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Silverstone
April 16th
Only 7 days after Oulton, the Classic Formula Ford
fraternity descended on Silverstone for round 2. John Hesp’s mechanic Paul had
been busy rebuilding the Royale, so it was good to see him out after his Oulton
testing shunt. With Bernard only getting back from
The Class A grid was boosted today by Ian Millward in
his Dulon MP15 and Albert Clements in his immaculate Merlyn, joining the Oulton
trio of Dave Lowe, Jon Davis and Keith Ward. Again, another healthy entry from Class B, with the
usual regulars of Paul Walton, Simon Davey, Neil Marshall, Colin Williams, Dave
Malpas, Phil Norris, and Jeff Palmer being joined by Oulton casualty Alan
Williamson, Andy Powell (after his
strong showing here 2 weeks ago), Roger Newman, Paul Mills, Michael Whitehead,
David Owen and Michael Valentine. So, a 20 car field took to a dry but overcast track
late morning. Qualifying was incident free, although Albert gave Dave Lowe
something to think about on his second lap by spinning in the middle of Copse.
The short National circuit here at Silverstone always provides for a close
grid, and today was no exception. Dave Lowe put in a monumental effort to haul
the Lotus into the 1 minute 5s, taking pole by a quarter of a second from Andy.
Jon again impressed by taking third only a tenth adrift of the pink panther,
with Paul Walton, recording his personal best in 4th, but bemused as
to how he could be 4 tenths adrift of pole. Roger (a pole sitter here in the
past you might remember) took 5th in his first outing for quite a
while, with Simon in 6th. Colin was the only other driver in the 6s,
with Neil, Dave Malpas and Alan rounding out the top 10. The only car to return to the paddock with any damage
was Paul Mills, who had spun at Brooklands, taking out a marker post, and
ripping off his nosecone. The immaculate RF80 (surely a candidate for best
prepared car) didn’t look quite as pristine, but the tank tape covered up the
holes nicely. I remember unloading my
RF80 from the trailer at Pembrey a few years back before it too had turned a
wheel, and people were betting on how long it would take to end up looking like
everyone else’s. It didn’t take long for the battle damage….So, good luck Paul
! The club in-car camera arrived with Steve Pearce, and
so Dave Lowe went about trying to get it fitted for the race. Ably assisted by
Jon, it all seemed to be sorted, so we kept our fingers crossed. Surely some
good footage would be guaranteed with Dave in the cockpit. We would wait and
see. And so to the race. Conditions remained unchanged as
everyone ventured onto the grid. At the green light, Paul Walton made a
storming start, to thread his Crossle between the 2 front row men, to take a
lead into Copse. Was this going to be a repeat performance of Oulton ? Clearly
several drivers had other ideas, as this 12 lapper turned into a fantastic
slipstreamer involving the first 9 cars ! Into the complex for the first time,
we had Paul Walton, Dave Lowe, Andy, Simon, Roger, a slow starting Jon, Neil,
Dave Malpas, Colin, and Alan. A gap was already opening up to Ian Millward in
11th. Onto lap 2, and Dave passed Paul into Becketts, with
Andy losing out to Simon. Jon got passed Roger, with Dave Malpas, Neil and
Colin keeping in close touch. Lap 3 saw another lead change as Simon benefited from
the tow from Paul to lead into Brooklands, with Dave slipping back to third.
Blimey, this was going to look good on the video. Paul took it back on lap 4, and kept it for a couple of laps, but couldn’t pull away to break the tow benefiting those behind. Simon, Dave, Andy, and Jon were all there, with Dave Malpas, Neil and Colin not too far away either. Further back, Michael Whitehead spun at Copse. Albert
didn’t have much time to react, and dived to his left, but his right rear
launched him into a flip. The car landed back on its wheels (albeit the front
right not looking very clever), and Albert was able to get out. Michael was
also out with a broken rear suspension. Fortunately, Albert’s stay at the
medical centre was only precautionary, and all seemed OK, although he expects
to wake up on Sunday morning feeling a tad sore. Not so the Merlyn however,
which Albert had only rebuilt last year. Keith spun in sympathy as well,
although he continued, albeit running at the back. Dave Lowe took the lead again on lap 7, and this time
managed what Paul couldn’t do, which was to hold onto it by pulling slightly
clear of the battle behind. By flag fall, he had amassed a whopping 2.3 seconds
(!) to the second placed driver, which in this race was a country mile. Andy made a move on Simon on lap 8 which ended in a
dislodged nosecone and mangled noseframe on the Royale. Andy’s progress was impeded
slightly (but not a lot) as he first lost position to Dave Malpas (having a
superb race) then to Jon in the final 3 laps. Paul held onto second for the remaining laps, although
Simon got a better run out of the complex, and sneaked ahead as they accelerated
through Woodcote for the final time. Quite how Paul managed to get the position
back I don’t know, but he crossed the line 6 thousandths ahead ! Jon took 4th, and another novice win, the
Oulton result proving no fluke. Dave Malpas
was overjoyed in 5th, with Andy only 7 hundredths adrift in 6th.
The first 6 cars were covered by just 5 seconds ! This was Formula Ford racing
at its best, and the commentator (a certain Jonathon Palmer, but not the famous
one) was almost wetting himself. Neil took 7th in the next gaggle, with
Colin having spent the whole race looking at his gearbox. Roger ended up a
disappointed 9th, having gone backwards from his high point of 4th
on lap 1. A piss poor performance was the Alan had a lonely race all by himself in 10th,
although Jeff was pulling him in towards the end. Ian Millward kept out of
trouble to take the final Class A
trophy, with Paul Mills, a distant Keith (having lost all that time when
spinning off earlier), Michael Valentine and David Owen completing the
finishers. John Hesp spluttered round for a few laps before
pitting on lap 6. And Phil Norris endured a couple of spins, the second one at
Brooklands beaching him into the gravel on lap 9. In the post race excitement, I completely forgot to
announce the Cobra Beer Driver of the Day, partly perhaps because I didn’t have
any beer to hand out. Sorry to Dave Malpas – you will get it at Brands mate !
An excellent drive despite high water temperatures, and keeping out of trouble.
Surely the best race of your racing career. Nice one. So – how good was the camera footage ? Errr…..we had a
problem….absolutely diddly squat….bugger….
Dave keeps the camera on board for the Silverstone GP meeting next
weekend. Let’s hope he has more luck. So, yet again, Classic Formula Ford 1600 proves you
don’t need a maximum grid to be entertaining. Well done everyone. Having said
that, a few more cars would be nice. The Classic meeting at Brands is 4 weeks
away, so lets ensure a good turnout at arguably the best club race meeting in
the country. See you all there. Andy H
Cobra Driver of the Day - Dave Malpas | |
