Silverstone Classic 2010

[John Turner]

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[John Turner]

A 'loyal troublemaker'; yes, I like that! Last lot, unless anyone feels hard done by!:-

[LYNX]

I really enjoy your take on the races but I especially like the photos. Thanks John

[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by simon drabble

had several - lovely cars rubbish race cars as they are too heavy (unless you are lucky enough to own a GTA!). That is why so many people run them with 2 litre engines (of course if you are running in 70's roadsports that is fine)
sadly a case of style of result!

Possibly why I also like the MGB. Both slow but designed by Italians, except I can't recall which one ATM.

[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by LYNX

I really enjoy your take on the races but I especially like the photos. Thanks John

Seconded.

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by LYNX

I really enjoy your take on the races but I especially like the photos. Thanks John

Here here, especially when are several of the Morgans entered! Cheers JT. If I had known you were going to take pics from that angle would have put the Tenths sticker on n/s!

The four Plus 4s all finished on same lap like at Dijon- Kremers (70- not pictured) 8th, Emberson/Wykeham (39) 9th, mine (59) 11th and Paul/Wells (82) 13th. 8.3 seconds between first 3 at end, with Malcolm and Rob a bit further back on this occasion.

The pesky little Ginetta is indecently quick for a 997cc- I did get past near the end but he had more traction out of Luffield than me and that was that.....

JT, going back to post #619, the lovely red MG (29) of Annie Templeton was alongside our camp in the paddock so had a good look at it- if I have the story right the original owner had a Maserati but had to sell it due to a divorce settlement, so had the MG body created in same style. Annie also drove her Cooper T51 in the pre 66 race- I was impressed .

[DaveGT6]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Possibly why I also like the MGB. Both slow but designed by Italians, except I can't recall which one ATM.

Was Don Hayter Italian then? You're not getting mixed up with Michelotti designing for Triumph are you?

[Peter Mallett]

No, the original design was Italian (I think Michelotti had a hand in it). Don took it on and made it work for BMC.

[John Turner]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

If I had known you were going to take pics from that angle would have put the Tenths sticker on n/s!

Yes, tricky one that. At Le Mans, JRs cars had them on the 'wrong' side as I spent most of my time on the inside of the circuit. There's only one answer; put one on each side!

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

JT, going back to post #619, the lovely red MG (29) of Annie Templeton was alongside our camp in the paddock so had a good look at it- if I have the story right the original owner had a Maserati but had to sell it due to a divorce settlement, so had the MG body created in same style.

Yep, story rings true; the body screams 'Maserati'; it's a lovely thing.

[DaveGT6]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

No, the original design was Italian (I think Michelotti had a hand in it). Don took it on and made it work for BMC.

Frua produced a design proposal as a replacement for the MGA and it was built on an MGA chassis. It never made it past a design prototype though and Don's work was on a monocoque from the outset as far as I know. He also had links with Touring of Milan whilst at Feltham with Aston but I'm not sure that the final MGB design had much Italian in it although I guess given the connections these designs would have influenced. It's interesting that such classic British marques were so linked with Italian styling houses.

[rogerwills]

Originally Posted by John Turner

A grid full of some of the most beautiful and/or iconic front engined cars ever built, restricted to Pre 63 cars and lasting for one hour. There were 49 starters and 37 finishers, and I've taken ages to pick the photos because I took so many, and even now don't think that I have selected all the best ones. All (except the first) taken around Abbey, I'm afraid, as by this time I was a tad too jaded to take myself off to Bridge and Luffield halfway through.

This race was Willie Green's return to racing after several years of retirement. I must admit to having mixed feelings about seeing him return after the conversations that I had with him when he made his decison to retire following his very nasty accident at Goodwood a few years back. Afterall, his career had already spanned 40 years. On the other hand, as a huge fan of his driving, it was great to see him back. Once a racer, always a racer, I guess, although I know Willie had, in all honesty, and quite publicly, decided against his debut at the Le Mans Classic a couple of weeks earlier.

Although on paper, following qualifying, this appeared to be a close race between the rare 4-litre version of the Ferrari 250GTO (2, a 330GTO really then) of Carlo Vogele/Willie Green, the Aston Martin DP212 (1) of Wolfgang Friedrichs and David Clark, and the Lightweight Aston DB4GT (43) of Stuart Graham and Richard Attwood, everyone seemed to expect the Ferrari which Willie had put on pole to win. Still the Graham/Attwood pairing looked strong and at the off, Vogele could not match the pace of Graham and the DB4GT eased away to a lead which was as much as 10 seconds at one stage. The Ferrari held 2nd easily, but Friedrichs dropped steadily back through the field in 212. Ultimately, The Ferrari did indeed win since the Graham to Attwood changeover took about 20 seconds longer than the Vogele to Green stop, thus Attwood was behind by 10 seconds once the respective stops had taken place and he simply wasn't quite able to match Willie's pace, and I noticed that towards the end the Aston was a bit smokey. At the end, he said that he was driving a road car whereas Willie's was a racing car. True I guess, but in fact the Aston had put up the fastest race lap at 2.17.794 in Stuart Graham's hands against Willie's fastest lap of 2.18.418. Of course, I'm pretty certain that Willie could have gone a good bit faster if he had had to. David Clark took over DP212 when the car was in about 14th but gave the car a storming second half run, which by dint of both quick lapping (a best of 2.17.801 note!) and some attrition amongst one or two of the cars running ahead of him brought the Aston into 4th at the flag. By a consistently quick and untroubled run, Marc Devis and Jarrah Venables brought the Ferrari 250GT SWB (37) into 3rd:-

