Silverstone Classic 2008 (25-27 July)

[john ruston]

I think the majority of people think Motion Works did a superb job and turned the Festival back into UK's No 1 event and with a bit of massaging could be one of Europes best
It is obvious that Silverstone is the only place that has the space for the Racing,Car Clubs,Fairground etc

Well done

[chunterer]

Unfortunately I missed it this year because of home admin taking precedence but i'd like to add my 'spectators' view from previous meetings i've attended.

I too would prefer to see a good spread of categories/classes over time from the 30's or whatever onwards. My youth was the 80's but I still marvel at the real classic stuff from before my time and appreciate the time and effort spent in keeping such cars in tip top condition.

However with the exception of the Grp C's lets draw a line - nothing after 1990 (possible exception a few '91 Grp C cars?!) The Grp C stuff is hugely popular now as long as the atmo 3.5 cars are kept out of it they are iconic enough to feature as Classic.

I would rather not see modern club racing stuff out there like Porsche or Ferrari or whatever and I, like KA mentioned earlier, would be a bit disappointed to see a show of Super Touring cars held at this meeting before a proper Group 1 or Group A event!!

Before I see the admittedly spectacular repmobiles going round I want to see XJS's, 635's Rovers, Capris, Commodores, Alfas, Escorts and Golfs getting their chance!! But let's cap it at 1986 so we don't get Cossies and M3's ruining it!!!!

[John Turner]

Massive grid! There were supposed to be 44 cars in this field although William Grimshaw failed to start in the Moorland Mk 1, and we lost 3 more cars on the first lap. This included the Lotus 22 of poleman, Edwin Jowsey, whose engine blew as a resulting of overheating. I understand that he and his team attributed this to being held on the startline too long. Whilst I have some sympathy, he did come through on the green flag lap a good way ahead of the rest of the field and he surely realised that with over 40 cars strung out behind on the GP course, getting them lined up on the grid was not going to be the act of a moment!

I can't really remember a thing about the actual race, as I was rushing around trying to find a place to take a few pics from and having to settle for a few snatched shots between the spectators at Priory. I note that it was booked to be a 20 minute race but lasted just over 15 minutes, so I'm guessing it was maybe redflagged to clear up the loss of 3 cars on the opening lap, but I honestly don't know, so I'm hoping that others can fill the gaps!

Some of the pics that I have selected were of cars/drivers seldom seen in the UK. Anyway, the demise of Jowsey's car handed the initiative to Denis Welch in his Merlyn Mk5/7 (57) who stormed away to win by nearly 11 seconds over this 7 lap race:-


Gavin Pickering (68 - Lotus 22/27) and Martin Walford (Lotus 22) gave forlorn chase and finished 2nd and 3rd respectively, caught towards the end by Simon Diffey in Lotus 20, just 1.3 seconds covering all 3 at the end:-


Hans Jorgen Krag's Lola Mk3, in which he finished 11th in a field of 38 classified finishers:-


Propping up that huge field was Patrizia Sbardolini in one of two Taraschis in the race:-


Nicholas Colvyas was one of those who failed to finish (Lotus 27):-


Erwin van Gelder was 10th in his Lotus 20/22:-


33 is the Lotus 18 of Neil Daws who finished 10th and lapping about a second quicker than Urs Muller (65 - Lotus 20/22) who finished 20th:-


David Brown was 26th in his Brabham BT6:-

[LYNX]

For write up of FJ Lurani Trophy

http://www.formulajunior.com/Events/...Classic08.html

[John Turner]

Many thanks, Jill. No red flag then, but a second green flag lap. My post confirms completely the fact that I did not know what was going on! Walford caught Diffey!

[LYNX]

For most of the race neither did the commentators!

[John Turner]

[Tim the Grey]

Hey, John. At least you saw it, which was more than I managead, and I owed my ticket to Carlo del Conte. He was driving round, while I was trying to get sorted in the 'Welcome' Tent...

GRRRRRRRRRR.

P.S. In case I forgot, how nice to see you again, if only briefly...

[macsport]

Originally Posted by LYNX

Glad it wasn't your fault Jeff! I would agree that Motion Works has improved the meeting cosiderably and hope they will take on board some of the forums comments for improvement. I hope you continue to grow over the next four years and surpass your/our expectations.

We have the '2009 Silverstone Classic' thread bookmarked and I can say we are taking all comments, good and bad, on board to help us improve the event over the coming years. If you've got a view, please let us know. I can't guarantee we'll agree with your point, but I can guarantee that we do listen.

The 2008 Silverstone Classic was a good starting point, but it is just that, a starting point. Watch this space!

