NL5 Oct 2015

Annual Lunchwill be held on

Friday 4th Decemberat the RAC Club, London

More info and a booking formwill be available next month

If you are currently a memberof the BRDC or RAC Club,

please can you let us know

Since 1833

President: Sir Stirling MossVice President: Tony MerrickChairman: Andrew GarnerTreasurer: Peter HorsmanHGPCA Board of Directors

Sir John Chisholm, John Clark, Martin Eyre, Sidney Hoole,

Richard Parnell, William Nuthall and Chris Wilson

Race/Events/EligibilityMartin Grant Peterkin

THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOROWNERS & DRIVERS OF HISTORIC GRAND PRIX CARS

HGPCA Head Office: 3.52 Canterbury Court, Kennington Park, 1-3 Brixton Rd, SW9 6DE Tel/Fax: +44(0)20 7785 7204 Email: contact@hgpca.net www.hgpca.com

Sun and Fun by the Seaside2015 was the fourth year running that the organisers of the Historic Grand PrixZandvoort has invited the Association to be part of their meeting – we were delightedto accept the invitation for what has developed into a superb event. The SouvenirEdition of the 2015 Official Programme is quite one of the very best race programmemany of us have ever seen – full of wonderful period photographs and articles.

Not everything was perfect though. Our paddock space was very congested which, ifwe had not been allowed to make use of the kart track, would have made life impossi-ble and the chief scrutineer decided that all cars, including HGPCA cars, were requiredto report to the Scrutineering Bay to be checked. In vain did Bertie attempt to get thisruling changed and, luckily, by the time most members had realised that they wouldhave to drive or push competition cars to the other end of a VERY crowded paddock,it had almost stopped raining. This brings us on to the weather! The forecast was notgood and we had a torrential downpour on Thursday afternoon; we were warned of

others to come but someone ‘upthere’ decided otherwisebecause, over the whole week-end, the sun shone and it was notuntil members left the circuit thatthe heavens opened again withtremendous thunder, lightningand torrential rain!

Perhaps for the first time ever,every single HGPCA driver waspresent at the midday Drivers’briefing – very good for our rep-utation! Eighteen front-engine and twen-

ty-six rear-engine Grand Prix carstook part in HGPCA practice onFriday afternoon. Fastest in theformer, by nearly two secondswas Julian Bronson in the Scarab

Page 10 NL5/2015OCTOBER NEWSLETTER

A victory wave from Marshall Bailey on Sunday photo Richard Hampson

1949 ALLARD L/J1 - Fantastic road/race car justrefurbished.Edelbrock heads and carbs,Blockley tyreson wires with Allard spinners. Original registration withmatching chassis and engine numbers.Julian Sutton - jmdsutton@gmail.com or telephone:+44(0)1366 382204

Cars for Sale

Trailer for SaleBrian James Minno Shuttle box trailer in verygood condition, has been kept under cover. Inside:length 3 metres, height 1.4 m, width 1.65 m. Sparewheel & winch.£Offers. ContactRichard on+44(0)1803722357 or emailtrishapilking-ton@yahoo.co.uk

CONNAUGHT Chassis B2 - Very original car with full& original complete history file, with recent enginerebuild. For more information contact George Fowles,George Fowles Racing,www.gfracing.co.ukEmail: george@gfracing.co.uk Tel: +44(0)1628825081 Mobile +44(0)7767 357368

Member Helmut Gassmann is looking to sell thesecars. The links will take you to full descriptions (oremail stella and she will send you the links) andenquiries should be directed to: Michael Kiesner - +49 (0) 551 82020. kiesner@gassmann-gmbh.comLotus 18/21 Ch: 915 (recently owned and cam-paigned by Rudolf Ernst) - www.gassmanngmbh.com/internet/fzg_suche/detail.php?fzg=235Connaught B Type Ch: B4 - www.gassmanngmbh.com/internet/fzg_suche/detail.php?fzg=900460Cooper Climax T45/51 Ch: F2-5-59 -http://www.gassmann-gmbh.com/internet/fzg_suche/detail.php?fzg=900027BMW/Derichs Formula 3 - http://www.gassmann-gmbh.com/internet/fzg_suche/detail.php?fzg=3450

STIRLING MOSS DISPLAYClassic & Sports Car at The London Show

Alexandra Palace from 30 October to 1 NovemberThere will be three central displays all sharing a common theme ofBest of British. These are the best British car ever, as chosen by thepublic, the history of Aston Martin and Stirling Moss’ significantBritish single-seaters.

We were recently contacted by James Elliott, Group Editor atClassic & Sports Car who would like some help with tracking downand inviting a few more appropriate cars for the special StirlingMoss display. Given that our President raced everything fromConnaught to Cooper as well as BRM and ERA in F1, any contactswould be very much appreciated.Contact James: james.elliott@haymarket.com

Cooper Car Company - RecognitionOn 24th September 2015 the ex Cooper Car Company factory inHollyfield Road, Surbiton, became a Grade 2 Listed Building, byorder of the Secretary of State. This has taken a long time to cometo fruition and, as far as Peter Jackson is aware, no other racing carfactory has been granted Grade 2 (or any other grade) status.

The new owner has stated his interest in retaining a Cooper con-nection by way of displays etc., in his business plan to use thepremises as a Porsche service/repair garage.A Transport Trust “Red Wheel” plaque was installed on 1st August

2015 as part of the trust’s remit to recognise outstanding contribu-tions in all areas of transport and the Cooper plaque is their 77thsuch recognition in UK. John Cooper/Cooper Car Co was verymuch part of the rear engine revolution in racing car design,

achieving two consecutive WorldChampionships, becoming theworld's largest production racingcar manufacturer providing winningcars for the elite professional andamateur driver alike, spawning theBrabham and McLaren marques andgiving birth to the Mini-Cooper.

Nomex vests by Toora and padded jacketsPia Bianchi has organised some Nomex vests in either black orwhite, printed with the HGPCA logo. They cost £75.

