AMOC Snetterton 30th June

[SZRacer]

OK, this time I'm not even going to ask who else is going to be there!

I must be mad!

Snetterton, torrential rain forecast, what could be better.....

Don't answer that!

Regards,

James

[John Turner]

I'll be probably be there as I want to see the return of the Super GTs. Not very purist, I know, but they fascinate me, are quick and make all the right sounds!

[CUT 7]

the 'fast' class in the intermarque series was wicked so super GTs should be also.
Maybe the V12 E type on steroids from rob beere gets going at some point.
hope it doesnt go the way of the GT 90's at 'stone in may. All a bit dull im afraid, what with non starters & daft 2 min compulsory pit stops.

[John Turner]

Great little meeting although as with all AMOC events at the moment, grids are a bit thin. I'm afraid the Super GTs did go the way of the first GT 90s event at Silverstone, but frankly I don't expect much else at the first race of a new series. I reckon that both have plenty of potential and we need to be patient and supportive.

I'll post some pics up at some stage.

[John Turner]

No Pit and Paddock pics as I'm still trying to play catch up.

Darren McWhirter, poleman in his replica Zagato bodied DB4, was passed on the first lap by fellow front row man, Charlie Kemp, but pushed Kemp for 8 hard fought laps until he pulled into the pits. Fastest lap of the race would have been no consolation:-


The battle for 4th, and then 3rd (after McWhirter's retirement) between Christopher Scragg's V8 and Peter Foster's DB4 was equally hot, the latter getting it by 1 second at the end. In front of them Nicholas took 2nd in his DB4:-


The DB4 still does it for me. Jeremy Cooke brought his example home, 7th:-


Geoffrey Lewis took 11th with his V8:-

[John Turner]

The first picture shows the disappointing size of the grid, just 9 cars!:-


Nicholas Ruddell (DB MkIII) always seemed to just about have the edge over Douglas Barker's slightly earlier DB2/4 MkII but could never relax, taking the flag by just 2.4 seconds:-


Christopher Scott Mackirdy came 6th in his 1933 Le Mans Special (20) and Kelvin Robinson, 8th in his 1935 Ulster (5):-

[John Turner]

As the first race of a new series, I want to give this a bit of extra cover. This is a new AMOC championship born out of the 'old' Intermarque championship which died a few years back when it got to the point of 'anything goes' and we had some very heavily modified and seriously quick machinery which probably fell rather outside the original intentions of the Intermarque series. Now that the latter series has been reintroduced for more 'normal' cars, the AMOC have also seen the draw and interest that the superquick cars can create. Hence the new series for 'Super GTs' which catches cars of varying ages ranging from the 1970's to now. There is some possibility that certain old GT cars could appear in both this series and, the also new, but rather more high profile GT90s Revival series created by Stephane Ratel. The difference is that this more club orientated series allows for specials like David Ellis's Aston GT700R and Andy Shepherd's AC Frua 428, but more of them anon.

This new series, organised primarily by Stephen Archer of the AMOC, has just two classes:-

Class 1 - Cars with over 450 bhp per ton

Class 2 - Cars with under 450 bhp per ton

It can be seen that Class 1 provides real potential for quick cars. However, some of these, as we have seen, already exist and there is no doubt that in framing these rules, the intention was partly to persuade owners of such cars the opportunity to race them. As is usual with short lead in times not every car was ready and those that did turn up were clearly suffering from long lay offs.

For this first race, 17 cars were entered, and all credit to them, every one turned up for qualifying. Sadly we lost 3 in practice, and 3 more during the race, but not a bad effort by all concerned under the circumstances.

The first pic. shows most of them lined up for qualifying:-


Andy Shepherd buckles up, in his AC 428 Frua:-


Some of you may recall that over a period of years David Ellis progressively developed an old Aston DBS V8 into something that bore little resemblance to the original car, but was prodigiously quick. He still has that car minus engine. However, some years ago, he decided to go for something a bit more modern, and this time started effectively from scratch using the Virage shape as the basis. This is it; the GT700R, and I remember viewing this in the paddock at AMOC Silverstone some years ago. Unfortunately, it was never ready in time before the demise of the championship for which it was intended. This is a stunning looking car and created a lot of interest at Snetterton, although not really race ready. Unfortunately, we were not to see it on the track for long. After a few gentle laps, David came into the pits for a few quick checks before going out for some quicker laps. Unfortunately, exiting Riches Corner on his first flying lap something apparently broke, threw the car into a spin and the ensuing impact wiped the front end off. A great shame, but we look forward to seeing it out again:-


Another car which failed to make the grid was the very smart Ferrari 328 GTB of Tristan Simpson, which qualified well enough in 5th place:-


The other car which failed to make the grid but was out for qualifying was a new N24 Vantage in the hands of David Scott who had qualified 12th.

