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Classic & Competition Car Issue 16 January 2012 VSCC Winter Driving tests Britcar Brands Hatch Boxing Day Meet The Moat House Inn www.classicandcompetitioncar.com

Classic and Competition Car January 2012

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The January issue of Classic and Competition car contains reports on the VSCC Winter Driving Tests, The Plum Pudding race m,eeting, the final Britcar race of 2011, the Classic Motor Show and the Boxing day meeting at the The Moat House Inn near Birmingham

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Page 1: Classic and Competition Car January 2012

Classic &Competition Car

Issue 16 January 2012

VSCC Winter Driving tests

Britcar Brands HatchBoxing Day MeetThe Moat House Inn

www.classicandcompetitioncar.com

Page 2: Classic and Competition Car January 2012

CONTENTS

News Page 4 Midland Breakfast meeting Page 10

Archive Photo Page 14

Tasman Rd2 Page 15 VSCC Winter test P 18 Classic Motorshow P22

Britcar Brands Hatch Page 25

Midland Boxing day meet Page 29

Plum Pudding meeting Mallory Park Page 34

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EDITORIAL

Welcome to the latest issue

You will notice that we have a new look for the new year. We hope that you like it. We still aim to bring you our best coverage of historic motor sport within the UK, along side our coverage of sports car, GT and touring cars, plus we hope to cover more on the classic car scene as well. If you are organising an event in 2012 or have any interesting news please let us know at [email protected] NEW YEARNow that the festive season is behind us, many of you will be

thinking about preparing your cars for the new season. Let us know how you are getting on with your preparations.

Show season

Well, with the winter still being upon us, it’s show time here in the UK. The Autosport International promises to be a great start for the Motorsport fan to the 2012 season. Covering everything from Formula 1 Grand Prix right down to grass root level Karting and Grass Track racing, the show has something for everyone. Then in February we have Race retro, the must see show for Historic fans like us. Race Retro is always a bit special, as besides the static shows in the nice warm halls, they also have a live action rally stage. Although the tarmac stage is not timed competitively, it does not stop the owners of these Group B power houses from really giving a great show to the public. Definitely a show to get the heart pumping.

ContributorsPETE AUSTIN

Pete is the man for Historic racing, with an extensive

archive of black and white images covering the last few decades of motor racing in Britain.MICK HERRING

Mick’s first love is GT racing, though Historic GT,

especially Lola T70’s are a particular favourite.JANET WRIGHT

Janet has been taking photos for many years but her real

speciality is video work.

CalendarJanuary 14th-15th

Autosport International ShowNEC Near Birmingham, England

February 24-26th

Race RetroStoneleigh Park, Coventry, England

February 25th

VSCC Pomeroy TrophySilverstone, Near Northampton, England

We do not organise any events and are not responsible for the events listed above. Before visiting an event, check with the organisers to ensure the event is still taking place. We cannot be held responsible for any events which are cancelled or wrongly listed.

All content is copyright classicandcompetitioncar.com unless oth-erwise stated. All photographs are copyright the original photog-rapher and may not be used for commercial purposes unless by prior approval of the original copyright holder.We try to ensure accurate and truthful reporting but if you spot an error, please contact us and we verify and correct accordingly.We do not organise any events which are mentioned and we are not responsible if the event does not take place or is cancelled. Please contact the event organiser before making a long trip.

To Subscribe for free and be notified when the next issue is published please click here.To check out our web site with additional photos please click here

Classic and Competition Car is published by simonwrightphotos.com High View Drive, Kingswinford, West Midlands DY6 8HT E-mail [email protected] Tel 07905 435973

Front CoverReg Price driving a Ford Model T at the VSCC Winter Driving Tests (c) Pete Austin.Porsche and Ginetta battle at Brands Hatch during the Britcar Final (c) Mick Herring.Boxing Day line up at The Moat House Inn, Kings Coughton(c) Simon Wright

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SMITH BACK TO LEAD MSC F5000 FIELD AT HAMPTON DOWNS MEETINGS

New Zealand racing veteran Ken Smith will be back to race at the two New Zealand Festival of Motor Racing meetings at the Hampton Downs circuit in January as part of the Tasman Revival series.Smith, who turned 70 this year, broke a bone in his left foot in an accident in the second race at the second round of the 2011/12 MSC series at

Manfeild in November but is already off crutches and expects to lose the moon boot he has been wearing since then just after Christmas.The Lola T332 which Smith and long-time crew chief Barry Miller had only finished re-building the week before the opening round of this season's MSC series, was written off in the accident so Smith will revert to the later model Lola T430 he has used to win the past three MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series for the remainder of the 2011/12 season.In all his 54 consecutive seasons of national level motor racing in this country Smith has only had three, what he terms 'serious' accidents, and the one at Manfeild was the first in which he broke a bone.Despite that he and Miller are working on re-building the T332 and Smith will drive not one but two cars - the T430 Formula 5000 and a Formula Pacific Swift DB4 - at the two Hampton Downs meetings. "And I'll tell you what," he said this week. "I can't wait. I'm itching to get back behind the wheel."Photo Credit: Fast Company/Alex Mitchell

NEWS

AUTOSPORT INTERNATIONAL SHOW TO CELEBRATE 60 YEARS OF

FORMULA 3The Autosport International racing Car Show at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) will have a display of historic Formula 3 cars displayed by the Historic Sports Car Club (HSCC) on Stand 6700. This is to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Formula 3, one of the most important junior categories in the career of many aspiring Grand Prix Drivers. The club is hoping to assemble a spectacular display of cars associated with famous Grand Prix drivers. The Autosport show is open to the public on the 14th and 15th January 2012. See www.autosport-international.com for more information.

