Tag Archives: Williams

AWDC Britpart Safari Championship R7 – Walters Arena, Neath

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Last October I popped across the Severn Bridge to visit Walters Arena, Neath a disused quarry, for the 7th round of the All Wheel Drive Club (AWDC) Britpart Safari Championship, due to a number of circumstances immediately after the event I managed to loose my camera’s memory card before I had down loaded the images somewhere between Neath, London and Bristol which were my next ports of call in the following 24 hours. Last weekend the memory card turned up so here is my belated blog.

Land Rover Tomcat, Rob Bool, Walters Arena, Neath

I was alerted to the AWDC Britpart Safari Championship at last years Castle Combe Rally Day where several competitors gave impressive demonstrations on a make shift off road course. Above the Land Rover Tomcat of Rob Bool is seen on his way to a second place finish in class.

MG Metro 6R4, Ivan Dudley, Walters Arena, Neath

I believe Ivan Dudley has built several space frame MG miniMetro 6R4’s with BMW M3 engines for different off road competitions, he is seen above on his way to a 14th place overall finish.

Mitsubishi Milner, Colin Davies, Walters Arena, Neath

There are several chassis manufacturers I have not heard of before I believe the vague interpretation of a Mitsubishi Pick Up above sits on a Milner chassis built in Derbyshire which could be powered by any number of motors different motors including, 5 litre / 302 cui Ford Coyote or BMW M3 to name a few, Colin Davies is seen above on his way to a 10th place finish overall.

Land Rover Milner Evoque, Wyn Williams, Walters Arena, Neath

The Range Rover Evoque likeness above driven by Wyn Williams to a 4th place finish overall also sits on a Milner chassis.

Peugeot Simbugini, Oliver Arnold, Walters Arena, Neath

Oliver Arnold is seen above heading for a 3rd place finish in his Peugeot 206 likeness I have no idea what kind of chassis the car has, if you know please do not hesitate ti chip in below.

Mitsubishi Milner R5, Chris Bird, Mitsubishi Milner, Chris Bird, Britcar Safari Championship R7, Walters Arena, Neath

Chris and co driver John Bird are seen above on their way to a win in their Mitsubishi Milner V8 after recovering from a stop on the opening stage.

Two participants were taken to hospital with non life threatening injuries from the event, emphasising how tough a discipline the AWDC Safari Championship is, details of this years series which kicked off on March 20th can be found on this link.

Thanks for joining me on this “AWDC Britpart Safari Championship R7” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at the last in the current series of Camaro’s. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Layout By Committee – Hardy Special III

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Having built a Riley based special Dick Hardy undertook his work on his second special in 1955 starting with a 1921 GN chassis he found under a pile of rubble at Micheal Meo’s garage in Hamstead around 1953.

Inspired by pre war Auto Unions Dick fitted a supercharged 1928 JAP twin engine, that he bought in 1954, behind the drivers seat in the Hardy Special II.

Hardy Special II, Rachel Williams, Chateau Impney

The Hardy Special II was quick but the period engines were weak, today the Hardy Special II is owned by the Gray family who still compete with it.

The VSCC committee appears to have refused to let Dick build another rear engined special, no doubt for fear of too many others being encourage to build similar vehicles and so the Hardy Special III came to be built with the engine in the front.

Hardy Special II, Rachel Williams, Chateau Impney

I gather Dick did not begin work on the Hardy Special III until he was already in his seventies around 2001.

He started by fitting the steering gear from a three wheel van to a 1922 GN chassis with 1932 Morgan front suspension.

Hardy Special II, Rachel Williams, Chateau Impney

Dick again chose a super charged motor for his third special, but this time a 1096cc / 66.8 cui V twin JAP KTOR.

Rachel Williams is seen at the wheel of the Hardy Special III in these photographs at Chateau Impney last year.

Hardy Special II, Rachel Williams, Chateau Impney

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

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4th Autumn Classic – Castle Combe

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Last Saturday saw the 4th action packed Autumn Classic at Castle Combe which saw large numbers of fans entertained with nine races and several demonstrations most notable for this observer of which were a pair of BRM P160’s from 1972 and a 1973 which regaled the Wiltshire countryside with the awesome sound of a couple of unsilenced V12’s.

