BRANDS HATCH, 26th April 2008

Round 2 of the Formula Junior “Junior” series of 6 races, organised by the CSCC, took place under a cloudless blue sky and in very welcome warm temperatures.

The Formula Juniors were honoured to have several pit garages at our disposal and most competitors took advantage of this rare, especially at this circuit, treat.
Noise issues were completely absent, a generous limit of 118db having being set.

Racing was on the Indy Circuit, ideally suited to the occasion and to our modest field of 15 cars, which included Neil Hodges’ beautifully presented Cooper Mk8 500 JAP.
Your scribe watched the Qualifying session from the preferred location behind the pit garages overlooking Cooper Straight and first to show form was Brian Mitcham keen to avenge his defeat at Snetterton a few weeks previously. His Wainer-Ford sounding crisp as he neatly took the Surtees/McLarens combination.
Brian’s major competition Sam Wilson was driving Roger Daniell’s Cooper T59 and was having some difficulties with pedal position and subsequent gear changes. Consequently he took many laps to find a neat fast line in places and had some lurid moments at McLarens, although when the times were published young Sam headed the list in Pole position with his 15th lap completed in 0:55.774. Mitcham was a tad over half a second behind and John Boyes’ Lotus 20 took third spot sharing the 2nd grid row with Dr Mark Green’s Lotus 18.
The only mechanical casualty was Len Selby’s Lola 5, which pumped some of its gearbox oil out into the undertray. He eventually lost gear selection and wisely retired after 6 laps. Neil Hodges also came in at the same time but this was a case of quitting whilst ahead as everything was going brilliantly and he didn’t want to push his luck.

Lunch break seemed over in an instant and our Race 3 on the card was called up just when the previous race was being formed up in the assembly area. Unfortunately things were then considerably delayed when on their opening lap there was an almighty screech of tyres followed by a heavy thud as some two tons of Jaguar XJS disturbed the safety barriers and these took a while to repair.

Finally it was our turn and the organisation was impeccable. Correctly placed in the assembly area line up the cars moved straight out onto the grid and were positioned by sufficient marshals into their proper grid boxes. There followed a complete green flag lap, returning to the grid and then swiftly away for a good clean start.
Wilson led Mitcham at a good fast pace, on lap 4 slightly bettering his pole setting time and a lap later he was nearly 4 seconds ahead. Boyes was unable to reproduce his qualifying form and fell away. Mitcham chased hard continuously, closed the gap whilst they both lapped back markers and took his chance, when Wilson missed a gear on the entry into Druids and was ahead for a couple of laps. Wilson buckled down to regain his lost ground and brought his lap time down to 0:54.732 shortly after retaking the lead from Mitcham.
Meanwhile an equally hard fought battle was raging between Sue Spence’s Elva 200 and Peter Hughes’ Tojeiro. Afterwards Sue was furious with herself for letting Peter past when looking in her mirrors she thought that she was about to be lapped by a leading car and so made room for him to pass on the inside at Druids.
It was nice to see Michael Waller out racing again after quite an absence from the tracks and he improved on his personal best time with the Kieft, which pleased him.
Swiftune principal Nick Swift was on hand to watch over his BMC engine in John Dowson’s Elva 200 and needless to say it performed faultlessly giving John a good race midfield. Until just over half distance Hodges’ thumping Cooper-JAP 500 continued to separate the Lotus 22 of David Crowther from the Lotus 20 of David Grunberg and Hodges was taking Surtees with such impressive speed that he was frequently having to lift to avoid rear ending Crowther. When Grunberg did pass him Hodges kept his foot in and went round the outside of Clearways to try and steal the place back, but the power of the Lotus told and he couldn’t make it stick. However, he surprised several FJs with his speed, style and sheer determination to finish 9th from the 13 finishers.
Sarah Hutchison qualified her Lotus 18 well in 6th place but gradually fell back and Paul Hewes’ similar model carried a slight misfire, which had bedevilled him during qualifying. Green maintained his Lotus 18 ahead of Waller’s Kieft and although the gap here waxed and waned throughout, Waller had closed up by the chequered flag.

Everyone who expressed an opinion said that they had thoroughly enjoyed the day and after the previous Snetterton debacle this was good to hear.
Many competitors were already looking forward to the next round at Mallory Park on 26th May, so this adventurous race series looked to have their seal of approval.

The CSCC provided excellent cut-glass mounted trophies, awarded as follows >>
Winner overall & 1st in Class E ~ Sam Wilson, Cooper T59, and fastest lap 0:54.732
2nd overall ~ Brian Mitcham, Wainer-Ford.
John Boyes, Lotus 20, 1st in Class D & 3rd overall.

1st in Class C ~ Dr.Mark Green, Lotus 18.
2nd in Class C ~ Michael Waller, Kieft.

Your scribe was delighted that Richard Culverhouse, so well known for his understanding & consideration of FJHRA, notably when he was previously a key part of AMOC racing, very kindly saw fit to also provide a trophy for Justin Fleming.
Justin was the sole representative of Class A in his Elva 100, had qualified a fine 8th and was looking towards an untroubled and enjoyable finish in probably 6th or 7th place when, with just a few laps remaining, his ignition system cut and he guided his completely dead car to a halt in a safe place on the grass near Graham Hill Bend.
Richard’s excuse was that the trophy was already out of the box in expectation of Justin’s finish and he didn’t see it as fair to deny him this at the 11th hour.
Well done Richard and well done all at CSCC for a great day’s racing.

                                       Peter Jackson, the Cooper Cockpit Correspondent ~ 27.04.08