Silverstone 'Classic' Festival 09 - The Event

[john ruston]

Did anyone watch Pre War race that was held at dawn on Saturday?

[Tim the Grey]

Sadly not John. Saturday AM we arrived on circuit around 10;30, having taken an hour to get from the A43 near enough! It was mad out there. Neither Friday or Sunday were anywhere near as busy.

[Peter Horsman]

I observed in my mirror a blue car rather sideways exiting Woodcote ( or rather, not exiting it) after I had just taken the chequered flag if that counts........

[p261brm]

Originally Posted by simon drabble

so was the drivers canteen.. or have I missed something subtle?

I doubt it, subtle is not a state of mind I've ever been known to subscribe to, leastways not according to er indors.

[jminsh]

Originally Posted by p261brm

but probably no where near as dangerous as the antics of one birdcage driver leaving the pits during the Woodcote race, how the other two cars missed and avoided a coming together pure luck of the Gods! .

Didn't look that close from where i was sat!! I sussed where Doddy was the other chap can't of done a full minute stop if he was near Dodd !!!

[john ruston]

And he went from an easy second to third!

[p261brm]

Originally Posted by jminsh

Didn't look that close from where i was sat!! I sussed where Doddy was the other chap can't of done a full minute stop if he was near Dodd !!!

bet there was just enough room for that finger you have missing

[brands]

A few images from the 3 days

[terence]

Luckily,the inverted Mini is carrying the number of 69!

[Peter Mallett]

Lots of bits of trim hanging off various Minis in the pics I've seen so far. Can't be contact so must be lax preparation.

[ascarracinguk]

go on youtube thers a video on there, the front suspension collapsed at the apex so the car dug in and rolled...looks like a turtle on its back lol

[Tim the Grey]

I suspect it's more a case of poor design! The rear live axle is wider than the front track. When it started to rise, the front corner just dug in.

[John Turner]

Originally Posted by john ruston

Did anyone watch Pre War race that was held at dawn on Saturday?

John, as you would expect, I certainly did. A lovely fast drive by Gareth ahead of a superb field of cars. I took loads of pics and this race will, naturally, be the one I kick off with when I get the review underway. As ever sorry not to catch up with you (will e-m, shortly).

[John Turner]

48 starters; 39 Finishers.

Over 55 minutes, with a compulsory pit stop, although some drivers went solo. A magnificent grid of cars, the first pic shows the course car leading them into Abbey for the rolling start. At the head is Gareth Burnett in John Ruston's supercharged 2 litre Alta. His qualifying lap was fully 7.8 seconds faster than Neumark/Hope Alfa 8C Monza, so barring mishap, there was only ever likely to be one winner! The second pic shows the two Delages together on lap 2. We wouldn't get this view again as the Heelas/Guyatt D6-75 (39)pulled in to retire at the end of the lap. The Warden/Mahany D6 Course (42) however went on to finish a fine 8th. In the next pic, the Helmut Rothenburger's 4.5 litre Invicta S-type 133 (34) dwarfs the Riley Brooklands (41) of Wardale/Cobden. The Riley retired after 36 minutes whereas the Invicta finished 32nd. Pic 4 is of the 3 - litre Blower Bentley (15) of Adam and Rachel Singer, and since there are some lovely flowing locks tumbling from the helmet, I'm guessing it is the latter driving. They were last of the finishers. Pic 5 is of Burnett, driving well within himself, already well ahead, exiting Abbey. He went on to win by over a minute and a half! Pic 5, and already several laps into the race but still plenty of jockeying of positions going on. Two Lagondas side by side in the mix, the one on the inside is the Mark Butterworth, who has just locked up his brakes to avoid hitting the back of the Stutz Pike Peaks Special of Guyatt/Warrington. Butterworth driving solo was 17th, the Stutz, 16th, and they were still almost this close after 55 minutes of racing. The other Lagonda is no 18, that of Joe Harding which retired just before the half hour mark. Other cars in view are a couple of Astons and the Michael Strasoldo ex factory Team Talbot 105 (46) which finished 15th.

To do this and many of the other races justice, I will be posting more than once, so more pics from this race to follow.