[T600]

Hi, I agree that with time and a bit of luck this could be a must-see series. I got to Snett early as I guessed a few might not be running for long. Fabulous machines driven and prepared by friendly teams.
I see in Autosport that a few other machines could be out for the next round. Lister Storm and XJ220 - is that the Martini car? Look forward to seeing a lot more of this!
Nice pics by the way.

[GBRM]

Great pics.

I would love to see this cmapionship take off, watching Dad battle it out with Malcolm Hamilton's E-Type and John Greasley and Richard Chamberlin's Porsches in Intermarque was always brilliant.

The rules certainly made for rich people spending a lot of money and investment in "trick" bits and Dad's second V8 Aston was a real serious bit of kit, they entered if for one of the GT races and he was quickest in a wet practice by about 5 seconds!!

Great to see David Ellis finaly got his Aston finished too.

[John Turner]

Originally Posted by GBRM

watching Dad battle it out with Malcolm Hamilton's E-Type and John Greasley and Richard Chamberlin's Porsches in Intermarque was always brilliant..

Too right, Gregor; some epic battles!

[John Turner]

A rolling start for these cars which is probably sensible!


Richard Chamberlain had put his Porsche 935 replica on pole by 5 seconds so, provided it held together (it didn't always used to do so!) he was going to romp away to victory in this very quick piece of machinery. He achieved the first but, on lap 11, when he was already lapping cars, he had a tyre blow out and limped to the pits to retire:-


Sadly, Tony Palmer's Sierra Cosworth only managed 2 laps before he went into the pits to retire:-


Even worse for Andy Shepherd who retired at the end of the first lap. The organiser, Stephen Archer, praised all those who had put the effort in to get their cars ready for this event, but made particular mention of Shepherd who had apparently put in a mighty effort. It was therefore all the more disappointing that he didn't get to race this incredible beast. It would be fair to say that the only real resemblance to an AC 428 is the body and what a great and unusual choice it is. Now I had seen Andy race this car some years ago, and I remember the deep thunderous low revving note of the 7-litre V8 which was deceptively fast. Let's hope it gets sorted soon:-

[John Turner]

After Chamberlain's retirement, it was the Malcolm Spendlove entered Porsche 997 Cup Car, driven by Laurence Bilton who took the win. A particularly commendable effort since it was the first time that he had driven it and the fact that it was Class 2 car, albeit only one year old!

In fact, there were at least 6 different Porsche types in the race and here are 3 of them. This was a great midfield tussle between Tim Bryan's 928GTS, Stephen Archer's 964RS and (obscured) the 968 (described as a 935 Replica not only in the programme but in the results sheets, so no-one told MST of the change) of Brian Robinson. Despite Stephen's comment before the race that he intended to put his main effort into the intermarque race (where his car sits more logically, I guess), there was no evidence of his lack of commitment in this one. Here he had attempted to go around the outside of both the others into Russell chicane, but had to back out to avoid hitting Bryan. In fact, he was trying so hard that later he threw it off at Coram, but still recovered to 6th. Tim Bryan, in the meantime went on to finish 5th, whilst Robinson was caught by the recovering Noble M12 GTO of Paul Cundy, to finish 8th:-


Alan Cosby finished 10th in his Ferrari 512M:-


2nd place fell to Mark Ticehurst's Porsche 935 (replica?). It's approach to the chicane was always entertaining, since when it was not chucking out this blue/brown mix of smoke, it was providing flames!:-


Witt Gamski laps the 993RS of Antony Oliver, on his way to 3rd in the Ferrari 360 Challenge. Oliver was 9th:-


The other two finishers were Paul Livesey, 4th in his 993 GT2 and Dave Stockton, 11th in his 944 Turbo.

All in all, not a bad start to this series, despite the loss of 6 cars over the day. As T600 has noted from Autosport, Archer is hoping that the next round will see a Lister Storm and an XJ220 out, and I did hear mention that at some stage Gerry's old Aston V8 might be out, hopefully in the hands of some-one like Michael Mallock. Then, of course, as Gregor has mentioned, there is Malcolm Hamilton's V12 E -type. So plenty of potential there - come on guys, bring these cars out!

