The title of the CSCC Silverstone GP Winter Warm-Up accurately described the expected weather conditions in Northamptonshire/Buckinghamshire at the end of February – bitterly cold. Despite this, the opportunity to race on the rarely available 3.66-mile Grand Prix circuit appealed to the more adventurous and race-hungry members, resulting in a fantastic turnout of 171 entries (almost 50 double-driven in the four 40-minute pitstop races alone). This gave over 200 drivers a taste of what it’s like to race in the domain of Max Verstappen or Lewis Hamilton. The club’s decision to begin its 20th anniversary season three days before the start of meteorological spring was doubly validated by the enthusiastic support of loyal marshals.
The sun was setting over the Becketts flick-flack, casting a glinting light down the Wellington straight as the Lanyon brothers’ Caterham Superlight R took to the track first in qualifying. The Gold Arts Magnificent Sevens brigade, along with the WOSP New Millennium and Verum Builders Open Series contenders, combined for their preliminaries, putting a total of 50 cars out on the track in preparation for twin 20-minute sprint races. Rupert Gollin was relieved to see his son Josh’s Caterham running, having rebuilt its Vauxhall engine that had overheated during testing at Donington just five days earlier. Gollin Sr. praised Radtec’s efficiency in making a new radiator in record time, despite the engine being in pieces at 10.30 the night before.
After the four qualifying sessions, the 17 Sevens were first to start, with Jonny Pittard’s forced induction CSRs (2.5-litre supercharged) and Luke Stevens’ 1600cc turbo project (in David Holroyd’s car) on the front row, a mere 0.352s apart. Pittard’s pole shot of 2:14.889s represented an average of 97.67mph.
Unfortunately, drama struck during the rolling start as the field approached Copse, resulting in three drivers being eliminated on the spot, with Tim Woodman’s car suffering significant damage to the front corner. A safety car was deployed to clear the track, after which Jonny Pittard and Luke Stevens battled for the lead. In the end, Jonny emerged victorious, crossing the finish line 0.092s ahead of Luke, a past European champion whose best lap was 2:12.098s (99.75mph).
In the second race, Luke Stevens’ car had been sold, leaving Jonny Pittard to race against the clock. Despite this, he won by almost 37 seconds. As in the morning race, Richard Carter (2.0 R300) had to overtake the faster-starting Jonathan Edwards (2.3 C400) to regain his practice advantage and claim class G, this time from second overall. Chris Mayhew (2.0 C400), who had converted from motorcycle racing, dominated class F and finished fifth in the afternoon race, managing to improve his best lap time by 1.4 seconds while relentlessly chasing Bruce Wilson (2.3 CSR Superlight) to the finish line. In the first race, Gollin had been pipped by Jolyon Kemp (2.0 420R), but he managed to reverse their order in the later race, securing his second win of the day.
The WOSP New Millennium/Verum Builders Open race saw Dominic Malone’s BMW M3 E90 WTCC, which was previously owned by Andy Priaulx, sitting on pole position. However, David Harvey’s supercharged Lotus 340R and Malone’s Amspeed teammate Mark Smith in his M3 E36 Evo were both close behind, within 0.397 seconds of Malone’s 2:16.253s (96.71mph) lap time, indicating a promising race ahead. Other M3s, including those driven by Chris Murphy (4.0 Woodrow E46 GTR V8), James Collins, pro driver Nigel Greensall (E46), and Dave Griffin (E90), all qualified under 2:20 and were closely matched, with ‘SuperSerb’ Dylan Popovic’s Ginetta G50, powered by a seven-litre Chevrolet V8, splitting them.
The much-anticipated battle for the lead failed to materialize due to a Code 60 intervention that gave Harvey’s impressive Lotus 340R a significant lead of 34 seconds in just two laps, which later stretched to 55 seconds after three laps. Although Harvey was hit with a 20-second infringement penalty, he still managed to win with a 32-second lead. Meanwhile, Murphy’s impressive E46 GTR V8 started closing in on Malone’s M3, but Murphy was ultimately spared from engineering a pass as Malone’s engine shut down at Abbey on the final lap. Malone shrugged and attributed the issue to running out of fuel, but Amspeed technicians suspected an electrical problem.
Popovic secured the third spot on the Open podium, leaving Smith and Griffin to duel for the New Mil class, while being chased by Greensall, who set the NM2 class pole time, and was flying in Collins’ bottle-green BMW. Although Malone managed to get the fastest lap in 2:16.283s (96.69mph), it was not enough to win the race. Murphy and Greensall came very close to his time. Smith and Collins/Greensall won their respective classes, while the top 10 was completed by the M3 E36s of Alex Haynes and Ashley Muldoon and class victors Mark Lee (Ginetta G55) and Adam Brown/Danny Cassar in Nigel Ainge’s 2.4-litre Honda Integra Type R. Warren Allen (Porsche Cayman S) was also able to finish on the lead lap.