[John Turner]

That very experienced pairing of Clive Morley and Tim Llewellyn brouht this Bentley 3/4.5 (29) home in 13th, whilst Nigel Batchelor tries to set the grass alight with his 4.5 (1) on his way to 30th. David Ozanne's Aston Martin 15/98 Speed Model (9) was 20th. Martin Overington slips the Bugatti T35B (33)up the inside of James and Stuart Morely Bentley 3 litre (30). However, the Bugatti retired in the 43rd minute. The Bentley was 28th. The sun glints off the Alfa 6C 1750 of Alex and Tania Pilkington, who finished 38th. The Peter Neumark/Simon Hope Alfa Monza (3) was unable to hold on to 2nd having been caught by the Frazer Nash Super Sports of Patrick Blakeney Edwards and Andrew Hall. I'll probably do one more post for this race.

[john ruston]

Thanks for the coverage!

[John Turner]

OK, one more. I'm sure I've missed out on some peoples favourites, but short of including a pic of every car, it's inevitable I guess.

The other Alfa 8C Monza was driven by Christopher and Peter Mann to 7th. Pic 2 shows a group coming through Club - Behind the Butterworth Lagonda, is the other Alta Sports (16) of Sam Stretton and Chris Chilcott which finished 5th, and the Jaguar SS100 of Anthony Hancock which finished 26th. Car 12 is the Bentley TT 3 litre of Andrew and Richard Frankel who finished 36th. The next pic shows the Talbot AV105 of John Polson who took 19th. The car that finished 2nd, mentioned in the previous post - the Frazer Nash Super Sports (49) of PB-E and AH. Behind it, and I'm sure running it close during the early part of the race is another Super Sports (44) in the hands of Charles Gillett and Justin Maeers. Pathetic 'arty' one, but I like it, is the Holly Mason/Charles Knill-Jones Aston Martin Ulster LM17 which finished 6th and followed here by the Alvis Speed 25 (24) of John Paul Mason which finished 18th!

So that, I think, is it. Interesting top ten:-

Alta - 1, 5
Frazer Nash - 2, 4
Alfa - 3, 7
Aston - 6, 9, 10
Delage - 8

[LYNX]

One item of note, Simon Hope gifted second place to Patrick Blakeney-Edwards when he lost it on the last corner ? whether he needed to overtake the back markers as just sitting behind would have made second place safe.

[PBE]

Originally Posted by john ruston

And he went from an easy second to third!

I was terribly sad about that....!

[Peter Mallett]

*snigger* Behave!

[john ruston]

Patch would have got him anyway and what was that signal he was giving Hopeless when he passed him?

[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by John Turner

The other Alfa 8C Monza was driven by Christopher and Peter Mann to 7th. Pic 2 shows a group coming through Club - Behind the Butterworth Lagonda, is the other Alta Sports (16) of Sam Stretton and Chris Chilcott which finished 5th, and the Jaguar SS100 of Anthony Hancock which finished 26th. Car 12 is the Bentley TT 3 litre of Andrew and Richard Frankel who finished 36th. The next pic shows the Talbot AV105 of John Polson who took 19th. The car that finished 2nd, mentioned in the previous post - the Frazer Nash Super Sports (49) of PB-E and AH. Behind it, and I'm sure running it close during the early part of the race is another Super Sports (44) in the hands of Charles Gillett and Justin Maeers. Pathetic 'arty' one, but I like it, is the Holly Mason/Charles Knill-Jones Aston Martin Ulster LM17 which finished 6th and followed here by the Alvis Speed 25 (24) of John Paul Mason which finished 18th!

So that, I think, is it. Interesting top ten:-

Alta - 1, 5
Frazer Nash - 2, 4
Alfa - 3, 7
Aston - 6, 9, 10
Delage - 8

Interesting race and good report, thanks John.

We tend, in this world of what we perceive as close racing, to discount these cars. The fact is there was always a big diversity of speed (just look at the Brooklands results) yet the racing was about how fast each car could be made to go. This race shows (for me) that the old cars still perform but their limits are pretty much unchanged by technology. Hence the old handicap system may well be proved to be the right approach.

[LYNX]

Just watched race on Motors TV - a certain John Rushton had more airtime with his stopwatch than most of the race cars! Who was it who said no such thing as bad publicity?

[Peter Mallett]

"Ruston"

[LYNX]

Whoops......... digititis strikes again!