REPORT : SILVERSTONE FINALS
The Classic FF1600 lead battle
Great racing at HSCC
Silverstone Finals
Close and exciting racing and championships settled in the sunshine was the story of the annual HSCC Finals Meeting on the Silverstone national circuit in October . Paul Lawrence reports .
The Classic Formula Ford Championship races were as good as any with up to five cars delivering a slipstreaming barn-stormer in the sunshine of Saturday . It was Jordan Harrison who secured the overall title by winning once more in his Lola T540E despite the best efforts of Ben Tinkler and Henry Chart , as Rick Morris led the pursuit . On Sunday on a still damp track Harrison , Tinkler and Chart were again the class of the field , though Tinkler dropped back after a spin a Brooklands . It was Harrison versus Chart in the battle to the line and somehow on the dash to the flag Chart nosed his Van Diemen head by less than seven hundredths of a second to level the scores at one win each and end the season in style .
The Formula Juniors also had one dry race and one wet race and it was the Lotus 22s of Horatio Fitz-Simon and Clive Richards well clear at the head of the action . In the dry Fitz-Simon made an impressive Junior debut in Mike O ’ Brien ’ s car as he edged away for a clear win . However , in Sunday ’ s wet and slippery conditions Richards came back strongly and led much of the race though Fitz-Simon edged ahead briefly later on . But Richards regained control over the final laps for a classy victory . Ray Mallock and Nic Carlton-Smith were next up on Saturday , while Adrian Russell bounced back from retirement on Saturday to round out the overall podium on Sunday .
Will Plant really needed another overall race win to make certain of the 70s Road Sports title and that ’ s just what he did in his Morgan Plus 8 , romping away as his father Richard played a support role in second . They were the better part of half a minute clear of the rest of the pack by the end of 25 minutes as Will duly secured the title . Jim Dean was third in his Lotus Europa but that was not enough to earn him another title .
Both Aurora and Geoff Lees Trophy races were excellent contests and it was Rory Smith who won the opener in the dry of Saturday in his Ralt RT4 , boldly keeping the Formula Atlantic car absolutely flat through Copse on several laps . Mark Charteris chased hard in his March 742 , but with worsening understeer could not keep on the tail of the Ralt .
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The Junior pack arrives at Copse