Racing and Competition

Not strictly a British car event, this will still be of interest to those loving classic cars.  The Endurance Rally Association (ERA) has launched an exciting new addition to its 2017 calendar. The Baltic Classic is a two-week rallying adventure which starts in Copenhagen on Sunday 28th May 2017. The route takes in Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland before finishing in Berlin on Saturday 10th June. Open to both Vintage and Classic cars, the event loops around and across the beautiful Baltic Sea and will see plenty of gravel driving and exciting forest sections on roads made famous by events such as the Rally of the Thousand Lakes and Rally Estonia. ERA Rally Director Fred Gallagher explains: “The Baltic Classic is aimed at both newcomers to long distance historic rallying as well as experienced ERA competitors. The route […]

The duo of Julian Thomas and Calum Lockie took their second consecutive race victory in the Jaguar Classic Challenge by a mere two-tenths of a second in the International Trophy at Silverstone over the weekend. After the morning’s qualifying session, Thomas and Lockie were in a strong position ahead of the afternoon race and put their low drag Jaguar E-type on pole – their second of the 2016 campaign. Just like the last round at Donington, adverse weather added an extra dose of complexity to the race. From the green light, Lockie surged ahead closely followed by Robert Dickinson, Martin Stretton and John Pearson. The lead changed hands on several occasions throughout the first stint before the compulsory one-minute driver change/pit stop. Once Lockie swapped with Thomas after 20 minutes, the duo has maintained their lead out front and were […]

‘Racing improves the breed’ is an overused and often abused saying, but is totally apt when it comes to a number of products offered by British Motor Heritage (BMH). So, in addition the company’s long-established range of original specification replacement bodyshells and panels, a host of specialist items is also now offered by this versatile supplier, including: Competition parts for the MGB BMH’s managing director John Yea has now been successfully campaigning the company’s FIA specification MGB in a variety of high-profile historic race series for some nine years. His first-hand experience of ‘Britain’s favourite sportscar’ on the track has directly resulted in the following being made available from BMH: 4.1:1 crown wheel and pinion Close ratio gear set for ‘4-synchro’ transmissions Alloy door and boot-lid skins FIA specification alloy front valance Seam-welded replacement bodyshells Bespoke bodyshells featuring full-range of […]

McLaren GT Factory Driver Alvaro Parente scored a double top-10 finish at the wheel of the K-PAX Racing 650S GT3 this weekend in the Pirelli World Challenge double-header at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. The results keep the Portuguese driver in the battle for the championship as the season now heads to Lime Rock Park in Connecticut. In Europe, fellow Factory Driver Côme Ledogar secured pole position and a podium on his championship debut as the 650S GT3 enjoyed more success at the second round of the 2016 International GT Open at Spa Francorchamps with customer team Garage 59. Parente rejoined customer team K-PAX Racing as he continued his title challenge in the 8th and 9th races of the 2016 Pirelli World Challenge season. At the historic 3.9-km Ontario-based circuit – which is notoriously difficult to overtake on – Parente qualified […]

On Thursday 19 May, the Royal Automobile Club hosted ‘A Salute to Women in Motor Sport’ dinner, celebrating the achievements of women across the whole spectrum of the sport and the motor sport industry. The evening was hosted by Louise Goodman, award-winning TV presenter and journalist with over 20 years in the motor sport industry who went around the room and spoke to 15 different women involved in the motor sport business. Some of the inspiring special guests and attendees included Claire Williams, who brought along nine members of the Williams Martini Racing Formula 1 team, from technical, engineering and other areas of the business. Sir Stirling and Lady Susie Moss came to show their support, along with the Secretary of the BRDC, Gillian Carr. Keeping it all in the family, there were two pairs of sisters in attendance; historic […]

Visitors to Concours of Elegance 2016 – held at Windsor Castle from 2-4 September –  will have the unique opportunity to see four of the remaining 1926 British Grand Prix cars in one place. In a celebration of Her Majesty The Queen’s 90th birthday, the historic racing cars will be joined by a revolutionary British car from each decade of Her Majesty’s life. Organised by the Royal Automobile Club, the very first British Grand Prix took place at Brooklands Motor Circuit, Surrey, in the year of Her Majesty The Queen’s birth, 1926. A total of 11 cars took part, with just three finishing the race, and Concours of Elegance 2016 will mark the first time that this many competitors have gathered since the race 90 years ago.

