Tag Archives: Lyons

HSCC International Trophy – Silverstone

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Now celebrating it’s 50th anniversary the Historic Sports Car Club organised a two day International Trophy meeting at Silverstone last weekend of which I popped along to the second.

Jaguar E-type_7278sc

The first race of the day was led by the #91 Jaguar E-Type shared by Julian Thomas an Calum Lockie for opening 13 laps of the Turnkey GT and Sports Car Cup, but they lost ground on the driver change which happened as the course was under a full course caution that became a red flag after three further laps leaving the #75 AC Cobra 289 shared by Leo Voyazides and Andy Wolfe that had been running in the top six to inherit the win.

Formula Junior_7318sc

Sam Wilson in his #53 Lotus 20/22 led the 2nd Formula Junior race of the weekend from start to finish five cars held second place over the 9 lap race with Andrew Hibberd’s red #79 Lotus 22, seen in fourth above securing the spot with two laps to go, a late charge from James Murray secured third in his Lola.

Michael Lyons, McLaren M26, HSCC International Trophy, Silverstone

James Hunt won the International Championship twice when the British Racing Drivers Club organised the event with Hesketh in 1974 and McLaren in his 1976 championship winning year, last weekend Michael Lyons, seen above, drove a 1977 spec McLaren M26 to an easy victory in International Trophy ahead of Andrew Smith’s Gunston liveried March 79B.

Lola T282, Voyazides-Wolfe, HSCC International Trophy, Silverstone

Leo Voyazides and James Wolfe had to work a little harder, than Micheal, in their 1973 Jean-Louis Lafosse / Reine Wisell Gitanes liveried Lola T282 to get the better of the #19 Simon Watson and Andrew Kirkaldy Chevron B19 and the third place #60 Chevron B26 driven by John Burton in the 50 minute Pre 80 Endurance race.

Historic Formula 3, HSCC International Trophy, Silverstone

After several successful seasons running a Cooper in Formula Junior Jon Milicevic has switched to driving the #14 Brabham BT21B in Formula 3 and looks to continue his winning ways, having passed the Micheal Hibberd’s #25 Brabham on the opening lap he retained the lead to the end to finish ahead of Simon Archer’s #22 March 703 which worked it’s way up from 5th at the end of the opening lap.

Guards Trophy, HSCC International Trophy, Silverstone

George Tizzard’s persistence chasing down, the out of shot, #4 pole sitting Chevron B8 shared by Sandy Watson and Martin O’Connell was rewarded when he took the lead in the HSCC Guards Trophy 2 laps from home driving the #2 Gulf liveried Lenham Spyder.

Ford Falcon, Leo Voyazides, HSCC International Trophy, Silverstone

Leo Voyazides took a fairly easy victory third victory of the day with a solo drive in his Ford Falcon in the HSCC ByBox Historic Touring Car Championship beating the Ford Mustang driven by Warren Biggs by 14 seconds from pole position.

HSCC Historic Formula Ford 2000, HSCC International Trophy, Silverstone

In the final race of the day Ian Pearson won the HSCC Formula 2000 race from pole in his #9 Van Diemen RF83 while Andrew Park had to battle back to second in his white #27 Reynard SF81 after giving the place up to the #87 Reynard SF79 driven by Nelson Rowe and #33 Van Diemen RF82 of Marc Mercer on the opening lap.

Thanks for joining me on this International Trophy edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me for the next Packard edition soon. Don’t forget to come back now !

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VPJ Backup – Lola Chevrolet T400 #HU7

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As in 1974 1963 Indy Winner Parnelli Jones and his business partner Velko “Vel” Miletich planned to enter teams in Formula One for Mario Andretti who would compete in all rounds of the world championship, US Formula 5000 with Mario joined by Al Unser running in all rounds of the championship and a partial USAC (Champ car) season in which Al Unser would run an Eagle until the VPJ6 Champ car that was powered by the VPJ developed turbocharged Cosworth DFX was ready while Andretti ran the a VPJ Eagle in four races.

