Ferrer-Aza hunts down Stretton
for Masters Historic F1 honoursJONESBright McLaren M6B fought
off Lola T70 competitionBanks duo finally
topped Silverstone
Classic podiumJEPSILVERSTONE CLASSIC RACE CENTRE1 AUGUST 2019 AUTOSPORT.COM 45Forward got the better of polesitter
Hallau – who pulled 175.9mph down
Hangar Straight in dry practice, then spun
the ‘aircraft carrier’ harmlessly in the wet
at Stowe while chasing – to win the opener.
Robert Beebee, in the iconic Sid Taylor/
Hamlyn Books Lola T70 Mk3B GT, claimed
a fine third from Martin O’Connell who,
as ever, duffed-up beefier machinery in
Watson’s Chevron B8. Mark Richardson
ran sixth, best of the small prototypes,
before spinning his ex-Jo Bonnier Lola
T290 at Stowe on the last lap.
More wing on his Chevron B26 gave John
Burton the grip he needed for a fascinating
David-versus-Goliath tussle with Hallau in
Sunday’s enduro after Forward pitted with
a split water hose. Beebee and son Josh
growled the T70 to another third, ahead of
John Spiers’ newly acquired McLaren M1B.
Class of the Pinto brigade again was Robert
Hall, a remarkable eighth overall in his
radar-cheating Shrike P15 ‘disco volante’.
A mighty Transatlantic Trophy Pre-’66
touring car lead duel between Ford Mustang
tamers Jake Hill (in for early-stopper Rob
Fenn) and Craig Davies enthralled onlookers.
It all appeared over on lap 12, however, when
Davies locked up into the chicane, creased
the left rear wing of his rival’s car and spun
it through 180 degrees. Craig sheepishly
waited for Jake to recover, let him past
and their mesmeric battle resumed.
Despite grey smoke billowing from the
fender-pinched Dunlop, Hill looked to have
it won when the tyre blew, showering Davies
with debris, as they blasted towards 130mph
down the Hangar Straight for the final time.
Somehow the British Touring Car racer
kept control, rounding Stowe on the rim.
Displaying extraordinary sportsmanship,
Davies did not take advantage as the Lotus
Cruelly robbed of victory at last year’s
Silverstone Classic when their ex-Jo
Bonnier McLaren-Chevrolet M6B’s
transaxle locked in third gear in the
closing stages, Alfaholics partners
Andrew and Max Banks powered
away from a wonderful FIA Masters
Historic Sports Cars Championship
field after Saturday evening’s 50-
minute crowd-pleaser.
Starting from pole ahead of a strong
field of charismatic and distinctive
machinery of the 1960s and 1970s –
which included the Halusa brothers’
Alfa Romeo T33 TT3 – Andrew pressed
on to establish an advantage, leaving his
equally rapid sibling to maintain it. “I was
saying ‘gearbox don’t break, gearbox don’t
break’ in my head [as the clock ticked
down], but the team did a fantastic job.
The car was faultless today,” said Max.
For a third of the race it was a McLaren
M6 1-2, for Martin Stretton forged Thomas
Studer’s GT-bodied derivative past the
British Racing Green Lola T70 Mk3Bs of
David Hart and Jason Wright on lap two.
Immediately they were swamped by an
armada of Eric Broadley’s superlative cars,
comprising the T290s of Michael Gans and
Robert Oldershaw, Diogo Ferrao’s stunning
BIP T292, the T70 Mk3Bs of Garys Pearsonand Culver, and Phil Hall’s T212.
Pearson’s rise through this pack was a
highlight, and by lap nine he’d outbraked
Stretton into the Club chicane to nab
second. Their fight continued – “it’s always
fun to have a dust-up with Martin,” said
Gary – with Gans snapping at their heels.
Ferrao was on the rise too and he engaged
in a tight and sometimes hairy scrap with
Stretton (with whom he’d won the 2014
Spa Six Hours in his father Manuel’s Ford
GT40), and Gans.
Following the mandatory stops, the
stagger unwound with Max Banks and
Pearson ahead of Stretton, Gans and
Ferrao, with Andy Wolfe (in Wright’s car)
summoned for a drivethrough for a pit
infringement. Wolfe got back to third
on the road, only to be penalised 30.7
seconds for not serving it, thus Ferrao
was accorded the last podium position
and Stretton was classified fourth.
Culver was sixth ahead of Henry
Fletcher in his Chevron B26, David
Tomlin’s Lola T210 and Gans, who stopped
on the penultimate lap. Tomlin, Chris
Lillingston-Price (ex-works Chevron B8),
John Sheldon (B16) and Chris Jolley/
Steve Farthing (Cooper-Chevrolet
T61M) were hailed class winners.
MARCUS PYEBANKS BROTHERS GET THEIR JUST REWARDS