Tests at Mercedes-Benz World and Brooklands Museum visit

Tour Britannia, Britain’s historic race-tour for cars built before 1976, will visit the historic Brooklands circuit in Surrey this year.

The event, which takes place from the 3rd - 6th September, will feature special tests at the newly-opened Mercedes-Benz World test track as well as the opportunity to drive on sections of the famous banked track, which this year is celebrating its centenary.

Tour Britannia Sporting Director Fred Gallagher said: “From the moment we decided to start the 2007 Tour Britannia in the south-east of England my heart was set on Brooklands. Thanks to the generosity and cooperation of both Mercedes-Benz World and the Brooklands Museum we will be able to offer competitors a unique experience. The Mercedes-Benz World test track is a demanding yet safe environment for the entrants to enjoy their historic cars. It’s an amazing contrast; the state-of-the-art, 21st Century facility, with the famous old circuit.”
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Jaguar's iconic D-Type sports racing car is set for an historic return to the scene of its most famous racing victory, in a celebration of the 50th anniversary of an unparalleled 1-2-3-4-6 finish at Le Mans in 1957.

The actual winning and second placed cars from 1957 are scheduled to reappear on the track at the Sarthe circuit in June, with the kind permission of their owners Evert Louwman and Sir Anthony Bamford. It will be the first time they have been reunited at the scene since that epic domination of the world's most challenging race. They will be joined by the similar cars owned by the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust and Dick Skipworth.

The celebration has been painstakingly planned by Michael Quinn, grandson of Jaguar's founder Sir William Lyons, in conjunction with the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust.

"The 1957 victory for Jaguar was such a landmark at Le Mans that we were determined that the 50 th anniversary of it should be properly celebrated. It was, after all, a major British triumph and a great achievement for a relatively small manufacturer at the time. The Le Mans victories really helped put Jaguar firmly on the world map," said Michael.
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The third round of the 2007 Dunlop/Gambia MSA British Historic Rally Championship will take crews into Wales for the first time this year for the Seven Valley Historic Rally (2 June 2007).

Once again a superb entry of 70 classic cars will compete over classic stages in the Radnor and Epynt regions on one of the most popular events in the BHRC calendar.

Heading to Wales, David Stokes and Guy Weaver top the BHRC points' table and Stokes will be hoping to have further reason to celebrate after his 60th birthday on the Monday before the rally.

Category 1
Running first on the road will be the category 1 cars (pre '68) with defending champions Patrick Watts and Elgan Davies leading the way in their Sunbeam Tiger. Chasing the thundering Tiger will be the Porsche 911 of Dessie Nutt/Geraldine McBride, but another big challenge to Watts could come from the 911 of Stuart Rolt/Richard Pomfret. Rolt has not rallied much recently, but will take time out from his duties as chairman of the British Racing Drivers' Club to rally his Porsche.
One of the biggest battles of the rally is likely to be among the Lotus Cortinas in class B4, with the cars of Philip Atkinson/Simon Coates, Neil Calvert/Arlene Cookson, Jonathan Gale/Graham Gale and Bob Bean/'Captain' Thompson sure to be very evenly matched.
Class B2 is set for a big battle between the Mini Coopers of Clive King/Bob Ward and Terry Cree/Richard Shores, while the Saab of Nick Pinkett/Alex Lucking heads class B1.
Continue reading "BHRC Preview, round three: Severn Valley Historic Rally"

It was announced today that Joginder Singh, East African Safari Rally veteran and three times winner of the original rally, has been appointed Patron of the Kenya Airways Safari Classic for 2007. He will be attending the classic rally in November and will be the figurehead for many of the PR and social activities surrounding it. Event Director Surinder Thatthi said “Having such an experienced and knowledgeable person as part of our event is a great honour. Joginder is held in great regard not only by the general public here in East Africa who remember his amazing record on the old Safari Rallies, but is also in the wider world of the international rallying community. Our only fear is that during the rally he will forget his role as Patron and start repairing cars …”