Lola T400, Silverstone Classic,

Like many others VPJ bought Lola T400’s to replace the T332’s they had run in 1974 exclusively for Mario Andretti who was beaten to the 1974 title by Brian Redman’s slightly more reliable and consistent Carl Haas entered T332.

Lola T400, Michael Lyons, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

Like most other T400 customers the team felt their older T332’s were the better bet and today’s featured chassis #HU7 appears never to have been run by the VPJ team in a race.

Lola T400, Silverstone Classic,

The VPJ team’s other T400 #HU6 was only raced on one occasion by Al Unser at Mosport in Canada where he spun out and damaged the car in the heat, an incident that precluded him from starting the final.

Lola T400, Michael Lyons, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

Mario driving his faithful 1974 T332 #HU29 again finished the 1975 F5000 season with the same number of wins as Championship winner Brian Redman, but a couple of failure’s to finish cost Mario a shot at the title.

Lola T400, Silverstone Classic,

John Delane appears to have been the first person to have raced #HU7 after he acquired it in 1990 in 1998 the car was sold on and ended up with current owner Frank Lyons in 2007.

Lola T400, Michael Lyons, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

Michael and his mother Judy Lyons have both raced #HU7 which is seen in these photographs in the Paddock at Silverstone Classic in 2013 an at Oulton Park with Michael at the wheel in 2011 and 2013.

Thanks for joining me on this “VPJ Backup” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again for Mercedes Benz Monday tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Five Classic Moments – Silverstone Classic

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Continuing an ad hoc series celebrating Silverstone Classic’s Silver Jubilee this weeks post features five race highlights from the last three Silverstone Classic Super Saturdays.

Peter Arundell Trophy, Silverstone Classic,

The Formula Junior cars vying to win the Peter Arundell Trophy traditionally are the opening act for Super Saturday above the #53 Lotus 20/22 of Sam Wilson and #79 Lotus 22 of Andrew Hibberd squabble behind the leading #1 Cooper T59 driven by Jon Melicevic in 2013 when Andrew won the trophy by just half a second.

Sir John Whitmore Trophy, Silverstone Classic

The Sir John Whitmore Trophy for under 2 litre / 122 cui touring cars always provides close racing down the field between the Ford Cortinas, above last year British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) regular Gordon Shedden and Richard Meaden kept us entertained with door handle to door handle racing for half an hour before the #157 retired with an overheating issue leaving Richard and Grant Tromans to win in the tyre smoking #63.

Peter Gethin Trophy, Silverstone Classic

Simon Hadfield and Micheal Lyons provided the early entertainment in the Peter Gethin Trophy race for stock block open wheelers in 2012, unfortunately Simon spun the brown 1973 Trojan T101 to leave the win to Micheal in the red and white Lola T400 seen above hounding the Trojan.

Mustang Celebration Trophy proudly presented by Pure Michigan, Silverstone Classic

Ironically last years Mustang Celebration Trophy was dominated by the model the Ford Mustang was due to replace, Leo Voyazides driving the #1 Ford Falcon is seen above sweeping into a lead, past the #37 Falcon driven by Mike Gardiner, that he did not relinquish for the rest of the race.

Froilan Gonzalez Trophy, Silverstone Classic

The Froilan Gonzalez Trophy for HGPCA Pre’61 Grand Prix Cars proved another thriller two years ago when Bristol’s Julian Bronson driving the blue Scarab #30 had a great to and fro battle with the Tec-Mec of Tony Wood and came out the winner to record the Scarab marques second ever open wheel victory.

Silverstone Classic is an advance ticket only event and the race cards are never the same two years running, for further details about this years Silver Jubilee event see this link.

