A one-day event on the National Circuit marked the first of three 750 Motor Club visits to Silverstone this season. A mammoth 40-car field took to the circuit for the Cartek Motorsport Electronics Roadsports Series and Rob Horsfield (Toyota MR2 Speedster) was the class of the field, winning by 27 seconds in the 39-lap encounter. His closest challenger, JM Littman (Porsche Boxster) had to retire with snapped gearbox cable, allowing Horsfield to control the race. Dealing with traffic was vital on a busy track with an average of one car every 66 metres, something Horsfield did without delay.
Brothers Anthony and Jason Jones (Toyota MR2) were the chasers but couldn’t quite live with Horsfield. Lewis Batchelor and Simon Phillips took third, making it three MR2s in the top three. Batchelor/Phillips also claimed class B honours after Phillips held off the charging Joe Ferguson (Ford Fiesta), who had taken over the car from fellow former Stock Hatch champion Tom Bell.
Allan Gibson (Lotus Exige) was fifth and third in class A with David Gardner and Christopher Mills (Porsche Boxster) behind. Gardner/Mills took third in class B but were the early leaders of the class. A grassy moment and a success penalty hurt their chance of the victory.
Darren Howe (VW Golf) was the winner in class C, finishing 15th overall. Ben Corbey (Honda CRX) was the chaser and only about 10 seconds back but due to being lapped near the end by the overall leaders, the results show the pair a lap apart. Series debutants Sarah Niblett and Stephen Ayres (Hyundai Coupe) took third in class after passing early leader Sean Hurley (Toyota MR2).
Stephen Lansley (Procomp LA Gold) won the first of two fantastic Protech Sports Specials races. He was the pole man but a poor start saw him drop to sixth so had to work his way to the front and did so by lap six after a dice with Clive Hudson (Eclipse SM1). Hudson and Paul Boyd (Eclipse SM1) kept Lansley honest while having their own scrap in which Hudson came out on top. Martin James beat Nick Whitehead in the dice of the Ariel Atoms.
Whitehead led the start and end of race two to take the honours. He didn’t lead the middle however as Lansley passed him at Becketts on lap five. Whitehead snatched it back though on the tenth tour as he read the traffic the best. He went on to win with Lansley and Boyd behind. Hudson dropped back after contact with Stephen Ward (Westfield Aerorace), which saw the latter retire. Hudson still took fourth.
Rob Johnston (Cyana Mk2) was the double victor in class A with Anton Landon (Cyana Duratec) behind on both occasions. Reigning class champion Adrian Cooper (Procomp LA Gold) took both class B wins with Bridgette Smart (Sylva Phoenix) and Richard Benham (STM Phoenix) taking a second place each.
Trefor Slatter (Centaur Mk11) passed Michael Harvey (JB Special) to win the first 750 Trophy Series race of the weekend with Gregan Thruston (Austin 7) in third. Despite a spin on the opening lap Chris Hopkins (HCS Trophy) took fourth after passing Martin Kemp (Racekits Falcon) on the penultimate lap.
A fantastic three-way dice saw Hopkins take the win in the second encounter. He and Slatter traded places twice on the last lap. Slatter passed Hopkins into Copse but Hopkins’ winning move came at Becketts. Early leader Harvey came third. Ian Grant (Austin 7) won on both occasions in class A.
Tim Davis (TVR Tuscan) beat William Smallridge (Sunbeam Tiger) in an excellent SR & GT Challenge / Bernie’s V8s tussle. Smallridge had the power on the straights whereas Davis could carry more corner speed. Smallridge’s challenge came to the end on lap 19 when he spun at Luffield but still took second in the 40 minute race. Mark Hobbs (Crossle 9S) claimed third and was the best SR & GT competitor. He came from fifth to pass both Cheng Lim (RAM SC) and John Plant (Allard J2).
Starting at the back of grid couldn’t stop Tim Gray (Spire GT-3) in the Spire Sportscars Bike-Sports Championship and he took a dominant double victory. Gray beat James Breakell (Radical PR6) and Adrian Reynard (Radical SR3) in race one with Tim Porter (SR3) and Breakell on the podium in the second. Reynard and Porter shared class A honours with Julian Griffiths and Doug Lague winning their classes in Spires.
