The Bulletin of the British Racing Drivers' Club | Volume ... · BULLETIN OF THE BRITISH RACING...

Volume 30 No 3 • AUTUMN 2009

Bu

lletin

Of th

e b

ritis

h r

acin

g d

rive

rs’ c

lub

Volume 30 No 3 • AUTUM

N 2009

BulletinOf the british racing drivers’ club

Stirling Moss, Monsanto, 23 August 1959

CONTENTSTHE BRITISH RACING DRIVERS’ CLUB

President in ChiefHRH The Duke of Kent KG

PresidentDamon Hill OBE

ChairmanRobert Brooks

DirectorsRoss HyettJackie OliverStuart RoltIan TitchmarshDerek WarwickNick Whale

Club SecretaryStuart Pringle Tel: 01327 850926email: [email protected]

PA to Club SecretaryBecky Simm Tel: 01327 850922email: [email protected]

BRDC Bulletin Editorial BoardIan Titchmarsh, Stuart Pringle, David Addison

EditorDavid Addison

PhotographyLAT, Jakob Ebrey, BRDC Archive, Peter McFadyen

BRDCSilverstone CircuitTowcesterNorthantsNN12 8TN

Sponsorship and advertisingLeon Ward Tel: 01423 851150email: [email protected]

© 2009 The British Racing Drivers’ Club. All rights in and relating to this publication are expressly reserved. Nothing in this publication may be reproduced in whole or part without prior written permission from the BRDC. The views expressed in Bulletin are not necessarily those of the editor, the BRDC or the publishers.

DesignDamion Chew

Produced byBarker Brooks Media LtdBarker Brooks House4 Greengate, Cardale ParkHarrogateHG3 1GYTel: 01423 851150email: [email protected]

www.brdc.co.uk


04 PRESIDENT’S LETTERDamon Hill

09 NEWS FROM YOUR CIRCUITThe latest news from Silverstone Circuits Ltd

10 BUTTON PUSHEDJenson Button’s Formula 1 lead is shrinking

16 GLOBE-TROTTINGMembers are winning all over the world!

18 GOLD RUSHThe BRDC Gold Star

19 SILVER DREAM RACERSThe BRDC Silver Star

22 STAR GAZINGThe BRDC Rising Stars are achieving encouraging results

24 FIT CLUBThe BRDC Superstars have been training hard...

26 EIGHTY NOT OUTSir Stirling Moss OBE is 80 this year

30 BRITISH GRAND PRIXPhotographic memories of the weekend

32 I CAN’T GET NO SLEEPThe Le Mans 24 Hours produced a dramatic race

34 SO NEAR BUT...Ginetta made its Le Mans debut and was looking good until Sunday morning

38 TEACHER AND PUPILWhat does driver training actually mean?

40 LIFE AND TIMESNational racing legend David Brodie

44 UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT BTCC ace Colin Turkington

48 ARMCHAIR COMMENTTruck racing produced many tales in the 1980s

52 IN THE AIRThe World Aerobatic Championships came to Silverstone

54 ROAD TESTThe new McLaren P11

56 OBITUARIESRemembering deceased Members and friends

61 SECRETARY’S LETTERStuart Pringle

62 TELLING THE STORYIn-depth captions to the archive images

64 BETWEEN THE COVERSThe latest book reviews

66 FROM THE ARCHIVEMore nuggets have come to light!

68 MEMBER NEWSA round up of other activity

70 WHAT’S ONClub and regional events


BULLETINOF THE BRITISH RACING DRIVERS’ CLUB

Front coverMark Webber is fi nally set to be a Grand Prix winner. Starting from pole position at the Nurburgring for the German Grand Prix, Mark makes a sluggish getaway and is challenged by Rubens Barrichello on the run to turn one. Mark defends but contact is made and the stewards rule that a drive-through penalty should be served as a punishment. Mark’s groan is almost audible as it seems his chance of a maiden win is slipping away, but this is to be the drive of his career. Mark storms back into contention and dominates the race to crush the opposition and give Red Bull its third win of the season. (Photo LAT)

Back CoverJamie Green secures a second Norisring DTM win in a row and his fi rst in a year-old Mercedes. Running third with four laps to go, Jamie chips his way to the front passing the Mercedes of Bruno Spengler and Timo Scheider’s Audi with a lap to go. (Photo LAT)

16

30

32

54

BRDC Bulletin Vol 30 No 3 3

DAMON HILL OBE

D ear Fellow Member,

Welcome to the end-of-summer BRDC Bulletin.

As the racing seasons in all categories come

to their climaxes, the challenge of driving on the limit

becomes just that little more meaningful. For some, they

realise this just might be the last shot at a title, whilst for

others, they are simply trying to impress enough to race

again next year. Digging that little bit deeper will bring

them closer to discovering something that perhaps they

didn’t know about themselves; discovering exactly what

they are made of. Surely this is key dimension that defi nes

all sport? For those who question that motor sport is a

‘true’ sport, I only wish they could ride with those title

challengers for a few laps. I think they might then take a

diff erent view.

But, for all the joy of motor sport, there is also the

sadness. I am sure that I can say on behalf of all Members

that we send our sincerest sympathies to John Surtees

and his family. Henry Surtees’ s name will always be

remembered with respect and aff ection by everyone in

the BRDC.

As for the business, we had a successful fi rst half of the

year. The EGM result also brought a much needed boost

to the confi dence of the Board and, dare I say it, to the

sense of unity in the Club. I have no doubt that members

want to be proud of their membership, but they are

concerned about the damage to the reputation of the

Club through (I’m sure) well-intentioned criticism of the

democratically elected Board. It is an imperfect world, and

we are no exception, but we keep trying.

I’m sure I have said this before, but if the BRDC is in the

circuit business, then we should be ambitious to create

the best facility for the sport. There is always room for

improvement, so we either accept that challenge and

meet it head on ourselves, or, if not, then we should

transfer it to those who are prepared to take on the risks.

I think it would be wrong to simply hold on to the asset,

without the sincere desire to make the best of it. The

Board hopes that a deal can be made which will alleviate

all the angst which has plagued the Club for the last few

years, and leave a legacy for motor sport in this country of

which the BRDC can rightfully and proudly claim to have

been instrumental in creating.

It seems superfl uous to add that I am as keen to see

how the next few months evolve, as anyone.

Damon Hill OBE

President, BRDC

PRESIDENT’S LETTERHockenheim, 27 July 1990Now you see him, now you don’t. Blink and you would

have missed Damon’s participation in the Formula 3000

championship race preceding the German Grand Prix. In the

Middlebridge Racing Lola-Cosworth T90/50 he is seen here

securing his third pole position in a row despite his car being

“weighed more often than a baby in a maternity ward” to

quote Autosport, and an interview with race offi cials to collect

a US$2000 fi ne for a fl ag off ence. Triumph over adversity

can only last so long, however, and as he leads the fi eld into

the Nordkurve at the start of lap two, Damon spins off into

retirement. It really encapsulates Damon’s season in which

he leads fi ve of the races, has three pole positions, sets two

fastest laps and yet at the end of the year has a solitary second

place, at Brands Hatch, to show for it all.

(Photo LAT)

Ian Titchmarsh

BRDC Bulletin Vol 30 No 34

Proud supporters of historic motor racingSponsor of Le Mans Classic; Grand Prix de Pau; Classic Endurance Racing; Gstaad Classic.

Practitioners of the craft of private banking

A private bank unlike any other. A record of dynamic growth. Built on giving clients the service they expect and deserve.

EFG International’s global family of private banking businesses operates in 55 locations in over 30 countries. These include London, Zurich, Geneva, Paris, Monaco, Luxembourg, Stockholm, New York, Miami, Toronto, The Bahamas, Buenos Aires, Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore. www.efginternational.com

Photo: François Veillard

Le Mans-winning Bentleys, Mount St Gardens, Mayfair, June 1929

Spinnaker Tower, Portsmouth

GP2 Series Telmex Arden International

BT Tower, London

BRDC Clubhouse, Silverstone. © Jakob Ebrey

Park Plaza County Hotel, London

Somerset House, London. © David Morrell

A.C. Entertainment Technologies Ltd. are proud to be a Patron of the BRDC’s exclusive Rising Stars Programme.

John Madejski Garden,V&A Museum

A.C. Entertainment Technologies Ltd. and A.C. Special Projects Ltd. are sister companies within the "A.C. Group".

The rights and ownership of all trademarks are recognised. The information contained herein is correct at the time of printing. E&OE.

NEWS FROM SILVERSTONE CIRCUITMuch is happening to make Silverstone ready for a Grand Prix in 2010 as Richard Phillips explains.

I suppose I should be used to the intrigue that

revolves around F1, but the surprises keep

coming! One year we are amongst the worst

circuits in the world and the next we’re amongst

the best. So what’s changed? Is it our ability to

pull a weekend crowd of over 300,000 during a

global recession when other circuits are suff ering?

Perhaps it’s to do with our organisational skills and

ability to put on a great show? Or it could be the

fantastic support of the teams, press, drivers and

fans combined. I suspect all of these factors have

contributed to the ‘U’ turn and reinstatement in the

game. However, cynically, I suspect it has more to do

with the lack of progress at Donington and the need

for a British Grand Prix.

Nevertheless three months on and we are none

the wiser. Thank heavens we have taken measures to

improve our core motorsport off ering, are investing

in new circuit and have diversifi ed the business and

pushed the Development Brief through. At least these

are things we have more control over. Do we want

the Grand Prix back? Of course we do! But it must be

achieved sensibly.

Five years on and we fi nd ourselves at a crossroads.

The Club, rightly, wants to focus on all the things that

the world’s most prestigious Club should be focussing

on and the business wants to expand and fi nally

establish Silverstone, not only as a national asset, but

also fi rmly amongst the best venues and sporting

brands in the world. I think most of us are in agreement

that this can only be achieved by a degree of separation

and outside investment. However, we are a family and

the ties should never be broken, independence yes, but

the relationship should be treasured.


NEWS FROM YOUR CIRCUIT

The Formula One season has continued to produce drama and many talking points as explains.

hat a summer! What a change of pace!

First, F1 found Peace in its Time; then, as if

in celebration, one Mark Alan Webber, of

Queanbeyan, NSW, Australia (not to mention old

Docko’s ultra-slick F3 operation in the Silverstone

complex) fi nally won the F1 race that had always been

due.

The shame was that all this came after the

Santander British Grand Prix and not before it.

Actually, to be precise, I think Silverstone and its great

heritage can take credit for being the catalyst that

induced the tripartite agreement between CVC, the

FIA and FOTA. There was a stormy atmosphere at

Silverstone throughout the weekend – an unsettling,

undeniable feeling that, if it could happen here, at the

birthplace of Formula One, it could genuinely happen

on a Monday morning afterwards. That realised, the

powerbrokers began their broking.

If nothing else, looking back, the Gathering Storm

was a reminder that the F1 world is but a microcosm

of the real one. Combine large amounts of money

with the human ego, conspicuous materialism and

an element of competition and you have the reasons

behind every confl ict in the history of humanity.

Over the years, since 1981, to be sure, F1 has

managed to avoid self-destruction; this year, for

reasons I won’t go into on these pages because I

know that you’d all prefer to read about the racing,

we were on the verge of it. Thus the atmosphere at

Silverstone.

I, therefore, spent much of my time over the British

GP weekend trying to remember the basics of why

I love my sport. I wandered down to the BRDC Farm

– to a lower-key outpost on the inside of the Abbey/

Club chicane. The sun shone weakly through the grey

sky; the newly-mown grass was damp under foot.

There around me, though – saying, “Hi” unexpectedly

– were a bunch of beautiful old racing cars, not the

least of which was Peter Arundell’s exquisite 1962

Formula Junior Lotus 22. Given that Peter had passed

away but a week before the Grand Prix weekend, and

had died in a caravan park, I was suddenly able to

gain some sort of renewed perspective: as depressing

as the current situation then was for Formula One,

and as strained as the conversations were in the

paddock area and in the BRDC clubhouses, a great

racing driver like Peter Arundell had lived and died

and was now here in sprit, in that beautiful little Lotus.

I remembered the day I’d fi rst seen a 22 – at Warwick

Farm, Australia, in late 1963. Leo Geoghegan drove his


FORMULA 1

black Team Total 22 to victory in the Australian Formula Junior Championships – all

straight arms, short-sleeved black polo shirt and chromed suspension and exhaust.

I was captivated as I watched from the outside of the hairpin; I was enchanted by

Leo’s polish and fl air.

Why do I love my sport? Because of people like Leo, and Peter Arundell – who

I never met, to my ever-lasting regret – and Jim Clark and Graham Hill and Frank

Matich and Carlos Reutemann and Lewis Hamilton. And because of hundreds

more like them. And – I reminded myself as I wandered on the grass, taking in a

Cooper-Climax here or a Brabham-Repco there – I still love it. It was just that, that

weekend, we all had to work a little harder to fi nd the things we loved.

Thus I returned to the F1 paddock for British GP qualifying. To see the very fast

Sebastian Vettel maximize the best car in the fi eld. To see Mark Webber at home on

a circuit at which he has always excelled. To enjoy – yes – the fundamentals.

Red Bull enjoyed an excellent

summer with Mark Webber, top

left, scoring his fi rst Grand Prix win

in Germany and Sebastian Vettel,

bottom left, taking his fi rst dry win

at Silverstone. McLaren’s season

picked up in Hungary, left, where

Lewis Hamilton took a convincing

win, but the Brawns have struggled

of late. At Silverstone, right, the

cloudy skies and cooler temperatures

were blamed for both cars struggling

to get the best out of their tyres

(Photos LAT)


FORMULA 1

Sebastian did not disappoint – and I think

I have it now: he is a driver of enormous

suppleness and feel – a Senna more than a

Prost, a Lewis more than a Fernando. If we

still had mechanical gearshifts and if the

drivers were still obliged to heel-and-toe,

Sebastian would be the driver with the perfect

synchronisation and the insatiable need to

select every gear on the stairway down from

seventh to fi rst. There would be no jumping

from fi fth to third or from fourth to second for

Sebastian. Deliberately missing a gear – even

a down-shift gear – was for drivers like Senna

tantamount to playing a wrong note in a

concerto.

Next to Seb, Mark Webber is slightly

less refi ned, slightly harsher. We’re talking

degrees here, in a spectrum of 100 per cent;

we’re talking whispery-fi ne details. Around

Silverstone, though, with its cambers and its

cross-winds and its ultra-fast ess-bends and

its sweepers - and then with its slow, tedious,

frustrating sector three - around these corners

it is about compliance – about dealing with the

unexpected; softness is what the Silverstone

lap is all about.

Okay. Mark found a wayward Kimi on what

would have been his quickest Q3 lap. Mark

could have been on the front row. Mark could,

perhaps, even have taken pole. There was a

pattern, though – and that pattern seemed

irrevocable: every time Mark was quick at

Silverstone, his Red Bull armed with a fresh set

of tyres and/or a lighter fuel load, Sebastian

was always a fraction quicker. Every time. In

every session.

I should also pay tribute here to Adrian

Newey, the designer whose cars have just

Sebastian did not disappoint – and I think I have it now: he is a driver of enormous suppleness and feel – a Senna more than a Prost, a Lewis more than a Fernando.

Kimi Raikkonen, below, was

blamed by Mark Webber for

spoiling his fi nal qualifying

eff ort at Silverstone, although

Sebastian Vettel always seemed

to have the edge that weekend,

suggesting Mark would have

struggled to grab pole. Kimi

was overshadowed by Felipe

Massa at the start of the season

but picked up his pace to win at

Spa to indicate that the Ferrari

is becoming a faster car and,

after his Brazilian team-mate’s

accident in Hungary, has been

partnered by Luca Badoer and

Giancarlo Fisichella (Photo LAT)


FORMULA 1

about always been quick at Silverstone. Think

Leyton House March and Ivan Capelli or Nigel

Mansell and the Williams FW14B and you have

the Newey snapshot. And I guess about the

greatest tribute you can pay Adrian is that this

year’s Red Bull is not only an aero work of art

but is also driveable: it is eff ectively packaged;

it is reliable; and it is comfortable even for a

driver as tall as Mark Webber.

The Red Bull alone generated optimum tyre

temperatures at Silverstone; that, too, was

clear. If you spoke to Ross Brawn about this,

or to Jenson Button or to Rubens Barrichello,

they would answer in terms of historical fact.

“Yes,” they would say, “but we’re not surprised:

it was cold in Shanghai, too, and the Red Bulls

had much better tyre temperatures that day,

too. We’ve done well in the heat, so it’s swings

and roundabouts.”

That is basically F1-speak for, “We don’t

know why we’re quick or why we’re slow but

we’ll take it anyway”. The statistics don’t lie, of

course, but you would have thought that a

team as good as Brawn – make that a team

with a car as good as the Brawn – would by

now have worked out how to make their car

perform in Silverstone conditions (which, I

should point out, were not that bad: we’re

not talking frost on the ground here. It wasn’t

wet and it wasn’t even cold in terms of

ambient. The wind was a bit whippy, that’s all:

there was some grit and dust about but, for

England, the weather was relatively good).

It wasn’t surprising to see Rubens do more

with the Brawn than Jenson under these

conditions. You can talk all you like about

“home advantages” and “the energy of the

It wasn’t surprising to see Rubens do more with the Brawn than Jenson under these conditions. If they can’t live with oversteer and they’re not generating tyre temperature, drivers like Jenson Button are never going to fi nd a sweet spot.

One of the features of the season

has been the turbulent look of

grids or fi nishing orders. Renault,

Force India and Toyota, seen

squabbling at the Nurburgring,

left, have all had moments at

the front of the fi eld, although

Fernando Alonso’s pre-race spin in

Germany raised eyebrows for the

wrong reasons. Meanwhile, after

Jenson Button’s amazing start to

the season, life has become harder

since Silverstone. He maintains his

championship lead but more wins

are necessary to secure the title,

below (Photos LAT)


FORMULA 1

crowd”; if they can’t live with oversteer and they’re

not generating tyre temperature, drivers like Jenson

Button are never going to fi nd a sweet spot. Rubens,

happier to live with some oversteer, particularly in

corners like Copse and Becketts in sector one, found

as a result that he had more tyre temperature for

sectors two and three than Jenson could even dream

about. The championship leader was just about

there on the Bridgestone option with late-race grip

levels but on the prime – a tyre Brawn was obliged

to use for its long middle stint – Jenson was shouting

phrases like, “We’re skating around on ice” down the

radio in order to vent his frustration.

