Boysie Thurtle won both races as the 2009 Heritage GT Challenge season finally got underway at Brands Hatch over the May Bank Holiday weekend (May 2-3).  It was all the more remarkable as he achieved it in different cars, Sunday’s victory coming after he partnered Chris Scragg in the latter’s Aston Martin DBS V8.QualifyingOne and a half seconds covered the top three around the demanding Grand Prix circuit with Andy Jenkinson/John Young in the former’s Invitation class Aston Martin DBS V8 topping the time sheets ahead of the Thurtle’s Chevrolet Camaro.Scragg was third quickest ahead of the Steven Byrne/Peter Snowdon Class E Aston Martin DB4 lightweight. Best Class A runner was the Harvey and Clive Death Mini Cooper S, while Class B was topped by the potent (327bhp!) Sunbeam Lotus of Joss Ronchetti/Julian Westwood. The series newcomers were eighth fastest.Best of the Class C runners was the Chris Williams/Chas Windridge Rover SD1 that was being kept honest by the TVR engined Ford Escort of Steve and Jonny Hyde. Surprise of the session was a lowly sixth spot for last year’s double race winner Grahame Bryant who, with son Oli still recovering from a shoulder injury, was partnered by Historic racer Andrew Smith. Fuel injection problems hampered the Morgan Plus 8 duo all weekend, the car running on various configurations of cylinders ranging from eight down to six. Race OneThe main talking point after Saturday’s single driver red-flagged sprint race was the violent accident that befell Jenkinson. Flat out (around 150mph) on the approach to Hawthorns, the car went into a spin and clobbered the barriers on the right hand side of the track.Initially it appeared something may have broken; however, closer inspection of TV footage, most notably from the rear, revealed oil on the left hand side of the circuit.Andy was lucky to escape uninjured from a high speed passenger ride that ended with the car back on the other side of the track, rather battered.However, before that had even happened, the resumption from an earlier safety car period had prompted differing opinions of whether or not to pass a backmarker. It resulted in Jenkinson going from first down to fourth.Whatever the rights or wrongs of it, Thurtle (in the family Camaro) now led from Alec Hammond (Camaro) and Ronchetti. Jenkinson got back up to second before another safety car period interrupted the flow of things.Once underway again, Jenkinson’s luck took a dive when he spun at Paddock, but far worse was to follow a few laps later. When the race was halted, Thurtle was some 5s clear of the Ronchetti Sunbeam with Scragg in close attendance in third.Sean Brown (seventh overall in his Aston Martin DB4) made a Class E winning debut while Williams (12th overall), Harvey Death (14th) and the Pat Cooke driven VW Golf GTi (16th) were the other class winners.Results – Race One1 Boysie Thurtle (Chevrolet Camaro) 10 laps in 18m 19.026s (75.81mph); 2 Joss Ronchetti (Sunbeam Lotus) + 5.143s; 3 Chris Scragg (Aston Martin DBS V8); 4 John Dickson (Ram Cobra); 5 Alec Hammond (Chevrolet Camaro); 6 Phil Hollins (Morgan Plus 8). Class winners: Thurtle; Ronchetti; Sean Brown (Aston Martin DB4); Chris Williams (Rover SD1); Harvey Death (Mini Cooper S); Pat Cooke (VW Golf GTi). Fastest lap Thurtle 1m39.302s (83.88mph).Race TwoFollowing an incident filled Saturday encounter, surely Sunday’s main race could not live up to that, although there were still some minor dramas. With Arthur Thurtle not recovered from the flu (not the Mexican swine variety, he insisted), Boysie switched to pair up with Scragg.The Camaro was one of six absentees; engine and/or gearbox problems accounting for four of them, plus of course the sadly battered Jenkinson Aston Martin.With the race programme running ahead of schedule, it seemed our curtain closing 40 minute race would benefit. But no, as a violent accident in the preceding GT Cup race left the circuit groundstaff with a number of barrier support posts to replace before we could get underway.When things did, it was the Ronchetti Sunbeam that led from Thurtle and Hammond who soon put ground between themselves and the pursuers. With Thurtle among the earliest to pit, the order soon changed. On lap 12, the leading Sunbeam pulled into the back of the pits, its differential having failed under the strain.This promoted Scragg to the head of affairs and there he stayed, nicely clear of his rivals. ‘I shall have a few beers tonight; time I won one of these races’ said a clearly delighted Scragg. Phil Hollins had driven a good race, hovering around the top five, but once co-driver Peter Horsman took over, the car positively flew. He moved up the order at breakneck pace, second spot being fine reward for a superb drive.Hathaway had occupied the place, but he had no answer when the far more nimble Morgan caught him. The Bob Searles/Tony Jardine DBS V8 was fourth.Out of luck was Snowdon who, with no driving duties on Saturday had joined the commentary team to impart some words of wisdom. A day later, a typically hard charging Snowdon rearranged the rear end of the Byrne owned car when he dropped a wheel into the gravel at Paddock and spun across the track into the barriers at the foot of Hailwood Hill.Class E victory went this time to the Ian McCallum/John Bussell DB5 in fifth place. The other classes went to Laki Christoforou (whose Escort had survived a hairy expedition in the Stirlings gravel trap on Saturday); the Hydes per et fils, while the Death brothers plus Richard Cooke/Simon Verschueren in their Golf GTi rounded out the winners.

Results – Race Two1 Scragg/Boysie Thurtle (Aston Martin DBS V8) 23 laps in 40m49.720s (78.25mph); 2 Hollins/Peter Horsman + 8.797s; 3 Hammond/Graham Hathaway; 4 Bob Searles/Tony Jardine (Aston Martin DBS V8); 5 Ian McCallum/John Bussell (Aston Martin DB5); 6 Grahame Bryant/Andrew Smith (Morgan Plus 8). Class winners Scragg/Thurtle; McCallum/Bussell; Laki Christoforou (Ford Escort Mk 1); Steve & Jonny Hyde (Ford Escort Mk 1); Richard Cooke/Simon Verschueren (VW Golf GTi). Fastest lap Hollins/Horsman 1m39.136s (84.06mph).