The Historic Sports Car Club’s championship season ended in style at Silverstone with the annual Finals Meeting over the weekend of 15/16 October.
Bumper grids from a total entry of more than 270 cars delivered some great racing across two days under warm autumn sunshine on the Northamptonshire track.
Samuel Harrison had already won the Historic Formula Ford 1600 Championship but duly added two more wins to his tally and then made his Formula Junior debut to win twice in the Brabham BT6 normally handled by Michael O’Brien.
In both rear-engined Formula Junior races it was the similar BT6 of Alex Ames that led the chase and Ames closed the gap on Sunday to keep the winner under pressure for much of the 20-minute duration. Ultimately, Harrison just had the legs in a very well sorted car, which he took to in great style.
Harrison’s winning margin in the opening Historic Formula Ford race was bigger than it might have been after a mid-race safety car left his rivals caught behind a backmarker at the re-start as Harrison fired back into the lead. An opportunist move by Matt Wrigley took him up several places from the green flag but it was Sam Mitchell who took second from Wrigley with Simon Toyne and Rob Smith close behind.
On Sunday, Harrison made his escape as a four-car battle raged for second with Mitchell making the running from Wrigley, Smith and the impressive Ross Drybrough. That was how they took the flag but both Mitchell and Wrigley got a five second penalty over track limits, which elevated Smith to second and Drybrough to third.
The Guards Trophy title was settled on Saturday in a race of changing fortunes for the contenders. Peter De la Roche needed only one point to secure the title but spun early on at Luffield and was clipped by the Chevron B8 of Dan Balfour. De la Roche was out on the spot, with bent steering on the Lotus 23B. But in another twist Steve Nuttall lost the engine in his Chevron B8 and retired mid race, so De la Roche was champion after all.
Instead, the head of the race turned into a Lenham festival with four of the sports racing cars packing out the top six. Simon Jackson went solo and won by a handy margin from father and son Robert and Ben Tusting.
A fine field of nearly 30 cars lined up for the final of the Historic Road Sports Championship. It was Kevin Kivlochan in his AC Cobra who made the running from a squadron of Morgan Plus 8s, headed by William Plant and Oliver Pratt. The 70s Road Sports season ended with a victory for Julian Barter, who battled ahead in his TVR 3000M. He was never too far clear of the Marcos 3000GT of Nic Strong.
Young Harry Barton was confirmed as Historic Touring Car champion after the first of the two races with his BMW 1800. But at the head of the action, Neil Wood was peerless in his Ford Anglia and won both races in fine style.
A fine field of Aurora Trophy and Geoff Lees Trophy cars brought their season to a close and it was Mark Mercer who won the opener in his Ralt RT1 after leader Neil Glover had to retire his F5000 Chevron B37 with a loose rear wheel. Rory Smith, in his 1600cc Formula Atlantic Ralt RT4, chased Mercer home while on Sunday Glover stormed from the back of the grid to win as the safety car allowed Mercer and Martin Wood to be right on the Chevron’s tail when the results were taken at 15 laps.
Peter De la Roche and Ray Mallock were the class of the front-engined Formula Junior pack and took a win each. With a fighting drive in the second race Mallock forged ahead of the Lola and that was enough to earn him the front engine Formula Junior title.
The Historic Formula Ford 2000 Championship ended with another very strong grid, close racing, and honours shared between Graham Fennymore and Benn Simms. While Fennymore won on Saturday by a quarter of a second, Simms was able to win on Sunday by a little over four seconds.
The Classic Formula 3 Championship ended with Stephen Barlow finally clinching the championship. In the opening race, guest racer Craig Dolby set the pace in the Ralt RT3 of Ian Ingram and was well ahead when the safety car came out after Barlow spun his RT3 into the gravel at Luffield.
Meanwhile, Richard Trott had spent the first part of the race parked up at Luffield after switching off his Chevron, believing he had a water leak. He then discovered that he’d picked up water from Dolby’s car and was able to restart his Chevron and take to the grid for the seven lap re-run, which he duly won from Paul Dibden’s Argo. Dolby had by now retired with a blown head gasket.
In the second race Dibden and Trott battled for the lead until Trott started to suffer from car sickness and retired. Instead, Barlow worked up onto Dibden’s tail and chased him lap after lap and crossed the line just 15 hundredths of a second adrift in second.
The Classic Clubmans season ended with a very encouraging grid of cars and some close racing as Tom Muirhead won the Class B title after chasing rival Clive Wood all the way to the flag. Up front Mark Charteris was able to ease clear and win by a handsome margin from John Harrison as series newcomer Steve Collier took third in his Mallock Mk 20/21.
Finally, the Classic Formula Ford Championship concluded with a win each for Richard Tarling and Jordan Harrison after two ferociously close contests. Tarling won the opener and took the chequered flag in the second race before being awarded a five second penalty for gaining an unfair advantage.