Friday's Ferrari

This is a photograph that I took of one of the F1 Ferraris that took part in a series of demonstration runs at the Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Donington Park in June 2003.

It's a Ferrari 412 T2, one of the cars that contested the 1995 Grand Prix season in the hands of Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger. The World Championship was won that season by Michael Schumacher in a Renault powered Benetton B195 with Jean Alesi in fifth place and Gerhard Berger sixth. The only Grand Prix victory for Ferrari that season was Jean Alesi's win in the Canadian Grand Prix, and he also had four second place finishes. Gerhard Berger's best results were six third place finishes.

 

The programme of the Donington Park meeting doesn't record the names of any of the drivers taking part in the demonstration runs.

1955 Maserati 300S

I took this photograph at Lodge Corner during the Bonhams  Drum Brake Sports Cars  Race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2003.

It's the 1955 Maserati 300S of Rodney Smith, chassis #3060, and was driven in the race by Mark Gillies. The Maserati 300S has a 6-cylinder engine based on the 2½ litre unit of the 250F Grand Prix car with a lengthened stroke to bring the capacity up to 2,991cc. This car's first major race was the 1956 Sebring 12 Hour race where it was driven by Cesare Perdisa and Carlos Menditéguy, but Menditéguy crashed and overturned the car during the race. The car was then badly damaged when the trailer retrieving it was hit by a truck. The rebuild wasn't completed till 1957, but on its return to Sebring in 1959 the car was once again badly damaged in Edwin Lawrence's fatal accident during practice. It was rebuilt yet again with a fibreglass body, and later a 3.9 litre Chevrolet V8 engine was installed.  The car was fully restored to its current form in the early 1990s.

1956 Cooper T39

This car competed in the Bonhams Drum Brake Sports Cars Race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2003.

It's Dutchman Adrian van der Kroft's 1956 Cooper T39 Bobtail with a 1,460cc Coventry Claimax engine, and it was named the 'Bobtail' because of the way the tail of the car was cut off just behind the rear wheels. This was found to make it more aerodynamically effective, but John Cooper tried to hide this fact by claiming it had been shortened so that it would fit inside the works transporter. It had the race number 10 in the programme of the event. The red number 23 car is the 1953 Tojeiro Bristol of Nick Wigley.

Friday's Ferrari

This is a car that took part in a Shell Historic Ferrari Maserati Challenge race at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Donington Park in June 2003.

It's the 1971 Ferrari 712 Can-Am of Carlos Monteverde, driven at this meeting by David Franklin, and pictured here in the pit garage. The programme of the event had this note about the race by Neil F Murray:

 

'These disc braked cars are well out of VSCC territory, thus making me unqualified to pass comment on them. However, one thing that I can guarantee you is that they will be extremely swift, with David Franklin's Can Am car of nearly 7 litres being near the front, if not out in front.'

 

The car started life in 1970 as a Ferrari 512 S but was converted to 712 specs in 1971, and its chassis number is 1010.

1955 Jaguar D-Type

I took this photograph in the paddock at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2003.

It's Benjamin Eastick's 1955 Jaguar D-Type which was built in the 1970's from genuine Jaguar D-type parts and has chassis number XKD 133, but never ran in period. Neither the chassis number nor the registration number 207 RW show up in the coventryracers.com search site. It has the 6-cylinder inline 3,442cc Jaguar XK engine.

1955 Maserati 300S

This was one of the competitors in the Bonhams  Drum Brake Sports Cars  Race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2003.

It's the 1955 Maserati 300S of Rodney Smith, chassis #3060, and was driven in the race by Mark Gillies. The Maserati 300S has a 6-cylinder engine based on the 2½ litre unit of the 250F Grand Prix car with a lengthened stroke to bring the capacity up to 2,991cc. The car's first major race was the 1956 Sebring 12 Hour race where it was driven by Cesare Perdisa and Carlos Menditéguy, but Menditéguy crashed and overturned the car during the race. The car was then badly damaged when the trailer retrieving it was hit by a truck. The rebuild wasn't completed till 1957, but on its return to Sebring in 1959 the car was once again badly damaged in Edwin Lawrence's fatal accident during practice. It was rebuilt yet again with a fibreglass body, and later a 3.9 litre Chevrolet V8 engine was installed.  The car was fully restored to its current form in the early 1990s.