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For The Whole Family – Eagle 74A #74A004

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After building Eagle Mk5 chassis, based on the ’67 Belgian Grand Prix winning Eagle Mk 1, for two consecutive Formula A champions Lou Sell (’68) and Tony ‘A-Z’ Adamowicz (’69) Dan Gurney’s All American racers refrained from building any more Formula A renamed Formula 5000 cars until 1974 while he focused on his Indy programme.

Eagle 74A, Michael Lyons, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

At the end of 1973 AAR built a Formula 5000 Eagle 74A show car which I believe has never been raced, three more 74A’s followed two for the Jorgensen Steel supported works team and one, today’s featured chassis #74A004, that was built for Francisco Mir Racing based in Santa Monica, California.

Eagle 74A, Michael Lyons, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

Francisco Mir Racing entered #74A004 for Nestor Garcia Veiga to drive in the second and third rounds of the 1974 SCCA/USAC Formula 5000 championship. Nestor came recorded a 6th place finish at Mosport but failed to qualify for the final at Watkins Glen.

Eagle 74A, Michael Lyons, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

With sponsorship from Mr Marty Italian Lella Lombardi was then employed to drive #74A004 at Ontario California where she finished 14t after finishing 5th in her heat ahead of her team mate James Hunt running in a Mr Marty Lola T332.

Eagle 74A, Frank Lyons, Silverstone Classic

Hitherto ’74 works driver Elliot Forbes-Robinson drove #74A004 at Laguna Seca where he retired and at the final round of the ’74 Championship John Morton drove the car to a seventh place finish.

Eagle 74A, Michael Lyons, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

Mike Koslowski bought #74A004 in 1975 the only result I have found for it in his owner ship was a did not start, DNS, when he entered Ron Dykes, who qualified 23rd, for the race that turned out to be the last ever SCCA USAC Formula 5000 event at Riverside in October 1976.

Eagle 74A, Frank Lyons, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

The ownership trail of #74A004 continued in the USA until 2002 when Ian Giles brought the car to the UK. Since 2005 the car has belonged to the Lyons family, son Michael Lyons with the black helmet is seen driving the car at this years (2014) Gold Cup meeting where he came second in the first race and won the second. Father Frank Lyons is seen driving the car at Silverstone in 2012 and Oulton Park in 2011, Mother Judy Lyons has also raced this car on occasion.

Thanks for joining me on this “For The Whole Family” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again for Maserati Monday tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Neville’s e-bay Find – DOHC Jaguar V12

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A couple of years after retiring the works Jaguar Racing Team, from front line competition in 1955, Sir William Lyons and Chief Enginner William Heynes discussed building a team of 3 mid engined “G-type” models and returning to Le Mans the scene of five Jaguar victories with their XK 120 C, C-Type and D-Type models.

Jaguar DOHC V12,

In 1963, according to Jaguar records, the board of directors agreed to progress the first Jaguar V12 motor with a view to returning to Le Mans in 1965.

Jaguar DOHC V12

The first of two 5 litre / 302 cui double overhead cam (DOHC) V12’s, essentially 2 x 6 cylinder XK blocks sharing a common crank, ran for the first time in July 1964, it was started by the same Jim Eastwick that is seen at the control panel in today’s blog.

Jaguar DOHC V12

A number of factor’s including the planning for the production of the XJ6, launched in 1968, and a shortage of cash which led to the merger of Jaguar into British Motor Corporation which became British Motor Holdings in December 1966 meant the XJ13 project saw just one prototype completed in May 1966, but nothing was done with it until the following year.

Jaguar DOHC V12

At some point the second DOHC V12, today’s featured motor, was run in a prototype Mk 10 Jaguar and by 1969 it was run for the last time by the works for comparison emissions tests with a single overhead cam (SOHC) V12 that would go into production for the V12 E-type, XJ12 Saloon / Sedan, XJ 12C, Daimler Sovereign equivalents and XJ-S Coupé.

