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Final rounds: Brands Hatch, 25/26 October.
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Heritage Grand Touring Car Challenge
Morgans and Tigers at Silverstone
Oliver Bryant couldn’t quite make it a double win as
the Charterhouse Heritage GT Challenge returned to Silverstone for
the second time this season over the weekend (16/17 August).
The Bryant family Morgan Plus 8 dominated Saturday’s sprint and
though father Grahame kept the car in contention during Sunday’s
race, the pace of the Sunbeam Tiger of Jackie Cochrane and Stephen
Colbert was just too much in Sunday's two-driver race.
Qualifying
Colbert grabbed pole in Cochrane’s Sunbeam Tiger on the last lap of
qualifying, with the Bryant Morgan Plus 8 only 0.152secs down in
second. "Stephen was so quick I didn’t expect to get near him," said
Oliver. "Oli always says that," replied Colbert with a smile.
Andy Jenkinson/John Young were third best, debuting their ex-Marsh
Plant/Gerry Marshall Aston Martin DBS V8. "It was our first real run
out in the car since it was rebuilt," said Young. The class E Aston
Martin DB4 of Steven Byrne/Peter Snowdon just edged out Alec
Hammond/Graham Hathaway (Chevrolet Camaro) for fourth, with Chris
Scragg's Aston Martin V8 completing the top six.
Harvey and Clive Death (Mini Cooper S) comfortably took pole in
class A, while Tim Glover/Rikki Cann (Ford Escort Mexico) ran solo
in class B. Andrew Chalmers/Colin Davids topped class C with their
Porsche 911RS.
Missing from the session altogether was the Chevrolet Camaro of
Arthur and Boysie Thurtle. "They wouldn’t let us out as we were too
noisy," said Arthur.
Race one
As the 30-car grid stormed away from the rolling start, Cochrane led
the charge to Copse, with Bryant sternly defending second from
Jenkinson. But by Becketts Jenkinson had the lead, as the top five
made an immediate break.
Cochrane had the lead again exiting Copse. "I thought I still had GT
from my earlier British GT qualifying session, so led into Copse and
only just got around the corner, exiting in third," said Jenkinson.
Bryant then led into Bridge and gradually stamped his authority on
the race as the rest fought for second. "I didn’t expect to pull
away so easily, but had to work hard for the initial gap," said
Bryant.
Once Scragg had made it past Hammond for fourth at Brooklands, he
made in-roads on Cochrane’s duel for second with Jenkinson. "I slid
off at Copse, went across the gravel and rejoined by a different
route I think," said Cochrane. Both Jenkinson and Scragg had got by
the recovering Tiger, leaving Hammond poised to challenge for
fourth.
Bryant was now well ahead as Jenkinson and Scragg traded second
place, before the safety car was brought out as Piers Townsend’s
Daimler SP250 had spun at Abbey and was stuck in gear. "We had a
couple of exchanges, but I had to give way in the end," said Scragg.
Only two laps remained after the green flag, with Bryant retaining
his advantage, over Jenkinson, Scragg, Cochrane and Hammond. Myles
Castaldini (RAM SC Cobra) was a solitary sixth. "I didn’t want that
safety car as I knew they would all catch me again," he said. From
his back of the grid start, Thurtle made it home seventh with a
stirring drive.
Death had a door handle scrap with Allen Tice (BMW 2002 Ti) in class
A, with Death finally claiming the win when Tice pitted. "He made
some fairly committed overtaking manoeuvres on me," said Death.
"That was great until the throttle pedal collapsed and I had to
pit," Tice replied.
Davids converted class C pole into a comfortable win over David Such
(Aston Martin V8), but class E had no results, after the Astons of
Nicholas King and Steven Byrne were both excluded for safety car
infringements.
Results
1 Oliver Bryant (Morgan Plus 8) 12 laps in 20m36.518s (78.57mph);
- 2 Andy Jenkinson (Aston Martin DBS V8) +1.789s;
- 3 Chris Scragg (Aston Martin V8);
- 4 Jackie Cochrane (Sunbeam Tiger);
- 5 Alec Hammond (Chevrolet Camaro);
- 6 Myles Castaldini (Ram SC Cobra);
- 7 Arthur Thurtle (Chevrolet Camaro);
- 8 Zoe North (Ford Mustang);
- 9 Steve Hyde (Ford Escort Mexico);
- 10 Bob Searles (Aston Martin DBS V8).
- Class winners: Harvey Death (Mini Cooper S); Rikki Cann (Ford
Escort Mexico); Colin Davids (Porsche 911 RS); Jenkinson. Fastest
lap: Bryant 1m32.072s (87.93mph).
Race two
Jenkinson made a flying start in Sunday’s race, heading Cochrane and
Scragg as they arrived at Copse. Scragg soon grabbed second and
started to push for the lead. Cochrane was able to close again as
the lead battle intensified, while Grahame Bryant and Arthur Thurtle
joined a clear break from the top five.
Scragg got alongside Jenkinson on a couple of occasions before
hitting the front into Becketts on the fifth lap. Bryant had started
to close in on Cochrane too, and while Hammond held a little lonely
sixth, Robin North (Ford Mustang) headed Bob Searles (Aston Martin
DBS V8) and Castaldini in a great scrap for seventh, which was soon
joined by Steve Hyde in his Ford Escort Mexico.
Jenkinson got back in front after a couple of laps, before handing
over to Young. Cochrane was one of the first to pit, and after the
others had made their stops it was Colbert out in front from Young,
Oliver Bryant, Scragg and Boysie Thurtle.
"I had got past Jackie on the road but I think their stop was a lot
quicker than ours," said Bryant Snr. "Well we are fairly rapid on
the stops, so I just went out and tried to keep the gap the same,"
Colbert replied.
Not everyone had a classic pit stop though, notably Searles who
pitted only to find co-driver Tony Jardine still on the pit wall
minus his crash helmet. After another lap and a second attempt all
was well.
