While this season’s final Motor Racing Legends meeting delivered plenty of sensational action, the standout highlight at Silverstone last weekend was the Pall Mall Cup two-hour enduro. Ultimately decided in favour of the Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe of Jeremy Cottingham and James Littlejohn, the Cobra started from fifth on the grid, but clever strategy enabled it to emerge with a comfortable advantage.
As Cottingham and Littlejohn’s car cruised in the lead, all eyes were on the battle for second place as Connor Kay dramatically fended off polesitter Lukas Halusa. Starting from second, Kay was always in contention for a podium in his Lotus Elan, but Halusa’s Jaguar E-type was never far away.
The Jaguar cut chunks of time out of the Lotus in the closing stages, having lost out during the opening round of stops, but Kay was doing everything he could to fight back, his Elan’s continually locking brakes an unmistakable sign of his hard charge. The battle for the runner-up spot crescendoed on the last lap as the brutish black E-type hovered in the mirrors of the dainty white Elan. However, Kay’s surgical cuts through lapped traffic, coupled with Halusa correcting an excessive amount of oversteer through Club, allowed the Lotus to just pip the Jag at the line.
When asked about the impressive pace of his Elan, Kay said: “We found something in the car in the last couple of races - it’s really turned the car around. I was just praying for the end to come because he was catching me so quickly.”
The Woodcote Trophy & Stirling Moss Trophy with Pre 63 GT race featured a packed grid and concluded with Gary Pearson and Alex Brundle taking the top spot in their Lister Jaguar Knobbly. Starting from sixth, the Lister made quick work of the leading runners to complete the opening tour in the lead.
Brundle overcame pro driver success penalty to triumph in Woodcote & Stirling Moss Trophies contest
Photo by: Mick Walker
While safety cars caused the lead gap to ebb and flow throughout, the mandatory pro driver penalty forced the duo to climb up the field. With Brundle at the wheel, the Lister grabbed the lead on the penultimate tour. They were joined on the podium by Kyle Tilley (Lotus 15) and Spencer Shinner (Lotus 11 S2 Le Mans).
Commenting on the shakeup of the safety cars, Brundle said: “I came out of the pits after the pro driver penalty like 20 seconds back, and it would have been tough actually to catch the leaders [without the second safety car].”
Any hope of a close race in the Historic Grand Prix Cars Association opener was dashed when Tim Child took a lights-to-flag victory. Leading from pole position, the Brabham BT3/4 was never challenged despite the best efforts of Will Nuthall in his chasing Cooper T53. Tom Waterfield in his identical Cooper completed the podium.
Child went on to score two out of two wins, but his run in the second contest was not without drama. The Brabham was first passed on the opening tour by Nuthall into Abbey and then by Waterfield into Village. The car was suffering from a serious misfire, and Child was close to throwing in the towel.
“I nearly came in, but luckily there was a safety car,” he explained. “I decided to see what happens during the safety car. I was just flooring it in second to try and clear whatever it was and luckily it cleared.”
Child bounced back from race-two woes to complete HGPCA double in Brabham
Photo by: Mick Walker
Regaining the lead on lap three, Child once again dropped to third after spinning on oil and landing in the gravel at Copse on lap five. After recovering, Child made quick work of Nuthall and Waterfield and managed to cross the line ahead by 4.5s.
The Nissan GT-R R32 is usually the weapon of choice in the Historic Touring Car Challenge, and this occasion was no different, with race one being a straightforward duel between Jonathan Bailey and the father-and-son pairing of Andy and Chris Middlehurst. The Bailey Skyline was having drivetrain problems, however, and was stuck in rear-wheel-drive, which allowed the Middlehursts’ machine to pull a gap. When Chris took over from Andy, the #7 Nissan rammed home the advantage further by taking the fastest lap by over 1.5s en route to the chequered flag.
“It was just looking after the car,” said Middlehurst Jr when asked about the dominant drive. “My dad started the race, got the lead and stayed in the lead. He had a good little battle with Jonathan Bailey, which was great to see as Bailey’s car hasn’t been out all year and it’s an original Japanese specification car. Being a purist, I love to see that.”
Race two was decided in favour of Bailey after the Middlehurst car was severely delayed in the pits due to wheel damage. While the Middlehurst Nissan dropped to third, Gary Furst (Ford Capri RS3100) was promoted to runner-up.
The popular Generations Trophy delivered some great performances, but no one could get on terms with the dynamic combination of the father-and-son team of Nick and Harry Whale. Starting from pole, their MGB was heavily under pressure in the early stages by the #17 car of Patrick and Aimee Watts as well as the #77 of Alan and Rory Brown. However, such was the pace of the Whale car that they slowly stretched out a lead and took the flag over 13s ahead of the Browns.
The final drama was reserved for the Gerry Marshall Trophy, the last race of the weekend. After two days of clear running, the rain came down hard with just under 10 minutes of the contest remaining. Polesitters Mike Whitaker and Ed Brand kept their cool, however, and tiptoed their Rover SD1 to victory ahead of Michael Whitaker’s similar machine and the Jaguar XJS V12 of Simon Lewis.
The sky darkens and rain arrives as Rover SD1s battle for Gerry Marshall Trophy glory
Photo by: Mick Walker