Jaguar DOHC V12

Today’s featured motor was then tidied up for a career on Jaguars exhibition stands at motor show’s in the UK and abroad, complete with chrome flywheel, it would appear that in the early to mid 1970’s it got left behind by the Jaguar works, by now part of the British Leyland empire in Germany.

http://youtu.be/TVLp-I9M8ss

Four years ago Jaguar enthusiast and racer Neville Swale was thinking about building a replica Jaguar XJ13 when a fellow racer who had similar idea’s but insufficient funds Richard Woods from the Avro Shacketon Preservation Trust told Neville about today’s featured motor which appeared on the German e-bay sight.

Jaguar DOHC V12

Neville knew he had to have it and as he boarded a train a few hours before the end of the auction he put in a bid by mobile phone and promptly lost reception.

Some hours later still on the train Nevilles reception returned and he was surprised to learn he won the auction and one of the rarest Jaguar motors ever built.

When he got the motor home from Stuttgart Neville determined not just to build a replica but a tool room replica XJ13 as close to the original 1966 version, sans big wheels and flared arches, as humanly possible.

I’ll cover the build of the car in future edition, but over the last 4 years Neville has converted the motor back to dry sump lubrication and built up a new fuel injection to replace that which was missing when he bought the motor.

Last week I was lucky enough to attend the first start of this motor in 45 years and the video shows the start and shut down.

At the end of the film Jonathan Heynes a former Jaguar apprentice who worked on the XJ 13 and son of the late Chief Enginner William Heynes who oversaw the development and build of DOHC V12 is seen shaking the hand of Jim Eastwick. Apologies for bad sound on the film.

My thanks to Neville and his wife Lizzie for making me feel so welcome during the start up proceedings. You can see more of Nevilles work on the project on his Building the Legend website linked here.

Thanks for joining me on this “Neville’s e-bay Find” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be taking a look at what is believed to be the oldest surviving stock car to take part in a NASCAR event. Don’t forget to come back now !

5/11/14 Correction this text originally stated Peter Crespin alerted Neville to the presence of the motor on e-bay it was in fact Richard Woods from the Avro Shacketon Preservation Trust who informed Neville. Apologies for any confusion.

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Rainy Day Grooves – Oulton Park Gold Cup

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On Bank Holiday Monday two friends and I braved some atrocious weather as we headed 150 odd miles North to Oulton Park for the last day of the Gold Cup meeting.

Lola T292, Sinclair, Martini Trophy, Oulton Park

By the time the racing got started the track had dried out a bit though the track conditions were still treacherous as Tony Sinclair drove his #12 Lola T292 to a comfortable 13 second victory over Sam Carrington Yates driving a Chevron B16 in the second of the weekend’s Martini Trophy contests.

Chevron B17, Derossi, Classic Racing Cars, Oulton Park

Local pride in the Chevron marque from nearby Bolton was restored by Francois Derassi driving his #66 Chevron B17 who won the Rodney Bloor Trophy for Classic Racing Cars by 32 seconds over Palliser WDB2 driver Andy Jarvis.

Derek Bell Trophy, Oulton Park

The first of the days Derek Bell Trophy races looked set to go to Micheal Lyons in his blue grooved wet shod Formula 5000/A #74 Eagle FA74 but Richard Evans driving a slick shod Formula 2 #77 March 742 with only 2/5ths the cubic inches and half the number of cylinders of the Chevy Stock block V8 powered Eagle managed to claw back Micheal’s opening lap six second lead to take the win as the track dried out.

Super Touring Trophy, Oulton Park

The first time I came to Oulton Park in 1985 John Cleland was driving an Opel Monza in the Uniroyal Production Car race. On Bank Holiday Monday he was driving his 1998 #98 Vauxhall Vectra and after all sorts of problems for the Championship contending Honda Accord’s of Stewart Whyte and James Dodd, John won the Super Touring Championship race from the #44 Audi A4 quattro of Paul Smith. James claimed the championship with an impressive 4th place finish from the back of the grid.

