MG Car Club
Fun and Sun for MGCC Racers at Oulton
Plenty of racers were attracted to MG Car Club’s second race meeting of 2023, on the spectacular Oulton Park International circuit. And they were rewarded with healthy grids of competitors, fine weather and enthusiastic high-quality racing on the popular and challenging layout, all of which created plenty of smiles.
The Cheshire action was provided by four MGCC championships, plus the novelty of the Classic Sports Car Club’s Magnificent Sevens joining an MGCC meeting for the first time. They all combined to put on a packed day of entertaining racing where there was little pause for breath.
MGCC Cockshoot Cup Championship
The MG Car Club North West Centre-run Cockshoot Cup championship gathered 24 cars for its home meeting, and 2023 season opener, at Oulton Park. And the fight for the overall win was one between Chris Greenbank – who has newly upgraded from Class F to the frontrunning Class C in his MGF – and Ray Collier’s MG ZR 190 that was already an incumbent in the slick-shod class.
Sadly though the defending Cockshoot champion David Morrison – who had qualified third fastest behind Greenbank and Collier – had to withdraw from the races due to his gearbox leaking oil.
In race one both the front-row pair Greenbank and Collier at the green light as expected lost out to the fast-starting ex-Warren Hughes title-winning MGF Cup car of Mark Wright and the Midget of Keith Egar.
Collier climbed back to first by lap four and Greenbank hauled himself to second by half distance, and then ate up the 3.5-second deficit to get onto the bumper of Collier, who was struggling with glazed brakes. The pair were frequently side by side and in a thrilling finish Greenbank pipped Collier for victory on the line, the pair again side by side. Greenbank also got driver of the race.
John Payne in his Austin-Healey Sprite comfortably won Class B while Phil Rigby in his MGF was similarly dominant in Class F. Rhys Higginbotham beat Leon Wignall to win Class A by 10s.
Wright didn’t take part in race two due to a gearbox problem encountered in the first race, but otherwise the picture at the front was similar as Egar shot past Greenbank and Collier to lead at the launch. Collier on lap two however claimed the lead with a double pass. Greenbank then got by Collier for first on the following tour.
Greenbank though at half distance – admitting he was watching a backmarker rather than his braking point – straight-lined the Knickerbrook chicane, letting Collier back into first. Greenbank resumed the lead two laps later, but then the red flag was flown as Jamie Stevens’ MGF was in the gravel at Druids in a dangerous place. And Collier got the win as the result was taken from the previous lap’s order. He got driver of the race too.
Greenbank said: “I’ve raced in the F class now for five or six years, in that class you never stand a chance of actually getting an outright win and that’s what I wanted. So I had to go up to Class C – bigger engines, slicks – and try and get the win, and that’s what I did.
“It’s fantastic, the slicks are a phenomenal difference. I didn’t think there was going to be much difference between the semi-slicks and the race slicks but they’re just a completely different ball game. Hopefully [the success] will keep on going.
“It’s the first time the car’s been out since the full rebuild. Friday was the first time I sat in the car.”
Collier added: “The MGF’s got lots of corner and exit speed, so the ZRs go in [to corners] quicker and the Fs come out [quicker]. It was nice to have a really good battle. I did really enjoy it.
“I did struggle all day with the brakes, by the last three laps the brakes were glazed so you didn’t know whether they were going to work or not.
“I overtook [Chris] a couple of times and he overtook me back. I actually went from third to first [in race two], because I went down the inside of Keith and Chris, so that was a nice move – I felt quite smug for that!”
Higginbotham – in fifth place overall – and Rigby were comfortable winners in race two in Class A and F respectively, while Payne beat Mark Bellamy by less than a second to win Class B.
MGCC Lackford Engineering MG Midget & Sprite Challenge
Stephen Watkins continued his 100% start to the 2023 Midget & Sprite campaign with two more comfortable wins at Oulton Park, wherein he led home the 23-strong pack and was largely unchallenged in the frontrunning Class A.
