BELLM EXTENDS TOUR BRITANNIA COMPETITION CATEGORY LEAD
JOHN RUSTON TAKES 12.5 SECOND LEAD IN TOURING-REGULARITY
RUDIGER FRIEDRICHS KEEPS A GRIP OF OVERALL LEAD, ON INDEX OF PERFORMANCE
Tour Britannia continues to be led by the monstrous V8-powered Ford GT40 of Ray Bellm, former Group C World Champion. The Briton’s charge was aided by a convincing 9.5 second victory in today’s race at Rockingham Motor Speedway and he takes a useful 22.2 second advantage into Wednesday’s third leg. In the Touring-Regularity category, the highly-experienced John Ruston has overhauled French BMW driver Christian Chiaravita, who has dropped to third, with the father and son Emmison crew in the 1963 AC Cobra holding second. In the battle for overall Tour Britannia honours, awarded on Index of Performance, Rudiger Friedrichs maintains his lead, with the very quick and skilled historic racer Gareth Burnett moving into second.
Today’s action kicked off at the motor industry’s test track, MIRA, where, ironically, the TV programme ‘Britain’s Worst Celebrity Driver’ was also being filmed! After this, the crews moved on to one of Britain’s newest and most impressive motor sport venues, Rockingham Motor Speedway. The Northamptonshire venue provided a wealth of atmosphere and action for the crews, who not only enjoyed a challenging race track but warm hospitality in a blend of historic and modern surroundings. Crews initially arrived at the spectacular Rockingham Castle for morning coffee, taking in the ambience of this impressive royal fortress built by William the Conqueror. A sprint around the Corby venue was then followed by a race around the 2.4 mile Rockingham International circuit. The British weather again surpassed itself today, and as crews left Stratford-upon-Avon at 07:00 hrs, blue skies heralded another scorching day for a field of contended crews.
In the Competition category, the day has been dominated by the V8 machines of Howard Redhouse (Lotus 30) and Ray Bellm, the pair winning two sections apiece. Redhouse claimed honours at MIRA in both runs around the test track, while Bellm powered his GT40 round the Catalyst Corby stage just 1.6 seconds ahead of his rival. In the Rockingham race, however, Bellm streaked from the start line, pulling out a convincing lead to win the race from start to finish. Behind him, team-mate Adrian Newey lost time with a poor start, but moved into second after a thrilling wheel-to-wheel battle with the 1967 Chevron B6 of Michael Schryver. Third place went to Howard Redhouse, the Briton losing time with a lack of grip.
In the Touring-Regularity category, John Ruston, driving one of the oldest cars in the field - a 1934 Talbot 105 - has pulled out a 12.5 second lead, overhauling overnight leader Christian Chiaravita. The Abu Dhabi based Briton, ably navigated by Jeremy Haylock, set a perfect time around Rockingham circuit, one of only three crews - including Chiaravita and Marc Vandendijk - to do so during the event.
In the Index of Performance classification, where all Competition crews are eligible for overall Tour Britannia honours, German Rudiger Friedrichs extends his lead and takes a one minute 16.8 second lead into leg three. Gareth Burnett holds second in the John Ruston-entered sister Talbot 105, with John Sheldon third in the 1965 Lotus Elan.
Wednesday’s action takes in a feast of famous speed test venues and each will be run twice, kicking off at the famous Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb. In its centenary year, Shelsley Walsh is one of the oldest motor sport venues in the world, the ‘Monaco’ of all hill climbs that has played host to some of the sports greatest. After two runs up the hill it’s on to another hill climb in the beautiful deer countryside of Loton Park, near Shrewsbury. After lunch, the crews head to Weston Park, the ancestral home of the Earl of Bradford in the heart of the English Midlands, before moving on to the famous sprint venue at Curborough.
QUOTES FROM THE CREWS
#1 John Ruston/Jeremy Haylock (GB/GB) – Talbot 105
“Today’s gone well, considering we’ve lost first gear. It’s a smashing event, good fun and we’re all learning a lot.”
#2 Marc Vandendijk/Stefan Vandendijk (B/B) – Triumph TR2
“For the Touring crews, Rockingham is a bit of a flat circuit, but we’re enjoying it and today’s my birthday, so what more could I ask for!”
#4 Michael Campbell/Robin Widdows (GB/GB) – Bentley Derby Special
“We’ve been spectacularly inefficient in what we were meant to be doing (Touring-Regularity), but having great fun. The marshals have all been so helpful and all in all it’s been another great day.”
#6 Martin Sharp/Jerry Williams (GB/GB) – Porsche 356 B Super 90
“We tried to take Rockingham very seriously but think we cocked it up badly! It’s a lovely little motor though and it’s a great event with fun people.” (The Porsche 356 belongs to Fred Gallagher, Sporting Director.)
#12 Rudiger Friedrichs/Wolfgang Kalf (D/D) – Alvis Speed 20 S.A.
“MIRA was a very clean track, really good and I like it a lot. I really enjoyed Rockingham circuit, but it’s a bit fast for our car. The vintage cars don’t have enough power and the brakes get soft after three or four laps.”
