Words and pictures by Keith Mainland
Motorsport at the Palace is an enjoyable and accessible mix of historic and club level motorsport. The wide range of vintage, classic and modern machinery makes the event interesting for spectators and friendly, efficient organisation gives competitors two practice and three timed runs each day. Each day is a separate event which makes the weekend financially viable for the organisers as well as offering something new to see or compete against each day.
For those who remember the Crystal Palace circuit the 740m sprint course includes Pond Hairpin, Big Tree Corner, part of the Terrace Straight and North Tower Crescent, although not all run in the same direction. Despite its relatively short length the course is challenging and technical and quite a few competitors found their car’s limits, fortunately without any serious ‘offs’. Weather-wise, Sunday started bright but rain arrived during the second timed runs and came and went for some of the final runs. Monday stayed dry all day resulting in some faster times as well as an FTD and new course record of 30.57secs for Andy Greenan in his 2017 Empire Evo 2. An impressive 0.73sec below his record set in the same car in 2017.
Competitors that caught my eye or ear during the weekend were Matt Clarke’s rapid class winning 1460cc 1960 Mini; Ali Cornwell-Browne’s immaculately standard 1973 E-type V12 roadster; Andy Laurence’s spirited driving in his automatic 2003 Mitsubishi Airtek; Colin Robbins’ beautifully turned out DTV Replica 1970 Vauxhall Viva GT; Richard West’s fire-breathing ‘jelly mould’ Sierra XR4x4; Gerd Griepe’s enormously powerful road going Audi RS6 Performance estate which almost made it into the top ten fastest times on Monday; Andrew Webber’s Lotus 47D/62R which looks like a Europa on steroids and sounds it too with a turbocharged 4.4L Rover V8; David Seaton’s class winning BMW V8 engined 1980 Pilbeam MP43 that beat the potent looking and more modern 2003 Zeus Challenger of Jeff Wiltshire on both days; Nick Leston’s ‘oily rag’ 1929 Lovell Elkhart Sprint Special and Andy Prill’s meticulously restored ‘Pandora powered by Austin’ A-series engined sports racer. Worthy of a particular mention is Eric Morrey’s turbocharged, 998cc 1968 Hillman Imp that pipped Sunday class winner Robert Bremner’s AC Cobra to class honours on Monday as well as claiming 9th fastest time of the day.
Class results for the two days were:
Category A – Road Going Series Production Cars
Class 2 – Post Vintage Thoroughbred Cars Pre 1941
Sunday: Jonathan Fenning, 1936 Frazer Nash Emeryson. 43.77
Monday: Ron Turner, 1934 Wolseley Hornet Special-Supercharged. 49.95
Class 4 – 1950 to 1966 (New Class Record on Sunday)
Sunday: Matt Clarke, 1960 Austin Mini. 39.86
Monday: Matt Clarke, 1960 Austin Mini. 38.94
Class 5 – 1967 to 1976
Sunday: Philip Woods, 1968 Ford (Bullitt) Mustang. 44.17 (Mon: 43.86)
Monday: Duncan Richardson, 1972 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT. 41.94
Class 6 – 1977 to 1999
Sunday: Chris Berrisford, 1999 Subaru Impreza. 37.11 (Mon: 37.60)
Monday: Stephen Moore, 1999 Mitsubishi Evo6. 35.70
Class 7 – 2000 to date
Sunday: Justin Andrews, 2002 Subaru Impreza. 36.44
Monday: Justin Andrews, 2002 Subaru Impreza. 37.74
Category B – Road Going Specialist Production Cars
Class 11 – 1950 to 1966 (New Class Record on Sunday)
Sunday: Will Walker, 1963 Lotus 7. 39.37 (Mon: N/a)
Monday: Tony Young, 1964 Ginetta G4. 45.89
Class 13 – 1977 to 1999
Sunday: N/a
Monday: Jason Rankin, 1998 Caterham Supersprint. 40.02
Class 14 – 2000 to date
Sunday: Dave Rayner, 2012 Caterham Supersport F200. 38.65 (Mon: 38.23)
Monday: Peter Ratcliff, 2008 Caterham. 36.92
Category C – Modified Series and Specialist Production Cars
Class 15 – Pre 1970’s (New Class Record on Monday)
Sunday: Robert Bremner, 1964 AC Cobra. 38.64 (Mon: 37.96)
Monday: Eric Morrey, 1968 Hillman Imp. 37.14
Class 16 – 1970’s and 1980’s
Sunday: Richard West, 1989 Ford Sierra XR4x4. 37.56
Monday: Richard West, 1989 Ford Sierra XR4x4. 37.46
Class 17 – 1990’s to date (New Class Record on Monday)
Sunday: Laurie Hatchard, 1997 Dax Rush Quadra 5 Litre. 37.29 (Mon: 37.21)
Monday: Stephen Moore, Mitsubishi Evo6. 35.12
Category D – Sports Libre Cars
Class 19 – 1947 to 1976
Sunday: Chris Fulford, 1974 Ford Escort Mk2. 40.13 (Mon: N/a)
Monday: Darren Tyre, 1963 Austin Healey. 39.96
Class 20 – 1977 to date
Sunday: David Seaton, 1980 Pilbeam MP43 / BMW. 34.29
Monday: David Seaton, 1980 Pilbeam MP43 / BMW. 34.02
Category E – Racing Cars up to 1600cc
Class 22 – 1947 to 1976
Sunday: Fyrth Crosse, 1972 Ensign LNF3. 37.04
Monday: Fyrth Crosse, 1972 Ensign LNF3. 37.20
Class 23 – 1977 to date (New Class Record on Monday)
Sunday: Martin Pickles, 1987 Jedi Mk1. 33.98 (FTD) (Mon: N/a)
Monday: Andy Greenen, 2017 Empire Evo 2. 30.57 (FTD)
Category H – Invitation Class
Sunday: Peter Goulding, 2012 Mygale FF200. 34.80
Monday: Peter Goulding, 2012 Mygale FF200. 32.94