Ex Derek Warwick Chevron F3 car

Donington 2012 datesDonington Park has released its provisional events calendar for the 2012 season, with its usual mix of 2 and 4 wheeled events during the year. With 30 events listed, the season starts on March 17/18th with the HSCC championships opening event. Some of the car high-lights are the MSA BTCC round 14/15th April, Donington's Historic Festival 5/6th May, the European Le Mans series 14/15th July, the British F3/GT meet-ing 29/30th September, the Masters Historic Rac-ing Championships finals meeting 13/14th Octo-ber and the Britcar Endurance championship to close off the season on November 3rd. For full details see www.donington-park.co.uk

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SILVERSTONE CLASSIC

The organisers of the Silverstone Classic have announced a multi-year partnership with the AA. The Worlds largest classic motor racing festival will run from the 20th to the 22nd of July 2012.The event covers the entire spectrum of motor racing - Grand Prix, Le mans, GT, sports and Touring cars covering 7 decades of circuit racing History. As usual at the the Classic, there will be major music entertainment, featuring in 2012 Adam Ant and Mike and the Mechanics.The partnership with the AA will allow special offers and discounted tickets to all of

their 15 million members, plus there are plans to allow AA members the chance to drive some of the latest model cars round the Silverstone in-field Stowe circuit. for

MARTINI TROPHY AND SUPERSPORTS COMBINE FOR 2012

HSCC WINS CLUB OF THE YEARThe Historic Sports Car Club won the club of the year award at the inaugural International Historic Motoring Awards held in London in mid

November beating off the likes of the Aston Martin Owners Club, the Bentley Drivers Club, and the Royal Automobile Club amongst others.

The Martini Trophy and the International Supersports Cup will join forces in 2012 to form an even stronger series for 2 litre sports racing

cars. Organised by the

HSCC, the

new Martini Trophy with Supersports will consist of a 5 double race events. The new series will remain for 2 litre sports racing cars built prior to the end of 1978 and closed cockpit cars such as the Chevron B8 and B16 will

be eligible to compete. The provisional calendar is April 14/15 Hockenheim (Jim Clark Memorial) GermanyMay 19/20 Silverstone International TrophyJune 30/July 1 Brands Hatch Super PrixAugust 26/27 Oulton Park Gold CupOctober 6/7 Dijon France.For the Hockenheim race only, Can-Am cars and big engined sports cars will be eligible to race.see www.hscc.org.uk

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DONINGTON HISTORIC FESTIVAL

The Donington Historic Festival is back on the 5th and 6th of May 2012 for its 2nd running and promises to be a weekend to remember. The mighty Group C Le Mans cars top the bill again, with Historic Formula 2 offering single seater action. For close racing, the Jaguar E-Type challenge and the Touring cars (Pre-66 and 1966-85) should be the ones to watch. Another

interesting event will be the Historic Kart meeting which will be held on a specially laid out circuit on the Melbourne Loop. Interest from all around the World for this event should ensure a great entry for this World class race meeting

within the Historic Festival. for more information see www.doningtonhistoric.com

VSCC 2012 RACE SEASON FINALISED

GT & SPORTS CAR CUP DATES FOR 2012The four race series for Pre-66 GTs and Pre-63 Sports cars of the type that raced in the World Endurance championship, will include Pre-66 cars from the Italian Historic Car Cup. The dates are 19/20th May International trophy, Silverstone, 1-3 June Coppa Intereuropa, Monza, 22-24th June Grand Prix de l’Age d’Or, Dijon and 19-21st October, Algarve Historic Festival, Portimao

The Vintage Sports Car Club (VSCC) has announced its race programme for 2012. Unfortunately its famous See Red meeting originally scheduled for Donington

Park has had to be post-poned for a year due to an unfortunate date clash with a recently announced Historic Festival at Zandvoort in Hol-land. It was felt that a lot of British competitors would want to take part in both meetings, so the VSCC de-cided to cancel See Red for

12 months but plan to return in 2013 with a 2 day festival. However, the rest of their season follows the theme ‘Best of British’. The 5 race meetings cover the Mid-lands, South Wales, Lincoln-shire and Norfolk. The sea-son starts at Silverstone in April for the traditional Spring Start meeting which is also supported by the Historic Grand Prix Cars Association (HGPCA) for a pre-66 GP car race.June sees the annual visit to Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire, a favourite circuit for the past 36 years. The 500 Owners Association will add a race for period F3 cars and a Morgan 3 wheeler race is also on the schedule. The feature race will be the 60th running of the Spero Trophy

for small capacity Pre-war cars.The Welsh speed weekend in July at Pembrey is a dou-ble header with a sprint be-ing held on the Saturday and the race meeting on the Sunday.The Bob Gerard Memorial Trophy race meeting at Mal-lory park is in August, while September sees a visit to the new Snetterton circuit in September for the Seaman Memorial Trophies to finish the racing season.The Hillclimb and Sprint cal-endar have also been final-ised, starting at the Pomeroy trophy at Silverstone on the 25th February for the 60th anniversary of this event. The first hill climb is at Wis-combe Park in May. For more info visit the Club web-site www.vscc.co.uk

A two-driver endurance race series for genuine Pre-66 GTs & Pre-63 Sports-cars of a type that were raced in the World Endurance Championship in

Period. To include Pre-66 cars from the ‘Italian  Historic  Car  Cup’.

2012 CALENDAR

19/20 May – International Trophy, Silverstone

1/2/3 June – Coppa Intereuropa, Monza

22/23/24 June – Grand  prix  de  l’Age  d’Or,  Dijon

19/20/21 October – Algarve Historic Festival, Portimao

Following the recent announcement of our calendar of historic racing events for the forthcoming season, entry form packs will be posted to you in due course. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact us,

should you need any further details in planning your racing season with us.