Bryant and Scragg had a couple of exchanges for third, before Scragg
spun at Becketts. "When I got back ahead I didn’t want to close the
door on him, went too wide and spun though as I think my tyres were
a bit worn," said Scragg.
With Bryant free from pressure for a while, he started to close in
on Young and got by into Becketts on the 20th lap, as both had
started to close on Colbert. But time ran out for the Bryants and it
was a second win of the year for Cochrane, having shared his
Donington win with Andy Rouse. "We made a few changes for this race
and I think they worked," said Cochrane.
Young lost a wheel with a couple of laps to go, ending a promising
debut for the ex-Le Mans car. The Thurtles therefore inherited
third. "It was difficult getting the old tank wound up on these
twisty bits," said Arthur. Despite his two spins Scragg was still
fourth; "It’s too much doing these races on my own, 25 minutes was
okay, but not 45," he said.
The top six was completed by Hammond/Hathaway and Castaldini/Dickson,
while Searles/Jardine still came home eighth behind King, despite
their driver change mix up.
Harvey/Clive Death were class A winners again, after their
anticipated duel with the Tice/Conoley BMW never quite happened.
Jeremy Cooke and his race debuting mechanic Mike Dowd took class C,
first time out in the Porsche 911RSR, with the Chalmers/Davids 911RS
second. King was the class E victor, with his margin increased when
the DB4 of Byrne/Peter Snowdon had a late stop go penalty.
Results
1 Cochrane/Stephen Colbert 28 laps in 45m00.951s (83.93mph);
- 2 Graham Bryant/Oliver Bryant 45m06.489s;
- 3 Arthur Thurtle/Boysie Thurtle; 4 Scragg;
- 5 Hammond/Graham Hathaway;
- 6 Castaldini/John Dickson;
- 7 Nicholas King (Aston Martin DB4);
- 8 Searles/Tony Jardine;
- 9 Robin North/Zoe North (Ford Mustang);
- 10 Steve Hyde/Jonny Hyde.
Class winners: Clive Death/Harvey Death; Cann/Tim Glover; Jeremy
Cooke/Mike Down (Porsche 911 RSR); King; Hyde/Hyde. Fastest lap:
Bryant/Bryant 1m32.603s (87.43mph).
Beighton on top in Norfolk
-
Chris Brighton’s
potent Sunbeam Tiger exploited the long Snetterton straights to secure
two very comfortable victories in the latest races in the Charterhouse
Heritage GT Challenge at Snetterton (20 July). Beighton won twice,
with a helping hand from experience GT racer Nigel Greensall in the
two-driver contest.
Boysie Thurtle reacquainted himself with his former mount, now raced
by Chris Scragg, and chased after the leader in race two, but an
exhaust problem on the Aston Martin V8 blunted his efforts just as a
thrilling contest was building up.
Qualifying
Boysie Thurtle hustled his Chevrolet Camaro around to convincingly
clinch pole position in qualifying on Saturday, but moments later a
trail of smoke spelt trouble. "The timing chain has broke," explained
his father Arthur. "It’s a great shame as we love this place, but it’s
never very kind to us." The team withdrew the car and headed home.
That left Beighton to start the Sunbeam Tiger from pole, and Chris did
admit to a grassy moment at Coram but was also spotted spinning at the
Esses. "Understeer," was the excuse. "Brilliant car," was the reaction
of Greensall on his first competitive experience of the Tiger.
Peter Snowdon set the early pace with a rapid pace in the Aston Martin
DB4 he was sharing with Steven Byrne. Scragg was only just behind.
"It’s an interesting experience comparing the old and new V8 Astons as
I’m racing the N24 in the GT Cup event," said Scragg. The only problem
he had was with the Aston's exhaust.
Charlie Kemp had to back off the throttle half way down the long
Revett Straight as the DB4 he was co-driving with Conor O’Brien was
fitted with the wrong gearbox. "I don’t want to blow the engine up,"
explained the young charger, who was confident their race pace was
competitive.
John Bussell/Ian McCallum had a "reasonable" run in their DB5 to
qualify just ahead of the Robin/Zoe North Ford Mustang, which was
pulling 147mph down the back straight. "This track suits the car.
Drifting through Coram at over 90mph is a wonderful feeling,"
explained Robin.
John Shoesmith/Ray Barrow had a good run to clinch what became seventh
place on the grid followed by the John Dickson/Miles Castaldini AC
Cobra, both drivers pleased the rebuilt car was performing well after
a major accident at Donington Park.
A newly rebuilt engine in the Porsche 911 helped Andrew Chalmers/Colin
Davids to ninth while the Rover SD1 of Chris Williams/Williams
followed, but then left for home after breaking a driveshaft. Tony
Lees looked comfortable in his Morgan while the Cooke pairing had no
problems to report with the Aston Martin Vantage.
Richard Masters was trying to convince his crew that a change of
tyres, from testing, was the reason he dumped the Jaguar XJS in the
gravel at Riches. "The Hoosiers were supposed to be two seconds
quicker - they are not!"
Will Goff was getting a hand this week from Oliver Bryant and the pair
lined up 13th as a result while Martin White was finding his feet on
his first visit to the track with his Morgan Plus 8.
Martin Melling led the rest of the field from Robert Rawe in his
Healey 3000, just ahead of the Triumph TR7 V8 of David Falkingham. The
Tim Glover/Rikki Cann Escort was working well; "we just need a bit
more power," was the only wish from the pair.
The Bob Godbold/Anthony Matthews BMW 2002 stopped at Coram with fuel
surge. "I'm going to go back to the workshop and pick up another tank
to cure the problem," said Godbold. Instead he fitted a complicated
filter system, which did the job.
Piers Townsend’s Daimler SP250 and the smoking Ford Cortina 1600E of
Kate Bennington/Eve Tate brought up the rear of the field.
