Jaguar

Ellis/Fores too fast for rest in Fiscar 50’s Inter-Marque enduro

Next up on track was the 30 minute Fiscar 50’s Inter-Marque affair, which included mandatory pit stops to ensure an endurance feel to this race. The grid was as large as it was eclectic, with the pole man being the shared Lotus Elite of Robin Ellis and Richard Fores, with the similar Elite of soloist Brian Arculus alongside on the front row. Martyn Corfield was 3rd in this impressive Austin Healey 100/4 whilst earlier Jon Goss Memorial trophy front row man Steve Brooks completed row 2.

At the start it was Brian Arculus who made the best getaway to take the lead as the Ellis/Fores entry bogged down on the line. In the early laps the attention was focused on the recovering Ellis/Fores entry as they passed the fellow shared entry of John Ure and Nick Wigley in their Cooper Bristol T24 for 2nd on the pit straight after 3 laps. A lap later and the Ellis/Fores took the lead as the leader Arculus rocketed into the pit lane at the first possible moment to take his mandatory pit stop. He explained the reasoning was to avoid potential traffic during the stop which could cost him time.

Behind them lap 4 also saw the Mike Thorne/Sarah Bennett- Baggs Austin Healey 100M pass the Ure/Wigley Cooper for 3rd on the Dean straight. With Arculus pitting this promoted the Ure/Wigley Cooper back into 3rd, although this didn’t last long as they were deposed again, this time by the flying Simon Hadfield in his under powered Elva Courier on lap 5. From here it quickly became apparent the Ure/Wigley Cooper was dropping away from the top 3 by lap 7. Back at the front and it was clear that the man on the move was earlier Jon Goss Memorial trophy winner Simon Hadfield in the Elva. He passed the Thorne/Bennett- Baggs Austin Healey for 2nd on lap 8 and claimed the lead a lap later as the Ellis/Fores Lotus pitted, losing time as he was held up by slower cars also pitting at the same time.

Also on this lap the Ure/Wigley recovered from their earlier drop in pace to pass the Thorne/Bennett-Baggs Austin Healey for 3rd, which prompted both the Healey but also the 4th placed Martyn Corfield in his Healey 100/4 to pit a lap later. It was at this middle portion of the race that the majority of the pit stops were being made, making it very hard to track who was where in the jumbled up portion of the race. Lap 11 saw the Ure/Wigley Cooper pit from 2nd, with an entertaining scrap taking place a lap later as the recovering Ellis/Fores Lotus Elite bravely attempted to unlap himself from the leading Hadfield Elva.

With almost three quarters of the race gone the final front runners to pit were Hadfield and 2nd man Steve Brooks on lap 14, as Hadfield handed over to his wife Amanda. This reinstated the Brian Arculus Lotus Elite in the lead, whilst the Elva now piloted by Amanda Hadfield plummeted down the order over the final laps as she failed to match the scorching pace set by her husband Simon.

Back at the front and the Ure/Wigley Cooper was flying as it passed the Arculus Lotus Elite for the lead on lap 17. The battle for the lead intensified on the next lap as the rapidly closing Ellis/Fores Lotus finally caught the lead pair. A 3 way dice for the lead going up Avon Rise was finally decided as the Ellis/Fores Lotus blasted through the middle to take the lead on lap 18. From here the lead three remained close although they didn’t change position again as the flag fell at the end of lap 20. The Robin Ellis/Richard Fores Lotus Elite claimed a narrow victory from the solo Brian Arculus Lotus Elite whilst the John Ure/Nick Wigley Cooper Bristol completed the podium. Martyn Corfield was 4th in his Austin Healey 100/4 whilst Steve Brooks and the Andy Shephard/Ted Shephard AC Ace Bristol completed the top 6 in a thrilling Fiscar 50’s Inter-Marque race.

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Martin Hunt takes Norman Dewes Pre-66 Jaguar Trophy at Combe Autumn Classic

After a brief break in the racing proceedings, for some high speed demonstrations from the likes Julian Bronson in his Scarab Grand Prix car, a Maserati 250F and other classic racing exotica, it was the turn of the Pre-66 Jaguar grid to form up for their 30 minute Norman Dewes Trophy race. On pole was Martin Hunt in his Jaguar E Type, with Mark Russell alongside him in his similar E Type. Row 2 was made up of well known retired sportscar racer and 1988 Le Mans 24 Hours winner Andy Wallace in an older Jaguar C Type, with Graham Bull completing row 2 in another E Type.

