AMOC Horsfall Race Meeting Silverstone 28-9-2002

Report By Stan Hibberd

Billed in the FJHRA Newsletter as an end of term event, the Juniors were lined up in the paddock for inspection, they attracted quite a bit of informed attention, notables noticed viewing the cars during the day included David Leslie and Frank Sytner, David very complimentary about the standard of the FJ cars.

Qualifying was in perfect conditions, Edwin Jowsey Lotus 22 picking up where he left off a week earlier (at the VSCC meeting) was the pace setter, putting his claim on pole position with a lap in 1.6.376, second was the Lola 5A of Robin Longdon his 1.7.224 putting him ahead of Mike Hibberd Lotus 22 and Neil Dawes Lotus 20/22 who also recorded 1.7s, fifth was Steve Smith Cooper T59 on a 1.9 sixth and seventh were Williamson and David Stevenson both in Lotus 22's also in the 1.9s, the fastest front engined runners were Derek Walker in the Terrier Mk 5 sharing 1.11 with Mark Woodhouse in his Elva 100, quickest of the F3 500s was the Kieft of Reg Hargrave who was disappointed with his time of 1.16.297. A notable newcomer to FJ was Dr Mark Green driving his ex Hugh Chalmers Lotus 22 to a creditable eighth on the grid with a FJ debut time of 1.10.236. 32 cars faced the timekeepers the faster cars managed 14 laps in the practice session.

A very long wait for race 8 then followed with Reg Hargrave tinkering with the float levels on the Kieft to find the missing couple of seconds. Most drivers were having a fairly relaxed time, though Martin Carter was trying to find a rod for his clutch slave cylinder only to end up with no gears in his Elva's recently rebuilt A series gearbox.

The race 8 grid formed up at 4.45 pm the weather still perfect. From the green lights Robin Longdon Lola 5A was the early leader with Neil Dawes and Edwin Jowsey in their Lotus's snapping at his heels. Such a large grid took a long time to clear the start area and no sooner were the pits manned than the leaders could be heard coming through the complex, into view it was still Longdon's Lola but with Jowsey in the Lotus hard on his tail, Dawes 20/22 was in third with Mike Hibberd in the 22 catching up fast after a steady start, Mark Woodhouse was up with the rear engined cars and leading his class in the Elva, as the race developed it was incredible watching the traffic through the pit straight, the leaders slicing through the slower cars, in the traffic Jowsey got his Lotus in to the lead, then Robin Longdon tangled with a slower car, the resulting spin costing him several places, this let Dawes and Hibberd through, they then battled for second place with Hibberd's 22 getting through in the traffic, Longdon recovered into fourth and David Stevenson was some distance behind in fifth, Michael Waller was enjoying himself in sixth (he seems to like Silverstone) newcomer Mark Green was going well in seventh, Mark Woodhouse in the Elva was staying ahead of Derek Walker in the Terrier, close behind them Andrew Hibberd in his 20, his lap times some 5 secs better than a week earlier was driving a sensible race, Reg Hargrave had found his elusive couple of seconds per lap and was comfortably leading the F3 contenders, so at the end of 14 laps in the 15 minutes race time allotted Edwin Jowsey took the flag to win in his Lotus 22, Mike Hibberd in the Lotus 22 was 0.7secs behind in second (just as a week earlier in the 27) Neil Dawes third in his 20/22, Robin Longdon's Lola fourth, Mark Woodhouse in the Elva pulled out 7secs at the end over the Terrier of Derek Walker. The first four finishers in the race all recorded times in the 1.06 secs bracket, this is an indication of how much the pace of FJ cars and the way they are driven on this Silverstone circuit (and elsewhere come to that) has progressed in the last couple of seasons, a couple of years ago these sort of lap times were unheard of here, now they seem commonplace, can they possibly get any quicker ?

Three drivers were celebrating birthdays over the weekend, Mark Woodhouse on Saturday and Steve Smith and Mike Hibberd on Sunday (Steve and Mike the same year as well). So the end of term bash featuring birthday cakes, live music, beer and buffet all laid on the paddock was appropriate and very well received.

Stan Hibberd