Rare 23C joins Guards grid
One of what is thought to be only four surviving Lotus 23Cs raced at our Silverstone meeting when Ed Thurston and Charlie Jones-Best contested the Guards Trophy race . The 1965 sports-racing car , owned by Tony Best , spent many years in a private collection in the US and only returned to racing during last October ’ s Goodwood Speedweek .
Langridge times three
Father and son Andy and Adrian Langridge have brought a Ginetta G16 to the Guards Trophy this season . Originally , it was a chassis built by the Ginetta factory in period but never completed as a race car . It has raced more recently , and Langridge bought it as a complete car and handed it to Dan Eagling at Lifetime Racing for a rebuild .
“ We want to do the two driver races ,” said Langridge senior , who will share the car with his son Adrian and potentially his daughter , Ali , as well .
“ It ’ s a family race car , and maybe we ’ ll get Dan Eagling to drive it as well . I ’ ve only ever done one two-driver race before and that was in the 1990s at Snetterton in a Porsche 944 turbo .
Andy Langridge
Only six were built in period and Best ’ s car may be the only one currently in the UK . The main difference to the far more common 23B are flared wheel arches to accommodate bigger wheels and tyres from Formula 2 in period .
It showed excellent pace but was retired from the race when a misfire set in .
We won that ! So I ’ ve got a good record into driver races ,” he joked before their Ginetta debut at Silverstone .
Meanwhile , former Historic Formula Ford racer Ali graduated to slicks and wings at Donington Park as a 40th birthday present from her family .
London-based Ali has followed her father Andy and brother Adrian into racing and is taking over their Tiga SF78 for three Historic Formula Ford 2000 events this summer .
Langridge ended a two-year gap from racing to run the Tiga at Donington Park .
“ Dad raced the Tiga at Snetterton in April but I ’ ve stolen it from him for three events ,” she said .
Briefs
n Father and son John and Jack Young are now racing the Chevrolet Camaro previously owned and raced by Stuart Scott . The car was built by the late Richard Lloyd as an exact replica of the car used by James Hunt to win the 1973 Tour of Britain . “ We ’ ve had it three or four years now but we ’ ve done Goodwood and not much else ,” said Young senior , who raced it at Silverstone in the Dunlop Saloon Car Cup .
n Period Formula Ford 2000 racer , Mark Storer is heading for a comeback later this season , 23 years after he last raced . At the end of 1980 he bought a Delta T79 FF2000 and raced it in 1980 before putting it in to storage . Finally , he has been persuaded to bring the car back out and is nearing completion of a rebuild . “ I last raced it in 1997 and my brother Gary also raced it . Hopefully , we ’ ll be back out later this year . It ’ s such an original car .”
n Club Chairman Roger Bevan was on hand at Cadwell Park for the Wolds Trophy in June , which marked his first visit to the Lincolnshire track since 1983 . Nearly 40 years ago he attended the Team Touraco Racing School at the circuit and did a week-long course under the guidance of school owner Graeme Glew . This was before Roger started racing and he got the chance to drive his Anson F3 car on the track as part of the course .
n Jeremy Clark ’ s bid for a fourth straight 70s Road Sports title suffered a second set-back in the run-up to the Silverstone race . His own Lotus Elan suffered an engine failure at Snetterton but Clark was offered the loan of Brian Mitcham ’ s Elan . Unfortunately , that car then had a fire during a rolling road session and could not be repaired in time for the second round at Silverstone .
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