying to 6^th at the line and Class D2 victory. Andrew Taylor won the Class C2 battle of the Cooper T56’s, and further down in the drum braked class Trevor Griffiths and Jeremy Deeley were having a great dice.

Alex Morton was continuing his lightning form in his Condor to take Class B2, with Tony Olissoff (B1) and Clinton McCarthy (C1) the sole 1 litre runners, but they finished to earn their trophies!

Race 2

A problem with the circuit communications led to a long safety car period during the HSCC closed wheel race a couple before ours on Sunday afternoon, so we had a 15 min delay and a quick start procedure out of the Eau Rouge assembly area.

Chris Goodwin and Greg Thornton on row 1 were late into their cockpits having been in the previous Masters Sports Car race, but thankfully enough time to pass the message to get circulated through the field about oil on track.

So 37 cars headed out, David Kent only just getting away late with a misfire, later admitting he really rather enjoyed racing from the back and making up the places. Chris Goodwin was already well ahead by the end of lap 1, but behind him in midfield Guarino (Lotus 22) ran wide off line coming in to the bus stop and hit Buhofer’s Lola with nowhere to go and quite an impact. The marshals, perhaps understandably tired after a long weekend, didn’t seem in the same hurry as those racing for the stricken Lola to be lifted onto the flat bed so it was 2 safety car laps before the restart.

Off again, and Thornton spun again, on the exit of La Source, facing the field blind in the middle, waving madly, but luckily all avoided. He managed to swing it round after the pack had passed into the end of the pit lane and the marshals tucked him out of the way quickly and the race carried on unaware.

Saturday’s dual between Roach and Bullock resumed, with Drake and Mowle in close pursuit, until the very last lap when Marty spun out of the chase, and left the podium spots to Roach and Mowle, with Pete De la Roche 4^th for a Class win, and a big tick off his bucket list.

Morton had a moment at the bus stop on the last lap but was still well clear for front engined honours, while Besley got even with the Cooper win over Taylor.

Last on track, but delighted not to be so on the results, was Guy Verhofstadt (Elva 100), after Olissoff crossed the line in the pits just behind him.

Thanks to timekeepers, the results were available straight from the podium and a quick prizegiving attended by all ended a great sunny Spa weekend despite sadly not everyone being able to load up their precious cars in the same condition they’d unloaded them, before a dash for the ferries, and a reunion for some in the queue at Calais!

Sarah

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.

The two heats on track matched the heatwave of the weekend, with reigning Lurani Champion Bruno Weibel taking two late victories from 4th on the grid.

Lap records were also broken in Classes C1 (Deneve), D1 (Hillebrink) and E2 (Wishart), with Duncan also equalling his best ever time at Hockenheim.

Qualifying

Spring may have been late coming, but Summer clearly felt impatient, and we enjoyed scorching 28-degree sunshine and blue skies all weekend.

Qualifying took place early Friday afternoon, with a full grid of 37 FJ’s taking part, having unfortunately lost Oliver Hartmann (Lotus 20) after Thursday Free Practice with a stripped crown wheel and pinion in the gearbox. Jim Timms didn’t manage a lap, but the rest of the field were improving as the session progressed. Unfortunately, half way through the session, Peter Knofel had an engine blow up in his Emeryson, leaving oil on the track, and the session was red flagged. Iain Rowley retired Team Delta for fear of damage back out on a slippy track, but most others headed back out to continue to improve their times.

Besides Peter there were a few others to suffer maladies in qualifying, Ivo had a core plug out but the German team effort got him out again for Saturday. Richard Bishop-Miller, having nearly not made it in the first place after a breakdown en route in his van on the M6, was going great until the red flag, after which his Autosport decided to only fire on 3 cylinders and, with Iain Rowley’s help he changed the gearbox, but more terminal problems were Fyda Senior’s Brabham engine, and Lars-Goran’s Cooper suffering no compression in 2/3 cylinders.

The session finished with Pierre Tonetti (Brabham BT6) in his familiar top spot on pole, Mark Shaw (Brabham BT6) second, and Philipp Buhofer (Lola MK 5A) third, with Bruno Weibel (Lotus 22) fourth, all representing Class E1.

Fastest in the other classes were 12th Ivo Gockmann (D2 Jolus FJ) 18th Colin Nursey (C2 – Lotus 18), 20th newcomer Hans Hillebrink (D1 – Lotus 20), 21st Malcolm Wishart [E2 – Cooper T65), 22nd Tom de Gres (A – Stanguellini), 23rd Luc Deneve (C1 – Lotus 18) and 24th Floris-Jan Hekker (B2 – Rayberg).