We have added a navy padded jacket and gilet (both men’sand women’s) to our range of HGPCA clothing. Cost prohibitsgetting a stock of garments but we can take orders and have themin time for the Annual Lunch.If you are interested in either the vests or jackets, please get intouch with Stella - stella@hgpca.net

with a welcome returnee, Marshall Bailey, secondin his Lotus 16. Tony Smith was third fastest in hisFerrari followed by a pair of Maserati 250Fs,Guillermo Fierro and Steve Hart driving GerryHann’s car. Paul Grant would lead class 5 withJohn Bussey heading the class 7c group; ScottyTaylor with his 7c Cooper suffered gear-box prob-lems but enthusiastic help by Mark Hunter andparts borrowed from other competitors had thecar running for the next day’s race.Sadly Albert Streminski had not been able to get

the BRM fuel tank, broken at the Oldtimer meet-ing, repaired in time but was able to substitute hisdelightful little Emeryson in its place. Thirteenthon the grid was a welcome guest, Alexander vander Lof driving his beautiful Ferrari GP 340 F1, acar that has been in the family for many years.

Best multi-cylinder entry of the Season The pre 1966 practice was dominated by a stag-geringly fast lap by Miles Griffiths guest drivingfor John Evans in the Tasman Brabham BT4 somefour seconds faster than Peter Horsman in theTasman specification Lotus 18/21. After a lot ofhard, late night work, the Lotus team had their

Page 2 Page 3OCTOBER NEWSLETTER

Peter Studer’s Lotus ahead of Sid Hoole’s and Barry Cannell’sCoopers photo Richard Hampson

Andrew Beaumont’s LDS ahead of No 41 - David Ferrier’s Lola and Sid Hoole’s Cooperall photos Richard Hampson

enough, they failed! After five minutes of the pre 1966 race one, Miles

Griffiths was five seconds in the lead followed byPeter Horsman, Andy Middlehurst, Rod Jolley andWill Nuthall. At half distance Miles’s gearboxstuck in top gear and he called into the pits toretire. This let Andy into the lead but, within alap, he was being shown the ‘meat-ball’ flag. Andynew better (all instruments correct only somesteam evaporating from the engine) ignored thewarning flag and continued to take the che-quered flag after eleven laps. Rod Jolley held onto second place with Peter, third. Barry Cannellwas third on the track but had incurred a 10 sec-ond penalty for starting from the wrong placedropping him back a few places.Race two for the rear-engine cars (pre’66) sched-

car fit and running to allow Andy Middlehurst toput John Bowers’ beautiful Grand Prix Lotus 25third on the grid. Rod Jolley in his faithful Cooperwas next up, with Will Nuthall, guest driving ChrisWilson’s Cooper Maserati, a couple of secondsslower. It was wonderful to see (and, especially,hear) five class 11, the 1.5 litre V8 cars, in the racewith Mr. John of B’s Lola and Peter Mullen’s BRMin the top eight qualifiers. Towards the back ofthe grid were the Bailey brothers, enthusiastic asever despite some niggling gear selection prob-lems for Tim.

New to UK competitors was the name of the flag(black with red centre), used when a competingcar is leaking fluids onto the circuit – in Hollandthey call it “the meat-ball” and it had to be shownto Tony Ditheridge during practice.

Competitors had been warned at the briefingthat, should the lights fail, the race would bestarted by the Dutch national flag and, sure

uled for 11.30 on Sunday morning started wellwith a repaired Miles Griffiths leading from theoff followed by Andy Middlehurst and PeterHorsman. Brian Jolliffe had a quick trip to thegravel and James Willis an even quicker trip to thepits to replace a plug lead!! Barry Cannell

Chris and Amanda with Class 11 - winner Andy Middlehurst, 2nd Sid Hoole and 3rd Mr John of B photo Richard Hampson

Horsman and Griffiths battle for the lead in the Pre 66 start photo Richard Hampson

Peter Mullen’s magnificnet BRM ahead of Eddy Perk’s Heron and Brian Jolliffe’s Cooper photo Richard Hampson

stopped after two laps with a re-occurrence of hisgear selection problems. At about half distance,David Ferrier - driving his very recently acquired(from Mark Piercy) Lola Mk4 - suffered a loose oilline and emptied most of the car’s oil around thecircuit. Such was the extent of the oil that thesafety car was deployed to control the race; thefirst three cars over the line may have only been asecond apart but they were not racing – just fol-lowing the safety car. A disappointing end to whatpromised to be an exciting race.

Prizegiving took place 30 minutes later. Many ofthe drivers in the race deserved to be awardedthe ‘driver of the day’ trophy but is was decidedthat James Willis who, dressed in his kilt, hadstripped his Climax engine to small pieces onSaturday evening and rebuilt it on Sunday morn-ing (much to the amusement and interest of thepassing public) was truly worthy of the award.

Wulf Goetze and Cooper T53 working well together at last ahead of Tony Ditheridge’s Cooper and Mr John of B’s Lolaxxxxxxxxphoto Richard Hampson

Mark Hunter’s pop-up workshop photo Richard Parnell

Saturday’s Pre 66 podium - winner Andy Middlehurst, 2nd RodJolley and 3rd Peter Horsman photo Stella Jackson

Page 4 NL5/15O C T O B E R N E W S L E TT E R

Marshall Bailey, winner of Sunday’s Pre 61 race receives the Tudor watch, left, Steve Hart (2nd in Gerry Hann’s 250F) and Klaus Lehr (3rd in his 250F)photo Richard Hampson

The Red Truck - our clubhouse in the paddock photo Chris Bland

Many changes of leader in Pre ‘66Although a smaller field than the rear-engine cars, thepre 1961 grid produced some very exciting racing.Race one on Saturday started nearly an hour late butnot with the fastest car in qualifying on pole... in prac-tice the engine on Julian’s Scarab had done some-thing it should not do and was out for the weekend.

This left Marshall Bailey alone on the front row withthe red cars of Guillermo (250F), Tony Smith (Ferrari)and Steve Hart (250F) ready to pounce from behind.

An excellent start by Tony had him in the lead for thefirst four corners before Marshall took the lead in hisLotus. An exciting race developed behind him withthe two 250Fs and the Ferrari battling, half a secondapart. One of the Coopers leaked fluid onto the trackand was black flagged; this caused a number of spins,one of which was the Lotus of race leader MarshallBailey.

At the front, Guillermo kept his Maserati on the tar-mac to win the race by a couple of seconds fromTony’s Ferrari and Steve’s Maserati. A superb race haddeveloped mid-field between the Cooper Bristol ofPaul Grant and the Alta of Ian Nuthall. Paul held Ianoff until the last lap when the Alta passed at theTarzan corner. It was great to see Klaus Lehr runningso well to finish sixth in his 250F.

