More family affairs in HampshireFather and son winning pairs are becoming a common theme in Charterhouse Heritage GT Challenge races and, for a third successive meeting, it happened with race wins at the ultra quick Thruxton circuit (28/29 June) for Grahame Bryant along with Arthur and Boysie Thurtle. QualifyingThe Bryant family Morgan Plus 8 of Grahame and son Oliver topped the time sheets with a quite staggering lap a whopping 2.748s clear of the rest. The Thurtles were next best in the family Chevrolet Camaro, 0.85s up on the similar car of Alec Hammond/Graham Hathaway, the latter’s Essex based firm having only finished rebuilding it on Friday night, following its accident at Silverstone. The Steven Byrne/Peter Snowdon Aston Martin DB4 was quickest of the Class E cars while the Williams, Chris and son Charlie, were fastest in Class C; but they switched to their trusty Class D Morgan Plus 8 as the Rover SD1 suffered a suspected dropped valve in qualifying.
A trip back to Essex to get the Morgan meant that they missed Saturday’s race. Regular GT racer Steve Hyde topped the Invitation class, standing in for regular driver Darren Dowling, in the Steve Howard owned V8-engined Ford Escort.
The McCarthys, Roy and son Spencer switched mounts, Roy substituting the ex-Mark Ellis MGA in place of his familiar MGB GTV8 which was in need some refreshing following several races at the recent MGCC Festival at Silverstone. They thus moved to Class A.
Quickest of the Class B runners was Jeremy Cooke, the London man another to move classes as he brought along a Porsche 911RS rather than his original entry of a Ford Mustang.Race oneSaturday’s 20-minute sprint race was for single drivers and while Grahame Bryant did win, it was nothing like as easy as qualifying times had suggested. Lurking down the order was race returnee Lester Stacey in his newly acquired ex-Alan Minshaw Ford Mustang. Back from a nine-year sabbatical, the motor home magnate showed no signs of ring rustiness as he took the fight to Bryant.
On his first ever visit to Thruxton, Stacey had qualified only ninth fastest, yet he was up to second inside a lap. This was a wake up call, not only to Bryant but to Arthur Thurtle and the others. It took Thurtle five laps to depose the newcomer, but having done that he promptly spun on the exit of the chicane.
Thankfully everybody missed the stricken car and Thurtle was able to resume, now down in sixth spot. Slowing to miss Thurtle meant that Stacey had lost ground on Bryant, but he soon made it up again. As the lead pair came up Woodham Hill for the ninth time, Stacey blasted past into the lead as if the Morgan was standing still. "That thing has got some power", opined Bryant. "One of the Formula Three team members told me that the wind had changed direction this afternoon. There was a tail wind this morning and the Morgan was good for 150mph up there; now it’s high 130s. I changed from fourth to fifth and it barely went any quicker," he added.
A couple of laps later, Bryant redressed the situation at Church and this time, he was able to stay ahead, albeit by just 0.313s. "I didn’t realise it was the last lap, I could have had him," rued the colourful Stacey.
Chris Scragg was a fine, if lonely, third in his Aston Martin V8 while Thurtle fought his way back to take fourth. He was a couple of seconds ahead of Hammond, while Mike Luck completed the top six in his Jaguar E Type after not always enjoying the best of breaks while battling with the V8 machinery.
Hyde pedalled an unfamiliar car at decent pace to claim Invitation class honours at the blunt end of the top ten. Roy McCarthy was only two places further back en route to Class A honours in front of a number of potentially quicker cars.
