Masters Top Hat 21 March Snetterton

[John Turner]

14 starters; 13 finishers.

A 15 lap race which for the most part was compiled of a motley collection of cars from the previous races. However, it is sad to relate that the non finisher was Harvey Woods in his Frogeye Sprite. He'd waited all day but failed to complete even the first lap.

Now Richard Austin has a son called Rob; I'm sure that will ring a bell with many. He was on pole in the Perana, so since we had probably the fastest driver of the meeting in the fastest car, the outcome, failing gremlins, was certain. He took the lead immediately, and was followed by Jeremy Knight in the D-type Replica who had a stonking start from 4th on the grid which took him passed both Jamie Boot in the Griffith and Chris Scragg in the E-type. What's more he held onto 2nd until lap 3 when Boot overtook him. Thereafter Jeremy had a pretty lonely race to 3rd, untroubled by the Scragg E-type which finished 19.5 seconds behind. In front, though, the Perana faltered and Boot pounced, so that the TVR had gone from 3rd to first in one lap. Austin recovered the lead but then again lost it briefly. However, whatever the problem was, the car settled, and was back in front at the end of lap 4 and then eased away to an easy victory over Boot by over 32 seconds. On the way Austin had posted a 1.17.52 lap, easily the quickest of the day.

There were some good battles behind and I'll refer to them in the picture captions. Below, the evidence of Jamie leading at the end of lap 3, the Scragg E-type in the background in Coram, so Jeremy is out of shot coming into the Russell chicane. Next, is Jeremy K on his own (sorry for quality of pic), then the gyrating TR4 of Pearson. Pic 4 shows the TZ1 again, Gordon McCulloch driving; he finished 10th, followed here by two battling Imps (mentioned earlier by Peter) - 62 is Jon Sandilands who finished 11th (Hartwell Imp) and 63 is Ian Swift (Frazer Imp) who finished just behind by 3 tenths. At the back of the group is Dave Devine's Lotus Cortina. He must have had a poor start, but made good progress forward, had a good dice with his team mate Pearson in the TR4 before outbraking him into the chicane, and continued through the field to finish 6th. Next is the well driven TVR Grantura of Tony Gaston which finished 5th, and finally, the winner.

That's it, folks!

[John Turner]

Discussion re Safety Car periods split off to here:-

http://tentenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=114501

[jerryk]

Nicely done John .
its good to find out what happens in a race . you only know what you see.
shame about Harvey, nice man and a well presented car.

[terence]

Great coverage [as usual] John.I'll bet A.S has'nt had such a report.There is ,I think,room for an Historic Weekly Mag,with reports such as your's John,there would be no spectators though!

[delta]

I bought a copy of Autosport this week and i see they are asking competitors to send in their stories of the weekend's racing. What a great idea. Better get the spell cheque werkin

[Peter Mallett]

Free reporting then?

[John Turner]

No, Peter; the event still gets reported as before but the best 'From the banks' piece (about 100 words) submitted each week, gets printed as a sidebar; it's just a spectator's view, and is an excellent idea. Ollie Timpson actually reported on this meeting and had a page for his report, two pics and results. I'm guessing that my words plus pics would have taken at least 4 full pages as I don't have to discipline myself to wordcount/image constraints. It's simply not a fair comparison. I'm reviewing one event. Autosport, in the National section, endeavours to report all events.

A Historic weekly report would be complete overkill, Terence. A monthly would be good but not enough of us would buy it to make it work. Even 'Ingear' which endeavoured to provide full cover for club events failed through lack of sales.

[terence]

My point was that because there are so many people interested/participating in Historics,and the fact that even AS only give a brief account,I thought there could be a market John,however,if you dont want the job!

[John Turner]

I know Terence but what seems like a lot of potential buyers is actually small beer, and you just know that a lot of those so called interested people wouldn't commit to buying it. There wouldn't be enough to sustain sales. Don't get me wrong; I'd love to see such a mag; I just don't think that it would be viable. As for my involvement; I'd be happy to be a paid contributor but since I turn 60 this year, I wouldn't want to start a new career of such time consuming proportions.

Jill Carter (where is she, these days?) started this thread regarding this issue last year:-

http://tentenths.com/forum/showthrea...ric+Racing+mag

[terence]

OK John,so no takers then Glad we're not over there today!!

[John Turner]

Indeed, foul conditions. Are you going next weekend for the CSCC?

[terence]

Not too sure if I will be able to go,usual thing of waiting on a phone call!
If I can,I will come over though.

[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by John Turner

No, Peter; the event still gets reported as before but the best 'From the banks' piece (about 100 words) submitted each week, gets printed as a sidebar; it's just a spectator's view, and is an excellent idea.

Hmm, the cynic in me suggests that busier weekends will focus on the more modern stuff, even if it provides less interest. (Although last weekend was an enthusiasts weekend).

[John Turner]

It's in the National & Club section only, Peter, and I suspect will therefore be picked by Kevin and Ben, so I'm sure Historics will get a fair crack. Of course, you can only print what is submitted! Last week it was 750 MC at Snet; this week, this meeting.

[delta]

Over the years there have been a couple of mags / newspapers reporting on club racing but never lasted long.Jill's "lynx" is ok and i think looking to race this year.