1976 McLaren M26

This is a photograph I took in the paddock at Oulton Park at the Gold Cup meeting in August 2003.

The programme of the event shows it as a 1976 McLaren M23 to be driven by Frank Lyons in the Force Classic Grand Prix Cars race, but it looks more like a McLaren M26, one of which at that time was also owned by Frank Lyons. James Hunt won the World Drivers' Championship in 1976 in a McLaren M23, but his team mate Jochen Mass drove a McLaren M26 that year, finishing in ninth place in the Championship with his best results being a couple of third places.

1951 Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica

I took this photograph in one of the car parks at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2003. The photograph was severely under-exposed but I've managed to make it reasonably recognisable.

It's a 1951 Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica, chassis 421/100/156, originally owned by George Duff and finished in 15th place in the1951 Le Mans 24 Hour Race driven by Eric Winterbottom and John Marshall. Later that year George Duff entered  the RAC Tourist Trophy Race at Dundrod with Eric Winterbottom as his co-driver but Eric Winterbottom died when he crashed on the first lap of the race. The car was later rebuilt by George Duff. A Frazer Nash High Speed Competition Model finished in 3rd place in the 1949 Le Mans 24 Hour Race and about 40 cars were subsequently built as Le Mans Replicas. The 2 litre 6-cylinder engine was developed from the pre-war BMW 328 engine.

1961 Lotus 18

This was one of the competitors in the HGPCA Pre '66 Grand Prix Cars race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2003.

It's the 1961 1475cc Lotus 18 of Mark Griffiths. The mid-engined Lotus 18 was a replacement for the front-engined Lotus 16 and the first such car to be built by Lotus, and was used in Formula 1, Formula 2 and Formula Junior racing. Mark Griffith's car is chassis 914 and was built as a Formula 1 car with a 1475cc Coventry Climax FPF engine. It was shown in the programme of the event as a Lotus 18/21, but I understand that the 18/21 was a Lotus 18 that had been rebodied with the streamlined body of a Lotus 21.

1974 McLaren M23

This was one of the competitors in the FORCE Classic Grand Prix Cars race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2003.

It's the McLaren M23 chassis M23/4, of Brazilian driver Abba Kogan which was driven by Emerson Fittipaldi and Denny Hulme for the Marlboro Team Texaco in the 1974 season. Emerson Fittipaldi won three of that season's Grand Prix races and scored 55 points to win the World Drivers' Championship, whilst Denny Hulme won just one race and ended the season in seventh place in the Championship with 20 points. McLaren finished in first place in the World Constructors' Championship.

1954 Jaguar D-Type

The Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2003 included a round of the BRDC Historic Sports Cars Championship, and here is one of the cars that took part in that race.

It's the 1954 Jaguar D-Type chassis XKC402 which finished second that year in the Le Mans 24 Hour Race. It was driven in that race by Tony Rolt and Duncan Hamilton and at the end of the season the car was sold to Duncan Hamilton. I remember seeing Duncan Hamilton drive this car at the first motor race I ever attended, the 1955 British Empire Trophy Race at Oulton Park, where he finished in seventh place. At the Oulton Park Gold Cup meeting in 2003 the car was driven by Peter Neumark.

1970 Tyrrell 001

This car competed in the FORCE Classic Grand Prix Cars race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2003.

