HGT packs wows the BTCC crowd
Two races for the Charterhouse Heritage GT Car Challenge provided some superb action during the British Touring Car Championship meeting at Snetterton over the weekend (28/29 July).
While Stephen Colbert/Jackie Cochrane won the first race in their Sunbeam Tiger, a thrilling second race fell to the Chevrolet Camaro of Arthur and Boysie Thurtle as a fabulous grid of classic sports and GT cars brought the curtain down on Snetterton's biggest race meeting of the season.
Qualifying
Andy Rouse set the early pace in qualifying but it was a late burst from Stephen Colbert in Jackie Cochrane’s Sunbeam Tiger that secured pole position. "Could do with better brakes and I’m on the rev limiter for half the Revett Straight," reported the pole sitter.
Rick Lloyd was racing solo in his Morgan Plus 8 as regular co-driver Peter Horsman was busy at Silverstone and was quite happy to be third. "Boysie Thurtle kept driving by me on the straights! Third's not bad," said the race winner from the previous Snetterton round.
Boysie Thurtle reported understeer in the fourth placed Chevrolet Camaro. "It’s got loads of power, but the handling is not quite right yet," he said as he prepared for a rare race outing alongside his father Arthur.
The fifth-placed Aston Martin V8 was an early pit visitor as the door needed taping up as it was waving in the air, otherwise both George Miller and Les Goble were happy with their position.
Ben Samuelson was enjoying the handling of Peter Wheelers' Aston Martin DB4 and they were delighted to be eighth fastest.
Laki Christoforou (Ford Escort) was the leading Class B runner in an excellent tenth place, while in Class A Gordon Streeter was fastest despite running in a new engine. However, Dave Mountain and Graham Hathaway were not too far behind as they made their series debut in Mountain's Lotus Cortina Mk1.
Race One
Cochrane started the race and roared off into lead with the fast starting Lloyd on his tail. As the pair rounded Coram, the Tiger ran wide out across the grass and promptly lost the lead. "I was trying to get the car to follow the tarmac but went grass cutting instead," explained the former leader, after he rejoined in fourth place. This allowed Lloyd to lead from Peter Hall (Chevrolet Camaro) while Roger Bennington, holding third in the Thurtle Camaro, soon came under pressure from the recovering Tiger.
Meanwhile, Robin North made fantastic progress from 12th place in his Ford Mustang to be fifth after just three laps, and then started to close in on Bennington.
After eight laps, a rash of pit stops mixed up the order and Arthur Thurtle lost some time with a spin in the Camaro at Coram. Also loosing time was Lloyd as the 30-second pit-stop for driving solo dropped him out of the
lead. Instead, Colbert took the lead and he duly powered the Tiger to a comfortable victory.
Rouse tried to hang on to the Tiger but was fighting fading grip from his rear tyres. Lloyd recovered to third while Arthur Thurtle gathered up the Camaro to be fourth.
Two strong runs from the Aston Martins of Ian McCallum/John Bussell and Peter Wheeler/Ben Samuelson were rewarded with top six finishes, while Zoe North stole seventh place on the final lap from the Scragg/Bussell DBS and a charging drive while Christoforou outran Lloyd’s Jaguar for ninth.
Peter Lloyd was a late pit visitor in the Jaguar E Type, having run as high as fourth, before settling for tenth at the finish complete with several bent panels. "I’ve been and offered my apologies," confessed Lloyd.
Results race one
1 Jackie Cochrane/Stephen Colbert (Sunbeam Tiger) 21 laps in 27m31.260s (89.36mph); 2 Pete Hall/Andy Rouse (Chevrolet Camaro) +14.571s; 3 Rick Lloyd (Morgan Plus 8); 4 Arthur Thurtle/Roger Bennington (Chevrolet Camaro); 5 Ian McCallum/John Bussell (Aston Martin DB5); 6 Peter Wheeler/Ben Samuelson (Aston Martin DB4); 7 Robin North/Zoe North (Ford Mustang); 8 Chris Scragg/John Bussell (Aston Martin DBS); 9 Laki Christoforou (Ford Escort Mk1); 10 Peter Lloyd (Jaguar E Type). Class winners: Cochrane/Colbert; Rick Lloyd; Christoforou; Dave Mountain/Graham Hathaway (Lotus Cortina Mk1); Tim Glover/Martin Sandmeier (Ford Escort Mk1). Fastest lap: Colbert 1m14.264s (94.62mph).
Race two
Sunday's 40-minute race closed the weekend in style, with battles all the way down the field and some great racing as the result remained in doubt until the very end of the race.
Rick Lloyd fired the Morgan into an immediate lead from Arthur Thurtle and Stuart Hall as Jackie Cochrane settled in fourth in the Sunbeam Tiger. Unfortunately, the Hall/Rouse Camaro was an early retirement with power steering failure.
Among the first of the routine pit stops was Cochrane and with Colbert now at the wheel, the Tiger stormed back into the race. Lloyd led until a relatively late pit stop and rejoined in third behind Boysie Thurtle and Colbert. The pace was stunning as the V8s charged around and, bit-by-bit, Colbert closed the gap to the Camaro. But Boysie was pushing very hard and it was not until lap 25 that Colbert was able to grab the lead.
Sadly, two laps later Stephen had to park the Tiger at the Esses after a major engine problem. "Once the warning light was on the dash, I turned it off," said a disappointed Colbert.
Now Thurtle was back ahead, but still couldn’t relax as Lloyd was chasing hard in the Morgan. On the final lap, they were nose to tail through Coram and Boysie had to defend into Russell to keep the Morgan at bay. "I've never had such a heart-stopping last lap," said Boysie after victory. "I didn’t know you were leading," said Lloyd as he congratulated his rival in the pit lane. "After all that hard work, I wasn't going to give up," added the race winner.
"We didn’t expect that," said John Bussell after partnering Ian McCallum to a mighty third overall, while Miller/Goble also had a great run to fourth, helped by the demise of the Wheeler/Samuelson DB4 with fuel pressure problems.
Into a fine fifth from the back of the grid, despite a drive-through penalty, came Chris Williams (Morgan Plus 8) after a quick change of car following engine dramas with his Rover, while Robin and Zoe North completed the top six to wrap up an excellent weekend. Peter Lloyd again went solo in his Jaguar E Type to claim class B while a very warm Streeter took class D. "It finished," said an elated Gordon after the race.
Results race two
1 Arthur Thurtle/Boysie Thurtle 31 laps in 40m44.552s (89.11mph); 2 Rick Lloyd +1.099s; 3 McCallum/Bussell; 4 George Miller/Les Goble (Aston Martin V8); 5 Chris Williams (Morgan Plus 8); 6 North/North; 7 Peter Lloyd; 8 Christoforou; 9 Scragg/Bussell; 10 Nigel Vaulkhard/John Smirthwaite (Ford Escort Mk1). Class winners: Thurtle/Thurtle; Rick Lloyd, Peter Lloyd; Gordon Streeter (Ford Anglia). Fastest lap: Colbert 1m 14.087s (94.84mph).
Paul Lawrence
Photos: Jeff Bloxham
