Trimmer hustles Lola to Bell glory

May 6/7
Brands hero storms field with F5000 Lola while Amon shows pace but fragility in GPM encounter

The return to racing of the unique Amon F101 and the spectacle of Tony Trimmer reunited with his Lola T332 F5000 car were just two highlights of the HSCC’s 17th Brands Hatch Superprix.

Although the HGPCA fields were down a little with the Monaco Historic GP just a fortnight away, the racing lacked nothing in energy, and the Pre-61 contest was a stormer. John Clark’s impudent Cooper T43 shot ahead from the start and led for five laps but was under constant pressure from Rod Jolley (Lister-Jaguar Monzanapolis) and Tony Smith (Ferrari Dino 246).

Running a V6 2.5-litre engine in the Dino for the first time, Smith followed Jolley past the Cooper and even nipped briefly ahead on the final lap as the three cars made a fabulous spectacle. But Jolley hurled the Lister ahead once more for a fine victory.

In the Pre-66 race, Michael Schryver limbered up for Monaco by winning at a canter in his ex-John Surtees Lotus 18.

Richard Meins and Peter Dunn shared the spoils in the Lola T70-dominated WSM races. The British racers contrived to keep Carlos Barbot back in second each time out. Richard Styles raced the Spyder on Saturday — before handing it over to Dunn on Sunday — and starred with a fighting recovery drive to third after a spin. With Meins sidelined by engine problems in the second race, Dunn fought hard to work ahead of Barbot.

Chris Perkins and Mike Wrigley shared GP Masters wins as James Hanson showed the pace of the Amon but was thwarted by electrical gremlins in the car’s first

race since 1974.

Trimmer hopped into Frank Lyons’s Lola to blast clear of the Derek Bell Trophy field, with the car’s owner leading the chase in his Eagle. Other wins went to James Dodd (Saloons), Michael Hibberd (Formula Junior) and Michael Schryver/Ollie Smith in a sodden Classic Sports encounter.

Results

HGPCA Pre-61 GP Cars
1 Rod Jolley (Lister-Jaguar); 2 Tony Smith (Ferrari 246 Dino); 3 John Clark (Cooper T43). Fastest lap Richard Parnell (Walker-Climax) 1m 48.703s

HGPCA Pre-66 GP Cars
1 Michael Schryver (Lotus 18); 2 Malcolm Ricketts (Lotus 32B); 3 Alan Baillie (Cooper T73). Fastest lap Schryver 1m 40.532s

World Sportscar Masters Race
Race One
1 Richard Meins (Lola T70Mk3B); 2 Carlos Barbot (Lola T70Mk3B); 3 Richard Styles (Lola T70 Spyder). Fastest lap Styles 1m 33.798s

Race Two
1 Peter Dunn (Lola T70 Spyder); 2 Carlos Barbot (Lola T70Mk3B); 3 Paul Knapfield (Ligier JS2). Fastest lap Dunn 1m 34.373s

Grand Prix Masters
Race One
1 Chris Perkins (Surtees TS16); 2 Mike Wrigley (Hesketh 308E); 3 Frank Lyons (McLaren M26). Fastest lap Perkins 1m 32.002s

Race Two
1 Mike Wrigley (Hesketh 308E); 2 Peter Williams (March 761); 3 Peter Wuensch (March 761). Wuensch 1m 26.102s

Derek Bell Trophy
1 Tony Trimmer (Lola T332); 2 Frank Lyons (Eagle FA74); 3 Peter Dunn (March 73A). Fastest lap Trimmer 1m 26.733s

HSCC Classic F3
1 Steve Maxted (Argo JM6); 2 Keith White (Ralt RT1); 3 lain Rowley (March 793). Fastest lap White 1m 31.782s

Formula Junior
1 Michael Hibberd (Lotus 27); 2 Matthew Watts (Brabham BT6); 3 Steve Smith (Cooper T59). Fastest lap Hibberd 1m 43.678s