In a similar pattern to in the previous month’s Brands Hatch season opener, Watkins’ Class E pursuers got ahead of his Midget at the start while he got temperature into his slicks. In Oulton’s race one reigning champion Pippa Cow plus fellow Austin-Healey Sprite runner Richard Bridge both got ahead of Watkins at the off and the front trio had an exciting battle for the opening three laps. But from there Watkins stretched clear in first and won eventually by five seconds.
Cow, Bridge and Frogeye Sprite runner James Hughes had though a close scrap for Class E honours and second place overall. Cow pulled out when her brake pedal went long, and Bridge just won the class battle after proceedings were ended early as Andrew Caldwell’s Midget was stuck in the gravel and the race was stopped.
There was a four-car battle for Class D victory, which was won by Dean Stanton’s Sprite after he fought past Hugh Simpson’s Midget, and Stanton got driver of the race with it. Ian Hodgkinson’s Austin-Healey Sebring Sprite won Class H.
Cow – her brakes now bled – again jumped Watkins at the off to lead race two, though Watkins was back ahead on the second lap for a lead he kept.
Watkins said: “It was again just once the tyres warmed up it was a matter of getting away from the Class E people, which are very quick.
“The first race I had a little bit more of a battle trying to get past them as the tyres warmed up, but especially in this sort of weather they come in a bit quicker.
“Apart from that it was fine, a perfect weekend really. Apart from that I had a cracked brake pipe that we just happened to notice as we went out for the second race. Luckily we managed to replace the pipe so that got me out for the second one – it nearly didn’t happen!”
Cow, Bridge and Hughes again had a frantic Class E fight behind Watkins in race two, and it pivoted at three-quarters’ distance when Cow and Hughes came into contact when Hughes put in a passing attempt. Hughes went no further and Bridge nipped into the class lead. Cow however got the lead back on the start-finish straight with a lap left to get Class E victory.
And the Class D contest once again featured a close multi-car fight for the win. Long-time leader Stanton had a late off, and Simpson pipped fellow Midget runner Barnaby Collinson by just 0.038s in a thrilling finish, and Simpson also got driver of the race. Hodgkinson made it a double win in Class H.
Watkins’ Class A rival Martin Morris missed the opening race as he pulled off on the warm-up lap with an oil pressure drop, though he returned for race two and finished fourth overall.
MG Cup Powered by Cherished Vehicle Insurance
Long-time Rover Tomcat racer Stuart Tranter was tempted to race in the MG Cup at Oulton Park in an invitational entry, and the local immediately grabbed pole position for race one.
He looked good to dominate the race too as he charged off in first but after three laps reigning Class B champion Ian Boulton was suddenly on his tail, as Tranter’s tyres had gone off. Boulton got the lead after a place-swapping battle at half distance, where he first got by at Shell Oils hairpin. Tranter nipped back past on the start-finish straight but Boulton attacked again at the first corner, ran alongside down the hill to Cascades and stayed on the inside to seal the move.
Boulton stayed in first to get his first-ever outright race win. He led Tranter home by 3.4 seconds, and Tranter was just ahead of Class C winner Ashley Woodward in third place overall in his ZS 180.
Tranter sought to learn his lesson in race two by showing more pace restraint as he again led from the off. He was aided this time by that Boulton got a poor start and dropped to fifth. Boulton recovered to second by lap five and again hounded Tranter, but Tranter held on and the race ended a couple of minutes early with two cars off at Old Hall.
Dave Nixon, fourth home overall in his Tomcat, beat Woodward to Class C honours by less than a second and got driver of the race with it.
Tranter said: “I didn’t manage [the win] in the first one and rightly so, Ian was brilliant. This time [race two] I managed to just hang on. It really was ‘just’. I drove it a bit steady early on to try and preserve it a bit, then when the pressure was on at the end there was no way you could drive it lightly. I was just hoping the tyres lasted out and they did. So happy days, really enjoyed it.
“The MG Cup’s a great series. The class structure and everything is just really good. It’s relatively low-cost racing, which is what you want, and competitive racing. Generally speaking we haven’t had much damage [across the MG Cup races] today and that makes all the difference.
“It’s my 16th year with that car. It just keeps on going – that’s the way I want it!”