Race one
Beighton used all his British GT experience to lead the pack into
an orderly rolling start, which allowed him to comfortably be first
into Riches. Scragg followed the leader and started chasing the orange
machine, which paid off as he slipped ahead on the third lap at the
Esses. Meanwhile Robin North had taken third and, while not quite on
the pace of the leading pair, could comfortably out pace the chasing
pack, which secured the Mustang racer his first ever podium visit.
Beighton soon got back into the groove and retook the lead at Riches,
which steadily grew to 4.5 seconds. Traffic then allowed Scragg to
close but the only time Beighton looked vulnerable was when he clipped
Pat Cooke’s Aston Martin Vantage at Russell. "It was the only time I
was troubled," admitted the winner afterwards.
"I think he was playing with me. I had half a chance when he clipped
the Aston otherwise he was just too quick," was Scragg’s assessment.
North’s third place had looked briefly under threat from John Dickson,
who had to start the Cobra from the pit lane. "I’ve got air in the
clutch hydraulic system and didn’t want to take any risks in the
middle of the pack," he explained.
Dickson quickly dealt with the lower order and by the fifth lap was in
fourth place, chasing after the Mustang, but just as he got into a
threatening position the engine started to misfire and he settled for
what he had already achieved. Sadly the problems saw the team go home
before race two.
After Dickson had relieved Byrne of fourth place the Aston driver had
his mirrors full, first with McCallum, then Shoesmith after he had
pushed his Camaro past McCallum at Riches. Cooke then got past
McCallum with Tony Lees also demoting the DB4 on the 12th lap.
A large cloud of smoke spelt trouble at Sear with Masters' engine
blowing up and coating the track in oil, nearly catching out several
drivers. Lees used the opportunity to unseat Cooke to finish right on
the tail of the Camaro.
Byrne had a late spin at Russell trying to lap Rawe’s Healey 3000,
which dropped him behind eighth-placed McCallum while Chalmers rounded
out the top ten.
White had an uneventful run to 11th, while an early spin dropped
O’Brien from sixth to 13th and then he had a high speed grassy moment
at Coram when trying too hard, which slowed him down a little to
finish 12th.
Rawe was a class winner in 13th after a long battle with Melling,
who’s run was spoilt when the diff broke driving back to the paddock.
Godbold, Goff, Jeremy Cooke and Townsend completed the finishers while
Bennington didn’t take to the grid after an electrical gremlin hit the
Cortina just prior to the start.
Results – 20 laps
1 Chris Beighton (Sunbeam Tiger) 25m54.392s (90.41mph);
-
2 Chris Scragg (Aston
Martin V8) + 3.703s;
-
3 Robin North (Ford
Mustang);
-
4 John Dickson (AC
Cobra);
-
5 John Shoesmith
(Chevrolet Camaro);
-
6 Tony Lees (Morgan
Plus 8);
-
7 Pat Cooke (Aston
Martin Vantage);
-
8 Ian McCallum (Aston
Martin DB5);
-
9 Steven Byrne (Aston
Martin DB4);
-
10 Andrew Chalmers
(Porsche 911 RS).
-
Class winners; Lees,
McCallum, Robert Rawe (Austin Healey 3000); Bob Godbold (BMW 2002).
Fastest lap: Beighton 1m 15.913s (92.56mph).
Race two
Beighton again blasted away from the rolling start with Scragg
close behind, while Zoe North was taking a leaf out of dad’s book and
looked very comfortable in third place.
Lees was showing well in the Morgan but was soon shovelled out of
fourth place by Shoesmith who had Cooke right in his wheel tracks.
Meanwhile McCallum and Byrne were disputing the DB4 honours. Chalmers
rotated at Russell on the tenth lap, which prompted him to pit and
exchange with Davids. McCallum then followed and handed over to
Bussell while Shoesmith exchanged with Barrow at the same time as
Snowdon climbed into Byrne’s car.
The leader pitted for Greensall to take over with Scragg exchanging
with former owner Boysie Thurtle, who powered away in determined mood
to catch the leader. This left Zoe in the lead until she allowed dad
back behind the wheel.
When the North’s exchanged, Boysie was left to close in on leader
Greensall but just as he was poised to strike the exhaust fell off the
Aston and he headed for the pits, where an extinguisher was used to
quell a small fire under the car. "Boysie had a real chance," said
Scragg afterwards, determined to sort out the exhaust before the next
race.
Shortly afterwards White brought the Morgan into the pits and a brief
engine fire started under the bonnet, which also needed putting out.
A few laps later the Cann Escort lost a wheel at Russell, when a
halfshaft broke, and moments later Bussell and Rawe collided exiting
Coram which saw both spear off in different directions. With the track
partially blocked the race was rightly halted.
Bussell had no idea what had happened at Coram to put him out and had
to rely on Rawe’s view. "I signalled John to pass me on the inside of
Coram but as we exited the corner his back wheel and my front wheel
touched. It threw the Aston high in the air and spun me off towards
the inside of the track. I thought he was going over," said Rawe. Both
drivers put it down to a racing incident.
With the pressure off Greensall had coasted home to victory. "It’s a
brilliant car to drive," said a happy winner.
Robin North brought the Mustang home in second place and another
podium finish. "Zoe did a great job, all I had to do was keep going,"
explained Robin as Zoe’s grin could hardly have been wider.
Third went to Snowdon after a quick stop and a very determined drive,
to win the class and secure Byrne’s first podium place in his debut
season of racing.
Kemp was some distance back in fourth place in O’Brien’s car.
The Shoesmith/Barrow Camaro was fifth for a second time. "That’s very
pleasing after all our disasters," said the cheerful drivers.
Lees was just as pleased with two class wins and a second sixth place
finish while Davids brought the 911 home in seventh place. Richard
Cooke brought dad’s Vantage home in eighth, the first time he had
driven the car for a year. "Dad put in a great first stint which had
seen the car as high as fourth during the pit stops," said a beaming
Richard.
Goff was delighted with ninth, heaping praise onto Bryant after the
pair had jumped the Healey in the pits, with the BMW taking tenth
place having never missed a beat on its debut. Townsend and the
Bennington/Tate Cortina completed the runners.
