Autosport – 25 July 2019

Ross (l) and Cole had a close

tussle for MG Trophy honours,

with Ross taking both victories

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ICS

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TVR Granturas of Begbie,

Cull and Ashworth won the

three-hour relay contest

64 AUTOSPORT.COM 25 JULY 2019

CLUB AUTOSPORT NATIONAL REPORTS

team, Plastic Fantastic was soon in the lead

for the first time and it was a position the

crew would maintain until the end.

It was far from an easy cruise to victory,

however. As Ashworth took over from

Cull for the final stint, he was caught

speeding in the pitlane and docked a lap,

but such was the advantage that Plastic

Fantastic’s consistent lap times had

produced, the penalty put them onto

the same lap as the chasing pack.

An additional 5s due to a track limits

was soon added and, with only 10 minutes

of the race to go, Ashworth had what

looked like the impossible task of keeping

the charging 50 Shades’ Gray at bay.

Eight seconds ahead and lapping slower

than the charging Elan, Plastic Fantastic

crew a sigh of relief when the race was

red-flagged and stopped early with

only three minutes left, the team

winning by the narrowest of margins.

“We’re such a well balanced team,”

said Begbie. “This is a race of reliability

and consistency. TVRs get a bit of a bad

rap when it comes to that, so I’m glad

we proved that wrong.”

A degree in mathematics was almost

needed to work out the result of the

Equipe 40-minute race. On the road, and

with a newly fitted engine, the Triumph

TR4 of Chris Ryan crossed the line ahead

of Ashworth and Smith, but the latter pair

received track limit penalties. Ashworth

received 45s and Smith a mere 15s but,

based on the splits, Ashworth was bumped

to fifth while Smith kept his third place,

behind the now second place finisher of

Mark Holme (Austin-Healey).

Among a range of MG championships

it was the MG Trophy that stole the show.

The results might indicate a simple brace of

wins for championship leader Graham Ross,

but the Scotsman admitted it had been a

DONINGTON PARK

MGCC

20-21 JULY

A lap penalty for speeding in the pitlane

and an additional five seconds for track

limits still wasn’t enough to stop the

Plastic Fantastic team of TVR Granturas

(Rob Cull/Rod Begbie/Mark Ashworth)

taking victory in the weekend’s flagship

Equipe Classic Relay race.

Finishing one better than last season’s

exploits, with the penalties applied Plastic

Fantastic was only 3.3s ahead of the 50

Shades team of Lotus Elans (Stephen Bond/

Clifford Gray/Keith Fell/Piers Gormly).

Squadra Budino Nero dominated the

first third of the three-hour race with Tom

Smith in his MGB Roadster pumping in

fastest lap after fastest lap, comfortably

2s quicker than anybody else on track.

Combined with Smith’s lightning speed

and the battle for second between Plastic

Fantastic’s Begbie and 50 Shades’ Fell, his

team’s lead was up to 1m18s by the time the

TVR of Begbie was forced to pit early due

to a minor oil leak, handing over to Cull.

Smith extended his advantage for

a further two laps before passing the

baton to Andrew Bentley and his MGB

Roadster, which is when the tide of the

race began to turn.

Cull’s pace was significantly greater than

Bentley’s and the advantage was chopped

away by 2s a lap. Aided by a safety car

midway through the second hour and

a second stop for the Squadra Budino

Fantastic T VRs

victorious in

Equipe Relay