CSCC Special Saloons & Modsports Thruxton 7th May 2023
The Classic Sports Car Club’s Special Saloons and Modsports series were out at Thruxton on the 7th of May for their second meeting of 2023.
Qualifying: Andy Southcott flew to pole position in his rapid spaceframed MG Midget by a healthy 4.908 seconds from Ian Hall’s Darrian T98 GTR Wildcat. The turbocharged Peugeot 309 of Danny Morris and former BTCC racer Karl Jones was due to line up third, having been pipped by Hall’s Darrian right at the death, but a seized oil pump and damaged piston during the session put them out for the day. Qualifying fourth was Rod Birley’s ex-Garrie Whittaker BMW E36 M3, with the third row comprising Tom Carey’s Honda CRX silhouette, which was back at the venue where it suffered a major fire in 2022, and Martin Reynolds' latest acquisition - the former Piers Grange/Neil Argrave Ford Sierra XR8-Chevrolet.
Qualifying: Andy Southcott flew to pole position in his rapid spaceframed MG Midget by a healthy 4.908 seconds from Ian Hall’s Darrian T98 GTR Wildcat. The turbocharged Peugeot 309 of Danny Morris and former BTCC racer Karl Jones was due to line up third, having been pipped by Hall’s Darrian right at the death, but a seized oil pump and damaged piston during the session put them out for the day. Qualifying fourth was Rod Birley’s ex-Garrie Whittaker BMW E36 M3, with the third row comprising Tom Carey’s Honda CRX silhouette, which was back at the venue where it suffered a major fire in 2022, and Martin Reynolds' latest acquisition - the former Piers Grange/Neil Argrave Ford Sierra XR8-Chevrolet.
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Race One: The often fast-but-fragile Andy Southcott Midget sped away in the early laps of the 15-minute encounter and had streaked to an eight-second lead by the end of the third lap. Behind the fast-starting MG was an entertaining dice between Tom Carey’s Honda CRX and Ian Hall’s Darrian, the BDG-engined Honda passed Hall into Allard as they started the second lap but the pair had swapped places again next time around. A temporary truce was called with the appearance of the Safety Car for Martin Reynolds’ broken Sierra stopped on Woodham Hill. With racing resuming again after two laps at reduced speed, Southcott made his escape once more at the restart whilst Hall fended off Carey. Not for long, as the Honda was back ahead of Hall within two laps. The V8-powered Darrian’s pace was starting to diminish as the clock ticked down and it would soon start falling into the clutches of Thundersaloon old boys Rod Birley and Mike Chittenden in their BMWs. Southcott rolled off his pace towards the end of the fifteen minutes and was surprised to find the Carey CRX looming larger in his mirrors but, in the end, the Millington-powered Midget won at a canter. Carey’s Honda followed Southcott home, 4.340 seconds down despite an ailing gearbox. Hall’s Darrian held off the BMW pair after grappling with oil surge on right-handers, which restricted his speed, whilst Birley stayed ahead of Chittenden for fourth.
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Race Two: With Race One victor Southcott sent back ten places on the grid as his prize, Carey‘s CRX clone started from the head of the field after fears that his Race One gearbox problem would prove terminal were unfounded. The Darrian of Hall lined up alongside for the rolling start, whilst the BMW M3 E36s of Birley and Chittenden formed the second row. Unfortunately missing from the field would be the Reynolds Sierra, Neil Duke’s Vauxhall Carlton V8 and Jeremy Burgoyne’s Davrian Solo Imp with a blown motor. Hall’s Darrian got the jump into Allard to lead the field around the opening lap, whilst race one victor Southcott tore up the order and the flying Midget ended the opening lap in second. After losing out to Hall at the start, the Carey Honda also fell behind Birley at the Complex before Chittenden’s turbocharged BMW got through too on lap one. Hall’s start had proved to be too good and he was soon slapped with a ten-second false start penalty. However, this quickly became academic when Hall switched off his Wildcat V8 and toured into retirement on lap two, elevating Southcott into the race lead. Also making progress on the second lap was Carey, who had repassed Chittenden into third upon Hall’s exit. Lap three would be a different story as the Honda spun and was then brought into the pits to retire with a lack of brakes. Having drawn rapidly away from his pursuers, Southcott won easily from a delighted Birley, who completed his first ever 100mph lap of Thruxton during the race. Chittenden’s BMW slowed dramatically on the final lap but still retained third place in a race of attrition which saw only eight cars still running at the flag. Behind Robert Frost‘s 8.2-litre AC Cobra replica, the 7-litre fake snake of Cheng Lim won out in a battle further back with Jim Seward’s TR7 V8, Robert Knox’s MG Midget and the Ginetta G15 modsport of Steve Fray.