Seb Vettel walked it, of course, and Mark was a

good second. It was a straightforward race. As I left

Silverstone, though, I wondered what dear old Peter

Arundell, or Tony Maggs (who also passed away

recently) would have made of it all. Their memories

had re-directed me; and, for a few moments out

there at Becketts, as I watched Mark Webber and

Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso and Lewis

Hamilton, I had almost returned to basics. Then,

when it was all over, and you were confronted with

the latest political news from wherever, it was as if

the action itself had been but a façade. It was back

to good old greed and envy…

…for a while. Then came signs of peace – genuine

peace. The parties began to talk; the stage switched

to Germany, where Sunday’s race was preceded

by a volatile qualifying session in which we saw

true speed (for the fi rst time this year) from both

This was an astoundingly stupid mistake for Fernando to make on a weekend when the team could have scored serious points: given that Fernando would also spin on the warm-up lap of the race, I can only say that Fernando is again guilty of over-confi dence.

Renault and McLaren-Mercedes. Fernando Alonso

qualifi ed second behind Mark in Q1 but then blew

it in Q2 by spinning under braking on slicks in the

semi-wet. This was an astoundingly stupid mistake

for Fernando to make on a weekend when the

team could have scored serious points: given that

Fernando would also spin on the warm-up lap of the

race, fi nally succumbing to the angles to which he

subjects his car when he is trying to put heat into

the tyres, I can only say that Fernando is again guilty

of over-confi dence. We saw it in 2007, when he was

at McLaren, and we saw it again in Germany. Maybe

this was a sign that Fernando has indeed signed

for Ferrari in 2010. His career at Renault is winding

down, the championship is out of sight…and so the

work ethic is beginning to suff er.

Mark wheel-banged his way into the lead in

Germany and then won it with ease, despite a stop-

go. Vettel for once made a mistake under pressure

in qualifying and could only fi nish second. It doesn’t

come any better than that, especially for Webbo. He

is an Australian athlete/sportsman in the truest sense

of the word – and only Australians know what that

actually means. Suffi ce to say that the fi rst thing Mark

told me on the Monday after the race was:

“You should have seen the boys when I got

home! Shadow for sure knew that something big

had happened. He was all over the place. Never

stopped….”

“The boys”, of course, are Mark’s two dogs – Shadow

the Weimaraner and Simba the Rhodesian ridgeback.

Mark’s heart, you will gather, is squarely in the right

place.

And so to Hungary, where Lewis won and Kimi

was second…but Felipe Massa was injured so badly

that he looks to be out for the rest of the year. I drove

to the hospital late on Sunday night. Felipe’s black

Maserati was parked outside. Fans had hung Brazilian

fl ags around the entrance to the building. A Brazilian

TV crew fussed about with lights and microphones.

Lucas di Grassi, the Brazilian GP2 driver who knows

Felipe well, had postponed his fl ight home.

Force India made people sit up

and take notice when Adrian Sutil

qualifi ed seventh in Germany but his

race was spoiled because of contact

with Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari. Better

was to come for the team in Belgium

with pole and second in the race

from Giancarlo Fisichella (Photo LAT)


FORMULA 1

There is a point where you have to switch off, because you have to do your job, but he was never far from my thoughts

race, too, McLaren raced for the fi rst time with a

lower centre of gravity. Their high nose had resulted

in a higher-than-usual driver location; now the

centre of the chassis had been modifi ed. Lewis and

Heikki Kovalainen sat lower in the car. Visibility was

reduced; stability and grip levels were improved. Like

Ferrari, McLaren also took the decision post-Germany

to run its KERS system through the end of the

year. It had proved to be a signifi cant advantage in

Germany. With more grip in Hungary (courtesy of yet

another new front wing, fl own in for Lewis on Friday

night), the package would be half-way raceable.

Lewis won this one with style. He nursed his engine

revs, he nursed his tyres, he missed all those razor-

sharp kerbs that could have punctured a tyre (as per

2008) – and still he won with class. He climbed from

his car, sprinted up the podium stairs and stood there

in victory, sweating only slightly.

“Felipe was on my mind throughout the race,” he

said afterwards. “There is a point where you have to

switch off , because you have to do your job, but he

was never far from my thoughts. My prayers go out

to him and to his family and we wish him a quick

and full recovery.”

I looked up to the line of windows and tried to

imagine what it would be like: I pictured Felipe, under

sedation, and his family, anxious and nervous. In 24

hours – just like that – their lives had been shattered

by an errant part on the back of Rubens Barrichello’s

Brawn-Mercedes. The other events of the day seemed

trite by comparison.

For all that, the signs of McLaren’s resurgence had

been on display in Germany. A new (CFD-generated)

front wing fi nally allowed the aerodynamicists to

make some solid progress with the diff user. At this

Jaime Alguersuari became the sport’s youngest Grand Prix driver when he made his debut at the Hungaroring for Scuderia Toro Rosso, left. It was one of a number of talking points along with Felipe Massa’s accident in response to which the Ferrari team sent its support before the race, bottom left

The actions of FOTA have made the

paddock a hotbed for news, and

kept Bernie Ecclestone (above) busy,

during the summer… (Photos LAT)


FORMULA 1

Around the WorldBRDC Members continue to score results at home and away. David Addison looks at the recent months.

T his opening paragraph should

have reported a win in the FIA GT

Championship for Ryan Sharp whose

Saleen crossed the fi nishing line at the

Hungaroring to claim victory. Instead, it brings

news that the kplusk motorsport Saleen

S7-R was excluded post-race for a technical

infringement, allowing the Maserati MC12 of

Michael Bartels/Andrea Bertolini to inherit the

win. Ryan was one of a number of Members

who tackled the Spa 24 Hours, although in a

G2 class Porsche 911 rather than the Saleen

which the team withdrew as points were

awarded at full distance not at each quarter

this year and it felt that wasn’t worth the

expense. So Ryan battled to second in class

behind the prodigiously fast Audi R8 LMS. Up until

Sunday lunchtime, it looked as though Oliver

Gavin may have been heading for a win as a

brilliant drive kept his Sellaslagh Racing Chevrolet

Corvette on the lead lap. An oil leak proved

elusive and too much time was lost tracing it to

keep the car in a competitive position.

Darren Turner and Anthony Davidson

shared the new generation GT1 Nissan GTR

and took third in class, Anthony’s fi rst podium

fi nish since 2003! Andrew Kirkaldy and Rob Bell

took third in GT2 in their Ferrari despite an ECU

change and gearbox dramas, while team-mates

Tim Mullen, Chris Niarchos and Chris Goodwin

were sixth in class with Rising Star Phil Quaife.

Richard Westbrook was fi fth in his Porsche and

won his class at the Hungaroring, too.

Richard’s FIA GT activity has kept him out of

the Porsche Supercup of late, so it was left to Tim

Harvey and Aaron Scott to uphold the Club’s

honour at the British Grand Prix where Tim took

eighth place. Members have been doing well in

the DTM, too, with Gary Paff ett taking two wins

for Mercedes, Paul di Resta winning at Brands

Hatch and Jamie Green taking the honours at

the Norisring in a year-old car.

There was good news for Aston Martin

Racing in the Le Mans Series where the Lola-

Aston Martins took a one-two-three fi nish with

Darren Turner in the second car and Stuart

Hall in the third, while David Brabham bagged

another win in the American Le Mans Series at

Mosport Park.

Oliver Gavin starred in the Spa

24 Hours and was unlucky that

mechanical problems destroyed

his bid for a win on Sunday

morning. His Sellaslagh Racing

Chevrolet Corvette C6.R was

one of six cars vying for the

lead of the classic race in the

early stages (Photo DPPI)


RACING MEMBERS

Ryan Briscoe won the Chicagoland IndyCar

race with Dario Franchitti fourth, although

Dario fended off Ryan and Mike Conway to

win at Sonoma.

In front of a huge crowd at Silverstone,

James Walker and Oliver Turvey fi nished

second and third in the Sunday Formula

Renault 3.5 Series race, Oliver having taken

third the day before, keeping James (in fourth)

off the podium. A third place for Oliver at Le

Mans was another indication of his pace.

James Walker heads Oliver Turvey at

Silverstone’s successful World Series

by Renault weekend, top left, while

Richard Westbrook enjoyed a GT2

class win at the Hungaroring in the

FIA GT Championship, above. Left,

Dario Franchitti took an excellent

IndyCar win at Sonoma, while Gary

Paff ett has bagged two DTM wins for

Mercedes, the only double winner of

the season to date, far left

(Photos DPPI, LAT)


RACING MEMBERS

BRDC GOLD STAR POINTS (AS AT 1ST SEPTEMBER 2009)

1 Jenson Button F1 204

2 Ryan Briscoe GrandAm/IRL 198

3 Adam Carroll A1GP 174

4 Dario Franchitti GrandAm/IRL 173

5 David Brabham ALMS/Le Mans 154

6 Mark Webber F1 138

7 Rob Huff WTCC 136

8 Andy Priaulx WTCC 109

9 Richard Westbrook Porsche Supercup/FIA GT 105

10 Johnny Herbert Speedcar 104

11 Oliver Turvey F3/FR3.5 85

12 Lewis Hamilton F1 81

13 James Walker FR3.5 77

14 Sam Bird F3 68

15 Alexander Sims F3 60

16 Joey Foster F3 57

17 Gary Paffett DTM 56

18 Fairuz Fauzy FR3.5 55

19 Robin Liddell GrandAm 52

20 Marino Franchitti ALMS 50

21 Rob Bell LMS GT/FIA GT 48

22 Justin Wilson IRL 40

23 Allan McNish ALMS/Le Mans 37

= Dan Wheldon IRL 37

= Darren Turner LMS/FIA GT 37

26 Ralph Firman Super GT 36

27 Jamie Green DTM 33

28 Danny Watts A1GP/LMS 31

= Ryan Sharp FIA GT 31

PURE GOLDPURE GOLDJenson Button’s lead in the BRDC Gold Star is shrinking.Ian Titchmarsh tells the story.

If you keep abreast of the Gold Star points

as they are updated weekly on the new

BRDC website, you will know that Formula

1 World Championship leader Jenson Button

has been heading the table for many weeks

now, having overhauled early leader Adam

Carroll who has been sitting on the sidelines

since the 2008/2009 A1GP season came to an

end at the beginning of May. But, as in the World

Championship itself, Jenson’s lead is not what it

was after his sensational six wins at the start of

the season. Closing fast are the two Members in

the running for the IRL title: Ryan Briscoe and

Dario Franchitti. Although Ryan has one less

win than Dario (three to four), his slightly greater

consistency gives him the edge.

With the Gold Star year ending at 31st October,

this year’s Abu Dhabi F1 race will not count so

Jenson has four more scoring opportunities

whereas Ryan and Dario have just two, there

being 17 races in each series.

Also in contention, despite the

disappointments of Valencia and Spa following

so soon after his fi rst Grand Prix victory in

Germany, is Mark Webber who, if he can end

the year in the way that Jenson began it, could

outscore all those currently ahead of him. David

Brabham’s Le Mans victory with Peugeot, coupled

with outstanding success in the ALMS with the

Highcroft Racing Acura, brings him closer to the

reckoning but even if he continues his current

winning streak into the fi nal two ALMS races, he

will be unable to overhaul Jenson’s current total.

Jenson is also out of reach of last year’s Gold

Star winner Lewis Hamilton even if Lewis is able

to emulate his Hungarian victory with more of the

same before the end of the year. It is in the WTCC

that the other potential winner can be found in

the person of Chevrolet Cruze driver Rob Huff

who has four more chances to score points. That

said, with the reverse grid which operates for the

second of a weekend’s races in the WTCC the

chances of Rob winning all four races must be

modest despite his best eff orts.

Also aff ected by the reverse grid syndrome are

Sam Bird and Alexander Sims in the Formula

3 Euro Series, benefi cially so far as Alexander

is concerned since he was able recently at the

Nurburgring to take his fi rst win in his fi rst season

in Formula 3. Although both Alexander and Sam

have mathematical chances of catching Jenson,

realistically it is unlikely that either could win every

time out from now on.

Despite his recent setbacks, Jenson remains

favourite to win his second Gold Star but there are

several Members still very much in the running for

what is proving to be one of the closest Gold Star

contests for some years with two Brits and two

Aussies at the forefront.

David Brabham, above left, backed up his win in the Le Mans 24

Hours with more success in the ALMS, while Jenson Button’s Formula

1 successes help him to lead the BRDC Gold Star. Rob Huff lies

seventh thanks to his impressive season in the World Touring Car

Championship, while Sam Bird has enjoyed podium fi nishes in the

Formula 3 Euro Series (Photos LAT)


BRDC GOLD STAR

E lsewhere in this edition of the Bulletin

you can read about Colin Turkington who

has emerged as favourite to win both the

British Touring Car Championship title and his

fi rst Silver Star. A purple patch mid-season, with

two wins at Oulton Park and another couple

two weeks later at Croft, helped Colin in his

Team RAC BMW 320si take over from Matt Neal

as front-runner.

Colin has three of his other BTCC rivals to

contend with: Jason Plato, Mat Jackson and

Matt Neal. When the last Bulletin went to press,

it was Matt Neal who led the way but a series

of modest results has caused the early season

pace-setter to fall back and it has become clear

that he is now having to play second fi ddle to

team-mate Fabrizio Giovanardi’s championship

aspirations.

Among the Racing Silverline Chevrolet drivers

the team situation seems a little less clear cut with

Mat Jackson taking two wins to Jason’s one at

Silverstone. After winning fi rst time out at Thruxton

in April, Mat has been bedevilled by one problem

after another and is probably too far behind to win

the BTCC title but on the “best of 12” basis which

applies to the Silver Star, his late surge could let

him emerge on top at the last gasp. As for Jason,

he already has a record number of Silver Stars to

his name and there can be no doubt that he will

be doing all he can to add a fi fth in his quest for his

second BTCC championship.

There are only two more races remaining in

the British GT Championship so that the leading

Member from that series, Aaron Scott, is now out

of contention despite two more podium fi nishes

at Silverstone and Donington Park.

A FIRST FOR COLIN?A FIRST FOR COLIN?Colin Turkington’s excellent season in the British Touring Car Championship is helping in the BRDC Silver Star, says Ian Titchmarsh.

BRDC SILVER STAR POINTS(AS AT 1ST SEPTEMBER 2009)

1 Colin Turkington BTCC 201

2 Jason Plato BTCC 175

3 Mat Jackson BTCC 159

4 Matt Neal BTCC 152

5 James Thompson BTCC 131

6 Aaron Scott British GT 121

7 Stephen Jelley BTCC 104

8 Paul O’Neill BTCC 56

9 Piers Johnson British GT 36

= Oliver Bryant British GT 36

11 Martin Short British GT 32

= Alex Mortimer British GT 32

= Gordon Shedden BTCC 32

14 Michael Bentwood British GT 29

15 Adam Wilcox British GT 26

16 Mike Wilds British GT 19

17 Tom Chilton BTCC 14

18 Dan Eaves BTCC 11

19 Phil Keen British GT 4

20 Johnny Herbert BTCC 3

21 Lawrence Tomlinson British GT 1

RML team-mates Mat Jackson

and Jason Plato have enjoyed

race wins, and a friendly rivalry,

in the BTCC, above left, while

Aaron Scott is a front-runner in

the British GT Championship.

Colin Turkington heads the

BRDC Silver Star, as well as

being a major factor in the BTCC

title race (Photos Jakob Ebrey)


BRDC GOLD STAR

Peter Gethin, Formula 5000, Oulton Park, 20 September 1969


BRDC RISING STARS

Sam Abay

Henry ArundelBRITISH F3 INTERNATIONAL SERIES

Tim Blanchard

Tom BradshawPORSCHE CARRERA CUP GB

Will BrattEUROSERIES 3000

Jay BridgerBRITISH F3 INTERNATIONAL SERIES

Tim BridgmanPORSCHE CARRERA CUP GB

Graham Carroll

Max ChiltonBRITISH F3 INTERNATIONAL SERIES

Leyton ClarkeDUNLOP SPORT MAXX PRODUCTION CUP/INTERNATIONAL GT OPEN

Ollie HancockFORMULA RENAULT UKFIA FORMULA TWO CHAMPIONSHIP

Brendon HartleyRED BULL F1 TEST DRIVER AND RESERVE DRIVER/FORMULA RENAULT 3.5/FORMULA 3 EURO SERIES

Jack HarveyFORMULA BMW EUROPE

Jon LancasterFORMULA RENAULT 3.5

Hywel LloydBRITISH FORMULA 3 INTERNATIONAL SERIES

Alex MacDowallRENAULT CLIO CUP UK

Callum MacLeodEUROPEAN FORMULA 3 OPEN SERIES/HISTORIC FORMULA FORD

Greg MansellFORMULA RENAULT 3.5/LE MANS SERIES

Michael Meadows

Jeremy Metcalfe

Nigel MooreBRITISH GT CHAMPIONSHIP/GT4 EUROPEAN CUP/LE MANS 24 HOURS

Sarah MooreGINETTA JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP

Matt Nicoll-Jones

Oliver OakesBRITISH F3 INTERNATIONAL SERIES

Tom Onslow-ColeBRITISH TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP

Martin Plowman INDY LIGHTS

Phil QuaifeFIA GT CHAMPIONSHIP/FIA GT3 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP

Adrian Quaife-HobbsFORMULA RENAULT EUROCUP/FORMULA RENAULT NORTH EUROPEAN CUP

Daniel RicciardoBRITISH FORMULA 3 INTERNATIONAL SERIES

Dean SmithFORMULA RENAULT UK CHAMPIONSHIP/PORSCHE CARRERA CUP GB

Aaron SteelePORSCHE CARRERA CUP GB/A1GP ROOKIE

†Henry SurteesFIA FOR MULA TWO CHAMPIONSHIP

Kieran VernonMSA FORMULA FORD CHAMPIONSHIP OF GREAT BRITAIN

Oliver WebbFORMULA RENAULT UK CHAMPIONSHIP

Lewis WilliamsonFORMULA RENAULT UK CHAMPIONSHIP

Robert WickensFIA FORMULA TWO CHAMPIONSHIP/FORMULA 3 EURO SERIES/BRITISH F3 INTERNATIONAL SERIES

Ben WinrowRENAULT CLIO CUP UK/PRODUCTION BMW

Dino ZamparelliBARC FORMULA RENAULT CHAMPIONSHIP

BRDC RISING STARS 2009 F F or the fi rst time ever there was no

British driver among the GP2 entry

at this year’s British Grand Prix.

Quite simply, GP2 is beyond the means of

young drivers hoping, and in some cases

deserving, to make the grade to Formula 1.

The FIA’s initiative, taken up by Jonathan

Palmer’s MSV organisation, to launch a low-

cost Formula 2 has been enthusiastically

welcomed but there are other powerful

single-seater categories where it is still

possible to invest much less money than

GP2 and achieve something worthwhile in

advancing a career.

Step forward Jon Lancaster, Ben Hanley

and Will Bratt, all BRDC Rising Stars and

all of whom have been enjoying a pretty

good last few months with the promise of

more of the same to come before the end

of the year. But they only rarely have the

chance to race in the UK. If you were one of

the relatively few Members who attended

the outstanding Renault World Series

weekend in July you would have seen Jon

set fastest lap in the fi rst Formula Renault

3.5 race in only his third competitive

outing since Macau in November 2008.