Popovic secured the third spot on the Open podium, leaving Smith and Griffin to duel for the New Mil class, while being chased by Greensall, who set the NM2 class pole time, and was flying in Collins’ bottle-green BMW. Although Malone managed to get the fastest lap in 2:16.283s (96.69mph), it was not enough to win the race. Murphy and Greensall came very close to his time. Smith and Collins/Greensall won their respective classes, while the top 10 was completed by the M3 E36s of Alex Haynes and Ashley Muldoon and class victors Mark Lee (Ginetta G55) and Adam Brown/Danny Cassar in Nigel Ainge’s 2.4-litre Honda Integra Type R. Warren Allen (Porsche Cayman S) was also able to finish on the lead lap.
Qualifying for the Co-OrdSport Tin Tops, Lohen Turbo Tin Tops, and Puma Cup saw a massive 52-car field take to the track, with 46 cars making it to the start of the race. Danny Cassar, who had previously driven the larger-engined red and white Hillwood Motors Honda Integra, switched to the turquoise-detailed two-liter version and secured pole position with a stunning lap time of 2m:20.919s (93.51mph). Cassar had a substantial lead of 5.547s over Patel, but with Manoj’s silver Civic experiencing issues, Phiroze Bilimoria (VW Scirocco) and last year’s Donington standout, Russell Hird (Integra), joined the fray alongside James Slater (Civic).
Danny Cassar dominated the race from the start, despite a close call with a tailender at the end of the Vale. Russell Hird initially gave chase with Adam Brown in pursuit, but eventually fell behind. James Slater, Phiroze Bilimoria, and Carl Chambers worked together to catch up, but Cassar had already pulled away. “It took a while for the tires to come in, then I decided to crack on,” Cassar said after setting his best lap in the fourth round. Slater finished a minute and 10 seconds behind Cassar but was penalized 34.64s for rejoining too soon after his pitstop, dropping him to fourth behind Turbo winner Bilimoria and Hird, whom he passed after the stops.
Adam Brown claimed fifth place and won his TT, improving his qualifying time by 1.3s. John Wyatt’s gold MINI Cooper S R56 finished second in class, overtaking Carl Chambers who retired after 13 laps. Mark Carey’s Integra DC5 finished seventh overall after completing the full 17-lap distance. In a separate group, Lee Briscall and David Marson won their classes in a Renault Clio 182 and Fiat Abarth 500, respectively. Cade Banks and David Bellamy also won from P2 starts in their Clio 172 and Peugeot 106 GTi, respectively. Luke Johnson was the best-placed Puma Cup driver, followed by Jon Glover and Gareth Cotgrove. Daniel Barber won the Mazda RX-8 class after his rival Jack Hordley retired. A range of interesting cars, including Adrian Matthews’ Volvo C30 and the Ford Focus ST225 of Colin and Ian Gunton, competed in the race but did not finish. Robert Chittock’s Polizia-liveried Alfa Romeo 147 retired after only four laps.
This race featured a field of 41 racers, including Ryan Mone, a regular frontrunner in the Future class who unfortunately fell out of qualifying due to contact with a friend. Alex Taylor managed to secure pole position in his five-litre TVR Tuscan Challenge, despite a minor incident with Matt Spark’s Porsche 911 GT3 during qualifying. Tony Blake and Patrick Scharfegger followed in the second row, with Richard Harman and Roger Hamilton close behind. Other notable racers included Hugh Gurney, Darren Clayden, Graeme Smith, and James Palmer/Simon Horrobin.
During the race, Blake accidentally bumped into Taylor’s TVR, causing damage to the front of his own car and forcing him to retire. Spark, who suffered from an audible misfire, was unable to keep up with Taylor and eventually received a one-minute penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Taylor won the race by almost 50 seconds, with Spark ultimately finishing second after expunging the penalty. Harman came in third, followed by Hamilton in fourth. All four racers won their respective classes.
David Whelan/Aidan Farrell finished fifth, with Geoff Beale’s Talbot Sunbeam Lotus charging up from 15th on the grid to earn class gold. Purdue Tom Barley also overtook Scharfegger’s Porsche to win his class in his BMW M3 E36. Clayden and Richard Hayes completed the top 10, with Hayes forced to retire due to a collision with James Neal’s Porsche 964 during a heated duel at The Loop. Martin Reynolds’ Ford Mustang Mach 1 was already out of the race due to electrical issues. Palmer/Horrobin and Joshua Smith won multi-car Future classes.
Credit to David Stallard for all the official photography, which can be viewed and purchased here.
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