HSCC Historic Special Saloons & Modsports Snetterton 20th & 21st April 2024
BABY BERTHA MARKS SUPERSALOONS' BIG BIRTHDAY IN STYLE
The HSCC Historic Special Saloon and Modsports series opened its 2024 campaign at Snetterton over the weekend of the 20th and 21st of April. The meeting was the first of five for the series in 2024, with the remaining rounds to be held at Cadwell Park, Donington Park, Croft and Silverstone. Cars competing in the series must be based on production sports or saloon cars built before the end of 1979. The rules allow changes to the engine, transmission, bodywork, brakes and suspension that were permissible at the time and multi-valve engines are only permitted if the original cars were powered by them. Series promoter Steve Watton put on a well-received hot lunch for the competitors, friends and helpers at the HSCC Hub on the Sunday, with the superb Peter Baldwin replica spaceframe Mini Clubman of Steve Cooper on display outside.
The HSCC Historic Special Saloon and Modsports series opened its 2024 campaign at Snetterton over the weekend of the 20th and 21st of April. The meeting was the first of five for the series in 2024, with the remaining rounds to be held at Cadwell Park, Donington Park, Croft and Silverstone. Cars competing in the series must be based on production sports or saloon cars built before the end of 1979. The rules allow changes to the engine, transmission, bodywork, brakes and suspension that were permissible at the time and multi-valve engines are only permitted if the original cars were powered by them. Series promoter Steve Watton put on a well-received hot lunch for the competitors, friends and helpers at the HSCC Hub on the Sunday, with the superb Peter Baldwin replica spaceframe Mini Clubman of Steve Cooper on display outside.
Qualifying: An all-Vauxhall Firenza front row would lead the field to the start as Joe Ward in 'Baby Bertha' took pole position by 1.407 seconds from the venerable Transpeed car of Tony Davies. A little over a tenth slower was Andy Wilson in the painstakingly restored Demon Tweeks DAF 55 V8, a particularly poignant entry following the recent passing of former car owner Alan Minshaw. The V8-powered coupe was split from fourth qualifier Myles Castaldini’s Ford Crossflow-engined Davrian Mk8 by the narrowest of margins, just 0.001 seconds. Andy Willis' diminutive Austin 'A302' V8 vaulted up the order from ninth with his last lap of the session to line up fifth, the car had been in a race against time to make qualifying after a pinhole was discovered on the little beast’s radiator. Former British Hillclimb champion Ray Rowan's Delta-based Sunbeam Stiletto completed the third row in sixth. The Kevin Jones TR7 Turbo was only able to complete one flying lap but the green machine's time was still good enough for seventh, the TR's time was the fastest at that point before Ward rose to the top. Series head Steve Watton's Turner Sports would line up alongside the Welshman. David Morrison's smart MG Midget and Matt Digby's pretty Ginetta G4 made up the fifth row, with Nicholas Lyford's MG A and Charles Colledge's Mini Marcos completing the field.
Race One: The eleven-car field, having lost the bristling TR7 V8 Turbo after qualifying (see below), formed the first racing action on Sunday morning. Joe Ward headed the field into Riches at the rolling start before Andy Wilson's DAF V8 burst into an early lead and had opened a decent 1.849-second gap as the field completed the opening lap. Polesitter Ward, Tony Davies and Ray Rowan finished the first tour together before Ward in the ex-DTV Firenza started to bridge the gap to the leading Tony Hazlewood-developed DAF. Wilson had begun to struggle with gear linkage difficulties which meant that he couldn't change into third and fourth gears, which allowed 'Baby Bertha' to hit the front on lap three and the Demon Tweeks DAF coasted into retirement. As was often the case when 'Baby Bertha' was in the hands of the late Gerry Marshall, Ward brought the old girl home first past the chequered flag at the end of the twenty minutes. Ray Rowan's ex-Pat Mannion Stiletto had got in front of the Transpeed Firenza on lap three to run in second place and stayed respectfully close to the famous V8 Firenza to the end, trailing by 4.461 seconds at the flag. Having been headed by Andy Willis' Austin A30 V8 early on, Myles Castaldini's Davrian Mk8 closed up to the third-placed Davies Firenza mid-race before the Vauxhall opened a small advantage again. However, the former rally car closed right in on the final lap but the long-serving Transpeed car just held on by a narrow 0.141 seconds across the line. Willis’ heavily breathing Austin held sixth in the early stages but succumbed to a leaking rocker cover on the right bank of the Ford V8 just after three-quarter distance. His closest pursuer Steve Watton lost second gear in his Turner so slipped behind the chasing David Morrison MG Midget into sixth. A great scrap for the last two positions went the way of the Charles Colledge Mini Marcos as he fended off the Nicholas Lyford MG A to come home in seventh and eighth. Matt Digby's Ginetta failed to last the distance after it had given its driver quite a fright when the brake pedal went to the floor at the end of the Bentley Straight...