Automobiles Historiques Ltd Telephone: + 44 (0) 20 8343 9202 E-Mail: [email protected]

Flavien & Vanessa Marçais

The  ‘GT  & Sports  Car  Cup’  is  kindly  supported  by

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SAAB DECLARED BANKRUPT

The Swedish motor manufacturer Saab has been declared bankrupt after 65 years in the vehicle manufacturing business. Best known to motorsport fans for their exploits in Rallying, Erik Carlsson winning three consecutive British RAC Rallies in 1961,62 and 63, also winning the Monte Carlo rally in 1962 and 1963. Stig Blomqvist won the Swedish rally in 1971 and again in 1977 and in 1979, the first win by a turbocharged car in the Saab 99 Turbo. The works competition department was closed in 1980 after thirty years competing in rallies.Saab was originally part of Svenska Aeroplan Aktieboleget, a Swedish aircraft manufacturer which was founded in 1937 to protect Sweden's neutrality. After the second World

War, the company looked to diversify and began work on their first car which was unveiled in 1947.Saab has always been an innovative company, first producing 2 cylinder models, followed by 3 cylinder two stroke engines, V4 designs and Turbos. In 1958 they were the first manufacturer to fit seatbelts as standard in the GT 750. In 1963 they were the first volume manufacturer to offer diagonally split dual brake systems. In 1976 they were the first to produce a turbocharged engine with a wastegate to control boost. In 1981 they introduced the split field side mirror to reduce driver blind spots. In

1982 they had asbestos free brake pads. 1983 they introduced the 16 valve turbocharged engine and in 1985 pioneered direct ignition, eliminating the distributor and spark plug wires. There were too many innovations to list them all here.Saab was acquired in 1990 by General Motors who then sold it in 2010 to Dutch automobile manufacturer Spyker Cars N.V. After struggling through 2011, a deal was sought with a Chinese consortium to purchase the company, but this was blocked by former owners General Motors who would not transfer the licenses for patents and technology to China, so the company filed for bankruptcy and another major car manufacturer bites the dust.

GOODWOOD LOTUS THEMEThe chosen marque for the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2012 will be Lotus which will be honoured with the ‘central feature’ located outside Goodwood House. It is 60 years since Colin Chapman founded the first Lotus company, the 50th anniversary of the Lotus Elan, 40 years since the Esprit was first unveiled and 35 years since the revolutionary Lotus 78 ground effects car competed in Grand Prix racing. The FOS takes place between 28th June and the 1st July 2012. © Simon Wright

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by Mick Herring.The winners of two headline 2011 British championships will join forces to contest the 2012 Euro-pean Blancpain Endurance Championship.

Long time Dodge Viper driving partners and 2011 Britcar MSA British Endurance Championship victors, Craig Wilkins and Aaron Scott will

unite with GT Cup Championship winner Andy Ruhan in the europe-wide races.Ruhan will forsake his Porsche to join the former British GT Champion-ship duo in a brand new Kingsbury Jig and Tool, GT3 Racing prepared Dodge Viper.Delivery of the new specification car is expected towards the end of January from Chrysler and Oreca.The team have consistently proved this year that the ageing Vi-per is still a competitive, cost-effective racing car in the right se-ries against many newer, more expensive cars. In addition to partnering Craig, Aaron Scott has been mentor and driving coach to Andy Ruhan for several years.The championship winning Viper still has another race to contest before being rested, when it is shipped to Dubai to contest the 24 hour race there in mid-January. The trio are contesting the Pro-Am Cup class of the Blancpain Endurance Championship and Craig's team GT3 Racing Ltd also secured the Britcar

Teams Champi-onship this year. The new car is a Series 2 Viper

Dual Championship Winners Join Forces

2011 GT Cup Championship Winning Porsche

2011 GT Cup Champion      Andy Ruhan

2011 Britcar Champions   Aaron Scott (l) Craig Wilkins (r)

2011 Britcar Championship Winning Viper

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Peter Gethin (21st February 1940 – 5th December 2011)

By Pete AustinFormer Grand Prix driver Peter Gethin, son of jockey Ken Gethin, died on December 5th following a long illness.Probably best known for his famous victory in the 1971 Italian Grand Prix he started as a successful sports car driver at club level driving a Lotus 7 and Lotus 23 in the early 60s’. In 1965 he graduated to Formula 3 with Charles Lucas, and, following a move to Formula 2, scored podium finishes at Albi, Ingliston and Vallelunga with a Frank Lythgoe run Chevron in 1968.

However his career really took off with the introduc-tion of Formula 5000 in 1969. Driving a semi works McLaren run by Church Farm Racing he took the championship in its first year and repeated this suc-cess in 1970 with a Sid Taylor run car.

With his McLaren connection he made his Formula 1 debut at the 1970 Race of Champions at Brands Hatch finishing 6th. Following Bruce McLaren’s tragic death whilst testing a Can Am car at Goodwood Gethin became a full time member of the Grand Prix team, but, apart from a 6th place in Canada further success in this field eluded him. He did however take a Can Am win for the team at Elkhart Lake.

Halfway through the 1971 Grand Prix season he switched to the Yardley sponsored BRM outfit. In only his second race for the team he scored his famous victory at Monza. After a tremendous slipstreaming race Gethin beat Ronnie Peterson’s March by 0.01s. with the first five cars being covered by only 0.61s.

This was to be his only Grand Prix win although he did score a hollow victory at the Brands Hatch Roth-mans World Championship Victory race in which his BRM team mate was killed. He continued with BRM in 1972 but the now Marlboro sponsored team was

overstretched at times by running no less than five cars and was starting its downward curve. His last Grand Prix was with the Em-bassy Hill Racing Team in 1974 at Brands Hatch where he retired from the race.

Reverting back to Formula 5000 in 1973 he continued his win-ning ways in that category including beating a combined field of F1 and F5000

cars in the Race of Champions at Brands Hatch in his Chevron. Driving for the VDS team he was runner up in the championship in 1974 and 1975.

He will be greatly missed and Classic and Competi-tion Car sends its sincere condolences to his family and friends.

