Mixed fortunes for Tigers, first win for Death
Rapid but seemingly ill–fortuned Irish pairing Jackie Cochrane and Jonathan Fildes put their Snetterton woes firmly behind them as they swept to victory at Brands Hatch last weekend (Sept 19-20).
Cochrane went on to finish fourth in Sunday’s single driver sprint race in which local man Harvey Death (in his incredible Radical SR8 engined spaceframe Mini) bagged a first Heritage series outright win.
Qualifying
As we returned to the scene of our opening races of the year, even the lure of the ultra demanding Brands GP circuit failed to tempt more than 15 cars to Kent. Whilst this was a disappointing turn out, a date clash with the Goodwood Revival meeting did us no favours. The prospect of racing at Spa one week later didn’t help either.
That said, numbers may have been down, but qualifying served up a mouth watering taster with less than 0.8s blanketing the top four. Invitation class runner Harvey Death bagged his first Heritage pole in that amazing Mini clone just ahead of the Jackie Cochrane/Jonathan Fildes shared Class D Sunbeam Tiger.
Third fastest, the Richard and Rob Austin Ford Capri Perana V8 sported a bigger engine for the first time, 5.7 litres replacing the previous 5.0 litre unit. The car tipped the scales some 120kgs heavier than previously, prompting engineer Alan Draffin to revise its set-up, the car picking up a rear wheel in corners.
Another with a new engine, Boysie Thurtle slotted the family Chevrolet Camaro onto fourth grid spot, although the timing pointer went AWOL from the new unit during qualifying. Rather than risk a set-up, the car was withdrawn.
With usual co-driver Tony Jardine unable to be there, Bob Searles afforded Boysie the chance to find himself a seat in yet another Aston Martin DBS V8 for the longer distance race on Saturday.
Race One
Any thoughts that the Death Mini may just run away with it were dispelled as early as Druids where, having led, Harvey got well out of shape on cold tyres. A quick trip across the infield left him back in sixth place. However, that grassy trip had set up its own problem which would later surface.
Double Donington Park race winner John Wilson (MGB GTV8) had stormed up from row three to now lead from Cochrane, but an equally hard charging Joss Ronchetti was to claim second spot on lap two.
Feeling that his Sunbeam Lotus was carrying too much rubber, Ronchetti had opted to run narrower section tyres this week but was caught out and had been only sixth best in qualifying. ‘The Bullet’ was destined to go little further however.
With fuel leaking from the Sunbeam, it was flagged off, the problem later traced to a seam on the alloy fuel tank having split. Overnight repairs were effected.
This left Wilson in front from the recovering Death who’d repassed both Austin and Cochrane, but the Mini was soon another retirement. Its undertray, loosened in the earlier off, was now hanging down and flapping on the track.
Despite its retirement, the car was still classified and thus a class winner; according to the chief timekeeper quite correctly although your reporter was left bemused as to quite how!
Race leader Wilson was one of the last to pit, but his pace thereafter fell right away, a vibration which badly blistered his hands later being traced to a loosening rear wheel rather than suspected rubber pick up on the tyres.
When Daniel Brown became the final stopper in the family Aston Martin DB4, his lead was some 43.6s. His stop elevated the now Fildes driven Tiger to number one spot clear of Rob Austin and Wilson with Brown senior a class winning fourth.
Fildes said ‘We’d put new tyres on the left hand side and I was able keep it neat. It’s nice to be back winning again’.
The Colin Voyce started, David Mountain relayed Ford Escort Zakspeed lookalike finished fifth to take Class C honours while Searles/Thurtle rounded out the top six.
Class B went to the smokey Ford Escort of Tim Glover and Niki Faulkner down in eighth spot.
The other Escort, that of the Hydes, per et fils, saw son Jonny hand over to dad Steve with a cockpit full of smoke! The TVR engined car was soon back into the pits with father also coughing away furiously.
The problem was traced to a wiring fault inside the car which critically, had allowed the engine to run lean and in turn burn two pistons. Sadly, it was out for the rest of the weekend. It was joined on the sidelines by the Zoe North driven Sunbeam.
She caused an early race stoppage when her car slammed into the barrier on the exit of Druids. The previously pristine ‘Tigress’ emerged battered and bruised, thankfully not so the driver. ‘My tyres were going off, it got away from me’ she proffered with an air of resignation.
Father Robin had earlier posted retirement when his Ford Mustang overheated. Also on the retirement list was Clive Death, his historic Mini Cooper S having picked up a puncture. Like his brother, he too was classified.
Results race one:
1 Jackie Cochrane/Jonathan Fildes (Sunbeam Tiger) 23 laps in 40m17.945s (78.79mph); 2 Richard & Rob Austin (Ford Capri Perana V8) + 11.557s; 3 John Wilson (MGB GTV8); 4 Sean & Daniel Brown (Aston Martin DB4); 5 Colin Voyce/ David Mountain (Ford Escort Mk 1); 6 Bob Searles/Boysie Thurtle (Aston Martin DBS V8). Class winners Cochrane/Fildes; Brown/Brown; Voyce/Mountain; Tim Glover/Niki Faulkner (Ford Escort Mk 1); Harvey Death (Mini Cooper S). Fastest lap Cochrane/Fildes 1m38.925s (83.73mph).
Race two
This provided one of the most bizarre sights of the season with Ronchetti’s thirty year old Sunbeam battling with, and fending off for many laps, Death’s spaceframe Mini, which in addition to newness also boasts slick tyres. Death eventually wrested victory but not before the crowd had enjoyed a thriller.
Cochrane led early on before Wilson took over on lap three, but his tenure of top spot was shortlived with Ronchetti slicing past into Surtees a lap later. All eyes were on Death who was charging up from last on the grid.
By lap six, only Ronchetti lay between him and victory. He caught the Sunbeam, but getting by proved a different task as Ronchetti used all his guile to keep the younger car at bay. Starting the penultimate lap, Death swept past into Paddock.
But amazingly, Ronchetti was back ahead as they finished the lap. ‘I got past him at Hawthorns’ said the Leicester man sporting a huge grin. Once more Death got by at Paddock and this time there was no way back for Ronchetti.
Wilson just shaded third place from Cochrane while Sean Brown was eventually left a well detached fifth.
He’d been embroiled in a battle with Robin North and Richard Austin. Somewhere out on the Grand Prix loop, a last lap sort out left both North and Austin to lose time and trail home seventh and tenth respectively.
Their misfortunes promoted Searles to round out the top half dozen. Voyce (eighth) and Clive Death (tenth) completed the class winners.
Results race two:
1 Harvey Death 12 laps in 20m28.477s (80.91mph); 2 Ronchetti + 1.206s; 3 Wilson; 4 Cochrane; 5 Sean Brown; 6 Searles. Class winners Death; Ronchetti; Brown; Voyce; Clive Death (Mini Cooper S). Fastest lap Harvey Death 1m39.077s (83.60mph).
Report by Dud Candler
Photos by Jakob Ebrey