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Race Two: Andy Wilson's DAF 55 V8 made the start of the second race but Steve Watton's Turner wouldn’t after no obvious issue was found when the gearbox was inspected, the car packed away to be fully checked over in the workshop. A few spots of rain were hanging in the air as the start time approached but the crisp northerly breeze soon moved the threatening clouds away. The Chevrolet-engined Firenza of Ward thundered straight into the lead from pole position, whilst Wilson's DAF flew up to second from the fifth row but the nimble Stiletto of Ray Rowan outmanoeuvred the Yorkshireman at the Brundle and Nelson complex to regain second. Wilson powered into second place once more during lap two but sadly the shifting maladies struck again passing the pits at the end of the lap and forced the car out for the second time. Just behind the V8 powerhouses, Tony Davies had dived inside Rowan for what was about to become second place into Murray’s but he had outbraked himself and took a trip across the grass, falling back behind Rowan and Myles Castaldini's Davrian-Ford. The Sunbeam Stiletto's grasp of second place wouldn't last as Rowan toured into pits at the end of lap four, which elevated Castaldini and Davies into second and third. After his second lap excursion, the recovering Davies' Firenza began chasing down an increasingly flat-sounding Castaldini Davrian in second, the Transpeed car moving past with five minutes left. The severely down on power Davrian was really struggling as the minutes ticked down and Willis' Austin A30 V8 relieved the Welsh machine of third with a minute left. Ward stroked 'Baby Bertha' home to win by 7.948 seconds after the twenty minutes. The double victory was a suitable way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first official Supersaloon race, held at the Norfolk venue on the 14th of April 1974. Davies took the flag in second to complete a Vauxhall Firenza 1-2 in the car he has raced continuously for over 45 years. Willis' built-not-bought Austin 'A302' was still smoking but crossed the line in third, whilst Castaldini's Davrian spluttered home in fourth ahead of a rapidly closing David Morrison MG Midget. Morrison had looked likely to catch Willis' Austin A30 in the opening half of the encounter but the yellow Ford V8-powered device eventually moved away on its successful pursuit of a podium placing. Matt Digby's Ginetta G4 had its brakes bled between the two races and with stopping power restored, the eye-catching car took sixth place. Charles Colledge's Mini Marcos was the final classified finisher after Adam Cameron's MG A, that he shared with Nicholas Lyford, expired on lap one.
The next HSCC Historic Special Saloon and Modsports series event takes place at Cadwell Park on the 18th and 19th of May, with three further outings at Donington Park in June, Croft in August and Silverstone in October.
The next HSCC Historic Special Saloon and Modsports series event takes place at Cadwell Park on the 18th and 19th of May, with three further outings at Donington Park in June, Croft in August and Silverstone in October.
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TR7 V8 Group 5
An interesting guest entry for the races at Snetterton came from Kevin Jones with his turbocharged Triumph TR7 V8, a car with a Le Mans 24 Hours history. Welshman Jones has a taste for unusual machinery, having previously rallied a Michelotto Ferrari 308 GTB. The Triumph was developed jointly by Janspeed, who’d purchased the shell from British Leyland with the intention of building it into a Modsports-spec car, and ADA Engineering. A regulation change in Modsports rendered the TR ineligible and a deal was struck between Janspeed and ADA to turn the car into a Group 5 machine and to enter the Le Mans 24 Hours. The Rover V8 engine had twin turbochargers bolted on and the unit produced a muscular 500bhp. The car sat on ten and fourteen-inch wide rubber that was fitted to fifteen-inch wheels, with bulging arches, a front splitter and a large rear wing to keep the car planted. The first attempt at Le Mans in 1980, after three years of development, saw the car fail to qualify in the hands of John Sheldon, Ian Harrower and John Brindley. Two further entries for the French classic were made in 1981 and 1982 but the car was withdrawn each time, there was insufficient time to repair the now-red car after a Silverstone 6 Hour practice crash in 1981 and a lack of funds scuppered the project for 1982. The car also took part in the Brands Hatch 1000km in 1981 but failed to finish. The brute has been restored over four years to its 1980 green colour scheme from its ill-fated qualification attempt at La Sarthe. Sadly the car’s temperamental nature struck again after the car overheated with a water leak at the back of the inlet manifold before qualifying had even begun and then a rear axle link broke during the session, which unfortunately caused the car to be withdrawn from the two races.