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The Midland Breakfast Club staged it’s last meeting at the Cosford Air Mu-seum on Sunday 11th December 2011. It was a cold and grey morning, but at least it stayed dry, the forecast rain stayed away until lunch time. Although it was a cold and grey day, about 200 vehicles were in attendance, with many local owners clubs being represented. The most popular models on display seemed to be the more modern Vaux-hall and Renaults, with a good turn out of Renault Clio models lined up in front of the aircraft display. The Vauxhall owners probably had the largest number of ve-hicles on display, with various Astra, Corsa and Cavalier cars in-

cluded in their line up. There were three Lancia Delta Inte-grale models, one resplendent in the Red Martini colours of the works Rally team. The HF Integrale is powered by a 2 litre 4 cylinder twin cam fuel in-jected engine which gives the car its 133 mph top speed and a 0-62 mph acceleration of just 6.6 seconds. The 4 Wheel Drive system makes the car sure footed, no matter what the weather conditions.The Italians were also represented by

a small group of Alfa Romeo enthusiasts, who dis-played a mixture of

MIDLAND BREAKFAST MEETINGBY SIMON & JANET WRIGHT

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cars ranging from an early 1970’s Alfa Romeo 2000 to a current Alfa Romeo Mito. There was also an Alfa Romeo 155 in rac-ing trim on the back of a transporter.These types of meetings draw in a large cross section of motoring enthusiasts, not just the classic car owners, and whilst many

of the cars on display are more modern, most are still prepared and cared for as well as any classic car, with their owners having as much pride in their vehicle as any other owner.

It was interest-ing to see two examples of the modern sports car parked next to each other, to see the simi-larities be-tween the modern Lotus and the Vaux-hall VX220 sports car.

The RAF museum houses a very large collection of aircraft and a

fabulous Cold War Exhibition. A few aircraft are parked outside the dis-play hangers and made an interest-ing backdrop to the car display.Although the cars were mainly more modern examples on display, it is the wrong time of year for many classic owners to bring out their pride and joy, there was still a good variety to keep the keen enthusiast happy.Unfortunately, this was marked down on their web site, www.midlandbreakfastclub.co.uk as being the last meeting for the Mid-

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land Breakfast club. Lets hope that it will return in the future.

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Lancia Delta Integrale

Jaguar XJS Convertible

Ford in front of the Cold War Museum at Cosford

Triumph Stag

Renault Clio line up outside Cold War Museum

Original Mini’s plus Mini trailer

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The most unusual and interesting car on display was a rather nice two tone Peu-geot 304 con-

vertible in red and white. The 304 saloon was first introduced in 1969, with the convertible 2 door model following in March 1970. A total of 18,647 of the convertible model were built up to 1975 and many still remain today, unlike the saloon versions which were severely af-fected by corrosion. Powered by a

1288cc 4 cylinder transversely mounted aluminum engine which developed 65 or 75bhp depending on the vintage. The car was front wheel drive and equipped with

front disc brakes. Due to the inde-pendent front suspension it rode and handled better than many of its contemporaries, which made it a popular choice across Europe. The car on display was one of the later models fitted with the S engine which developed 75bhp and was fitted with a twin choke, twin barrel carburetor.

PEUGEOT 304 CONVERTIBLE

MIDLAND BREAKFAST MEETING

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2012 celebrates the 50th anniver-sary of BRM win-ning the world championship in 1962 with Graham Hill, however I didn't start attend-ing motor races until the 1964 European Grand Prix at Brands Hatch. Graham Hill's BRM was runner up to Jim Clark's Lotus on that occasion. 1966 saw the in-troduction of the 3-litre formula and this months image was taken at Brands Hatch dur-ing that years Brit-ish Grand Prix. It shows Graham Hill about to go out for practice in his 2 litre BRM P261. The com-plex BRM H16 had yet to make a race appearance so

BRM P261's with enlarged engines were used as a stop gap by Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart. The gravel sloping paddock with it's very relaxed atmosphere should be noted in comparison to todays set up at Grand Prix meetings."

Archive PictureBy Pete Austin

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ROSS WINS MSC FEATURE AFTER SMITH AND ESTERER SIDELINED EARLIER BY START LINE CRASHDunedin driver Steve Ross led home a McRae GM1 1-2-3 in the feature McLaren Cup Formula Libre Grand Prix at the second round of the 2011/12 MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series at Feilding's Manfeild circuit after pace-setters Ken Smith and Jay Esterer were side-lined earlier in a spectacular start line crash.

Smith proved the value of his freshly rebuilt Lola T332 on Saturday, pipping Round 1 winner Es-terer (McRae GM1) in qualifying before going on to win the first race. But the pair got no further than the rolling start in the second race of the weekend this (Sunday) morning thanks to a shower of rain which swept across the Mana-watu circuit as the MSC field was lining up for the rolling start. The start lights had just gone out to signal the start of the race when Smith's car snapped hard left on the wet track, clipping fellow front row starter Jay Esterer's MacRae GM1 before hitting the concrete pit (outside) wall hard. Esterer's car also hit the pit wall and came to a stop as the field streamed past but Smith's car glanced off it (the pit wall) and careered back across the track

before coming to rest on the grass strip between the track and the inside wall. Roger Williams, who started the race behind Es-terer, missed the Canadian's car but was himself hit from behind by one of the other cars and his Lola T332 ended up jammed against the inside wall with a broken left front wheel and suspen-sion. Fellow Lola T332 driver Russell Greer also ended up against the pit wall, but though his car spun 180 degrees to face the way it was origi-nally coming the only damage was to a front up-right. The race was immediately stopped then can-celled to allow track workers to remove the cars and the MSC field to re-group for the longer McLaren Cup Formula Libre feature later in the day. Incredibly, the accident was the biggest Smith can remember - and that's going back over 54 consecutive seasons of national level racing for the 70-year-old. "It was a biggie, al-right,"said the four-time Lady Wigram Trophy and three-time New Zealand Grand Prix winner whose only injury was a tweaked left ankle caused when his car first hit the wall. "I've never had one like that before."It was wet and the track was greasy and when I floored it at the start she just snapped side-

2011/12 MSC New Zealand F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series Round 2 Solid Gold MG Classic meeting

Manfeild  Feilding     Sat-Sun    November 12-13  2011

Steve Ross leading the field in the feature race. Photo: Fast Company/Alex Mitchell

