In Heritage GT at Snetterton
Arthur and Boysie Turtle romped home in the enduro race following Boysie�s victory in the sprint race as the Heritage Grand Touring Car Challenge raced alongside the British F3 & GT Championships at Snetterton over the weekend (4/5 July).
A varied HGTCC grid put on two action packed races in front of a big crowd enjoying a fine sunny day at the Norfolk circuit.�
Qualifying
Qualifying was very close at the top with less than a second separating the first five cars. Richard and Robert Austin put their extremely quick 5 Litre Ford Capri Perana on poll with a 1m 15.189s lap, .292s ahead of father and son duo, Arthur and Boysie Thurtle in their Chevrolet Camaro. Another father and son pairing, Grahame and Oliver Bryant in their Morgan +8, Chris Scragg in his new, even quicker V8 and the world�s quickest Talbot Sunbeam Lotus of Joss Ronchetti and Julian Westwood were all within half a second of the leading three.
Another two seconds separated the rest of the top ten promising a very exciting two races on Sunday. Tenth spot was taken by the Ford Escort Mk1 of Colin Voyce and David Mountain which had only just been completed the day before.
Race one
Following early heavy showers the track had dried and the sun was out as the cars came out for the morning sprint race. When the lights went out Boysie Thurtle driving the family�s Camaro swept ahead of poll man Richard Austin in the 5 litre Ford Capri. These two had a great battle for the first five laps creating a seven second gap to the chasing pack led in turn by Chris Scragg�s V8 until the first of two spins put him back to sixth, John Wilson in his very quick MG BGT V8 and eventually by the slow starting Joss Ronchetti getting back into contention.
By lap 10 Thurtle had built up a lead of 10 seconds over Austin due to a misfire in the Capri which turned out to be a dropped valve, this enabled the Ronchetti Sunbeam Talbot to snatch second place by the 13th lap managing to hold off a valiant effort by Austin, with one cylinder missing, until the flag. Chris Scragg despite his pirouetting exhibitions got back up to take fourth�place�ahead of Grahame Bryant driving his Morgan +8. In 6th place came the ever improving Zoe North in her Aquamarine Sunbeam �Tigress�, and 7th was John Wilson (MG BGT V8).
Class C honours went to Jonny Hyde in the TVR engined Ford Escort Mk1, class A being won by Colin Voyce in his Ford Escort, a class win on its first outing.
Retirements included Norman Ricketts who blew the clutch to�smithereens�in his BMW 1602 on lap 3, ending his weekend�s enjoyment; John Shoesmith lasted until lap 12 before a broken oil pump put his Chevrolet Camaro out for the day and the DB4 of Robert Brown with a broken�throttle�cable meaning a quick fix would enable the car to contest the enduro race in the afternoon
Race one � 16 laps:
1 Boysie Thurtle (Chevrolet Camaro) 20m24.170s (91.84mph); 2 Joss Ronchetti (Talbot Sunbeam Lotus) +11.093s; 3 Richard Austin (Ford Capri Perana); 4 Chris Scragg (Aston Martin V8); 5 Grahame Bryant (Morgan Plus 8); 6 Zoe North (Sunbeam Tiger); 7 John Wilson (MG BGT V8); 8 Jonny Hyde (Ford Escort Mk1); 9 Bob Searles (Aston Martin DBS V8); 10 Colin Voyce (Ford Escort Mk1). Class winners: Boysie Thurtle; Colin Voyce; Jonny Hyde. Fastest lap: Thurtle 1m15.493s (93.08mph).
Race two
It was a long wait until the second race and the entrants spent their time differently. Some taking the opportunity to make sure their car was going to be fit for the fight others relaxed in hospitality.When the time came the old timers burst into life, as did the cars and they made their way to the holding area the cars lined up in the order they finished race one.Not everyone was so relaxed. An official must have felt Robert Austin needed cooling as he set off his fire extinguisher. It looked like Robert had had his early bath but frantic running around the paddock resulted in a replacement being found.
Arthur Thurtle took the helm of the family Camaro from poll and immediately pulled away from the others as the v8 Aston of Scragg challenged the Lotus Sunbeam. Scragg got the better of Ronchetti but had to defend hard as he came around Corum. Once clear he set off after Arthur Thurtle who would respond setting his fastest lap before pitting to swap with son Boysie.Elsewhere a David and Goliath battle was being fought between the Death�s Mini and Robin North�s almighty Falcon. Some great close racing was had as the mini tried to navigate around this mountain of a car but eventually the spectators were disappointed with the mini�s retirement.
Scragg continued to pick up the pace but as he charged out of Russell he lost traction and the car spun allowing the Sunbeam that had been following through to take the lead but not for long as when they reappeared around Corum Scragg was once again in front.
Boysie Thurtle now in the Camero was charging lights blazing as was the Capri now in the hands of Rob Austin who was making his way through the field.Scragg was 28 seconds ahead of the Thurtle Camero but Scragg had yet to pit. When he did the pit lane was given a demonstration of athleticism, all those hours in the gym paying off, as he did the mandatory two laps around the car sipping what looked like a Latte as he went.
Refreshed all be it a little red faced, Scragg left the pit lane behind Boysie but neck and neck with the Austin Capri. As they came around Corum the Capri ambitiously attempted to go around the outside of Scragg, a move only possible in cars orange in colour however Scragg had it covered although on the lap which preceded Scragg lost traction on the exit and the Capri was through. It looked like this is how it would go until the end but the Capri started to slow and fall back and we feared it would follow the fate of the Lotus Sunbeam, but the Capri kept going and was able to follow Bob Searles� Aston DBSV8 and the Hyde escort who were having a great battle for 4th and 5th which only ended with a�synchronised�spin at Russell, Hyde being unable to restart the engine.The Heritage series is always fun to participate in but watching you realise that it is a real spectacle and one which judging by the reaction to the spectators around me is a favourite for many.Sean and Robert Brown were 5th and class E winners and the MGB of Angus Dent and Tony Barnard won class A.
Race 2 report by John Dickson, Heritage driver of orange Cobra, forced to spectate.
Race two � 35 laps:
1 Thurtle/Thurtle (Chevrolet Camaro);� 45m41.677s (89.70mph); 2 Chris Scragg (Aston Martin V8) +44.606s;�� 3 Austin/Austin (Ford Capri Perana); 4 Bob Searles (Aston Martin DBS V8);� 5 Brown/Brown (Aston Martin DB4 Lightweight); 6 Zoe North (Sunbeam Tiger 7 Hyde/Hyde (Ford Escort Mk.1); 8 Robin North (Ford Falcon); 9 Barnard/Dent (MGB); 10 Cooke/Verchueren (VW Golf GTI). Class winners: Thurtle/Thurtle; Brown/Brown); Hyde/Hyde. Fastest lap: Austin/Austin 1m15.731s (92.79mph).
Next rounds:
Snetterton, August 1st - 2nd�
