BRSCC GOES RETRO THIS WEEKEND!
One of the mighty and fearsome TVR Tuscan Challenge cars will be on our stand all weekend – Photo provided by John Reid
After the Autosport Show and the Awards Dinner, traditionally the next date on the BRSCC calendar is a trip to the Midlands as we gear up for the magnificent Race Retro exhibition at Stoneleigh Park. As has been the last for the last few year, the BRSCC will be there with its own stand during the course of all 3 days.
Race Retro is powered by MotorSport Magazine and will feature the best that historic and classic racing has to offer. Along with car auctions and a live rally stage outside the exhbition halls, the show features a vast array of stands displaying a wide variety of racing machinery, from touring cars and GTs to sportscars, single seaters, rally cars and more. Plus, this year's show will see guest appearances from 9-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen, Finnish rallying legends Ari Vatanen and Markku Alen and for two-wheel fans, the celebrated American rider Freddie Spencer.
The BRSCC will be among many clubs on display at the show and once again, our stand will feature two examples of cars that compete in the fanstically fast Dunlop TVR Challenge. Originally conceived by the BRSCC in conjunction with TVR in 1989, the original Tuscan Challenge quickly gained a reputation as one of the fastest, most competitive and most popular one-make sportscar championships of all time. The championship ran exclusively for TVR Tuscans until the end of 2004, where a merger with the TVR Car Club's own series allowed all TVRs of any model and age to compete, a formula which has remained the same to this day.
On display this year will indeed be a Tuscan Challenge, with the car in question an original and authentic example built back in 1997 and campaigned in across four seasons from '97 until 2004, when it was last driven by Charlie Kemp. It features the highly praised and favoured AJP8 engine designed by TVR themselves and is owned by Darren Smith, who is set to wheel the car out for a number of rounds this year. Joining it on the stand will be Dave Stewart's TVR Griffith, which sports a 5.0 litre Rover V8 engine. Having been converted from a damaged track day car and salvaged to become a race-ready machine, this Griffith was first raced in 2009 by Dave's late father Tom who came close to winning the overall championship that same year. Dave still owns and races the car and will look to do so again this year.
Championship co-ordinator John Reid will be present on all 3 days for anyone who wishes to enquire about competing in the Dunlop TVR Challenge this year, which features 3 meetings at Brands Hatch, Castle Combe and Oulton Park alongside five additional non-championship rounds at other meetings. With the Tuscan Challenge's 30th anniversary approaching within the next couple of years and TVR itself making a comeback as a car manufacturer, there's never been a better time to wheel out one of the beasts from Blackpool and take it to the track!
If you want to come and say hello, you can join us at Race Retro this weekend. Tickets are still available via raceretro.com, so head over there and secure your plans for this weekend. We'll see you there!