Great photos John but the text would have everyone believe nothing happened beyond the rarified world of the top 3 with their multi-million dollar price tags!

Meanwhile, in real mans racing land, we had a great old battle in the Elite, all 1220cc and worth not a lot!

We qualified 8th and first in class on a rebuilt engine following issues at Le Mans Classic where it had holed a piston. My old car, now owned by Georg Kjallgren was just behind and nipping at our heels!

In the race we finished 6th overall, an incredible result when you look at what was ahead and behind!

There was a fantastic race going on further down the grid.

I think this is a great series and hope they arrange more races in 2011.

Roger

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by rogerwills

There was a fantastic race going on further down the grid.

I think this is a great series and hope they arrange more races in 2011.

Roger

There most certainly was, and

[Mike Bell]

I was going to edit my last post but too late so instead must add that your reports (as always) are very much appreciated John, and goodness knows how you remember so much of each race! If the pictures prompt some individual stories from drivers then it's a bonus

In free testing on thursday I fixed a satnav in so could get a more accurate speed for the pitlane, then marked the rev-counter accordingly. Interesting how much faster 60kph turned out to be than I guessed, but in the TT still got 'overtaken' by another Morgan as their two driver swap was much quicker than my single driver 'run round the car' antics. Then they have done Spa 6hrs several times and have honed their changes down to F1 slickness..... Still, gave me a challenge to get past them again. (pic bottom right post #621)

[LYNX]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

in the TT still got 'overtaken' by another Morgan as their two driver swap was much quicker than my single driver 'run round the car' antics. Then they have done Spa 6hrs several times and have honed their changes down to F1 slickness..... Still, gave me a challenge to get past them again. (pic bottom right post #621)

It's all good fun - difficult to run around a car and jump in wearing a helmet.

[John Turner]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

I was going to edit my last post but too late so instead must add that your reports (as always) are very much appreciated John, and goodness knows how you remember so much of each race! If the pictures prompt some individual stories from drivers then it's a bonus

Thank you, Mike; I think that Roger thinks that I have nothing better to do. I've made it pretty clear that I'm not going back to the level of detail I have in previous years, but will still comment on certain parts of races if I am moved to do so. Anyway, the fact is that for these longer races I soon lose track, particularly as I'm trying to get some shots, and unless I make copious notes (and I never make any notes, I'd need another pair of hands!), as my son has to, I wouldn't necessarily pick up on the dices down the field. However, as I've always maintained that my posts are pictorial reviews rather than race reports, I do endeavour to include pics of as many cars as possible whatever their position in the race, and, of course, I always try to get 10-Tenthers cars in. You are right, too, about prompting the drivers to give their race accounts. There are now a good number of 10-Tenthers who race at these historic meetings and I'm sure it is more interesting to get some personal race accounts rather than what can only otherwise ever be an overview.

I'm sure that Roger's first sentence is slightly tongue in cheek, in view of his own rather fine collection of racing cars. Oh, and value is all relative; to me an Elite is worth a lot, although in this particular race you could be forgiven for thinking that they are as common as MGBs! There were 11, over 20% of the grid! And in case anyone thinks I'm having a go at Roger (he's a good friend), I'm not, but his post gives me the opportunity to clarify my approach to all this.

I actually had noted the progress of Roger and Joe's Elite from pretty early on in the race, and probably should have mentioned it, but how long do I make my posts? It certainly was a bit of a giant killing act, 6th overall and class win, too; a brilliant effort.

Roger, I did try to catch up with you a couple of times but like most racing drivers you never seem to be with your cars unless you are racing them!

Now, I note that Jason and Louise Kennedy were last of the classified runners in their Lancia Aurelia B20 GT and as Louise is a member here, it would be good get your account Louise, if you're reading this. (Forget that, Louise has already posted at #493, apologies LAK, memory like sieve)


There you go; another long rambling post when I could have been spending time selecting pics for Race 19!

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by John Turner

I think that Roger thinks that I have nothing better to do.