Frazer Nash Super Sports, Patrick Blakeney-Edwards, Castle Combe

Patrick Blakeney-Edwards had a moderately successful day as a driver, above he is seen scampering away from a delightfully varied field to win the VSCC Sports Car Race aboard his Frazer Nash Super Sports.

Jaguar Mk 1, Williams, Butterfield, Dorlin, Castle Combe

The JEC Norman Dewis Trophy for Pre 66 Jaguars was won by Martin Hunt driving a Blakeney Motorsports prepared E-type Jaguar while one of the most entertaining battles of the day was fought by Grant Williams and Richard Butterfield both in Mk 1 Jaguars and Peter Dorlin in his Mk2 after Andy Wallace also in a Mk2 retired from third at the half way stage, Grant hung on to finish first saloon home in the #12 seen above.

Austin Healey 3000 Mk1, David Grace, Castle Combe

David Grace driving the #17 Austin Healey 3000 Mk1 won the first of the two Healey Driver International Challenge 25th Anniversary races from second on the grid beating pole sitting white and blue #46 driven by Healey Specialists Bill and Jack Rawles by just under 4 seconds.

Cooper Bristol T24/25, John Ure, Castle Combe

Steve Brooks starting from third on the grid in the #34 Aston Martin DB3S is seen above about to go into the lead on the opening lap of the Fiscar Historic Intermarque race, he looked set for a win until the race had to be called on lap 12, before the compulsory pit stops had cycled through, which meant Stephen Bond in the #95 Lister Bristol starting from 8th on the grid was declared the winner after an accident involving three cars without injury to the drivers blocked the track at Quarry.

Staride Mk3. Xavier Kingsland, Castle Combe

Andrew Turner in the white and red #2 Cooper Mk VI led the opening 8 laps of the BAC Motor Sports Club Challenge for F3 500’s race from 3rd on the grid until he was caught and passed by Xavier Kingsland in the silver Staride Mk 3 two laps from home, pole sitter Darryl Woods in the Cooper Mk XII kept the two race leaders honest and finished 3rd just less than 1 second behind the winner !

Ford Falcon, Chris Clarkson, Castle Combe

Michael Squire easily won the HSCC/HRSR Historic Touring Cars race from pole driving a flame spitting Ford Mustang, but second place finisher Chris Clarkson had a very busy time keeping eventual third place finisher Chris Saunders in the white #77 Ford Cortina and Bob Bullen in the yellow #69 Ford Anglia behind.

Lotus 20/22, Jack Woodhouse, Castle Combe

Jack Woodhouse made a great start from 2nd to lead the opening 9 laps of the FJHRA/HSCC Millers Oils Formula Junior race in the white #84 Lotus 20/22 before yielding to the faster #53 Lotus 20/22 driven by 3rd place starter Sam Wilson seen in third place at Quarry above. Sam however tripped up behind a back marker on the final lap to let Jack back into the lead which was just .2 of a second over Sam at the finish line.

Elva Courier Mk4T. Sean Kukula, Castle Combe,

Having been unlucky in the Fiscar Historic Intermarque race Stephen Brooks easily won the Jon Gross Memorial race in his DB3S leaving Sean Kukula and Jonathon Loader to squable over second place in their #149 and #46 Elva Courier Mk4T’s respectively, Sean won the Elva battle which was fittingly once raced by American Jon Goss.

Austin Healey Sebring, Richard Woolmer, Castle Combe,

Finally the Healey’s came out for a second race which again provided plenty of thrills with third place starter Marc Campfield making the running for the opening 8 laps until his car ground to a halt which left pole man David Grace to claim a 4.5 second victory over the Healey 3000 shared by 5th place starters Jack and Oliver Chatham, above as in the first race the Healey Sebring of Sprites of Richard Woolmer #38 and Gordon Elwell #33 kept spectators entertained further down the field on their way to 9th and 10th place finishes less than 2 seconds apart.

Thanks for joining me on this “4th Autumn Classic” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a six cylinder Plymouth. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Emergent Red Five – Williams Honda FW10

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1984 saw Williams struggle with the new Honda V6 turbo engine that had plenty of power but a very short power band meaning that it delivered all of it’s power in a sudden burst at the top end of the revolutions per minute (rpm) range rather than a preferable smooth increase in power delivery from the top half of the rpm range, all the same Keke Rosberg managed to win the 1984 Dallas Grand Prix.

