Historic Grand Prix d'Europe
Luxembourg 1997
We boarded the 0815 ferry on Saturday
morning. Those with trailers carrying GP cars, took to the motorways abut we
set off along a more scenic route with Richard and Trisha Pilkington in their
Alfa Romeo Monza and pre-war Talbot Lago, Rupert Avon in father's C type
Jaguar, Nick Rossi in another C, Tom and Di Threlfall in their Frazer Nash,
Stephen Curtis in a Talbot and Alannah and me in HWM 1. Luxembourg took a
little longer than anticipated but we arrived in time for what passed as
scrutineering - a long queue with very little activity at the end. The weather
was scorching and far too hot for pushing cars about. This was followed by a
drivers briefing that was in four languages. Most of the 40-strong TOPS Team
arrived in good order but poor Seb Welch found that his Bentley had only top
gear.
The hotels on the circuit proved
satisfactory but those staying further away had some difficulty in getting back
in to the circuit. The organisers took a group of TOPS to dinner at a local
'chalet' and introduced the grand-daughter of Benoist - a delightful person
with considerable stories to tell.
Sunday dawned grey and very damp -
what a contrast. The first announcement was that everything would start an hour
later than scheduled - this was caused by the local club marshals failing to
appear - much to the irritation of both competitors and organisers.
The circuit had been newly built
around the soulless European centre. It was fairly narrow with daunting high
concrete walls and the road had many sections where the street slippery white
lines predominated. There were a couple of straights which were not quite as
straight as they looked on the plan, two tight right angle corners and a very
tight roundabout. Concentration came easily. This was not a place for heroics.
Noise is not a problem as nobody lives there.
In my first practice, held in pouring
rain, John Venables-Llewelyn did not surprise those who know him but certainly
made the locals think, by being the fastest car of the meeting in his Alfa
Romeo P3 and that included some pretty nimble rear-engined machinery.
I was quite pleased to be fourth in
our group. On 'C' type was almost using slicks on the front! He did well to
stay out of the scenery. Second practice was dryish and times improved
dramatically but I dropped to sixth as my high road diff. Really made a
difference. I needed first coming out of the hairpin but wasn't into that much
car abuse and had I lost top, it would have mattered little. Not everyone was
so lucky. As soon as the GP cars went out again, the heavens opened.
We were unadventurous over dinner,
although some did venture into the city and had good meals although quite a
number of restaurants were closed - it being a Bank Holiday weekend in Europe.
Access to the paddock proved quite difficult until one had learned the tricks
of the one way system and some people nearly gave up! About twenty of us had a
very good evening in our hotel five minutes walk from the paddock.
Monday started cool and dreary but
soon picked up and the weather was just right. Drivers had a good picnic lunch
provided on both days and the tent acted as something of a focal point in the
crowded paddock. There was little damage on the circuit and I am not aware of
any involving TOPS members.
John Venables-Llewelyn won a pot.
Spike Milligan was pretty chuffed as his Connaught went like a shell following
various recent troubles and Roger Saul achieved 'a podium finish'. Richard
Pilkington led for most of his race but slowed to second when over-heating
became rather serious in the Talbot Lago. He later had a thrilling drive in
Robin Lodge's Maserati 250F, starting last after wet practice and finishing
fifth. Robin drove both his Ferrari Dino and his Maserati 300S to first places.
The organisers had put in a great deal of hard work and largely triumphed
against considerable odds. There were some bits of chaos and a certain amount
of 'hurry up and wait' and the weather was unkind but there were few 'sense of
humour failures'.
We retrieved all our junk from beneath
Robin Lodge's transporter, squeezed in into the HWM and set off for Calais
followed by Rossi's C type, William Hay's glorious 250S Maserati, Trisha
Pilkington's Alfa Romeo Monza and Richard in his GP Talbot Lago (relegated to
the rear because of his castrol R) - just like old times. About 50 miles south
of Calais in appalling conditions, there was a loud bang and my rear suspension
collapsed. At 75 mph surrounded by lorries and in pouring rain, this gave me
what we refer to as a 'moment'. The top had snapped off a rear shocker allowing
the spring to escape with dramatic results. Luckily, Chris and Sandy Wilson
were following along with their Frazer Nash on a trailer. They unloaded and we
man-handled the HWM on and proceeded to Calais. Poor Chris suddenly finding
himself rudely plucked from his air-conditioned stereophonic Izuzu and out
there in the deluge, but farmers are touch and I was very glad he came along.
As so often happens, the party to and
from is as much fun as the event itself and we all had a great time. I love
winding across Europe with a 250S, C type and Monza in my mirror. All I need is
an excuse and the Grand Prix d'Europe was a pretty good one.
J.K.R.