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ways," he said. "There was nothing I could do. I could see the wall coming up and I knew I was going to go in hard." Though he agreed it was extremely fortunate that neither he nor anyone else was injured in the accident Smith said that it was hard to see his new car so badly dam-aged so early in his time with it. "That's defi-nitely the toughest bit, particularly knowing the time and effort Barry Miller (Smith's crew chief) has put in since we bought it."  In the absence of Smith, Esterer and Roger Wil-liams the 15-lap McLaren Cup feature produced two entertaining three-car battles. The first in-volved pole-sitter Stu Lush and fellow McRae GM1 drivers Steve Ross and Aaron Burson with Ross passing Lush for the lead at Turn 1 and dictating the pace from that point. Both Lush and Burson got close at times, but not quite close enough to launch an attack on Ross' lead. "Yep," said Ross, "it was one of those races that was going to be won or lost on the first lap. It hasn't been the best weekend for me for one reason or another but this was a brilliant way to end it." In what turned out to be a something of

a race of attrition, visiting UK driver Greg Thorn-ton (Chevron B24) earned his best result of his 2011/12 MSC series campaign so far with fourth after spending the early laps working his way past Brett Willis (Lola T330) and Sefton Gibb (Lola T332). Willis made the initial running after Gibb admit-ted he messed up the start, however Willis ended up in the pits just after the half way point of the race with gear selection problems and Gibb stopped on the last lap when his car ran out of petrol. "We've changed the fuel system since we last ran here and didn't quite have enough for the full 15 laps, "Gibb explained. Russell Greer, who managed to repair the damage to his Lola T332 after the morning's start-line accident was next home in fifth place followed by Shayne Windelburn in fellow Aucklander John MacKinlay's March 73A/2 with Aaron Burson's father Peter seventh in his McRae GM1 and Dave Arrowsmith (Lotus 70) the first of the Class A category (for older model cars) runners to cross the line in eighths. Series newcomer David Banks from Auckland (Talon

Streaming down Manfeild's back straight immediately before the startline shunt at the beginning of the second race which claimed the cars of front row starters Ken Smith and Jay Esterer, and second row starter Roger Williams.Photo: Fast Company/Alex Mitchell

2011/12 MSC New Zealand F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series Round 2 Solid Gold MG Classic meeting

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MR1) was ninth and local driver Tim Rush (Begg FM4) tenth. Race 2 (8 laps)canceled

Race 1 (8 lap)This was the race that Smith proved just how quick his new T332 was, converting the pole position he set in qualifying earlier in the day to a 10.79  second lead over Jay Esterer (who, in his defence, had a problem holding his car in third gear) with Roger Williams and Stu Lush third and fourth respectively. Lush was the big surprise in qualifying, setting the third quickest time to split Esterer and Williams with Steve Ross fifth and Sefton Gibb sixth. Lush retained his speed in the race, crossing the finish line fourth between Williams and Ross.It was behind them that the real battle raged, however, with Gibb, Greg Thornton and Aaron Burson entertaining the large crowd with a race-long battle for sixth place only finally resolved - in Gibb's favour from Thornton, Burson - and a catching Brett Willis - on the line. 

Race 1 (8 laps)1. Ken Smith (Lola T332)2. Jay Esterer (McRae GM1) +10.793. Roger Williams (Lola T332) +11.254. Stuart Lush (McRae GM1) +14.01

5. Steve Ross (McRae GM1)+15.366. Sefton Gibb (Lola T332) +25.317. Greg Thornton (Chevron B24) +25.718. Aaron Burson (McRae GM1) +26.439. Brett Willis (Lola T330) +29.66 Race 2 (8 laps)Cancelled Race 3 (15 laps)1. Steve Ross (McRae GM1) 16.18.602. Stu Lush (McRae GM1) +0.703. Aaron Burson (McRae GM1) +6.88

4. Greg Thornton (Chevron B24) +20.235. Russell Greer (Lola T332) +42.486. Shayne Windelburn (March 73A/2) +64.907. Peter Burson (McRae GM1) +68.938. Dave Arrowsmith (Lotus 70) +70.899. David Banks (Talon MR1) +1 lap10. Tim Rush (Begg FM4) +1 lapdnf Sefton Gibb, Brett Willis.

Prepared by FAST COMPANY of behalf of the New Zealand Formula 5000 Association. www.F5000.co.nz

Ken Smith (Lola T332) proved the man to beat in the first MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series race at the annual MG Classic motor racing meeting at Manfeild. Photo: Fast Company/Alex Mitchell

2011/12 MSC New Zealand F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series Round 2 Solid Gold MG Classic meeting

Next RoundJanuary 21st-22nd 2012

New Zealand Festival of Motor Racing.Hampton Downs, Auckland

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VSCC WINTER DRIVING TESTS3rd DECEMBER 2011By Pete Austin

For the second year running the annual Vintage Sports Car Club’s Winter Driv-

ing Tests were held in the grounds of St George’s Barracks at Upper Arncott near Bicester. There the similarity ends though as competitors were welcomed with winter sunshine rather than the snow and ice encountered last year.

A wide variety of pre-war cars were entered ranging from a Ford Model T to a 1939 Frazer Nash BMW 328 Sports.

Edmund Burgess had trailered his immaculate Bugatti Brescia (one of two entered) all the way from Suffolk and was rewarded with a first place in the Standard Sports-Cars class. There was also husband and wife rivalry in this class with Owen Bolton coming out ahead of Rachel in their MG M Type Midget.David Marsh - Bugatti Brescia

David Rushton MG M Type

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Mark Ballard’s Frazer Nash Fal-con TT Replica undertook running repairs before be-coming one of a number of cars which managed to literally ‘take off’ on one of the faster sections al-though my winner of the airborne stakes must be David Rushton in his MG M Type.

In the Touring Car class Christopher Williams had for-

saken his familiar Napier Bentley for a more suitable Ford Model A which he shared with Duncan Round. As ever the bowler hatted duo set out to entertain, and even if you couldn’t see them, they announced their arrival for each section with patriotic military music blaring out from a loud-speaker mounted on the front of the car. Duncan got

a class 3rd with the Singer 9 Sports Coupe of Neil Thorpe coming out on top.