Steven Byrne was best of the Class E runners, albeit with less pace than his professional co-driver Peter Snowdon. The defection from Class C of the Williams’s left things open for a fresh winner and it came in the shape of Alan Collett’s rare Iso Rivolta, which beat David Such’s Aston Martin by just 1.85 seconds. Rikki Cann found a useful improvement in pace to claim Class B honours ahead of qualifying pace setter Jeremy Cooke.Results – 20 minutes1 Grahame Bryant (Morgan Plus 8) 14 laps in 20m57.200s (94.44mph); 2 Lester Stacey (Ford Mustang) + 0.313s; 3 Chris Scragg (Aston Martin DBS V8); 4 Arthur Thurtle (Chevrolet Camaro); 5 Alec Hammond (Chevrolet Camaro); 6 Mike Luck (Jaguar E Type); 7 Rick Lloyd (Chevrolet Camaro); 8 Simon Lane (Chevrolet Camaro); 9 Tony Jardine (Aston Martin DBS V8); 10 Steve Hyde (Ford Escort). Class winners: Bryant; Hyde; Roy McCarthy (MGA); Steven Byrne (Aston Martin DB4); Alan Collett (Iso Rivolta); Rikki Cann (Ford Escort). Fastest lap: Thurtle 1m 28.023s (96.35mph).Race twoAlready at the tail of a 12-race programme, Sunday’s Heritage race ran perilously close to the circuit’s curfew hour following delays caused by an accident in the British GT race. Unlike some of the preceding races, which were trimmed in time, at least the Heritage race ran to almost its full duration.
With the grid order set on race one finishing positions, Arthur Thurtle lost little time in getting past Bryant and Stacey to establish himself at the front of the pack. Stacey and a hard charging Scragg dumped pole man Bryant to fourth on the first lap.
Bryant soon took third spot but no sooner had he got it than Hammond demoted him to fourth. The fired up Hammond, clearly relishing the extra front end grip afforded by a new nose splitter then set about Stacey and ousted him.
A pattern emerged with the top five running together in the order Thurtle, Hammond, Stacey, Bryant and Scragg. With Bryant seemingly not the force of Saturday, Scragg then bumped him back to fifth.
Stacey was the first of the big five to depart, a puncture sending him scuttling to the pits. He later rejoined, but his chances had gone. Nevertheless it was a fine recovery drive to claim seventh by the close.
Hammond later ousted Thurtle from the number one slot but then as the pit stops unfurled, so the order yo-yoed. After four laps out of the top spot, Boysie Thurtle re-established what his father had started. Clearly enjoying himself, Boysie launched the Camaro into some lurid powerslides onto the Pit Straight.
As he built up the lead gap, attention turned to the charge by Oliver Bryant who was trying to peg back Hathaway for second spot. Time and again, Bryant got into a challenging position only to see the wily Hathaway defend cleverly and then use Chevrolet power to fend him off.
One of the saddest sights of the day was that of Scragg’s well-earned fourth spot go begging just two laps from home, when his oil pressure dived. Scragg’s misfortune elevated the Williams’ Morgan to fourth after a superb drive from the rear of the grid.
Power-sliding Byrne’s DB4 on par with Thurtle, Snowdon urged the blue six-cylinder car up to a very fine fifth overall and Class E honours. Such turned round Saturday form to claim Class C while the McCarthys took Class A. VW Golf GTi pairing Richard Cooke and Simon Verschueren won the Invitation class while Cooke bagged Class B honours this time.
"I got a good start and managed to stay ahead although Hammond did get by me later. Boysie was up for it though and he put in a good charge. This old car is wonderful to drive’," concluded said a jubilant Arthur Thurtle.Results – 45 minutes1 Arthur Thurtle/Boysie Thurtle 29 laps in 43m17.393s (94.69mph); 2 Alec Hammond/Graham Hathaway + 26.297s; 3 Grahame Bryant/Oliver Bryant; 4 Chris Williams/Charlie Williams (Morgan Plus 8); 5 Steven Byrne/Peter Snowdon (Aston Martin DB4); 6 Mike Luck/Jonathan Edwards; 7 Lester Stacey; 8 Les Goble (Aston Martin DBS V8); 9 Tony Jardine/Bob Searles; 10 Pat Cooke (Aston Martin Vantage). Class winners: Thurtle/Thurtle; Byrne/Snowdon; David Such (Aston Martin DBS V8); Roy McCarthy/Spencer McCarthy; Richard Cooke/Simon Verschueren (VW Golf GTi); Jeremy Cooke (Porsche 911RS). Fastest lap: Hammond/Hathaway 1m 26.198s (98.39mph).Next rounds: Snetterton, 19/20 July.