Results – 26 laps
1 Chris Beighton/Nigel Greensall 34m 14.955s (88.90mph);
-
2 Robin North/Zoe
North + 2m20.581s;
-
3 Steven Byrne/Peter
Snowdon;
-
4 Conor
O’Brien/Charlie Kemp (Aston Martin DB4);
-
5 John Shoesmith/Ray
Barrow;
-
6 Lees;
-
7 Andrew
Chalmers/Colin Davids;
-
8 Pat Cooke/Richard
Cooke;
-
9 Will Goff/Oliver
Bryant (MGB);
-
10 Bob Godbold/Anthony
Matthews.
Class winners:
Byrne/Snowdon; Lees; Godbold/Matthews; Piers Townsend (Daimler SP250).
Fastest lap: Beighton 1m 15.720s (92.80mph).
More family affairs in Hampshire
- Father and son
winning pairs are becoming a common theme in Charterhouse Heritage GT
Challenge races and, for a third successive meeting, it happened with
race wins at the ultra quick Thruxton circuit (28/29 June) for Grahame
Bryant along with Arthur and Boysie Thurtle.
Qualifying
The Bryant family Morgan Plus 8 of Grahame and son Oliver topped the
time sheets with a quite staggering lap a whopping 2.748s clear of the
rest. The Thurtles were next best in the family Chevrolet Camaro,
0.85s up on the similar car of Alec Hammond/Graham Hathaway, the
latter’s Essex based firm having only finished rebuilding it on Friday
night, following its accident at Silverstone.
The Steven Byrne/Peter Snowdon Aston Martin DB4 was quickest of the
Class E cars while the Williams, Chris and son Charlie, were fastest
in Class C; but they switched to their trusty Class D Morgan Plus 8 as
the Rover SD1 suffered a suspected dropped valve in qualifying.
A trip back to Essex to get the Morgan meant that they missed
Saturday’s race. Regular GT racer Steve Hyde topped the Invitation
class, standing in for regular driver Darren Dowling, in the Steve
Howard owned V8-engined Ford Escort.
The McCarthys, Roy and son Spencer switched mounts, Roy substituting
the ex-Mark Ellis MGA in place of his familiar MGB GTV8 which was in
need some refreshing following several races at the recent MGCC
Festival at Silverstone. They thus moved to Class A.
Quickest of the Class B runners was Jeremy Cooke, the London man
another to move classes as he brought along a Porsche 911RS rather
than his original entry of a Ford Mustang.
Race one
Saturday’s 20-minute sprint race was for single drivers and while
Grahame Bryant did win, it was nothing like as easy as qualifying
times had suggested. Lurking down the order was race returnee Lester
Stacey in his newly acquired ex-Alan Minshaw Ford Mustang. Back from a
nine-year sabbatical, the motor home magnate showed no signs of ring
rustiness as he took the fight to Bryant.
On his first ever visit to Thruxton, Stacey had qualified only ninth
fastest, yet he was up to second inside a lap. This was a wake up
call, not only to Bryant but to Arthur Thurtle and the others. It took
Thurtle five laps to depose the newcomer, but having done that he
promptly spun on the exit of the chicane.
Thankfully everybody missed the stricken car and Thurtle was able to
resume, now down in sixth spot. Slowing to miss Thurtle meant that
Stacey had lost ground on Bryant, but he soon made it up again.
As the lead pair came up Woodham Hill for the ninth time, Stacey
blasted past into the lead as if the Morgan was standing still. "That
thing has got some power", opined Bryant. "One of the Formula Three
team members told me that the wind had changed direction this
afternoon. There was a tail wind this morning and the Morgan was good
for 150mph up there; now it’s high 130s. I changed from fourth to
fifth and it barely went any quicker," he added.
A couple of laps later, Bryant redressed the situation at Church and
this time, he was able to stay ahead, albeit by just 0.313s. "I didn’t
realise it was the last lap, I could have had him," rued the colourful
Stacey.
Chris Scragg was a fine, if lonely, third in his Aston Martin V8 while
Thurtle fought his way back to take fourth. He was a couple of seconds
ahead of Hammond, while Mike Luck completed the top six in his Jaguar
E Type after not always enjoying the best of breaks while battling
with the V8 machinery.
Hyde pedalled an unfamiliar car at decent pace to claim Invitation
class honours at the blunt end of the top ten. Roy McCarthy was only
two places further back en route to Class A honours in front of a
number of potentially quicker cars.
Steven Byrne was best of the Class E runners, albeit with less pace
than his professional co-driver Peter Snowdon. The defection from
Class C of the Williams’s left things open for a fresh winner and it
came in the shape of Alan Collett’s rare Iso Rivolta, which beat David
Such’s Aston Martin by just 1.85 seconds.
Rikki Cann found a useful improvement in pace to claim Class B honours
ahead of qualifying pace setter Jeremy Cooke.
Results – 20 minutes
1 Grahame Bryant (Morgan Plus 8) 14 laps in 20m57.200s (94.44mph);
- 2 Lester Stacey
(Ford Mustang) + 0.313s;
- 3 Chris Scragg
(Aston Martin DBS V8);
- 4 Arthur Thurtle
(Chevrolet Camaro);
- 5 Alec Hammond
(Chevrolet Camaro);
- 6 Mike Luck
(Jaguar E Type);
- 7 Rick Lloyd
(Chevrolet Camaro);
- 8 Simon Lane
(Chevrolet Camaro);
- 9 Tony Jardine
(Aston Martin DBS V8);
- 10 Steve Hyde
(Ford Escort).
Class winners: Bryant; Hyde; Roy McCarthy (MGA); Steven Byrne (Aston
Martin DB4); Alan Collett (Iso Rivolta); Rikki Cann (Ford Escort).
- Fastest lap:
Thurtle 1m 28.023s (96.35mph).
