Following a brilliant day’s racing with the Equipe 6 Hour Endurance race the previous day it was the turn of the Equipe’s regular series to take to the track. They did not disappoint and produced another day of entertaining track action.

Equipe Sports Prototypes

The Equipe Sports Prototypes which kicked off the action were faced with a very wet track. McLeans corner proved to be very testing and caught out the Juno of Graham Charman on the very first lap and the Norma of pole sitter and Silverstone double-race winner Bradley Smith joined him in the gravel on lap 2 scrambling the safety car. It took until lap six for racing to resume with James Abbott out front in his Revolution 500 EVO. The older-spec Revolution of Shane Kelly was second but under pressure from Mike Jenvey who had his Jenvey-Gunn up into P2 by the end of the lap. 

Jenvey was on a mission to claim the top spot and closed the gap to 0.6sec on lap 11.  He challenged for the lead at Reigate on lap 12 but was unable to make the move stick and then lost time when he was another to slide off at McLeans. He somehow kept his car going through the gravel trap to rejoin still in P2. Abbott stayed clear to win from Jenvey with Kelly in P3. Jonathan Edwards took P4 in his Chiron in what were every challenging conditions.

By the time the cars took to the grid for their second race of the day the track had dried. Abbott was on pole but due to his DNF in race 1 Smith starting from the back of the grid. Abbott led the field away at the rolling start with Jenvey next up. As expected Smith flew through the field and passed  Kelly for third on lap three. Four laps later Smith passed Jenvey and and then took the lead a lap later.

Abbott slowed and brought the Revolution into the pits on lap 11. Smith continued to lap quickly and opened a commanding lead but was denied the win when he slowed and retired on lap 27.  Jenvey and Kelly both benefitted from Smith’s retirement and took the top two steps of the podium and Lee Collar, who had missed race one, claimed P3 in his ADR. It was Jenvey’s fourth win of the season.

Equipe MG Cup

30 cars lined up for the opening race – the biggest Equipe MG Cup field of the year. The track was still damp making the drivers of cars with the option to run slicks think long and hard about their tyre choice. Rhys Higginbotham had his ZR190 on pole and led the field away, some of the slick shod runners scrabbling for grip.

An incident at Redgate in lap 2 brought out the safety car for three laps and when racing restarted  Higginbotham put in a storming lap and moved clear of the field, Mark Wright’s MGF Cup was in P2 ahead of Dan Ludlow’s ZR190 and the Rover 220 of Stuart Tranter. While Higginbotham extended his lead lap by lap Ludlow closed in on Wright and claimed P2 with a move round the outside at Redgate on lap 11.

Higginbotham won overall and claimed Class D. Ludlow took second and heading the Invitation class. After an entertaining Class B battle that had filled the lower part of the top ten for much of the race Andy Firth’s ZR170 took class honours and sixth overall. Peter Burchill claimed the Class C win in his ZS 180.

The track had dried by the time the cars took to the track for their second race of the day. Ludlow took the lead off the line with Higginbotham, Wright and Tranter three-abreast as they headed towards Redgate. Higginbotham’s challenge ended part way through the lap and Wright retired to the pits at the end of the lap. Series returnee Eliza Seville who had started 29th following her DNF in race 1 was flying and her MGF was up to 14th by the end of lap 2.

Ludlow eased away at the front ahead of Tranter but Chaz Ryles had his ZR190 going well and was past the Tomcat on lap 8 and Seville was part of a six-car battle for fourth. Ludlow took the win and the Invitation class. Tranter regained P2 on the final lap and Ryles who was third on the road incurred a penalty which demoted him to P5. Seville was rewarded with third and the Class D win after a great drive through the field and Andy Firth took his second Class B win of the day. Burchill made it a Class C double in his ZS180. Freddie Ugo was another to claim two class wins on the day in his Class A Rover 216 GTi.

Equipe Formula Libre

It was the Ralt RT4 of Ray Smith on pole for the first Equipe Formula Libre race but fellow front row starter Callum Grant pulling off on the green flag lap with a driveshaft failure. Smith led at the end of lap one but had the Surtees TS10 of Dean Forward and Tim Jacobsen’s March 74B right with him.