Kind regards

Jeff

[John Turner]

Big grid of 44 cars; it had to be, considering that it was trying to cover 40 years of GP racing. I'm really not sure about this as it strikes me as trying to kill several birds with one stone. What do you think? It did produce some good racing though and none more so than at the front. Unfortunately, I don't seem to have any of the leading group of 3 or 4 cars that broke away at the front, so you'll have to make do with this rather poor effort taken on lap one. Mark Piercy has already gone through and it would be the biggest lead he had, since he was soon caught by Peter Horsman (22 - Lotus 18/21), John Clark (51 - Cooper T51), Enrico Spaggiari (53 - Cooper T53) and Nigel Bancroft (29 - Cooper T51). If memory serves me correctly the leading pack whittled down to 4, and then 3 cars, those of Piercy, Horsman, and Spaggiari, who proceeded to have a great race. The outcome was decided by Piercy whilst he was leading, when he made a mistake in Abbey, forcing Horsman, who had already led the race, to slow enough to allow Spaggiari to slip through to win. Horsman was 2nd, by 1.4 seconds, with Piercy 3rd, another 4.5 seconds behind. Of the others mentioned above, Clark was 4th amd Bancroft, 7th:-


Allan Miles (22 - Maserati 250F CM7) and Paul Grant (19 - Cooper Bristol Mk2)
sit it out through Luffield. They were pretty much together the whole race with Miles just edging it to take 22nd by 7-tenths!:-


The veteran racer, Sid Hoole, finished 5th in the Cooper T66:-


Ian Ashley's LDS Alfa Romeo which finished 10th:-


A pack led by Hubert Fabri's Aston Martin DBR4 which was one of 4 retirees. Following is 22 & 19 (see above) and 36, Rupert Woods, Cooper T43 which finished 24th:-


Another car to be retired was Michael Steel's 'Toothepaste Tube' Connaught C type:-


Did this ever run as a GP car? No matter; it's a great looking car, I think. The Frazer Nash Nurburgring of Dick Smith who finished 36th:-


The winning car of Enrico Spaggiari:-


A sideview of the Miles 250F. This of course is one of the run of Cameron Millar cars, built, I believe, in the 1980s. I wonder where these cars sit in our discussions over originals v replicas?:-


Another view of the Fabri Aston, simply because, as you all know by now, it's my favourite marque!:-


65 is the Lotus 33 of Robs Lamplough who had dropped behind Ashley (62) at the flag to finish 11th. Dwarfing them both is the Talbot T26 of Richard Pilkington, last of the classified finishers:-

[Peter Horsman]

John, at the time I was leading and rather thought it would all be ok when I seemed to have opened up a good-enough lead down Hanger on the final lap. Then I was slowed up a well-mannered back marker at Club and Mark P caught me up. But he was still just behind me when he locked up into (the now safe) Abbey and spun left onto the grass. I slowed, not wishing to collect him when he regained the track and Enrico, third by 20 yards had a better view of what was going on, nipped up the inside to take the win.

[John Turner]

Peter, thanks for the clarification. You 'was robbed' sir!

A fine grid of cars lined up for what, for many, was one of the star attractions of the day. Unfortunately, we lost two of the 'star' cars at the first corner when Rob Sherrard's Sauber Mercedes had a very expensive collision with the Porsche 962 driven by Oliver Mattai rendering both cars out on the spot and a red flag. The race was shortened from 30 mins to 20mins to recover some of the time lost in the ensuing clear up. At the restart, poleman, Martin Stretton took the lead in the Spice SE GTP and it was Justin Law, from the 3rd row who was to take the fight to him in the XJR8. More of that anon!

David Hart drove this 962 to 5th overall, having started 10th. Although he had benefitted from the demise of the two cars mentioned above and from the later retirement of the Gary Pearson driven Jaguar XJR11, it was a good drive, nonetheless:-


Henry Pearman (43 - Porsche 962) got the better of Peter Schliefer in the March 84G, to finish 6th. Schliefer finished 8th:-


Pat Thomas did just 3 laps in qualifying with no time recorded (no transponder?) and therefore started from the back (27th on the grid). However, by dint of several retirements and some overtaking, he was to finish 15th in the March 84G:-


The Nissan NPT1 in Momo colours (one of my favourite liveries) driven by Don Coaster, spun in Brooklands and whilst he restarted courtesy of the marshals, he then toured round to the pits to retire:-


Another to retire was Gary Pearson in the XJR11:-


Andy Purdie (Nissan R90 CK) had a pretty solitary time for most of it finishing 3rd, nowhere near the leading two, but well clear of Peter Sowerby in RC90 CVK:-


I'm not biased, you understand, but one of the best sounding cars was the Aston AMR1 of Paul Whight, who finished 7th:-