Allied to this the old fashioned aluminium honeycomb construction method was no longer the stiffest solution to chassis construction, which McLaren had advanced with it’s Hercules built carbon fiber chassis in 1981.

Williams Honda FW10, Donington Park Museum

For 1985 the Didcot based Williams team built the Patrick Head and Enrique Scalabroni designed FW10 with a Carbon Fiber monocoque, Nigel Mansell was signed up to drive the “Red 5” and join 1983 champion Keke Rosberg and seven years of Saudi Airlines and TAG sponsorship came to an end with Mobil and Cannon joining Denim and ICI as the teams primary sponsors.

For the first third of the 1985 season the team had to make do with the same Honda RA163E engines as in 1984 and their best result was a 4th place for Keke Rosberg in the Canadian Grand Prix.

Williams Honda FW10, Donington Park Museum

For the following Detroit Grand Prix Honda supplied Williams with a completely new RA165E V6 that was not only more powerful, 900hp in race trim, but more importantly delivered it’s power in a more tractable way.

After Nigel used the engine to qualify second to Ayrton Senna, Keke celebrated the new power unit’s arrival with a debut win at Detroit from 5th on the grid and finished second in France where Nigel did not start after a 200 mph crash.

Williams Honda FW10, Donington Park Museum

Reliability was not great over the next few races, but then Honda hit the sweet spot with it’s tuning and Nigel finished 2nd from 7th on the grid in Belgium where Keke finished 4th from 10th.

At Brands Hatch for the European Grand Prix Nigel and Keke were 3rd and 4th on the grid before Nigel, driving a “Red 5” FW10 like the one seen above at Donington Park Museum, went on to score a popular maiden win two spots ahead of Keke, at the next race Keke finished second to Nigel in the South African Grand Prix where the cars started line astern from pole and third place respectively. Nigel and Keke started 2nd and 3rd at the season ending Australian Grand Prix, but only Keke crossed the finish line albeit in first place, on his final start for the Williams team.

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

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Tyre Contract For Sale – Spirit Cosworth 101D

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There is no room for sentimentality in sport even if one has designed a triple Indy 500 winning Indy Car and a car that has secured one constructors World Championship and two world drivers championships after 4 year of steady decline to the bottom of the top ten one must expect ones sponsors to either walk or agree a merger with an up and coming team.

Such was the situation Gordon Coppuck found himself in at McLaren at the end of the 1980 season when sponsors Phillip Morris agreed to fund a merger between the upstart Project Four hither to Formula Two team headed by former Brabham mechanic Ron Dennis and McLaren who had not won a race since the Japanese Grand Prix in 1977.

Part of the deal would include Ron hiring John Barnard to design a new car with a fully composite chassis leaving Gordon little alternative to seek employment else where. Gordon joined his former colleague and McLaren employee Robin Herd at March for 1982 and after a year there became a founding member of a new Formula 2 team with March Formula 2 team manager John Wickham which was funded by Philip Morris and was to be powered by potent 2 litre Honda V6 engines with Belgian Thierry Boutsen and Swede Stefan Johansson as drivers.

Thierry won three races and finished third in the 1982 F2 championship behind March BMW drivers Corrado Fabi and Johnny Cecotto but more importantly for the Spirit team they had outscored the similarly powered Ralts of Kenny Acheson and Dr Jonathon Palmer so that when Honda was deciding on which team to partner in their planned for 1983 entry into Formula One it was easy to go with Spirit.

Withdrawing completely from Formula 2, having won the championship with Geoff Lees in 1981, Honda developed it’s turbocharged 1.5 litre V6 engine while Spirit adapted one of it’s Formula 2 chassis to take the engine while simultaneously working on today’s featured design the 101 from scratch.

Spirit Cosworth 101D, Mark Williams, Silverstone Classic,

Spirit entered a limited programme of six races mid way through the 1983 season and Stefan Johansson managed to qualify the adapted Formula 2 201 and later 201C for all the races entered retiring from three of them and finishing a season best 7th in Holland. The 101 was ready for the last two of this programme but was left unraced.

For 1984 the team had hoped to retain the Honda Engines and attract 1972 and 1974 World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi out of retirement, but Honda decided to go with the more established Williams team who had the slightly younger 1982 World Champion Keke Rosberg already on their books.