Lap two and it was Forward ahead with Jacobsen in second, the Formula Two Surtees showing great straight-line speed on only its second appearance after restoration. Across the line and into lap six the rear wing flew off the Surtees and it was off at Redgate which brought out the safety car. Racing resumed for what proved an exciting two final laps. Jacobsen was first over the line from the Swift of Jim McGaughey. Smith brought his Salt home in P3 with David Sheppard’s Chevron B24 in 4th place, the quartet were separated by less than two seconds.

The afternoon’s race was restarted after oil went down at Coppice corner. Jacobsen was the early leader with Sheppard and Mark Williams’ Lola T462 battled for second. Side-by-side over the line at the end of lap two, Williams went past down the inside into Redgate and set off after Jacobsen’s Formula Atlantic March.

By lap four Williams was ahead and stating to open a gap ahead of Jacobsen while Sheppard was under pressure from Smith’s Ralt which upped its pace as the race progressed.  Williams took the win in the shortened race, Jacobsen secure in second with Smith claiming the final step on the podium.

Equipe GTS

The first pit-stop race of the day was for the Equipe GTS field. Chris Ryan was on pole in his TVR Grantura. Fellow front row starter David Gardner was slow away in his Turner and slipping to third at the end of lap one behind the MGB of Harvey McBrien. Ryan pushed hard early on to open a gap. Paul Ugo was in fourth in the TVR Grantura he was sharing with Robi Bernberg and was working hard to stay clear Paul Eales’ MGB which headed a train of cars all fighting for position.

Geoff Turral’s Triumph TR3A was the first of the top ten to pit when the pit window opened, coming in from P6 on lap eleven. Ryan and Gardner were in the next lap and McBrien one lap after that, Ugo pitting to hand over to Bernberg only for the car to retire a lap later with brake issues. George Grant stayed out until lap 18 in his MG B and pitted from the lead which allowed Ryan to retake the lead and extend his advantage to some 21 seconds by the time the flag flew.

It was Equipe GTS win number five of the season for Ryan. McBrien took a secure  second ahead of Gardner. Eales, who had headed a battling pack for many laps, peeled into the pits at the end of lap 21 leaving Grant to claim P4 with Joshua Holmes’ MGB fifth.

Equipe 70s

It was a strong grid for the 40-minute Equipe 70s race. The Porsche 911RS of series newcomer Tim Bates got away well when the lights went out and opened up a useful gap ahead of Stave Dance in his Ford Capri RS2600 who had started seventh on the grid and driven a great opening lap. Rob Cull ran third in his Ford Escort while Oliver Wardle’s MGB GT V8 lost fourth to Mark Lucock’s Escort on lap three but stayed with him in a fun battle for that position.

Dance, who had been able to match Bates’ pace but not close in, pitted at the end of lap eleven, before the pit stop window, and it turned into a long stop that saw the Capri retire. Bates pitted as the window opened a lap later. He was followed in by Lucock and the BMW of Alex Heynes who had been running close together in fourth and fifth.

Once everyone had stopped it was Bates clear at the front and he duly took his maiden Equipe 70s win. Cull came home second. Lucock and Heynes, who had contested P3 for several laps, were to be denied by John Pearson who had worked his Escort RS1600 Zakspeed up the order and was in to third on lap 22. Lucock took P4 after Heynes went off on lap 24.

Equipe Libre

Oliver Reuben had his TVR Griffith on pole for the Equipe Libre race and led away from Will Linley’s Elan and the Marcos of David Keers-Trafford. The E-Type Semi Lightweight of Dave Coyne was fourth at the end of lap one. By the end of lap 2 Reuben had a cushion of 8 seconds from Lindley and Coyne was into P3 in the flame-spitting E-Type.

Linley stayed out of the clutches of Coyne who in turn started to come under pressure from Keers-Trafford. Behind them a TVR Griffith battle was brewing as Nick Mountford diced with Jamie Boot. Further down the order John Caudwell, who was recovering from a first lap spin in his AC Cobra, was up to P5 by the mid-point of the race.

Reuben was back in front as the pit window closed and powered on to take this third Equipe Libre win in the Griffith with Linley finishing P2 in his Elan. Caudwell had run third but slowed on the final lap allowing Boot through for third with Keers-Trafford not far behind in his 1800GT Marcos. Caudwell was classified P5.

Congratulations to the Equipe Classic Racing team who once again organised an outstanding race meeting. Next time out will be at Oulton Park on 2nd August.

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Previous Equipe Classic Racing reports.