Steve Jones was 18th inthe Advan liveried Porsche 962:-


Justin Law has been having a great year and driving really well. He certainly gave Stretton a run for his money and took the lead for a few laps, before Martin retook the lead to win by 1.1 seconds. These two were, frankly, in a class of their own finishing 25 seconds ahead of Purdie after just 12 laps. Here they lap the XJR5 of Donald Miles. It was lovely to see this car which was the oldest in the race and finished 19th. Of the 6 Jaguars that started the race, 3 retired! Apologies for poor picture quality:-


Whight and Pearman again, this time together. Pearman got ahead of Whight but just half a second separated them at the end:-

[minimangler]

Thanks for the pictures, John, and the little stories that go with them, too

[John Turner]

I just couldn't bring myself to title this the Mark Donohue Trophy Race (which is what it actually was) for Porsche Road sports cars! Why? We've already decided that this race was out of place for this event so I won't dwell on it further other than to say that it was for road sport Porsches from 1948 - 2008, but the oldest I could find in the programme dated from 1973! A massive grid of 48 cars and 45 finishers for this 20 minute race.

Ian Oliver's 1974 911 Carrera was 29th:-


The most competent car I ever owned was a 944S2. This is Trevor Lewis's example from 1990, which finished 28th:-


Replacement for the 944S2 was the apparently even better 968. This is the 1993 CS version of Ed Hayes who finished 20th:-


The race was won by Mike Johnson in his 993GT3, followed by the Fairburn/Mclean (which?) 993GT2, and the Paul Winter 996GT3. The car that 'looked' as though it should win, however, was this very dramatic looking 993GT2. Carrying a special body kit and paint scheme, it finished 4th in the hands of Mark Chilton. I actually rather like it ('cos, it's different with a touch of 935 retro about it?)!:-

[davyboy]

Originally Posted by John Turner

I just couldn't bring myself to title this the Mark Donohue Trophy Race (which is what it actually was) for Porsche Road sports cars! Why? We've already decided that this race was out of place for this event.

Completely agree - Donohue is worthy of something much better. Whatabout inviting the Historic Trans-Am guys over from the US ? Wouldn't it be fantastic to see those Mustangs, Challengers, Camaros, Plymouths, AMCs in Silverstone ? Now that would be a proper tribute to the great man from Summit, NJ.

[john ruston]

Why the Mark Donohue Trophy Race? Surly Brian Redman or Jacky Ickx would have been better if you do indeed need the Porsche race(must be the money).We have enough of those V8 things here now so why import more and who would pay for these Tin Tops to come.They are nothing very special when I have watched them at Sebring and they don't race.Donohue was probably ,with Gurney ,the best driver to venture out of the States since the war and to have a race named after him with that motley crew was nonsense.

[davyboy]

Well let's face it few people at the Classic race in the true sense of the word. It would be wrong if they did. The most upsetting moment of the weekend for me, and I guess most true fans, was the Sauber-962 collison, and that was a pure racing accident.

The Classic drivers are custodians of extraordinary pieces of history and irrespective of the value of the cars, need to respect what they're in control of. I feel privileged to be able to watch them 'operating' on a track as opposed to showpieces in a museum.

Maybe the HTA gang wouldn't race, but it would be a helluva show... particularly for 'kids' like me who never saw them first time round.

[Mark Griffiths]

Brian Redman is never "surly", having a warm and sunny disposition like all Lancastrians.

Trans-Am? No thanks. What I'd love to see is a '66-'68 3 litre GP race- no slicks, no wings. Probably not enough cars out there to make it happen.

[john ruston]

Can't spell either.Spell check didn't work!

Mr Redman is warm but don't give me all that flannel as there are some who are not

Your idea Should be enough if you make up grid with 2 litre F1 single seaters.Rick Hall could sell some more of those BRM engines.Now there is a warm and sunny bloke

[Mark Griffiths]

Get some of the Tasman cars in maybe?

[john ruston]

Tasman Cars and you have a grid and mostly with cars that can't find a race elsewhere.There would be enough

[Enrico Spaggiari]

Dear John.
Thank you for your pictures and race report of race 1 for pre-66 Grand Prix cars.
It was a great race : I was starting from pole but I made the worst start of my life and at Copse I found myself in 4th position (behind Mark Piercy's T53 2.7 liter Tasman car, Peter Horsman's Lotus 18/21 and John Clark's Cooper T51).
On the second lap I got past Clark and then I began my pursuit of the 2 leading cars.
Around half race I was behind Peter's 18/21, and even if I was a bit quicker than him in a couple of corners, it wasn't enought to try to overtake (our best laps were very very close, less than 2tenths of a sec.) .
In the last laps Mark Piercy got a bit slowed by a back marker and Peter went past him entering the Complex , after Bridge corner. I tried to overtake Mark on the outside of Luffield, I nearly did it, but at the exit I found a back marker
in front of me and without any room to go I had to lift the gas and Mark went by.
In this way we arrived to the last lap : at Abbey, Piercy did a very late brake trying to overtake Peter, but he locked a bit his rear wheels, the back of the car started to slide and he found himself spinning on the grass (on the inside of the chicane). I still remember his T53 with the 4 wheels completely locked which keeps sliding on the grass without control.
The spinning car went into the track in the middle of the chicane and Peter had to go wide to avoid him : this let the door open to me and I went away to win the race . I must say that I was lucky to find myself in the right place at the right moment, and I had the complete view of the accident so I had the time to take the best decision of where to go. Peter was unlucky to be in wrong place and at the wrong time too, and he did a very good job in avoiding Mark's T53 especially because he didn't have a big time to react : he just found the Cooper pointing to his left side and I think it's thanks to him that both cars weren't damaged.
Honestly, without this accident, I wouldn't have been able to overtake both Peter and Mark, but .... that's racing !!!
Race 2 was another story ...maybe ask Peter, I think he was in a better position to describe it.
Thanks again.
Best regards.
Enrico