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Vauxhall Carlton TS6000 Thundersaloon
One of the most-anticipated new entries to the series was that of Neil Duke, driving the ex-works Vauxhall Carlton TS6000 Thundersaloon. Making its debut in 1987 and powered by a 5.7-litre Chevrolet V8, the car was handled by Vince Woodman, Jonathan Buncombe and twice BTCC champion John Cleland in period and became the most successful car in the Thundersaloons championship’s history. The success continued when the Carlton was purchased by Pete Stevens, taking the 1992 and 1995 titles in his hands. When the Thundersaloons championship fizzled out at the end of 1995, Stevens entered the car in the new Formula Saloons series and the wins kept on coming. After the success of their Special Saloons and Modsports revival races at Mallory Park in 2011, the CSCC were prompted to establish a series for the eye-catching cars and Stevens would bring the beast out of retirement in 2012 with two overall victories ensuing. Following Stevens’ untimely passing during the pandemic, former Ford Anglia BDG racer Duke was able to take on the big Vauxhall and would be making his debut with the car in Hampshire. Refreshed by Steve Mole Motorsport, Duke lined up ninth for the first race and brought the machine home in sixth position as he sought to gain experience with the car. Unfortunately, as detailed above, the Carlton wouldn’t start race two.
One of the most-anticipated new entries to the series was that of Neil Duke, driving the ex-works Vauxhall Carlton TS6000 Thundersaloon. Making its debut in 1987 and powered by a 5.7-litre Chevrolet V8, the car was handled by Vince Woodman, Jonathan Buncombe and twice BTCC champion John Cleland in period and became the most successful car in the Thundersaloons championship’s history. The success continued when the Carlton was purchased by Pete Stevens, taking the 1992 and 1995 titles in his hands. When the Thundersaloons championship fizzled out at the end of 1995, Stevens entered the car in the new Formula Saloons series and the wins kept on coming. After the success of their Special Saloons and Modsports revival races at Mallory Park in 2011, the CSCC were prompted to establish a series for the eye-catching cars and Stevens would bring the beast out of retirement in 2012 with two overall victories ensuing. Following Stevens’ untimely passing during the pandemic, former Ford Anglia BDG racer Duke was able to take on the big Vauxhall and would be making his debut with the car in Hampshire. Refreshed by Steve Mole Motorsport, Duke lined up ninth for the first race and brought the machine home in sixth position as he sought to gain experience with the car. Unfortunately, as detailed above, the Carlton wouldn’t start race two.
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Other Highlights
Among the other classes competing during the day were the Swinging 60s category, which included former Castle Combe PR guru John Moon's Austin Healey Lenham GT in its entry, the Future Classics, which was won on the road by the spectacularly driven Talbot Lotus Sunbeam of father and son duo Martyn and Matthew Ellis before a penalty was applied, and the one-hour Classic K series race won by the Hancock family Lotus Elan, whilst Alex Thistlethwaite's enthusiastically driven Ford Mustang won a drag race to the line for third.
Among the other classes competing during the day were the Swinging 60s category, which included former Castle Combe PR guru John Moon's Austin Healey Lenham GT in its entry, the Future Classics, which was won on the road by the spectacularly driven Talbot Lotus Sunbeam of father and son duo Martyn and Matthew Ellis before a penalty was applied, and the one-hour Classic K series race won by the Hancock family Lotus Elan, whilst Alex Thistlethwaite's enthusiastically driven Ford Mustang won a drag race to the line for third.
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