Historic Touring Cars, Oulton Park

The rain became a little heavier during the first Historic Touring car race and the #67 Austin Mini of Peter Morgan consequently got the best start while the #1 Ford Lotus Cortina of Tim Davies got bogged down. 3 wheeling Tim recovered to take a close victory over Peter by just 0.3 seconds.

HSCC Classic Clubmans, Oulton Park

By the time the Classic Clubmans came out my friends and I opted to take cover and watch the race from the car. Mark Charteris won the race in the #1 Mallock Mk 20/21 by just over a second from Spencer McCarthy’s Mallock Mk 20b.

Historic Formula Ford 2000, Oulton Park

The inclement weather continued during the Historic Formula Ford 2000 race which was won after a good battle by Benjamin Tusting in the yellow #64 Reynard SF79 by just under 4 seconds from Benn Simms in the #2 Royale RP30.

Historic Formula Ford 1600, Oulton Park

The biggest field of the day started the Historic Formula Ford 1600 race. Micheal Mallock who had spent much of the race in fourth place driving his family #9 Mallock Mk9 came through the myriad back markers on the last lap to claim a victory, possibly the first for this car since the late 1960’s, over John Murphy in the green #3 Merlyn Mk20A.

Derek Bell Trophy, Oulton Park

Tim Barry driving his recently restored Ford GAA V6 powered March 76A suffered broken legs and a broken wrist in a nasty accident which stopped the second Derek Bell Trophy race.

The latest news from the hospital is that Tim has already asked doctors when he can drive again ! I am sure you will join me in wishing Tim and his March a speedy recovery.

After the restart Micheal Lyons did not put a foot wrong in his Eagle to claim victory over his nemesis from race one Richard Evans. 1974 Gold Cup winner Ian Ashley marked his return to the F5000 category after an absence of 35 years by driving his Lola T300 to a fine third, having finished 4th in the earlier race.

Historic Touring Cars, Oulton Park

The rain only got heavier during the 2nd Historic Touring car race and the tarmac from Knickerbrook up Clay Hill got a lovely pearlescent finish courtesy of Ian Brown’s Volkswagen Beetle which dumped all of it’s oil on the racing line on lap 2.

The consequent scrabble for steerage and traction proved highly entertaining and it was the red and blue Mini’s of Peter Morgan and Tim Harber who made the best of it with the #37 Ford Lotus Cortina of Mike Gardiner coming home third to round out an entertaining day at the races.

Thanks for joining me on this Rainy Day Grooves edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be going for a little test drive in a 35th Anniversary Ford Mustang. Don’t forget to come back now !

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60th Anniversary – Oulton Park Gold Cup

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On Bank Holiday Monday a couple of weeks ago I picked up GALPOT contributor Tim Murray and headed 175 miles north to Oulton Park for the second day of the Gold Cup meeting which marked the circuits 60th Anniversay. When we got there we met friends Simon and Phil from The Nostalgia Forum who directed us toward the control Tower where Steve Jones invited us to a cup of coffee and we met Alan Cox who also puts in a regular appearance on these pages.

March 761, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

Afterwards Tim and I had a wonder around the paddock where we found Greg Thornton’s Formula One March 761 resplendent in the colours of Sweden as would have been seen in the hands of Ronnie Peterson. Greg was declared the winner of the opening Derek Bell Trophy race of the day after Micheal Lyons experienced a pinion failure in his Lola T400 Formula 5000 car and an accident in which no one was hurt blocked the track.

Dodd, Chevron B31, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

Despite a sagging rear wing James Dodd driving his, non period, Martini liveried 1976 Chevron B36 appropriately won the Martini Trophy for 2 litre / 122 cui sports cars.