Boulton added: “Stuart in the Tomcat is a couple of classes above me, because it’s really a fast car. I could get alongside him but I couldn’t get past him [in race two].
“Race one was fantastic, I did get past in race one and I got the overall win, that was a very first for me so I really enjoyed that.
“Sometimes you think it’s impossible to get past [a car in a higher class] but it’s not, you’ve just got to really really wait for your moment. But [in race two] he got wise from race one in how I was going to get past him and parked the car in the middle of the track.”
MG Trophy Championship Sponsored by Mangoletsi MG
Adam Jackson did not compete in MG Trophy’s 2023 Brands Hatch curtain-raiser round, as he was thinking he might “have more of a laid-back year”. But as soon as he was watching the Brands race he was tempted to return for the Oulton Park round, joining the 18-strong line-up there.
And Jackson was rewarded in Cheshire with two dominant race victories, in both races leaving his fellow ZR 190 racer Graham Ross far behind, with Brands double winner Ross unhappy with his suspension settings.
In race one Jackson blasted past poleman Ross at the start then streaked clear to be almost 14 seconds ahead by the end, a feat that also got him driver of the race. And no-one else was in contention for first as another habitual Class A frontrunner Doug Cole was an early retiree with a driveshaft problem.
The battle for Class B victory was tight however, and was won by Tylor Ballard who kept the chasing fellow MG ZR 170 of Fergus Campbell at arm’s length.
Jackson again dominated the second race, this time from pole, and again beat Ross comfortably even though a late-race safety car closed things up after Jack Chapman was pitched off when a battery problem resulted in his rear brakes locking.
Cole didn’t manage to start the second race due to a gearbox problem. His son James however salvaged family glory by winning race two’s Class B bout. James in race one indeed had pitted to retire a lap after Doug did, in his case with a cylinder head problem.
The battle for the race two Class B win started early and Ballard ran across the grass on lap one. Campbell took up the class lead but Cole Jr soon overtook him and remained in the place for the remainder. He also got driver of the race.
Jackson said: “Can’t complain at that. I tend to go well around Oulton but I usually have a disaster that ruins it for me, and we’ve just not had any issues today. Just concentrate and get the lap times and that’s it.
“The car was alright, it wasn’t where we wanted it to be but it’s a lot better than where it’s been.
“There’s a lot of work to do on the front suspension. Last year a damper burst through Cascades, and I’m not running that damper, I’m still running the other damper, a matched one for it, so I need to get them sorted. Other than that it’s near enough there.”
Ross added: “I just never had the pace in the car. I suspected it because there was a glimpse of that at Brands. So my fiddling with suspension is not getting me where I want to be. I was never ever going to challenge Adam.
“We’ll go back to the drawing board, have a think, see what we can do, and just try and get some of the pace that I used to have back. I’ve gone the wrong way and I think the car’s telling me that, so I need to listen to what it’s saying and apply some common sense.”
CSCC Gold Arts Magnificent Sevens
Classic Sports Car Club’s Magnificent Sevens joined the MG Car Club as a guest at Oulton Park, with its two 30-minute races the first time that Caterhams have raced with MGCC.
Tim Davis proved to be the pacesetter of the 22-strong line-up of machines based on the Lotus Seven Series 3 design. This, in Magnificent Sevens’ third meeting of the year, was Davis’s first outing of 2023 due to the busy racer building a Corvette for American SpeedFest.
Davis for Oulton’s race one made things difficult for himself by having a poor start. This was due to him starting in second gear as his dash display was blank making him think that first gear had not engaged. He dropped to around 10th but quickly fought back to second place by one-quarter’s distance, and he swiftly closed on leader Colin Watson.
Davis attacked Watson for the rest of the way, and frequently went for gaps to pass, but Watson appeared to have the straightline speed advantage and remained ahead for the race’s remainder.
Davis didn’t repeat his startline mistake in race two and from pole he led from the off and then dominated, winning eventually by 30 seconds. Watson, recovering from getting a 10-place winners’ penalty, climbed to finish second.
Report by Graham Keilloh. Photographs by Dickon Siddall.
