CSCC members were certainly busy last week. Mintex Classic K and Adams & Page Swinging 60s enjoyed a pair of 40 minute races, at the famous Spa Six Hours meeting, on 26/27 September. Meanwhile, the rest of the CSCC were at Snetterton.
Full results from the Spa meeting can be found here: http://roadbook.alkamelsystems.com/?season=06_2024&evvent=02_Spa+Six+Hours
Photos are courtesy of James Wadham, you can view and buy his photos here: https://www.redwaterimages.co.uk/spa6hourscscc
Spa Francorchamps meeting report, from Marcus Pye.
Polley and Kay win at Spa
Sam Polley (Mini Marcos) and young Connor Kay (TVR Tuscan) took Francorchamps by storm on September 26-27, emerging victorious as the club’s Adams & Page Swinging Sixties and Mintex Classic K sets graced the hallowed Spa Six Hours bill. Our return visit also rewarded Michael Whitaker Jr, who on his circuit debut mastered his rampant Ford Mustang to win the Mintex Classic K showcase section on both days.
Exemplary driving throughout the field in incredibly testing conditions - the heavily-forested pocket of Belgium’s Ardennes region rarely fails to dish up a meteorological challenge - saw none of the safety car interventions which littered the international feature races at Roadbook’s event, inaugurated in 1993. Congratulations to everybody who enjoyed Belgium’s mighty F1 circuit, arguably still the greatest on the planet.
Following optional testing and acclimatisation sessions on Wednesday, qualifying took place over half an hour on Thursday afternoon, with 28 subscribers. Twenty one-year-old Kay claimed pole position in the Ford V6-powered TVR, his stout 3m02.620s (138.1kph) best lap of nine a whopping 7.562s up on Whitaker. Father and son Peter and Nathan Dod (TVR Griffith) and James Hughes (Austin-Healey Lenham Sprite), second ‘Swinger,’ shared the second row, 0.055s apart in the ‘elevens,’ with Andrew Jamieson’s orange Lotus Elan keeping close company.
The red Mustang of Michael Russell/Neil Chilleystone gridded sixth, ahead of Nicholas King’s beautiful Aston Martin DB4 and the diminutive Mini Marcos of Polley, who had local onlookers gawping in amazement as he folded his six foot four inch frame into its cockpit. Dean ‘Truck’s Top’ Halsey’s Datsun 240Z, Jon Crayston’s Elan S4 and Andrew Cahill’s vivid green Elan also beat 3m 20s.
It was tight in the mid-pack too, with Mark Drain’s Lotus Cortina on 3:20.807, just ahead of brothers Julian and Neil Howe, 0.110s apart in MGB GT and Triumph TR4 respectively. Sadly, a new brake master cylinder failure left Neil without anchors approaching the Eau Rouge hairpin late in the session. Despite every attempt to ameliorate a scary situation, he glanced Drain’s car mid-corner and careered headlong into the barrier, sidelining the formerly pristine TR. Undaunted, Mark and his crew levered the Cortina’s crumpled rear wing off the wheel, dollied it out and he made the evening’s Race 1 grid.
Bill Watt’s Elan headed Caroline Abbou Rossi di Montelera - the former Historic Formula Junior racer - in her gunmetal hued Austin-Healey 3000. Behind her the MGBs of Jonathan Hughes, classic motorcycle racing guru Gordon Russell (partnered by Mighty Mini pedaller Olly Samways) and sometime Chevron B8 pilot Russell Martin surrounded Chris Winchester’s Sprite.
John Dunham and Mark Owen’s attractively presented Mustang did not get many laps in, but they resolved the issues and got out. Castle Combe GT champion Kevin Bird and son Charles Hyde-Andrews-Bird debuted their Porsche 911’s successor - a stunning Lotus Cortina rebuilt into racing spec in the 1990s, yet apparently unraced by its creator. In Alan Mann Racing livery, it gridded 22rd, reminding enthusiasts of Sir John Whitmore’s 1965 European Saloon Car Championship winner. Versatile local racer Christian Dumolin’s Mustang was next up.
The field was completed by Paul Wallis/Jon Wagstaff (Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT), Steve Chapman’s spearmint TR4, the MG Midget of father and daughter Andy and Amelia Storer, Christopher Edwards’ TR4 and the omnipresent MGB of Davids Waterhouse and Nursey.