This was merely the portent of things to

come as he qualifi ed on pole position at

Le Mans a fortnight later but had to settle

for fi fth place with clutch problems after

dominating free practice and qualifying.

The BRDC Rising Stars ranks have swelled recently, and a number of the drivers have enjoyed great success internationally as Ian Titchmarsh explains.

RISING TO STARDOM RISING TO STARDOM

Jon Lancaster


BRDC RISING STARS

Two weeks later and he took another

pole position at the new Portuguese circuit

of Portimao. This time everything fell into

place and Jon took the win which had been

looking likely ever since he joined the Series

at Hungary mid-season. This late start is likely

to prevent Jon winning the championship

but, not only is he winning races, he is

beating the new Toro Rosso F1 driver Jaime

Alguersuari in doing so.

Meanwhile Ben and Will have

been winning in Euroseries 3000, the

championship from which Felipe Massa

emerged triumphant into Formula 1 back in

2001. Ben has already shown his potential

in Formula Renault 3.5 and GP2 over the last

few years and, after a disappointing end to

2008, arrived late in this year’s Euroseries

3000 but won fi rst time out at Magny Cours.

Will, who spent last year competing in

the Spanish F3 Series, has been involved

in Euroseries 3000 from the start of the

year and made it to the top of the podium

recently at Zolder. This puts Will fourth in the

Series, one place ahead of Ben, with six races

still to run. Either could be champion.

At F3 level, in the British International

Series it is looking good for Perth’s Daniel

Ricciardo. He took two more wins (at Spa

and Silverstone) which, with several other

podiums, leave him leading the table by a

commanding 45 points with four races left.

By contrast the task facing Silverstone-

resident Canadian Robert Wickens in the

FIA Formula 2 Championship is rather more

onerous. A double win in the opening races

at Valencia suggested that his status as

pre-season favourite was being confi rmed.

Since then life has not been so easy with no

more wins, several non-fi nishes and only

two further podiums. Rob is still second in

the table to Spanish former GP2 driver Andy

Soucek, but the defi cit is 22 points and there

are only six races left.

A championship which is mighty close is

the Porsche Carrera Cup GB where, before

the races at Silverstone over the Bank

Holiday weekend, just four points separated

2008 Champion Tim Harvey from the young

pretender to his title Tim Bridgman. Tim

the Younger is now in his second season

of racing with a roof over his head and

had a remarkable run of 10 successive

pole positions in the fi rst 10 races. Not all

those poles have been converted into wins,

however, which means that the older Tim

has every chance of retaining his crown.

Mention must also be made of some

new Rising Stars: Oli Webb who leads

the Formula Renault UK Championship;

Sarah Moore, younger sister of BRDC

Superstar Nigel Moore, who is very much

in contention for the Ginetta Junior

Championship; and Alex MacDowall

who lies second in the Renault Clio Cup.

Last year’s Ginetta Junior Champion Dino

Zamparelli has recently taken his fi rst

single-seater wins in the BARC Formula

Renault Championship, too. In 2008 10

Rising Stars won their championships; it will

be tough for this year’s group to match that

achievement but it could happen.

Alex MacDowall, top left, has

been a front-runner all season

in t he Clio Cup, while Will

Bratt has been winning in

Euroseries 3000, left. Far left,

Jon Lancaster made up for a

troubled Silverstone weekend

by winning in Hungary in

Formula Renault 3.5, while

Dino Zamparelli, right, took a

maiden BARC Formula Renault

Championship win in August

(Photos LAT, DPPI, Jakob Ebrey)

Alex MacDowall

Dino ZamparelliWill Bratt

The BRDC Superstars have been achieving great results on and off-track, says Tim Harvey.

N ew this year has been the association

between the BRDC Superstars and the

Porsche Human Performance Centre

based at Silverstone. This fabulous facility

hosts corporate driving events for Porsche

customers and has a state of the art physical

assessment and training laboratory. Many

top drivers including Mark Webber, Jenson

Button and Jarno Trulli use the expertise and

knowledge of Andy Blow, Eliot Challifour

and Pippa Alford to prepare for professional

motorsport. Indeed Mark Webber gives much

credit for his remarkable recovery from his

broken leg to the team at the PHPC.

All of the 2009 Superstars can have a

detailed assessment of their whole physical

make up. This not only gives them a greater

understanding of their health and fi tness

levels but also provides advice, exercise and

nutritional plans for them to follow. This

provides each driver with both a structure and

motivation to press on with their conditioning.

The assessment itself comprises of:

Lactate threshold and VO2 max testing to

determine aerobic fi tness

Strength testing of upper body, hand-grip

strength and explosive leg strength

•

•

Complete body composition analysis

Eye-sight screening to highlight any visual

abnormalities

Reaction and co-ordination testing

Sit and reach fl exibility test

A comprehensive analysis and consultation

on assessment results

As you can tell, this is a very scientifi c approach

administered by a team of fully qualifi ed sport

scientists and experienced coaches. All the

Superstars have been hugely impressed by

the detail involved and the driving specifi c

elements of the tests.

The reaction and co-ordination tests are

conducted over both 60 and 300 seconds on

the Batak and Sacadic fi xator machines. In this

test a random series of lights illuminate and

the driver has to use his reactions, peripheral

vision and spacial awareness to extinguish

them as quickly as possible. Scoring a point

for each successful strike gives a total score

after the time allowance; needless to say

the Superstars have enjoyed this element of

competition amongst themselves...

Some of the most interesting information

comes from the body composition analyser

(Inbody 720). This gives all the obvious data

•

•

•

•

•

about height, weight, and body fat percentages

etc, but also some additional information drivers

would never otherwise know. For example there

is a muscle/fat analysis, a lean balance indicator,

a nutritional evaluation and an upper and lower

body strength indicator. This simple data can

tell a driver if he is weak in either upper or lower

body or in his left or right hand side. All the data

is referenced against World Health Organisation

statistics for age, height and gender.

It is many years since most drivers had an

eye test and certainly nothing like the one

performed in the assessment. With the latest

technology provided by Optical Express,

every facet of one’s eyesight can be tested.

Jonathan Adam and Riki

Christodoulou analyse their

performance as Tim Harvey

looks on. The Porsche Human

Performance Centre has been

visited by a number of the

current Formula 1 drivers and has

helped them, none more so than

Mark Webber who used the PHPC

after his pre-season accident

PERSONALIMPROVEMENT


BRDC SUPERSTARS

If there are any aberrations either known or

unknown to the driver they will show up.

Advice on any action required is part of the

assessment procedure.

I would like to thank Andy and his team for

taking such an interest in the Superstars and

giving them an unbiased and unrivalled but

also quantitative assessment of their physical

condition. Allied to their ongoing training

programmes this has hopefully given our

Superstars a head start on the opposition.

Remembering the tank dayOn another matter entirely, you will recall

that last year I organised a team building

day for the Superstars with the Army at

Tidworth, Hampshire. The day was reported

in the Bulletin and we had a challenging

and enlightening day courtesy of Egypt

Squadron of the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment.

Whilst we have been focusing on motor sport

seasons, Egypt Squadron have deployed to

Afghanistan where they have been exposed to

considerable danger on a daily basis. Indeed,

it is with great sadness that we learnt of the

death of Corporal Scott (who was one of our

hosts during our visit) and Trooper Hammond.

In addition, a further 24 soldiers of the Squadron

(which numbers 120 in total) have been

wounded, although 10 have been “patched up”

and returned to the fray. I am sure that I speak

for all in the Club when I say that our thoughts

are with the families of those killed and all the

soldiers of Egypt Squadron who are doing such

a diffi cult and dangerous job.

The Superstars scheme very much intends

to maintain its contact and relationship with

Egypt Squadron and we send them news of

the drivers on the scheme which is always well

received. Indeed, it was humbling to learn from

the Offi cer Commanding that their day with

“the Sennas” was as popular and informative to

them as it was instructive and challenging to us.

Tim Harvey

Director, BRDC Superstars

The PHPC tests mental agility,

above, as well as physical

strength and some aspects are

easier than others as evinced

by Jonathan Adam’s facial

expressions. The mental tests

in particular will help him to be

alert in the rough and tumble

world of the British Touring Car

Championship

Riki Christodoulou takes to the running machine, his speed, heart rate and

breathing all being monitored as the PHPC team looks at every element

that may benefi t from improvement to make a driver fi tter


BRDC SUPERSTARS

This is a very special year as BRDC Vice-President for Life, Sir Stirling Moss OBE, reaches 80. John Blunsden looks back at some magic moments.

Happy 80th, Sir Stirling Moss


STIRLING MOSS

O n September 17 every Member of the BRDC

might care to raise a glass in celebration of

the 80th birthday of our Vice President for Life,

Sir Stirling Moss, OBE. But the toast of choice should

not be confi ned to the conventional congratulations;

it should also embrace heartfelt thanks for the

tremendous contribution he has made to the Club

and to motor sport, both in and out of the cockpit,

over 62 of his cruelly interrupted star-studded years.

I shall always be grateful that my early years in

motor sport journalism coincided with Stirling’s best

years in the sport, when his combination of speed and

versatility were unmatched. He would turn out four

or fi ve times in a busy race programme and win most

if not all of the supporting races, plus the main event,

and invariably record the fastest lap each time.

He has always maintained that Fangio was the

best Grand Prix driver of his era, and for as long as he

dutifully followed in his Mercedes-Benz wheel tracks

in 1955 that may have been true. But Stirling was a

quick learner, and later he matched the master, while

Juan Manuel, by his own admission, was certainly

no match for Stirling in a sports-racer. His famous

victory in the 1955 Mille Miglia, navigated by Denis

Jenkinson, has passed into legend, but you needed

to watch him at the wheel of Aston Martins and the

like in shorter enduros like the 1,000 Kilometres at the

Nürburging or the Tourist Trophy, fi ghting back after

pit-stop delays, to fully understand his calibre.

Part of his versatility was born out of fi nancial

necessity. In the early 50s, the racing season tended to

be short, and he had to earn a living during the winter

months. So he co-drove a Sunbeam-Talbot in the 1952

Monte Carlo Rally and fi nished a close runner-up overall

against all the rally experts, then he competed in three

gruelling Alpine Trials in consecutive years, winning a

rare and much coveted gold cup for a penalty-free run

on each of them. His other ‘extra curricular activities’

behind the wheel included speed and endurance

record-breaking at Montlhéry and Bonneville for Jaguar

and MG, respectively, the publicity spin-off from having

his name attached to these occasions being especially

valuable to his employer, for Stirling has always been a

great showman.

Intensely patriotic, a trait which kept him out of

more competitive foreign-built cars for far too long, he

was not unaware of the depth of his talent nor of his

worth, but his work ethic and integrity have invariably

made him outstanding value. Always the perfectionist,

forever rushing through pit and paddock seemingly on

tip-toe, he has been known in earlier times to drive his

engineers and team managers to distraction with his

last-minute demands, while team-mates were at times

requested to form an orderly queue while he pondered

on which chassis or engine he would chose. But his

friendships were deep and his bond with his friend and

entrant Rob Walker was absolute. It was fi tting, therefore,

that they should have shared in what I still believe to

Intensely patriotic, a trait which kept him out of more competitive foreign-built cars for far too long, he was not unaware of the depth of his talent nor of his worth

To the victor, the Coke, far left. Left,

on his way to a legendary victory

Stirling drifts his Mercedes Benz

300SLR to win 1955 the Mille Miglia.

With his Aston Martin DBR1, below

left, Stirling powers to victory in the

1958 RAC Tourist Trophy, giving Aston

second place in the World Sports

Car Championship. Below centre,

Stirling’s UDT-Laystall Type 21-bodied

Lotus 18 fi ghts against Jimmy

Clark in the latest works Type 21 at

Brands Hatch in June. Jimmy leads,

but Stirling was ahead before half

distance! Very early days, below right,

and carrying number 7 already! This

was Stirling’s fourth ever race. In the

500 cc three-lapper at Goodwood’s

opening meeting in September 1948,

Stirling wins with his Cooper-JAP T5,

seen here at Woodcote Corner


STIRLING MOSS

+ Family owned and run business providing a total nationwide service to the motor racing industry

+ Complete part manufacture plus turning, grinding and milling of components

+ High tolerance, fast turn-around Thread Rolled Studs and Fixings made complete for Formula 1 and Indy Cart Seriesengine manufacturers

+ Exclusive suppliers to GT Endurance and British Touring Car teams

+ Wide range of specialist materials including Titanium and MP35N

+ Complete ISO 9001-2000 accreditation, fully computerised production systemsand 10-year lot traceability of allbought-in materials

Please call or e-mail for a copy of our brochure

01604 493101e: [email protected]

T & K Precision Limited9-10 Gatelodge Close

Round Spinney Northampton NN3 8RJ

be the fi nest of all his 16 Grand Prix victories, at Monaco

in 1961. That day I watched most of his 100 laps in the

Lotus-Climax 18 from what was known in those days

as the Station Hairpin. It was a sublime experience

– studying at close quarters a true master at work.

It was on May 1,1963 that Stirling made the

decision that saddened countless thousands of his

fans throughout the world. It was one that he, too,

was later to regret. He was on his way back to London

after test-driving a Lotus-Climax 19 sports-racer at

Goodwood, the circuit on which more than a year

earlier he had come close to death. His horrendous

accident on Easter Monday 1962 in Rob Walker’s

Formula One Lotus-Climax 18/21 had left him trapped

in his crumpled car, mercifully unconscious, with

severe head and facial injuries and broken limbs.

He was to remain in a coma for several weeks and

partly paralysed for six months. But dedicated medical

attention, including facial reconstruction, plus his own

fi ery determination began to drive forward a slow but

steady recovery. But it was all too slow for sections of

the media, who became increasingly impatient for the

answer to their incessantly asked question: “Will you

be racing again, and if so, when?”

This was pressure that Stirling could well have done

without, and the only way to relieve it was to test

himself as soon as he felt able, hence his return that

day to Goodwood. The test drive went well in that

he was soon lapping within three seconds of a ‘pole’

time. The problem was that he was having to work

so hard mentally to lap that quickly because nothing

was instinctive any more. The ‘magic ingredient’ of

instinctiveness which had been the cornerstone of his

career as a professional racing driver had disappeared.

By the time he arrived back in London his mind

was made up. Reluctantly, at 32 years of age and

after 14 mostly enjoyable, occasionally painful but

always immensely successful years at the wheel, his

professional racing career was at an end. Had he been

able to defer his decision two or three years longer it

might well have been diff erent, for gradually all the

old skills and refl exes re-emerged. But by then it was

too late. From the very beginning, in a 500cc Formula

Three Cooper-JAP, racing had been his profession as

well as his passion, so Stirling the businessman had

been obliged to move on; his journey took him into

property and other enterprises, plus there was the

not insignifi cant matter of continuing to promote the

Stirling Moss brand. This has since served him well,

ensuring that his name remained prominent in the

public consciousness throughout the years before the

emergence of historic racing enabled him to retrieve

that once so familiar white helmet and blue overalls

from the display cabinet and go racing again.

Happy birthday, Stirl, and thanks for so many good

memories.

By the time he arrived back in London his mind was made up. Reluctantly, at 32 years of age… his professional racing career was at an end.

Stirling turns through Station Hairpin during his monumental drive to win the 1961 Monaco Grand Prix, left. His Lotus 18’s lower bodywork removed and his overalls doused with water to keep cool, Stirling took the lead from the more powerful Ferrari Dino 156 of Richie Ginther on lap 13 of the 100 lap race and kept all three Ferraris at bay by mere seconds for the duration in what he considers to be his greatest drive. Above, the 1958 Argentine Grand Prix was another of Stirling’s wins against the odds with his Rob Walker-entered, barely 2-litre Cooper-Climax T43 against the 2.4 Ferrari Dino 246s. Knowing that a pit stop to change wheels would

cost him the race, Stirling nursed his worn out tyres to the end, winning by 3.3 seconds from the Ferrari of Luigi Musso. With the nose of his Vanwall crumpled from contact while lapping the slow Maserati 250F of Wolfgang Seidel, Stirling heads through the Moroccan desert to take maximum points from the fi nal round of the 1958 World Championship, below


STIRLING MOSS

In front of packed grandstands, the

grid assembles for the Santander

British Grand Prix with Sebastian

Vettel on pole position, far left.

Sebastian proved a popular winner

for Red Bull, left, with team-mate

Mark Webber chasing him home,

above. Jackie Stewart provided

demonstration laps in the Matra

MS80 on Sunday before the Grand

Prix that helped to add to that

unique atmosphere that the

weekend generates

(Photos Jakob Ebrey)

British Grand Prix 2009A pictorial look at Silverstone’s biggest event.


BRITISH GRAND PRIX

1979 Formula 1 World Champion Jody Scheckter

with his Ferrari 312 T4, above, while David Coulthard

was enjoying his Grand Prix weekend. Pictured right

with DC, Jenson Button had suff ered a frustrating

day in his Brawn. Linzi Stoppard of Fuse ensured the

evening went with a swing, below right, while Aston

Martin Racing provided one of its Le Mans 24 Hours

Lola Aston Martins. Damon Hill entertained Members

and guests, below, as did BBC Radio presenter

Johnnie Walker who was the MC for the evening,

below left. The recent eff orts of Ross Brawn didn’t go

unrecognised, left, and if you could take your eyes off

the air displays, there were plenty of famous faces to

be seen in the paddock


BRITISH GRAND PRIX

eugeot may have entered the 77th

running of the famous Le Mans 24 Hours

as the underdogs, but throughout the

race the French squad, running its 908 HDi

FAP in the race for the third time, dominated

proceedings to score an emotional victory on

home soil.

Peugeot outperformed Audi at every

turn, and after 24 hours of racing it was the

unfancied 908, the number 9 car, driven by

Alex Wurz, Marc Gene and Member David

Brabham that crossed the line as winners.

The experienced line-up of number 9 paid

dividends. Described prior to the start as the

‘Warrior’ team, the car’s former Grand Prix drivers

just buckled down and got on with the job in

hand – capitalising when Peugeot’s leading

crews faltered to pick-up the lead by the sixth

hour, a lead the car held until the end. In winning

the race, David became the second Brabham to

win at La Sarthe. Sixteen years earlier his brother,

Geoff , also won for Peugeot.

The 2009 Le Mans 24 Hours promised a

battle royal between Peugeot, the patriotic

French squad, known to be fast but slightly

temperamental, and Audi, the multiple Le

Mans winners, known for metronome-style

performances that delivered the results time-

and-time again.

However, this year’s race was diff erent.

Despite Audi’s lead car containing Allan

McNish, Tom Kristensen and Rinaldo

Capello, the German squad was not in the

same league. The new R15 TDI was good,

but not as good as the Peugeot, and as

Audi was beaten by Peugeot in the pits, on

fuel economy and crucially, on the track,

Peugeot’s victory was assured.

Despite the number 9 car holding an

advantage over the number 8 sister car

of Sebastien Bourdais/Franck Montagny/

Stephane Sarrazin, victory was not something

Brabham and his team-mates could think

about until the closing stages. The ‘French’

Peugeot had started the race weekend as the

car many believed would triumph, and when

placed second, not far behind the lead HDi

FAP, it wouldn’t have been a surprise to see a

call from the pits change the running order.

After stints by all three drivers during Sunday,

Marc Gene, was at the wheel when the call

came through from Peugeot high-command

that he was now being charged with driving

the car to the fl ag, and Le Mans victory. A fi nal

Peugeot triumphed at Le Mans with David Brabham joining his brother on the list of winners. James Beckett was there.

The car’s former Grand Prix drivers just buckled down and got on with the job in hand…

fuel stop was completed 40 minutes before

the end, and with an advantage of one lap, the

number 9 car was steered the car home at 3pm

for a Peugeot formation fi nish.

McNish/Kristensen/Capello came in third

– six laps behind the winner, with Union fl ags

waving for the 007 Aston Martin in fourth, the

car driven by the Czech/German mix of Stefan

Mucke/Jan Charouz and Tomas Enge.

After McNish, the leading Brit home was

Jonny Kane, who fi nished 12th for the Speedy

Racing Sebah team in their Lola Judd B08/80

shared with Benjamin Leuenberger and Xavier

Pompidou with the all-star Lola Aston Martin

008 one place further back driven by Darren

Turner/Anthony Davidson/Jos Verstappen.


LE MANS

FROM THE BRITSThe Le Mans 24 Hours was once described as a British race that just

takes place in France. That may not be true, but the British do return

year-on-year for the race both on and off the track and 2009 was no

exception.

Allan McNish was the only driver capable of matching any of

Peugeot’s performances, but his R15 TDI suff ered numerous technical

gremlins that prevented a proper bid for victory as he fi nished third.

The 008 Lola-Aston Martin of Anthony Davidson and Darren Turner

drive suff ered a major oil leak and fi nished 13th.

Lawrence Tomlinson, Richard Dean and Nigel Moore ran well with

their Ginetta-Zytek, but their race ended with a fi re in the small hours.

Nigel, a BRDC Rising Star, the youngest British driver ever to compete

at Le Mans, excelled.

The Strakka Racing Ginetta-Zytek of Peter Hardman and Danny

Watts was fast in qualifying with Watts at the wheel, and fi nished a

creditable 21st after time was lost due to a hub problem, while Jamie

Campbell-Walter returned with the Oxfordshire-based Creation

Autosportif team to fi nish 24th.

Mike Newton and the RML squad retired with four hours remaining

when the Mazda engine in his Lola B08/80 gave up the ghost, while

Phil Bennett pushed hard in the Barazi Epsilon LMP2 car. Jonny Kane

scooped a podium position in his Speedy Sebah Lola in the LMP2

division, but former race winner Guy Smith had his car crashed by a

team-mate in the fourth hour.

The biofuelled Aston Martin Vantage GT2 of Paul Drayson. Jonny

Cocker and Marino Franchitti sounded fantastic until an unfortunate

retirement when the chequered fl ag was almost visible.

The Rob Bell, Andrew Kirkaldy and Tim Sugden JMW Ferrari was

on-track for a second position GT2 fi nish until a suspension problem

dropped them back, but spare a thought for BRDC Superstar, Stuart

Hall. Called into the Aston Martin Racing team, Stuart was disqualifi ed

from driving in the race after he was involved in a collision with the

LMP2 Radical.

Despite dramas in the pits

early in the race, Peugeot

looked strong throughout the

24 hours and orchestrated a

photo-fi nish to celebrate its

win, left. David Brabham fi nally

realised his dream of a Le Mans

win, far left, while Danny Watts

was rapid in Strakka Racing’s

Ginetta, bottom left. Below,

Members Tom Kristensen and

Allan McNish with Rinaldo

Capello pushed as hard as they

could in the Audi R15, below,

in the car’s Le Mans debut, but

in its development infancy, it

lost too much time in the pits to

be a threat. The Ferrari of Rob

Bell, Andrew Kirkaldy and Tim

Sugden suff ered a suspension

problem late-race costing it

a chance of a podium fi nish

(Photos LAT and James Beckett)


LE MANS

24 at 50Ginetta made its Le Mans debut this year with its LMP car tackling the 24 hours. David Addison watched.

G inetta is a company going

places. Sales of its G50 and G20

race cars are booming and

its name is spreading far and wide.

This year, company owner Lawrence

Tomlinson decided that with his

LNT Group’s purchase of Zytek the

time was right to head to La Sarthe.

Joining him behind the wheel were

fellow Member and Ginetta MD

Richard Dean and Rising Star Nigel

Moore. All involved had a busy week...

Sunday June 7The adventure begins. At 3pm,

Lawrence fl ies by helicopter to Le

Mans, while Richard and Nigel make

their way down separately with the

team and their families. Later that

evening, a weary team congregates

at Le Gites Gourdiniere in Monce

En Belin. After an hour looking

for a restaurant, a pizza parlour is

discovered. It is about to shut but

accepts an order for 15 margheritas.

Members Lawrence Tomlinson and Richard Dean were joined by Rising Star Nigel Moore for Ginetta’s fi rst eff ort at Le Mans, Nigel becoming the youngest-ever British driver to race in the French classic. For Lawrence and Richard it was a return to the scene of a class win in 2006 in a Panoz but the fi rst time that they had raced an LMP car at Le Mans. Despite the car showing its potential, the result was a disappointment for the Leeds-based squad (Photos LAT, LNT Group, Jakob Ebrey)


GINETTA AT LE MANS

Monday June 8A leisurely day. Everyone heads to the circuit for a

recce and to check out motorhomes for the team.

Tuesday June 9The popular scrutineering day takes place, albeit in

pouring rain. Richard, Lawrence and Nigel spend their

time signing autographs or giving interviews. Both

Richard and Lawrence have been to the race before,

when they won the GT2 class in 2006, but Nigel – at

just 17-and-a-half years old – is a big news story.

Wednesday June 10 With no pre-event test days this year, Wednesday is

given over to free practice and Thursday to qualifying.

This is only the second time in car for the drivers and

in addition to the fi nal seat fi ttings for all drivers, they

need to make sure they all complete three laps in the

dark to satisfy the regulations. The evening passes

without any dramas and Nigel proves to be a quick

learner in his fi rst prototype drive. Lawrence and

Richard familiarise themselves with the track and are

happy with progress.

Thursday June 11Qualifying. Divided into two sessions as normal, the

team aims for a top 20 result. Richard sets the time

at 3m35.804s which is good enough for 18th fastest.

Richard is content as the time was achieved without

bolting on sticky Dunlop rubber and is happy with

the progress of his protégé. “You forget what a huge

leap this is for Nigel. A Ginetta G50 is a good little

race car and can teach you a lot, but, for this car and

this track, it’s very little help. Nigel put in a lap or

two at 3m40s yesterday and that’s properly quick.

The lad is fantastic.” When the individual driver times

are published, Richard’s belief is confi rmed, as Nigel

qualifi es three seconds quicker than Lawrence.

Friday June 12The so-called rest day is always a busy one. Many of

the team head to the circuit where the car must be

on display for the day-long pit walk. Lawrence has

other things on his mind, though, and heads off to

the golf course and plays a round with Nigel Mansell

who has a handicap of 1! Richard and Nigel get roped

in to talk to the Pistonheads campers at Camp Bleu

Nigel put in a lap or two at 3m40s yesterday and that’s properly quick. The lad is fantastic

Nigel Moore was impressive on his Le

Mans debut, above, as was the team’s

slick pit work, right. Team owner

Lawrence Tomlinson takes over in

readiness for his next stint

(Photos Jakob Ebrey, LAT, James Beckett)


GINETTA AT LE MANS

North before all three drivers head to the

town for the annual drivers’ parade. Early

nights all round.

Saturday June 13Everyone heads to circuit at 7.30am. The

warm-up session passes without drama and

after the agonisingly long build up, Richard

starts the race at 3pm.

By the end of the fi rst hour the car is in

40th position, after two unscheduled stops to

change two alternators. At 16:37, Lawrence

takes over and brings the car back up to

33rd position before Nigel has his fi rst stint

in the race at 18:05. As he gets behind the

wheel, the temperature is dropping and the

pace quickening. He starts his stint 26th and

is 23rd by the end of the hour, but Richard is

disappointed. “We lost four laps in the fi rst

two hours. After that we were OK, but it was a

big blow early on.”

Lawrence gets back in the car at 19:36 and

does a double-stint, taking the car into the

dark. After seven hours the car is up to 18th

place and is running strongly.

At 22:06, Richard takes over. The car has a

stuck left wheel caused by an overheating

problem and the weary Team LNT mechanics

have to change brake discs and pads. The

car loses 10 minutes and rejoins in 23rd

position. At 23:18 another alternator cable

needs fitting, while a right hand steering

arm needs attention, too. Nigel takes the car

over just before 01.00. The car is running in

18th place, a lap adrift of its nearest LMP1

rival with Nigel due to drive until 03:15. On

his scheduled in lap comes disaster. A fuel

line connector works loose which causes

a major blaze. Quick-thinking Nigel stops

the car at the Dunlop Esses, preventing

any extensive chassis or wiring damage.

Nigel is gutted: “Obviously I’m disappointed.

I was well into my stride and achieving

consistent lap times,” says Nigel. “It’s been an

incredible week! I hope I have proved that I

can compete in the endurance arena. I can’t

wait to race here again – the atmosphere is

unrivalled anywhere in the world.

With the car retired, there is little to

do except pack up, catch up on sleep or

face the media. “I’m immensely proud of

the team, of the car and of Nigel,” says

Lawrence. “He’s demonstrated the type of

clear thinking which underlines exactly

why he was out here. By keeping a clear

head he’s given us a car that we can take

back to Leeds and get to work on straight

away to iron out those teething problems

which have manifested themselves over the

weekend.”

Sunday June 14Some of the team head for home. The Le

Mans 2009 is over, but preparations are

starting for the 2010 assault.

I’m immensely proud of the team, of the car and of Nigel

We lost four laps in the fi rst two hours. After that we were OK, but it was a big blow early on

The car was up to 18th place before

Nigel’s fi ery exit on Sunday morning,

caused by a loose fuel line connector

(Photos LAT, LNT Group)


GINETTA AT LE MANS

O liver Turvey, one of the most approachable

young talents in motor racing, stunned

onlookers in May by winning the Monaco

round of the Formula Renault 3.5 Series.

This year Oliver has also been chosen by the

Racing Steps Foundation to act as driver coach to

fellow RSF racer and BRDC Rising Star Jack Harvey

during his weekends in Formula BMW Europe.

Oliver explains: “As both Jack and I are

supported by the Racing Steps Foundation,

they believed it would be good for me to use

my experience from the Formula BMW UK

Championship where I fi nished as runner-up

in 2006, despite missing the fi rst six races. I

learnt so much in the category so I can use this

Knowing me, knowing you At just 22 years-old Oliver Turvey is already sharing his race-winning prowess with the next generation of racing drivers. Oliver explains to Sarah Carnell what he has been up to.

Oliver Turvey with Jack Harvey,

bottom left. Jack is racing in

Formula BMW Europe this

season, right, while Oliver took

a tremendous win at Monaco in

Formula Renault 3.5, far right

(Photos LAT, Jakob Ebrey )


DRIVER TRAINING: OLIVER TURVEY

I learnt so much in the category so I can use this experience to help Jack develop at a faster rate.

Monaco but also three other podiums up to

August this year.

In 2006 he was awarded the McLaren

Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year and

last year went on to fi nish as runner-up in the

British Formula 3 International Series with four

wins and more podiums than any other driver.

Oliver’s no diff erent from any other racing

driver and wants to be the best he can and

fi rmly believes by helping those like Jack a

few years behind him, this can only raise his

own game.

“My only focus at the minute is to keep

progressing my own career towards Formula 1

and achieve my ambition of becoming World

Champion. I believe it also helps my racing

because you always learn from observing.

Every day you’re at a race track you learn

something new, even if you’re not driving,

which can be applied in my own racing.”

The Penrith born-and-bred racer says his

own role model has always been his father,

especially when he was karting, adding, “He

was able to help develop my driving as an

observer and taught me a lot about how to be

successful especially on the mental side. I also

worked with a driver coach Malcolm Smith

through the Formula BMW UK championship,

which was extremely useful in understanding

the areas to improve.”

Although the mentoring and coaching

agreement has only been instigated for this

season, both Oliver and Jack are happy with

the arrangement, as Jack explains. “I had three

test days as a rookie and the Racing Steps

Foundation asked Oliver to spend the fi rst

two with me to get the right technique. We

got on really well, although we’d not known

each other until that point, and enjoyed

working with each other. Then the agreement

came together that he would be the Fortec

driver coach.

“Oliver studied Engineering at Cambridge

University and he understands the data and

can practically set up the car. Because he races

you can trust everything that he’s saying and

he’s been successful and still is, so whatever

he says goes. You know he’s not going to be

wrong. He’s already so experienced and some

of the things he’s said have been really correct.”

It’s not known if the pair’s racing

commitments will let them work together after

this year, but one thing’s for sure, Oliver has

made a huge impression on 16-year-old Jack,

who adds, “Oliver is somebody you can really

look up to with his fi tness and training. He’s the

whole package and that’s the sort of person

you want to be working with.”

Because he races you can trust everything that he’s saying.

experience to help Jack develop at a faster rate.

“I spend the time during free practice,

qualifying and races watching at various points

on the circuit to give him advice on his driving

style, lines, apexes and throttle application

compared to the quickest drivers.

“We start off each race weekend by travelling

on the Wednesday and I then spend the

whole weekend working with Jack and Fortec

Motorsport, who are running him. I always

complete a track walk with Jack before each

event on the Thursday and along with his race

engineer, Julian Rouse, we complete a thorough

analysis of the data after each session.”

In his fi rst season on the Formula Renault 3.5

Series grid, part of the World Series by Renault

package, the BRDC Superstar has already proved

himself equal to the more experienced drivers,

not only with his memorable maiden win in

Oliver talks to Jack in Valencia,

bottom right, the duo part of

Graham Sharp’s impressive

Racing Steps Foundation

movement to promote young

drivers through the ranks

of karting and single-seater

racing. In addition to Jack

and Oliver, James Calado has

enjoyed a successful season in

Formula Renault UK

(Photos LAT, Jakob Ebrey)


DRIVER TRAINING: OLIVER TURVEY

Life and timeswhite scarf as well.

I was just fi ve or six and it was 1950 I think,

and no matter whom I ask, no one can tell me

for sure just who that driver was; it could have

been Parnell, Gonzalez or even Collins, I don’t

know, but for sure he left an indelible print on

my young mind, and I never forgot the driver

with the goggles and fl aying bright white

scarf, so when I did my fi rst race, it felt like

something I was always going to do. But the

race car that I loved the most that day was the

‘ThinWall Ferrari Special’, the forerunner to the

The next subject in our series is David Brodie who remembers how his interest in the sport began, “All those years ago”.

E ven though we left Harrow at 06.00

loaded up with Thermos fl asks and a

huge picnic basket, we spent what

seemed to me endless hours in savage traffi c

surrounded by all these black and grey cars,

but eventually we made it to the inside

wooden railings at Woodcote corner.

I could hear the roar of the engines, but the

thing was I just couldn’t see, so I shouted up to

Dad, “Hey, Dad, I can’t see!”

“Right, up you come son,” and with that, up I

went on to his shoulders and had the best seat

in the house. I lifted myself up with both hands

on his head and, craning my neck to the left,

the fi rst thing I saw was this howling racing car,

with its driver’s head sticking up in the breeze

wearing an odd looking helmet, goggles and

a bright white scarf fl aying out behind him.

I could see him sawing away at the steering

wheel as he drifted this huge, rasping racing

car around Woodcote corner. To me it looked

like all action slow motion as he glided by.

Up there, above all the others, I was the

fi rst to see him lap after lap, and would shout

out loud, “Dad, here he comes,” and the men

around all laughed. I did that until the end

of the race. When Dad put me down, all the

men around us patted me on the head, and

I remember thinking how nice that was, they

must have liked the man with the long fl owing

In 1978, Brode, along with David

Matthews, won the touring car

class in the Silverstone Six Hours.

Here they receive their garlands

from BRDC Club Secretary Anthony

Salmon with his successor Pierre

Aumonier looking on. From 30th on

the grid they fi nished 13th overall

(Photo BRDC Archive)


LIFE & TIMES: DAVID BRODIE

all conquering F1 Vanwall.

When I was 19 I discovered Autosport, but

the only thing that interested me was the

spares columns in the back, and I soon bought

enough engine parts for my three best pals,

all Harrow boys, whom I still see today. Monty,

Rowland, Tony and I built up a pretty neat,

all-steel 1100cc four Amal carb engine that

revved to 8000 rpm, which we fi tted into my

little Austin A35.

I don’t suppose it had 100 bhp, but on full

throttle it felt like an unguided missile on its

3.5 in wheel rims and, with three turns lock to

lock, to say the least in the corners it was tricky.

A miracle happened to the handling when I

fi tted Michelin Xs, but with no locked diff or

LSD (was there such a thing then?) I had to

nurse the throttle out of the turns, which was

great practice for what was to come, but of

course I never realized that back then.

We would scream the A35 all over, even the

big Healeys couldn’t take us on, and with an

open exhaust we annoyed everyone within

earshot, but when we decided to go watch our

hero Stirling Moss race, everything changed, I

even fi tted a quiet exhaust.

At weekends in ’62 we decided to follow

Moss wherever he was racing. We were at

Snetterton when his sickly-looking pale

green UDT Laystall Lotus Climax lost many

laps with a stuck throttle. I remember brains

Monty saying that wouldn’t have happened

if he had installed the engine, then next

week Don Rowland and I slept over in a fi eld

across from the circuit – yep three of us in an

A35; guys don’t try it. At dawn we bunked

into Goodwood, only to see our hero Moss

crash. We were devastated and went home in

silence, that Moss guy was a class act pulling

in Hill at two seconds a lap, and never made

mistakes so we all guessed it was another

sticking throttle.

The next year we went to Brands Hatch

parking trackside, up from Paddock Bend at

the entrance to Druids. All we wanted to see

was the saloon car race. After two laps the four

leaders pulled way into the distance, and it

dawned on me that the car we were all sitting

on could be at least fi fth in that race, and like a

total dope, I told the guys just that. They were

still laughing at me when I dropped them off ,

which really hurt (I wasn’t made of stone you

know) so I resolved to show them and all the

other guys they told as well. Do you know for

weeks, I swear that when I went to sleep on

those warm windless early summer nights, I

could still hear them all laughing.

So I joined the Harrow Car Club (I’m still a

member) and entered the June’63 Eight Clubs

meeting. Only Monty, Rowland and Tony knew

the deal. I told everyone else it was a secret day

out. Saturday morning three packed cars left

my house in Harrow at the unearthly hour of

6 am. When we eventually arrived at my spot

in the race paddock just up from the BRDC

marquee, Dad said, “Son, this is ridiculous, we

can’t see anything from here, we have to be on

the outside, and why are we so early? Nothing

happens until 11 o’clock.”

“Dad, why do you think that Rowland is

painting numbers on the A35, Monty is taking

out the seats, and Tony (who was useless with

his hands), is conducting operations?”

“Oh so they are. Why are they doing that?”

“’Cos, Dad, I am racing the car in two races

later today.”

My Dad was dumbstruck, the guys couldn’t

stop laughing, and my sister Susan was near

to tears.

Practice was terrible with two Dunlop R5

crossply racing tyres on the front, and two

radial Michelin X road tyres on the rear; the

rod operated rear brakes failed, too, so they

were disconnected for the day, but in the race

Brode’s famous Run Baby Run

Ford Escort, left, took him to

over 200 wins including 87

consecutive victories. It was

2.25-litre car, powered by a BDA

engine, and was the car to beat

in Special Saloon racing of the

era. David had great success in

his Gold Seal Lotus Elan in 1971

and 1972, the 2-litre car being

a front-runner in Modifi ed

Sports Car racing (Photos BRDC

Archive, David Brodie)



with the R5s fi tted all round the car went like

it normally did, a dream, and unknowingly I

won the race with a gnat’s off Graham Hill’s lap

record.

Yeah, you’re right, that shut them all up,

although Dad did say I’d be great.

After the chequered fl ag I drove back to our

spot in the paddock. The only person there

was my kid sister who was crying, so I jumped

out and told her ,”It’s okay Susan, don’t worry

kid I’m OK…”

“No, David you don’t understand, you won!”

What did she mean I won? The guys were

now all over me, Susan had her arm around

Dad, who was standing by the A35 looking

like he owned it, gently shaking his head.

Those two precious people never saw me win

another race.

I couldn’t believe it and thought, well, no-

one overtook me, and I did go past all these

odd looking cars with drivers all over the track,

who must have thought a line was something

they put washing on. So maybe I did win. Eight

Clubs sent me a small light blue Thermos fl ask

with ‘D Brodie winner’ on it, and Autosport said,

“D Brodie rocketed through the fi eld to score

an easy win over M Yates’s Peerless”.

I came a very close third in the second race,

behind an Austin Healey 100, and an amazing

new Mini driven by Brian Culcheth and who is

still around. Brian was just spectacular in the

corners. In fact, if I hadn’t been so amazed all

race long at his antics in the turns, I may have

come second to the Healey?

Monty, whom I lost contact with for many

years, turned up one evening, and after

hugging him for ages I said to him, “Hey,

old pal, if I had told you way back then after

that fi rst A35 win at Silverstone’s Eight Clubs

meeting back in ’63, that 40 years later I would

be back at Silverstone doing the very same

race again, but instead of doing 1.22s and 90

mph down the main straight, I would, on my

way to winning, be doing 57s and 170 mph

down the main straight, what would you have

said to me?”

“I’ll tell you what I would have said Brode,

there you go BSing again!”

Over the next 46 years I raced all over the

world, doing a whole bunch of races winning

over 30 per cent of them in some brilliant and

astonishing race cars, from my tiny Austin

A35, 750 Forest Special, Chevron B8, F3 Titan,

Escort Mk1, Lotus Élans and 62, RX3 rotary

Mazda to a 550bhp Ford RS500. I even led

my class at Le Mans as a rookie for a while,

and also led races in both the European and

British Saloon Car Championships in the same

car, and I won BTCC races over three decades.

I met, and sadly lost, some of the greatest

guys and gals that ever lived throughout my

times racing, and I bless my extreme good

fortune that my best pals laughed at me when

I big-headedly told them that I could fi nish fi fth

in that race at Brands Hatch all those years ago.

But, guys, I can tell you this, that fi rst ’63 race

and win in my Austin A35 with my lovely Dad,

sister and all my very best pals there with me,

was by far the best race day I ever had.

Oh and I’ll have the saloon car lap record

at London’s wonderful Crystal Palace, my

favourite track forever, so…

“No, no they can’t take that away from me”

You can read the undiluted version in my

book “All those years ago”.

Unknowingly I won the race with a gnat’s off Graham Hill’s lap record.

David’s 1300cc Ford Anglia,

left, heads Ken Costello’s Mini

into Kidney in a Brands Hatch

Special Saloon race in the mid

1960s. The car preceded his

famous Ford Escort and he

achieved great success in this

car and in his 2-litre version.

By 1990, Brode, right, was

one of the front-running Ford

Sierra RS500 drivers in the

televised British Touring Car

Championship which took his

personality to a whole new

audience (Photos BRDC Archive,

David Brodie)



Stirling Moss, Nurburgring Nordschleife, 7 June 1959.

it was possible to start younger than bikes

in the Cadet class where Adam Carroll was a

keen rival. The family business in the building

trade had a large concrete yard where Colin

was able to thrash to near extinction a Mini

acquired for £50 from a scrapyard. With this

vehicle he was able to go autograss racing

every other weekend, fi nishing second two

COLIN TURKINGTONRapidly establishing himself as one the best British touring car drivers is Colin Turkington. Ian Titchmarsh spoke to him.

Colin was able to thrash to near extinction a Mini acquired for £50 from a scrapyard

UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT:

T he British Touring Car

Championship has

only been won by six

drivers under the age of 30

– John Whitmore (1961), Jim

Clark (1964), John Fitzpatrick

(1966), Alec Poole (1968), Andy

Rouse (1975) and James Thompson

(2002). Of these, all but Fitz and

Alec raced single-seaters, at least in

their early days, but this year could

see well see a seventh name added

to that illustrious list in the person of

a young driver from Northern Ireland

who has only ever wanted to race

touring cars.

Colin Turkington, a BRDC Member

since 2004 and a Rising Star before that,

is fi ghting for the 2009 HiQ MSA British

Touring Car Championship crown against

reigning champion Fabrizio Giovanardi. This is

beginning to look as though it will be Colin’s

year to take the title, having been the winner

of the Independents’ Trophy for the past two

seasons.

Colin grew up in a racing environment as

his father Trevor sponsored two of Ulster’s

top motorcycle road racers, Phillip McCallen

and Mark Farmer. But it was karting which

appealed to the young Turkington, given that


UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT

Colin’s brother Gary was keen to pursue a

single-seater career in England in Formula

Ford, part of the PowerTour package, as was

the Fiesta Zetec Championship. Thoughts of

the Mondello Park-based Fiat Punto series were

put to one side, “So that Mum and Dad didn’t

have to choose between me at Mondello

in the Fiats and Gary in England in Formula

Ford,” and Colin ventured overseas for the fi rst

time. After a learning year in 1999, and half a

season in 2000 whilst he concentrated on his

‘A’ levels, Colin was, at the age of 19, the 2001

Champion, winning seven of the 14 rounds.

By now Colin had won a place at Stirling

University but, not wishing to lose the

momentum which his Fiesta success had

provided, he looked towards the BTCC itself.

“We didn’t really know anybody in the touring

car scene but then Jonathan Lewis, whom

Gary knew through Van Diemen in Formula

Ford, put in a word for me with Dick Bennetts.”

Dick was suffi ciently impressed by Colin’s

record to off er him a deal as a Member of what

became the Atomic Kitten MG Junior BTCC

team in 2002. “I was so lucky getting into that

team. I really landed on my feet,” says Colin

today as the longest serving WSR driver ever.

In addition to the benefi t of working with

the massively experienced Dick Bennetts,

in those earlier years Colin also appreciated

how much he was able to learn from his

two senior team-mates Anthony Reid and

Warren Hughes. One lesson learned the hard

way, however, was in his fi rst season when,

It was like racing a block of fl ats. The thing would lean so far on corners you thought it would fall over

years in succession in the Foyle and Down

championships. “There was nothing to do

between races except wash it,” claims Colin

Still too young to drive on public roads, for

1998 Colin acquired a Metro for the Northern

Ireland Metro Challenge. “It was like racing a

block of fl ats. The thing would lean so far on

corners you thought it would fall over.” Colin

was already fascinated by the BTCC from the

TV coverage and initially painted the Metro in

the livery of James Thompson’s WSR Honda

Accord. However, after one race and accident

damage, it was repainted in an approximation

of Rickard Rydell’s 1998 championship-winning

Volvo in which guise it enabled Colin to win

the series.

Colin came to prominence in

England in Ford Fiesta racing,

above, which followed his early

days in grasstrack racing, top

left, and karting where he is

pictured at speed in his Nigel

Mansell helmet colours and

in the paddock next to Adam

Carroll and brother Gary (hand

on wheel). Colin’s time in the

BTCC has been successful, far

left, having always wanted to

be a touring car racer, a desire

borne out by the livery of his

Metro, mirroring that of the

BTCC Hondas of the period

(Photos Jakob Ebrey, Colin

Turkington)


UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT

after qualifying for the fi rst time on the front row at

Mondello Park, where he had never raced before

contrary to many assumptions, he was struck down

with serious food poisoning from a contaminated

drinks bottle and spent the rest of the weekend

unconscious in a Dublin hospital.

The fi rst win came a year later at Brands Hatch in

memorable fashion. “The safety car pulled off with

one lap to go. I was second behind Yvan [Muller]

who ran wide at Paddock. I went for the inside and

led up to Druids. I looked in my mirror and saw

Anthony making the big lunge down the inside of

Yvan and thought ‘here we go’. I came out of the

corner, looked in my mirror again and there was no

one there.”

The move to VX Racing for 2005 looked promising

with pole position at Donington Park fi rst time

out but that was a false dawn and the year only

produced a couple of wins. “When Fabrizio struggled

with the car the following year, I felt that it wasn’t

just me.” By then Colin was back in the WSR fold in

the MG ZS, fi nishing third in the championship. “By

the end of 2006 Dick felt that every department of

the MG’s development had been maximised,” and

so the decision was taken to switch to BMWs. “I had

never driven, let alone raced, a rear-wheel drive car

before so I was a little apprehensive at the prospect

I had never driven, let alone raced, a rear-wheel drive car before so I was a little apprehensive at the prospect

but in fact it was not as diff erent as I thought it

would be.” So much so that Colin took another of his

season-opening pole positions in a car which had

only been built the previous week!

In that fi rst year with the BMW, WSR also took in

the WTCC races at Brands Hatch and Macau with

Colin securing third and fourth places on their home

circuit but the focus has remained very much on the

BTCC where Colin clearly enjoys the level playing

fi eld and competitive racing, largely free from

politics which is sometimes unavailable elsewhere.

Colin may not yet have the public profi le of some

other touring car stars but, if this year carries on in

the way it has so far, he will become increasingly

recognised for what he is – one of Britain’s top

professional drivers.

A key part of Dick Bennetts’s WSR

touring car team, Colin has raced in

the BTCC and WTCC and has proudly

carried the colours of RAC to wins

across the UK (Photos Jakob Ebrey)


UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT

Diesel dicer disgracedTruck racing added to the Silverstone history in the 1980s as Andrew Marriott remembers.

S ilverstone has played host to many emotional and joyous

scenes at its victory celebrations over the years. From leaping

Schumachers to bowing Mansells and plenty of tears and

cheers besides, the various victory podiums have boasted the

crowning of many champions and race winners.

But without question the most bizarre scenes followed the

conclusion of the fi rst of fi ve Truck Grands Prix held at the circuit. The

date was August 18th, 1985 and after a series of knock-out heats and

even a Last Chance race, Italian Gaudenzio Mantova crossed the line,

after 15 furious laps of the Grand Final, to take victory in his Scania 142.

The sometime Formula 3 racer had driven a good race and beaten

a disparate group of drivers which included Barry Sheene, Steve

Parrish, Barry Lee, Willie Green, rally drivers Andy Dawson and Russell

Brookes and even former Formula 1 World Champion Alan Jones.

Indeed Mantova had started as one of the favourites. His regular

racing background included winning the Italian Formula Ford

Early days: road-going rigs and straw

bales made an incongruous sight

(Photos BRDC Archive)


ARMCHAIR COMMENT

Championship and even competing at Formula 2 level.

Earlier in the year he came to Brands Hatch and won the

fi rst Lucas Truck Grand Prix. He put his success down to

his mother’s spaghetti, prompting the Sun, which really

got behind truck racing, to come up with the classic

headline: “First Pasta the Post.”

But something wasn’t quite right at Silverstone.

Mantova had stopped his truck near Becketts apparently

out of fuel. He was picked up by a course car and

brought back to receive the garland, the trophy and a

cheque for £5000!

The fi eld rumbles out of Woodcote,

bottom, while the 1986 programme’s

colour images show the action from 1985


The large crowd, estimated at close on 50,000,

at what was only Britain’s third ever truck race, was

appreciative although it would have preferred the

win had gone to second-placed Richard Walker, a

Nottingham based haulier with some minor rallying

success. But the Italian had won fair and square – or

had he?

Down at Becketts an eagle eyed marshal had

spotted something curious after Mantova had

brought the truck to a halt. He thought he’d seen a

match struck. He suggested the scrutineers take a

look. As the Italian was heading back to the podium

and the spoils of victory, the technical offi cials

climbed up into the cab of the Scania and almost

immediately found a crime scene.

It transpired that Mantova had been boosting the

power of his Swedish diesel with a crude system

involving some plastic pipe and a bottle of nitrous

oxide. He had then attempted to burn the pipe, which

seems rather more complicated than chucking it out

of the window.

What followed next was pure farce. As he stepped

down from the podium, the large shiny Multipart

Trophy in hand and the garland around his neck,

the dreaded call to report to the Clerk of the Course,

echoed across the paddock.

The soon to be disgraced Gaudenzio spoke not

a word of English but the organisers, seeing no less

than eight Italians on the entry list had hired a rather

fetching Italian lady to act as translator.

Together with me and a scrutineer, we approached

the sweaty and swarthy racer to tell him that there

was a slight problem. Gaudenzio certainly got the

message, and still clutching the trophy turned on his

heel and was off like a robber’s dog into the centre of

Silverstone which was awash with truck fans. We gave

chase but lost him in the crowd.

Repeated messages over the public address for him

to join the stewards failed. His small team, including

his pasta-baking mother, had no idea where he had

gone, or if they did they weren’t letting on. And the

spaghetti carbonara was getting cold!


ARMCHAIR COMMENT

behind a truck. It seemed to fi t in so I suggested

a meeting, and he duly arrived in my offi ce

announcing himself as Steve Majors. He had

a somewhat disconcerting look in his eye

and was missing his two front teeth, which

prompted me to wonder if he had already

tried this stunt only to fi nd that the truck could

stop quicker than him!

Nevertheless we agreed a deal. But then he

decided he needed to have Silverstone for a

complete day to practise, rather than the hour

or so I off ered him. That wasn’t going to happen

so I called the deal off , he was quite abusive and I

thought nothing more about it.

Until several years later when a policeman – who

as it happened, stuttered – called me. “Do you know

a man called Barry George?” he questioned. My

response was negative. “Steve Majors, perhaps?” Yes,

I did, the strange guy who was going to roller-blade

behind a truck. I told him the tale, the PC said that in

going through his fl at they had found a slip of paper

with my name and number on it. But I couldn’t really

help them any further with their enquiries. Later, of

course, George was convicted and subsequently

acquitted of murdering TV personality Jill Dando. He

didn’t get himself into the Guinness Record book but

he certainly made the papers.

Then, of course, there is the story of one of our

original Silverstone Truck Grand Prix racers Reg

Hopkins – better known as “Radiator Reg”. We already

had “Meatman” Mel Lindsay – he shipped NZ lamb,

Andy “Boots” Levett, whose load was normally shoes

and the famous truck driven by Mel Bacon known as

“Dirty Gerty, No 30”.

Reg was a Bristolian who had made a substantial

amount of money hiring out the excavators which

were used to build the M40. Reg was one of those

guys who found the accident that was happening

close to him. But he got the epithet “Radiator Reg”

following an incident when he attempted to repair a

front bumper which had been damaged in a fender-

bending incident. Back in the paddock Reg swung

the sledge hammer, missed the bumper completely

and planted the 14 lbs into his radiator with an

accompanying hiss of steam!

He subsequently survived a big crash in Austria and

coupled with some other incidents, I decided that at

the fi rst annual British Truck Racing Association Dinner

& Dance, he would receive a “Crasher of the Year

Award”. A suitably battered Trophy was arranged.

Reg had no idea that he was receiving this special

award so when I called his name he got a little

over excited. Indeed he ran across the dance fl oor

towards the presentation, lost his footing and slid on

his rear end into the presentation table scattering

trophies everywhere. The whole place erupted in

uncontrollable laughter.

Reg fi nally received his trophy but he wasn’t the only

one that night whose trophy had the odd dent in it.

Then there was the occasion at the Zolder truck

race where I fi nished on stage at the dodgy club

above the pits in nothing but my underpants with

two topless dancers – but that’s another story.

The Stewards duly met and Gaudenzio was guilty as

charged and stripped of the victory – thus handing it

to crowd favourite Richard Walker, but the saga wasn’t

quite over yet.

Mantova’s Scania had been brought back to the

scrutineering bay and fully investigated and the

evidence confi scated. The paddock cleared, darkness

descended but still the truck remained there, its hapless

owner and driver presumably still in hiding somewhere

behind a Silverstone hangar.

Shame-faced Mantova returned to his cab the

following morning, when the few

remaining offi cials had their heads

turned, climbed aboard and

disappeared in the direction of his

native town of Como, never to

be seen at a truck race again. He

was subsequently stripped of his

racing licence and forever has a

place in the often bizarre history

of truck racing.

The crowd knew little of this,

they had enjoyed the racing, the

jet truck, the wheelie truck, the tractor

pulling, the. stunt driving and celebrities.

But subsequent Truck Grands Prix at

Silverstone certainly provided plenty more

stories on which I will dine out for many a year.

A couple of years later, with the truck

racing phenomenon in full swing, I decided

that as part of the meeting we would try to

break a host of Guinness World Records. I

already had the French motorcycle stunt

ace Richard Almet lined up to set the World

Record for a speed wheelie. I seem to remember he

established the record on his Suzuki at 176mph!

Someone else was going to break a record for lifting

beer barrels and my phone was pretty busy with other

assorted eccentrics and nut-cases wanting to perform

cunning stunts!

