BRDC 500 Summer Races
Silverstone – Saturday 31st July, 2004
No sooner had we returned from the Classic Le Mans than we
were commemorating another great endurance event, the 75th
Anniversary of the BRDC 500-Mile Race.
Brooklands may be long gone, but Silverstone is still here, regardless
of ongoing difficulties with Bernie Ecclestone and any concomitant divisions in
the BRDC camp.
Richard Pilkington had very generously offered John
(Guyatt) a seat in his historic Talbot Darracq T26SS. As we drove over to Stowe School on Friday evening for the Pre-War
Cars’ scrutineering, I mused at the superiority of a car designed for racing
(Richard’s TT/Le Mans Talbot) compared with a regular road-car (John’s T23, in
which Richard and Trish were following) and a car re-built as a racing Special
(like John’s old T120). We sipped
champagne and nibbled canapés beneath the nearly-completely restored North
Façade, while Jackie Stewart made us welcome and nobly attempted to extol the
virtues of the assembled vehicles …. Although I suspect he finds them the least
interesting, and most tiresomely oily, to grace his track Once a clutch of hot air balloons had lifted
of for Silverstone, we too returned to light our own fire, savour sundowners
and partake of a barbeque at the very hospitable Pilkington paddock encampment.
It was a real family gathering with
Tania, James and their new baby, Alex, Erika, and of course the two 1750 Alfas
and ….what’s this ….a spare Monza atop the trailer ….just in case? The evening set the tone for the whole
meting: an easy, relaxed atmosphere with “the right crowd but no crowding”.
From a spectator’s viewpoint, Saturday proved a showcase
of smooth running rarely witnessed at international events as the meeting
proceeded seamlessly through morning practice and into the afternoon programme
at 12.30. Race 1 and 2 were split into
two halves: the hotly-contested Formula Ford 1600, Northern Ireland Series, was
eventually won by one Dempsey ahead of another Dempsey, while the BRDC Historic
Sportscar Race provided even more thrills.
In the first half, Julian Bronson stormed into the lead with the Lister
Corvette’s superior power, Philip Walker’s Lotus 15 threatened, carrying more
speed through the corners, and John Harper’s Cooper Monaco hovered in the
wings, ready to capitalize on either’s mistake. On the last lap, Walker got the better of Bronson at Luffield and
sneaked across the line just 0.04 seconds ahead. In the second half, Harper’s Cooper snatched an early lead before
losing it to Bronson in the 4th lap; Walker’s Lotus, never out of
contention and recording the fastest lap in both races, temporarily stole
second position from Harper but lost it again before the final flag. Elsewhere in the field, Sid Hoole’s Cooer
Monaco took 4th in the first round only to be knocked into 5th
in the second half by Ted William’s rapidly-repaired Cooper; Bob Gilbert put in
a good run in his Lister Jaguar, coming in 5th in the first half,
but dropped to 7th in the second following “an interesting moment”;
Barry Cannell’s Wilment Climax, starting alongside Bob, unfortunately suffered
a rear axle problem, while Ben Eastick in the D-Type and Jamie McIntyre in the
Rejo Mk IV enjoyed trouble-free races and class wins. In the Under 1500cc Class, John Clark took a first half win in
the Lola but was pipped to the post by Peter Horsman’s Lotus 17 in the second
race.
The Sports and GT Challenge featured a large and varied
grid dominated by two well-matched E-types: Les Ely eventually beat Ian Guest’s
CUT 7 by just 0.7 seconds. There were a
couple of rather less well-supported F3 races – Jackie Stewart’s type of
racing? – but I’m afraid my attention drifted.
As the afternoon wore on, the track became increasingly slippery and by
the time the Group 4 Sportscars came on, it appeared more like an ice-rink.
I was watching from the BRDC’s magnificent Clubhouse,
whose doors had been thrown open to competitors and crew. As Nigel Hulme’s tail-happy Lola spun before
us, his anxious son standing beside me groaned “now I know what he feels like
when he’s watching me” ….lack of grip put the Mk3B out of contention, but Nigel
nevertheless waltzed on into 4th place and recorded the fastest lap
at 95 mph. Reminiscent of the daftest
of Olympic events, one spectacular synchronized spin was performed by Jon
Minshaw in a Chevron B16, Charles Allison in a Chevron B8 and Tony Bianchi in
his blue B8 … their perfectly-timed pirouette had identical spacing, speed and
angle …dix points! Tony, at the
rear, was the first to recover, quickly followed by Allison, but Minshaw had
stalled and as he abandoned his car mid-track he lost a shoe and had to hobble
ignominiously to safety (ooo, ouch, knobbly gravel). Spins aside, there was plenty of spirited driving throughout the
field, at the head of which Frank Sytner and Craig Jones fought for first position. On lap 12 an otherwise entertaining race was
sadly marred (and prematurely ended) by an horrific accident on the pit
straight. As he lapped two adjacent
backmarkers, Sytner clipped Jerry Hooper ricocheting his B8 into Mark Green’s
Lotus, which hit the wall and rolled.
Thankfully, the quick response of pitwall mechanics helped expedite the
hapless victim’s rescue from the burning wreckage.
I am sure we would all wish Mark Green (who I understand,
was enjoying a drive after much service as a Race Doctor) a full and speedy
recovery, and hope that his undeserved experience does not diminish his
enthusiasm for motorsport.