Race two for the front-engine grid was scheduled tostart at 4.15pm – the very last race of the weekend onthe circuit – and even then is started 30 minutes late! Marshall was back on pole (having set a fastest prac-tice time) with three red Italian cars behind him again(Fierro, Hart & Lehr but no Smith who had had todepart). There was a good start by all but sadly, on thefirst lap, Gullliermo’s gear lever broke leaving theLotus chase to Steve in Gerry Hann’s Maserati.Behind the leaders, a very good race was developingbetween the Cooper Bristol of Paul Grant and thethree 1.5 litre cars of Clive Wilson, Albert Streminskiand John Bussey.

At half distance (5 laps) Steve led the race in theMaserati by a couple of seconds but Marshall was clos-ing on him. Marshall was right on his tail in the sec-ond last lap and took the lead only for Steve to regainit. The two cars kept the crowd thrilled, passing andrepassing, up until the very end when Marshall took

Saturday’s tremendous battle between Guillermo Fierro’s 250F and Tony Smith’s Ferrari Dino photo Richard Hampson

Alexander van der Lof ’s magnificent Ferrari ahead of Guy Plante’sCooper Bristol photo Richard Hampson

Tony Smith ahead of the two 250Fs and Marshall Baileyphoto Richard Hampson

the flag by a third of a second. A superb end to a great day’s (weekend’s) racing.

But it was not the end... the official presentations on

Marshall Bailey ahead of Marc Valvekens, Paul Grant, Ian Nuthall andKlaus Lehr photo Richard Hampson

Amanda Weston with Class 7c: winner Clive Wilson, 2nd Albert Streminskiand 3rd John Bussey photo Richard Hampson

Arbuthnot Latham’s Chris Bland and Amanda Westson present MarshallBailey with his class prize and Driver of the Day photo Richard Hampson

the podium were turned into an X Factor finale by theenthusiastic enjoyment of the Marshall brothers con-gratulating their father after a loud and serious, butthankful, ‘clearing’ of the area of errant deliverytrucks by George Fowles.

It was truly a great race by Marshall and he wasawarded ‘driver of the day’ at the HGPCA pre 1961prizegiving shortly afterwards.

Chris Bland with Class 6: Klaus Leher and winner Guillermo Fierro photo Richard Hampson

NL5/15 Page 5 SPA SIX HOURS - 18-20 SEPTEMBER

Class 11 cars - Peter Mullen’s BRM and Sid Hoole’s Cooper T66 - catch the photographers’ attention photo Richard Hampson

Tim Bailey ahead of Francesco Baldanza and Brian Mailephoto Richard Hampson

Race start for our biggest grid at Spa photo Richard Hampson

Charles McCabe’s Lotus 18 ahead of Martin Eyre’s Cooper Bristolphoto Richard Hampson

Association members covered themselves in glory onthe annual pilgrimage to Spa-Francorchamps, wherean unprecedented turnout of 53 cars – evenly-distrib-uted between the Pre-1961 and Pre-1966 classes –presented enthusiasts with a sensational history ofWorld Championship Grand Prix racing at theRoadbook Organisation’s 23rd Spa Six Hours event.

We were delighted to welcome two newcomers tothe HGPCA fraternity in Belgium: Dutchman LucBrandts debuted the ex-Tony Bianchi Talbot-LagoT26C chassis 110008 in which Rouen-bornFrenchman Philippe ‘Phi Phi’ Etancelin – then a veter-an of 53 – raced in the inaugural Formula 1 WorldChampionship of 1950, having competed in it fromnew in ’48 and Argentinian Carlos Miguens who wasalso out for the first time, driving the ex-Jack BrabhamLotus-Climax 24 ‘947’ raced with us for many years by

David Coplowe. Sadly, we lost Julian Bronson’s Reventlow Scarab –

last year’s wet leg winner – prior to the trip. It’spotent four-cylinder Offenhauser engine received anew set of pistons in the week’s turnaround betweenZandvoort’s practice failure and Goodwood, butbroke again in the Revival Meeting’s Richmond &Gordon Trophies race, for which the combinationhad annexed pole position by almost five seconds!

While Peter Horsman (ex-Tony Shelly Lotus 18/21)and top qualifier Miles Griffiths (back in John Evans’Brabham BT4, raced in period Inter-ContinentalFormula events by the Swiss Carlo Vögele) shared theweekend’s race victories, all eyes were on the scintil-lating battles which raged behind the leaders on theacknowledged king of circuits.

The Spa Six Hours must rate in the top three events

Guillermo Fierro’s 250F ahead of Rod Jolley and Peter Mullenphoto Richard Hampson

Geraint Owen’s mighty Kurtis was, unfortunately, not to last the weekend photo Richard Hampson

Michael Steele’s Connaught alongside Rod Jolley and ahead ofPaul Grant and Klaus Lehr photo Richard Hampson

Christian Dumolin’s 250F and Richard Pilkington’s Talbotphoto Richard Hampson

Francorchamps - Full House!

Page 6 O C T O B E R N E W S L E TT E R

of the historic calendar and the HGPCA is welcomedby organisers Vincent Collard and Alain Defalle, yearon year, with open arms and given pride of place inthe F1 garages. We were certainly a ‘tight fit’ despitebeing allowed an additional garage and very gratefulto Classic Performance Engineering’s ‘team’ Andy andTom for managing to rig the awning in Wednesday’sdreadful weather and providing us with some muchneeded shelter.

None of the action over the three days in the dense-ly-forested Ardennes region was more photogenicthan Sunday’s red-blooded tussle for front-enginedsupremacy. With the Maserati 250Fs of Steve Hart andGuillermo Fierro locked in combat, Rod Jolley pow-ered the unique ‘Monzanapolis’ Lister-Jaguar up tojoin the fun, splitting the iconic machines for a while.Throughtout the weekend, incidentally, JohnFrankenheimer’s classic movie Grand Prix wasscreened in the Pits Brasserie restaurant atop the F1pits. While it was released in 1966, the filming was alldone in our period – using footage of Formula JuniorLotuses rebodied as various famous machines by JimRussell and Ralph Firman spliced into race action –aerial panning shots of cars flashing through the treesat Spa set the scene.