Counting Down to the Spring Race Meeting
The second race meeting of 2023 to feature MG Car Club championships is scheduled for 13th May at Oulton Park.. The first outing for the MG Trophy, MG Cup and Midget & Sprites was at Brands Hatch at the beginning of April where they blew away the winter cobwebs with two days of closely contested racing.
They will be joined on Oulton Park’s undulating parkland circuit by the Cockshoot Cup, a championship run by the North West Centre of the MG Car Club, and the Gold Arts Magnificent Sevens, a race series for cars based on the Lotus Seven Series 3 design including Caterham, Lotus, Westfield and similar cars.
After the morning’s qualifying sessions the packed race programme will include two races of 20 minutes each for the MGCC championships, 30 minutes each for the Magnificent Sevens.
Oulton Park is an excellent circuit for spectators. The Knickerbrook Grandstand and surrounding area affords excellent views over the circuit to Cascades and the challenging corners of Hislops and Knickerbrook.
Why not come along and enjoy a great day’s racing. You can buy your tickets from the circuit website.
The MGCC Welcome Centre will once again be serving complimentary hot and cold drinks and biscuits.
The timetable for the day will be published soon.
Stars are out in entertaining Brands season opener
There was plenty of star quality present for the MG Car Club’s 2023 season-opening race weekend on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit. This star quality was there with the drivers, and in the wide range of cars represented from the pre-War machines in the Triple-M contest right through to the modern racers in MG Trophy and MG Cup.
And the drivers and cars alike lived up to their star billing with entertaining, high-quality and spirited competition across the two days within the intense Indy circuit bowl, on a bill the club shared with Equipe Classic Racing.
MGCC MG Trophy Championship
Two-time MG Trophy champion Graham Ross bounced back from a tricky 2022 by winning both of 2023’s season-opening races at Brands Hatch in his left-hand-drive ZR 190.
Ross dropped to third on the opening lap of race one but by lap four had claimed first place, where he stayed. He finished though just 1.8 seconds clear of Fergus Campbell in his Class B ZR 170, who hung on gamely and won his class, ahead of Tylor Ballard who closed in on him late on. And Lee Sullivan – who at Brands returned to the Trophy for the first time since 2016 when he came second overall and won Class B – led the race overall early on and was leading the Class B charge behind Ross but dropped out with a broken gearbox.
Jack Chapman, who rose from the back to finish fifth overall, got driver of the race.
Ross’s race-one win was aided too by that Class A rival Doug Cole got stranded in the collecting area as a broken alternator resulted in a flat battery. He returned for race two and early on climbed from fourth to second, then he closed in on leader Ross and attacked him for the place.
Cole got alongside Ross several times at Paddock and Druids, though Ross was the stronger at Graham Hill Bend, and he managed to resist Cole for the rest of the way to win.
Sullivan again led the race early on – this time from pole – and was leading Class B when he again retired with a repeat of his technical woes. That left the battle for the class win between Campbell and Ballard, and Ballard got by for victory with a magnificent pass, hanging on around the outside of Druids then getting the inside line for Graham Hill Bend. Ballard also got driver of the race.
“[The weekend was] more successful than I thought,” Ross said. “I was happy to come here [and] not go away with any damage.
“We’ve tinkered a bit with suspension settings and stuff like that just trying to get an advantage. We’ve got ourselves in a rabbit hole going the wrong direction, I think we’re going the right way now. It still isn’t quite right. Compared to Doug it was really good at Graham Hill, everywhere else it was not as good, so it was a race spent defending. But we’re getting there.
“[Race one] was a bit lonely, good to boost the confidence, but if Doug had been on the track I doubt I would have won it. I didn’t think I would have defended to keep him back for that whole race [in race two], but I managed it.
“Two wins: chuffed to bits. Also it was my first pole at Brands. Couldn’t have gone much better.”
MGCC MG Cup
The MG Cup races at Brands Hatch had a fresh look. Race-one pole was taken by none other than Lance Ellington, the Strictly Come Dancing singer and former 1990s’ Dunlop Rover Turbo Cup racer in a Daily Mirror-sponsored Tomcat 220 Turbo. This Brands event – back in a Tomcat – marked his return to competition after a quarter century away.
