GTSCC Joins Anniversary Waltz: Silverstone GP Circuit - Sunday 11th June
Photo Copyright: Charlie B Photography
The GT & Sports Car Cup’s 17th season kicks off in fine fettle on Sunday, June 11th, with a 90-minute race - generously supported by Denis Welch Motorsport - amid multiple landmark celebrations on Silverstone’s demanding 3.63-mile Grand Prix Circuit. The demobbed RAF Silverstone airfield reopened as a rather basic straw bale defined racetrack in 1948, thus 2023 marks its 75th anniversary. Although much of the original track is now hidden, the venue now boasts top class facilities having hosted the F1 World Championship’s inaugural race in 1950 and Britain’s round continuously since ’87. But the historic car fraternity’s focus will be on the centenaries of the MG and Triumph marques, which jointly headline the event - previously MG Live! - and will attract thousands of owners and their cars to “The Home of British Motor Racing.”
Founded by Cecil Kimber, who was running Morris Garages in Oxford, 35 miles south west of Silverstone, the MG concern initially built nippy sports cars underpinned by Morris running gear. Pre-war racers such at the K3 Magnette brought fame on events such as the Targa Florio, where Count Giovanni Lurani excelled more than 20 years before he sowed the seeds of Formula Junior. The MG B, introduced in 1962, was a game-changer, bringing open air motoring within reach of the masses as part of the British Motor Corporation and notching race and rally wins worldwide. The stout 1800cc roadsters remain both hugely popular and sustainable, so it’s no surprise that six examples form the bedrock of our GT2 division.
Five MGBs are entered by family teams. Brian and Barbara Lambert are joined by fellow husband-and-wife returnees Beverley and Chris Phillips, who have again enlisted son Oliver to share driving duties. Welcome newcomers include father-and-son combos Nick and Chris Thompson, who raced their example at Silverstone last month, and Morgan regulars Dennis and Daniel Pickett who have mentor David Brise - son of racer-turned-national rally champion Tim, nephew of 1970s’ F1 lost talent Tony - on their squad.
Mark Hope and Jason Minshaw may take some catching among the MGs, which are ranged against the lighter Blackpool-built TVR Grantura Mk IIIs of Malcolm Paul/Rick Bourne and soloist Joe Ward, which have tweakier crossflow cylinder heads on their BMC B-series engine. The TVRs are usually well-matched over a race distance. Guy Grant has coach Mark Hales on his side to debut his freshly-restored ex-Sebring 12 Hours TVR Grantura Mk III, whilst Oliver Marçais will be driving his MG B.
The Morgan Motor Company from Malvern made its first cars in 1910 and is represented by the Plus 4 Super Sports - similar to tuning wizard Christopher Lawrence/Richard Shepherd-Barron’s ’62 Le Mans class winner - of Simon King and marque veteran Peter Cole.
Triumph, originated in Coventry, 40 miles north west of Silverstone, has a tougher challenge since the singleton TR4 of Allan and Daniel Ross-Jones squares-up to no fewer than seven rorty straight-six engined Austin-Healey 3000s. Donald Healey established his fledgling sports car business in neighbouring Warwick in 1952, but following a merger with BMC the ‘big Healeys’ were made just up the road in Longbridge, Birmingham, the beating heart of industrial England.
The most famous Healey 3000 of all is DD300, which competed in three successive Le Mans 24 Hour races, as a works entry in 1960 (when registered UJB 143) and subsequently under privateer David Dixon’s Ecurie Chiltern banner. Dutchmen Christiaen van Lanschot and Karsten Le Blanc are its long-term custodians. Mark Holme/Jeremy Welch - overall GTSCC winners at Thruxton in Mark’s ex-John Gott SMO 746 in 2020 - and Crispin Harris/James Wilmoth in the Crispy Moth Racing PSL 207 will be tough to beat but Mark Pangborn/Harvey Woods, husbands-and-wives Mike Thorne/Sarah Bennett-Baggs (in the ex-David Grace car) and Tony and Pia Bianchi won't hang around.
