THE SILVERSTONE CLASSIC 28/29/30 JULY 2006

The 2^nd Silverstone Classic meeting was blessed with mainly sunny, hot and by day, dry conditions.  A number of FJ entrants arrived Wednesday to secure a plot for their cars and motorhomes, with over 66 cars participating; the drivers rightly believed that space would be at a premium.  It would have benefited everyone if a plan of the paddock had been included with the tickets.  The early birds were able to negotiate scrutineering on Thursday afternoon.  With the FJ practice at 9 am Friday this prevented the scramble of 40 plus juniors being processed by 8.15 am.

The Formula Junior race was oversubscribed with, at one time, over 60 entries for 44 places.  Thankfully the HGPCA offered to accommodate some of our cars within their races for pre-1966 and pre-1960 Formula One cars.  Some of the FJ drivers offered to transfer to the HGPCA races, and some decided to enter both, enabling all FJ drivers to race.  So a big thanks to HGPCA for their timely invitation. 

FJ had to contest the first race of the meeting which meant that the race and practice were over before the meeting really got going.  The rest of the weekend was devoted to exhibiting the cars in the paddock.  Thanks to Crispian for the supply of copious amounts of Cobra for the FJ gathering.  The prize giving for the podium took place at the “Scarf & Goggles” at 6.30 pm. It was a pleasure to meet up with Sue and Andrew Spence who attended on Friday.  Andrew took a great interest in the cars and the exploits of the drivers this season and cannot wait to set to work on their Elva 200.  At the FJ gathering after the race Andrew gave thanks to everyone who had given their support in the immediate aftermath of the accident at Spa last year.  Sue is hoping to organise Andrew with a laptop so that he can read all his Emails direct.  She finds email the easiest form of communication as it does not interrupt her daily routine with Andrew.    FJ made up two tables at the black tie ball on Saturday night with twenty people but this number would have been increased if the ticket price, £89 plus v.a.t., had been set at a more affordable level.  Those who attended had an enjoyable time.

“Get Well Soon” wishes go to Stan Hibberd who suffered a minor heart attack whilst driving to the meeting.

The Colin Chapman Trophy for HSCC Historic Formula Junior Cars:

Practice for FJ was 9 am Friday morning and luckily a significant number of drivers had passed through scrutineering the previous day.  Forty-three juniors took to the track the fastest of whom was Simon Diffey who took pole position from Michael Hibberd and Mark Gillies.  The Grand Prix circuit is very demanding and many of the drivers were negotiating it for the first time.  It is essential to get Becketts exit correct to post a quick time also several drivers underestimated the speed they could carry through Bridge, which can be taken in top, and Priory.  Also, the line through Maggotts and the complex is not easy to see as was demonstrated by nearly as many lines as cars.  In brief do not follow the car in front to learn the circuit!

Forty-one cars lined up for the start and all negotiated Copse safely.  Mike Hibberd (Lotus 27) made a quick start and led until the last lap.  Simon Diffey (Lotus 20) and Mark Gillies (Lotus20/22) gave an entertaining show with 2^nd and 3^rd place changing position between them several times.  It was almost inevitable with such a large grid, and with individual lap times varying by a massive forty-one seconds, that backmarkers would play a role in the latter stages.  Michael Hibberd came to grief on Lap 10 sustaining damage to the offside wing of his Lotus 27 whilst trying to pass Bill Grimshaw whose Moorland collected damage to the nearside rear bodywork.  The following cars then had to scurry around Bill as best they could as he quickly lost nine places.  Mark Gillies demonstrated his agile racing brain as he took full advantage of the situation to scamper past the incident and win the race by just over half a second from Mike Hibberd in 2^nd place while Simon Diffey took the final podium place less than half a second behind Michael, thus 1.037 seconds covered the first three.  The fastest of the other classes was John Delane (Lotus 18) coming home in 11^th place; Stuart Roach (Alexis Mk 2) 13^th; Once again Formula Junior showed their ability to thrill the crowds (if only they had raced on Saturday or Sunday – maybe next time!).

Results:                         1^st                                      2^nd                                  3rd

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Overall & C2   Mark Gillies                   Michael Hibberd           Simon Diffey

                          (Lotus 20/22)                        (Lotus 27)                     (Lotus20)

Best lap                2:03:468                            2:02:916                         2:02:704

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C1                      John Delane                   Don Thallon                   Martin Carter

                             (Lotus 18)                     (Cooper T56)                  (Lynx Type3)