QUALIFYINGHaving kept his eye in since his Zandvoort win at theend of August by racing Philip Walker’s cream Lotus-BRM 24 to fourth place at Goodwood, Miles Griffiths’shotly-competitive 2m45.349s (94.75mph) best set thepace in Friday’s official practice session. Seasonedrival Peter Horsman lapped within a second, though,to keep the young West Midlander on his toes.

Like Griffiths, Andy Middlehurst is invariably on topform. Having pipped Miles and Peter in the first racein Holland and landed his fifth successive GloverTrophy victory at Goodwood in John Bowers’ 1500ccLotus-Climax 25, the Merseysider screamed to P3, his2m51.286s three seconds quicker than class 7A leaderBarry Cannell in the BRP/Yeoman Credit Cooper T51raced in 2014 by Griffiths.

Two seconds adrift of ‘Cannelloni,’ the competitionwas much tighter. A quarter of a second blanketed JonFairley (Brabham BT11/19), Irishman Peter Mullen(flying in his BRM P261) and the front-enginedMaseratis of Spaniard Guillermo Fierro (2501/2523)and marque specialist Steve Hart (in Gerry Hann’s

CM7) which augured well for the race.Switzerland’s Peter Studer lined-up ninth, well clear

of his class 10 1500cc four-cylinder rivals in hisScuderia Pilzsammler* Lotus 24. Wulf Goetze(Cooper T53), class 9 standout James Willis (CooperT45), Goodwood’s Richmond & Gordon Trophy racewinner Rod Jolley (having switched from CooperT45/41 to his Lister-Jaguar) and Zandvoort Pre-’61winner Marshall Bailey (Lotus 16) were all insidethree minutes in his wake, Marshall leading the class7a set.

The next group embraced a wonderful mix of mar-ques, headed by leading Belgian Marc Valvekens(Aston Martin DBR4) and Sid Hoole (ex-Rob WalkerRacing/Jo Bonnier Cooper T66). Welshman GeraintOwen was with them, going great guns in the ex-FredAgabashian 1954 Kurtis 500C ‘Merz Special,’ from theera when the Indianapolis 500 was a WorldChampionship qualifying round.

Local veteran Michel Wanty’s Marc Widar-run Lotus16, Tony Smith’s ex-Phil Hill Ferrari Dino, Eddy Perk’sHeron-Alfa Romeo, Argentinian Carlos Miguens (inthe ex-Jack Brabham Lotus-Climax 24) and the inde-fatigable Alan Baillie (Cooper T71/73) were hot ontheir heels.

Steve Hart winning the front engine battle with help from a wheelhe borrowed from his 300s photo Richard Hampson

The tremendous battle between Rod Jolley’s Lister Jaguar Monzanapolis, Steve Hart in Gerry Hann’s 250F and Guillermo Fierro in his 250Fwas to enthrall those who were able to watch photo Richard Hampson

Wulf Goetze and Marshall Bailey approach to lap JuliaBaldanza’s beautiful Maserati photo Richard Hampson

Andy Middlehurst in John Bowers’ Lotus 25 ahead of Jon Fairley’s Brahham photo Richard Hampson

Ian Nuthall wound the F2 Alta up to head off thequickest Cooper-Bristols of Belgium’s Paul Grant,Martin Eyre and Chris Phillips among the two-litreGrand Prix cars of 1952-’3. Lotus returnees Erik Staes(18/21), Frenchman Frank Trouillard (24/21) andStephen Bond (ex-Stirling Moss 18) were in theirmidst, as were Italians Federico Buratti (ex-Jim Clark21) and Andrea ‘Andrew’ Guarino (18) in the care ofDavide Riparbelli and Enrico Spaggiari’s jolly RSHistorics team.

The miscellany in the lower order embraced circuitdebutant Tim Bailey (“having the most fun ever at arace track” in dad Marshall’s JBW-Maserati) and broth-er Tom in the Cooper-Maserati repaired by PearsonsEngineering’s crew since it was nailed by Roger Wills’Lotus 16 at Goodwood five days earlier. Roger wasnot out with us, incidentally, but finally landed theSpa Six Hours victory he’d been chasing for 10 yearson Saturday evening. Our congratulations to him andrapid co-driver James Littlejohn.

Americans John Romano (Brabham BT11) andCharles McCabe (Lotus 18), Spa debutant Tom Dark’sBugatti T73, Nigel Batchelor’s big Coventry Godiva

A gang of Cooper Bristols - Martin Eyre, Eddie McGuire and SteveRussell photo Richard Hampson

Tom Dark’s wondrous Bugatti and Anthony Goddard’s Cooper-Alfa photo Richard Hampson

O C T O B E R N E W S L E TT E R

Class 2: Luc Brands 2nd and Julia de Baldanza 3rd withArbuthnot Latham’s Amanda and Chris photo Jim Houlgrave

Peter Mullen’s BRM in the haze of Spa photo Richard Hampson

Stephen Bond in his Lotus, Klaus Lehr in his 250F and CarlosMiguens in his Lotus 24 achieving a triple - making his debut with

the Association, in the car and at Spa photo Richard Hampson

V8-powered Kieft, Christian Dumolin’s Maserati 250Fand the ex-Trevor Blokdyk Cooper-Alfa of brewerAnthony Goddard were in the mix too. Michael Steelewas experiencing difficulties with his Connaught C-type, meanwhile, Eddie McGuire parked his Cooper-Bristol up near Speaker’s Corner without completinga flying lap.

Two mighty Talbot-Lagos made a splendid sound,Dutchman Luc Brandts’ ex-‘PhiPhi’ Etancelin T26Cpaired with Richard Pilkington’s pre-war T26SS. It wasgood to see Sgt Pilko’s daughter Tania back in thesaddle of her Cooper T45 too. Another family enjoy-ing themselves was the Baldanza team, Francesco inthe ex-Hugh Dibley/Barry Cannell Scuderia LightBlue Lola Mk3 and wife Julia in her Maserati A6 GCM.

Sidelined after practice, unfortunately, were SteveRussell (whose Cooper-Bristol’s engine ran a cambearing), and Cooper T45 duo Brian Jolliffe (gearbox)and poor Michel Baudoin, whose steed staunchlyresisted Hall & Hall’s efforts to get it running proper-ly. That left us with 50 starters for Saturday’s openingrace thus guaranteeing a start for reserve FranckTrouillard.