Ellington also led race one early on, but it was another notable new entry that soon moved past to lead, in Steve McDermid in his brand-new ZR 190 that he had only just completed and had spent an intense last few months preparing. McDermid moved clear for a comfortable win.
“It’s a new car, just built, and it’s phenomenal,” McDermid said. “It came out [at the meeting] and just left the field for dust.
“I haven’t worked for the last two months after I decided to build a new car. There’s eight week’s work there; seven days a week the last six weeks. And I finished it at 9:30 on Friday night.”
Ellington was second home on the road but got a 10-second penalty for starting just ahead of his grid slot, despite his efforts to reverse into place. This let Ashley Woodward, whom Ellington pipped to the line, claim second place after all in his ZS 180. Woodward also got driver of the race.
Reigning class champion Ian Boulton, fourth home, won Class B in his MG ZR, helped by that Iain Dowler ran across the grass at Druids on lap one trying to get the lead from Ellington.
Race two looked very similar to race one as McDermid again moved up quickly from fourth place to lead. However this time Woodward, who’d led the first four laps, remained close to him. Then the race got turned on its head when the lead pair made contact at Druids, putting McDermid out.
Woodward continued in first but was hobbled by his resultant suspension damage and Ellington eventually passed Woodward’s understeering car to win. Ellington was awarded driver of the race as well.
Boulton inherited the Class B win as third home overall, when Dennis Robinson, who took the place on the road, got a 10-second track-limits penalty.
Ellington was delighted. “I just had the best weekend back,” he said, “and it’s everything I remember, especially the Tomcat, which is just a great car. [Car owner and Castle Combe champion] Gary Prebble’s set it up beautifully, and the racing was such fun out there. Absolutely chuffed.
“The MG Cup, what a great place to come back to. I’m excited to be out again with them at some other circuits this year, work permitting. Especially after this weekend, now I’ve got the bug back with the Tomcat I’m probably going to stick with that [rather than race elsewhere].”
MGCC Lackford Engineering Midget & Sprite Challenge
Stephen Watkins made a welcome return to the Midget & Sprite Challenge in his MG Midget, and won both Brands Hatch races from pole. And for the first of them he got the Steve Everitt Trophy, an award Watkins was delighted to receive as he raced closely against Everitt for two years.
Neither of Watkins’ Brands wins were straightforward though, as he got a strong challenge from a host of Class E cars, particularly as they got heat into their tyres more quickly than Watkins could with his slicks, in often-cool conditions.
In the first race Watkins had to resist three chasing foes, led by an effervescent Richard Bridge – now in a Class E Austin Healey Sebring Sprite – who attacked Watkins throughout. Watkins though got an early reprieve when the race ended ahead of time with a red flag with four minutes left. Bridge reckoned he might have won without the early conclusion.
The red flag came about as Hugh Simpson’s MG Midget was stuck in the Paddock gravel. He was disputing the Class D lead with Dean Stanton’s Austin Healey Sprite and Simpson spun just after a small touch with Stanton entering the Paddock turn. Stanton therefore got the class victory.
Reigning champion Pippa Cow meanwhile started both races from the back, after spinning out of a wet and tricky qualifying. But in both race encounters she rose quickly and impressively to get with the lead group. In race one she was third home, and second in Class E.
Bridge was unable to take part in race two, as a cylinder head cracked when making his way back to the paddock after race one. Watkins in race two looked more comfortable in first in Bridge’s absence, but then he had the spanner in the works of a red flag – due to a couple of cars pulled off and plenty of oil deposited on track – and a subsequent five-minute sprint for the spoils from a re-formed grid.
And at the restart Cow got the lead from Watkins on the outside of Druids first time through. But two laps later, at the same turn, Watkins with his slicks heated up and the oil cleaned off them retook first place and stayed there. Cow was second home and got the Class E win from James Hughes. Stanton again beat Simpson in Class D, and was awarded the Midget & Sprite Challenge’s driver of the meeting.
Watkins said: “There were no real problems [in race one] aside from the fact it was cold, and I think the Class E cars their tyres they work a lot better in the cold. I still managed to stay in the front just about.