Watts, Peugeot 406, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

I only ever saw Patrick Watts 1998 British Touring Car Championship Peugeot 406 racing on the television but I spent many hundreds of happy hours driving one just like it in a Play Station game called TOCA 2, Patrick found his old car in Australia. Unfortunately he did not finish the Super Touring Trophy which was won by the versatile James Dodd who didn’t have time to celebrate his Martini Trophy win in the Chevron B36 before jumping into his Honda Accord.

Mitchell, Merlin Mk20, Grant, Merlyn Mk20a, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

The Historic Formula Fords can always be relied on to provide entertaining racing, Sam Mitchell and Callum Grant in their #40 and #1 Merlyn MK 20’s were never much further apart than this through out the 20 min race. Callum eventually got the better of Sam to take the chequered flag.

Smith, Delta T81, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

Nelson Rowe won the Amitstead Barnett Financial Services Formula Ford 2000 race and sowed up the Historic Formula Ford 2000 championship with a fine win in his Reynard SF79, the #10 Delta T81 of Derek Smith above has a chassis design going back to 1978 which was penned by none other than Patrick Head went on to form a formidable partnership with Frank Williams.

Historic Touring Cars, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

The Historic Touring Cars also provided a hugely entertaining spectacle above the #14 Alfa Romeo Giulia Super of Bob Schukburgh takes the bumpy route as he tries to pass a couple Hillman Imps, the #4 Mini was driven by British Olympic Cycling legend Sir Chris Hoy. Richard Dutton in the red and gold #35 Ford Mustang worked his way up from the back of the grid to 5th place in the race which was won by Mark Jones in a Ford Lotus Cortina.

Oosterbaan, Alton Holden AR2 , Gold Cup, Oulton Park

A welcome Antipodean novelty in the Libre race for Classic Racing Cars was the Alton AR2 powered by a Holden straight six driven by Henry Ooterbaan, the race was won by Andy Jones driving his father Ian’s Lotus 59.

Thornton, March, Glover, Lola, Lyons, Hesketh, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

If the first Derek Bell Trophy race disappointed because of it’s premature end, the second made up for it by the bucket load. With Micheal Lyons Lola rendered hors d’combat by it’s gearbox Micheal’s father Frank stepped aside to let his son race the family Hesketh 308E with which he started from the back of the grid. For the first 5 laps Neil Glover driving the #10 Lola T300/332 kept Greg Thornton in the #32 March 761 at bay by which time Micheal Lyons joined the fun. Greg on the left is seen above about to over take Neil in the Lola while Micheal on the right is about to pass on the outside on lap six. On the following lap Micheal got past Greg to take a comfortable win. Afterwards I was left wondering what Micheal might have achieved in his Mum Judy’s Surtees TS9.

Challis, Petty, de la Roche, Smith Buckler, Monro, Cooper, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

Steve Jones won the 500cc / 30.5 cui Formula 3 race in his Cooper, above the #7 Petty of Nigel Challis leads the #65 Smith Buckler of Richard de la Roche and #89 Cooper Mk 4 of Shirley Monro in the squable for 10th place, Challis finished the race ahead of Monro and de la Roche.

Yarwood Ladybird Mk6B, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

John Harrison led the Classic Clubmans race from lights to flag, above the #77 Ladybird Mk6B driven by Bob Yarwood was built by Oulton Park legend Derek Walker, who is credited with winning more races than anyone else at Oulton Park. Derek received a special award for his achievement during the meeting.

Arculus, Lotus Elite, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

As the sun atarted to set the final race of the day was FISCAR Team Handicap race for sports cars built in the 1950’s was won by Brian Arculus in the #71 Lotus Elite.

After a quick sausage and chips washed down by a strong cup of tea it was time to head the 175 miles into the evening with the heavy bank holiday weekend traffic listening to Radio 2 which was celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the release of Dark Side Of The Moon.

Thanks for joining me on this “60th Anniversary” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again for Americana Thursday tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a 1958 racing Corvette. Don’t forget to come back now !

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