#14 Gareth Burnett/Ed McDonough (GB/USA) – Talbot 105
“MIRA was very good, a nice fast run. In the race, we gained a minute on Rudiger Friedrichs (Alvis) on the Index of Performance, which was good and we’ve moved into second tonight. It was tight round the back of the circuit for this old car, but great fun through the chicanes. It was very hard on the brakes though.”
#15 Nick Finburgh/Ollie Crosthwaite (GB/GB) – Jaguar C-Type
“Everything’s been going well, but Rockingham is not the best circuit for historic cars because we have drum brakes and we have to brake so hard. But we had a fun race.”
#21 Barrie Williams/Alan Newton (GB/GB) – MGB
“I could have stayed at MIRA all day, it was fantastic! We’ve had an ignition timing problem, which has been adjusted but not totally cured. I didn’t want to push too hard because I think we filled up with some bad fuel and maybe damaged the engine a bit. I had a bit of a moment when John Day (Renault Alpine) spun in front of me in Turn One, but hopefully things will go better from here.”
#22 David Betts/Caroline Betts (GB/GB) – Shelby GT350
“MIRA was a great track, very enjoyable. During the Rockingham race, the oil temperature went up to 260 degrees for the last two laps, which was a bit of a worry, but that was the first time I’ve ever won a race (he won the Grid 1 race.) We had a great battle with the Porsche (Robi Bernberg) and I really had to work to keep ahead.”
#23 Doug Allen/Richard Lugg (USA/GB) – Ford Mustang
“A wonderful race at Rockingham and a good circuit. We couldn’t catch the Lotus Europa (Amnon Needham) but given one more lap it could’ve been a different story.”
#27 John Day/Charles Reynolds (GB/GB) – Alpine Renault A110
“Barrie (Williams) was on the inside and I missed a gear then got a box full of neutrals and went sideways into the barrier. It’s a good job he knows what he’s doing and managed to miss me. Now I have to go and apologise to Charles for damaging his car…”
#40 Ray Bellm/Paul Lanzante (GB/GB) – Ford GT40
“Where did they all go during the race! I know it was a bit unsociable to run off like that but…! I was fast off the lights and Howard (Redhouse) just wasn’t brave enough, I was! I’ve never raced at Rockingham before but what a fantastic circuit with great corners. In my opinion, this circuit should have a Grand Prix; it’s a great venue for everyone.”
#41 Adrian Newey/Dean Lanzante (GB/GB) – Ford GT40
“I had another lousy start in the race and obviously need to work on that. In the races I’ve run before, I’ve only ever done rolling starts so need to sort this out. Getting past Simon (Hadfield, #53) was easy as the GT40 is more powerful and we took Howard (Redhouse) after a good battle. I think I was keeping pace with Ray (Bellm), but the oil pressure gauge kept coming on and I spent half the race looking at it.”
#44 Robi Bernberg/Steve Winter (GB/GB) – Porsche 911 GTS
“The first section at MIRA went well but on the start line for the second run the drive-shaft broke, so we missed Catalyst Corby. When we arrived at Rockingham we had virtually no fuel and had to stop to fill up, meaning we missed most of the race practice. I had a poor start with a few missed gears, but within a lap I was in the lead (in the Grid 1 race), but was eventually overtaken by David Betts in the Shelby. But, we finished second and that’s still good.”
#46 Howard Redhouse/Richard Shaw (IRL/GB) – Lotus 30
“The race was very good, but it was damage limitation exercise for me. On the long corners, the GT40s had the advantage as their Michelin tyres have got much more grip than our historics. It wouldn’t have mattered how hard I drove, I never would have kept right in touch, simply because of the tyres. They went off massively during the race and I was worried I would’ve ended up in the wall with a lack of grip, so I backed off.”
#47 Ted Williams/Chris Clarkson (GB/GB) – Chevrolet Sting Ray
“On first inspection it looks like we’ve blown the head gasket (Rockingham race). But before that, something had altered with the handling and we had a lot of understeer, making the car virtually un-drivable.”
#49 David Smithies/Eric Wooley (GB/GB) – Ford Mustang
“The clutch was slipping at MIRA but we managed to adjust it at Rockingham Castle, before getting to the circuit. Rockingham was good, but it was a bit twisty in places for the old girl! Unfortunately we got lapped on the finish line but overall I’m happy.”
#52 Richard Meins/Desmond Smaill (GB/GB) – Ford GT40
Crew retired with a broken drive-shaft on the start line at MIRA 1.
#53 Michael Schryver/Simon Hadfield (GB/GB) – Chevron B6
“We were fourth overall in our race at Rockingham until the rear hub throughbolt broke and the wheel started to try and fall off. Then the drive-shaft on the other side fell out and we lost drive. It’s disappointing to drop from third in the Competition category overnight but we clocked back into parc ferme this evening and will be re-starting tomorrow.”
#58 Bill Wykeham/David Fitzsimons (GB/NZ) – Porsche Carrera 2.7 RS
“It’s been another terribly hot day. The set-up of the car was perfect though, it feels nice and our race couldn’t have been better.”
#74 Ned Spieker/Norman Thersby (USA/GB) – Ferrari 250 GT SWB
“Fred (Gallagher) has put on a terrific event. Today is my idea of a perfect day; some stages, a beautiful castle, a good race and back in the hotel by 4pm.”
