Photos by John Retter – Report by Vanessa Finburgh.
For the second successive season Silverstone’s spectacular GT & Sports Car Cup race – traditionally a highlight of the HSCC’s International Trophy event – ended dramatically, Scottish AC Cobra 289 trio Robert and Daniel Bremner with 1990 Le Mans 24 Hours podium finisher Anthony Reid being accorded a popular victory after Leo Voyazides/Simon Hadfield, first past the chequered flag, were penalised 90 seconds because Hadfield’s middle stint had gone a lap over the 40 minute maximum driving time permitted following a team error.
“The magnitude of the Bremners’ achievement should not be underestimated,” said Reid, who shared their elation. “They prepare the car themselves, at home in Scotland, and it was only Dan’s second race. They did a fantastic job today.” Indeed they did, for not only did Bremner Sr overtake runaway poleman Phil Keen – the British GT Championship leader driving John Clark’s Jaguar E-type solo – to take the early lead but son Dan was not overawed as he chased Hadfield after the first pit stops.
Voyazides/Hadfield were philosophical about being demoted to second and will refocus for future races, while Lister-Jaguar coupé men Fred Wakeman/Patrick Blakeney-Edwards were surprised to find themselves promoted to the podium places when a broken throttle linkage saw Keen’s car grind to a halt on the penultimate lap.
The classes were tremendously hard-fought as ever, GT3 winners Nils Nyblaeus/Jeremy Welch again finishing in the top six in the Swede’s Austin-Healey 3000, chased by a trio of similar machines after the early E-type fixed-head coupé of Andrew Kirkaldy/Sandy Watson faded. In GT2 meanwhile, Malcolm Paul/Rick Bourne wriggled ahead of soloist Joe Ward’s sister TVR Grantura MkIII at the stops and stayed there.
Rick Haythornthwaite/Andy Keith-Lucas emerged atop the small sports racer classification in the former’s Lotus 11, finishing a close 47 seconds ahead of the similar car of Andrew McAlpine, both having been led initially by series debutant Robs Lamplough’s beautifully restored Lola Mk1, started by its preparer quintuple Historic Formula Ford champion Neil Fowler.
Thirty nine of the 41 cars which qualified started Sunday’s race. Although John Clark was unable to take up his pole position, co-driver Keen – whose 2m25.317s (90.16mph) standard was 4.306s better than anybody else in Saturday’s drizzly half-hour on the Historic Grand Prix circuit – having coached the race co-sponsor to superb personal bests in Friday testing, as a non-owner and sole driver, would have to sit stationary for one minute at each of the two mandatory stops while rivals were free to change as quickly as possible incidentally.
American Wakeman, Rob Bremner, Voyazides started behind Keen on the impressive grid, each of their teams having bettered 2m30s in the preliminaries. Martin Hunt (E-type), Nyblaeus, Kirkaldy, Canadian Reed Gomm (E-type low-drag coupé), Alex Bell (ex-works Healey 3000) and Simon Orebi Gann (Morgan Plus 4 SLR) comprised the remainder of the top 10 on a brighter raceday. Nick Sleep’s Shelby Mustang GT350 and David Smithies (Healey) dwarfed Fowler’s little Lola with Chris Wilson’s silver blue Cobra alongside.
Further down the order Michael and Richard Squire’s rumbustious Listerdeveloped Sunbeam Tiger Le Mans sat mid-grid where Ward was separated from Bourne by Neil Merry’s conventional Tiger and the closely-matched Porsche 911s of Peter Tognola and Steve Jones. The MGB posse was an all-family affair, with the Morley, Jacobsen, Lambert and Phillip cars mixing it with the similarly-powered Gilbern of Bob and Sam Binfield. Paul and Ewan Bason’s Lotus Elite was the only GT1 taker on the high-speed 3.63-mile course.
During the race Keen was quickest into his stride at the start of the 90 minute race, but Rob Bremner thudded his Cobra past on lap three, tricycling the meaty V8 monster impressively through the corners. Voyazides was content to keep them within range, ahead of duelling Blakeney Motorsport teammates Hunt and Wakeman with Kirkaldy in hot pursuit at the wheel of Watson’s very understated E-type coupe. Fowler hustled the 1216cc Lola-Climax into the top 10 as the order settled.
Of the leaders Keen was first to make a routine stop, seven laps in, looking to maximise subsequent stints when the pits would be busier. That promoted Voyazides to second and Wakeman third. Fred installed Patrick Blakeney-Edwards a lap before Bremner relayed his son and Leo handed the black Cobra to Hadfield who left two stripes of molten Dunlop rubber as he departed. They resumed third and fourth, with Keen already back to seventh after his mandated longer stop.
Hadfield chased down young Bremner, going ahead into the lead on lap 16, Andrew Hall having replaced Hunt who had topped the lap charts by virtue of a later stop. Dan Bremner sat behind Hadfield, watching and learning, for a couple of laps before his tyres – flat-spotted a couple of times by his dad’s admission – began to wilt. Simon quickly got his right clog down, setting fastest lap of 2m26.092s (89.68mph) as he scythed through constant traffic. Keen was now third, and made his second pit visit after 21 laps, two before Reid snorted out in the Bremner Cobra, which had remained within 15 seconds of Hadfield onto its in lap.
Reid went back into second as Blakeney-Edwards handed the Lister – which Anthony had previously raced in Richard Frankel’s ownership – back to Wakeman. Again Keen popped back into third, but such was Hadfield’s pace that car owner Voyazides was still well ahead as he reentered the fray on lap 31. The Greek maintained pace and consistency in maintaining a 33 second cushion to Reid, whose ignition was retarding, sapping engine power, less of an issue since the brakes were used up too. Nonetheless his ‘second’ was safe from Keen, whose late disappearance gave the last podium step to Wakeman/PBE.
After all his hard work poor Keen was not classified, within Le Manstype regulations, despite going further than Hunt/Hall who moved up to fourth in the white Jag. Gomm/Keith-Lucas and Nyblaeus/Welch completed the top six, with Wilson/Nigel Williams on the same lap. The big Healeys of ‘Meerkat’ Smithies/Jack Chatham, young Theo Hunt with Mike Grant Peterkin and Mark Pangborn/Harvey Woods were next up, ahead of Andy Bentley’s well-driven Morgan +4, promoted when Sleep’s Shelby Mustang – ninth on the road – and the Bell/Julian Thomas (Healey) were among five teams docked 90 seconds for contravening pit stop rules. The class-winning TVR of Paul/Bourne also covered 34 laps.
Best of the MGBs was lad and dad Tim and Laurence Jacobsen’s in 18th place, still chasing the TVRs. Neither Tiger finished, the Squires’ big coupe stuck in third gear, while Orebi Gann’s Morgan streamliner uncharacteristically went out early, joining Colin and Helen Elstrop’s TVR in retirement. The ‘Driver of the Day’ award went to Michael Squire for his splendid stint.
The 11th GT & Sports Car Cup series now takes a summer break but resumes with its first visit to the splendidly relaxed Castle Combe Autumn Classic – “our favourite meeting of the season,” chorus Martin Hunt, Pat Blakeney-Edwards and other previous subscribers to the friendly Wiltshire circuit – on Saturday, October 7.
