On the weekend of 17th -18th June Equipe GTS made their annual visit to MG Live at Silverstone in Northamptonshire. Where a record number of 88 drivers and 82 cars decided to race. Organisers hosted two separate grids each day in order to accommodate everyone. The races took part in an A and B format; the drivers were allocated their place according to the previous lap times at the circuit.
Conditions were hot for the whole weekend but the lack of breeze made racing hard going at times with in car temperatures over 40 degrees in the assembly area and on the grid.
Tom Smith took pole position in the Group A race with a blistering time of 2:37.712, last year’s winner Mark Cole had to settle for P2 with a time of 2:38.554. Rod Begbie in the green TVR was very much in the mix with a time of 2:39.005, he was closely followed by two more TVR’s those of Will Penrose and Robi Bernberg respectively.
In the Group B qualify it was Graham Pattle who was fastest, he set a very respectable 2:42.327, followed by Luke Spencer who managed to find his stride at the end of the session to post 2:45.848. After a year’s absence, Ross Milner had clearly not lost his touch; a lap time of 2:46.848 put him third on the grid. Oliver Friend put in another strong performance to claim P4 on the grid, with Rob Cobden in the Elva Courier taking P5.
Cole takes double victory in Group A
Tom Smith did not seem to make a great start in the first of the Group A races and found both Mark Cole and Rod Begbie leading him by the end of the first lap. Cole was able to stretch out his slightly, but a determined effort from Begbie saw the gap close in the final stages, but never enough to find a way past. Tom Smith dropped back slightly from the lead pair and was running with Will Penrose for the early stages. This top 4 seemed to break from the pack as the race went on. As we so often see in the Equipe GTS races there was a great deal of action midfield. Simon Cripps and Robi Bernberg had a good dice, but Robi was forced to retire with mechanical issues, leaving Simon to take P5.
There was also great action with the Lotus Elites of Robin Ellis and Brian Arculus, however a brake problem for Ellis saw him leave the circuit at Brooklands and into retirement. Arculus was also under pressure from Andrew Bentley in the red MGB, but he was able to do enough to take P6 overall with Bentley P7. Martin Richardson, David Beresford and Neil Fowler all enjoyed a close battle in the upper-midfield, Richardson taking P8 followed by Beresford and Fowler.
In the first B group race Graham Pattle was able to make a good start from pole and retained the lead at the end of the opening lap. The battle for second between Rob Cobden and Ross Milner was intense throughout the race, this allowed Pattle to ease away slightly and despite some mechanical problems he came home first. Ross Milner’s work paid off on the final lap as he was able to get past Cobden and take a very well deserved P2 with Cobden in P3. Babak Farsian drove well to claim P4 and David Russell-Wilks, after a poor qualify session, was able to pass most of the field to claim P5 after starting in P28. New driver this season, David Keers-Trafford put in a great performance to finish P6, and improvement of 2 places from his qualifying performance. Nigel Brain was also able to improve to take P7 overall after qualifying P10.
Mark Cole was again able to make a good start and take an early lead in the second Group A race. Rod Begbie was able to hold on in the opening laps, but after a misfire at high revs he did fall back into the clutches of Tom Smith and Will Penrose. Both were able to pass as Rod tried to drive around the problem but found the car got even harder to handle. Cole remained untroubled throughout and came home with and advantage of just under 10 seconds. A great move from Tom Smith on the final lap saw him pass Penrose to take P2 overall. Rob Cull had a terrific race to start from the back of the grid but slice his way up to P5 by the finish overtaking 26 cars on the first lap alone. Brian Arculus and Andrew Bentley again had a close race, but Brian was able to stay in front to claim P6. David Beresford again ran well to take P8 with Jonathan Abecassis in his Austin Healy 100 finished a credible P9 after starting from the back of the field.
For the second Group B race a slow start from Graham Pattle saw him lose a few places off the line. Rob Cobden was able to get away well and held the lead at the end of the first lap. Ross Milner was then able to find a way past Cobden’s Elva Courier to take the lead on lap two. Pattle was able to find his stride though and took back the lead on lap 3. Ross Milner pushed hard all race and remained in touch of Pattle, but a spin at Brooklands saw him drop back to P4 allowing Babak Farsian to claim P2 after driving another consistent race. Luke Spencer made great progress from the back of the grid to take P3. Richard McKoen, back with us after a few seasons away, took P5 in his MG Midget. Ollie friend also made good progress through the field to take P6 in the very pretty Austin Healy Sprite. Nigel Brain and William Foster were very close throughout the race, but Nigel did enough to stay in front and take P7 overall a great result for a first season driver. We were absolutely delighted to be able to field not just one, but two massive grids of cars at Silverstone. To see the assembly area full for both races really was exceptional and the quality of cars on display really was superb. Thank you to everybody who raced.
