Silverstone Classic 2010

[John Turner]

James, thanks for the clarification. I doubt that I'll be at Croft but who knows; we'll catch up sometime I'm sure!

[John Turner]

A 20 minute race with 38 starters and 30 finishers. Enrico Spaggiari (10 - Cooper T53), a winner here last year, held the lead briefly before succumbing to the Lotus 18 (18) of John Chisholm (see pic 2). Whilst Chisholm went onto win by 8.3 seconds, Enrico gradually dropped back to finish 9th; what was the problem Enrico? Nick Wigley and John Clark battled it out for 2nd in their T51s, with the former holding on by a tenth! Mark Piercy retired the Lola Mk4 (2) on the penultimate lap after a very competitive drive at the sharp end. Peter Horsman was 11th in his Lotus 18/21 (22), and note that Iain Rowley drove the dramatic looking Ferrari 156 Sharknose replica, painted in the Belgian racing colours that graced Olivier Gendebien's original at his home GP in 1961 when he finished 4th behind the three red works examples:-

[JimW]

Not sure where it came from, but marshals were issued with a bottle of perry at sign-on on Sunday which we were told had been donated. Thank you, whoever it was.

And, of course, the pour boire which the HSCC provided each morning.

All much appreciated.

Regards

Jim

[John Turner]

More:-

[Tim Falce]

Originally Posted by JimW

I wonder if there is any mileage in competitors getting together to convince organisers (the circuit?) that there will not be a peasants' revolt ( ) if the organisers deploy someone senior for a few meetings to pursue this problem and deal firmly with transgressors. A bit of high profile firmness and some condign punishment would work wonders.

Better the organisers than the circuits as they have much more immediate and savage sanctions at hand. No need to go to court to exclude a competitor for the actions of someone in/with their team!

I know that sounds unfriendly but having had to dodge bikes twice on Sunday at Silverstone, I'm made aware that there does seem to be an increasing problem. Better the sport sorts it out rather than the police.

Regards

Jim

How about motorised pit bikes are banned altogether and people go back to walking around.

[JimW]

I'm not against quads etc., just seeking sensible and considerate use.

(I would not want to drag tyres, tools batteries, etc. all over the place if I had a quad available.)

Jim

[SAMD]

Originally Posted by JimW

I wonder if there is any mileage in competitors getting together to convince organisers (the circuit?) that there will not be a peasants' revolt ( ) if the organisers deploy someone senior for a few meetings to pursue this problem and deal firmly with transgressors. A bit of high profile firmness and some condign punishment would work wonders.

Better the organisers than the circuits as they have much more immediate and savage sanctions at hand. No need to go to court to exclude a competitor for the actions of someone in/with their team!

I know that sounds unfriendly but having had to dodge bikes twice on Sunday at Silverstone, I'm made aware that there does seem to be an increasing problem. Better the sport sorts it out rather than the police.

Regards

Jim

Why not do a 'jobs for the boys' ARDS type scheme, where you have to pass a test and gain a licence in order to drive a pit bike/quad. It would mean increased costs for those who insist they need them and it would give the organisers some means of control over whoever uses them. The ARDS outfit could sort it out.

[Steve Tarrant]

Originally Posted by Tim Falce

How about motorised pit bikes are banned altogether and people go back to walking around.

The bikes and trikes weren't confined to the paddocks areas either.

My car club had a display on the grass banking inside Copse, and the number of times various mechanical devices that were ridden through the walking spectator areas and pathways, sometimes with no regard to general safety, just to watch the first 2-3 laps and then roar back to the paddock was quite amazing!

[FastDB2s]

Originally Posted by Tim Falce

How about motorised pit bikes are banned altogether and people go back to walking around.

How about a good old fashioned bicycle, which is what we use most of the time - at Le Mans we had a Scooter for the 1st time but the distances covered are immense there & no joy even on a bike, we must have covered 50 miles on the Scoot.
Obviously you cant carry tools around but a hand pulled 4 wheel trolley seems to be the norm anyway now

[eigger]

more pics

[eigger]

and more

[midgetman]

Alex & I were embarrassed by the havoc we were causing on our bikes so we stopped cycling at busy times, how can people cause that much disruption on quads/scoots and not hang their heads in shame?