Mrs Fabienne Muschamp’s immaculate Frazer Nash BMW was one the interest-ing runners in the Modified Sports-Cars class together with the distinctive Riley Treen of Tim Brown. This class was won by the Riley Special of Charlie Martin.

Duncan Round Ford Model A

Edmund Burgess lifts a wheel in his Bugatti Brescia

Anthony Costigan - Vernon Derby

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Mrs Fabienne Muschamp - Frazer Nash BMW 328 Sports

Tim Brown - Riley Treen

Mrs Rachel Bolton-King - MG M Type Midget

Christopher Williams

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Winter Driving test AwardsClass 2 Touring CarsClass 1 Edwardian and Veteran1st Neil Thorp Singer 9 Sports Coupe2nd Christopher Dallas Riley Biarritz2nd Tim Brown Morris Minor3rd Duncan Round Ford Model AClass 3 Standard Sports cars1st Edmund Burgess Bugatti T13 Brescia2nd Robert Gibson Wolseley Hornett Spl2nd David Marsh Bugatti Brescia 25TR3rd Owen Bolton MG M Type Midget3rd David Rushton MG M TypeClass 4 Modified Sports Cars1st Charlie Martin Riley Special2nd Richard Marsh Austin 72nd Matt Johnston Austin 7 Ulster3rd Michael Brown Riley Treen

Mark Ballard’s Frazer Nash Falcon TT Replica undergoes running repairs

Owen Bolton - MG M Type Midget

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By Simon & Janet Wright and Mick Herring.Additional photos Pete Austin.

The 2011 Classic Motor show was such a big event that we could not cover all of the event in our last issue. This month we high-light some of the other exhibits that caught our eye. There were quite a few vintage and veteran cars on display and one of the best selections was on the Veteran Car Club display.

This 1901 Pick was built in Stamford, Lincolnshire by Jack Pick who was a farm equipment and bicycle manufacturer before turning his attention to the automobile. His second car was purchased by the Marquis of Exeter. Production continued until 1925. This car is thought to be a prototype and features a water cooled vertical single cylinder engine believed to be from the International Motor Car Company of London and Coventry. The car is belt and double chain driven with two forward speeds.There were many anniversaries being celebrated throughout the show and

the Allard Owners club had a display to celebrate their 60th anniversary.

This Allard P1 is a fine example of the range which were built between 1949 and 1952 and is thought to be the oldest still on the road. This car was built in 1949 and was the 12th P1 manufactured. It is totally original, only having had the grey paintwork renewed in 1969. The model holds another unique record, when Sydney Allard drove a P1 to outright victory in the 1951 Monte Carlo rally, he was the only person to win the rally in a car of his own manufacture.In total 559 were built in the four year period. They were powered by a Ford side valve V8 3622cc engine producing 85 bhp @ 3800 rpm. The alloy body was mounted on an ash frame with independent front suspension and a Bellamy-Ford split axle and transverse leaf spring suspension on the rear. The leather and mahogany interior allowed the 4 occupants a luxury ride.

CLASSIC MOTOR SHOW REVISITED.

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Oliver Winterbottom by Mick Herring.Tucked away on the Lotus Excel stand, I chanced on what proved to be one of the highlights of the Classic Motor Show for me. Amid a tightly packed group, surrounded by the Lotus "Wedge" cars he had de-signed, sat a relaxed Oliver Winterbottom with images of those cars projected on a screen behind him. For such a prolific de-signer, each image prompted a heart felt story or anecdote about about the styling trends of the period were employed and how the cars changed through their devel-opment.But underlying all of this were the stories of the constant dictates of the Lotus founder, the battles to convince Colin Chapman of the need for certain parts and procedures to be adopted. The Chapman quest for "adding" lightness was not purely for power-to-weight calculations, as he rea-soned that every horsepower saved was another he did not have to buy from his

engine suppliers.By way of illustration, a simple graph of the horsepower required to propel a car to 100 mph showed how superior the second generation Elite was compared to it's contemporaries, in-cluding the Mercedes 350SL.   The simple transverse ridge at the back edge of the Elite's roof, above the rear window, had a marked reduction on drag and lift at the rear of the car.The climax of Oliver's talk concentrated on the determination of everyone at Lotus to keep the company from bankruptcy in the wake of Chapman's death and the last minute decision of a potential buyer not to proceed.The survival instincts or the workforce ensured lights would always be turned off in empty rooms and kettles used sparingly. 

It was this spirit that kept the banks at bay and ultimately the survival of Lotus.A question and answer session followed and Oliver happily spoke about his short time away from Lotus in the late 70s/early 80s, when he joined TVR to design my Tasmin. This "Wedge" often de-rided, usually by people who have never driven one but thought of

with affection by those who have and, of course, by it's designer. TVR internal politics even-tually prompted his return to Lotus.A smile greeted the question of his autobiography and a suggestion that he may soon commit his illustrious career to print.

1980 TVR Tasmin  Coupe

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CLASSIC MOTOR SHOW 2011Delahaye 135MS

PininfarinaThis one off special was originally sold in Belgium. This was one of three Pininfarina cars produced in 1947, the other two being on an Alfa Romeo and Maserati Chassis. All three were built at the same time and are grey or grey/silver and all bear a clear family resemblance to each other. This Delahaye was built on a modified 135M chassis with independent front suspension and a live rear axle with semi-elliptic springs on the rear. It was

powered by a 3557cc engine producing 160 bhp from three Solex carburettors and a separate six branch exhaust manifold. This was the last of the 135 series.

Showing the international appeal of this show, the Bitter Owners club had brought three cars over from Holland just for the show.This blue Bitter SC Cabriolet is one of only 25 of this model that were made between 1985 and 1986. They were converted from SC Coupes by Keinath of Dettingen near Stuttgart. All fitted with the Mantzel modified 3.9 litre engine. Most of the cars built were sold in the USA, where 15 were sold, and Germany, but there was one right hand drive model shipped to the UK. By the end of production in 1986, the car cost over £57,000.