One of those was a guy who told me he was a fi lm

stunt man who had appeared in the fi lm Roller Blade

and he wanted to set the record for roller-blading

Barry Sheene, top, was a crowd-

puller in the early days of the sport

that attracted drivers from all walks

of life (Photos BRDC Archive, LAT)


ARMCHAIR COMMENT

Lola-Aston Martin, B09/60s, Nurburgring, August 2009

S ilverstone, a venue so easily associated

with motor sport, may now have won a

place in the heart of aerobatics. Balletic,

majestic, exhilarating and exciting – just some

of the adjectives that can be used to describe

the sights over Silverstone at the end of

August as the World Aerobatic Championship

headed to the Home of British Motor Racing.

Silverstone is no stranger to aircraft, with

its roots as a World War Two airfi eld and

with a fully-functioning runway; Silverstone

Heliports - which operates the air traffi c at

the circuit - and a ready-made amphitheatre,

it became the ideal place to host the 25th

anniversary event.

The competition is split into two elements,

the fi rst being the Technical Championship

which begins with a Known Programme

When wings met tyresThe World Aerobatic Championship returned to British shores for the fi rst time since 1986 in a fi rst for Silverstone, says Sarah Carnell.

which all pilots have practised. The second

part to the Technical Championship is the

Free Programme which allows all pilots to

compose their own routine and they must

show a high level of technical diffi culty.

The fi nal part of the championships is

the Freestyle and allows the pilots to show

exactly what they can do in their aircraft

with a little help of the razzmatazz of lights,

smoke and music. This was held in front of a

huge crowd on the practice and qualifying

days of the HiQ MSA British Touring Car

Championship weekend.

Kester Scrope, pilot of an Edge 540 for the

UK team, said: “The four-minute freestyle

is great for the public with the smoke and

music. It’s great fun, very exciting and the

most terrifi c thing I’ve ever seen and the

challenge is fantastic. You have to be so

focussed it’s a good break from work, you

can’t be thinking about every day life.”

On the ground competitors could be seen

mentally rehearsing their moves and walking

through their routines before taking to the

skies. Competitors are judged on precision

and have to keep within a 1000m box. You

are penalised if you get a ‘low’, which is when

a pilot dips below 300ft from the ground, or if

you fl y outside the 1000m box.

Kester, 39, from near Stevenage, said:

“You’ve got to be extremely precise on

calls then when you get a rain-aff ected

championship like this, some of us won’t

have fl own for a week.”

Melissa Pemberton, top, and Kester Scrope, above, were two of the pilots at the World Aerobatic Championship that was hosted at Silverstone at the end of August. The combination of plane and automobiles made Silverstone look very busy, left, and spectacular displays wowed the crowds, right (Photos Jakob Ebrey)


WORLD AEROBATIC CHAMPIONSHIP

A lot of the pilots have compared their

sport to ice skating, as there are certain

elements which have to be included on

some fl ights and on others there’s more room

for their own choreography. But there are

also similarities to motor sport such as high

levels of ‘G force’ and mental and physical

preparation.

“There is the huge physical aspect as we

can go from plus 10 ‘G’ to minus eight ‘G’,”

explains Kester - A heavy braking manoeuvre

in Formula 1 would normally create around

four to fi ve ‘G’.

Most modern motor racing drivers spend

a lot of time worrying about not just the

physical capability to do their job but also

their mental strength, and Kester says this is

also true of the WAC pilots.

“The mental challenge is far greater than

anything. When you’re fl ying you get wind

coming at you in diff erent directions and at

diff erent speeds and you have to be able to

react to that in a split second. If you even

blink at the wrong time, it could all be over.

“I’m interested in Formula 1 and everyone

competing here can relate to what racing

drivers do. There’s got to be similar characters

doing it and with both you need a lot of ego

and to be independently minded.”

There was a possibility the championships

may have been called off on the fi rst day after

Vicki Cruse, President of the International

Aerobatic Club and a highly experienced

pilot, was killed when her single-seat Zivko

Edge 540 crashed.

The aerobatic community was devastated,

but after a meeting with offi cials and the 64

pilots representing 17 diff erent countries, it

was felt that the show must go on in honour

of Vicki.

And what a show! Another resounding

success at Silverstone.


WORLD AEROBATIC CHAMPIONSHIP

A new worldMcLaren’s new car, the P11, broke cover recently. Ray Hutton was there.


ROAD TEST

cLaren aims to beat Ferrari. Nothing

new or surprising about that. Except

that this isn’t on the track and doesn’t

involve World Champions. In 2011, McLaren will

enter another super-competitive league: the

sales battle for roadgoing supercars. This car, the

MP4-12C, is the fi rst of a series of models that is

intended to knock Ferrari off its pedestal as the

maker of the world’s most desirable road cars.

It is no idle ambition. Ron Dennis, under

whom McLaren has won multiple constructors’

titles and who is a BRDC Vice President, has

given up direct control of the Formula 1

team to devote his energies to a new role as

Executive Chairman of McLaren Automotive.

Announcing the new car, Ron said: “It will open

up a new chapter in McLaren’s history as well

as playing a part in the regeneration of hi-tech

manufacturing in the UK.”

The car that McLaren will launch in 2011 is a

two-seater coupe that will compete with the

new Ferrari 458 Italia, successor to the F430.

The price is expected to be something over

£150,000. McLaren will emphasize the MP4-

12C’s technical sophistication and Formula 1

heritage.

It is a mid-engined coupe with a notably cab-

forward stance and dihedral doors that swing

outwards and upwards from a single upper

pivoting hinge. The MP4-12C is slightly shorter,

narrower and lower than the F430 and should

be lighter, below 1,400 kg.

The chassis structure is a carbon-fi bre tub

that weighs 80 kg. It is moulded in one piece

using a unique but still-secret process that

reduces the cost by a factor of 10 compared

with a race-car monocoque. Outer bodywork

is aluminium and SMC composite (Sheet

Moulding Compound).

McLaren is promising something special

in suspension technology, incorporating

electronic roll control and the car incorporates

a deployable rear wing that doubles as an air

brake.

The engine, mounted longitudinally, is a

purpose-built 3.8 litre twin-turbo V8 with a fl at-

plane crank and dry sump lubrication to lower

its mounting height. Unusually, the radiators

are at the back, alongside the engine.

The engine is code-named M838T. It has dual

variable valve timing and revs to 8,500. McLaren

says that its output is ‘around 600 bhp and 600

Nm’. It will need that if it is to be the fastest car

in its class; the 458 Italia claims a 200 mph top

speed and 0-60 in 3.4 sec.

Like the latest Ferraris (Italia and California),

the gearbox is double-clutch design with seven

speeds, selected by F1-style rocker switches on

the steering wheel.

McLaren has been working on the MP4-12C

(known during its development as P11) for

more than two years and has built up a team of

motor industry specialists, including managing

director Antony Sheriff , who was in charge of

product development at Fiat and Alfa Romeo,

and chief designer Frank Stephenson, who is

credited with the design of the Mini for BMW

and has since worked at Ferrari, Maserati and

Fiat. There is a team of 200 working on research

and development and they have built 24 P11

prototypes.

McLaren Automotive is established as an

independent company with Ron, Mansour

Ojjeh (of the TAG Group) and the investment

arm of the Bahrain government as its main

shareholders and up to 49 per cent to be sold

to other investors. It needs to raise £250 million

($375 million) to set up a new manufacturing

facility close to the showpiece McLaren

Technology Centre in Surrey.

Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes,

owns 40 per cent of the McLaren Group and

its race operation but will not participate

in McLaren Automotive. The last batch of

Mercedes SLRs is being built in the glass-walled

Technology Centre before that is turned over

to the pilot production of the P11. The gull-

wing SLS, successor to the SLR, will be made in

Germany by AMG, a Daimler subsidiary.

McLaren intends to sell 1,000 P11s in the fi rst

year and thereafter build up annual production

of a family of road cars to 4,000. That compares

with Ferrari’s record 6,587 in 2008 and the

2,430 made by Lamborghini in the same year;

all the supercar makers, with the exception of

Ferrari, are substantially down this year. Ron is

counting on the recession being over by the

time the P11 is launched in 2011.

Some Members will recall that McLaren was

similarly bullish about the prospects for the

F1 supercar when it appeared in 1993. But

that was one of the world’s most expensive

cars – too costly even for many of the wealthy

enthusiasts for whom it was intended. Just 100

were built over fi ve years – 72 of them street

legal, the rest for racing.

The F1 reigned for 10 years as the world’s

fastest road car and is highly sought-after

today; one was sold in London last October for

£2.53 million.

It will open up a new chapter in McLaren’s history as well as playing a part in the regeneration of hi-tech manufacturing in the UK


ROAD TEST

PETER ARUNDELL 1933 – 2009

F ormer ‘King of Formula Junior’ Peter Arundell

passed away on June 16, aged 75. His FJ

exploits in 1961-62 won him promotion to

number two to Jim Clark in the Lotus Formula

1 team. He won the incredible wager between

German magazine publisher Richard von

Frankenberg and Colin Chapman to defend Team

Lotus’s reputation against charges of having run

over-sized engines through 1962. Pete had won 18

of his 25 races that year, and driving his works Lotus

22 at Monza he won the wager, spectacularly.

Pete was born at Ilford, Essex, on November

8, 1933. He drove an MG TC in his fi rst club rally

in 1954, and hill-climbed and rallied it through

1955-56 before turning to circuit racing “…to beat

a bighead in my local club”. He made his debut

at Goodwood on May 11, fi nishing second. In

August he won at Mallory Park and in 1958 drove

a Lotus 11 S1 for Jack Westcott, followed by an S2

in 1959. Driving a works Elva FJ he won at Brands

Hatch, and Colin Chapman invited him to join

Team Lotus for 1960 FJ. He won at Silverstone and

Mallory Park, then began 1961 by dead-heating

with Tony Maggs’s Cooper at Goodwood. He won

the Prix Monaco Junior and led Lotus’s FJ team in

1962, winning Monaco again. He’d been promised

occasional F1 drives but few materialised. He made

his brief F1 debut at Reims in a Lotus-BRM 24,

but for 1963 led the new Ron Harris-Team Lotus

FJ team, with the latest monocoque Lotus 27s. A

winning debut was followed by crankshaft failure

at Monaco, then car redesign before he won six

successive races.

Recalled to Formula 1 for the 1963 Solitude GP

he promptly fi nished second in a works Lotus 25.

Mediterranean GP at Enna - second again! For 1964

he replaced Trevor Taylor as Jim Clark’s F1 team-

mate. At Snetterton in the rain he set fastest lap, at

Goodwood placed second to Clark, and at Syracuse

shared third with Mike Spence. More thirds

followed in the Aintree 200, May Silverstone, and

both the Monaco and Dutch GPs. He was fourth

in France before at Reims in the F2 classic his legs

were shattered in a collision with Richie Ginther’s

Lola. Recovery proved long and painful over the

next 18 months.

Chapman rated Arundell so highly he held his

place open for a 1966 comeback, extending the

three-year contract which Pete had signed with

Team Lotus at the start of the 1963 season. But his

only fi nishes were 12th in the German GP, eighth at

Monza, sixth in the US GP - where he was berated

by John Surtees for taking him off - then seventh in

the Mexican GP – and retirement.

Peter Arundell had lived in Abridge, Essex,

where he ran a garage – Peter Arundell Ltd

– later establishing a sizeable motor accessory

business. His favourite circuit was Monte Carlo

but he seemed equally at home on any course,

from the Nurburgring to Monza and Spa. His only

superstition was to touch wood before a race,

and he used goggles even in the rain, rather than

a visor. His trademark crash helmet was worn

peakless, like early-period Jim Clark, since they

both found the reclining seating position in their

Lotuses allowed the airstream to force their heads

back – until Colin got a grip with windscreen

design! Pete was an incorrigible chain-smoker,

and succumbed to respiratory disease which had

invalided him for several years. But during his racing

days he was very much a non-drinker, pointing out

that what was good enough for Moss was good

enough for him…

Pete was married to his German-born wife,

Ricky, for 50 years. They had a daughter Lesley and

son, Neil. After several years living and working in

Florida, Pete’s fortunes plummeted, and in recent

years he and Ricky had lived in very reduced

circumstances back in England. He was a proud and

competitive man…and a very fi ne driver, indeed.

Doug Nye

ObituariesPeter on his way to one of his 18 wins out of 25 starts in the 1962 Formula Junior season, left, with his Team Lotus Type 22 at the Silverstone International Trophy meeting. Wearing his trademark red helmet, Peter is seen below before the 1966 British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch in his Team Lotus Type 33-BRM with which he had such a dismal time on his return to the cockpit after his crash at Reims in 1964 (Photos BRDC Archive, LAT)


OBITUARIES

TONY MAGGS1937 – 2009

T he career of Tony Maggs, who died at the

beginning of June after a brave battle with cancer,

began full of promise as the best single-seater

driver to emerge from South Africa since Pat Fairfi eld in

the 1930s. Sadly, he never reached the heights to which

his talent seemed destined to take him and ended in

tragedy in June 1965 when the steering of his Brabham

BT10 failed and he crashed heavily at the Roy Hesketh

circuit in Natal, the car killing a boy spectator who was

in a prohibited area while Tony himself suff ered severe

concussion. He never raced again.

At the age of 22 in 1959 Tony set sail for Europe

determined to succeed as a professional racing driver.

With fellow South African Louis Jacobsz, a couple of

obsolescent Lotus Elevens were used with some success,

followed by the Tojeiro-Jaguar 7 GNO which Tony raced

in the 1960 formule libre South African Grand Prix. This car

was owned by Essex farmer John Ogier and it may have

been Tony’s farming background in South Africa which

brought the two together, Ogier running a Formula

2 Cooper T45 for Tony with some success in the 1960

European season. Ogier also ran various Aston Martins

with drivers of the calibre of Jim Clark and Roy Salvadori

with whom Tony was paired on occasion.

After some success at the end of 1960 in the

Chequered Flag Formula Junior Gemini Mk III, Tony

was spotted by Ken Tyrrell and for 1961 formed the

fi rst pair of Tyrrelltwins with Rhodesian John Love. With

numerous wins in his Cooper-BMC T56, by the end

of the year Tony was joint European Formula Junior

Champion with Jo Siff ert. At the end of 1961 Jack

Brabham left the Cooper family to set up on his own,

leaving a slot in the works F1 team alongside Bruce

McLaren for which Tony was a natural fi t. Second place

in the French Grand Prix behind Dan Gurney’s Porsche

804 and a close third to his team leader in the season-

closing South African Grand Prix were the highlights of

a promising start at the highest level.

For the pre-Tasman series races at the start of 1963

Tony drove a Bowmaker Lola Mk4 as team mate to John

Surtees and with the prospect of carrying on with the

team into the F1 season. Bowmaker withdrew its support

and it was back to Cooper and low pay for a second year,

although Tony did fi nish third in a Reg Parnell Racing (as

the Bowmaker team had become) Lotus-Climax 24 in

the Glover Trophy at Goodwood before heading back

to Surbiton. Again it was the French GP which provided

Tony with his best result of the year, second place at

Reims in what was otherwise a disappointing year.

Tony left Cooper for good at the end of 1963 and

found himself a drive in one of the scruff y BRM P578s

run by Scuderia Centro Sud. In a thoroughly trying year

for such a talented driver, fourth place in the Austrian GP

over the concrete bumps of Zeltweg was the best result.

Formula 2 with a Midland Racing Partnership Lola T55

was rather better while he was able to share wins in the

1963 and 1964 Kyalami 9 Hour races with David Piper in

250GTO and 275LM Ferraris.

Tony’s farewell to Formula 1 came in January 1965

with a Parnell Lotus-BRM 25 in his home Grand Prix.

He continued with MRP in F2, fi nishing second to

team-mate Richard Attwood in the Rome Grand Prix at

Vallelunga in May. Within a month the dreadful accident

in Natal brought down the curtain on a career which had

promised more than it ultimately delivered.

The sensitive personality of Tony Maggs probably

meant that, in an era when fellow drivers were being

killed or injured every weekend, he would lose the

enthusiasm and commitment to go with his undoubted

talent behind the wheel. At the age of 28, he returned

to farming and over the years established a substantial

nature reserve. Even after fi nishing with racing, fate had

one more tragedy up its sleeve when in 1967 Tony was a

passenger in a light aircraft which crashed in fl ames. The

pilot was killed and Tony sustained severe burns, which

scarred him for life, when he braved the fl ames to rescue

other passengers.

Ian Titchmarsh

In his Formula 1 days with Cooper, Tony achieved second places in the French

Grands Prix of 1962 and 1963 and a very close third to team leader Bruce

McLaren in his home Grand Prix at East London in 1962 (Photo LAT)


OBITUARIES

TONY MARSH1931 – 2009

To say that Tony Marsh, who passed

away after a short illness on 7th May

2009, led a full life would be an

understatement. In motor sport he competed

with signifi cant success in all manner of events

from sporting trials to autotests to rallies to

hillclimbs to circuit racing including Formula 1.

After retiring from motor sport for the fi rst time

in 1967 he discovered ski bob racing at which

he represented Great Britain, winning various

gold medals and world championship events.

Sailing, shooting, fl ying and hydroplane racing

were other sporting activities in which he was

signifi cantly accomplished. And the car with

which Tony won his second hat trick of British

Hillclimb Championships (in 1965, 1966 and

1967) was designed and built largely by himself.

Tony’s father ran the Marsh & Baxter meat

processing empire so that, as he readily

admitted, he was born with a silver spanner

in his hand. That said, his fi rst events were

undertaken in rather less than exotic Dellows

in 1952. Various motor cycle-engined Coopers

followed from 1953, the fi rst of which was an

ex-Peter Collins Mk IV (T12). It was with such

Coopers that Tony won his fi rst three British

Hillclimb titles in 1955, 1956 and 1957 whilst at

the same time using the cars for circuit racing,

sometimes engaging in both disciplines over

the same weekend. Not only did Tony win

his third hillclimb championship in 1957 but

also, with his Cooper-Climax T43, he was the

fi rst winner of The Autocar British Formula 2

Championship. 1957 was the year in which Tony

was elected to Full Membership of the BRDC.

By now Tony was venturing into Europe

to race, including the F2 class of the 1957

German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring, a

circuit to which he returned the following

year for his second event at this level. For the

time being hillclimbing took second place to

circuit racing as Tony raced not only his own

but other people’s cars too. He was invited to

share a Team Elite Lotus Elite Type 14 with John

Wagstaff at Le Mans in 1960 and they duly

deprived the French of the very valuable Index

of Thermal Effi ciency, fi nishing 16th overall.

That same year the F2 Coopers gave way to

an F2 Lotus 18 which for 1961 was converted

to run as an F1 car to the new 1.5 litre formula.

