NEWS
Then : shunted at Silverstone in the 1960s
Now : back in the hands of Andy Somerton
Elan back on track
Back on the grid in Guards Trophy races this season will be a famous 1964 Lotus Elan , now owned and raced by Andy Somerton from Tamworth . The Elan was originally sold by Lotus to Brian Sherwood in August 1964 through Duchess Autos of New York , the Lotus distributor for the US west coast at the time . It seems likely that it never went to the USA . It was raced by Sherwood for four seasons from 1964 to 1967 , in October 1964 , in club races at Silverstone , Snetterton and Mallory Park and was often entered under the Team Minilite banner .
It was registered for the Autosport Championship in 1965 and also competed in two Birkett Six-Hour Relay races . It was gradually modified
over that time and had a fastback and faired in headlights at one point before an accident with an AC Cobra at Silverstone , after which it was rebodied .
Sherwood sold the Elan in 1967 to buy a Piper sports racing car and he eventually took over the Piper Cars concern and took the company to Le Mans with the ultra-low Piper GTR race car . The project folded when Brian was sadly killed in a road car accident near to Brands Hatch in late 1969 .
The Elan resurfaced in more than 20 years later . “ It was advertised for sale in the 1990s so there is a big gap in the story ,” said Somerton . “ I was racing another Elan in Classic Sports and in 2003 someone put a note on the windscreen at Oulton Park . ‘ Did I want to buy an Elan ?’ A chap called Norman Lupton had it and it was all together but not useable . I bought it in September 2003 and it was still on the original chassis , but it was rotten so I did a full rebuild . It cost a lot of money and took a long time . I finished it in 2014 but decided to pay off the mortgage before going racing .
“ I finally raced it for the first time in 2018 . There was no racing in 2019 as the engine needed a full rebuild after cylinder head issues throughout the 2018 season . I got out for the final race of 2020 at Silverstone . Now it is ready to race again and my intention is to contest all the Guards Trophy races , starting on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit in May .”
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Smith and Williams set for Geoff Lees Trophy
Formula Ford star Rory Smith is one of the first drivers to commit to the new Geoff Lees Trophy for 1980s singleseaters . Last October , the 21-year-old won the Formula Ford Festival and will now move up the single-seater ranks to race a Formula Atlantic Ralt RT4 . Smith and his father Ray have acquired the RT4 from New Zealand and Rory will race it in the HSCC series alongside his modern Formula Ford programme .
“ It ’ s a step up to slicks and wings and a lot more power ,” said Rory ’ s father Ray .
“ This seems a more cost-effective option in a powerful car to gain experience and build his reputation . It has 220bhp and weighs 470kg , so it is very similar to more modern cars . We ’ re certainly not shutting the door on modern racing : this is to complement it .”
More than 100 RT4s were built by Ron Tauranac ’ s company through the early 1980s , primarily for Formula Atlantic and until the creation of the Geoff Lees Trophy there has been no obvious place to race them in the UK until now . The last period Formula Atlantic race in the UK was at the end of the 1983 season .
Meanwhile , former Renault Clio and Mini Cooper racer Steve Williams will switch to historic single-seaters this season in a 1987 Formula 3 Ralt RT31 . Williams , who started racing in 1993 in FF1600 and later competed in Formula Renault , will now return to single-seaters to contest the Geoff Lees Trophy for 1980s racing cars .
The car has recently been brought back from Japan where it sat untouched in a factory for 27 years . It is thought to be the car used by Jan Lammers to take second at Macau in 1987 .
“ This will be my first foray into historic racing and I ’ m very much looking forward to getting started ,” said Williams .
The Geoff Lees Trophy is open to all up to 2-litre 1980s single-seaters and will start its 2021 season on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit on May 22 / 23 .
Smith will race this Ralt RT4