[GBRM]

Originally Posted by John Turner

Alan Cosby finished 10th in his Ferrari 512M:-


All in all, not a bad start to this series, despite the loss of 6 cars over the day. As T600 has noted from Autosport, Archer is hoping that the next round will see a Lister Storm and an XJ220 out, and I did hear mention that at some stage Gerry's old Aston V8 might be out, hopefully in the hands of some-one like Michael Mallock. Then, of course, as Gregor has mentioned, there is Malcolm Hamilton's V12 E -type. So plenty of potential there - come on guys, bring these cars out!

Is Alan Cosby the Kent Combs man?

Sounds like it was a good start and would be great to get a few more cars out. I can;t remember if Roger Freeman sold his Aston to Geoffrey or if he still onwns it, plus Roger Bennington always seems to have a few special Astons and then there is Malcolm H in the E-Type, Ronnie Farmer in the DB7 and Don and Justin Laws Jaguars, espcially the XJ220.

Great to see the AC out, shame it didn't last. Speaking of ACs, whatever happened to Aiden Mills Thomas? He always seemed to beat the Sheppards and always won his class but then just disappeared from my radar, not seen him mentioned anywhere.

I'd be surprised if Dad's old V8 does come out, last I heard they were building a DB7 but you never know with Geoffrey!!

[T600]

Again nice pics and informative race commentary. I was wondering how I missed the third 935 replica! Apparently it was well disguised...

[CUT 7]

Seems to me they should join both championships, they are basicly for the same machinery though I doubt whether the FIA would go for that.This type of kit is as mentioned a serious investment, & the more cars on the grid the better.Give both series a couple of seasons & it should be esxcellent, witness the GP C grids.
As regards the rob beere 'steroid' e type its being rebuilt after a serious shunt but as of some months ago was not quite there.Latest email to them gleaned a stoney silence so I guess it aint quite ready yet too.Shame its a mental car.
GBRM u started racing too, i read?

[GBRM]

Originally Posted by CUT 7

Seems to me they should join both championships, they are basicly for the same machinery though I doubt whether the FIA would go for that.This type of kit is as mentioned a serious investment, & the more cars on the grid the better.Give both series a couple of seasons & it should be esxcellent, witness the GP C grids.
As regards the rob beere 'steroid' e type its being rebuilt after a serious shunt but as of some months ago was not quite there.Latest email to them gleaned a stoney silence so I guess it aint quite ready yet too.Shame its a mental car.
GBRM u started racing too, i read?

I think also the age of some of the cars coming out would preclude them from doing FIA stuff but I suppose one good thing would be the people doing the British GT stuff could use this as a test bed and the older cars could go into it once they weren't competitive anymore.
Would be great to see the E-Type out again, I always got the impression it was a little fragile and not wantong to be silly, am not sure how old Malcolm is now but he might not want to do that kind of racing any more but he was certainly a bloody good peddler!!
You read correctly CUT 7 and after seeing the GP qualifying I think Lewis watched my Copse and Luffield lines from Silverstone the other week, glad to see I'm not the only one to use the grass on the exit!!

[CUT 7]

And about Mr Lewis.That line works, as your family tradition proves !

[GBRM]

Originally Posted by CUT 7

And about Mr Lewis.That line works, as your family tradition proves !

Maybe it does; Dad always said to use the whole circuit, not sure if he'd agree with my sideways-ness, but without a limited slip diff it was a bit difficult to be a bit neater!!

[CUT 7]

Regards that E-Type.They did send me a mail I just missed it it somehow.
After the shunt they are not merely repairing it but doing some serious stuff chassis wise.
Being an engineering firm they dont have the bodywork skills needed to complete the project & theres been a few probs with sponsership so work has been held up.
Shame as its a front runner in the new series.
cheers

[John Turner]

Paul Campfield did what is becoming a habit this season; scamper off in the distance, even with a crash rebuilt car. He won by 13.7 seconds in his Frogeye Sprite from David Smithies Healey 3000.

Harvey Woods finished a lonely 8th in his Sprite MkIII:-


There were some fine battles throughout this field. Not the best of shots, but it was the best I could find of one which included the oldest car in the race. Simon de Lautour's 1954 Healey 100/4 tried very hard to stay ahead of Mark Lister's Sprite MkIII but had to give best by a few tenths at the end. They finished 11th and 12th:-



On the other hand, I seem to have quite a few of this race long battle between Robert Rawe's Healey 3000 and Patrick Harris's Frogeye. Fabulous duel with the bigger car receiving the flag by 3 tenths, in 5th:-


Another fine battle with the smaller car getting the edge this time. Robin Lackford took his Frogeye to 3rd, 2.5 seconds ahead of Hugo Holland-Bosworth's 3000Mk1

[petestenning]

Is Robin Lackford long time saloon racer Normans son. ?

Pete

[John Turner]

Questions, questions!

Originally Posted by GBRM

Is Alan Cosby the Kent Combs man?

I'd be surprised if Dad's old V8 does come out, last I heard they were building a DB7 but you never know with Geoffrey!!

Gregor, I saw Cosby race this Ferrari several years back, but have no idea whether he is the same man that you mention. Quite possible, I'm sure. The programme places his hometown as Cholesbury, wherever that may be.

Yes, the DB7 was also mentioned by Stephen Archer and it is the V12 Vantage engined version so that could also be some piece of kit!

Is Robin Lackford long time saloon racer Normans son?

Sorry, I know not, Pete!

[GBRM]

Originally Posted by John Turner

Questions, questions!

Gregor, I saw Cosby race this Ferrari several years back, but have no idea whether he is the same man that you mention. Quite possible, I'm sure. The programme places his hometown as Cholesbury, wherever that may be.

Yes, the DB7 was also mentioned by Stephen Archer and it is the V12 Vantage engined version so that could also be some piece of kit!

Looking on Autoroute Cholesbury is 10 miles from Apsley/Hemel Hempstead where Kent Brushes are based then it could be. I always remember Dad telling me he did the Queen's combs, thought it was typical wind up by Dad but he was half true, Kent Brushes have the Royal Warrant and as such I suppose do porvide the Queen's combs and I'm sure Alan Cosby was the man; I notice his Ferrari does have a hair product on it. I'll have to see if I have any old pictures.

From what Geoffrey said a while ago it will be some kit, the Mallocks are involved and I'm not sure if Geoffrey will leave it to them or get some advice from Jock Clear again, either way it should be good.

[24_heures]

A few remarks regarding issues raised:

The Rob Beere Racing E-Type was heavily damaged in a shunt at Old Hall some years back. It really is a big, and expensive, job to rebuild what remained.

Alan Cosby's company is Kent Brushes as seen "sponsoring" his Ferrari.

Don Law's white XJ220 was converted back to road spec a couple of years ago. I believe Roger Bowman still has his red car and Larry Kinch still owns the Martini car. Don't know what Larry's plans are racing-wise now Nathan has "retired" from FIA GTs. I understand an XJ220 was advertised in 'the comic' recently as "suitable for the new AMOC Championship". Perhaps it was one of these three?

It would be good to see the V8 Astons as well as the DB7 projects out there, but I think they'll be outclassed. Things have moved on. I just hope the AMOC give Stephen Archer continued support even if the Astons don't win!

[GBRM]

Originally Posted by 24_heures

The Rob Beere Racing E-Type was heavily damaged in a shunt at Old Hall some years back. It really is a big, and expensive, job to rebuild what remained.

Alan Cosby's company is Kent Brushes as seen "sponsoring" his Ferrari.

Don Law's white XJ220 was converted back to road spec a couple of years ago. I believe Roger Bowman still has his red car and Larry Kinch still owns the Martini car. Don't know what Larry's plans are racing-wise now Nathan has "retired" from FIA GTs. I understand an XJ220 was advertised in 'the comic' recently as "suitable for the new AMOC Championship". Perhaps it was one of these three?

It would be good to see the V8 Astons as well as the DB7 projects out there, but I think they'll be outclassed. Things have moved on. I just hope the AMOC give Stephen Archer continued support even if the Astons don't win!

Thanks for clarifying a few things, I didn't realise the E-Type was so bad, but as I keep being told with my car it's nothing money can't fix!!

Thanks for confirming the Ferrari and the Queen link!!

Is Roger Bowman's red car LHD? I remember a time when Geoffrey was going to buy a red LHD one which was one of the prototype models and I think was chassis number 2, always wondered what happened to it.

I agree, I think the V8 Astons would be outclassed, then engine design is 40 years old now, but you never know, shame Dad isn't still here to find out!! I'm not sure how commercial this championship is but hopefully the AMOC will keep supporting it.