Race two
Already at the tail of a 12-race programme, Sunday’s Heritage race ran
perilously close to the circuit’s curfew hour following delays caused
by an accident in the British GT race. Unlike some of the preceding
races, which were trimmed in time, at least the Heritage race ran to
almost its full duration.
With the grid order set on race one finishing positions, Arthur
Thurtle lost little time in getting past Bryant and Stacey to
establish himself at the front of the pack. Stacey and a hard charging
Scragg dumped pole man Bryant to fourth on the first lap.
Bryant soon took third spot but no sooner had he got it than Hammond
demoted him to fourth. The fired up Hammond, clearly relishing the
extra front end grip afforded by a new nose splitter then set about
Stacey and ousted him.
A pattern emerged with the top five running together in the order
Thurtle, Hammond, Stacey, Bryant and Scragg. With Bryant seemingly not
the force of Saturday, Scragg then bumped him back to fifth.
Stacey was the first of the big five to depart, a puncture sending him
scuttling to the pits. He later rejoined, but his chances had gone.
Nevertheless it was a fine recovery drive to claim seventh by the
close.
Hammond later ousted Thurtle from the number one slot but then as the
pit stops unfurled, so the order yo-yoed. After four laps out of the
top spot, Boysie Thurtle re-established what his father had started.
Clearly enjoying himself, Boysie launched the Camaro into some lurid
powerslides onto the Pit Straight.
As he built up the lead gap, attention turned to the charge by Oliver
Bryant who was trying to peg back Hathaway for second spot. Time and
again, Bryant got into a challenging position only to see the wily
Hathaway defend cleverly and then use Chevrolet power to fend him off.
One of the saddest sights of the day was that of Scragg’s well-earned
fourth spot go begging just two laps from home, when his oil pressure
dived. Scragg’s misfortune elevated the Williams’ Morgan to fourth
after a superb drive from the rear of the grid.
Power-sliding Byrne’s DB4 on par with Thurtle, Snowdon urged the blue
six-cylinder car up to a very fine fifth overall and Class E honours.
Such turned round Saturday form to claim Class C while the McCarthys
took Class A. VW Golf GTi pairing Richard Cooke and Simon Verschueren
won the Invitation class while Cooke bagged Class B honours this time.
"I got a good start and managed to stay ahead although Hammond did get
by me later. Boysie was up for it though and he put in a good charge.
This old car is wonderful to drive’," concluded said a jubilant Arthur
Thurtle.
Results – 45 minutes
1 Arthur Thurtle/Boysie Thurtle 29 laps in 43m17.393s (94.69mph);
- 2 Alec
Hammond/Graham Hathaway + 26.297s;
- 3 Grahame
Bryant/Oliver Bryant;
- 4 Chris
Williams/Charlie Williams (Morgan Plus 8);
- 5 Steven
Byrne/Peter Snowdon (Aston Martin DB4);
- 6 Mike
Luck/Jonathan Edwards;
- 7 Lester Stacey;
- 8 Les
Goble (Aston Martin DBS V8);
- 9 Tony Jardine/Bob
Searles;
- 10 Pat Cooke
(Aston Martin Vantage).
Class winners: Thurtle/Thurtle; Byrne/Snowdon; David Such (Aston Martin
DBS V8); Roy McCarthy/Spencer McCarthy; Richard Cooke/Simon Verschueren
(VW Golf GTi); Jeremy Cooke (Porsche 911RS).
Fastest lap: Hammond/Hathaway 1m 26.198s (98.39mph).
Thurtle family affair at Silverstone
-
 Arthur
and Boysie Thurtle bagged the spoils in their mighty Chevrolet Camaro
at Silverstone on Saturday (31 May) in the latest round of the
Heritage Grand Touring Car Challenge.
For the third race in a row, victory went to a father and son pairing
as Rick Lloyd and Matthew Wurr gave chase in their Morgan Plus 8 as
three family pairings packed our the top 10.
Qualifying
Just 0.316s covered the top five cars in qualifying, although
the Thurtles were only fifth fastest. Instead, it was the similar
Camaro of Alec Hammond/Graham Hathaway that topped the times sheets by
just 0.021s from the Rick Lloyd Morgan Plus 8 which, with regular
co-driver Peter Horsman on duty elsewhere, was again shared by Matthew
Wurr.
The Donington Park winning Sunbeam Tiger of Chris Beighton and Jon
Finnemore was third fastest with solo driver Chris Williams fourth
fastest in his Morgan Plus 8.
The Thurtles were fifth ahead of the George Miller/Les Goble shared
Aston Martin DBS V8.
The McCarthy family MGB GTV8, which would be started by father Roy,
was the leading Class C car while the Peter Wheeler/Ben Samuelson
pairing in Wheeler’s Aston Martin DB4 were just fractions away and
best of the Class E runners.
In another giant-killing exhibition, Harvey and Clive Death had their
Cooper S in front of some far more powerful cars en route to heading
the Class A runners.
Race
On duty first, Arthur Thurtle had a blistering opening lap during
which he went from fifth to first ahead of Hammond, Lloyd and
McCarthy. Sadly, already missing was the Beighton Tiger. Lloyd ousted
Hammond on the second lap and made inroads into Thurtle’s lead.
Such was Thurtle’s furious pace, that only Lloyd was able to live with
it, but live with it he did and by the end of six glorious laps, they
were nose to tail. By now Thurtle, in the much heavier car, was
hatching a new game plan.
As he later explained, he felt it prudent to let Lloyd through and
then try to keep tabs on him. "I felt that if I pushed too hard, maybe
I might spin. I knew Rick’s co-driver wasn’t as fast as him, so I
thought that if I could keep things together and then give Boysie the
chance to have a go at him, we could still win," said Thurtle Snr.
As the laps unfurled, so Hammond hung on in third spot
but came under ever increasing pressure from Williams. For several
laps, they ran as one with Williams eventually pushing Hammond into
the tiny mistake he needed to snatch the place.
Powering out of Luffield, Hammond slid wide on the kerb
and just avoided going into the gravel, but it was enough to hand the
advantage to Williams. But it didn’t last and, one lap later, Hammond
had reasserted his authority over Williams.
