The Gerry Marshall Trophy, which kicked off at 2:45pm, catered for 1970-’82 saloon racers. The field was made up predominantly of Rover SD1s, Triumph Dolomite Sprints and Ford Capris, but there was also a smattering of Chevrolet Camaros, Mazda RX-7s, Alfa Romeo GTVs and even a Volkswagen Golf to add diversity. Qualifying for the race had taken place in the morning and proved a strain on the cars (many of which hadn’t raced in years). The result was a session filled with the smoke of locking tyres, burning clutches and cooking brakes, with the contents of one Dolly’s engine exiting its exhaust down the home straight!
The race grid was down on numbers as a result, but what remained were the battle-hardened contenders, with the 1978 Ford Capri 3.0S of Emanuele Pirro on pole and the 1980 Rover 3500 SD1 of Tim Scott-Andrews alongside. Disaster struck early for Pirro’s Capri as its starter failed, forcing it to start from the pitlane and offering a clean run for the JD Classics Capri and Nigel Garrett Camaro, both directly behind. All was not lost, though – with the five-times Le Mans-winner at the wheel, the crowd had high hopes.
As the starter’s flag dropped, Scott-Andrews’ Capri took an early lead, with Paul Pochiol finding the grass, closely followed by Alex Elliott’s BMW 3.0 Si at St Marys. By lap two the screaming Patrick Motorsport-liveried SD1 of Chris Ward had the lead, but the crowd was gripped by the action at the back of the grid where Emanuele Pirro’s red Capri was storming through the field. From dead last, Pirro had steered the Ford to ninth by the second lap and only two tours later he was in third behind the Mini of Nick Swift and the Ward Rover. In the dying seconds, a back-marker’s Rover pushed a frustrated Swift onto the grass down Lavant straight, allowing Pirro the space to charge into second behind the assured Ward at the chequer.
The Threlfall Cup
A field of 30 Formula Juniors, all of a type that raced between 1958 and 1960 formed an impressive grid of Elvas, Geminis and Bonds, while the aerodynamic Lolas hinted at Formula 1 cars in miniature. Most eye-catching were boxy U2-Ford Mk2s, which had been built by Major Arthur Mallock in 1960. Both had a homemade cheer that proved popular with the crowd, and that #32 was piloted by Mallock’s son, endurance racer and team owner Ray, only added to the competition.
The U2-Fords were a dominant force in period, and quickly took the lead with Will Mitcham storming ahead of Mallock’s 1962 car. The race was far from a foregone conclusion, with a multi-car crash caused early on involving Andrew Tart’s Bond-Ford, Michael Gans’ Stanguellini-Fiat and several others, while Justin Fleming’s 1960 Lola-Ford Mk2 sounded ill from the off. Fastest laps were posted by Mallock and then Mitcham, of 1 min 30.489 secs and 1 min 29 secs respectively.
The battle for third was between the Lola-Fords of Chris Goodwin and Simon Goodliff, the later eventually taking the spoils despite the best efforts of the hard-charging Barrie ‘Whizzo’ Williams.
The Moss Trophy
