Ok yah capri 1985 willhire winner information wanted

[ljb207]

Hi, Just wondered if anyone could give me any information on this car which won the 24 hour willhire race in 1985 at snetterton. I am going to be possibly buying the vehicle it has been dry stored for about 20 years or so if its the same car that is, it was registerd on a q plate and used on the road after its racing days there is a lot of documentation with it that suggests this is the car. Sadly the guy who had owned and stored it for many years is now deceased although i can remember him telling me something about it had won this race. Anyone who could give any information about the car would be greatly appreciated, many thanks.

[Al Weyman]

Try John Hammersley who posts on here I am sure he raced a capri in that era and competed in the race. May have even driven the car!

[rallycrosscraig]

It was Dave Jess Yates who ran that car, would be good if it was saved/revived.

there are pics of that car in the willhire / prod saloon thread

http://tentenths.com/forum/attachmen...0&d=1201127211

[Al Weyman]

Then stick a post up on the CTCRC club forum open secion as I believe he raced with the club as well. I think we all went to dinner with him a year or so ago if he is the one who lives in the Oulton Park area, sure thats who it was.

[Nick Ellis]

Hi Folks,
The OK Yah Capri which won the 1985 Willhire was owned by Roy Eaton,who drove
the winning car with John Clark and Dave Oates that year.
This was the Red Capri.
The following year the same team but with a new 2.8i (White/mettalic blue)
finished 2nd overall behind Mike Smith/Lionel Abbott`s RST Escort.
The latter (1986) Eaton Capri later became Malc Best`s Road Saloon for a number
of years,then doing some CTCRC Group 1 races between 1995-2001.
This car though ended up in the barriers at Eau Rouge after a tyre failure in a one
hour race at Spa around 2001/02.

[chunterer]

Pretty sure i've got a pic of the red/silver stripes car in the Donny Paddock from circa 1985. I'll have to dig it out!

That car ran in what probably was the halcyon period for prodsaloons, massive grids, massive variety, close racing throughout the field.

[ljb207]

Thanks for all of your reply's so far.

[Laud ruben]

I built the ok ya capri in 1983/4 it was first entered the willhire in '84 and came 3rd the drivers were me, Roy Eaton and John Morrison email me if you need any more info.or spec.

[chunterer]

Welcome Ruben, I hope you will have a lookm around the forum and continue to post in future!

[ljb207]

Hi we have put the car on ebay tonight i have not bought it myself but have put it on there for my friend who owns the car here is the link http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2709486136...#ht_837wt_1185

[RTH]

I saw the car at close quarters in the '84 '85 & '86 Willhires from the seat of our entries. The photo left is me in our Caterham in the '84 race going through the Bombhole.

[terence]

Its currently at 748,be interesting to see it in 3hrs time.

[Paul D]

Yeah - it's not a lot of money is it for a car with some provenance?

If I didn't have a yard already full of projects, I'd be really tempted to have a go at it - be great to resurrect it and race it in the 360! Be like sending it home really wouldn't it? Original livery, of course...

And of course, being a Capri expert myself , having done extensive 'destruction-testing' of a 2.8i in tarmac rallying many years ago, I'd be well placed to give it a go!

[Paul D]

Originally Posted by RTH

I saw the car at close quarters in the '84 '85 & '86 Willhires from the seat of our entries. The photo left is me in our Caterham in the '84 race going through the Bombhole.

Yes, but surely you only saw it mostly as you were lapping it! Can't see it would have kept up with even a fairly tame Caterham - although your top end probably wasn't that good with those clam-shell air-brake front wings fitted!

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by Paul D

If I didn't have a yard already full of projects, I'd be really tempted to have a go at it - be great to resurrect it and race it in the 360! Be like sending it home really wouldn't it? Original livery, of course...

My thoughts entirely! Should be in the 360 next year, so hopefully will go to a like minded individual. Unfortunately it would be one project too many for me as well!

[RTH]

Originally Posted by Paul D

Yes, but surely you only saw it mostly as you were lapping it! Can't see it would have kept up with even a fairly tame Caterham - although your top end probably wasn't that good with those clam-shell air-brake front wings fitted!

