Brands Hatch 9th April 2011
Round 1 of the new HRDC series: "Grand Touring Greats"
It was a glorious sunny spring day with a clear blue sky over the Kent circuit of Brands Hatch for the inaugural race of Julius Thurgood's new race series for small GT cars. Seventeen of the twenty-eight starters were based on Sprites or Midgets : 4 WSMs plus BXN (some call a WSM), 2 Lenham GTS and 2 Lenham Le Mans, Elwell's MEG 199, Tony Davis' Sebring Rep, Prentice's Le Mans Sprite and 5 Ashley bodied cars. The remainder included a Lotus Elite, a GSM Delta, Tornado Talisman, an Alfa Giulietta, a Lenham Spitfire a couple of Abarths and a Morris 1000.
Practice laps: |
|||
Looks like a 250 GTO! |
46 BXN - Paul Woolmer |
Ashley GTs |
Into the hairpin |
Lenhams |
Elwell's MEG |
Lenham, Ashley, WSM, Sebring |
WSM and Giulietta |
Around the Paddock |
|||
Clive Cocks' WSM Sprite |
WSM Midget of Brian Arculus |
Ian Burford's Lenham Le Mans |
|
Shaun Rainford with his replica of John Britten's Lenham GT, SS1800 |
|||
Gordon Elwell and MEG |
Tony Davis' Sebring rep |
BXN cockpit |
Rae Davis' WSM |
Jim Prentice's 1965 ex-works Le Mans Sprite |
As at Goodwood last September, Gordon Elwell made a fantastic start leading into Paddock, with Shaun Rainford and Rae Davis hard on his tail. Wouldn't Douglas Wilson-Spratt, who sadly passed away just a few days later, have loved to see 4 of his WSM Sprites in that front group plus Paul Woolmer's BXN which also has WSM origins. By lap 2 Rainford had got past Elwell and Davis was pressing him, so by the next lap it was Rainford, Davis and Elwell out front. Then followed a race-long battle for the lead between Shaun and Rae, the lead changing many times, until towards the end of the 30 minutes alotted Davis' engine went on 3, letting Rainford get away. The WSM picked up and gave chase but its motor was unwell and Rae had to be satisfied with 2nd place. Gordon came home 3rd and Paul Woolmer came out the victor of his race-long duel with brian Arculus these two 4th and 5th. Mike Haigh's lenham completed the Sprite-based top 6.
The Race |
|||
Elwell leads into Paddock |
Shaun takes the front |
A gaggle of GTs |
Elite leads Ashley |
Rae Davis chases Shaun |
Woolmer dices with Arculus |
GSM Delta and Talisman |
Stubbings' Lenham GT |
MEG holds on to 3rd place |
Tony Wilson-Spratt |
Jim Prentice |
Tony Davis |
That dice continues |
Clive Cocks |
Davis takes the lead |
Shaun tails Rae |
Now it's Shaun's turn in front |
Prentice's Le Mans Sprite |
Rae pressures Shaun.. |
...and takes the lead again |
Rae Davis' WSM |
Davis and Stubbings |
A lonely wait for Tony |
Cocks goes by |
as does Shaun |
Lenham and Sebring |
They're still at it! |
Drivers de-briefing |
Shaun dedicated his win to the late John Britten who had generously agreed to him making a replica of his former race car and using the registration number on the track. I look forward to more of these excellent races - We just need a few Speedwells, perhaps a Jacobs Midget, and one or two more W & P Sebrings for it to be perfect.
