FEATURE : THUNDERSPORTS
Tim Lee-Davey in trouble at Brands Hatch in 1985
38 the ring on the side of Ray ’ s helmet into the engine bay . They soldiered on to finish ninth , eight laps behind winners Richard Budge / Vin Malkie in the former ’ s Chevron B19 .
Later races in the inaugural season were won by James Weaver / Eddie Arundel ( Chevron B36 ), F1 racers David Kennedy / Jim Crawford in future Lola owner Martin Birrane ’ s ill-starred Group C Ford C100 - subsequently wrecked in a massive prang at Brands , following component failure - and Ray Mallock / John Cooper in Marsh Plant ’ s Cosworth DFV-powered Lola T280 . Mike Wilds had a very lucky escape when the ex- Carlos Gaspar / Jeremy Lord Lola was dramatically barbecued at Donington , but it bounced back quickly and looking immaculate again .
Having seen Thundersports ’ popularity grow , and with word spreading in continental Europe , the calendar was expanded to nine events - its longest season - in 1984 . Again victories were shared around , although former FF1600 , F3 , FF2000 and S2000 champion Ian Taylor and motor dealer / BTCC racer Peter Lovett won three in a raucous Mazda
rotary-engined Lola T594C . Versatile veteran Tony Lanfranchi - who had raced the Hon Richard Wrottesley ’ s Elva at Le Mans in ’ 65 - scored a rare slick-shod success with Thompson in Baird ’ s GRID S1 at Donington and former F1 Ensign and BRM racer and Aurora British F1 champion Mike Wilds the first of eight series wins at Thruxton , co-driving Bellm ’ s B36 .
I made three appearances in 1984 , with mixed results . At Donington Roger Andreason put me down to share the 1600cc BDA-powered Chevron B61A on its debut at Donington . By running long into the pit-window Roger led at the handover , but the gear linkage bracket detached from the chassis early in my stint . Having stirred the cogs with the shaft we finished a frustrated 14th .
There was greater disappointment in the British GP support race at Brands Hatch which unsurprisingly attracted a huge entry . I qualified the works Chevron B60A S2000 well enough , sharing with Jim Stevenson - who raced a McLaren M29 in Formula Libre events - but we were way down the reserve list thus didn ’ t get a race . The following
The author in the Giroflex Chevron at Oulton in 1985 month I was back at Brands with Simon Hadfield in another Sports 2000 , Michael Schryver ’ s ’ 78 Lola T492 . Despite it being short of puff the car handled superbly and , having matched his time in the preliminaries , Simon put me in first . With his sage words : “ you ’ ll need to be flat out from Westfield to keep up with the pack at the rolling start ,” ringing in my ears I had great fun outbraking the Lola-DFL T610 of Steve Kempton / Gerry Amato - the ex-Guy Edwards / Emilio de Villota T600 , ’ 81 Enna-Pergusa and Brands-winner reconfigured with a sluglike body - repeatedly into Paddock , only to be trumped by Cosworth V8 power to Druids . Simon brought ‘ our ’ humble little Lola home 12th .
My last Thundersports entry came about through a regular call into Goodwood on a day off from Autosport duties in early 1985 . Between the motor circuit ’ s 1948- ’ 66 era and its new heyday , opened by the inaugural Revival Meeting in September 1998 it was used for testing . Present that day was my old chum Roger Andreason , running a Chevron-Hart B36 for Chester Wedgewood ( boss of Giroflex Office Seating ) and his Porsche buddy Peter Tognola . I never travelled without my kit and was slotted in for a session . It opened a few eyes as I knew the track well and loved the car , in which I ’ d witnessed Tony Charnell , Robin Smith and Richard Jones win their class at Le Mans in ’ 79 - and Robin ’ s spin at Indianapolis in the rain ! An invite to a proper test at Brands resulted in another blowout ( and save !) under acceleration from Druids , then the offer of a shared