Wickham and Coppuck wasted little time and did a deal to run the 4 cylinder turbocharged Hart 415T engines, that had hitherto been developed exclusively with Toleman since 1980 and Spirit adapted the unraced 101 in time for Emerson to test before the season got underway.

Emerson decided that this was not what he really wanted and so Mauro Baldi was entered for the first six races of the season scoring 8th places finishes in South Africa and San Marino before Huub Rothengatter was entered for the next eight races. With Hart motors in short supply Huub failed to qualify with a Cosworth DFV installed in Detroit but finished a best 8th in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza on his final start in the car.

Mauro returned to the seat for the final two races of the 1984 season finishing 8th in the European Grand Prix at Brands Hatch.

For 1985 Mauro was retained to drive the 101, now in D spec with longer side pods, as was a supply of Hart engines and Pirelli tyres, which would become significant because fellow Hart powered team Toleman had switched from Pirelli to Michelin part way through the 1984 season and when Michelin withdrew from Formula One at the end of 1981 neither Goodyear or Pirelli were prepared to step in and supply tyres to the team.

Without tyres Toleman had to withdraw from the first three races of the 1985 season while Mauro could do no better than qualify 24th for the first two races of the season, after qualifying last at San Marino nearly 10 seconds off the pace and posting it’s third consecutive retirement Spirit decided to call it a day and sold their contract for a supply of Pirelli Tyres to Toleman who could do no better than post one 12th and one 14th place finish all season though Teo Fabi did qualify on pole in Germany which helped secure the teams take over by sponsor Benetton at the end of the season.

Mark Williams is seen at the wheel of the 101D powered by a Cosworth DFV motor at Silverstone Classic a couple of years ago.

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

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Aeon Springs – Hesketh 308C #308C/1

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For most of the 1975 season the dream of Lord Hesketh to run an independently funded Grand Prix team from the stables at his family pile, Easton Neston, Towcester, in Northamptonshire looked to be paying dividends which culminated with a win in the 1975 Dutch Grand Prix for James Hunt driving a Hesketh 308B.

Even as James was crossing the finishing line in Holland the finishing touches were being added to, what I believe is, today’s featured Hesketh 308C chassis #308C/1 that was built to conform to new regulations that were to be mandated from the 1976 Spanish Grand Prix onward.

Hesketh 308C, Silverstone Classic,

As well as having the increasingly popular low monocoque, a mandatory front cockpit roll over protection the 308C, conceived by Dr Harvey Postlethwaite, was notable for dispensing the the traditional springs and shock absorbers in favour of Aeon hollow rubber springs as first tried on the 308B.

James Hunt drove 308C/1 on three occasions finishing 8th from 11th on the grid in the non Championship Swiss Grand Prix, 5th form 8th on the grid in Italy and 4th from 15th on the grid at Watkins Glen in the US.

Hesketh 308C, Silverstone Classic,

A second 308C chassis was completed but during the off season Lord Hesketh had to call time and sold both 308C’s and the rights to Frank Williams who, with new backing from naturalised Canadian oil tycoon Walter Wolf, also picked up the temporarily out of work Dr Harvey Postlethwaite.

The Lord handed over the remains of his own team to his team manager Bubbles Horsley who continued running Hesketh until it folded for good in 1978 while James Hunt moved to McLaren where he achieved his ambition.

Hesketh 308C, Derek Jones, Silverstone Classic,

Despite starting the 1976 season with proven Formula One winner Jacky Ickx to drive the renamed FW05 with rookie Michele Leclere in the second car the FW05’s did not shine.

After Jacky posted a best 3rd, driving 308C/1 – FW05/1, in the non championship race of Champions and failed to qualify for four championship races he parted company with the team, who had already released Michele, after the British Grand Prix.

Hesketh 308C, Silverstone Classic,

For a few races Wolf Williams soldiered on with a solo effort for Art Mezario who failed to finish any of his six starts in the car. while

Second drivers Chris Amon, who wrote off the second 308C chassis in practice in his final Formula One appearance, Warwick Brown and Hans Binder all failed to impress in the last three races of the season.