Results |
|||||||||||
Pos | No. | Cl | Name | Car | Laps | Time | Gap | Diff | MPH | Best | On |
1 | 17 | GTN | Shaun Rainford | Lenham GT | 30 | 30.28.610 | 70.79 | 59.552 | 13 | ||
2 | 18 | GTN | Rae Davis | WSM Sprite | 30 | 30.45.231 | 16.621 | 16.621 | 70.15 | 59.760 | 15 |
3 | 33 | GTN | Gordon Elwell | Sebring Sprite | 30 | 31.15.606 | 46.996 | 30.375 | 69.01 | 1.00.682 | 2 |
4 | 3 | GTN | Paul Woolmer | Sebring Sprite | 30 | 31.22.232 | 53.622 | 6.626 | 68.77 | 1.01.187 | 25 |
5 | 7 | GTN | Brian Arculus | WSM Midget | 29 | 30.45.577 | 1 lap | 1 lap | 67.80 | 1.02.212 | 23 |
6 | 15 | GTN | Mike Haigh | Lenham Le Mans | 29 | 31.05.251 | 1 lap | 19.674 | 67.08 | 1.01.865 | 19 |
7 | 71 | GTA | Eddy Perk | GSM Dart-Climax | 29 | 31.05.817 | 1 lap | 0.566 | 67.06 | 1.02.975 | 19 |
8 | 83 | GTN | Harvey Woods | Ashley Midget | 29 | 31.23.249 | 1 lap | 17.432 | 66.44 | 1.03.271 | 28 |
9 | 28 | GTN | Clive Cocks | WSM Sprite | 29 | 31.26.065 | 1 lap | 2.816 | 66.34 | 1.03.125 | 24 |
10 | 31 | GTN | Ian Burford | Lenham Le Mans | 28 | 30.39.586 | 2 laps | 1 lap | 65.67 | 1.03.089 | 20 |
11 | 36 | GTN | Adam Gittings | Ashley Midget | 28 | 30.40.715 | 2 laps | 1.129 | 65.63 | 1.03.460 | 24 |
12 | 12 | GTA | Richard Frankel | Alfa Romeo Giulietta | 28 | 30.58.455 | 2 laps | 17.740 | 65.01 | 1.04.541 | 24 |
13 | 22 | GTN | Tony Davis | Sebring Sprite Coupe | 28 | 31.14.601 | 2 laps | 16.146 | 64.45 | 1.05.302 | 8 |
14 | 5 | GTN | Philip Dixon | Ashley Sprite | 27 | 30.28.680 | 3 laps | 1 lap | 63.71 | 1.05.056 | 18 |
15 | 10 | GTN | David Stubbings | Lenham GT | 27 | 31.29.151 | 3 laps | 1.00.471 | 61.67 | 1.07.510 | 26 |
16 | 24 | GTN | Darryl Davis | Lenham Spitfire | 27 | 31.46.990 | 3 laps | 17.839 | 61.09 | 1.06.627 | 11 |
17 | 81 | GTA | John Hilberry | Lotus Elite S2 | 26 | 32.`11.156 | 3 laps | 24.166 | 60.32 | 1.07.266 | 2 |
18 | 44 | TGD | Mark Cross | Morris Minor 1000 | 26 | 31.12.370 | 4 laps | 1 lap | 59.91 | 1.09.727 | 3 |
19 | 99 | TGD | Louise Kennedy | Fiat Abarth | 25 | 30.57.969 | 5 laps | 1 lap | 58.06 | 1.12.049 | 4 |
20 | 59 | TGD | Nicola Kellett | Morris Minor | 24 | 30.44.728 | 6 laps | 1 lap | 56.13 | 1.14.307 | 18 |
21 | 75 | TGD | John Arnold | Renault 4CV 1063 | 22 | 31.24.418 | 8 laps | 2 laps | 50.37 | 1.22.646 | 19 |
Not Classified |
|||||||||||
DNF | 49 | GT/A | Jim Prentice | A-H Sprite Le Mams | 20 | 21.39.040 | 10 laps | 2 laps | 66.43 | 1.02.484 | 15 |
DNF | 14 | GTN | John McDonal | Ashley Spridget | 17 | 19.08.699 | 13 laps | 3 laps | 63.85 | 1.03.656 | 11 |
DNF | 47 | GT/A | Simon Merriott | Tornado Talisman GT | 12 | 15.29.300 | 18 laps | 5 laps | 55.72 | 1.03.550 | 4 |
DNF | 11 | GTN | Tony Wilson-Spratt | WSM Sprint | 9 | 9.44.594 | 21 laps | 3 laps | 66.43 | 1.01.749 | 9 |
Fastest lap |
|||||||||||
17 | GTN | Shaun Rainford | Lenham GT | 13 | 59.552 | 72.45 mph | 116.61 kph | ||||
49 | GT/A | Jim Prentice | A-H Sprite Le Mans | 15 | 1.02 484 | 69.05 mph | 111.13 kph | ||||
44 | TGD | Mark Cross | Moris Minor 1000 | 3 | 1.09.727 | 61.88 mph | 99.59 kph |