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Ah, Team Titan, I feel another thread coming on!!!!!
davemorganfan is quite correct, Ken and Derek ran identical MK 6's in 1972. Ken actually briefly ran a Titan the previous year which he had bought from Derek after a bad experience with an Alexis. The following year (1972) they both bought brand new Mk 6's from Roy Thomas and so Team Titan was born. They both received "factory" support and in fact Roy (or Tom as he was more commonly known) used to rebuild their engines after every race for the princely sum of £25!! Derek used to concentrate mainly on the Midland and Southern Championships as he was based near Wednesbury and Ken the Northern Series as he lived (and still does) near Manchester. 1972 was a tremendous year and between them they scored something in the order of 30+ wins. Ken won 3 (I think) big championships that year including the Tate Trophy and the Rose Bearings Trophy meeting at Silverstone. He then retained the Tate Trophy as it was the third year he had won it. He also set lap records at Oulton, Croft, Cadwell, Silverstone and Rufforth. At the end of that year, the car was sold (he still has a copy of the advert from Autosport) bearing in mind its success and it was never shunted for the princely sum of £1595!!!!! I wonder where it is now?
Best races of '72? Well, I guess either the race at Oulton where Derek won, Ken was second and Ian Taylor was third: a fantastic scrap with all manor of lead changes. The second one? A race Ken won; again at Oulton against the Kiwi David Oxton who was in a blue Merlyn (I think the ex-Ian Schekter car?)where after a race long battle, Ken won by a nose. The final lap they completed from island to the finish line side by side! They both received a standing ovation for that one.
During the season, Tom used to come along to the meetings, bringing with him all sorts of new bits to try on the cars. These included air boxes and moulded "winglets" along the nose panels. After nearly 30 years of no contact, an American Andy Antipas, who runs the Titan web site, set up a small reunion in the UK when Ken and Derek got back together again. Following this, Ken also met Tom (again after a break of nearly 30 years) a few times before he sadly passed away.
Well, I'd better stop now or I'll rabbit on all night!!!!!
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