Jon Minshaw was peerless in races three and four of the E-type Challenge when a record grid of 52 cars competed on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit during the Silverstone Classic (23-24 July).
The second race weekend for the E-type Challenge was a key element of the major 50th anniversary celebrations for the model during the biggest classic racing festival of the season. With over 1000 E-types on site and over 800 taking part in a track parade, it was a huge event for the iconic British sports car and a record was set when 52 cars took to the grid for a spectacular evening race on Saturday.
For Minshaw, just taking up pole position was an achievement after his car suffered a gearbox problem in an earlier race on Saturday. The crew from Valley Motorsport worked flat out to change the gearbox in just over two hours before the E-type race and Minshaw repaid their efforts by going clear from the start and seeing off the challenge of Alex Buncombe, who finished three and a half seconds behind.
“I could see Alex in the background and I kept a monitor on the gap,” said Minshaw. “The last two laps were horrible; there was so much fuel on the track. The guys were awesome in changing the gearbox,” he added.
Graeme Dodd, winner of the first race of the series at Brands Hatch had to settle for the final podium position this time around. In the class for standard cars, former BTCC champion John Cleland took victory with a clear lead over John Burton and Alan Minshaw.
It was a case of more of the same in Sunday’s second race, when warm sunshine for the half-hour race made it a tough challenge for cars and drivers. But Minshaw was able to extend his winning margin to almost half a minute from Martin O’Connell, who was racing the car handled by Sandy Watson in the opening race. Andrew Smith moved up to complete the overall podium, while the standard class was headed by Burton, Alan Minshaw and Trevor Groom
The E-type Challenge, managed by the Historic Sports Car Club in conjunction with Jaguar Heritage, is supported by JD Classics and runs with two classes, for cars prepared to a period race trim and standard cars.
The next date for the E-type Challenge is at the Nurburgring (13/14 August).