In those days production sports car regulations called for entry level basic spec car with no options.
We had to run standard 5 1/2 steel wheels basic Ford crossflow standard size road tyres of a prescribed make and model. Cycle wings not allowed standard springs dampers bushes ride height live rear axle,
It was a very wet race with a couple of hours in the night just following the pace car. We also had head gasket failure at 3.00am and lost more than an hour quite eventful yet we were still a classified finisher 2nd in class. The factory Caterham was hit by a 635 and was totally destroyed in a series of high speed rolls mid way round Corum. The 3rd Caterham had its 16 gall fuel tank break loose and fall through on to the track leaving a trail of petrol from the bombhole to the full length of the pit road then its full contents dropped outside our pit.

[rallycrosscraig]

Did anyone from here buy this Capri?

Hope it finds it's way back on track worth saving.

[Malc Best]

Originally Posted by Nick Ellis

Hi Folks,
The OK Yah Capri which won the 1985 Willhire was owned by Roy Eaton,who drove
the winning car with John Clark and Dave Oates that year.
This was the Red Capri.
The following year the same team but with a new 2.8i (White/mettalic blue)
finished 2nd overall behind Mike Smith/Lionel Abbott`s RST Escort.
The latter (1986) Eaton Capri later became Malc Best`s Road Saloon for a number
of years,then doing some CTCRC Group 1 races between 1995-2001.
This car though ended up in the barriers at Eau Rouge after a tyre failure in a one
hour race at Spa around 2001/02.

Hi guys, just joined this forum and was looking for stuff on the Capri and came accross this.
Just to clarify and add a bit more info, the car involved in the Spa accident was my "other " Capri (Milly). It was indeed a tyre blow out at the bottom of Eau rouge, Murray Henderson was sharing the car with me and to quote him "it just turned left at the bottom of the hill"!
We had built this car up but it took all season to get it to handle properly (thanks eventually to Skid's input), then Spa happened at the end of the season.
The original idea was to get this one up and running and then restore the original Willhire car (Willy)
The accident put the project back a year as we had to rebuild it again before we could then start on Willy.
We then raced both cars in CTCRC and Semsec until 2005 when I had to take a couple of years off due to a back op.
My nephew then raced Willy in 2007 until a big off at Lydden in 2008. I still have the car and current plans have it coming back out this year.
Also for info, I bought the car in 1990 (by this time the car had been oversprayed red, the interior and door shuts etc were still white and it still had the lights on the doors for the race numbers) and campained it in Slick 50 Road Saloons, moving to Group 1s in 1995.
Lastly, there is a picture somewhere on here of my Capri 89 on a flatbed at Mallory, this is again Milly, after on off in practice in 2007.
Hope this helps on the issue of OK Yah being red or white.
Malc
PS If anyone has a copy of the entry list for the 1986 Willhire it would be much appreciated.

[Nick Ellis]

Hi Malc,great to hear from you and welcome to 10/10.
I was fairly sure it was you that once told me that your older (Slick 50 at that time) Capri was originally the ex-Roy Eaton 1986 Willhire 2nd place finishing car.As you point out the car would have been white as opposed to the red of the earlier 1985 Eaton/Clark/Oates winning car of the previous year.
I do remember being at the `86 Willhire and the white Capri of Eaton`s being described as "newly built for the event". The car was a front runner over the whole weekend,eventually finishing 2nd overall.The 1985 red winning Capri did not race in the 1986 Willhire.Both cars carried the famous `O.K. Yah` number plate.
I do have the 1986 programme,will dig it out and list the entry over the next day or two.
By the way Malc,what are your thoughts on the Goodwood members meeting,particuarly the `Gerry Marshall Trophy` event which has taken off in recent years?Looks perfect for us old Capri racers who may still have a racecar knocking about!
I just need to come up with a suitable period livery for mine,and could be tempted to dust off the old girl.
Will be watching tommorows live stream from Goodwood with interest...