Hesketh 308C, Derek Jones, Silverstone Classic,

At the end of 1976 Frank Williams and Walter Wolf parted ways, Frank went on to run a second hand March for Patrick Neve engineered by former Wolf man Patrick Head at Williams Grand Prix Engineering.

While Walter retained Dr Postlethwaite and hired Jody Scheckter to form Walter Wolf Racing who hit the ground running at the start of the 1977 season.

Hesketh 308C, Silverstone Classic,

#308C/1 went on to make an appearance at Brands Hatch in the 1978 Aurora AFX Series driven by John Cooper who finished 8th.

American Derek Jones, seen driving the 308C above at Silverstone, tweeted that this car was run by Simon Hadfield, who is said to have taken #308C/1 to Monaco for the Historic event earlier last year by formulajunior.com.

If you know different please do not hesitate to chip in below.

Thanks for joining me on this “Aeon Springs” 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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Aqueous Friday – Silver Jubilee Silverstone Classic

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Weather predictions have been pretty unreliable in this neck of the woods this year so when I was told that an aqueous qualifying day was predicted for the Silver Jubilee edition of the Silverstone Classic I paid little attention beyond checking my wellies and rain coat were packed.

Alexis HF1, Duncan Rabagliati, Silverstone Classic

Qualification started bearably moist as Duncan Rabagliati, driving his #7 Alexis Mk 1 and his fellow Formula Junior competitors hit the track.

Lister Chevrolet Knobbly, Roberto Giordanelli, Silverstone Classic,

As practice for the Stirling Moss Trophy came to an end I headed out to Brooklands where Roberto Giordanelli is seen kicking up a little spray aboard his Chevrolet powered Knobbly Lister.

Frazer Nash Supersports, Hall / Grant Peterkin, Silverstone Classic

As the Pre War Sports cars came out qualify for the Kidston Trophy the heavens opened up and I was caught in the wrong place in the wrong attire as Andrew Hall and Michael Grant Peterkin took turns in coming to terms with their severely under steering chain drive Frazer Nash Supersports on their way to fifth on the grid.

Jaguar E-Type, James Cottingham, Silverstone Classic,

Above James Cottingham drifts his #73 E-Type Jaguar through Club corner above on his way to second on the grid for the Tourist Trophy race.

Williams FW07C, Christophe d'Ansembourg, Silverstone Classic

Christophe d’Ansembourg entered Abbey curve backwards and is seen passing the apex at 90º to the track before recovering from the mother of all tank slappers without exceeding the track limits to qualify his Williams FW7C for the FIA Masters Historic Formula One Race 21st from 38 runners.

Audi 80 Quattro, Frank Wrathall, Silverstone Classic

With all wheel drive one might have expected Frank Wrathall to be a contender for pole in his Super Tourisieme Audi 80 Quattro however since the whole Super Touring Car qualifying session was run behind the safety car he was only awarded 13th place on the grid based on previous form.

Kurtis KK500C, Geriant Owen, Silverstone Classic

Conditions such as this would never be tolerated at Indianapolis but Geriant Owen put on a fine display of driving skill and qualified his 1954 Kurtis KK500C roadster a fine 12th for the Maserati Centenary Trophy race.

Nissan R90CK, Bob Berridge, Silverstone Classic,

Bob Berridge’s Japanese Group C spec Nissan R91CK will have been no stranger to monsoon conditions and so it was perhaps no surprise he qualified on pole for the Group C race, following in the US GTP spec #5 Spice SE90P is Steve Tandy who qualified 9th on the sadly depleted Group C grid.

Bizzarrini 5300 GT, Tim Harvey, Silverstone Classic

Roger Wills stepped down from driving his collection of cars this weekend and let Tim Harvey do the hard work, above Tim gets to grips with Rogers Bizzarini 5300GT which was awarded 7th on the grid for International Trophy for Classic GT Cars as once again the whole session had to be run behind the pace car.

Porsche 911 RSR, Mark Bates, Silverstone Classic

Mark Bates took full advantage of the tricky conditions to drift his Porsche 911 RSR to an unexpectedly high 4th on the grid amongst a gaggle of more powerful Lola T70’s and faster 2 litre / 122 cui Lola and Chevron sports racing cars on the FIA Masters Historic Sports Car grid.

Fortunately as we will see next week the rain eased off over night to make for an interesting day’s racing on Super Saturday.

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

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