Two rounds of the Mintex Classic K series are now complete, Silverstone Grand Prix is next.
Silverstone GP Sunday 28th May Our pair of Silverstone Grand Prix races are in just two week's time, on Sunday 28th May, hosted by the HSCC. The Mintex Classic K grid is more than half full at the time of writing, with 33 cars entered, whilst the Adams & Page Swinging 60s race is full. If you've not yet entered, you can still do so online with us, at the current price of just £495, until Sunday 14th.
Thereafter, the price rises by £30, reflecting the extra manual work needed behind the scenes. Qualifying and Racing is all on the same day. The format for the Mintex Classic K race is a 30 minute qualifying session in the morning and a 40 minute race in the afternoon. The meeting actually starts on the Saturday, so some of you may wish to make a weekend of it by turning up on Saturday and watching some of the other classic races taking place. If any of your racing friends are interested in joining us, please encourage them to get in touch with the CSCC office asap.
Snetterton 300, 26th March
Our first meeting of 2023 saw a good turnout, with the stunning Osborne/Ward 3.8 E-Type winning overall (see photo at the top). Five Lotus Elans took part in the race, putting up a tremendous battle in the early stages, but ultimately only one finished, the Cousin's Elan taking second overall. The other Elans all had mechanical problems, hopefully they were minor and will be sorted quickly. Harry Wyndham came third in his E-Type. Allan Ross-Jones won class D in his TR4, Brian Lambert won class H in his Ginetta G4, Barbara Lambert won Class M in her MGB, the Wos/Cunnington Turner won class E. The Cooper/Watts mini won class G, after a tremendous performance in the wet qualifying, whilst the Fraser Lotus Cortina won class F. It was a real eclectic mix of cars enjoying some good, clean racing. A full event report, with video, live-stream replay, photos and results can be viewed here: https://www.classicsportscarclub.co.uk/post/snetterton-2023-race-report
Thruxton, 7th May
A full race report will follow next week, along with artistic video. Drivers enjoyed dry, mild weather and an appreciative crowd. Dominic Mooney was 6th on the road, but more importantly 1st in the hotly-contested class M, for MGB's. Those watching from the grandstand and start-straight-banking, were rewarded by a masterclass in controlled drifting from Alex Thistlethwayte. Alex just managed to take 4th overall in the drag to the line, ahead by 0.176 from the 5th placed Conoley/Tice Marcos.
Paul Tooms was third in his Elan, Fabio Randaccio 2nd in the TVR Griffith, but there was no catching Anthony and Ollie Hancock, in their Elan 26R, almost 40 seconds up the road, after an hours racing. The results footer show a few penalties for track limits or pit lane mistakes, which is a shame to see, but some lessons learned for the next outing.
Tyres
Towards the end of last year, a number of you expressed a desire to switch from Dunlop L and M tyres to Avon CR6ZZ. Citing longevity and quality as the main reason for changing.
We did look at it, but before we could go much further, Avon tyres (owned by Goodyear ) announced that they would cease production at the end of 2023. This announcement has caused many problems to competitors using Avon as a control tyre, and in particular those using the CR6ZZ, which for many years has been the tyre of choice for the Spa 3 Hours, 6 hours and Le Mans Classic. The end result was that Avons are still not permitted in our regulations for UK rounds.
As we announced at the end of last season, Continental Tyre Company (owner of Hoosier Tires) stated they were going to introduce a Dunlop crossply equivalent tyre, called the “Renner Racing Tyre” and had it tested and homologated by the FIA. We at the CSCC were the first UK club to accept it in our regulations, unfortunately they have been unable to supply any tyres to date in 2023 and are now talking about availability in 2024. The tyres are likely to be be more expensive than the Dunlop equivalent.
At Race Retro this year, Goodyear (the owners of Dunlop) announced that they would increase their range of tyres and continue to supply the Historic Racing community.
USA
Expect the next update, including pricing and entry form, for Daytona and Sebring within the next few weeks.
Anglesey 24 Hours As you should have seen, we have just opened entries for our Anglesey 24 Hours race. Unique in the UK, this gives you a taste of endurance racing, at a cost of just £725, with far less mechanical fatigue than a full 24 hour race. Please look at the news item on the CSCC website and the supplementary regulations, to fully understand the format (it's similar to the Le Mans classic). You will see that the Mintex Classic K have their own grid, so please support this innovation.
Series Representatives
Your Driver Representative, Mark Barton lives on the Isle Of Man, making attending our race meetings a logistical and financial challenge. Still very much involved from afar, Mark let us know that he would like to hand over the reins to an individual more able to support you in person. To that end, long-term CSCC driver, Tony Hunting was approached and he willingly came along to Thruxton, to find out more. Tony will be at our Silverstone round as deputy, together with Mark, so you should be well supported. The mid-term plan is for Tony to learn more this season, before taking on the volunteer role and joining the CSCC committee at a later date. We have asked him to put together a short introduction, in his own words:
Tony Hunting I am a sixty-four years young, amateur race car driver, nick named ‘Rocketman’, initiated by my partner Karen and former co-driver, Mr David Cornwallis, ‘Radio Caroline’ BMW.
In my previous life, I worked for Marconi Radar, installing civil and military radar throughout Europe and the Middle East. I was then a computer engineer with IBM and DEC in field services for fifteen years.
I presently run my own company, GT Classic Car Hire, supplying classic cars for TV and Film.
I joined the CSCC in 2010, after a number of years helping CSCC regulars Ian Everett and Gary Makin, with the no. 37 BMW 2002, in the early days of the club. I started racing with David Cornwallis in a BMW 1602 in 2010/11 within the CSCC in Swinging Sixties Group 1, with some ventures racing with the Future Classics Group.
In 2015/2016 I was fortunate enough to share CSCC races with Brent Fowler, in Tim and Vicki Cairns MG Midget (Stripey), including an outing to Spa in 2016.
In 2017 I purchased the blue Mini No 2 (fondly known as Mable) that can be seen trying her best in the Adams & Page Swinging Sixties. She started as a rally car and has been developed over the years into a competitive machine, with the expert knowledge of Mr Vince Moore.
We have had a number of class and other successes over the years, the best overall being third at Knockhill in 2022.
I live in Suffolk with my partner Karen, two horses (Ruby and Henry) and Millie the Lurcher and lots of ducks! I look forward to meeting you soon. Please do get in touch in person, let me know of any suggestions and concerns and I'll discuss them with Mark Barton, feeding back to the office where relevant.