Meanwhile, up front Thurtle became the first of the front-runners to
make his pit stop on lap 19. Lloyd now continued to stretch his
advantage until pitting after 22 laps. In by this stage for driver
changes were the McCarthys and Williams together with Robin North who
got the Mustang he shares with daughter Zoe as high as fifth.
On lap 22 the second placed Camaro of Hammond went missing and the
presence of the safety car a few laps later indicated that something
was amiss. In fact, Hammond had become the innocent victim of a mishap
that befell Neil Cunningham (sharing Bob Pepper’s Mustang) at Becketts.
The Mustang’s throttle had jammed open as Cunningham swept through
Maggotts and though he managed to quickly kill the engine, he was by
now on the grass and heading straight across towards Becketts.
The Mustang shot across the bows of the Camaro, damaging the front of
Hammond's car in the process, and with its front suspension broken,
the Mustang finally came to rest on the short straight up to Chapel on
the Grand Prix circuit, facing the way it had come. "I feel so sorry
for Alec, he was the totally innocent party in my incident," said
Cunningham.
Meanwhile, the safety car had picked up Wurr rather than the race
leader, which was by now, with the lack of a pit stop, Mike Luck’s
Jaguar E Type. The field circulated for several laps like this until
eventually being waved through to allow the safety car to pick up the
E-Type. But Luck immediately pitted as he’d come to the end of the pit
stop window and so the safety car had to find Wurr once more.
The safety car duly pulled off with just over thirteen minutes to run
and Thurtle Jnr had Wurr in his sights. As they hurtled towards Copse
for the 33rd time, Boysie dived past into the lead and soon put some
distance between himself and the chasing Wurr.
Williams finished third, one place and 12 seconds ahead of the Class C
winning McCarthy family duo. The Luck E Type now driven by Jonathan
Edwards was the final un-lapped runner in fifth spot.
Miller and Goble rounded out the top six, one place ahead of the Class
E winning Wheeler/Samuelson pairing. The Death brothers bagged Class A
honours, and while the other class fastest laps were set early on,
Harvey had enough grip left to record his best race lap on the 39th
lap.
Results – 50 minutes
1 Arthur and Boysie Thurtle (Chevrolet Camaro) 43 laps in 50m
33.367s (83.64mph);
- 2 Rick Lloyd/Matthew Wurr (Morgan
Plus 8) +7.646s;
- 3 Chris Williams (Morgan Plus 8);
- 4 Roy and Russell McCarthy (MGB
GTV8);
- 5 Mike Luck/Jonathan Edwards
(Jaguar E Type);
- 6 George Miller/Les Goble (Aston
Martin DBS V8);
- 7 Peter Wheeler/Ben Samuelson
(Aston Martin DB4);
- 8 Robin and Zoe North (Ford
Mustang);
- 9 Ian McCallum/Pete Foster (Aston
Martin DB5);
- 10 John Shoesmith/Ray Barrow
(Chevrolet Camaro).
- Class winners: Thurtle/Thurtle;
McCarthy/McCarthy; Wheeler/Samuelson; Harvey and Clive Death (Mini
Cooper S).
- Fastest lap:
Lloyd 1m 03.608s (92.76mph).
Bryant
family affair at Brands Hatch
- Father and son
pairing Graeme and Oliver Bryant bagged both race wins in their Morgan
Plus 8 as the Heritage GT Car Challenge played a significant part on
the support race bill to the prestigious A1GP finale on the Brands
Hatch Grand Prix circuit over the weekend (May 3/4).
Qualifying
With a chunk of qualifying on Friday run under safety car conditions
thanks to a car beached in a gravel trap, getting a time became even
more significant. The Bryants topped the timesheets ahead of Donington
Park winners Jackie Cochrane/Andy Rouse who were just 0.335s shy of
pole, but major engine problems prompted Irishman Cochrane to pack up
and head home early.
There were several other tales of woe, but with repairs effected, a
near capacity grid of 42 cars lined up for race one on Saturday.
Race One
With the grid moved up one place following Cochrane’s withdrawal,
Chris Beighton (Sunbeam Tiger) took advantage of his promotion to a
front row spot to out-drag Graeme Bryant into Paddock Hill Bend. There
were several near misses as Adrian Willmott spun the Howard
Spooner-owned Aston Martin out of third spot as they swept down the
hill.
Despite only qualifying eighth fastest, the Rick Lloyd/Matthew Wurr
Morgan was on the charge with start driver Lloyd up to fourth inside a
lap; third a lap later and then second on lap three. Lloyd caught
Beighton on a memorable lap five.
Lloyd ousted the leader at Surtees, only to lose out on the run up to
Hawthorns. But Lloyd reasserted himself on Brabham Straight as they
completed the lap. Sadly, it was game over for Beighton when he spun
into retirement at Paddock on lap eight.
A safety car period to retrieve the stricken Tiger prompted the start
of the pit stops. Confusion arose as the safety car failed to pick up
race leader Lloyd who circulated alone. When the round of pit stops
was completed and with the race underway again, Lloyd’s co-driver
Matthew Wurr held a handy 30 seconds advantage over a charging Oliver
Bryant.
With Bryant lapping quicker than Wurr, a close finish seemed likely.
But Bryant had other ideas and, in a monumental drive, he turned a
half-minute deficit into the race lead in the space of just seven
laps! Wurr was a breathless 19.75s behind at flag fall.
"I knew that Matthew wouldn’t be as quick as Rick, so I kept at it. I
enjoyed going through the pack and they were very well behaved," said
Bryant Jnr. "There should be an age limit on drivers," joked Lloyd who
rued the botched safety car period.
Chris Scragg (Aston Martin V8) filled third spot. "I’m pleased with
that, third in two Heritage races, that’s a result," said Scragg, who
had just over two seconds in hand over Alec Hammond and Graham
Hathaway in the former’s Camaro, Hathaway relishing the big V8
machine.