By the time we got to the climax of the day, the hour-long
re-creation of the BRDC 500-Mile Race for Pre-War Cars, I was a little
unnerved. However, as the drivers
sprinted across the track for a Le Mans-style start and sped safely away, my
anxieties about the track’s condition seemed unfounded. (What are these Group 4 guys on?) Bob Wood had assembled a splendidly full
grid – too full, as it turned out, for the National Circuit on which they were
racing. Even attrition due to a
demanding race calendar and 30 minutes’ morning practice had yielded
insufficient retirements, so some entries faced the axe. Bob withdrew his Invicta, and Alex
Pilkington gallantly scratched her 1750 Alfa (she had a long drive home and
there was a little oil leaking from …? …somewhere – oh Jackie, you could be
right!) The other casualties were
White’s Riley Brooklands, Green’s MG and Ken MacMaster’s 328 BMW (“after 47
years of trouble-free ownership, it’s just had an engine rebuild and now it’s
losing water!”) Erika had caused some
consternation in practice, blithely circulating in UU 79 as time ran out and
Tania frantically tried to wave her in from the pitwall; needless to say, Tania was having none of
the when it came to the race. Clive
Temple had encountered lug problems in his Riley Brooklands – a brand new set
proved to be faulty – and Richard Pilkington’s Talbot Darracq had also misfired
in practice but a set of softer plugs at the driver change improved
performance. Still, he had to contend
with 7th position on the start grid …
Richard got of to a scalding start (the pre-selector’s
definitely an advantage) and was soon powering his way to the front, ahead of
the two Altas, Mike Sythe’s aerodynamic BMW, Rushton’s Talbot 110 (BGH 21) and
the Champion/Chilcott Frazer Nash.
There was an anxious moment on lap 3 when Tom Delaney went wide at
Becketts and fell out of his Hyper as it lurched onto two wheels. Fortunately Tom sustained only minor
injuries, but t 93 the rescue services were taking no chances. The safety car came out in front of
Schumacher in his Brooklands Talbot (“was that out of habit?” Cecil wondered),
the field closed up, Richard’s advantage evaporated, and a number of drivers
adopted the other Schumacher’s tactic and made their pit stops. Still under the white flag, John Warden’s
Delage retired through overheating, and shortly after the green flag came out,
Rushton’s Alta split its new “unburstable” oil pipe, knocking driver Luke
Stevens out of 2nd position.
José Fernandez’s Alta limped back to the pits some six laps later,
leaving Richard comfortably ahead of the new 2nd place man, Josh
Sadler – a good time to hand over to co-driver, John Guyatt. Trisha’s face fell a mile when the
commentator announced that John had spun at Becketts on his outlap. John, meanwhile, was thinking “oh no,
Richard will kill me!” as he failed to complete a 360º and had to wait while
the Talbot 110 stole the lead before he could rejoin the race. He was reassured to see the oil flag out at
Becketts on his next lap, and set about gradually catching the green
Talbot. Then 8 minutes before the end,
Sadler ducked into the pits for his driver change, putting the Talbot Darracq
back into 1st ahead of Blakeney-Edwards in the streamlined BMW; BGH
21 re-emerged in 3rd place and the Frazer Nash came in 4th. After an hour’s racing, there were 26
finishers, which I thought was fairly impressive on such a hot afternoon. Considering, however, that our chaps covered
about 70 miles, compared with 500 in the original event, it makes one
appreciate both the stamina of the drivers and the endurance of their cars
(albeit that both might have been somewhat younger then!).
Jack Brabham presented the prizes at the entrance to the
BRDC enclosure. Patrick
Blakeney-Edwards received a well-earned runners-up trophy, while Richard and
John were each given a replica silver cup and get their names inscribed on the
BRDC 500 trophy alongside such luminaries as Jack Dunfee, John Cobb, Freddie
Dixon, ….(do remember to show due veneration when net you see them!) Beaming with pleasure, drivers and crew
retired to the BRDC lawn to drink Pimms by the jug, while hot air balloonists
prepared for their final ascent to close proceedings. There was much jostling and jockeying for position as 20 or 30
massive multi-coloured envelopes were inflated just across the track – a
fitting reminder of the day’s activities before they, like us, drifted off into
the setting sun.
For the BRDC, the meeting must surely rate as a
success. There is no doubt that they
have a tremendous asset both in the circuit at Silverstone and in their own
expertise to laying on top class race meetings. Hopefully they will capitalize on these assets and develop the
BRDC 500 into an event to rival other great international meetings such as
Classic Le Mans and the Monaco Historic.
They have made a promising start by giving competitors the sort of
welcome and privileges that ensure their participation, but if they want to
attract substantial gate-money, they would have to give it wider publicity and
control the paddock display properly.
As far as I’m concerned, this would probably signal the end of the
meeting’s greatest charm – its friendly informality – but such are the demands
of modern business.
The BRDC’s finale was a driver’s barbeque/dinner, but, as
we had failed to purchase advance tickets, we did not attend. Besides, we had another unexpected
invitation: dinner chez Pilkington … a welcome end to a splendid day …
many thanks to Richard and Trish, the BRDC, and, last but not least, the
indomitable Talbot Darracq.
L.M’A