SATURDAY RACE:Fifty cars gathered under grey skies for our Saturdaymorning race, the colourful field a tremendous spec-tacle as it snaked back from the start and timing linesthrough the hideously tight Z-bend chicane installedat modern Formula 1’s behest as the lap’s final turnfollowing the fearsome Blanchimont sweeper, still

one of the world’s finest racing challenges.In no mood to hang around, poleman Griffiths

established a furious tempo from the moment thered lights went out to signal the rolling start, haringoff towards the right-handed La Source hairpin withHorsman in tow. As they hurtled downhill past theold pits into the compression which presages thesteep climb to Raidillon, determining exit speed ontothe Kemmel Straight, the leaders stretched their legsas their pursuers jostled for position.

By the end of the lap Miles had eked out a 2.5 sec-ond lead over Horsman, with Middlehurst, Fairley,Cannell, the duelling Maseratis of Fierro and Hart,Mullen, Studer, Willis, Hoole and Marshall Baileycompleting the top dozen. Over the next seven cir-cuits Griffiths extended his advantage to almost 14seconds, before the triple-striped Brabham appearedto falter.

Onlookers were not sure whether he’d had amoment, caught a slower car in an inopportune placeor had a mechanical problem until Horsman reducedhis deficit to 10 seconds next time round and theBrabham’s acceleration was blunted. The Lotusgained ground hand-over-fist thereafter and Peterdived past Miles, powerless to resist, approachingEau Rouge on the final lap. Griffiths’ Colotti gearboxhad been stuck in top for four tours and Horsmantook the chequered flag 6.169s clear.

The tussle for third was gripping with Middlehurst,quicker than Fairley from the off, staying just aheadfor five glorious laps until power told and the 2.7-litreClimax four gobbled its 1500cc V8 cousin up passingthe pits after Andy found himself three wide inlapped traffic exiting the chicane.

Like a terrier with his teeth sunk into the postman’strouser leg, Middlehurst refused to be shaken offthereafter and, almost hidden in the bigger car’s slip-stream, crossed the line 0.6 seconds adrift.Untouchable in his class, Cannell’s pale green Cooperwas a lonely fifth throughout, clear of the duelling250Fs until Hart went missing on lap eight.

“Accelerating out of the right-left [Fagnes] afterPouhon I suddenly had no drive,” said Steve. “I triedanother gear, still nothing, then noticed that I was indanger of being overtaken by my own wheel! The leftrear hub had broken – thankfully at a relatively slowpart of the circuit – and as I pulled off onto the grassthe wheel hit the tyre wall, only just missing the car asit rebounded. That would certainly have added insultto injury.”Perk (with his Alfa blowing out water, despite a head

gasket change post-practice), Eyre, the Bailey broth-ers and Americans Romano and McCabe (magneto)were already out, as was Goetze, whose Cooper hadbeen abandoned on the grass on the entry to the chi-cane since the second lap. Mullen, meanwhile, hadstopped at the end of lap four, but the dayglo-nosedBRM returned to the race and finished a couple oflaps down.

Following Hart’s retirement, Hoole found himselfpromoted to seventh, with Jolley within striking dis-tance. They finished three seconds apart, withMarshall Bailey ninth, having demoted Willis on thefinal lap. Owen drove the burly Kurtis from 18th at theend of the opening lap to a superb 11th, behind thethree class winners with Studer in his mirrors.Valvekens wasn’t far behind in the Aston, having keptahead of Smith’s Ferrari – the final unlapped runner– as Owen bustled through.

Baillie and Staes advanced strongly, finishing 15thand 16th in a photo finish, Staes, like pursuer Wantysetting his best lap last time round. Bond and Guarino(who, like Brandts, climbed 10 places) were nexthome, ahead of Trouillard, Steele, Grant and Nuthallin a tight quartet. Only McGuire from the back over-took more cars than Steele’s 20, while Grant dugdeep to catch and overtake among the front-engined‘pullers’ and Cook climbed 13 to beat Miguens in thetop half of the pack. Dark also made progress, win-ning his class in the bulbous Bugatti.

SUNDAY RACE: Following the previous day’s mechanical drama,which Mick Mobberley’s Hi-Tech crew fixedovernight, Griffiths was back among the 46 survivorson Sunday afternoon. He duly scarpered imperiouslyin the sunshine, building a lead of 36 seconds overHorsman, who only had the clock to race once he hadserved a probably misjudged stop-and-go penalty.Amazingly, the imposition did not cost him silver, for

Middlehurst’s Saturday sparring partner Fairley start-ed from the pits after a fastener on his Brabham’sengine cover came adrift on the green flag lap, leavingit flapping like an air brake. Deflated, Jon roared backto 23rd, fourth in class, while Andy delighted Classic

The two mighty Talbots - foreground: Luc Brandts in his T26C and Richard Pilkington in his trusty T26SS photo Richard Hampson

Page 7

Class 9: Winner James Willis, Mark Hunter for Malcolm Cook 2ndand Tony Ditheridge 3rd photo Jim Houlgrave

Page 8 NL5/15O C T O B E R N E W S L E TT E R

R1 podium l-r: Miles Griffiths 2nd, Peter Horsman winner and Jon Fairley 3rd photo Jim Houlgrave

In case we ever doubted that Rod Jolley enjoys Spa...! photo Jim Hougrave

Chris Bland with Barry Cannell, Class 7b winner and CharlesMcCabe 3rd photo Jim Houlgrave

Race 2 podium: Winner Miles Griffiths, Peter Horsman 2nd andAndy Middlehurst 3rd photo Jim Houlgrave

Team Lotus with another overall podium position toadd to his tally.

Cannell made fourth his own, while Hoole wriggledthrough to fifth ahead of a gripping front-enginedscrap which initially embroiled Hart’s repaired carand Fierro. “Having surveyed the damage in the pitson Saturday I robbed my 300S of the parts to fix the250F,” said Steve. “Guillermo was slowed by the car infront through the chicane at the start, so I was able toget a run on him.”

The Maserati pair were eventually joined by Jolleywho got ahead of the feisty Spaniard for a few laps,only to yield seventh place again on the final lap. “Rodgot ahead of me too at one point, but when he drift-ed wide at Pouhon I was able to repass him,”explained Hart after the drive of his life. “Keepingthose two behind to the finish was far from easy I cantell you.”