“And [race two] being a bit warmer I thought it might be a bit better, it was going quite well, I was keeping a distance to the Class E cars this time. And after [the red flag] again I was being fairly cautious. With the bigger tyres if they get a bit of oil on it they do tend to slip a bit more until it wears off again.”
MGCC Baynton Jones Historic Motorsport Triple-M Racing Challenge
The Triple-M Racing Challenge had a significant double winner as Charles Jones, the head of series sponsor Baynton Jones Historic Motorsport, returned to race his MG L Magna for the first time in four years, and won both of Brands Hatch’s pre-War contests from pole.
In race one Jones was briefly headed by Andrew Long’s MG KN, but Long almost immediately dropped out with supercharger manifold problems.
From there Jones was unchallenged and won by 12 seconds from comfortable Class B winner Mike Davies-Colley in his MG PA Special.
Tim Sharp in his MG PB was fourth home and the clear Class A victor, and he was just ahead of equally clear Class D winner Steven McEvoy in his MG Magna F1, and McEvoy was also awarded driver of the race.
Jones then won race two, moving clear to win this time by 36s, while Long had more mechanical woe as he retired on lap one with fuel pump failure.
Mark Dolton in his MG PB got past Davies-Colley at mid distance to finish second overall and win Class B. Dolton was awarded driver of the race too. Nicholas Powell’s MG LA Special beat McEvoy for Class D victory, while Sharp – this time eighth overall – made it a double win in Class A.
“It’s been a relearning job for me,” Jones said of his meeting, “so this morning was a bit of a catch up and it was a bit slippery and things like that.
“The first race was good, was starting off to be quite close but both the two frontrunners we both had a little problem and I had to nurse it through that really to take the first one. But the car was perfect in the second race and I managed to get back to the lap times I was doing four years ago, so that was very pleasing. It’s nice to be here with everyone enjoying it.
“[The car’s] been in the family since 1972 and dad and I have both driven it all over the place, all over Europe. It’s a sort of travelling advert for us, doing quite a good job today.
“We’re very much looking forward to the Silverstone GP circuit in June with the rest of the car club, and hope we can put on a decent show there with all the Triple-M cars, which is nearly where it all started.”
MGCC BCV8 Championship
Neil Fowler in the BCV8 curtain raiser kept in with what seemed two themes of the Brands Hatch meeting, of being a double winner, and of charging through after starting from the back.
Fowler in his fine-running MG B GT, having seemingly sorted the reliability problems that blighted his 2022, had a lot of pace but he missed qualifying as his fire extinguisher was accidentally set off, and Fowler couldn’t fit a replacement in time.
Reigning champion James Wheeler, this time racing his dad’s Class C MG B as his Class D car wasn’t ready, took pole. He lost the lead to Ian Prior on lap one, but was back ahead a lap later. But Fowler rose quickly and at half distance passed Wheeler to lead.
Fowler won, but just as he crossed the line to take the flag he got a five-second penalty added for passing a car before the line at an early safety car restart. He was just 1.7 seconds ahead of runner-up Prior in the classification.
Wheeler was third home and a comfortable Class C winner, while Russell McCarthy’s MG B won Class B and Jordan Spencer in his MGB Roadster won Class AB.
Fowler, again from the back, rose even more quickly in race two and got the lead from Prior at one-quarter’s distance. And again he stayed in first place, strengthening his margin to 22.8s over Prior by the end.
Wheeler was again third home and the Class C winner, though this time he was only just ahead of Andrew Young’s MG B Roadster after Wheeler conspicuously backed off for a couple of laps at mid distance, to ease his temperatures.
Guy Samuels in his MG B Roadster was a clear Class B winner, with McCarthy this time pitting at the end of the formation lap. Spencer again won Class AB, though only by a second from David Strike’s MG B GT.
“It was enjoyable working my way to the front,” Fowler said. “I borrowed a fire extinguisher out of someone’s broken car, and it’s an electronic one so we had to replumb that in and run the cables to it, then we had to do three laps at lunchtime to allow us to start at the back of the grid.
“I didn’t expect to be at the front as quick as that [in race two], I thought it might be the last two or three laps.