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Left top to Bottom, Right top to bottom.Big Sam famous Datsun 240Z.AC Cobra Le Mans pit recreation.1953 D.K.W. Works Rally car as-sembled in Ballincollig Co.Cork in 1953 rallied by Jim Hennesey and Phil O’Sullivan during the 1950’s and 60’s. It is powered by a 3 cyl-inder 2 stroke engine and was the fastest car in the 1000cc class.Back to the Future on the De-Lorean stand.1970 Plymouth Superbird Hemi tribute to Richard Petty Nascar champion.

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By Mick HerringOn paper the Class 2 Dodge Viper of Craig Wilkins and Aaron Scott only had to start this final race of the season at Brands Hatch to secure the 2011 Britcar MSA British Endur-ance Championship crown for themselves and the GT3 Racing team. But in the absence of any class 1 cars, they saw the opportunity to end the season on a high note with an outright win and so, with a second place grid spot, alongside the Invitation Class 2 Gi-netta G55 of Mark Lemmer, Ben DeZille But-ler and Tom Kimber-Smith a thrilling race was in prospect.However, neither of the front row sitters would taste victory, which would eventually go to the venerable Class 3 Topcats Marcos Man-tis of Owen O'Neill and Henry Fletcher by 13.5 secs after three hours of intense action into the night from a beautifully sunny and warm start for Movember (intentional). The Barwell Ginetta broke a driveshaft at the start of the warm up lap, needing repairs that kept it in the

pits for 27 laps but once repaired, it claimed fastest lap and an eventual third in class, ninth overall.The race got underway at a fast pace with Aaron Scott's Viper opening a small gap to the Porsche of Jay Shepherd and the Optimum Ginetta G50 with the talented Joe Osborne aboard.Sadly, lap 9 would see the Viper head to the pits with fuel pressure problems, it would return much later to the race and go on, for a while, in

the dark, to hold fastest lap. Reoccurring fuel problems would see it re-tire.As the race progressed and despite several safety car interventions, at the halfway, one and a half hour mark, the leaders would have completed the magic 100 laps of the

compact Brands Hatch Indy circuit.Pit stops and safety cars would see the or-

der shuffled and reshuf-fled again but with an-other safety car at the two hour mark, to let the Production cars exit the track at the end of their concurrent two hour race, things were primed for an action packed final hour of racing.This hour would see the Hawthorns Porsche of

BRITCAR BRITISH ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL19TH NOVEMBER 2011

Viper makes early  breakaway

Clarke - Gibson BMW E46 M3 Production GTN race winners

Talented drive from Joe Osborne Optimum Ginetta G50

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Rod Barrett, taken over from Jay Shepherd, reduce the gap to the winning Marcos from 55 seconds down to 5 seconds and back to 28 seconds  after an over-ambitious over-taking move on another Porsche would see Barrett spin, eventually reducing to 13.5 seconds at the flag.The safety cars had worked in the favour of the winners and their single stop strategy paid off in spite of their large thirsty Chevro-let engine.In third place was the Eurotech Porsche 997GT3 of Morgan, Philip and Gareth Jones, with only these three cars being on the same lap at the end and having broken the magic 200 lap barrier by one lap.

Two laps behind was the Class 2 Invitation Ginetta G50 of Joe Osborne, Lee Mowle and

George Murrells in fourth, with fifth and Class 3 Invitation vic-tory going to the Playstation graduates Brian Heitkotter and Jann Mardenborough in their RJN Nissan 370Z.  The Britcar Dunlop Production GTN race which ended at the two hour mark was won by the Intersport BMW E46 M3 of Wayne Gibson and Kevin Clarke with the Mazda MX5 GT of Mark Ticehurst and Owen Mildenhall in second.

Britcar Production GTN Championship Winners Alex Osborne - James May in a Seat Leon

2nd Class 1 Production Ticehurst - Mildenhall Mazda MX5

Last stop before victory Marcos

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Three of a kind battle along.Lotus are a popular GT car

Pole position Ginetta tries to catch up Racing for real not Playstation Nissan 370Z

Both Topcats Marcos together

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After the festivities of Christmas day where everyone eats drinks and makes merry, there is nothing better on Boxing day than to get outside in the fresh air to invigorate the body and

soul. And what better way to do this than to attend a classic car meeting. Various are held up and down the country, and we attended the Central Midlands meeting held at the Moat House Inn at Kings Coughton, between Birmingham and Stratford upon Avon.There was a great turn out of about 100 cars, mainly classic with a few vintage cars and some more modern GT and sports cars, providing an

interesting mix for the people to admire. At the one end of the age range was a

nice example of a 1934 British Salmson which had been recently restored and fitted with a special Bugatti body. It is powered by a 1500cc Twin overhead cam engine. The British manufacturer

CENTRAL MIDLANDS CLASSIC TRANSPORT BOXING DAY MEETING.

Rochdale Olympic and Wolseley Saloon

Jaguar Mk2 and 1950 Riley RMA

Triumph TR4 at The Moat House Inn

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operated from 1934 to 1939, being an offshoot of the original French Salmson company which set up a British branch company in 1929 in London. They originally produced radial aero engines. In 1930, the British operation was taken over by British sports car racer Howard Martineau who continued making aero engines until 1934 when they extended the license deal to include the production of cars.

The most interesting car was a locally built 1954 Lea Francis 14hp Four-Light saloon, made in Coventry in the West Midlands. This car was one of the last built in this range. They were fitted with a 1767cc inline 4 cylinder engine which produced 70 bhp. This model was built between 1951 and 1954. In total about 700 were built over this period and 48 are still known to be in existence today. This model differed from its predecessor by having the body lowered by 2 inches, the boot lid opened from the top instead of the bottom, the radiator was lower and the headlamps were recessed into the front wings. A new recirculating ball type steering box was used, and a vacuum advanced distributor was fitted along with a revised water pump. Hydraulic brakes front and rear were only fitted to the last 50 cars produced from March 1952. Assembly finished in 1953.