Mullen, third of the shrill V8s, carved back to ninthahead of Studer and Smith, but Owen retired theaubergine Kurtis-Offy when its clutch gave up.McCabe fell early again, pitting on lap two which alsoclaimed Dark’s Bugatti and Batchelor’s Kieft. MarshallBailey and Goetze were the last to finish on the win-ner’s lap.

Willis, completing a weekend class double in hisCooper, finished 14th ahead of Valvekens. Lotus menTrouillard and Staes improved their Saturday laptimes by seven and five seconds respectively as theymoved up the pecking order, while pursuer Cookfound eight, working down to a highly respectable3m01s which would have put him right behind class 9pacemaker Willis had he managed it in the preliminar-ies, when his effort was truncated by mechanicalissues.

Bond and Miguens also made huge steps forward tofinish 20th and 21st, ahead of Lehr’s 250F and late-starter Fairley. Nuthall beat Grant this time, after yetanother personal battle, the front-engined cars beingseparated by Buratti’s ‘pusher.’ Tony Ditheridge andTasmanian Scotty Taylor finished as one behind them,ahead of Steele and race one fallers Eyre and Phillipsin their contrasting Cooper-Bristols.Baillie’s Cooper twin-cam expired passing the pits on

lap 10, long after Batchelor, McCabe – whose ex-JimHall/Lloyd Ruby Lotus 18 resplendent in white andblue US racing colours sadly proved consistentlyrecalcitrant all weekend – and Dark’s Bugatti fell bythe wayside.

*The Spa weekend also provides the perfect oppor-tunity for Doris Studer (this year accompanied byLouise Eyre) to gather mushrooms in the surround-ing area. A bumper harvest of boletus provided morethan enough for Saturday evening’s wild mushroomrisotto which was enjoyed by nearly twenty under theRed Truck awning.

Class 10: Winner Peter Studer, Franck Trouillard 2nd and ErikStaes 3rd with Arbuthnot Latham’s Amanda Weston

photo Jim Houlgrave

Class 8: Winner Rod Jolley and Marc Valvekens 2nd with Amanda and Chris photo Jim Houlgrave

Friday evening’s supper – kindly organised by Pauland Mary Grant – at the Ferme Libert (or, to be morecorrect, Le Marie-Catherine) was attended by almostfifty members and guests. The food was very goodbut perhaps a little too long to wait between coursesthis time? However the canapés beforehand weredelicious and the local ‘bubbles’ flowed and flowed.

We were grateful to Gerry Hann for deputising asCompetition Secretary over the weekend whilstMartin Grant Peterkin enjoyed the sunshine withfriends in Cyprus and, had you noticed, that Gerry, inturn, sub-contracted this report to Marcus Pye!?!

NL5/15 Page 9OCTOBER NEWSLETTERSpa Six Hours 2015HGPCA Race for Pre 1966 Grand Prix Cars

No Name Surname Entrant Nat Car cc YearFront Engine carsClass 2 - 1935-1951 Grand Prix cars on 18" or 19" wheels

41 5 Richard Pilkington GB Talbot Lago T26SS 4482 193742 23 Luc Brandts NL Talbot Lago T26C 4482 194843 10 Julia de Baldanza GB Maserati A6GCM 1998 195146 34 Tom Dark GB Bugatti T37C 1500s 1945

Class 5 - 1952/53 2 litre Grand Prix cars 24 21 Ian Nuthall GB Alta F2 1980 195226 19 Paul Grant B Cooper-Bristol 3/53 1971 195330 75 Eddie McGuire GB Cooper-Bristol 8/52 1971 195232 6 Martin Eyre GB Cooper-Bristol 8/53 1971 195333 33 Chris Phillips GB Cooper-Bristol 6/53 1971 1953

DNF 4 Steve Russell GB Cooper-Bristol 2/53 1971 1953Class 6 - 1954 -1958 Grand Prix cars on 16” wheels

6 22 Steve Hart Gerry Hann GB Maserati 250F CM7 2494 19587 31 Guillermo Fierro ES Maserati 250F 2501/2523 2493 1954

22 248 Klaus Lehr D Maserati 250F CM5 2500 195738 27 Christian Dumolin B Maserati 250F 2507/23/22 2493 1954

Class 7a - Pre 1961 front engine Grand Prix cars on 15” wheels11 1 Tony Smith GB Ferrari Dino 2500 196012 9 Marshall Bailey GB Lotus 16 364 2500 195929 38 Michael Steele GB Connaught C8 2500 1957

! !Class 8 - Formula Libre, Indianapolis and Intercontinental cars 8 2 Rod Jolley GB Lister Jaguar Monzanapolis 3781 1958

15 16 Marc Valvekens B Aston Martin DBR4/4 2992 1959DNF 77 Geraint Owen GB Kurtis 500C 4454 1954!!Invitation Class

44 18 Nigel Batchelor GB Kieft GP car 2478 1954Rear Engine cars!!Class 7c - Pre 1961 Formula 2 cars of not more than 1.5 litres

40 41 Brian Maile GB Cooper T41 1460 1956Class 7b - Pre 1961 rear engine Grand Prix cars on 15” wheels

4 3 Barry Cannell GB Cooper T51 2500 195935 51 Timothy Bailey Marshall Bailey GB Cooper T51 2500 195945 24 Charles McCabe USA Lotus 18 907 2500 1960

DNF 12 Thomas Bailey Marshall Bailey GB JBW F1 2500 1959DNF 69 Andrea Guarino I Lotus 18 370 2495 1960!!Class 9 - Pre 1961 Grand Prix/Formula 2 cars of not more than 2 litres

14 42 James Willis GB Cooper T45 1960 195819 14 Malcolm Cook GB Cooper T43 1960 195727 8 Tony Ditheridge GB Cooper T45 1960 195831 43 Tania Pilkington GB Cooper T43 1960 1957

DNF 47 Brian Jolliffe GB Cooper T45 1960 1958DNF 145 Michel Baudoin F Cooper T45 1960 1958Class 10 - Pre 1966 1.5 litre 4 cylinder Formula 1 cars

10 50 Peter Studer CH Lotus 24 1500 196216 119 Franck Trouillard F Lotus 21/24 938 1500 196217 15 Erik Staes B Lotus 18/21 1475 196220 20 Stephen Bond GB Lotus 18 912 1500 196025 29 Federico Buratti I Lotus 21 1500 196134 28 Anthony Goddard GB Cooper Alfa T56/59 1500 196237 17 Francesco Baldanza CH Lola Mk3 1475 196139 71 Alan Baillie GB Cooper T71/73 1475 1964

