Autosport – 18 April 2019

CLUB AUTOSPORT NATIONAL REPORTS

76 AUTOSPORT.COM 18 APRIL 2019

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DespatchBay.com came out

on top after late safety car

SILVERSTONE

VSCC

13-14 APRIL

Organised by the Benjafield’s Racing

Club to celebrate the marque’s centenary,

the spectacle of 40 vintage Bentleys

thundering round Silverstone immortalised

the Vintage Sports-Car Club’s 85th

Anniversary season opener.

From the first Le Mans-type running start

in the UK since 1962 to a 1.26s margin of

victory, it was a magnificent tribute. For

victors Richard Hudson and Stuart Morley,

who deposed Ewen Getley/Robin Tuluie

after a thrilling full-blooded duel, it

was unforgettable.

In a field spanning 1919 to ’31, graced by

a 1925 Le Mans team car, Bentley tuning

wizard Getley set a punishing pace to the

pitstops, chased by Morley’s brother James,

Hudson and Randal Stewart. But German

physicist-turned-Bentley uber-engineer

Tuluie was hounded down by Stuart Morley,

who squeezed ahead seven laps from home.

Tuluie countered, but Morley’s greater

confidence in traffic proved decisive.

Poleman Richard Pilkington delighted

Late safety car drama leads

to Fun Cup dash to the flag

Fitting Bentley tribute at Silverstone meeting

OULTON PARK

BRSCC

13 APRIL

The DespatchBay.com trio of Andy

Bicknell, Riley Phillips and Marcus

Clutton came out on top of a tremendous

Fun Cup four-hour enduro, after a late

fellow BRDC members in the clubhouse

by battling back past Marcus Black (Talbot

Lago T23), then repelling young Oliver

Llewelyn (Bentley 4½) to complete a

hat-trick of Fox & Nicholl Trophy wins

in his Talbot T26 SS in Saturday’s opener.

Patrick Blakeney-Edwards (Frazer Nash

Super Sports) was shocked that the

aero-engined cars he was chasing – Tuluie’s

Riley Menasco Pirate and Tom Walker’s

Amilcar Hispano – all broke, handing him

GP Itala Trophy victory. PBE went straight

back out to beat Tom Thornton’s fast BMW

329/328 in the Silverstone Trophy. Thornton

The Hudson/

Morley Bentley

leads Getley/Tuluie

car in Benjafield’s

thriller

safety-car deployment bunched the field

when there were still 13 cars on the lead lap.

It was the Truman’s car of Colin

Kingsnorth and Jonathan Hoad that led

much of the race, but Kingsnorth lost

out to Bicknell when the track went

green with 16 minutes left on the clock.

DespatchBay.com had enjoyed spells in

the lead and always been among the

frontrunners, and Bicknell timed his charge

perfectly. He was second into Cascades and

snatched the lead into Island. JPR Uvio’s

Fabio Randaccio and JPR Axiametrics’

Kristian Rose moved into second and third.

After briefly surging clear the leading

trio settled into formation, enabling the

following trio of Henry Dawes (2Rent

Dominos), Kingsnorth and Steve Walton

(Team FNS) to close in and make it a six-car

battle for the lead. With eight minutes to

go just 1.6s separated the six cars. It was

Randaccio who made the decisive move,

challenging for the lead into Old Hall

and losing the rear. Rose was too close

to take evasive action and went off after

the ensuing contact. Randaccio had to

settle for second as Bicknell made a

late but decisive break.

Dawes completed the podium, while

Walton sealed a late fourth, with JPR GT

Radial’s Martin Gibson and Track Focused’s

Sean Cooper completing the top six.

It was a lights-to-flag victory for Ian

Jones in the first BMW Compact Cup race,

his escape aided by the three-way fight