It was a real family affair in the Charterhouse Heritage GT Car Challenge at Silverstone on Saturday (11 August) during the British F3/GT meeting. While Grahame and Oli Bryant scored a resounding win in the 45-minute race in their Morgan +8, three more father and son combinations packed out the top five finishers.QualifyingThe Bryants served notice of their intentions by taking pole position, lapping just over a tenth of a second faster than the Chevrolet Camaro of Stuart and Peter Hall, with Stuart having a run in the Camaro for the first time since his fabulous fourth place in the Le Mans 24-Hour in June.
Rick Lloyd/Peter Horsman put their Morgan +8 third on the grid from the Camaro of Arthur and Boysie Thurtle, while British GT racer Tim Mullen made his historic racing debut and helped Nicholas King to put their Aston Martin DB4 fifth on the grid.Among the other classes, Laki Christoforou and Nick Stagg headed the class B times in their Ford Escort Mk1, while Nathalie Boyd and Mike Youles topped class A in their Mini Cooper S. Their chief rivals of Harvey and Clive Death had a torrid time and missed qualifying. Their Mini suffered a broken crank when they started the engine on Saturday morning and work started immediately to fit the spare engine. "We missed qualifying by a few minutes," said Harvey. However, they would be able to start from the back of the grid.
Sadly absent from the excellent line-up for the race was the Ford Escort Mk1 of Tim Glover and Martin Sandmeier after a hefty bump into the pit wall.Race The rolling start was a fabulous sight as around 10,000bhp was unleashed and in places cars were three and four abreast on the charge to Copse. Up front, Grahame Bryant got a cracking start but had to fend off the flying Arthur Thurtle as the pack streamed into the first corner.
While Bryant settled into the groove, Lloyd soon moved his Morgan through to second from Thurtle as the leading trio began to edge clear of the pack. Further back, Harvey Death was already on the move and passing bigger cars in pursuit of Youles.By lap three, Lloyd was ready to challenge for the lead and boldly went ahead around the outside at Luffield. But there was little to choose between the Morgans as they headed towards the start of the pit-stop window. One of the first to stop was Pete Hall to hand the Camaro over to so Stuart and that would mark the start of a fine drive. "I hope he can do it," said Pete when commentator Ian Titchmarsh asked if Stuart could get into a podium position by the end of the race.
On lap 10, Bryant pitted to hand over to his son and three laps later Lloyd brought his Morgan in. Unfortunately, a problem getting the car restarted cost them time and the Bryant Morgan swept ahead before Horsman rejoined. "It's a new ignition switch we've fitted, so he's got an excuse," explained Lloyd. With a late stop, the MGB GTV8 of Russell and Roy McCarthy led for a couple of laps, but once the pit stops were over, it was Oli Bryant with a clear lead.
Horsman was second, while Hall was charging along and soon went ahead of Roy McCarthy and Boysie Thurtle as he stormed through to third place. Further back, the Mullen/King Aston went out with a suspension problem. "I don't know how much the car is worth, but I thought it was better to park it," said Mullen.
While Bryant further extended his lead, the main interest lay in the contest for second place and when Horsman ran a couple of slow laps it seemed possible that Hall could catch him. However, Horsman soon regained normal pace and that settled the finishing order. "It looked expensive when he was going slowly," said Lloyd. "The brakes had stuck on and I couldn't get the pedal to release," said Horsman. However, he then managed to kick the pedal free and settled back into a safe second, 25s ahead of the Hall Camaro.
The Thurtle and McCarthy combinations had good races for fourth and fifth, while the Aston Martin DB4 of Peter Wheeler/Ben Samuelson was a strong sixth. The Camaro of Alec Hammond/John Young just edged the Aston Martin V8 of Bob Searles/Tony Jardine for seventh.
Making it a great day for Morgan, Tony Lees bagged class B in his +8, but was never too far ahead of the Christoforou/Stagg Escort, while the Lotus 47 of Pat Thomas/Al Fleming was a good third. Meanwhile, having battled ahead of the Youles/Boyd car, the Death Mini went out with a major water problem. Boyd's Mini then lapsed onto less than four cylinders, but limped home to win the class. "When I saw P1 on the board, I thought just keep it going, whatever happens," said Boyd.Results – 45 minutes1 Grahame Bryant/Oliver Bryant (Morgan +8) 29 laps in 46m29.197s (84.18mph); 2 Rick Lloyd/Peter Horsman (Morgan +8) +42.296s; 3 Pete Hall/Stuart Hall (Chevrolet Camaro); 4 Arthur Thurtle/Roger Bennington (Chevrolet Camaro); 5 Russell McCarthy/Roy McCarthy (MGB GTV8); 6 Peter Wheeler/Ben Samuelson (Aston Martin DB4); 7 Alec Hammond/John Young (Chevrolet Camaro); 8 Bob Searles/Tony Jardine (Aston Martin DBS V8); 9 Ian McCallum/John Bussell (Aston Martin DB5); 10 George Miller/Les Goble (Aston Martin DBS V8). Class winners: Hall/Hall; Bryant/Bryant; Tony Lees (Morgan +8); Nathalie Boyd/Mike Youles (Mini Cooper S). Fastest lap: Oliver Bryant 1m31.982s (88.02mph).Next rounds: Brands Hatch, 22/23 September.