Opposition comes from an early-spec narrow-wheeled Jaguar E-type in the hands of Martin Melling/Jason Minshaw and the shapely XK120 of Christopher Scholey and vastly experienced Dorset farmer Rob Newall. The Jags are powered by XK engines, whose straight-six DOHC architecture was first seen publicly when the XK120 was launched at the London Motor Show in ’48, as enthusiasts were first discovering Silverstone as motor sport began its post-war recovery.
The overall winner is likely to come from the GT4 category, where the more powerful Jaguar E-Types and V8-engined AC Cobras, Shelby Mustang and Chevrolet Corvette can stretch their legs down the Hangar Straight to Stowe corner and [marginally slower] Wellington Straight from the infield Loop to Brooklands, overlooked by the British Racing Drivers’ Club pavilion and adjacent grandstand, both excellent viewing points.
Numerically strongest are the svelte Jags from the fabled Brown’s Lane, Coventry, factory. Local heroes John and Gary Pearson - whose professional marque expertise is rooted in the 1960s, when patriarch John Sr established Pearsons Engineering - can expect incredibly tough opposition. Lee Mowle/Phil Keen and Mark Donnor/Olly Bryant are very strong pairings, while Scots John Clark and his protégé Gordie Mutch are also likely to mix it in another semi-lightweight car. The rapid Ben Adams anchors dad Peter’s entry.
Former International Supersports Cup champion [in a monstrous Interserie March Chevrolet 707, originated in nearby Bicester] Chris Chiles and son Chris Jr are regular GTSCC winners, indeed the dynamic duo were victorious at Oulton Park and Castle Combe last season in their Gary Spencer-run Cobra. The Daytona Coupe version of Bristolians David Smithies and Chris Clarkson - resplendent in ’64 Ford France Tour de France tribute livery - has recovered from its bump at Spa last September and will also be a force to be reckoned with. Nick Sleep and Joel Wykeham’s Shelby Mustang also boasts 4.7-litre Ford V8 power, while Julian Bronson’s Corvette is equipped with a seven-litre General Motors power plant and the FIA homologated disc brakes to match.
As previously evidenced, it’s not all about grunt in GT4, for the lithe Lotus Elans, with their 1600cc Ford-based twin-cam engines and pin-sharp handling, are capable of carrying awesome corner apex speeds to atone for lack of displacement. Former FIA Historic F1 champion Nick Padmore’s use of the bigger cars’ slipstream is bound to bring Robin Ellis’ Shapecraft coupe - a period fastback concept developed in nearby Northampton to competitor Barry Wood’s design - into contention. Steve Jones and the Isle of Wight’s quickest Historic racer Chris Atkinson should be up there too.
SP1 combatants Nick Finburgh/Ollie Crosthwaite’s aim for the event is to humble as many ‘big bangers’ as possible in the former’s little Coventry-Coventry-Climax SOHC engined Lola Mk1. Eric Broadley’s first design, of which around 30 were made from 1958 into the early ’60s, were more than a match for Colin Chapman’s contemporary Lotus Elevens because their cornering capabilities were exceptional. Lola Cars also went on to be among motorsport’s pantheon of greatest marques, winning an F1 race at Mallory Park in 1962 and the inaugural Can-Am sportscar championship four years later, both showcasing the driving and engineering genius of seven-time World Champion motorcycle racer John Surtees.
Also joining the fray at Silverstone are a trio of cars in the TC1 division. Ellie Birchenhough - daughter of late Le Mans legend Tony - flies the family Dorset Racing flag in her Mini Cooper S, partnered by seasoned ERA racer Nick Topliss. Father-and-daughter Richard and Alice Locke, meanwhile, have forsaken their famous Windmill & Lewis MGB (a period racer) for their Mini and a splendid little Broadspeed GTS coupe derivative, Kamm-tailed brainchild of tuning legend Ralph Broad in Warwickshire. To avoid the logistics of the Lockes’ ‘musical chairs’ driver changes becoming too complicated, Matt Green will share the Broadspeed and his father David the Mini.
