Evans also raced a Brabham BT4 Grand Prix car
I went to ARK Racing in Willenhall where I met Derek Matthews and we discussed Lotus Elans . He said he could build one for me and to give him a fortnight . I said okay and two weeks later he called me to go in and he ’ d designed the whole car , suspension , geometry , gearbox , roll cage and everything . Then Derek and Ray Concar put the car together in about three months . It was amazing . I ran that for three seasons and won the Midlands-based championship in 1976 .”
However , the single-seater desire remained and John looked towards Formula Atlantic . Unsurprisingly , the Elan sold quickly but the gap to an Atlantic was just too much and he decided to take a break from racing as family life took centre stage . After a little while to think about what to do next , he made a switch to the BF
Goodrich Porsche Championship where his opposition was strong and included drivers like Tiff Needell all sorts of other quick racers . “ This was in the mid-80s and I enjoyed that immensely and did that for a couple of years . After that , I decided I wanted to move on to two-litre sports cars . The guy that had moved into ARK Racing as a driver and a sponsor was a chap called Max Payne . He funded a couple of very special Lotus Elans . The first one was BDA-engined and then they developed a two-litre Elan which I co-drove and which was very , very special and we did well for a while .” For several seasons , they contested selected rounds of the World Sportscar Championship , running the Elan in the Group 5 category .
Over the next decade , John took another break as business commitments grew ever-more demanding but was tempted back by another Porsche , this time a 2.4 911 that he used three times on Tour Britannia , the unique classic race and rally tour . “ I did Tour Britannia three times in the early 2000s and enjoyed that immensely . Then I was merrily going along and I bumped into a fellow member of Wolverhampton Lawn Tennis and Squash Club called Tim Cottam . He was instrumental in the Historic Grand Prix Cars Association and he said I ought to go along and have a look at that .”
Perhaps inevitably , John was impressed by the pre ’ 66 Grand Prix cars and duly acquired ex-John Surtees Cooper T56 Grand Prix car in 2012 . It was the car that took him to Monaco for the Historic Grand Prix in 2014 . “ I was exceptionally happy with that for probably three years , then at the same time , I bought John Harper ’ s Brabham
Oulton Park HFF action in the Titan In the 911 at Oulton Park
33