SAKER ON TOP IN 6-HOUR RACE

Last weekend wasn’t just about the Formula Ford Festival meeting, for up at Silverstone, they were staging the annual Birkett 6-Hour race, named after Holland "Holly" Birkett, the former chairman of the 750MC.

The 62nd event was held on the Historic circuit and the relay event was contested by 67 teams of up to 6 cars, consisting of 350 drivers and around 300 cars!

Team OBR, which consisted of Mark Burton, Graham Pattle and Eugene O’Brien in their Saker, only decided a few weeks ago that they would enter a team.Their plans were nearly scuppered when the other potential team members were unable to prepare their cars ready for the race. Paul Rose was asked to step in and they also invited Graham Booth, in his Caterham, to take part.

Each of the cars was classified into groups A,B,C or D and assigned a target lap time, which became the reference for the handicap. The Sakers and the Caterham were assigned to class D, the fastest of the groups.

When the chequered flag came down at the end of the 6 hours, it was Team OBR who had a two lap lead. A delighted Graham Pattle, said: “The Sakers ran faultlessly, despite being asked to run long sessions and each car completed two to three hours of running. A great advert for the cars and the drivers! To win this race, your car has to be reliable and fast. This was a fun event that was run extremely well. The driving standards and courtesy of other teams was great and we would recommend the event to others…as long as they are slower than us!"

He added: “Thanks go to the Team OBR and JPR mechanics for a fantastic job and finally to the marshals for braving the cold!