The Bob Searles/Tony Jardine Aston Martin DBS V8 took fifth, Jardine
slotting in driving duties alongside his Sky TV commitments which were
so tight that Searles drove the car onto the grid for Sunday’s race
and then waited to see if Jardine would do the starting stint. He made
it with less than a minute to spare!
They were one spot ahead of the beautifully presented Class C winning
Jaguar E Type of Andy Jenkinson and John Young. Two places back, Pete
Foster was a solo driver in the Class E winning Aston Martin DB4.
The Death brothers, Clive and Harvey, humbled a lot of more powerful
cars with an incredible Class A winning run to 13th overall, having
been as high as eleventh at one point. It was all smiles there, but
local man and Class A rival Gordon Streeter was left stranded when his
Ford Anglia suffered a misfire and then cut out completely with a
broken rotor arm.
The rare Daimler SP250 of Piers Townsend and Chris Conoley was the
winner of Class B exactly one second ahead of rivals Tim Glover and
Rikki Cann (Ford Escort).
Results – 40 minutes
1 Graeme Bryant/Oliver Bryant (Morgan +8) 23 laps in 41m 31.882s
(76.88mph);
- 2 Rick
Lloyd/Matthew Wurr (Morgan +8) +19.756s;
- 3 Chris Scragg
(Aston Martin DBS V8);
- 4 Alec
Hammond/Graham Hathaway (Chevrolet Camaro);
- 5 Bob Searles/Tony
Jardine (Aston Martin DBS V8);
- 6 Andy Jenkinson/John
Young (Jaguar E Type);
- 7 Simon Lane
(Chevrolet Camaro);
- 8 Pete Foster
(Aston Martin DB4);
- 9 John Shoesmith/Ray
Barrow (Chevrolet Camaro); 1
- 0 Steven
Byrne/Peter Snowdon (Aston Martin DB4).
-
- Class winners:
Bryant/Bryant; Jenkinson; Foster; Clive Death/Harvey Death (Mini
Cooper S); Piers Townsend/Chris Conoley (Daimler SP250). Fastest lap:
Bryant/Bryant 1m 38.779s (84.38mph).
Race Two
A very healthy 36-car field lined up for Sunday's race in front of a
bumper crowd. Oliver Bryant started the family Morgan and gradually
edged away from Lloyd, building up a lead that father Grahame would
maintain to the flag. "Oliver really set it up for me," said Bryant
Snr.
But behind him, the contest for second would go all the way down to
the final lap. Starting from 32nd grid spot, Finnemore had passed
rival after rival to lay 11th at the end of lap one. Further progress
obviously got tougher, but by the time he handed over to Beighton at
around mid-race, the Tiger was up to third place.
Finnemore's cause had been aided by retirement for Scragg and a smoky
spin at Graham Hill Bend by Jardine. With Beighton now in full flight,
he gradually eroded the gap to Wurr, catching him on the final lap.
They touched as they swooped down Paddock Hill Bend, where Wurr spun
down to third place.
Wurr recovered for third, over half a minute clear of Hathaway who had
cheekily passed Class C winner Young around the outside at the same
spot a few laps earlier. The top six was rounded out by the Peter
Wheeler/Ben Samuelson Aston Martin DB4, which took Class E honours.
The Death brothers again took Class A honours, this time in a top
twelve spot and three places ahead of Streeter who put his race one
frustrations behind him. Rounding out the class winners, the Glover/Cann
pairing turned form around with their first race conquerors Townsend/Conoley
to prevail by 2.6 seconds.
Results – 30 minutes
1 Bryant/Bryant 17 laps in 30m 07.351s (78.38mph);
- 2 Chris Beighton/Jon
Finnemore (Sunbeam Tiger) + 12.454s;
- 3 Lloyd/Wurr;
- 4 Hammond/Hathaway;
- 5 Jenkinson/Young;
- 6 Peter Wheeler/Ben
Samuelson (Aston Martin DB4);
- 7 Searles/Jardine;
- 8 Robin North/Zoe
North (Ford Mustang);
- 9 Lane;
- 10 Robert Rawe
(Aston Martin DB4).
Class
winners Bryant/Bryant; Jenkinson/Young; Wheeler/Samuelson; Death/Death;
Tim Glover/Rikki Cann (Ford Escort). Fastest lap: Bryant/Bryant
1m38.969s (84.19mph).
Tigers to the fore at
Donington
 Sunbeam
Tigers set a scorching pace as the Heritage GT Car Challenge season
opened in fine style at Donington Park over the weekend (12/13 April).
The Tiger Racing closed cockpit model of Chris Beighton and Jon
Finnemore duelled throughout with the open-cockpit car of Jackie
Cochrane and Andy Rouse,(pictured leading right - pic
Paul Wiliams) and honours were shared with a win apiece.
Qualifying
Cochrane/Rouse co
mfortably secured pole for the first race, with Beighton/Finnemore
alongside. But it was only tenths of a second covering the next five
cars, with the Aston Martin DBS V8s of Chris Scragg sharing the second
row with the DB4 of class C pacesetters Peter Wheeler and Ben Samuelson.
In the other classes, Harvey and Clive Death’s Mini Cooper S was ahead
of the pretty Sebring Sprite of Robert Morris/Paul Ringer. Likewise in
class B, Laki Christoforou’s Escort was clear of the Escort Mexico of
Tim Glover and Darren Dowling.
The only casualty in qualifying was Chris Williams’ Rover SD1 with a
broken hub. Although he had to miss the first race on Saturday
afternoon, he returned home to collect his Morgan Plus 8 for Sunday's
race.
Race one
The 33-car grid made a glorious spectacle as the field charged into
Redgate on the opening lap. Beighton led from Cochrane and Scragg, but
Rick Lloyd’s Chevrolet Camaro scythed into third at Melbourne, only to
spin at Goddards and clip the passing Scragg.