[John Turner]

I'm not even going to start giving an account of this race, since I lost track pretty early on. All I can say is that following Carlos Monteverde's nasty accident in his E-type (87) which brought an end to the race, I understand that he had to be cut out of the car, and heavily concussed was taken to hospital, but thankfully later released. This all took a very long time and so we have results for two separate races listed. I did not see the second part which, as a result of the delay, started after lunch, since I was wandering through the paddock at the the time! All I can say is that for the first part, I was still at Abbey and had intended for the latter half of the race to be around Bridge/Luffield, so I'm sorry that all the pics were taken from the same place. The expected E-type lightweight/Cobra confrontation didn't really materialise, because within a few laps of this first part, 3 E-types emerged in the first 3 places. Very powerful and fast aren't they? It seems that the Cobras gained revenge in the second part of the race. Check the Silverstone Classic website for the results of both parts. 3 pictorial posts, mainly of the heavier metal, but have managed pics of 10-Tenther's Mike Bell's Gilbern and Rod Begbie's TVR, as well as the Roger Wills Bizza, and Julian Bronson's Corvette:-

[John Turner]

More:-

[John Turner]

Last batch:-

[John Turner]

A 20 minute race for this good 28 car field. I was at Copse for this, useless for photography unless you are signed on as a photographer, so these shots are a mix, some taken through the fence and the others snatched between the Catch fencing overlap! The race was won by Steve Hartley (32 - Arrows A4) after Bill Coombs (33 - Tyrrell 09) excellent drive faded slightly through mechanical woes. Rob Austin (19 - Surtees TS19) was 2nd, whilst Coombes had to be content with 3rd. Up from 22nd on the grid was the well driven Tyrrell 011 of John Wilson, who finished 4th and gave him a second row grid position for the second (Sunday) race:-

[John Turner]

More:-

[LAK]

Thanks for all the photos and posts re the Classic. I can't add too much to the comments already made other than to say:

- it was a bit more low key than the Classics we did with the Falcon a couple of years ago and certainly not up there with the Coys festival of old. AGree with the comments re lack of "polish"

- we missed the Scarf & Goggles and the drivers hospitality area. Agree that food prices were atronomical and that as a "family" weekend it certainly wasn't cheap

- we had no issues with scooter/quads. We left our scooter at home on purpose as we knew it would be busy and like others stopped riding our bikes when the crowds got too big. A big pain not having bridge anymore as it was a bit of a trek to the motorhome/tools and to watch in the grandstands

- we did enjoy the racing we saw - Big engined touring cars being a favourite along with the pre-61 grand prix cars

It must be incredibly difficult to arrange such a massive event and I do take my hat off to the organisers. It is easy to complain but on the whole I thought it was a good event (from the competitor side). As with many things a few tweaks here and there and I'm sure it will be back up there as a must do event.

As for the racing, we had a bit of a disappointing race in the Aurelia as the car suffered massiv fuel starvation about 3 laps into the race. We struggled on with a very slow car on the straights and was just trying to survive to the end which we did. Very happy that our Aurelia team mate Chris won the drum braked trophy as he's a top chap and really loves his racing.

Great to see those 10/10ths people we saw - sorry we didn't get to see others.

[john ruston]

Now know who LAK is!

That car was in our pit.

[LAK]

Good lord John - I didn't realise. So sorry not speak with you - not sure when our paths will cross again but I shall make an effort to introduce myself.

[johngee]

Having also met John Ruston for the first time at the Classic, I shall make an effort.......to avoid him!

Only joking John - it was good to put a face to the name - it makes future verbal sparring so much more enjoyable.

[Robert Farrell]

Some pics. Ed Gaisters little Ford. The Fugglemobile. Assembly of Mini ? race and transporter abandoned in paddock

[jminsh]

Originally Posted by John Turner

The expected E-type lightweight/Cobra confrontation didn't really materialise, because within a few laps of this first part, 3 E-types emerged in the first 3 places. Very powerful and fast aren't they?

The one that was leading has approx 60bhp more than the one i was driving in 2nd at that point

Oh yeah and an E actualy handles !

[Moosehead]

A few random piccies..............

Paul Radisich in Roger Will's McLaren, Sharknose and Cobra artwork.

[john ruston]

Jason-60bhp more than yours,I would ask for my money back!