It's the John Delane's 1970 Tyrrell 001, not a successful car itself, but one which led to the last two of Jackie Stewart's three World Drivers' Championship wins. Powered by the ubiquitous 2,993cc V8 Ford Cosworth DFV engine it was introduced towards the end of the 1970 season replacing the March 701 for the last three races, but retiring in each of those races. Jackie Stewart finished in fifth place in the championship that year having won it with the Matra MS80 in 1969. Jackie Stewart only drove the car in the first race in 1971, in South Africa, where he finished in second place, then drove the Tyrrell 003 in the rest of his appearances that season to win the Championship again, repeating that feat with the Tyrrell 006 in 1973. The car number 95 behind the Tyrrell is Peter Austin's 1960 Lola Mk1. These cars were produced by Lola Cars from 1958 to 1962, initially with a 1100cc Coventry Climax FWA engine. The programme of the event shows that this one has an engine of 1490cc and it appears to be chassis BR-19.

1951 Jaguar XK120

I took this photograph at Lodge Corner during the ITD Consultants/JEC Jaguar XK Challenge race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2003.

It's Geoffrey Ottley in his 1951 Jaguar which he purchased in 1981 and has been competing with continuously since 1985, driving the car to and from the meetings on most occasions. It has the 3,442cc 6-cylinder inline Jaguar XK6 engine. This article tells the story of Geoffrey Ottley's ownership of the car.

1954 Cooper T39

This car took part in the Bonhams Drum Brake Sports Cars [HGPCA] race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2003.

It's the 1956 Cooper T39 of George Cooper, more commonly known as the Cooper Bobtail because of the truncated tail of the car which was aerodynamically effective, but which John Cooper claimed to have been shortened so that it would fit inside the works transporter. The car was used in the 1,100cc and 1,500cc classes of sportscar racing and this car has a 4-cylinder inline 1,450cc Coventry Climax engine. It was reputedly the road-holding characteristics of this car that led John Cooper to produce first the rear-engined 1½ litre Formula 2 car and then the 2½ litre Formula 1 car that gave Jack Brabham the World Drivers' Championship in 1959 and 1960. Cooper's successes led all the other teams to adopt the rear-engine layout, and the last Formula 1 Grand Prix to be won by a front-engined car was Ferrari's victory in the 1960 Italian Grand Prix.

1956 Lotus Eleven

This car competed in the BRDC Historic Sports Car Championship Race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2003.

It's the 1956 Lotus Eleven of Neil Davies which the programme of the event says has a 1,480cc engine. The Lotus Eleven was designed by Colin Chapman and the aerodynamic body by Frank Costin and was intended to compete in the 1,100cc sports car class. A Lotus Eleven with a 1,098cc Coventry Climax engine driven by Reg Bicknell and Peter Jopp finished in seventh place in the 1956 Le Mans 24 Hour Race, winning the 1,100cc class. The Lotus Eleven was raced with various other engine sizes up to 1,500cc, and for the 1957 Le Mans 24 Hour Race Coventry Climax produced the 744cc FWC engine that enabled the Lotus Eleven of Cliff Allison and Keith Hall to win the 750cc class, and also the Index of Performance.

The car immediately behind the Lotus is the 1956 Cooper T39 Bobtail of Marshall Bailey that competed (with the number 19) in the Bonhams Drum Brake Sports Car Race. The number 6 car appears to be the 1955 Jaguar D-Type XKD505 that won the 1955 Le Mans 24 Hour Race driven by Mike Hawthorn and Ivor Bueb, but the car isn't listed in any of the races in the programme of this event. Just visible on the right-hand side with the WEB 6 number plate is the 1950 Jaguar XK120 of Nigel Webb.

1953 Cooper Bristol T25

This car took part in the Bonhams Drum Brake Sports Cars race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2003.

It's the 1953 Cooper Bristol of Michael Parr and is a 2 seater sports car based on the Cooper Bristol T23 Formula 2 car. It has a 6-cylinder inline 1,971cc Bristol engine, and appears to be the car with which Tony Crook campaigned from 1953 to 1955.

Donington Hall

I took this photograph from the inside of the Donington Park Circuit looking across a point just before the Old Hairpin corner during what looks looks the Britcar race at the Ferrari & Maserati Festival of Racing meeting in May 2003.

