EASTER PARADE AT SILVERSTONE


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Ben Short (14) and Simon Baldwin (9) were both MX-5 Mk1 race winners at Silverstone. Photo: Jon Elsey

It was certainly a busy opening weekend to the 2015 season with the Club running separate meetings on the Silverstone National and International circuits.

National Circuit

Excool MD Duncan Williams made the perfect start to the OSS Championship, which his company sponsors, driving his Class B Juno to victory in the first race on the National circuit. Tim Gray’s Spire GT-3 was second with the Jenvey-Gunn of Mike Jenvey third. Williams repeated the feat in the second round with Simon Tilling second (Ligier JS49T) and Jenvey again third. Saturday night in the OSS paddock was one of merriment as the fifty-fifth anniversary of the Marshall & Fraser Racing team was celebrated with gusto. Sunday’s race produced a win for Jenvey with Richard Fearns (Radical SR8) and Jonathan Hair (Nemesis) completing the podium.

The Toyo Tires Honda VTECs had their first race as a BRSCC series and it was Robert Burkinshaw who took the chequered flag in his Integra. Matt Walker’s Civic was second with Phil Wright’s Accord third. The lead pair finished in the same order in the second race but this time Martyn Kemp’s Civic completed the first three home. Seven Smartcars from the 4two Cup joined the VTECs in each race with Martyn Clatworthy and David Nash taking the honours.

The Formula Jedi Championship looks like it has a very competitive year ahead with Worcester’s Michael Watton the only driver to make the podium in both races. He won Saturday’s opener ahead of teenager Ryan Harper-Elam and Dan Clowes. Former champions Lee Morgan and Andrew Dunn took the first two places in Sunday’s race but Watton’s third place puts him on top of the fledgling Jedi points table.

Specialized Motorsport boss Simon Horrobin scored a double win in the Jam-Sport Fiesta Championship beating fellow Class C driver Scott Robertson in each race. Gareth Broadbent and Jam-Sport’s Jamie Going shared the P3 spoils. James Styles, Stuart Robbins and David Nye took two wins apiece in the respective A, B and D classes.

To accommodate all fifty-seven drivers in the BRSCC Mazda MX-5 Championship, the competitors were split into A & B groups with promotion and relegation between the two for the second races. Ben Short’s decision to put in a late entry on Good Friday paid off as he won race 1A from Simon Baldwin and Brian Chandler. William Stephenson was first home in the B race ahead of Paul Bateman and Danny Green, thus earning promotion to the A group as did fourth and fifth place finishers David Birrell and John Cockburn-Evans. The second set of races saw Simon Baldwin claim an early championship lead by taking a narrow victory from Darron Lewis and Short. Sutton’s Simon Woods was the B victor, chased home by Kevin Brent and Graham Colby.

The pair of Fiesta Junior races were dominated by the Romford racer Aaron Thompson who having won the last two rounds of the 2014 season made it four FJC wins in a row. Last year’s runner-up Michael Higgs was second, ahead of 14 year-old Connor Grady who scored his first podium finish. Grady went one better in race two demoting Higgs to third.

After moving up to the Mazda MX-5 SuperCup from the Mk1 Championship Alan Henderson made an immediate impression winning the first Mk3 race by almost ten seconds from Simon Goddard. Another Mk1 graduate, Johnathan JJ Clements, was third and improved further in the second tour to beat Henderson into second place. Leicester’ George Line also had a memorable weekend achieving his first podium finish, P3 in race two.

The full race results and analysis can be viewed at NATIONAL RESULTS

International Circuit

The HRDC got proceedings underway on the International circuit with consecutive races. First out on the 1.85 mile configuration were the Touring Greats who enjoyed a forty-five minute race. Matthew Moore’s 1959 Austin A40 won the day by almost six seconds from a 1958 Jaguar Mk1, driven by Peter Burton. Tom Shepherd was fifteen seconds off the pace in third in his 1961 Alfa Giulietta.

There was a more comfortable margin of victory In the Allstars, where John Young cruised home with over thirty seconds to spare in a 1964 AC Cobra. Michael Whitaker’s 1965 Ford Mustang was the best of the rest, fifteen seconds ahead of Andy Newall’s 1963 JCB MGB Roadster.

The three hour Fun Cup race produced something of an upset! Reigning champions Team Racelogic, starting their quest for a fourth consecutive title, had to settle for third spot behind the second placed Geometric trio of Stephen Johansen and brother and sister pairing Guy and Zoe Wenham. The victors were the new Isla Motorsport duo of Neil Primrose and MX-5 specialist Tom Roche.

Graham Seager’s GTV proved too strong for the rest of what was a healthy Alfa Romeo field. The first race was a relatively tight affair with Bryan Shrubb’s 33 just a second off the pace. The experienced Chris Snowdon, also in a 33, was another second further back in third. Ray Foley (Power Trophy) and current champion James Bishop (Twinspark) were the other class winners. Snowdon moved up a place in the second tour, swapping with Shrubb, but the margin to Seager increased to nine seconds. Foley and Bishop repeated their class triumphs.

Cornwall’s Joey Foster showed a clean pair of heels to his rivals in the opening two rounds of the Avon Tyres Formula Ford 1600 National Championship. Behind Joey there was a quite a battle amongst the Post 89 competitors with Canadian Patrick Dussault and Ulsterman Jonny McMullan emerging in P2 and P3 respectively. The first Pre 90 driver home was serial winner Jamie Jardine. Foster increased his winning margin in race two in which McMullan was his nearest challenger, albeit thirteen seconds adrift. Jake Byrne showed he had pace in recording the fastest lap of the day and allied to his consistency it was enough to get him on the podium in third. Jardine added another Pre 90 win to his growing tally.

Liam Morley won both outings in the BSA National Division 1 Superkart Championship, beating Gavin Bennett in both fifteen minute races. There was also a double winner in the BSRC Club Championship in the Formula 125 Open class. Reigning champion Chris Needham was the man who did it beating rivals Danny Butler and Danny Edwards in each race.

The class of the field in the 500 Owners Association Formula Junior was Peter De La Roche who drove his Cooper MkV to two comfortable wins. Nigel Ashman had to be satisfied with second place in each of the ten lap races, beating Mike Fowler (Cooper MkV) in the first and Ian Phillips (Cooper MkX) in the second.

The full race results and lap analysis can be viewed at INTERNATIONAL RESULTS


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