An interesting guest entry for the races at Snetterton came from Kevin Jones with his turbocharged Triumph TR7 V8, a car with a Le Mans 24 Hours history. Welshman Jones has a taste for unusual machinery, having previously rallied a Michelotto Ferrari 308 GTB. The Triumph was developed jointly by Janspeed, who’d purchased the shell from British Leyland with the intention of building it into a Modsports-spec car, and ADA Engineering. A regulation change in Modsports rendered the TR ineligible and a deal was struck between Janspeed and ADA to turn the car into a Group 5 machine and to enter the Le Mans 24 Hours. The Rover V8 engine had twin turbochargers bolted on and the unit produced a muscular 500bhp. The car sat on ten and fourteen-inch wide rubber that was fitted to fifteen-inch wheels, with bulging arches, a front splitter and a large rear wing to keep the car planted. The first attempt at Le Mans in 1980, after three years of development, saw the car fail to qualify in the hands of John Sheldon, Ian Harrower and John Brindley. Two further entries for the French classic were made in 1981 and 1982 but the car was withdrawn each time, there was insufficient time to repair the now-red car after a Silverstone 6 Hour practice crash in 1981 and a lack of funds scuppered the project for 1982. The car also took part in the Brands Hatch 1000km in 1981 but failed to finish. The brute has been restored over four years to its 1980 green colour scheme from its ill-fated qualification attempt at La Sarthe. Sadly the car’s temperamental nature struck again after the car overheated with a water leak at the back of the inlet manifold before qualifying had even begun and then a rear axle link broke during the session, which unfortunately caused the car to be withdrawn from the two races.
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Andrew Wareing's Lotus Europa Silhouette
Andrew Wareing entered his Lola T492 Sports 2000-based Lotus Europa in the Darlington & District Motor Club Northern Saloon and Sports Car Championship double header. The North West veteran has driven some interesting machinery through the years, including the ex-Pat Thomas Lotus Elan with success in the Castle Combe Special GTs during the mid-1980s, as well as Williams FW06 and BRM P261 Formula One single-seaters and a McLaren M1A Group 7 sports car. Racing Fabrications built his current device for Donington GT racer Paul Berman and the car was later raced by Brian Brady. Where once a 1500cc Cosworth BDA sat, a 2-litre Duratec unit now resides. A binding offside-front brake before qualifying caused consternation but the yellow machine was able to qualify in seventh. Wareing finished sixth in the opening race, in the middle of a three-car dice with Dan Kell's Sierra Cosworth XR4x4 and Scott Hubel's Peugeot 205 RWD. Starting Race Two from fifth on the grid, the low-slung Europa had climbed up to second behind Kell's Sierra before a pair of rapid Caterhams came through from the back into the leading two positions. Wareing eventually passed the Sierra but he too was passed by Hubel’s 205 RWD to come home in fourth.
Andrew Wareing entered his Lola T492 Sports 2000-based Lotus Europa in the Darlington & District Motor Club Northern Saloon and Sports Car Championship double header. The North West veteran has driven some interesting machinery through the years, including the ex-Pat Thomas Lotus Elan with success in the Castle Combe Special GTs during the mid-1980s, as well as Williams FW06 and BRM P261 Formula One single-seaters and a McLaren M1A Group 7 sports car. Racing Fabrications built his current device for Donington GT racer Paul Berman and the car was later raced by Brian Brady. Where once a 1500cc Cosworth BDA sat, a 2-litre Duratec unit now resides. A binding offside-front brake before qualifying caused consternation but the yellow machine was able to qualify in seventh. Wareing finished sixth in the opening race, in the middle of a three-car dice with Dan Kell's Sierra Cosworth XR4x4 and Scott Hubel's Peugeot 205 RWD. Starting Race Two from fifth on the grid, the low-slung Europa had climbed up to second behind Kell's Sierra before a pair of rapid Caterhams came through from the back into the leading two positions. Wareing eventually passed the Sierra but he too was passed by Hubel’s 205 RWD to come home in fourth.
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