It's Donington Hall, and the racing circuit is situated in what was once part of the grounds of the Hall. The Hall was built in the late eighteenth century for Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 2nd Earl of Moira, later created Marquess of Hastings and it remained in his family (one of whom was created Baron Donington in 1870) until 1901 when it was sold to Frederick Grafton, son of Lord Grafton of Stapleford Park. He never lived at the Hall and it was maintained by John Gillies Shields, the late Lord Donington's land agent, Frederick Grafton occasionally visiting for sporting and social purposes. During the First World War the Hall and grounds were transformed into a prisoner of war camp for German officers, then in 1929 the Hall was put up for sale again and bought by the land agent, John Gillies Shields. In 1931 the owner was approached by Fred Craner, a former motorcycle racer and now secretary of the Derby & District Motor Club asking to be allowed to use the roads of the Estate to create a racing circuit. This was agreed, and over the next few years the circuit was gradually improved, the first Grand Prix taking place there in 1935. It gained international prestige in 1937 and 1938 when the German Auto Union and Mercedes Benz teams took part in the Grand Prix, Auto Union's Berndt Rosemeyer and Tazio Nuvolari winning those races. On the outbreak of the Second World War the Estate was requisitioned by the Ministry of Defence and the Park was turned into a vehicle storage depot. It was 1956 before the Estate was handed back to the grandson of the pre-war owner, Major John Gillies Shields, who rented out parts of the Estate as farm land and opened the Hall to refugees from the Hungarian Revolution. In 1971 Tom Wheatcroft bought part of the Estate that included the motor racing circuit, rebuilding the track and moving his collection of grand prix cars to a museum that became known as the Donington Grand Prix Exhibition. When the Ministry of Defence occupied Donington Park a Royal Air Force airfield was built on land adjacent to the racing circuit and it was decommissioned in 1946. In 1964 the site was purchased by a consortium of local government authorities and after development work was opened as East Midlands Airport in 1965. In 1976 British Midland Airways bought Donington Hall, renovating it and using it as their headquarters from 1982. British Midlands Airways later became BMI and was taken over in 2009 by Lufthansa who sold it in turn to International Airlines Group in 2012 who quickly announced that many of the staff at Donington Hall were to be laid off. Donington Hall was then sold to the Norton Motorcycle Company who hand-build bikes at the nearby Hastings House and they now use Donington Hall as an events venue.

1954 Tojeiro Bristol

This car took part in the Bonhams Drum Brake Sports Cars (HGPCA) race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2003.

It's the 1954 Tojeiro Bristol of Tom McWhirter and has the 6-cylinder inline 1,971cc Bristol engine derived from the pre-war BMW M328 unit. There doesn't seem to be a great deal of information online about the early MG, Lea Francis and Bristol engined Tojeiros and I've not been able to find out about this car's early history. I have found, however, that it is one of the exhibits at the Moray Motor Museum in Elgin, so if I'm ever in the Inverness area I'll go and see what they can tell me about it.

1972 Renault Alpine A110

I photographed this car in one of the car parks set aside for various car clubs at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2003.

It's a 1972 Renault Alpine A110, a car that was produced between 1961 and 1977 and was powered by several different 4-cylinder inline Renault engines in that time. The DVLA record says that this car has a capacity of 1,296cc, which seems to indicate the Renault Cléon-Fonte 804 engine.

Friday's Ferrari

This car leaving the pit lane is one of the F1 Ferraris that took part in a series of demonstration runs at the Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Donington Park in June 2003.

It's a Ferrari 412 T2, one of the cars that contested the 1995 Grand Prix season in the hands of Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger. The World Championship was won that season by Michael Schumacher in a Renault powered Benetton B195 with Jean Alesi in fifth place and Gerhard Berger sixth. The only Grand Prix victory for Ferrari that season was Jean Alesi's win in the Canadian Grand Prix, and he also had four second place finishes. Gerhard Berger's best results were six third place finishes.

The programme of the Donington Park meeting doesn't record the names of any of the drivers taking part in the demonstration runs.