Short twice at the head of squabbling MX-5 Cup pack at Silverstone

Some close MX-5 Cup contests were among the highlights of last weekend’s Silverstone 750 Motor Club event with the first race featuring 40 entrants, four leaders and a frontrunning group with as many as nine cars in it.

Reigning champion Ben Short was the victor, ahead of Oak Richardson and Jordan Johnson, while polesitter Simon Walker-Hansell was among the lead challengers, but had to settle for fourth.

Another large leading pack ensued in race two, with Short, Richardson, Walker-Hansell and Thomas Holland all taking turns at the front. Richardson looked to have sealed it, but he spun at Brooklands on the last lap, just avoiding the barrier. Johnson was able to capitalise and took the win, a tenth ahead of Walker-Hansell, followed by Holland and Ben Smiles – the latter pair only 0.002 seconds apart and kept their positions despite contact. Short was fifth.

The partially reversed-grid race three also went the way of Short, although Walker-Hansell pushed hard and briefly got the better of him in the closing laps. Richardson moved up to the leading group from 13th fairly rapidly and finished third.

Classic Stock Hatch also served up drama, particularly in the second race. The first was won by Pete Morgan’s Ford Fiesta XR2, having led comfortably while his rivals tussled behind. The race was stopped after an accident involving Rick Groom and Stuart Cleevely, both in XR2s. Groom spun after being tapped, and was then collected by Cleevely. Fortunately, neither driver was injured.

The sequel was contested between Edward Cooper and Jason Wood, both in Vauxhall Novas. Cooper marginally nailed it, and the ferocious slipstreaming between Morgan and two Peugeot 205s driven by Neil Dudman and James Haslehurst was highly entertaining. Dudman got third, followed by Haslehurst and Morgan.

Hot Hatch also featured some drastic late moves. Double winner Jake Renshaw (Honda Civic) pipped Joseph McMullan in another Civic to the opening win, after early leader Shay Kavanagh, also in a Civic, broke down on lap four. Renshaw pulled out a large lead in the second race and McMullan also made his way to a safe second, but Lewises Barker and Ellis (both Civics) vied for third with Barker sealing the place.

The Locost bouts had a similar feel. Daniel Garrett wasn’t strongly challenged for the first win, although there was plenty of chopping and changing behind him, with Shaun Brame and Lewis Ward taking the other podium positions. However, Garrett had a close rival in race two, in the form of his brother, Ryan – who pushed him all the way. Ward was in hot pursuit of Ryan Garrett, aided by the early retirement of Brame.

Shane Stoney’s PR6 took victory in both Radical races, by large margins both times and with a fastest lap well over a second clear than the rest, including his Class A rival, Leon Morrell, who was runner-up on both occasions. Joe Stables was challenging strongly in race one, but contact with Morrell sent him off at Luffield and out of the race. He held second for almost all of race two, but retired on the final lap.

The first Type R Trophy winner was never really in doubt either. David Walsh was not quite as dominant as Stoney, but he kept comfortably clear of a battle for second, which included Don De Graaff and Oliver Musgrave. Musgrave ultimately finished second, while De Graaff was fifth.

A partially reversed grid made race two more tense. Novice Jordan Banks held on to the lead for a good chunk of the distance, before being caught and passed by De Graaff. Banks was only passed for second late on by Trafford King, following a big multi-car scrap for third.

Cowley was unable to stay with Dawe’s Clubmans machine in 750 Formula

Photo by: Steve Jones

Guest driver Robin Dawe in his classic Diamond Clubmans machine won the first 750 Formula race from Bill Cowley’s Cowley MkIV. Cowley had not expected to be able to keep up with the Clubman, but both he and David Reid (in the ex-Dave Hodkin HRD Mk2) gave it a good go. Reid passed Cowley early on, but Cowley soon retaliated, and then Reid lost ground. Dawe again headed Cowley second time around, although there was much more grappling over third, involving Jake Doherty (SS/F), Matthew Twynham in a Darvi and Richard Jenkins’s Sheppard.

The M3s of Paul Cook and Steven Schweikhardt secured a win apiece in the BMW Car Club Championship. Cook took a few laps to grab the lead of race one, but he did not look back while Schweikhardt was a distant second.

Race two was defined by attrition: Cook retired with a transmission problem, leaving Schweikhardt to take the win as more misfortune befell his rivals. Ben Pearson got into contention in his M235i, only to have a distributor fail on him. Charlie Dark had a heroic run from the back of the grid to second in his M235i, but a coolant leak meant that he skidded off at Brooklands on the final tour and therefore John Brown’s M3 was runner-up.

Andrew Ruthven scored the first win for a Mk2 car for almost a year in the opening Toyota MR2 race, having just held off Adam Lockwood and Andrew Baranowski. Polesitter Shaun Traynor spun at Brooklands, making contact with another car and damaging a trackrod, and ended up 14th. The newer cars retaliated in the sequel, with Lockwood and Neil Stratton dominating after the first few laps. Traynor’s recovery mission netted him third.

The inaugural Swift Sport Challenge races were won by 116 Trophy driver Louis Woodward and Jake Boydell. Woodward’s was a straightforward victory, but Boydell’s followed a game of tactics with a side of post-race penalties. Woodward led for most of the distance but a track-limits penalty meant Boydell’s penultimate-lap lunge was unnecessary. Former British F3 racer Adam Blair then charged on Boydell, but was disqualified for contact with another car. This promoted Ray Collier to second and novice driver Shay Brennan to third.

The new Swift Sport Challenge attracted 29 cars and produced thrills and spills

Photo by: Steve Jones