Race 1

It was the very first time out for Bruno in the disc braked Class E1, having upgraded from the drum braked Peter Studer Lotus 20 to the Lotus 22 of Colin Nursey recently imported from the States. Some very long nights right up until loading the car paid off as he made the grid.  First off the line was actually 2nd placed man Mark Shaw (Brabham BT6) but sadly as soon as he reached for 2nd gear, the clutch went, which allowed Pierre Tonetti in his familiar blue Brabham to pull away and dominate for the first few laps. Next round at the end of lap 1 were Philipp Buhofer (Lola Mk 5A), Weibel and Smeeton (Wainer) all together, with Werner (Lotus 22) just hanging on, and by the next lap Buhofer and Weibel were beginning to pull away. Bruno had passed Philipp by the close of lap 3, and immediately started to make up ground in pursuit of Tonetti.

Meanwhile in this season’s other hotly contested Class, A, newcomer Enrico Panigalli was out after lap 1 with water pump problems, having borrowed wheels from fellow Taraschi team mate, Tony Bologna, meaning he was a nonstarter. This left team leader Salodini to chase Class honours from Tom de Gres, who was going well in his Stanguellini, with Carlo Incerti getting more confident and familiar with his Stanguellini just a few places behind. The chase paid off and on lap 4 it was Salodini leading the class.  Tom spun in excitement when he recaught Daniele on lap 6, while “attempting to take him back in a ‘Vettel like’ undercut which ended up being more like a Vertstappen uppercut to myself!.

A couple of laps previously Ivo’s luck had’t improved since qualifying and his problems moved from the back to the front, when he broke a front wishbone. This, coupled with Jono Fyda having forgotten a key ingredient in his U2 Mk3 (fuel), meant that Class D2 honours were gifted to Pierre Guichard in his ex-Andrew Wilkinson Lynx T3. Gunther Leidig also dropped out with overheating issues in his Elva 100, as did Marty Bullock (Lotus 27) with all manner of problems on lap 8, including broken throttle cable, and a valve gear failure in the engine, fuel spilling out, and lucky not to have gone up in flames. He was also later disqualified from the results for the car being underweight.

On the final lap Jim Timms stopped with a rotor arm problem and Hans Hillebrink, having started very well, dropped to the back from lap 6 but did suceed in taking the chequered flag, but had to stop short just after the finish line as his wheel was about to fall off!

For the front runners however, lap 10 was still a few minutes from the flag, and the excitement was far from over! It was on this lap that Bruno took his first ever overall Lurani race lead, when Pierre ran wide at the hairpin, and he continued racing on the limit to take the flag and an elated place on the top step of the podium.

Race 2

In full afternoon sunshine, 32 cars made it to the pre-grid, but unfortunately only 31 to the grid, as Timms Cooper T59 cut out on the warming up lap. Ivo had welded up his ailments with the help of Iain Rowley, but Marty Bullock joined Lars-Goran, John Fyda, Tony Bologna and Peter Knofel as non-starters.

At the lights it looked to be Salodini who made the best start and by the end of lap 1 he was already up to 18th from 26th on the grid, having taken both Incerti and de Gres to lead Class A. Tom was feeling a little less dizzy this time round, and managed to overtake Daniele on lap 2, and hold position until the end, but with not quite enough of a gap to take the aggregate Class win.

Back at the front though it was Tonetti, Weibel, Buhofer, Shaw together first-time round, before the leader started to pull away again but Buhofer was holding on to Weibel, with Shaw and Werner not letting go either.

Duncan’s Alexis was going as well as ever at the start and he even took Floris-Jan Hekker (Rayberg) to lead B2 for a lap, but unfortunately it started to lack power and he dropped back later on.

Jonathan Fyda (broken throttle cable), Luc Deneve (gear issues) and then Marco Werner (overheating car and driver) all retired in the first half of the race, but Marc Amez-Droz (Brabham BT6) and Richard Smeeton (Wainer) were racing hard in that order, in matching aubergine colouring, until the very end when Richard dropped off the pace, likely due to a hot engine losing power.

Very much enjoying his first races with us was Marc Schmitz in his Elva 100, and Hans Ciers was going really well in his Lotus 20, admiring Bob Birrell’s experienced line for a while before getting past him.

Leaving it a lap later this time, Bruno seized his chance on lap 12 and once again was first to greet the chequered flag, from Tonetti and Buhofer.

Aside from a few mechanical issues, it was an incident free relaxed sunny meeting, the perfect way to start the season.

Sarah