From the start pole man Martin Hunt made a good start to take the early lead, as the rest spaced out behind him in the early laps. The gaps between the top three were now evenly spaced with the only drama in the middle portion of the race being Andy Wallace, who appeared to be struggling to keep hold of 3rd from Graham Bull behind him. After a backmarker spun off on the exit of Camp with his car broadside against the tyres on the pit straight the Safety Car was deployed on lap 16 so the recovery trucks could safely recover the car.

After 3 laps the Safety Car peeled in again on lap 18, as Brian Stevens took advantage of this to dive inside Graham Bull for 4th at Camp after the Safety Car came in. Whilst it appeared a dubious move as both cars had yet to pass the start finish line no action was taken by the stewards after. Anyone who was hoping Martin Hunt would now be challenged for the lead were disappointed as second driver in the queue failed to keep up with Hunt on the re-start, allowing him to open a huge lead again as the other front runners were held up behind slow back markers.

A lap later and things took a turn for the worse for Andy Wallace in 3rd as he was forced onto the grass to avoid a spinning car, dropping him from 3rd to 5th with only a few laps left to recover. From here things remained stagnant for the final two laps as Martin Hunt cruised home after 21 laps to claim victory, with Mark Russell and Brian Stevens completing an all E Type podium in 2nd and 3rd respectively. Graham Bull was 4th in his own E Type as Andy Wallace remained 5th in his C Type with Colin McKay completing the top 6.

Whilst the race lacked in wheel to wheel battling slightly, that’s to be expected with the value and age of the machinery on the track, something that still fascinates me to this day. The Safety Car leveled things out although this race has just enough of everything to ensure this was a great race for the plentiful spectators.

Simon Hadfield dominates Combe Aston Martin Jon Goss trophy

Race 3 of the Autumn Classic meeting at Castle Combe was for historic Aston Martin’s, with a short 20 minute race for the Jon Goss Memorial trophy. On pole was rapid historic racing proponent Simon Hadfield in Wolfgang Freiderichs Aston Martin DB3S, with Simon Brooks alongside him on the front row in is DB3S. Row 2 consisted of David Reed in his DB2 with Chris Jolly completing the row in his similar DB2.

From the lights Hadfield rocketed away into an early lead as the rest jostled for position behind him. After the first lap it was clear Hadfield was on a mission as he seamlessly built an opening lap lead of around 5 seconds over the rest. Behind him too, 2nd and 3rd placed drivers David Reed and Chris Jolly were beginning to distance themselves from the rest also. By lap 3 it was clear barring mechanical problems that Hadfield would dominate this race as he was stretch his lead by 5 seconds a lap at the front.

With the lead now at 16 seconds by the end of lap 3, Hadfield kept stretching the lead as the rest of the top six were now evenly spaced also. On the fringes of the top six things almost changed as Steve Brooks almost fell out the top six after spinning on lap 9 at the Esses, although he re-joined still in 6th. It was clearly a tough race for Brooks as the spin showed he was struggling, especially as he had quickly fallen down the order from the 2nd spot on the grid.

In the later stages the race came alive somewhat, as Paul De Havilland, in his invitational Jaguar XK150, passed Chris Jolly for 3rd on the penultimate lap. A lap later, on lap 15 Simon Hadfield completed the final lap to take the chequered flag a staggering 56.482 seconds ahead of David Reed in 2nd after only 20 minutes of racing. Paul De Havilland completed the podium with Chris Jolly coming home 4th. Gordon McCulloch and Steve Brooks completed the top six with 5th and 6th respectively. Whilst this race didn’t have many battle it still provided excitement and intrigue at the skill of Simon Hadfield’s driving, a true display in how to hustle a historic racing car.