You need to cut him a bit of slack- he is from the Southern Hemisphere after all

I was thinking 'pot' & 'kettle' as well regarding car values, but in comparison to the TT front runners, Elites and Malvern hot rods are probably cheap as chips!

[john ruston]

The most asked question on here is have you got a photo of my car.
If they are that interested I would have thought they could organise for Geoff Bloxham or someone to take photos beforehand!
As far as race reports a quick precis of what happens is plenty good enough and we all know the Elite's, which are all much of a muchness, just finish in the driver ability order and as its Historic Racing doesn't mean that much.Why so many new Elites and 11's about the place.I was going to buy one but they are no longer special.
Wait for FS's Carrera 2 in Pre 63 next year.That should be very interesting!
If Historic Racing were that that interesting it would be covered more in the press as it would sell more mags and that does not happen.
If you want better coverage buy HMRN and in most instances that does the job(except in case of Autosport 3 hrs at Snet which got missed completely)
Thanks JT for doing this stuff for us all and we know its a hobby and not a job!
You have enough problems without this becoming a chore.
If you go to the gate after the race and ask twenty people who won races you would be hard pushed to get people who could name more than three.I know I couldn't name the winner of virtually any race that we were not directly involved with and sometimes not then.
Its not important and a pastime for mostly old farts and what happens in races who cares as long as it looks good and some smart cars.In Pre 63, the cars that people really wanted to see were those poncey ones at the front and the rest of us provided the make weights.It was sold as the most valuable grid and along with Woodcote was.All the value was at front end and thats what the Brits want to see and then moan and be envious about.Thats the way of life in UK.
My early morning ramble and sure Roger didn't intend his post to come over the way it did.As I am guilty of this more than most and understand his position!
By the way it would be good if people would put up their hands and do race reports.
Problem on here is that you would get them from individual drivers,entrants,workers perspective not an overall view.
This is still best place to talk about about actual Historic Motor Racing and occasionally get some decent information as we all mostly post nonsense!

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by john ruston

If they are that interested I would have thought they could organise for Geoff Bloxham or someone to take photos beforehand!

As you say, as simple as giving Geoff B or Charlie Wooding your race number(s) then afterwards they email what they've got......

I try and get at least one decent pic from each race for the archives.

Yours sincerely,

Old fart.

[John Turner]

Crikey, John; never seen you say so much in one post. Thanks for the support as always. Sure it's all fun, whether as an entrant, driver or an observer like me and I really wasn't upset with Roger's post but it did give me the opportunity to respond and explain. Personally, I'd love to see a monthly magazine dedicated to historic motor racing with decent reports and loads of pics but it just wouldn't sell enough, or attract enough advertising to make it viable. However if it happens, can I be editor, working from home in order to supplement my pension? Wonder how many hours a week I'd have to put in .... oh wait, I think I know!

I suppose you could call the front of the Pre 63 cars poncey and valuable, but they are also beautiful as well as rare - a GTO, SWBs, DB4GTs and Zagato plus the one off DP212, take a bit of beating. Having said that, I can fully understand your approach to this and your constant search for the unusual or different car; it certainly always gets me interested, but then maybe I'm just an anorak!

[John Turner]

Second race for theses cars over 20 minutes with 27 starters and 23 finishers. The race was won ultimately quite comfortable by Bill Coombes in the Tyrrell 009 (33) by just under 10 seconds from Steve Hartley in the Arrows A4 (32) with John Wilson, 3rd in the Tyrrell 011 (44). 10-Tenthers Roger Wills was 7th in his Wiliams FW05 and Rudolph Ernst, 21st in his March 721 (40):-

[John Turner]

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[John Turner]

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[percy]

I have lots of photos from the Classic weekend (some are better than others) and was wondering whether it was the 'done thing' to post them online and then link to them from here? I don't mind posting hi-res versions to anyone that finds themselves in any of the pictures - it's a hobby, so I'm not looking for any return.
Most of the photos are 'on track' shots.

[Peter Mallett]

Hi,

No probs with linking, just make sure they don't exceed the rules re pic size.

[LYNX]

I'd love to see a monthly magazine dedicated to historic motor racing with decent reports and loads of pics but it just wouldn't sell enough, or attract enough advertising to make it viable. However if it happens, can I be editor, working from home in order to supplement my pension? Wonder how many hours a week I'd have to put in .... oh wait, I think I know!

John Turner![/QUOTE]

There is of course HMRN and I am fighting to get Silverstone Classic written up - not helped by HSCC's results page going belly up. Difficult to be accurate if you are without paperwork - for some reason its gone from the TSL site. Anyone who has anything interesting to say about their race please PM me or post if appropriate AND please, if anyone has results they can email to me, please do. I do have notes for all the races but really do need a copy of the results and lap charts if possible for Race 15 onwards (Sunday). Should have downloaded and printed but there were pages & pages of pdf file.