1934 British Salmson

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Another unusual car was the Sammio Spyder, which is a recreation of a typical 1950’s sports and racing car that dominated Europe in the 1950’s. The car on display sported the Lancia D24 style bonnet. The kit is designed to be fitted to a Triumph Herald or Vitesse rolling chassis and various engine options were used.

A perfect example of a classic sporting saloon was a beautiful 2 tone MG SA saloon. First shown at the 1935 Motor Show, the MG SA went on sale in 1936, fitted with a straight six 2.3 litre engine. At 16 feet in length, the MG SA was a luxury saloon with plenty of room for passengers and luggage. Mulliners designed the coachwork after being commissioned by Cecil Kimber. To allow the long bonnet line to be kept low, the twin SU carburettors had to

be modified to have their dashpots mounted horizontally. The four speed gearbox had synchromesh on the two top gears, and hydraulic drum brakes were fitted to all four wheels. A drophead coupe version was added to the range in 1936, produced by Tickford and in July 1936 coachbuilder Charlesworth added a four door tourer

Sammio Spyder

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to the range. Between all the models, a total of 2739 cars were built between 1936 and 1939. Production continued until the outbreak of the second World War, and the model was never re-introduced after the war.Coming right up to date, a Ferrari

F430 convertible looked stunning in Red with it’s white leather interior and sleek exterior lines. You don’t need loads of money to have a suitable car to attend these types of meeting. Several Mazda MX5 owners had parked up together to put on a small Mazda display, and a couple of old Austin Mini’s turned out as well.A rare car on show was the Rochdale Olympic. A fibreglass kit car built in the early 1960’s, only around 400 were assembled. The early phase 1 was based on Morris Minor running gear which was carried on a steel subframe bonded to the body at the front, while the rear suspension and gearbox mountings were bolted directly to the fibreglass body. The only other steel in

the car was a roll hoop built in to the windscreen surround to give protection in the event of the car rolling over in an accident. Most of the phase 1 cars were fitted with the Riley 1.5 litre engine, though the Minor, MGA, Ford 100E and Ford 105E engines have been fitted into the Olympic, and one left the factory fitted with a Coventry Climax racing engine. The Phase 2 in 1963 was fitted with a Ford Cortina 1500 GT engine and Triumph running gear which gave a slight increase in performance from 11.7 seconds to 60 mph to 11.2 seconds to 60 mph and a top speed increase of 13 mph to 115 mph.Sports cars seemed to be the order of the day for the more unusual cars, and the Bond Equipe fits the bill

Rochdale Olympic

Ferrari F430 interior

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perfectly. Another car based on a Triumph Vitesse chassis and 6 cylinder 1998cc engine, producing 95 bhp. Its fibreglass convertible body allowed for reasonable performance and a top speed of around 100 mph. It was introduced in 1968 and built for 2 years, until January 1970 during which time 841 were manufactured.

There was also a good turn out of motor bikes, again ranging from classic through to more modern models, and even a couple of sidecar combo’s, one on a Harley Davidson .

Austin Healey 3000

Old Riley arriving

Harley Davidson with sidecar

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BY MICK HERRINGForty five years ago, what is now the Plum Pudding Boxing Day races at Mal-lory Park was only my second ever race

meeting.After a break (for both of us) this meet-ing has been a firm fixture for several years now and features races for many different classes of motorbike, including sidecars, together with a pair of races each for saloon and sports cars.The track configuration is altered be-tween the two disciplines to include chicanes at Edwina's and the Bus Stop before the Devil's Elbow for the bikes.Interestingly, entry receipt date by the organisers, determines grid position for

cars in race one and the grid for race two is the reverse of race one finishing posi-tions.Despite initial damp conditions the mo-

torbike racers showed considerable speed and revelled in grip levels once a dry line began to appear. The car races fielded cars as di-verse as the dual race winning Es-cort Cosworth of Nick Williamson through Minis Coopers, young and old, Fiestas, Seat Leon, Renault Megane, Golf GTi, Honda and Pro-ton Coupe.Russell Hird's MG ZR led the first race convincingly until a long grassy moment at the John Cooper Esses

Plum Pudding Meeting Mallory 26th December.

Through Gerard's 3 abreast

Saloon R2 Winner

Saloon R1 early leader

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saw him lose the lead and drop well down the pack. The Megane and one of the Fiestas also had lurid spins on the

exit of the same corner.The Escort Cosworth worked it's way from the back of the grid to an unassail-able lead ahead of the close battles be-hind.

The second saloon race would see Wil-liamson repeat his win from the back but

the prize for best entertainment must go to Adrian Tuckley's Rover Mini Cooper for repeated four wheel drifting through Ger-ard's Bend.

The two sports car races were both domi-nated by the Radical SR8 of Andy Cum-mings from ei-ther end of the grid against any equally di-verse field ranging from

Sports R1 MG Midget 3rd

Sports R2 Japanese buzzed by both Hornets

Adrian Tuckley's Rover Mini Cooper four wheel drifting through Gerard's Bend. Sports R1 Winning Radical SR8 laps the field

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the Radical, Porsche 996GT3, MG Midget, MR2s, MX5s, Triumph GT6, Jaguar RAM D-type, 2 versions of the Fletcher Hornet, 2 x 7s and a Morgan 3-wheeler.

Starting at the front the Radical was able to lap Ray Rowan's Porsche once and Paul Sibley's Midget twice in race one. Race two would see the first three cars staying on the lead lap, this time, after a race 1 dnf, Joe Spencer's Locosaki 7 was second ahead of Ray Rowan's Porsche. 

A good crowd again witnessed some ex-

cellent Festive club racing in a bright re-laxed atmosphere under a dull but dry sky.The sun came out for a last minute ap-pearance as the flag fell at the end of the second sports car race, so drawing this pleasant day to a satisfactory close.   

Sports R1 Radical charges from front row

Sports R2 Sunshine finishSports R2 Ian Fletcher's Fletcher Hornet mk4 to 4th

Sports R2 Morgan 3 wheelerSaloon R1 Fiesta Spins

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