Why Andre Lotterer deserves F1 chance

Immediately following the shock announcement of Max Verstappen joining Scuderia Toro Rosso for the 2015 F1 season on Monday night, rumours began circulating that for this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix Caterham would replace Kamui Kobayashi with stand-out Audi sportscar driver Andre Lotterer. By Tuesday afternoon it appeared almost certainly a done deal, with the final confirmation being announced by Caterham in a press release this morning, Wednesday 20th August. For the insular world of Formula One many have started scrambling around for information and analysis on this very quick German, with the results they’ll find on him being enough to show his F1 debut this weekend is long overdue.

Andre Lotterer has already been amongst the F1 circus once before, with early titles in German Formula BMW Junior and ADAC Formula BMW in 1998 and 1999 brought him to the attention of the new Jaguar team for 2000, who offered him several tests during the 2000 season to complement his 4th in the German Formula Three Championship campaign. The link to the Jaguar F1 team was made stronger in 2001 as he raced in British F3 for the Jaguar junior racing team, before stepping up to become the official test driver for the Jaguar F1 team for the 2002 season.


Lotterer testing for Jaguar in 2002.

Whilst it initially looked likely that Lotterer would be promoted to a race seat in 2003 after it was announced that both Eddie Irvine was retiring and Pedro De La Rosa was to also leave. Sadly for Lotterer the team chose 2002 Minardi stand-out Mark Webber alongside promising young Brazilian Antonio Pizzonia for the 2003 season, leaving Lotterer looking to re-build his career momentum.

Lotterer subsequently shunned Europe and went to Japan to race in their premier Formula Nippon series, now called Super Formula, and Japanese Super GT series for 2003. Impressive results in both cemented his reputation in Japan as a very fast young driver as he was a frequent title contender in Formula Nippon for the works TOM’S Toyota team, alongside two Super GT titles in 2006 and 2009.


Lotterer and Kazuki Nakajima driving for Lexus in Super GT at Okayama in 2011.

These impressive results in Japan led to some well deserved attention from Europe, although it does seem surprising looking back that despite consistently impressive Super GT results it took until 2009 for Lotterer to make his Le Mans 24 Hours. The call came from the Kolles team racing their privateer LMP1 Audi R10 TDI. After a herculean effort from Lotterer and co-driver Charles Zwolsman to complete the race without third driver Narain Karthikeyan to injury, the car came home an impressive 7th overall after completing 369 laps.

The impressive debut with the Kolles Audi in 2009 led the highly successful works Audi team to offer him a deal for the 2010 season, where his Audi R15 TDI+ came home 2nd. From here things would get very busy for Lotterer as from 2011 onwards he would have to dovetail his Japanese Formula Nippon and Super GT commitments with a full schedule in the new Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, morphing into the World Endurance Series for 2012.

The full time schedule has not affected Lotterer’s pace however as he finally claimed a first Formula Nippon title in 2011 after 8 years of trying, with a perfect 2011 being completed with a heroic first Le Mans 24 Hours victory for him, after fighting off an onslaught of Peugeot’s to claim the win. Things improved in 2012 as the Lotterer/Marcel Fassler and Benoit Treluyer partnership swept to a second consecutive Le Mans 24 Hours victory and the inaugural World Endurance Championship title also.

2013 and 2014 so far have seen a continuation of is stellar results as the Audi trio claimed a third Le Mans 24 Hours victory and currently sit 2nd in the World Endurance Championship with 5 rounds remaining. During his sportscar and single seater career so far Lotterer has regularly proven himself to be a master of wet conditions, which maybe gives some indication of why Caterham chose to give him debut in the notoriously wet Belgian GP at Spa. Another reason may be his experience of the Spa circuit this year as he’s already raced there for Audi both in the WEC and the recent Spa 24 Hours.


Lotterer at this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours for Audi.

Whatever Caterham chose they have made a bold yet good decision in my opinion to take a chance on the always quick Andre Lotterer for this weekend, as a sportscar fan I’ve seen plenty of impressive drives from him over the last few years for Audi. He has a chance to improve things for the Caterham team although despite circuit knowledge the Caterham car has proved very difficult all season. I sincerely hope he gets the chance to give a good account of himself this weekend despite the troublesome Caterham car, which I think is only fair after the wait he’s had to make his F1 debut.

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