ENTRY
Wow – a non championship counter and another FJ race at Pau on the same day – and we get 37 entries. No wonder FJ thrives.
It was good to see Stuart Roach back in the Alexis Mk 4 which had healed after its savaging at Donington.
It was also great to see Phoebe Rolt back in the family Elva 200 – remember that she was FIA Champion in this car a few years ago – since when she has had to cope with 1 horsepower.
Also returning after a rather shorter period of absence was James Hicks with father Bob supervising.

PRACTICE

This was the first time we had raced on the new Grand Prix circuit – the general consensus was that the new section (that’s the bit after the giant sized “24 Hour Tesco building” was a tad Michael Mouse and that we preferred the previous Bridge Corner – at least the new layout allows over 50 starters.

No great astonishments but this time Jon Milicevic enjoyed a rather less comfortable margin over the opposition  - being only  0.13 Secs over James Murray.

The first 4- Milicevic, Murray, Hibberd and Welch were covered by less than a second. Rudolf Ernst surprised a few with his pace – he qualified in front of Steve Smith, James Claridge and Simon Diffey. The front engines were predictably headed by the flying Brian Mitcham followed by Gordon Russell and Peter St Barbe.

RACE

A light drizzle had been threatening all day and fell just in time to make a very slippery surface indeed. Something of a novelty was the Rolling Start used for all races without major dramas. Jon Milicevic led from the start and made the customary win look relaxed and serene – smooth and incredibly quick – anyone who wants to know where the speed comes from – just watch his economical style through these greasy conditions. James Murray had a real go on lap 1 but went straight on at Beckets on the first lap rejoining the party in 4th place. Rudolf Ernst narrowly beat James Claridge.

In the front engined class, Brian Mitcham dominated in the U2 which he now has very much to his liking. Gordon Russell went very well in his tall Gemini to finish 2nd in class B2, followed by Peter St Barbe.

James Hicks won class D2 in his Caravelle and Robert Barrie class C2 in his neatly driven Lotus 18. This writer remembers seeing the Lotus 18s at Goodwood Easter Monday in 1960 and marvelling at how small they were – now they seem large enough to hold a dance inside – a Barbara Streisand car really – you think with a nose like that it should be ugly but at the same time its beautiful really!

Sadly the Cooper of OiC Refreshments failed to perform the engine clearly disliked the new circuit and sounded dire until Crispian wisely retired it. To add insult to injury, his F2 duties meant that he missed prizegiving – he did however provide his excellent beer and bubbly for the winner.

In the Waller family, Youth and enthusiasm triumphed over Old Age and treachery as Ash very narrowly beat father Mike in his yellow Sadler.

The real story of the race was the scrap between Denis Welch and Manfredo Rossi – Rossi wound Denis in and passed him with 2 laps to go – Denis came back immediately and spoke about the width of the polish from the gearbox. The encouraging aspect of this duel was the closeness but importantly the spirit in which it took place – both Manfredo and Denis while racing hard did so fairly and in complete and welcome contrast to the sad events at Donington – Denis as always a fine sportsman paid tribute to his adversary at prizegiving – a sentiment echoed and greatly appreciated by us all – FJHRA  - normal Service has resumed.

Lt Col Bob Birrell