Tony was also persuaded by Raymond Mays to

take on a BRM P48 Mk II which, like the Lotus,

doubled up with 1.5 and 2.5 litre engines for

racing and hillclimbing. With the P48 Tony gave

BRM its only win of the 1961 season when he

took the minor F1 Lewis-Evans Trophy race at

Brands Hatch. The fl irtation with BRM came

to an acrimonious end early in 1962 when

Tony returned his early P57 V8 to Bourne and

litigation was only narrowly avoided.

The BRM connection had, however,

encouraged Tony to build his fi rst Marsh Special

into which was inserted the P48’s four-cylinder

engine for hillclimbing. As his circuit racing

career petered out in 1963, so attention turned

to the four-cylinder Marsh-Climax which

evolved into a potent Buick V8-engined device

from 1965 with which Tony secured his second

British Hillclimb Championship hat trick. As ever

the engineer, for the last season Tony devised

and installed his own 4wd system.

From 1967 to 1989 Tony largely stayed away

from motor sport whilst indulging in his various

other business and sporting pursuits but he

was then tempted back into both the British

Hillclimb and Sprint Championships in both

of which he remained highly competitive in

various state of the art Cosworth DFL/DFR-

powered machinery such as a couple of Goulds,

a Roman and a Toleman. Throughout the ‘90s

and into the 21st century, more than 50 years

after his fi rst event, and despite suff ering a heart

attack in 1972, Tony Marsh was still competing

for the sheer enjoyment but retaining the

competitive instinct which always lay within this

aff able and highly accomplished all rounder.

To his wife Liza, and to Simon, Peter and Paul,

his three sons by his fi rst marriage to Diana, we

off er our deepest condolences.

Ian Titchmarsh

Tony Marsh, above, in the 1962 Daily

Express International Trophy in which

he fi nished seventh before returning

his BRM P57 V8 to Bourne for good

(Photos BRDC Archive, Marsh family)


OBITUARIES

GEORGE HORNE 1920 – 2009

W ith the passing of George Horne on

June 26th the last link was severed from

an era of New Zealand motorsport

which brought Bruce McLaren, Denny Hulme

and Chris Amon, among others, to world

fame. George was one of fi ve founders of the

New Zealand Grand Prix, the catalyst for not

only those drivers’ careers but was also the

cornerstone of the Tasman Series.

George Horne was born in Wiltshire on

August 11th 1920, the only son of a school

headmaster and a teacher mother. From an

early age he showed a passion for engineering

and at age 18 he joined the RAF as a ground

engineer apprentice, serving at Cosford

and Halton. In 1945 he was enlisted into 99

Squadron with which he was sent to the

Cocos Islands, and later to India and Singapore.

Immediately after the War he accompanied

Sir Keith Park on a victory tour of New Zealand

where he was to meet his future wife Marie.

They were married in Somerset in 1949,

and emigrated to New Zealand in 1950,

where George took employment as an aircraft

engineer with TEAL, the forerunner of Air New

Zealand. He later worked for National Airways

Corp, and TAT Airways.

George and Marie had two children, a

daughter, Lindsay and a son, Steve, who has

achieved considerable fame in motor sport

as a crew chief on CanAm and later as a team

owner in Indy cars.

Through his involvement in the Auckland

Car Club, George became a prime mover in the

setting up of the New Zealand Grand Prix, the

fi rst of which was held at Ardmore on January

4th 1954. His enthusiasm for motor racing had

been fi red by his attendance at the Donington

Park race in 1938 when he saw the Mercedes

and Auto Unions in action.

After the 1962 race, Ardmore was no longer

available, and by now new people were

moving onto the organisation, so George

quietly bowed out.

George had also formed the George Horne

Motor Company and was granted the Ferrari

concession for New Zealand by Enzo Ferrari,

with whom he struck up a very long friendship.

Later the company became the Gordon Keeble

importers for Australia and New Zealand.

In 1979 George and Marie returned to live

permanently in England, fi nally settling in

Bournemouth where Marie ran a hair salon,

and George worked at Hurn Airport. Prior to

meeting and marrying George, Marie had a

hairdressing salon in Remuera, Auckland very

close to the McLaren garage, and one of her

customers was a very young Bruce McLaren.

George was elected to membership of

the BRDC in 2003. Sadly Marie died in 2006,

but after daughter Lindsay came from New

Zealand to take care of him George threw

himself into living life to the full and was

a frequent attendee at Goodwood and

Silverstone. There was seldom an event at

Silverstone when George was not present. His

knowledge of motor racing and its history was

encyclopedic and he had a vast library and

memorabilia collection.

He also took up gliding and made his last

fl ight just days before he was incapacitated by

a stroke in 2008.

To his children Lindsay and Steve, the BRDC

off ers its condolences on the passing of a true

gentleman who touched so many lives.

Howden Ganley

GUY EDWARDS1919 – 2009

G uy Edwards was born two months

and eight days after the armistice. It

was perhaps inevitable that he would

become involved in motor sport given that

when he was 10 years old his father, Harry,

became the fi rst secretary of the BRDC.

Through the mid to late 1930’s Guy assisted his

father with various administrative activities in

the Club’s headquarters and at race meetings.

In 1936 Guy joined the Vacuum Oil Company

in their Competitions Department and for the

1938 and 39 seasons represented them at the

small offi ce the Company held at Brooklands.

The war years were spent in the Royal

Engineers and the Royal Army Service Corps

serving with the 8th Army in the Western Desert

and the Italian campaign. Guy was de-mobbed

in March 1946 with the rank of Captain.

Upon his return to civilian life he rejoined

the Vacuum Oil Company and was appointed

Racing Manger (referred to in those days

as one of the four “Oil Barons” – the other

three being, Esso, Shell/BP and Castrol). This

responsibility was held for eight immediate

post-war seasons until 1955. By this time the

Vacuum Oil Company had been renamed

Mobil Oil Company Ltd.

In recognition of personal and business

support for the sport, Guy was appointed as

Associate Member of the BRDC in 1948.

From 1959 to 1979 Guy remained with the

Mobil Oil Company in the UK and latterly with

Mobil’s international organisation in various senior

executive marketing capacities. During this period

Guy was a regular fl ag marshal and observer at

Silverstone in many meetings up to 1960.

Guy is survived by his wife, Sheila, to whom

the Club sends its sincere condolences.

Stuart Pringle

George was instrumental in

the success of the New Zealand

Grand Prix which attracted cars

such as the Ferrari 375 of New

Zealander Ron Roycroft which

led from pole position in 1957



OBITUARIES

HENRY SURTEES 1991 – 2009

B RDC Rising Star H enry Surtees was

heading for an impressive career in

motor racing having taken his fi rst

Formula Two podium fi nish the day before

his tragic death. The son of former World

Champion John Surtees, it is diffi cult to

remember Henry without remembering his

hugely supportive family.

The events at Brands Hatch brought into

sharp focus the immense quality and strength

of the Surtees family, its cohesion, its love and

its tremendous zest for life and the challenges

contained within.

Born on the 18th February 1991 when John

was 57, Henry showed no great immediate

interest in following in his father’s footsteps

until a friend took him to a karting opportunity

at the age of eight. When he came home, he

said, “Daddy, I now know what I want to do.”

John and Jane Surtees gave their children

the chance to explore life’s opportunities

and to do it with a responsible attitude and

a sensible approach. So it was with Henry

– John encouraged him and was enthusiastic

that his racing should be undertaken properly

and with due regard to other priorities like

education. Henry was educated at Worth

School in Sussex where this summer he

completed his A levels and secured a place at

university.

After a number of years in karting, which

demonstrated his speed and competitive

edge, Henry competed in Ginetta Juniors,

Formula BMW followed by Formula Renault

and raced in two end-of-season British F3

races, winning the National Class in one and

coming second in the other. For 2009, he

stepped on to an international stage and raced

in the new FIA Formula Two Championship.

It was clear that Henry carried the speed but

his results did not do justice to his promise,

apart from pole at Brno. Then, to the delight

of everyone, he was able to secure his fi rst F2

podium placing in the fi rst race at Brands Hatch.

For John to have survived arguably the most

dangerous times in both motorcycle and car

racing adds a poignancy to the loss of his only

son, who was showing true promise as a racing

driver and who was universally regarded as a

charming, intelligent, delightful and talented

young man. A fi nal twist is that John and

Henry were being fi lmed that tragic weekend

and both had made their time as available as

possible, balancing the needs of the fi lm crew

with their own demands.

To John and Jane, and Henry’s sisters

Leonora and Edwina, as well as Henry’s many

friends, the Club sends its sincere condolences.

Brian Jones

PETER STUBBERFIELD1910 – 2008

O ne of the Club’s oldest Members, Peter

Stubberfi eld passed away in his 99th

year just before Christmas. Members

with long memories will recall Peter’s exploits

in hillclimbs at the wheel of his single-seater

Bugatti T35B at his beloved Prescott where

year after year from 1949 he reduced the

Vintage record, leaving it at 44.87 s in 1957

which remained unbeaten by another Bugatti

for nearly 25 years.

The Bugatti, like all Type 35Bs, had begun

life as a two-seater but was converted to

monoposto format by Peter so that he did

not slide around in the cockpit so much and

dislocate one of his legs, a legacy of an earlier

injury. He really competed in no other car

before retiring from active competition, a T51

Bugatti-engined hillclimb special based on an

HAR chassis rapidly ending its days through

a hoarding at Oulton Park in the hands of a

friend of Peter who promptly declared the

chassis, “Too damned dangerous,” and cut it up.

A serious illness forced Peter to retire in 1957

but he retained numerous connections with

the sport, serving on the committee of the

Bugatti Owners’ Club for many years and taking

over as chairman of the Ferrari Owners’ Club

from 1970 until 1988 after which he became

President. He was also the driving force behind

the formation of the Prescott Marshals’ Club.

Peter was a Life Member, having been

elected to the BRDC in 1952. We extend our

sincere condolences to his widow Kay. Our

thanks are due to the Ferrari Owners’ Club

website for allowing us to draw on its more

detailed tribute on its website.

Ian Titchmarsh

Anther Member who sadly passed away recently is:

Peter Wheeler

A fuller appreciation will appear in the next Bulletin.

The epitome of

Peter Stubberfi eld’s

competition career.

The sun shines on Prescott

Hillclimb as Peter takes his

specially-converted single seat

T35B through the Esses on his

way to another Bugatti record

(Photo BRDC Archive)

A happy Henry Surtees on the Brands Hatch podium, his best result

in Formula Two (Photo Sutton Images/F2)


OBITUARIES

SECRETARY’S LETTERT hroughout the 81 years of the British

Racing Drivers’ Club there have been

regular incidences of non-Members

acquiring and displaying the Club badge on

their cars or clothing. Misrepresentation is a

problem felt by many exclusive institutions

and as the most exclusive Club in motor

sport, this is an issue that regularly vexed my

nine predecessors in the Secretarial chair.

Indeed, the Board of the BRDC were

alive to the issue when on the 23 March

1931, it minuted that it was “...agreed to

take whatever steps possible to prevent

Club Badges getting in the hands of non-

Members.” This was quickly followed with

the passing of a number of Club Bylaws the

following year and on the 7th January 1932

Bylaw 3 was adopted by the Club stating

the following: ‘The Committee will supply

Members with Club badges on loan on the

following terms. …Any Member permitting

the use of the Club Badges by any person

who is not a Member of the Club shall be

deemed guilty of conduct injurious to the

Club and be liable to immediate exclusion.

Badges shall remain the property of the Club

and any person ceasing to be a Member of

the Club shall forthwith return his badges to

the Secretary and shall not be entitled to any

refund’. This Bylaw has been updated over

time to accommodate Associate Members

purchasing badges and ever increasing

prices, but it has never been rescinded and

remains in force to this day. Indeed, this

precise wording was regularly quoted, such

as in the 1947 and 1967 Yearbooks and

given the unambiguous clarity that Bylaw 3

provides on this important matter, the Board

has asked me to restate it in regular Club

publications henceforth.

A good deal of my time in recent weeks and

months has been taken up with a concerted

eff ort to stop abuse of the Club’s badge by

non-Members. I am acutely aware of the pride

that all Members feel in their unique right

to display the badge and as such consider it

important to tackle each and every case of

abuse as they come to my attention.

This is a matter that all Members can

help with. I know that many Members are

proactive and tackle those displaying badges

if they suspect they are not entitled, and

this is greatly appreciated. Many of you are

also very good at alerting me when they

are spotted being off ered for sale. Please

continue to do both! It is an important

principle in law that rights should be

regularly and consistently enforced and this

underlines the need to tackle the case, in

addition to the simple fact that it is the right

thing to do.

There will no doubt be some disappointed

‘owners’ of BRDC badges who have

bought them in good faith and who will

take exception to the Club seeking to

recover property to which it has legal title.

A consistent line from all Members who

may come into contact with one of these

situations would be a great help.

The fi nal point to make on the issue is

that it would be a great help if all Members

could ensure that their aff airs are suffi ciently

in order that their families and executors are

informed of the need to return BRDC badges

to the Club when they pass on. Whilst that

may appear rather morbid, the statistical

fact is that very, very few Members have

ever sought to sell Club badges during their

membership and death still remains very

much the preferred reason for leaving the

Club. It follows therefore that the majority

of problems with BRDC badges fi nding

their way onto the ‘open market’ emanate

from families of deceased Members who

are unaware of the Club rules under which

these badges are loaned to the Member for

their period of membership in return for a

fee. Please take time to brief your family and

make my successors’ lives easier!

Thank you for the positive comments

received about the new Club website. It

remains at the normal address – www.

brdc.co.uk – and should provide a far more

timely means of communication with the

Membership.

www.brdcprints.co.uk has also been

launched as Archivist, Steph Sykes, explains

on page 66.

There are a few major events taking place

at Silverstone towards the end of the season

this year and I very much hope to see many

Members at the Clubhouse over these

weekends.

Finally, it is a sad fact of life that

the Secretary of a Club with an aging

membership writes a lot of letters to families

of deceased Members. None have been as

hard or hurt as much as the one I had to

write to John and Jane Surtees in July. I am

truly sorry at their tragic loss of Henry, as I

know all Members are too. Such a cruel and

devastating loss of a life.


SECRETARY'S LETTER

IMAGE CAPTIONSBy Ian Titchmarsh

Monsanto, Lisbon, 23 August 1959A circuit to savour. There are only three races remaining in the

World Championship and Stirling Moss has yet to win, his Rob

Walker Cooper-Climax T51 bedevilled by gearbox unreliability. On

the magnifi cent Monsanto circuit, used on just this one occasion

for a Formula 1 race, the Maestro is supreme. Pole position is his by

near enough two seconds from World Championship leader Jack

Brabham’s similar Cooper. And he opens up a lead over Black Jack

at that rate per lap once the race is under way. On lap 24 Jack has

a misunderstanding with local backmarker Mario Cabral’s Cooper-

Maserati T51, is fl ung out of his car as it overturns, and is nearly run

over by his closely following team mate Masten Gregory. A couple

of laps later Stirling almost stops at the Cooper pit to report that

Jack is off to hospital but essentially OK. Treating the gearbox, “Like

Dresden china” and changing gear on this sinuous circuit just six

times per lap as opposed to 13 times in practice, Stirling carries on

to win by over a lap from Masten who drawls afterwards: “One lap

behind! I guess we’ll just have to live with it – he’s the best.” Stirling

also wins the following Italian Grand Prix to put himself in with a

chance of taking the title in the fi rst American Grand Prix at Sebring

only to be thwarted yet again by the wretched transmission. (Photo LAT)

Mount St Gardens, Mayfair, June 1929Le Mans winners all! It is 80 years ago that Bentley won the 24 hour

race for the fourth time, so convincingly that four of the fi ve Bentleys

entered fi nished in the fi rst four places. To celebrate and promote this

remarkable achievement some of the cars and drivers are gathered

together for what would today be described as a photo call. From left

to right the drivers are Frank Clement, winner with John Duff in 1924;

‘Sammy’ Davis and Dr Dudley Benjafi eld, winners in 1927; Bernard

Rubin, winner with Woolf Barnato in 1928; and Woolf Barnato himself

with ‘Tim’ Birkin, winners in 1929. Also from the left, the cars are the

1924 winning 3-litre re-bodied subsequently as a saloon; the 1927

winner “Old Number Seven”, also a 3-litre, which emerged from a

multiple crash at Maison Blanche on Saturday evening to continue

battered but unbowed to emerge victorious; the 1928 winning 4 ½

litre “Old Mother Gun”, which was less than a lap ahead of the Stutz

Black Hawk of Edouard Brisson and Robert Bloch at the end, and also

claimed second in 1929 shared by Jack Dunfee and Glen Kidston; and

the 6 ½ litre Speed Six “Old Number One” which gave ‘Babe’ Barnato

the second win of his remarkable hat trick in just three attempts

at the race. As has become traditional, the two cars from the race

remain in the state in which they took the chequered fl ag. It was not

until 1957 that Bentley’s 1929 feat was matched by another great

British sports car manufacturer when Jaguar D-types took the fi rst

four places. In fact Jaguar went one better than Bentley since all fi ve

cars which started also fi nished the race, in sixth place, whereas the

fi fth Bentley retired in 1929.Clare Hay/Ian Titchmarsh (Photo LAT)

Oulton Park, 20 September 1969In its fi rst season, Formula 5000 returns to the Cheshire parkland

circuit where it had all begun at Easter but with its wings clipped in

line with Formula 1. Good Friday winner Peter Gethin in the Church

Farm Racing Team, works-supported McLaren-Chevrolet M10A,

leads the fi eld out of Old Hall Corner on the fi rst lap of the fi rst

heat with the always spectacular Mike Hailwood (Epstein-Cuthbert

Racing Lola-Chevrolet T142) tucked up behind and the similar

Alan Frazer Racing Lola of Keith Holland third. Mike the Bike’s

expectations of the Lola exceed what it is capable of delivering

in his attempts to stay with Peter and a series of spins disrupt his

race, the last one causing terminal damage on the penultimate

lap after Mike has equalled Peter’s “high wing” lap record from

Easter. Although Peter is able to nurse his ailing car to just win the

fi rst part from Mike Walker’s Alan McKechnie Racing Lola T142, the

engine expires in a large cloud of smoke soon after the start of part

two leaving Mike to win from Alan Rollinson in Doug Hardwick’s

T142 and Keith. A week later Peter is able to seal the Guards

Championship from Trevor Taylor in the works Surtees-Chevrolet

TS5 at Brands Hatch. But doesn’t this image exude the sound and

spectacle which epitomised what Formula 5000 was all about?

Great cars, great drivers!(Photo Peter McFadyen)

2

7 21


ARCHIVE IMAGE CAPTIONS

Brno, 21 June 2009Henry Surtees is on his way to pole position for

the fourth round of the new FIA Formula Two

Championship. Having completed his A-levels

earlier that week, Henry is free to concentrate

on pursuing his racing ambitions and comes

to the Czech Republic as the best-placed

British driver in the championship. His first race

has ended in an accident but on the Sunday

morning, he takes pole position in the last few

minutes, snatching it away from Mikhail Aleshin.