JD Classics’ legendary ex-Fangio C-Type took victory at the Monaco Historique over the weekend, cementing its place as one of the most consistently successful historic racing cars in current competition. This latest win marks its 24th award in 27 races. JD Classics’ in-house racing driver, Chris Ward, took the wheel for qualifying in what was his very first time racing at Monaco. Ward put in an incredible lap that put him in pole position around two seconds ahead of the nearest competitor.

The #58 650S GT3 of customer team Garage 59 finished P6 in the second round of the Blancpain Endurance Cup at Silverstone to maintain Factory Driver Rob Bell’s Blancpain GT Series title hopes with six rounds remaining. There was further success for the 650S GT3 in Italy as customer team FFF Racing Team by ACM finished P2 in the inaugural round of the Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup at Imola. Bell and fellow Factory Drivers Côme Ledogar and Shane Van Gisbergen started the three-hour race at Silverstone P12 after an extremely tight Qualifying session earlier in the day, before fighting through the field during the race to set up a close battle to the finish. Bell started in the #58 Garage 59 McLaren 650S GT3 and in a similar fashion to his performance at Monza made up a lot of […]

Aston Martin Racing has qualified in pole position in the GTE Am class, with both GTE Pro entries also poised for a strong showing at the second round of the FIA World Endurance Championship; the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. Driven by Pedro Lamy (P) and Paul Dalla Lana (C), the #98 V8 Vantage GTE took the GTE Am pole with an average time of 2m20.351. After strong performances throughout all three practice sessions, their qualifying time was a full 1.851 seconds ahead of their nearest rival.

And now for something completely different … our video this week was only filmed a little over a week ago. What we have here is footage from the Walter Mitty Challenge by Classic Motorsports, April 23rd, 2016. Take ia ride in a Royale RP-4 with pro driver Elliot Forbes Robinson, around Road Atlanta’s 2.54 mile, 12 turn track. The onboard camera was mounted on the Royale RP-4 owned by our friend Gordon King. This footage is from the Group 3 Feature Race. The black and red RP-4 is Cliff Berry of Team Mean and the blue Lotus 23b is piloted by Doc Bundy of Team Regogo. Great driving by all.   This on Royale and the car from Gordon … Royale was a small race car builder in the 1960’s in England. Owned by Bill King. He built very successful Formula Fords […]

The first race of the second season of the Jaguar Classic Challenge opened in dramatic style with the pair of Julian Thomas and Calum Lockie taking the chequered flag. The season opener at the Donington Historic Festival began in perfect conditions with bright sunshine and a warm track in the morning qualifying. Julian Thomas topped the time sheets in his E-type from Joaquin Folch-Rusinol joining him on the front row and Martin Stretton third fastest, both in E-types.

Bentley Motorsport has continued its strong start to the 2016 Blancpain GT Series race with a third-place finish in Monza, Italy. The #8 Continental GT3, of Andy Soucek (ES), Maxime Soulet (BE) and latest Bentley Boy to join the team, Wolfgang Reip (BE), took the car’s second podium of the year so far. After making up five positions in the opening lap, the car #8 team drove flawlessly to take a further 15 points towards the overall championship. In the identical Bentley Team M-Sport sister car, drivers Guy Smith (GB), Vince Abril (MO) and Steven Kane (GB) charged through the pack to make up for their issues in qualifying. After climbing 28 places, however, the car #7 Bentley Boys took a drive-through penalty and had to settle for 14th. “The team did a fantastic job to get a podium this […]