Wheeler moved into third and both Mike Luck’s Jaguar E-Type and Alec
Hammond’s Camaro also went by as Scragg recovered momentum. Luck picked
off Wheeler on the second lap and started to edge towards Cochrane, as
Beighton’s lead increased. Scragg was also on the recovery path and was
back into fifth by the end of lap three.
It was very close for fourth even though Scragg managed to nose ahead of
both Wheeler and Hammond. But suddenly it was all change went Cochrane
not only pitted too early but had a couple of rare spins. "I spun on
someone’s oil and when I pitted they sent me out again as I was too
early," said Cochrane.
Wheeler was the first of the scheduled stoppers, by which time there was
more oil after Myles Castaldini crashed the Ram Cobra at Melbourne.
Beighton managed to hand over to Finnemore with the lead intact, while
Scragg and Samuelson made up the top three.
Finnemore proved uncatchable and romped to a 10-second victory. "The
plan was always to get away at the start but we didn’t expect so much
lead," said Beighton. But Rouse absolutely tore through the leader board
and by lap 14 had second from Scragg into the Esses. "That was great
fun," said Rouse after taking the flag. Scragg held onto third from
Wheeler/Samuelson, but there was some confusion over fifth. Lloyd and
Peter Horsman had been shown in the place on the timing screens, and on
the results. But after due deliberation Mike Luck (Jaguar E Type) was
restored to fifth and with it took the class C spoils. "I know our
pit-stop wasn’t very good but hadn’t thought it was that bad," he said.
Hammond/ Graham Hathaway had the legs of Horsman until the last lap. "I
got oil all over the screen and accidentally touched the wipers when I
changed gear, I could hardly see a thing after that," Hathaway
explained.
Bob Searles/Tony Jardine (Aston Martin DBS V8), Robin/Zoe North (Ford
Mustang) and Roger Bennington/Les Goble (Aston Martin V8) completed the
top ten.
In class A the Deaths were all conquering again, with Morris/Ringer a
distant second. Dowling/Glover won the class B battle from Daimler of
Piers Townsend/Chris Conoley after Christoforou’s early retirement. Luck
was a lap up on Tony Lees Morgan in class C and fourth overall for
Wheeler/Samuelson secured class E spoils.
Results – 35 minutes
1 Chris Beighton/Jon Finnemore (Sunbeam Tiger) 19 laps in 35m44.120s
(79.75mph); 2 Jackie Cochrane/Andy Rouse (Sunbeam Tiger) +10.477s; 3
Chris Scragg (Aston Martin V8); 4 Peter Wheeler/Ben Samuelson (Aston
Martin DB4); 5 Mike Luck (Jaguar E-Type); 6 Rick Lloyd/Peter Horsman
(Chevrolet Camaro); 7 Alec Hammond/Graham Hathaway (Chevrolet Camaro); 8
Bob Searles/Tony Jardine (Aston Martin DBS V8); 9 Robin North/Zoe North
(Ford Mustang); 10 Roger Bennington/Les Goble (Aston Martin V8). Class
winners: Harvey Death/Clive Death (Mini Cooper S); Darren Dowling/Tim
Glover (Ford Escort); Luck; Beighton/Finnemore; Wheeler/Samuelson.
Fastest lap: Rouse 1m45.471s (85.33mph).
Race two
Finnemore used the same script as his partner Beighton by the look of
his opening lap in the second race. A huge lead left Cochrane, Scragg,
Wheeler and Luck chasing. Wheeler got squeezed out as Lloyd joined the
three-car battle for third. But into Goddards Lloyd locked up and tagged
Scragg for the second time in the weekend. Luck emerged in third, from
Wheeler, North and the Camaro of Simon Lane, but Hammond was out and
Scragg was soon heading for the pits.
The top three took full advantage to escape from the rest of the pack,
while Hammond set his sights on Wheeler, after North had snatched
fourth. Finnemore may have been long gone, but Luck mounted a challenge
on Cochrane for second. For a couple of laps they ran side by through
Melbourne and Luck managed to nose ahead for a while. "I just wanted a
bit of fun, I knew I couldn’t hold Jackie on the straights," he said.
Cochrane was one of the early stoppers again as Finnemore carried on for
another three laps. But as Beighton emerged from the pits Rouse was
exiting Goddards. The chase was on until Beighton ran wide exiting the
Esses and Rouse powered ahead.
After Lane made the final stop from third, Luck regained his position
and had a fairly solitary run to the flag. Back at the front however,
Rouse was unable to shake off the attentions of the rival Tiger. The
duel was finally settled in Rouse’s favour when Beighton had a huge spin
at Schwantz Curve. "I think there was some oil down and I touched it. I
was just trying so hard and knew that Melbourne was the only place I
could have possibly got him back," said Beighton after having to be
content with second.
"I had a pretty good idea what they could do and was surprised to be so
close when they came out of the pits," Rouse added.
Luck retained his distant third and took class C again, from class E
winners Wheeler/Samuelson. Chris Williams (Morgan +8) charged from the
back of the grid to oust Hammond/Hathaway for fifth on the last lap,
while Bennington/Goble, Searles, Lees and Scragg completed the top ten.
The Deaths collected another class A win, but with Morris/Ringer Sprite
black-flagged in an increasing cloud of smoke, Conor O’Brien’s Mini took
second. Both Dowling/Glover and Townsend/Conoley retired, and so there
were no finishers in class B. As in race one it was Luck to the fore in
class C and Wheeler/Samuelson in class E.
Results – 30
minutes
1 Cochrane/Rouse 17 laps in 31m07.738s (81.91mph); 2 Beighton/Finnemore
+11.544s; 3 Luck; 4 Wheeler/Samuelson; 5 Chris Williams (Morgan Plus 8);
6 Hammond/Hathaway; 7 Bennington/Goble; 8 Searles; 9 Lees; 10 Scragg.
Class winners: Death/Death; Luck; Cochrane/Rouse; Wheeler/Samuelson.
Next rounds: Brands Hatch, 3/4 May; supporting the A1GP event on the
Grand Prix circuit.
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