DNF 37 Eddy Perk NL Heron F1 1488 1960Class 11 - Pre 1966 1.5 litre multi-cylinder Formula 1 cars

3 25 Andy Middlehurst John Bowers GB Lotus 25 R4 1500 19625 66 Sidney Hoole GB Cooper T66 1495 19639 26 Peter Mullen GB BRM P261 2 1498 1964

18 124 Michel Wanty B Lotus 24 942 1498 196221 7 Carlos Miguens ARG Lotus 24 947 1494 196236 111 John Romano USA Brabham BT11 5 64 1500 1964

! !Class 12 - Pre 1966 Tasman & Intercontinental 4 cylinder cars of not more than 2.7 lts1 99 Miles Griffiths John Evans GB Brabham BT4 2700 19612 122 Peter Horsman GB Lotus 18/21 P1 2500 1961

13 118 Wulf Goetze D Cooper T53 2699 196123 11 Jon Fairley GB Brabham BT11/19 2700 196428 53 Scotty Taylor AUS Cooper T53 2751 1960

Driver of the Day: Front engine - Steve Hart, Rear engine - Peter Horsman

Zandvoort Historic Grand PrixHGPCA Race for Pre 1961 Grand Prix Carspos No Name Surname Entrant Nat Car cc YearClass 2 - 1935-1951 Grand Prix cars on 18" or 19" wheelsDNF 52 Alexander van der Lof NL Ferrari GP 340 F1 4100 1951Class 5 - 1952/53 2 litre Grand Prix cars

5 21 Ian Nuthall GB Alta F2 1980 19526 19 Paul Grant B Cooper-Bristol 3/53 1971 1953

10 6 Martin Eyre GB Cooper-Bristol 8/53 1971 195313 32 Guy Plante GB Cooper-Bristol 9.53 1971 1953

Class 6 - 1954 -1958 Grand Prix cars on 16” wheels2 22 Steve Hart Gerry Hann GB Maserati 250F CM7 2494 19583 248 Klaus Lehr D Maserati 250F CM5 2500 1957

14 31 Guillermo Fierro ES Maserati 250F 2501/25 2493 1954DNF 27 Christian Dumolin B Maserati 250F 2507/23 2493 1954Class 7a - Pre 1961 front engine Grand Prix cars on 15” wheels

1 7 Marshall Bailey GB Lotus 16 364 2500 1959DNF 1 Tony Smith GB Ferrari Dino 2500 1960! !Class 7c - Pre 1961 Formula 2 cars of not more than 1.5 litres

7 43 Clive Wilson GB Cooper T43 1500 19578 8 Albert Streminski D Emeryson F1 1475 19609 34 John Bussey GB Cooper T43 1460 1957

11 45 Scotty Taylor AUS Cooper T45 1475 195812 41 Brian Maile GB Cooper T41 1460 1956

! !Class 8 - Formula Libre, Indianapolis and Intercontinental cars 4 16 Marc Valvekens B Aston Martin DBR4/4 2992 1959

DNF 30 Julian Bronson GB Scarab Offenhaoser 2500 1960

HGPCA Race for Pre 1966 Grand Prix CarsPos No Name Surname Entrant Nat Car cc YearClass 7b - Pre 1961 rear engine Grand Prix cars on 15” wheels

4 2 Rod Jolley GB Cooper T45/51 2495 195815 5 Timothy Bailey Marshall Bailey GB Cooper T51 2500 195917 6 Thomas Bailey Marshall Bailey GB JBW F1 2500 195924 3 Barry Cannell GB Cooper T51 2500 1959

!!Class 9 - Pre 1961 Grand Prix/Formula 2 cars of not more than 2 litres5 27 Will Nuthall Chris Wilson GB Cooper Maserati T51 1914 19597 7 Andrew Smith GB Cooper T43 1960 1957

12 47 Brian Jolliffe GB Cooper T45 1960 195814 14 Malcolm Cook GB Cooper T43 1960 195720 42 James Willis GB Cooper T45 1960 195821 51 Ted Williams Tim Ross GB Cooper T43/51 1960 195723 8 Tony Ditheridge GB Cooper T45 1960 1958

DNF 45 Michel Baudoin F Cooper T45 1960 1958Class 10 - Pre 1966 1.5 litre 4 cylinder Formula 1 cars

9 4 Andrew Beaumont GB LDS 03 1487 196110 50 Peter Studer CH Lotus 24 1500 196213 37 Eddy Perk NL Heron F1 1488 196016 20 Stephen Bond GB Lotus 18 912 1500 196019 28 Anthony Goddard GB Cooper Alfa T56/59 1500 1962

DNF 13 Erik Staes B Lotus 18/21 1475 1962Class 11 - Pre 1966 1.5 litre multi-cylinder Formula 1 cars

2 25 Andy Middlehurst John Bowers GB Lotus 25 R4 1500 19626 66 Sidney Hoole GB Cooper T66 1495 19638 69 Mr John of B F Lola Mk4 BRGP 42 1500 1962

11 26 Peter Mullen GB BRM P261 2 1498 1964DNF 41 David Ferrer F Lola Mk4 BRGP 41 1500 1962!!Class 12 - Pre 1966 Tasman& Intercontinental 4 cylinder cars of not more than 2.7 lts

1 99 Miles Griffiths John Evans GB Brabham BT4 2700 19613 22 Peter Horsman GB Lotus 18/21 2500 1961

18 18 Wulf Goetze D Cooper T53 2699 1961

Driver of the Day: Front engine - Marshall Bailey, Rear engine - James Willis

Arbuthnot Latham Team:

Paul Denman, Chris Bland, StJohn Gardner and Amanda Weston

Tel: +44(0)20 7012 2500 motorsport@arbuthnot.co.uk

Arbuthnot House, 7 Wilson Street, London EC2M 2SN

Arbuthnot Latham & Co., Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority

Since 1833

Class 12: l-r: Amanda Weston, Wulf Goetze 3rd, Miles Griffiths 1st, Peter Horsman 2nd, Chris Bland and supper snapper Jim Houlgrave photo Jaqui Watling