On a busy weekend on both sides of the Atlantic for McLaren, Factory Driver Alvaro Parente starred in the 650S GT3, securing pole position and winning in his first appearance at Long Beach in the Pirelli World Challenge. Closer to home, the 650S GT3 and 570S GT4 – the latter making its competitive global debut – both scored points in the British GT Championship, finishing P7 and P5 in the respective classes at Brands Hatch, UK. Stateside, Parente put the #9 K-PAX Racing 650S GT3 on pole with a 1m18.947s tour of the two-mile Californian street circuit – a new qualifying lap record for the series. In the race, Parente held the lead from the start in what turned out to be a heavily interrupted affair, which saw two lengthy safety car periods limit the amount of competitive laps. On the […]

Aston Martin Racing has taken a double podium finish at this weekend’s 6 Hours of Silverstone, as the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) gets underway. The #95 GTE Pro trio of Darren Turner (GB), Marco Sørensen (DN) and Nicki Thiim (DN) enjoyed a positive afternoon at the British round of the WEC. With each driver double stinting, the #95 entry enjoyed trouble free running to achieve a strong haul of points at this early stage in the championship. Turner commented, “That was a huge change from yesterday and after starting the race in the #95 I had a good two hours in the car. The car ran perfectly and I’m both happy and encouraged by the performance of our new Dunlop tyres. With the strategy working in our favour and Nicki, Marco and I all avoiding trouble on the track, […]

Racing is in Aston Martin’s blood. From outright victory at Le Mans 24 Hours in 1959, to countless race wins in GT3 and GT4 categories and a continued race and title-winning form in the production-based GTE category of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), Aston Martin is proud to be at the forefront of GT racing. All Aston Martin road cars possess some of that sporting DNA, but the luxury brand’s most extreme models draw directly from that knowledge and passion to deliver something altogether more overt in looks and ability. The new Vantage GT8 is just that. Director of Special Projects and Motorsport, David King said: “We long held the desire to create a road car that truly reflects our racing activity at Le Mans. With the Vantage GT8, we’ve finally been able to achieve that. By focusing on […]

On the eve of the 2016 World Endurance Championship opener at Silverstone, Aston Martin Racing has unveiled a bespoke selection of wings for the Vantage GTE in celebration of the premiere endurance series. Every Vantage produced for the road or race track is crafted by hand and the wings that adorn each model make no exception. Commissioned by the British marque’s personalisation service ‘Q by Aston Martin’, the collection has been created by a highly accomplished and talented workforce based in Birmingham’s famous Jewellery Quarter. Each of these unique pieces celebrate each of the rounds of this year’s championship. With the series to commence with the 6 Hours of Silverstone, all three V8 Vantage GTE entries will be treated to a union flag inspired piece. Alternative designs of the iconic wings logo will be proudly displayed for the following eight […]

MINI UK is proud to announce British racing driver, Charlie Butler-Henderson, 37, as a new brand ambassador. 2016 will represent the first time Butler-Henderson competes as a MINI ambassador but he is in no way new to the track. He has driven in the British Touring Car Championship, MINI CHALLENGE 2015, Ginetta G50 Cup and the Trofeo Abarth 500 Great Britain. Butler-Henderson has racing in his blood, coming from a long line of motorsport heritage. His father, Guy, was a member of the British karting team; his Grandfather, Lionel, raced cars for racing legend Fraser Nash, and his sister Vicki, TV presenter on 5th gear and Top Gear, is known as the first woman to win a Maserati race at age 30 in the Maserati Trofeo support race at the British F1 GP in 2002. Butler-Henderson joins the MINI racing […]

The McLaren 650S GT3 began its 2016 European campaign in the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup opener at Misano, Italy with a double points finish. Despite tricky conditions throughout, Factory Drivers Rob Bell and Alvaro Parente scored valuable points in both races of the weekend and showed impressive pace during qualifying in the #58 McLaren 650S GT3, run by new customer team Garage 59. Bell and Parente were consistently quick throughout the two free practice sessions on Friday and this form continued into qualifying. The pair steered the car into the Q3 shootout session before Parente set a 1m 33.277s lap to place his McLaren 650S GT3 second on the grid; just 0.015s off the pole-sitter. The hour-long Qualifying Race – run under floodlights on Saturday evening – was held with the track damp at the start following a downpour […]