Motorsport News – July 17, 2019

TheSpeed8 wonLeMans 24 Hoursin 2003

DoningtonParkmeetingattractedhealthynumberof entries

Sopertookthreewinswiththecarduringthe 1991 season

Newpre-warracestobecreatedbyVSCC

Turkingtontoraceex-SoperBMWE30M

The Vintage Sports-Car Club

is aiming to create two races

exclusively for pre-war racing

cars, such as the ERA, after

attracting 19 to its flagship

Donington Park race last month.

Pre-war cars made up the vast

majority of the 22-car pre-

front-engined grid, and race

coordinator Duncan Ricketts

said the club is working on

creating more opportunities

for pre-war machines.

“We’re trying to get two

meetings sorted out, Silverstone

and here [Donington],” said

Ricketts, who also raced in

the event in his ERA E-type

Challenger – Reg Parnell’s

former car, and one of six

ERAs in the race.

“We’ll try to make them like

they used to be, with ERAs,

more competitive, try to keep

that pre-war image going.

“I think there’s enough cars

out there that would like to race

against similar cars. This is the

second o ne that we’ve been

pushing this year to try and

get people out, ringing round

and saying, ‘are you coming?’

“If we can just keep a few

ERAs out, it just makes a bit of a

difference. I think people like to

see nice cars, don’t they? If we

can keep it up then it’ll become

popular again.”

BritishTouringCar

Championshippointsleader

ColinTurkingtonwillracean

ex-SteveSoperBMWE30M

intheHistoricTouringCar

ChallengeattheSilverstone

Classicnextmonth.

Thethree-timeBTCCtitle

winnerwillswaphiscurrent

G20-modelBMW3 Seriesforits

1991 predecessor,inwhichSoper

wonthreetimesonhisway

tofourthinthestandings.

OriginallyrunbyProdrive,

theE30is nowpreparedby

Ampseedandracedregularlyby

itscurrentowner,MarkSmith.

Turkingtonhastestedthecar,

buthasyettoraceit.

Hesaid:“I’vehada fewsessions

inthiscarbeforesoit shouldbe

reasonablyfamiliar,andI can’t

waittogetit outontheGrand

PrixcircuitatSilverstone.The

teamthatlookafterthiscaris

oneofthebestinthebusiness,

andI canlookforwardtothis

eventknowingthepreparation

willbesecondtonone.

“TheSilverstoneClassicis

oneofmyfavouriteeventson

thecalendaroutsideofthe

BTCC.It’ssucha superfestival

toenjoyasa spectatorandasa

driver– it deliversonallfronts

withthemassivecrowds.

ByStefanMackley

A BentleySpeed8 willbe

racedonUKsoilforthe

firsttimeat theSilverstone

Classiclaterthismonth.

Thefamousmachinewonthe

LeMans 24 Hoursin 2003 inthe

handsofTomKristensen,Guy

SmithandRinaldoCapello,

endinga 73-yeardroughtfor

theBritishmarqueatthe

legendaryenduranceevent.

Oneofthecarsis nowownedby

ShaunLynnwhowillraceit inthe

AstonMartinMastersEndurance

LegendsseriesonJuly26-28.

“Weareabsolutelythrilledthat

Shaunis joiningusattheClassic

toracehisSpeed8,”saidRon

Maydon,presidentofMasters

HistoricRacing.“Thiswillbe

anothericonicadditiontoour

alreadyimpressivegridand

is suretobea massivecrowd-

pleaser.TheSpeed8’sdebutin

a Masters’raceis allthemore

pertinent,ofcourse,asBentleyis

celebratingitscentenaryatthe

ClassicanditsLeMansvictories

areverymucha highlightofthe

brand’sincredibleheritage.”

Bentleycelebrateditscentenary

anniversaryearlierthisyear,

buttheSilverstoneClassic

willstillmarktheoccasion

laterthismonth.

“WemustthankShaun

massivelyforbringingtheSpeed 8

toSilverstone– it’sanincredible

carandwillbetheicingon

Bentley’scentenarybirthday

cakeaswecelebratethe

company’smilestone100th

anniversaryattheClassic,”

saidNickWigley,CEOof

SilverstoneClassic.