Class 7a ‘stand-ins’, Spencer for Michael Steele3rd and George Fowles for Tony Smith 1st

photo Jim Houlgrave

Brian Maile - Class 7c winner with ArbuthnotLatham’s Amanda Weston and Chris Bland

photo Jim Houlgrave

NL5 Oct 2015

Annual Lunchwill be held on

Friday 4th Decemberat the RAC Club, London

More info and a booking formwill be available next month

If you are currently a memberof the BRDC or RAC Club,

please can you let us know

Since 1833

President: Sir Stirling MossVice President: Tony MerrickChairman: Andrew GarnerTreasurer: Peter HorsmanHGPCA Board of Directors

Sir John Chisholm, John Clark, Martin Eyre, Sidney Hoole,

Richard Parnell, William Nuthall and Chris Wilson

Race/Events/EligibilityMartin Grant Peterkin

THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOROWNERS & DRIVERS OF HISTORIC GRAND PRIX CARS

HGPCA Head Office: 3.52 Canterbury Court, Kennington Park, 1-3 Brixton Rd, SW9 6DE Tel/Fax: +44(0)20 7785 7204 Email: contact@hgpca.net www.hgpca.com

Sun and Fun by the Seaside2015 was the fourth year running that the organisers of the Historic Grand PrixZandvoort has invited the Association to be part of their meeting – we were delightedto accept the invitation for what has developed into a superb event. The SouvenirEdition of the 2015 Official Programme is quite one of the very best race programmemany of us have ever seen – full of wonderful period photographs and articles.

Not everything was perfect though. Our paddock space was very congested which, ifwe had not been allowed to make use of the kart track, would have made life impossi-ble and the chief scrutineer decided that all cars, including HGPCA cars, were requiredto report to the Scrutineering Bay to be checked. In vain did Bertie attempt to get thisruling changed and, luckily, by the time most members had realised that they wouldhave to drive or push competition cars to the other end of a VERY crowded paddock,it had almost stopped raining. This brings us on to the weather! The forecast was notgood and we had a torrential downpour on Thursday afternoon; we were warned of

others to come but someone ‘upthere’ decided otherwisebecause, over the whole week-end, the sun shone and it was notuntil members left the circuit thatthe heavens opened again withtremendous thunder, lightningand torrential rain!

Perhaps for the first time ever,every single HGPCA driver waspresent at the midday Drivers’briefing – very good for our rep-utation! Eighteen front-engine and twen-

ty-six rear-engine Grand Prix carstook part in HGPCA practice onFriday afternoon. Fastest in theformer, by nearly two secondswas Julian Bronson in the Scarab

Page 10 NL5/2015OCTOBER NEWSLETTER

A victory wave from Marshall Bailey on Sunday photo Richard Hampson

1949 ALLARD L/J1 - Fantastic road/race car justrefurbished.Edelbrock heads and carbs,Blockley tyreson wires with Allard spinners. Original registration withmatching chassis and engine numbers.Julian Sutton - jmdsutton@gmail.com or telephone:+44(0)1366 382204

Cars for Sale

Trailer for SaleBrian James Minno Shuttle box trailer in verygood condition, has been kept under cover. Inside:length 3 metres, height 1.4 m, width 1.65 m. Sparewheel & winch.£Offers. ContactRichard on+44(0)1803722357 or emailtrishapilking-ton@yahoo.co.uk

CONNAUGHT Chassis B2 - Very original car with full& original complete history file, with recent enginerebuild. For more information contact George Fowles,George Fowles Racing,www.gfracing.co.ukEmail: george@gfracing.co.uk Tel: +44(0)1628825081 Mobile +44(0)7767 357368

Member Helmut Gassmann is looking to sell thesecars. The links will take you to full descriptions (oremail stella and she will send you the links) andenquiries should be directed to: Michael Kiesner - +49 (0) 551 82020. kiesner@gassmann-gmbh.comLotus 18/21 Ch: 915 (recently owned and cam-paigned by Rudolf Ernst) - www.gassmanngmbh.com/internet/fzg_suche/detail.php?fzg=235Connaught B Type Ch: B4 - www.gassmanngmbh.com/internet/fzg_suche/detail.php?fzg=900460Cooper Climax T45/51 Ch: F2-5-59 -http://www.gassmann-gmbh.com/internet/fzg_suche/detail.php?fzg=900027BMW/Derichs Formula 3 - http://www.gassmann-gmbh.com/internet/fzg_suche/detail.php?fzg=3450

STIRLING MOSS DISPLAYClassic & Sports Car at The London Show

Alexandra Palace from 30 October to 1 NovemberThere will be three central displays all sharing a common theme ofBest of British. These are the best British car ever, as chosen by thepublic, the history of Aston Martin and Stirling Moss’ significantBritish single-seaters.

We were recently contacted by James Elliott, Group Editor atClassic & Sports Car who would like some help with tracking downand inviting a few more appropriate cars for the special StirlingMoss display. Given that our President raced everything fromConnaught to Cooper as well as BRM and ERA in F1, any contactswould be very much appreciated.Contact James: james.elliott@haymarket.com

Cooper Car Company - RecognitionOn 24th September 2015 the ex Cooper Car Company factory inHollyfield Road, Surbiton, became a Grade 2 Listed Building, byorder of the Secretary of State. This has taken a long time to cometo fruition and, as far as Peter Jackson is aware, no other racing carfactory has been granted Grade 2 (or any other grade) status.

The new owner has stated his interest in retaining a Cooper con-nection by way of displays etc., in his business plan to use thepremises as a Porsche service/repair garage.A Transport Trust “Red Wheel” plaque was installed on 1st August

2015 as part of the trust’s remit to recognise outstanding contribu-tions in all areas of transport and the Cooper plaque is their 77thsuch recognition in UK. John Cooper/Cooper Car Co was verymuch part of the rear engine revolution in racing car design,

achieving two consecutive WorldChampionships, becoming theworld's largest production racingcar manufacturer providing winningcars for the elite professional andamateur driver alike, spawning theBrabham and McLaren marques andgiving birth to the Mini-Cooper.

Nomex vests by Toora and padded jacketsPia Bianchi has organised some Nomex vests in either black orwhite, printed with the HGPCA logo. They cost £75.

We have added a navy padded jacket and gilet (both men’sand women’s) to our range of HGPCA clothing. Cost prohibitsgetting a stock of garments but we can take orders and have themin time for the Annual Lunch.If you are interested in either the vests or jackets, please get intouch with Stella - stella@hgpca.net