“The car’s running well – at last. I had enough problems last year with gearboxes. Everything’s good.”
Equipe GTS
Tom Smith won the restarted Equipe GTS opener in his MG B Roadster, taking the lead early then keeping a scrapping pack at arm’s length behind. Smith was aided by that poleman Oliver Pratt in his Morgan Plus 4 had a poor start and dropped to mid-pack. Pratt then clawed his way up to finish in a close second place, just 2.5 seconds shy.
Pratt got better launches in the also-restarted race two, and got the lead from Smith at the restart then kept him out of reach. Smith, unsure of his handling, had made changes to his MG B between races but admitted they may have been counterproductive.
Pratt said: “I knew if I got the start right the rest would be plain sailing; [in race one] I had two awful starts. We’ve made some changes to the engine, when it’s lower down it’s a big groggy.”
Equipe 70s
In Equipe’s new 1970s contest Andrew Wenman was a late replacement for his unwell father David driving their Morgan, and in the opening race he moved clear in first place from pole. But at two-thirds’ distance Wenman Jr spun at Surtees and lost first place to Stephen Winter’s Porsche 911. Wenman trimmed the deficit to Winter for the rest of the way but Winter remained ahead, and was put out of reach when Wenman lost time by sliding at Graham Hill Bend’s exit late on.
Wenman kept it on the straight and narrow to win race two however, taking the lead at the start and stretching his advantage much as he had done in race one. He was 14.2 seconds clear of Winter at the end.
Equipe Pre 63 / 50s
Nigel Winchester in his elegant and powerful Shelby had to start the opening Equipe Pre 63 / 50s race from 11th as he was circumspect in damp qualifying. But in the dry race one he rose to second place on the first lap, and at one-third’s distance passed Joe Willmott’s Austin Healey 3000 for a lead he didn’t lose.
In race two Winchester – now starting from pole – led all the way. But this time he had a group of close chasing cars, and had to resist an attacking Nick Finburgh who in his Lola rose to second place for the latter part of the race.
Winchester’s superior straightline speed kept him ahead, but as he crossed the line at the end he lost the win via a five-second track-limit penalty. This meant Finburgh prevailed.
Equipe Libre
Chris Beighton’s Sunbeam Tiger, which will race at Le Mans Classic this summer, led all of the opening Equipe Libre race from pole to win by 5.6 seconds from Rick Willmott’s AC Cobra.
Beighton looked on course to repeat the feat in race two, but suddenly lost the lead at half distance with a Clearways spin. Soon he had climbed back from fourth, and eaten up the 6.4s gap in doing so, to retake the lead from Gerard Buggy’s Lotus Elan.
But Beighton’s Sunbeam not long later started to smoke and he dropped out. It transpired that it was due to a dipstick tube problem leaking oil onto the exhaust. Buggy got the victory.
Report by Graham Keilloh. Photographs by Dickon Siddall.
Midget & Sprite Challenge Launch Newsletter
The Midget & Sprite Challenge has launched a new Newsletter.
Billed as “THE WORLDS ONLY RACING MIDGET & SPRITE NEWSPAPER” the first edition of Spridget News looks forward to the coming season and, amongst other things, introduces the new Class H for Historic cars that comply with the FIA regulations.
Edited by Andrew Caldwell, his intention is to publish Spridget News on a regular basis. Content will include race reports, championship news and relevant historic racing news. Andrew will rely heavily on race competitors and club members for contributions to editorial content and he asks that you send anything newsworthy to him be email at andrew.caldwell@jf-di.co.uk
Brands Hatch Race Meeting 1st/2nd April
The 2023 racing season gets underway at Brands Hatch on 1st/2nd April. The two-day programme, organised in conjunction with our friends at Equipe Classic Racing, will see the MG Trophy, MG Cup, Midgets & Sprites, Triple Ms and BCV8s each have a qualifying session and two races as shown in the timetable
Come along to spectate and enjoy our season opener. The MGCC Welcome Centre will be serving complimentary hot and cold drinks and biscuits all weekend. Buy your tickets from the circuit
Live timing and results will be available on the TSL website
Download a copy of the Timetable and Entry List