For its one-day Oulton Park race meeting Equipe Classic Racing scheduled the usual 40 minute pit-stop races for the GTS, Libre and 70s series and two 20 minute races for both the MG Cup and Sports Prototypes. The circuit was looking at its best in the pleasant summer sunshine and the spectators were treated to some extremely competitive track action.

Equipe GTS

Qualifying for the 40 minute pit-stop race belonged to David Alexander in his Lotus Elise who qualified 0.4sec ahead of Andrew Wenman’s Morgan Plus 4 with Chris Ryan’s TVR Grantura in P3.

A lightning start from P4 on the grid saw Rob Cull lead into the first corner in his TVR Grantura ahead of Wenman with Simon Ashworth (TVR Grantura) and Jonathan Abecassis (Healey 100/43) disputing P3.

Having got away slowly and dropped to P4 on lap 1 Alexander was soon right with Abecassis and into third on lap 3. Wenman initially was in a position to challenge Cull for the lead but a quick pitstop at the end of lap 5 saw the Morgan slip down the order which gifted Alexander P2. Chris Ryan, who had started from the pit lane made short work of moving through the field and was up to P3 by lap 7 but his charge was short-lived as he pulled into retirement two laps later.

Cull and Alexander both pitted at the end of lap 10 and Abecassis followed a lap later leaving Mark Campbell (Triumph TR4) first on he road but he was carrying a time penalty for a jumped start and would be 5th past the flag after 19 laps around the undulating Oulton Park International circuit.

Once all the pitstops had been completed Cull had a healthy lead but the gap back to Alexander shrank lap by lap. They started the last nail-biting tour separated by 1.328secs! Despite Alexander’s best efforts Cull hung on to take the win by 0.323secs. Caudwell claimed third despite his penalty with Abecassis fourth.

Equipe Sports Prototypes – Race 1

Jack Fabby had his blue Praga R1 on pole for the first of the afternoon’s two 20-minute Equipe Sports Prototype races but it was fellow front row starter Shane Kelly who timed the rolling start to perfection and led the field away in his Revolution. The lead pair were evenly matched and pulled away from Max Windheuser’s Norma which was running in third with the Radical SR8 of Jake Simpson for company.

Heading down to Cascades on lap five the Praga appeared briefly to lose pace and the gap to Kelly quadrupled to 3.8secs but Fabby set a series of fastest race laps to close back in. The Windheuser/ Simpson battle produced 9 laps of very close racing but a slow lap 10 saw Simpson lose ground and slip to fifth behind Gordon Duncan, also in a Radical.

In the final laps the lead pair put on a great show, the Revolution strong on acceleration while the Praga had good corner speed. Kelly took his first win of the season in the series just a fraction clear of Fabby at the flag. Windheuser took his best finish with third, Duncan next up while Simpson took fifth just clear of the Wolf Thunder of Darcy Smith.

Equipe Sports Prototypes – Race 2

Kelly again made the best of the start to move ahead in race two, opening a gap in the first two laps before Fabby was able to push hard and close back in. Initially Wendheuser held P3 with Simpson and Duncan scrapping over fourth. By the end of lap 6 the three were separated by 1.4secs but by the end of the following tour Duncan was narrowly ahead of Wendheuser and Simpson had lost time with a spin and dropped down the order. 

By mid race the leading duo were together. Kelly responded and opened the gap a few tenths only to lose a rear wheel arch from the Revolution compromising the aerodynamics of the car. Fabby was duly ahead on lap ten and stayed clear to take the win, also his first in Equipe Sports Prototypes. Kelly had enough in hand to claim second with Duncan third.

Equipe Libre

A strong Equipe Libre field lined up for their 40-minute race. Brian Caudwell took the lead from the outside of the front row in his Cobra at the start though by the end of the opening lap the pole-sitting TVR Griffith of Oliver Rueben headed the field. John Caudwell’s Cobra was third from the Shelby Daytona of Graham Moss and the Lotus Elan Le Mans Coupe of Martin Stretton.

Rueben was flying at the front and opened a gap on Brian Caudwell while Stretton had the unique looking Elan running right with John Caudwell in fourth after eight laps. Reuben and Brian Caudwell both came in for their pitstops at the end of lap 11, John Caudwell and Moss in a lap later as Stretton now led.

Stretton looked to be heading to the pits a lap later but the Elan stopped on the brow of Deer Leap bringing out a safety car that closed the pack right up. Released for a final three laps of racing, Rueben again pulled away to take first place, Brian Caudwell pulling off after a lap to retire leaving Moss to take P2 with John Caudwell P3 and Andrew Cahill first Elan home in fourth.

Equipe MG Cup – Race 1

It was the MG Midget of Ian Staines that came through from the second row of the grid to lead at the end of lap 1 in the opening Equipe MG Cup race. Rhys Higginbotham was second with the fast-starting Cal Moore heading a group of Class B MG ZRs in third. On lap two the lead pair were somehow side-by-side all the way through the Knickerbrook chicane and a lap later Higginbotham’s ZR190 had the lead with pole sitter James Blake in third spot.

Blake was past Staines on lap five and set about closing down Higginbotham. Meanwhile the battle for fourth and Class B honours raged with Archie Styant passing Moore only for the pair to lose out to Peter Bramble’s MGB. A lap later Higginbotham slowed with a delaminated tyre and Blake swept onward to take the win by just over one second. Blake claiming the Invitation class win while Higginbotham headed Class D.

Staines was a fine third with Bramble next up. Styant retired leaving Moore to claim fifth and the Class B win. Stuart Tranter had a fine drive in his 220 Turbo Tomcat; a winner at Oulton Park last season he finished sixth after starting from the back of the grid. The ZS180 of Peter Burchill was eighth and Class C winner while Terry Loxton headed up Class A.

Equipe MG Cup – Race 2

In the final race of the day Staines again got away well to take the early lead with Blake second. Bramble was third on the road but was hit early on with a false start time penalty. Jack Chapman had his ZR170 into P4 with Class B rival Moore next up in a fight for class dominance that would last most of the race.

At the front it was great action, Staines and Blake seldom less than a second apart across the line at the end of each lap. With a lap to go they were side-by-side down the pit straight but Blake able to claim the inside line into Old Hall and then the lead which he managed to hold until the flag.

Bramble was third across the line with enough in hand to claim that position in the results despite his penalty. Moore was fourth to take a Class B double with Chapman less than a second behind. Also taking double class wins were Burchill, seventh overall, and Loxton in his Class A ZR160.

Equipe 70s

It was the Ford Capri RS3100 of Stave Dance on pole for the Equipe 70s race and from the rolling start he took the early lead with the Ford Escort RS1800 of Rob Cull in second. Cull pushed hard in the Escort but Dance used the Capri’s 3.1 litre grunt to steadily open a gap out front. Andrew Wenman slotted his Morgan Plus 8 into third as Mark Lucock’s Escort and the Elan shared by Anthony Reeley and Jonathan Speak battled for fourth in the early laps.

All the lead runners seemed to pit around the same time with Dance, Cull, Lucock and the Elan stopping on lap 10. Andrew Wenman brought the Morgan in from the lead a lap later to hand over to father David and once everyone had cycled through the pits it was again Dance ahead from Cull with the Wenman Morgan third.

Dance duly reeled off the remaining laps to take his second Equipe 70s win of the season. Cull in turn claiming his fourth second place finish. David Wenman brought the Morgan over the line for third with the Reeley/Speak Elan fourth after showing good pace in the latter part of the race.

Equipe Classic Racing is next in action on September 6th and 7th at Snetterton, always a great weekend of racing.

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