Taking its name from the rolling Lincolnshire countryside, the British Automobile Racing Club’s War of the Wolds meeting at Cadwell Park last weekend featured a varied array of tin-top categories and the opening round of three championships on the Caterham Motorsport ladder.
In mixed weather conditions, the classic British sportscar design served up the close action for which it is renowned while the tin-tops provided a number of star cars.
Star car: Alpine A310
Better known as the promoter of Youngtimer Touring Car Challenge races across Europe, Dutchman Randall Lawson made his British racing debut aboard his glorious 1979 Alpine A310.
As with its A110 forerunner, Alpine chose to focus the rear-engined, fibreglass-bodied A310’s motorsport activity in rallying. Guy Frequelin dominated the 1977 French championship in a V6 version, which replaced the earlier 1800.
Lawson’s example does not have rallying pedigree but runs in a similar Group 4 (Special GT) specification with wide wheel arches and splitter. During his 17-year tenure, Lawson has improved its suspension and brakes, but the biggest development came from its Renault V6 engine, stretched from 2.7 to nearly three litres and incorporating Kugelfischer fuel injection.
“Normally these engines have about 150bhp, and ours has 280,” said Lawson. “You can’t go any higher because the car doesn’t like it at all. It is now really a nice, fast car. On this circuit, with the small corners, you really have your hands full.”
Lawson was tempted to join the Classic Thunder field by series regular – and YTCC competitor – Martin Reynolds.
“I could have raced this weekend at Silverstone,” explained Lawson, “but Martin said, ‘Come to Cadwell Park, you will love it’. And I love it. Up the hill over here [Mountain], I don’t know who made that – he must have had a lot of Guinness in his life! I love the English circuits. I love the English racing.”
Radiator damage ended Lawson’s weekend early after the Alpine tagged a more modern Ford Fiesta under braking.
Star car: Vauxhall Vectra SRI V6
Victorious Vectra dates back to one-make series
Photo by: Steve Jones
Marshall Groves’ pair of Track Action victories were his first overall wins in his Vauxhall Vectra SRI V6, seen more regularly in CNC Heads Sports & Saloons.
It needed something special to supplant self-confessed Alfista Groves’ previous mount, an Alfa Romeo 33. The Motor Sport Developments-built Vectra from the manufacturer-backed British Touring Car support series of 1997-99 did just that by stirring memories of the likes of Dave Pinkney and Rob Collard tearing up the tracks.
“I watched a lot of touring cars back in the day as a 13, 14-year-old boy going to Brands Hatch,” explained Surrey-born Groves. “I remember Tim Harvey signed my forehead on the grid once in 1995!
“[The Vectra] is like a mini touring car. These were seriously campaigned by the drivers: Mark Blair, Flavio Figueiredo, Mark Lemmer, guys like that who were going for it.”
Groves has kept chassis 009 as original as possible – except for the engine, which a previous owner upgraded from its original 2.5-litre version to a later 3.2.
“I’ve changed all the rear beam bushes over winter,” he added. “The anti-roll bars came with these beautifully made aluminium bushes which are all alloy, so I’ve made bushes to go inside them and tried to preserve it as it was with all the original bits.
“It’s really fun to drive. I love all the parkland circuits – Oulton Park, Cadwell Park, Donington Park. It’s quite good at Donny, but it’s a bit of a big car for around here – it’s too small, tight, nadgery. It’s a big old car, long wheelbase. I had to hustle it around the hairpin.”
Star car: VW Golf GTI Mk1
Jeffs has climbed a mountain to improve Golf’s performance and reliability
Photo by: Steve Jones
Long-time Pre-’83 Touring Car racer Malcolm Jeffs ended a torrid run of fortune with his VW Golf GTI over the past few years by finishing second on Sunday.
Since securing pole position for the 2022 season opener at Silverstone, Jeffs’ Golf – and sister cars driven by brother Simon and Duncan Leftley – had recorded barely a handful of finishes, plagued by overheating.
It was a demoralising run, brightened only by Scalextric’s interest in recreating his machine in 1:32 scale, complete with its eye-catching livery by 3Sixty Wraps. Jeffs’ Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit colours were inspired by a Wrigley’s Spearmint version that adorned German rally driver Jochi Kleint’s Golf in period.
An electric water pump helped solve the overheating and, after electrical gremlins kept him from the season-opener, Jeffs completed his first race distance in nearly two years on Saturday. With class competition typically comprising Ford Escorts, Triumph Dolomite Sprints and a unique Datsun 510, Sunday’s wet weather was manna from heaven for the Golf’s front-wheel drive.
“I thought, if I can just keep it on the Tarmac, I might get a [winner’s] hat!” smiled Jeffs. “There’s a few scary moments where you outbrake yourself but luckily you can engine-brake on the Golf quite nicely so that helped me.
“This really was a test weekend – just see the chequered flag in both races if we can. To come away with second is brilliant.”
The next target is getting all three Golfs back on the grid and challenging the rear-wheel-drive machinery. That was, after all, why the Jeffs originally switched from their traditional Alfasuds to the VWs, with their more potent five-bearing crankshafts.
Best race: Caterham Roadsports
Davies (r) and Fox had a tremendous battle
Photo by: Steve Jones
Having completed a season of racing in the Academy, the next step for aspiring racers on the Caterham ladder is Roadsports. And, judging by their pair of races at Cadwell Park, the 2025 graduates have little learning left to do.
Welshman Richard Davies – third in last year’s Academy championship – won both contests, each in contrasting fashion. On Saturday he jumped polesitter Mitchell Fasanya and broke away while the rest battled. Davies’ winning margin of 11 seconds was huge; the next five were covered by only 1.3s.
Sunday’s sequel was enlivened by Matt Fox, 2025 Academy runner-up. Fox climbed to third from 11th on the grid the previous day, after struggling in the damp qualifying session, and was immediately in the mix second time around.
He passed Kyle Townend, Saturday’s runner-up, into the Mountain, then latched on to leader Davies. For lap after lap, Fox probed until he charged around the outside of Coppice mid-race. But Davies immediately responded at Park and the pair then continued to trade the lead.
On the final lap, Davies twice received bumps from behind, first after his own mistake approaching Mansfield then from Fox’s last-ditch attack at the Hairpin. As Davies scrambled clear, Townend jumped both Oliver Smith and Fasanya in the concertina effect behind to take third. That became second when Fox was slapped with a 5s penalty for his transgression.
“I had to work hard for that one,” puffed Davies. “That was very hard but fair racing.”
Star performer: James Hitchen
C1 graduate impressed on Scottish Minis’ away day
Photo by: Steve Jones
After ending last year as runner-up in the Scottish C1 Cup, Cumbria-based James Hitchen stepped up to the Mini Cooper Cup for 2026. And he very nearly won first time out at the season-opening English away day.
Hitchen placed an encouraging sixth in a pulsating opener won by Jack Irvine from champions Chad Little and Robbie Dalgleish.
It earned him a front-row start on race two’s partially-reversed grid. In a chaotic wet contest, Hitchen led before dropping to fifth with two excursions. But his recovery drive netted fastest lap and fell just a second short of winner Little at the chequered flag.
“I was thinking, ‘Oh no, not rain,’” admitted Hitchen, “but, wow, it was incredible!”
Little faced large challenge to take victory
Photo by: Steve Jones
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– The Autosport.com Team
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