Joginder Singh joins a select group of previous East African Safari Classic Patrons. At the inaugural event of 2003, Eric Cecil, one of the instigators and founders of the original Coronation Safari back in 1953 and a winner himself on the 1956 event, came all the way from his current home in Australia to take the role of Patron. For the 2005 Safari Classic, the Patron was Bharat Bhardwaj who competed on the Safari during the 1960s – he finished third overall with Joginder in 1966 and second in 1969, both times in Volvos – and then for many years was the Rally Chairman.
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Todd Morici and Peter Giddings have been so dominant in the Shell Ferrari/Maserati Historic Challenge that they were awarded the “Masters” designation in 2001. At the 3.27 mile VIRginia International Raceway this weekend they both demonstrated that they’ve lost none of their mastery.

Giddings took one approach. He qualified on pole for the first Drum Brake Group in his ex-Sir Stirling Moss Maserati 250F, one of the classic Grand Prix cars from the 1950s. Giddings then led every lap of the first race, which gave him pole for the second, and again he led every lap for a pair of overall (and class) wins.

Morici took a different approach to the same end result. He qualified on pole for the first Disc Brake race in his 512 BB/LM, but Chuck Wegner in the ex-NART LeMans 512 BB/LM beat Morici to the first corner. Morici got by Wegner on the fourth lap, and held off Wegner to take the win by less than one second. That win should have given Morici the pole for the second race, but a penalty for missing a mandatory drivers’ meeting dropped him to the last starting position. It took Morici only three laps to catch Wegner, who was leading.

Wegner missed a shift -- the first he could recall -- and Morici got by. This time Morici’s margin of victory over Wegner was over 13 seconds.
Continue reading "VIR Ferrari Shell Historics: Morici and Giddings again"

PETER PERFECT IN HOLLAND

Although English driver, Hugh Maund, was the 'on the road' winner in two of the three races in the FISC EuroTour's Historic Zandvoort Trophy meeting on May 19 and 20, it was his fellow countryman, Peter Hiley, who was the 'man of the meeting'.

Maund's TR7 was the sole invitation class entry, so the real competition occurred behind him in the traditional class for 1380cc Sprites and Midgets, where the action was as fast and furious as ever, in this the opening meeting of the season.

Hiley's trio of victories came after a year of development to his MK II Midget, the first two being unopposed from flag to flag.
Race three was a little tougher, with Hiley busy defending David Gibson at the first corner, allowing John Moon's Frogeye to charge through and open a commanding lead, Dutchman Pieter Bakker and Adam Cunnington, joining in the action.

Hiley eventually broke clear, setting a stunning pace to catch Moon, who was by then suffering from gearbox problems. Hiley crossed the line almost 5 seconds clear to complete a perfect weekend, leaving the others to contemplate where to find the extra pace they will need as the season moves on to the likes of Monza, Dijon, and the Nordschleife.

Gibson drove in his usual relentless style, claiming two runner up places and a close third behind Moon in the final race.

The organisers of the Severn Valley National Rally (Saturday 2 June), Midland Manor Motor Club Ltd, have been forced to alter their original plans to finish this year's event in Llandovery.

With less than three weeks to go the Club discovered, almost by accident, that the facilities that had been confirmed for use by the event were no longer available due to a double-booking by Carmarthenshire County Council. Consequently, MMMC Ltd was left with no choice but to revert to the format of previous years and base the whole rally at the Royal Welsh showground in Builth Wells.

Midland Manor Motor Club Ltd would like to apologise for the inconvenience the change of venue may cause, not only to competitors who may now have to alter their arrangements for accommodation, but also to the businesses in Llandovery who, through no fault of their own, will no longer benefit from the arrival of the rally in town.

The Severn Valley National Rally will now start and finish at the RWAS where the Awards Ceremonies for each individual section of the event will also take place during Saturday afternoon and evening.