Jason Minshaw and Martin O’Connell shared the victories in two fabulous E-type Challenge races at the HSCC’s Oulton Park Gold Cup meeting (28/29 August).
The victories for Minshaw and Stretton made it five winners in eight races in the E-type Challenge season and came after two enthralling races left the results in doubt until the flag. Seasoned race commentator Ian Titchmarsh described the races as two of the best of the 2011 season.
The E-type Challenge, celebrating 50 years of the Jaguar E-type, is managed by the Historic Sports Car Club in conjunction with Jaguar Heritage and is supported by JD Classics and runs with two classes, for cars prepared to a period race trim and standard cars.
The series moved to the Cheshire track for the concluding pair of races and from another capacity grid it was Jon Minshaw who claimed pole position during a very wet qualifying session. Right behind was Martin Stretton, regularly Minshaw’s co-driver in longer races, but this time at the wheel of Mark Clubb’s car.
It was dry for the start of the opening race as Jon Minshaw led the field away, but only as far as the Shell Hairpin when the battle with Stretton ended with Minshaw’s car in the gravel. Graeme Dodd had been right behind the leading duo and nipped ahead of Stretton as rain started to fall again. Meanwhile, up from 15th on the grid with a mighty opening charge had come Jason Minshaw to make it a three-way lead battle.
For nearly 20 minutes, this trio turned on a superb display of fiercely competitive racing and when Stretton put a wheel on the grass on the exit of Knickerbrook, Minshaw dived through to second. Next Minshaw dislodged Dodd in the closing minutes and then, as they hit big traffic on the final lap, Stretton grabbed second place after Dodd tried to attack the leader. Stretton was little more than a tenth of a second behind Minshaw over the line. “I wasn’t expecting that from 15th on the grid,” said Jason. “It all happened a bit quick!”
Monday’s race was just as good as Jason M led the field away from Stretton as Martin O’Connell charged up from ninth on the grid to take third in the car raced by Sandy Watson in the opening race. However, the star of the opening lap was Jon Minshaw, who started dead last and passed 20 cars in half a lap to be sixth as they arrived at Knickerbrook for the first time.
Over the next few laps the leading four cars ran in close formation as Stretton edged Jason M back to second with O’Connell and Jon M close behind. Then, O’Connell got ahead of Jason M for second and Jon M soon elbowed his brother back to fourth in a bold move at Old Hall.
All four of the leaders had grassy moments at Knickerbrook during a rain shower and Jason M spun, but still continued in fourth. Jon M was still on a charge and sliced past Stretton in another mega move under braking at Old Hall but was just unable to launch a decisive move on O’Connell over the final laps.
“I’m just glad Jon didn’t start at the front,” said O’Connell. “The gaps just seemed to open up for me on the first lap; I wasn’t really expecting that,” said Minshaw after one of the drives of the season. Stretton completed the podium, despite being slowed by a misfire in the closing stages of the race.
In class B, for the standard cars, Jonathan Hughes won on Sunday as he finished in an impressive seventh overall. John Burton and Roger Cope completed the podium and it was Cope who won the class on Monday ahead of Alan Minshaw and David Hall.