THURSDAY RACE
The weather had turned angry and the light was fading fast by the time the grid formed. Poleman Kay was alarmed to find his windscreen wipers inoperable and also had no headlights on the blue TVR - in stark contrast to the Polleymobile which helpfully had a spotlight bar under its retrousse snout - when the 40-minute race started behind a safety car, conditions being diametrically opposed to those for qualifying. As the field was released, James Hughes and Winchester came returned to the pits with misfires, while Waterhouse abandoned ship. Watt parked his Elan at the Bus Stop, but 22 survivors continued to brave the elements.
Whitaker led the opening lap from Kay, with Polley - from eighth on the grid - tucked in behind, although Nathan Dod soon thundered past, with the black TVR’s Ford V8 crackling through its exhausts. Halsey climbed from ninth to fifth inside a lap, with Jamieson, King, Drain and Howe in pursuit. The Elans of Crayston and Cahill were chased by the Bird/’CHAB’ Cortina, Dunham’s Mustang and Caroline Rossi’s Healey.
Polley repassed Dod on lap three and annexed the lead from Whitaker next time round. Kay, with only his hi-vis rear light working, was first of the leaders to make the mandatory stop, on lap four, but rejoined after a lengthy stop, relieved to have headlamps. Whitaker and Halsey were next in, followed by Dunham who installed Owen. King, Crayston and Cahill stayed out for another lap, leaving leaders Polley and Russell to run seven each, with stoppers Whitaker and Halsey third and fourth.
Polley, revelling in front-wheel-drive grip before the rain stopped mid-race. With a best lap of 3m34.617s (73.01mph), around three seconds quicker than anybody else, Sam was going away from Halsey and Whitaker, Dean having outbraked Michael into La Source on lap 8. The Marcos did not miss a beat, indeed even with a 30 second penalty for a pit infringement, Polley’s margin of victory over the Datsun was 15.485s. Classic K victor Whitaker was another 36s back in third.
King’s silver Aston crossed the finishing line fourth, clear of Jamieson’s Classic K spec Elan and the Russell/Chilleystone Mustang. Crayston, Dunham/Owen, Julian Howe and 11th placed Kay also finished on the lead lap. Cahill, the pretty Alfa of Wallis/Wagstaff and the MGBs of Jonathan Hughes and Martin led the rest home. The most notable casualty was the Dod TVR, which Peter spun into the barrier exiting the downhill double-left turn at Pouhon, restyling its nose.
FRIDAY RACE
More than 24 hours later, race 2 was always going to be grizzly wet and dark after a dreich afternoon. Thursday’s finishing order determined the grid, with Polley proudly on pole, but it lost Halsey’s 240Z on the warm-up lap. Whitaker again hooked up well to lead initially, but Kay wailed past the Mustang on lap 2 - setting fastest lap of 3:03.103 (84.63mph) - and charged into the distance, topping 112mph on the Kemmel Straight before the grip worsened. King jostled through to second, leaving Whitaker to engage with Russell, while Polley - whose wipers failed en route to the grid - faded to sixth behind Crayston.
Interestingly, King’s Aston was quicker than the leading TVR in all three circuit sectors as the combo reduced the deficit to 3.2s before the stops. King stopped the lap before Kay and Whitaker, who went second as a result, but was gobbled up by Polley’s Marcos. Out front, Kay extended his cushion over King to more than 69 seconds, with Polley a gallant third. Whitaker completed his Classic K double in P4, with Crayston’s Swinging Sixties Elan the only other unlapped car.
The Mustangs of Russell/Chilleystone and Dunham/Owen were next back, Mark closing to within six seconds towards the chequer. Howe and James Hughes, after a charge through the field, were next back. Jamieson completed the top 10, ahead of Jonathan Hughes and Watt. Martin, Caroline Rossi’s Healey, the Bird family Cortina, the lone Alfa, Cahil’s almost luminous Elan, Chapman and Winchester covered 11 laps, Russell/Samways, Edwards’ TR4 and the Storer Midget 10.
MARCUS PYE
Congratulations to CSCC member, Luke Wos, for his class podium in his Mintex Classic K Turner, in the main event, the Spa Six Hours.
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