[John Turner]

Enrico, great to have your race account. We've now had 2 of the 3 leading contenders in this race, contribute. Excellent stuff!

[John Turner]

Slightly confusing; the full title in the programme says 'The Duncan Hamilton Trophy for The Royal Automobile Club Woodcote Trophy Pre 1956 Sportscars. Absolutely first class grid of 43 cars of which 34 finished in this hour long race with a compulsory pit stop, although some of the cars were driven solo.

I took loads of pics of this race, but most turned out to be rubbish and therefore deleted. Hence, what you get here is somewhat limited.

Jaguar D -types were pretty much the latest thing in 1955, so they were the car to have here if you wanted to win. 4 were entered but we lost two during the race, one being the Lucas Huni/Gary Pearson car (3) which Huni retired at the end of lap 1. He is seen here waving through the Gavin Pickering/Spencer Marsh car. A frontrunner, that too, was unclassified at the end. The other car in the picture is the C-type of Gary Pearson/Nigel Webb. Pearson driving here gave the D-types a great run for their money:-


The Barry Sidery-Smith/Ryan MGA, a late entry, which finished 30th. Behind is the DB3 Coupe, owned by Urs Mueller and driven in the race by Arlette Mueller to 31st. An interesting car with interesting history, this is DB3/7, which in its current configuration carries a coupe body that was used by Meyer at Goodwood in 1954 and then modified for Angela Brown (David Brown's daughter) to use in events in 1955:-


A poor pic, but shows the leading pack on lap 2 (I think) coming through Club. Ben Eastick (9) leads here but was overtaken by the battling duo of the Pickering/Marsh (Marsh driving here?) D type and the Pearson C-type. Eastick stayed in contention though and when he pitted early, to hand over to Neil Cunningham, it pretty much set the seal on their victory, their closest challenger being the extremely well driven C-type. Behind is The Mark Gillies/Duncan Ricketts Maserati 300S which finished 7th, the Tony and Pia Bianchi Farellac which finished 8th and the Kurtiss 500S driven by Chris Keen and Richard McAlpine to a fine 3rd:-


Tony Smith drove solo to record 6th in the only other Maserati in the race:-


The Tom Walker/Jonathan Cobb Allard J2X failed to finish:-


The first 'littlun' home was the Lotus 10 of Adrian Hall and Nick Adams who drove it to an excellent 4th:-


As already mentioned the C-type had a great run and actually led for a while. Nigel Webb kept it in contention after taking over from Pearson, but was overhauled by Cunningham. Nevertheless, 2nd seemed to be likely until the pipe to the oil pressure gauge (info courtesy of Marcus Pye's report!) came off and Webb pulled off, a sad end to what had been a fine combative drive by both drivers. They were classified 11th. In fact it was the Peter Neumark/Mark Griffith D-Type that captured 2nd, in the end:-


Gorgeous Ferrari 212/220 of Richard Wills and, according to the results, one Mr Blakeney Edwards (the programme says Michael Parr), so Patrick, I assume. Hope he pops in to confirm! They finished 32nd in this very desirable car and that is saying something coming from an Aston fanatic:-


The only other Ferrari was the 17th placed 250TR of Cooke/Twyman. Is this really a pre 1956 car?:-


Astons were well represented in this race, although probably a bit breathless on this track. The best sounding was Urs Mueller's DB3S which really had a crisp bark to it compared to the others. He finished 15th, although the 3S of Hubert Fabri/Adrian Stoop was the first Feltham car home in 14th:-

[Mark Griffiths]

I don't think I would have caught the Webb car had it not been for its breaking down. I'd got the gap down to under 15 seconds according to the lads on the pit wall, but there were only two laps to go and suddenly I saw the C-type parking up on the left of the Vale. I still didn't quite believe it until I came round Brooklands and saw the big screen with the result being displayed. I therefore managed to maintain OKV1's proud tradition of finishing second.