Goodwood ~ Weslake Cup 2017
First race, at 9 a.m. on Sunday 19th March, 2017 was a 20 minute race for BMC 'A' Series engined sports and GT cars of a type that raced between 1958 and 1966.
The grid was made up of 24 Sprites, 2 MG Midgets, 2 Turners, a Rochdale Olympic and an Ogle SX1000. There were no less than 4 fathers and sons taking part: Chris and Charles Clegg, Shaun and Charlie Rainford, Graham and Asher Robson, and Paul and Richard Woolmer.
Saturday Practice Times: can be viewed here.
Around the paddock ~ before the START:
It was a cool crisp March morning as I waited before 7.30 with many others to get into the circuit where already the scent of the log fires which spectators huddle around was apparent in the air. Once inside the tension was soon beginning to build in the 'A' Series camp with last minute preparations for the Weslake Cup due to start at 9 o'clock. Engines were silent until 8.30 leaving little time for last adjustments. I found it hard to divide the short time available to me between meeting and chatting with familiar faces and taking photos of the cars which were soon moving off to the assembly area. The GRRC had, just days before the race, decided to penalise anyone running with either split Webers or roller rockers, so these cars were placed in a separate class to start at the back of the grid.
Speedwell GTs of Guenter Lainer and David Wylie |
Lenhams of Mike Haigh, SHaun Rainford, Charles Rainford and David Stubbings |
Ashley GTs of Brian Small and Larry Tucker |
Darryl Davis's newly built Sebring Coupe |
Tom Grindall's W & P |
WSMs of Ian Hulett, Clive Cocks, Graham Robson ..... |
..and Tony Wilson-Spratt |
James Dean's Ecurie Ecosse replica |
Chris Clegg (S221) and Charlie Clegg (184 FGJ) |
Guenter's engine bay |
James Willis' ex-Milne Midget GT and Charlie Settrington's 138 DMO |
Ian Burford's 'Lumbertubs' Sprite (with apology for blurring) |
James Colburn's Lenham GT |
Richard Woolmer BXN |
The assembly area |
Charlie and Shaun Rainford |
Clegg steps in |
Off to the grid |
Corry sets off |
and S221 |
Click here: for the full ENTRY LIST and here: for the starting grid .
In practice the previous day Richard Woolmer in BXN had been fastest by almost 2 seconds from Thomas Grindall in his W & P with James Colburn (Lenham GT) making up the front row. Richard's early laps in the wet are a treat to watch:
The Race: (Watch it on YouTube) or (the highlights):
At the fall of the flag it was Colburn who got away best leading Grindall and Woolmer into Madgwick, but it wasn't long before Richard pulled into second spot and set about snatching the lead from Colburn which he achieved before the end of lap 1. The yellow WSM prototype was incredibly twitchy compared with Colburn's much more stable Lenham though the latter did appear to have the benefit of much wider rubber. All eyes were on this dice at the front with the lead changing several times a lap during their first few circuits with Woolmer's car sliding and drifting through every corner completely on the ragged edge. (Watch that early dice on YouTube) Then there was an unfortunate coming together at St Mary's causing the safety car to come out and the field to bunch up and trail around behind it for several laps. Apparently Will Corry and Gordon Elwell, who had started at the back of the grid, had been gaining fast on Paul Woolmer in the Turner. Corry dived through on the inside and Elwell, who had already made up some 12 places, went to follow through but Paul may not have realised a second car was there, getting the Turner sideways and ramming MEG amidships. Both cars were quite badly damaged and unable to continue. At this point the lead pack was Colburn, Woolmer, Rainford jnr, Tony Wilson-Spratt, Brian Small, Tom Grindall, James Dean, Shaun Rainford, et al. Tom Grindall had lost ground after a spin in the W&P, and Mike Haigh was lying about 12th. With 8 minutes of the race still to go, the pack was again unleashed and that fantastic contest between Colburn and Woolmer began all over again until Woolmer lost it coming out of Madgwick (perhaps on some oil as several cars were smoking quite a bit). He very capably got the car pointing in the right direction and trickled along on the grass, gradually inching back on to the tarmac. Unfortunately, in the heat of a battle between four following cars Jim Dean, perhaps unsighted as he entered the corner, allowed his car to run out towards the edge of the tarmac and clipped the slow-moving BXN quite hard, spinning the Ecosse Sprite car around and demolishing its bonnet. (See the collision on YouTube) Sadly both cars these were also badly damaged and the Ecosse was stranded mid-track after Dean bailed out. Consequently out came the red flag to stop the race.