“OurspecialSaturdayevening

TwilightTributetoLeMans

is nowcomplete:it willkick

offwitha wonderfularrayof

vintageBentleyscompetingin

thePre-WarSportscarrace

andconcludeatduskwith

theSpeed8 racingintothe

sunset.Justperfect!”

‘Vergne wins back-to-backtitles

FormulaE NewYorkreport,p

Legendary Le Mans-winning car will compete at Silverstone Classic

ICONIC BENTLEY SPEED 8 TO

BE GIVEN UK RACING DEBUT

I

startedracingwiththe 750

MotorClubwhenI was16,

halfwaythrough2015,witha

littleCitroenSaxoin Stock

Hatch.Thenin ’16I wonthe

championship.Attheendof

thatyear,the750MCstoppedit

becausethenumbershaddropped.

Everyonein StockHatchwasgoingto

HotHatchClassC,butI’mnota fanof

mixed-classracing,I preferone-make

seriessotheClio 182 championship

wasthenextstepforme.

I hada fewdifficultiesgettingusedto it in

2017,butthenmydadandI builta freshshell

forthestartof 2018andit wasreallygood.

Wewentto OultonParkandI gotpole

straightoutof thebox.I hadsomebadluck

duringtheyear– therewasoneweekendI

changedtheenginethreetimes– butto still

finishthirdat theendof it, I wasoverthemoon.

We’velosta coupleof driversthisyear,but

DondeGraaff,JamesBarkandmearenose

to taileverylapof everyrace– it’ssoclose.At

MalloryPark,in qualifying,therewasthree

hundredthsbetweenmeandDonforpole.

YoucouldsayI wasalwaysdestinedto go

racing.Mygrandad,George,wontheHot

RodWorldFinalin 1976and’87.Mydad,

Stephen,racedin the750MC’soldHot

HatchChampionshipandwonit in 1999.

ThatwastheyearI wasbornsohethenhad

to stopracing.Myuncleracesin BriSCA

Formula2 stockcars– oneyearhedid 103

meetings!Myauntieracedstockcarsas well.

She’snowin theMiniSe7enChampionship.

I racedMinistoxfromage 11 to 15.It’s

definitelya verygoodformula.I hada great

timeandwontheBritishChampionship

whenit wasreintroducedin mylastyear.That

waseventful– I wasin theleadwhenthere

wasa powercutandthefloodlightswentout!

Now,I’vejustgotto takeeverythingas it

comes.I’vepreviouslymadethemistakeof

gettingtooseriousandit comesroundto bite

youbecauseyougettiedupin knots.After

droppedscores,I’mleadingbyfourpoints

butthere’sa longwayto go.

There’slotsof thingsthatI wouldliketo do,

butI needmoresponsorsto comeonboard

to moveup.The750MCis verygoodvalue

formoney– I thinkyou’dstruggleto go

elsewhereandgetthesamevalue.At theend

of theday,racingis a hobby.I’dliketo endup

in touringcarsor somethingbutwe’vestill

gotto comebackto normalityona Monday,

haven’twe?Sojustgoandenjoyyourself.

SeehowRyanPolleyis doingonthis

week’sNationalDriverRankings:

nationaldriverrankings.co.uk

Forallyourmotorsportinsuranceneeds,visit

Grove& DeanMotorsportInsurance:

grove-dean-motorsport.com

From:CambridgeshireCar:RenaultClio 182

Position:65thoutof 1000

RYAN

POLLEY

DRIVERCOLUMN

ARE YOU IN THE NATIONAL DRIVER RANKINGS?

Email [email protected] to have your story here

“Getting the opportunity to

drive a piece of BMW history

and compete in the touring car

event is amazing.

“The entry list for this class

looks amazing and I reckon we

should see some proper

tin-top racing.”

BTCC counterpa rt Adam

Morgan is also included on

the entry list – sharing a three-

litre Ford Capri with Ric Wood.

Advertising enquiries: 0203 405 8110 motorsport-news.co.uk JULY 17 2019 13

Polley has driven Renault Clios since 2017