Disappointingly, his car bogs down as the red

lights go out and he fails to get away. A month

later, Henry celebrates his first podium finish by

taking third place at Brands Hatch, taking the

place from Kazim Vasiliauskas after a mid-race

safety car period. A day later, the world was very

different.David Addison (Photo LAT)

Nurburgring, 23 August 2009In the legendary livery of Gulf Oil, three British

Lola-Aston Martins dominate the podium at the

end of one of sports car racing’s classics – the

Nurburgring 1000 Kms. In 1957, in the David

Brown era, a DBR1 in the hands of Tony Brooks

and Noel Cunningham-Reid gave Aston Martin

its first outright victory at World Championship

level on the “old” ‘Ring. Now, in the modern

era Aston Martin supplies the engines but it

is another British manufacturer Lola, in 1957

only a twinkle in Eric Broadley’s eye, which is

responsible for the chassis. Entered by Banbury-

based Aston Martin Racing, the Lola-Aston

B09/60s lock out the front of the grid thanks to

German driver Stefan Mucke and BRDC Member

Darren Turner. A “communications problem”

in the pits results in one of Stefan’s co-drivers,

Tomas Enge, struggling through his stint on well

worn tyres and enables Darren to lead for a while

but, together with Czech Jan Charouz, Stefan

and Tomas take the flag first ahead of Darren

and his Swiss co-driver Harold Primat. A couple

of laps behind, the AMR Eastern Europe entry

completes the Lola-Aston Martin domination

thanks to BRDC Member Stuart Hall, fellow Brit

Chris Buncombe and Portuguese Miguel Ramos.

Here we see the leading two cars negotiating

one of the new Nurburgring’s chicanes.(Photo LAT)

Brands Hatch Formula Ford Festival, 20 October 1996This is the event which all young drivers want

to win and 19-year-old Australian Mark Webber

is no exception. Not for the first time, rain plays

its part. Of the two semi-finals, Mark’s is the dry

one and he wins it from pole sitter Jacky van

der Ende, taking his works Van Diemen RF96

past the Dutchman’s Mygale 96 after a couple

of laps to win by a couple of seconds. The rain

returns just in time for the start of the final and

again Jacky van der Ende leads away only to

find Mark driving round the outside of him at

Paddock to take a lead which he increases until,

in these days before universal safety cars, the

race is stopped to clear up assorted accidents.

On the restart of a race now to be decided on

aggregate, Mark soon retrieves the lead on

the road when Brazilian Vitor Meira falls off at

Paddock before reeling off the laps to secure

one of the most impressive Festival wins ever.

Says Autosport presciently: “Given the maturity

with which [Mark] sealed the Festival crown,

you have to wonder how long it will be before

[he] emulates the achievements of others on

that list [of illustrious winners]”. Thirteen years

to the Nurburgring 2009 would have seemed a

lifetime away. (Photo LAT)

Nurburgring Nordschleife, 7 June 1959One of the greatest drives by the maestro, right

up there with the 1955 Mille Miglia and Monaco

1961. In his fi rst stint in the only works Aston Martin

DBR1/300 entered, against the might of Ferrari and

Porsche, Stirling Moss opens up a lead of nearly

fi ve and a half minutes, and takes 11 seconds off

his previous year’s lap record. Jack Fairman takes

over and is forced into a ditch by a slower car. ‘Jolly

Jack’ eventually arrives at the pits at the end of lap

23, one minute and 15 seconds behind new leader

Jean Behra. Stirling takes over and by lap 33, has

not only retrieved the lead but extended it to two

minutes and 43 seconds. Jack does two more laps

before Stirling sets off in pursuit of Phil Hill, now 19

seconds ahead. With six of the 44 laps remaining,

Stirling retakes the lead and wins by 41 seconds. He

has driven, with two short breaks, for over six hours.

In the words of Autosport at the time: “[It] was one

of the most stupendous races of all time”. Or as the

distinguished American journalist (and no mean

racing driver herself ) Denise McCluggage says to

Phil Hill afterwards: “Don’t feel too bad about it, Phil,

you were the fi rst human being to fi nish.” Without

this victory Aston Martin would not have gone on

to win the World Sports Car Championship yet had

Stirling not agreed to cover the costs of entering

the DBR1 if he failed to win, it would never have

been possible. (Photo LAT)

6743 65

Archive images in the BRDC Bulletin are from the BRDC Archive and LAT Photographic.

To purchase copies of the images, please contact Steph Sykes at the BRDC (01327 850927) or go to www.brdcprints.co.uk

Alternatively, call LAT Photographic on 020 8251 3032.

51


ARCHIVE IMAGE CAPTIONS

In The Mind’s EyeAuthor: Kevin Hodgkinson

ISBN: 978-0-9561392-0-7

Not a few Members

will have achieved

membership of the BRDC

thanks to cars which

emerged from the old

mill premises of Derek

Bennett Engineering

Limited in Chorley Old Road, Bolton. For all of them, and anyone else

with an interest in these elegant machines, this book is essential.

Contemporary customers will no doubt recall its author, who joined

Chevron Cars in early 1968 when the fi rst production single seater, the

B9, was about to be delivered, and has retained his fascination for the

cars ever since.

This book is like a scrap book with a story. There are numerous period

images of Chevrons from the B7 prototype F3 car of 1967 through the

B9, B10, B14B, and B15 to the B17s of 1970. It covers only a few years in

the life of Chevron but does so with loving attention to minutiae. There

are recollections by and about well-known Chevron personalities, panels

giving details of the original owners, period technical information and

drawings, and a fi nal section devoted to where some of the cars are now.

Published by the splendidly-named Ebygum Productions, the book

is a real treasure trove both for Chevron devotees and anyone who

wants to know more about some of the elegant and very successful

cars produced by a very talented engineer and driver who, it has been a

surprise to discover, was never himself elected to the BRDC.

Will “Hodge” now rise to the challenge of trying to document the

history of the GT Chevrons from the B3 to the B12?

IT

Pedals and PistonsAuthor: Peter Procter

ISBN: 978-1-9030884-8-7

Peter Procter will be

well known to many

BRDC Members from

his long and active

service as North East

Regional Co-ordinator.

But it is likely that not

so many Members will

know what a varied and

successful career Peter

had had, on two wheels

and then four, before that dreadful day at Goodwood in

1966 when his Ford Anglia caught fi re and he sustained

appalling burns which forced his retirement from racing.

Now you have a chance to fi nd out just how much

Peter achieved both as a racing cyclist, racing driver and

rally driver in this recently published autobiography.

Early chapters cover Peter’s career as a racing cyclist (in

the course of which he seems to have found the perfect

answer to National Service!) which brought him to the

brink of selection for the 1952 Olympics until a mixture

of incompetent offi cialdom and politics ensured that an

inferior team was chosen.

Kimi Raikkonen going rallying or Sebastien Loeb

heading in the opposite direction is big news today

but in the 1950s it was not unusual to combine both

disciplines so that once the motor sport bug had

bitten Peter was racing his Cooper-Norton in F3 most

weekends and fi tting in international rallies with a

Sunbeam Rapier when there was time to spare.

Peter is rightly proud of the fact that throughout

his career he never had to ask a team for a drive; the

teams always approached him. Those teams included

Tyrrell, The Chequered Flag, Team Lotus, Alan Mann

and Broadspeed representing Ford, and the Rootes

Group. While driving for Ken Tyrrell’s Cooper Formula

Junior team in 1963, the possibility of an F1 drive was

raised but, after a great deal of thought, Peter declined,

preferring to give priority to his growing family and

business interests.

Although F1 may have been off the agenda, F2 for Ron

Harris Team Lotus in 1964 saw Peter have one of his most

successful single seater seasons as team mate amongst

others to Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart in the Lotus 32s.

Also in 1964 Peter won the Touring Car category of the

Tour de France in an Alan Mann Ford Mustang.

The book is laced with anecdotes and observations

about Peter’s racing contemporaries which are totally

authentic and are related in his very readable and

forthright style, all the better for not having been fi ltered

through someone else’s hand. There are many previously

unseen images from Peter’s scrap books to illustrate the

story. This is a very well presented book published by

Mercian Manuals Ltd with a rather nice touch being the

type face used for the title page and chapter headings

which looks remarkably like the Alpine lettering on a

Sunbeam of the model with which Peter put one over

on the French by winning the very valuable Index of

Thermal Effi ciency with Peter Harper at Le Mans in 1961.

IT

Book reviewsThe Bulletin team recommend worthy additions to your library


BOOK REVIEWS

50 Years of Motorsport MarshallingAuthor: George Copeland

Published by: British Motor Racing Marshals’

Club Limited

ISBN: 978-0-9561756-0-1

Though the book covers

the history of the British

Motorsport Marshals’

Club (BMMC) from its

founding in 1957, as

a natural (and almost

inevitable) consequence,

it also covers much that

is Silverstone-related and

thereby the BRDC itself.

Throughout almost all

of that period, the Club

itself organised many

of the meetings and,

indeed, almost all of the

international events until the disbandment of its Race

Department a few years ago.

As a result, this book’s content will be of more than

passing interest to a broad cross-section of Members

- not only the drivers who actively raced during that

period but also to other Members who were (or still

are) involved in motor sport in other capacities. Also

such luminaries as Jimmy Brown, Keith Douglas and

Phil Morom - all past Members and regrettably now all

deceased - receive extensive mention throughout the

book. These three gentlemen alone greatly influenced

the development of motor racing in this country, the

circuit and, by extension, the BRDC itself.

Indeed, emphasising its central role in British motor

sport, the current and previous two Presidents of the

BMMC are themselves BRDC Members – Barrie Williams,

Stuart Turner and Murray Walker. The course of both

clubs has been closely interwoven and as such, this

interesting and informative book – all the proceeds from

which will be going to the BMMC – is recommended.

MA Henry Surtees, Brno, June 21 2009

I am now officially five months into the role of

BRDC Archivist and what a five months it has

been. The biggest development to date was

the launch of the photographic archive Print on

Demand Service at the Silverstone Classic. If you

have not yet looked at the site, please do at

www.brdcprints.co.uk. Although at present

there is only a tiny fraction of the Club

photographic collection online, I hope it

is a good indication of the direction in

which the site is going. In due course

the site will cover the complete

spectrum of motor racing, but for the

time being we have a representative

collection that shows the breadth

of the Archive.

The site is designed to cater

for a wide group of visitors

from the casual web browser,

to the dedicated motor sport

fan. The product range is

broad offering images from a simple

photographic print for a photo album to

a framed picture suitable for any study wall. As it’s

your photographic collection, Members are entitled to

25% discount off any order so please contact me for

the discount code.

The launch of the site has prompted several

enquiries from Members about the possibility of

donating their motor sport photographs to the Club.

I am aware that many Members have, during their

Unearthing gemsBRDC Archivist Steph Sykes has been busy in her fi rst fi ve months with the Club. Here is a progress report!

motor sport careers, built up large collections of

photographs, many of which offer a uniquely personal

and previously unseen view on the sport. These would

be an incredible boost to the BRDC collection and, over

time, add to the revenue generating opportunities for

the Archive, all of which are reinvested back into the

collection. Please do consider your Club when you

are wondering what do with not just the

photographs you have taken, but also

wider motor sport memorabilia

that you have built up over the

years.

The Grand Prix and Silverstone

Classic were great opportunities

for me to meet and greet. Thank

you for all the support and the

offers of help to sharpen my racing

car identification skills; trust me these

offers are greatly appreciated and will

be taken up as my work progresses over

the coming months. Thankfully, I have

the library at hand which holds the answer

to many of my questions but sometimes it

is just better to ask someone in the know. I

am hoping that the tempting offer of tea and

chocolate Hobnobs will be enough to keep the

offers of help coming in.

Next on my list of things to do is just the small

task of cataloguing the collection. Finally, items are

being grouped together, so instead of having to look

in three or four places, now there is just the one. It also

means that as the collection is organised, items that had

been forgotten about, or no-one realised you held come

to light, from driver signing on sheets to race results,

covering the main event such as the British Grand Prix, the

International Trophy and the BRDC 500. The foundations

for the Archive are now in place, it is a matter of rolling up

my sleeves and fi nally getting stuck in to cataloguing the

collection box by box, to see what other hidden treasures

I am able to fi nd. I’ll keep you posted.

It’s amazing what you fi nd in

the BRDC Archive…


FROM THE ARCHIVE

Mark Webber, Brands Hatch, October 20 1996

Members’ NewsAs usual, Members have been busy in recent months…

T he summer has been a busy time

both on and off -track and Members

have ben enjoying their passion for

the sport in all kinds of ways. For example,

in June, Members and guests were given a

guided tour around the Force India Factory

in Silverstone by Michael Gomme, the Race

Team Marketing Services Co-ordinator. It was a

fascinating experience for those who took the

opportunity, especially those with a fascination

in the technical side of the sport, such as

former scrutineer Mike Garton.

As if trying to win the Formula 1 World

Championship wasn’t hard work enough,

Jenson Button tackled the London Triathlon.

He set a personal best time of just over two

hours and seven minutes (around half an hour

longer than it took him to win the Monaco

Grand Prix...) in which he completed a 1.5-

kilometre swim, a 40-kilometre bike ride and

a 10 kilometre run! Jenson’s Twitter entry for

the day says of his post-triathlon celebrations:

“Just got back from a massive Sunday roast and

sticky toff ee pudding!”

Although there was no British interest on

the GP2 grid at this year’s Grand Prix, there

was a BRDC badge proudly on display. Karun

Chandhok was the only Member on the grid

and he took third in Sunday’s race.

Mat Jackson, Paul O’Neill and Anthony

Reid all took part in a forum on the eve of the

Silverstone British Touring Car meeting, off ering

advice and support to the Rising Stars that

were present, while in June, Cranfi eld University

awarded the BRDC’s prize to Nic Rutherford at

its School of Applied Sciences Graduation Day.

Members have also been enjoying another

track day at Silverstone at which Willie Green

shookdown the Alfa Romeo Alfetta 158 and on

the eve of the World Aerobatic Championship,

a number of touring car drivers took to the skies!

Karun Chandhok proudly

displayed the BRDC badge

on the GP2 grid at this

year’s Grand Prix, while

the Force India factory visit

was popular with members

(Photos Jakob Ebrey)


MEMBER NEWS

Cranfi eld University awarded its

BRDC prize recently, right, while

Neville Hay and Nick Cussons

joined Stuart Pringle to present

David Wesley with this Andrew

Kitson painting for his retirement

from the Clubhouse gate. Willie

Green, bottom right, drove this

glorious Alfa Romeo 158 at the

Members’ track day, while Colin

Turkington enjoyed himself at the

World Aerobatic Championship

media day. As for Jenson Button,

left, there is a run of success

joke struggling to get out… He

completed the London Triathlon in

two hours and seven minutes


MEMBER NEWS

CLUB AND REGIONAL EVENTS For the latest details please visit: www.brdc.co.uk

SEPTEMBER

19 HOT TRAX CLUB MEETING (NATIONAL CIRCUIT)

Clubhouse closed.

22 LINCOLNSHIRE AVIATION CENTRE VISITContact Sarah Carnell on 01327 850925 to book your place.

26–27 MCE BRITISH SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP PROMOTED (INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT)

OCTOBER

3–4 BRITCAR 500 EVENTS (GRAND PRIX CIRCUIT)

7 BRDC SHOOT EJ CHURCHILL SHOOTING GROUND, WEST WYCOMBE Cartridges will be provided as will guns for novices. Cost £100.

Contact Sarah Carnell on 01327 850925 to book your place.

8 SOUTHERN REGIONAL SOCIAL LUNCH GINS, ROYAL SOUTHAMPTON YACHT CLUB

On the Beaulieu River (near Beaulieu and Bucklers Hard). Contact 01590 616213.

10 MSVR CLUB MEETING (GRAND PRIX CIRCUIT)

11 SOUTH WEST REGIONAL LUNCH FARTHINGS COUNTRY HOUSE HOTEL

Contact John Woodington on 01271 890204 or [email protected]

17 HISTORIC SPORTS CAR CLUB (HSCC) CLUB MEETING (NATIONAL CIRCUIT)

18 ASTON MARTIN OWNERS’ CLUB (AMOC) CLUB MEETING (NATIONAL CIRCUIT)

21 SOCIAL LUNCH SILVERSTONE

Members and Guests welcome. Contact Aspire to book your place on 01327 855104.

24 750 MOTOR CLUB CLUB MEETING (INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT)

30 WALTER HAYES TROPHY PROMOTED (NATIONAL CIRCUIT)

NOVEMBER

1 WALTER HAYES TROPHY PROMOTED (NATIONAL CIRCUIT)

18 SOCIAL LUNCH SILVERSTONE

Members only.Contact Aspire to book your place on 01327 855104.

DECEMBER

3 DRIVEN PHEASANT SHOOTING £400 per gun.

Book through John Woodington (SW regional Co-ordinator): 01271 890204 or 07717093729 or [email protected]

7 BRDC ANNUAL AWARDS INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL, PARK LANE, LONDON

From 12 noon.Tickets £110 each booked through Laura Callicott on 01423 851157 or [email protected]

10 SOUTHERN REGIONAL CHRISTMAS SOCIAL LUNCH GINS, THE ROYAL SOUTHAMPTON YACHT CLUB

On the Beaulieu River (near Beaulieu and Bucklers Hard). Contact 01590 616213.

17 BRDC MEMBERS’ CHRISTMAS LUNCH SILVERSTONE

Members and Guests welcome. Contact Aspire to book your place on 01327 855104.

18 BRDC OFFICE CHRISTMAS SHUTDOWN

JANUARY

4 BRDC OFFICE OPENS


CLUB & REGIONAL EVENTS

From flights to hotels, budget to first-class,our independent and established reputation.

stands for more choice and competitive.prices for you and your company.

From single entities to PLCs, CBT offerthe same high level of commitment to all our clients. Account facilities are availableacross the spectrum of business.

Cambridge Business Travelan independent travel management company, taking pride in providing a full range

of travel-related services and supporting the leading edge of Technology.

To see how CBT can benefit you, call or click

VIRGIN ATLANTICGOLD ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

2004 / 2005 / 2006 & 2007

01223 566 445 www.cambridgebusinesstravel.co.uk

PROUD SPONSORS OF THE FIA GT3 JAGUAR XKR

We’re proudof whatwe do...

...so we put our name to a quality marque.

To see how CBT can benefit you, call or click

01223 566 445 www.cambridgebusinesstravel.co.uk

The Bulletin of the British Racing Drivers' Club | Volume ... · BULLETIN OF THE BRITISH RACING...

Documents

Transcript of The Bulletin of the British Racing Drivers' Club | Volume ... · BULLETIN OF THE BRITISH RACING...