On the restart Charles Clegg was missing, reason unknown, and Charlie Rainford was pulled off due to a leaking rocker box gasket. Colburn led away this time from Grindall, Rainford, Davis and Small. A lap or so on and Corry's engine let go, and Haigh was hanging on to the tail of Hulett's WSM behind a close battle between Davis and Small. Having got by Hulett, Haigh began to chase his next target with lights blazing. Tony Wilson-Spratt pulled off at Woodcote, his second engine of the weekend having let him down. With Colburn extending his lead there were lots of little scraps going on including Wylie's attempts to get by Burford in the Lumbertubs. Haigh now got in front of Small and was chasing Davis. With 2 minutes left he pulled past him and accelerated quickly away to begin hauling in Shaun Rainford's Lenham, this now being the final lap of the race. Colburn was now way off in front of Grindall with a further quite large gap to Rainford. Battles between Davis/Small (which Davis won) and Burford/Wylie continued and Mike Haigh finally squeezed past Shaun to take 3rd before the chicane and the chequered flag.
On Youtube, you can also watch from the cockpit with Charles Rainford, whose engine unfortunately suffered a leaking rocker box gasket resulting in him being pulled off the second grid line-up and missing the final bash to the finish.
Mike Haigh was justifiably pleased with his 3rd place finish after "a great battle with Shaun Rainford in SS 1800!"
SOME PHOTOS FROM GRRC |
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Chris Clegg in S221 is closely followed by Ian Hulett (WSM), Daryl Davis (Sebring), Paul Woolmer (Turner) and David Stubbings (Lenham GT)... |
and here Gordon Elwell (MEG) is tailed by Darren Turner and Will Corry. |
In this shot of Ian Burford (Lumbertubs) Paul Woolmer appears a little crossed up in front of Ian Hulett |
Ian, again ahead of Daryl Davis |
..and some supplied by Graham Robson |
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Lapped by the winner |
Asher leads Guenther |
Graham heading out |
Tip-toeing through the daffs |
WINNERS ROSTRUM |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
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The Winner, James Colburn, Lenham GT |
2nd place went to Tom Grindall in his W & P |
and 3rd was Mike Haigh in his Lenham Le Mans Coupe |
You can do no better than watch the entire race coverage of the race on YouTube or the highlights .
Full Race Results are available here
The 'Lumbertubs' Sprite |
Tony's second engine in |
Hulett prepares |
Skipworth's Ecosse Sprite |
Clegg's S221 |
Elwell's MEG |
The Speedwells |
Woolmer leads to the grid |
Richard Woolmer, BXN |
James Dean |
DMO |
Charlie Clegg |
Chris gets ready |
They line up.. |
....ready to go |
Lap 1 dice |
Davis |
Dean |
Turner |
Wylie |
The lead scrap |
Rainford Jnr |
Clegg Jnr |
Burford/Corry |
The wait |
Charlie side-lined |
and the other Charlie |
Guenther readies |
Rainford Snr |
Wylie again |
Clegg Snr |
Corry in front |
Back to the paddock |
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and finally a few more of my own |
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WSMs get ready |
Smokey Joe |
Chris and Charlie confer with (?) David Stubbings |
Gordon surveys the damage |
More than it looks |
Hulett looks pleased |
Charlie and Ian review |
The winning Lenham |