WINGING IT AT SILVERSTONE


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The Quaife Fiestas see their biggest grid for more than a year at 33 cars – certainly not to be missed! – Photo: Rachel Bourne

The previous two weekends at Silverstone, the Home of British Motorsport, have seen incredible international endurance racing action thanks to both the Hankook 24 Hours and the FIA World Endurance Championship. Now, however, it’s time for their club-level compatriots to step up and take to the track, as we visit Northamptonshire once again for two days of racing on the International Circuit, utilising the magnificent Wing complex to full effect.

After two cracking opening rounds at Oulton Park, the pursuit of the Mazda Road To Indy carries on for the Avon Tyres Formula Ford 1600 National competitors in the Post ’89 class. American newcomer Chase Owen kicked off his season with a win and 2nd place to top the points table after the first meeting, so he’ll be hoping to continue his form. The likes of Douglas Crosbie, teammate James Raven, reigning Post ’89 champ Jonny McMullan and former Festival winner Niall Murray will all be snapping at his heels to put one over on him. Expect extra competition from Graham Carroll and former champion Stuart Gough this weekend, while Channel 4 F1 commentator Ben Edwards revisits his roots in Class B aboard his Van Diemen.
There will also be a Pre ’90 contingent that will run at the same time with Ben Tinkler, Iain Houston, Nick Barnes and Ian Wolfenden expected to battle it out for victory.

The Quaife Fiesta Championship rolls into town off the back of two entertaining and eventual races at Snetterton with the premise of further battles throughout all 4 classes. Aaron Thompson and Sam Priest drew first blood with a win apiece, so they are already heading the points table heading into this weekend. They won’t have it easy as team bosses Jamie Going and Simon Horrobin respectively will be out for personal glory along with Kevin Stirling, Nathan Edwards, Nick Sanderson and more, including cars entered and prepared by Race Car Consultants and the ever present Daniels Motorsport. Speaking of which, Class D is dominated by nothing but Daniels prepared machines, with Alastair Kellett, Jessica King, Stuart Robbins and more due to to battle, along with the regular entries from Classes A & B.

While the senior Fiestas continue their season, the Fiesta Junior Championship sees its class of 2016 continue their high speed education. Elliot Wilson was the man no-one could top last time out as he romped to a pair of impressive victories, however he was kept honest all the way by 2015 race winner Carlito Miracco and top rookie from Snetterton, James Waite. Other second season drivers impressed such as Ronan Quinn, who came away from a tricky weekend with a 4th in Race 2, while this season’s crop of rookie drivers is looking mighty impressive. The likes of Harry Gooding, Callum Hawkins-Row, Jack Davidson, Lochlan Bearman and James Hillery all scored well on their debuts, so expect all of them to hope for further progression this weekend.

As always, we have championships and clubs that come racing with us on a regular basis and this weekend is no exception. For a start, the Scrapco Recycling/ Avon Tyres Intermarques are back with us, showcasing the kind of racing you’d see in National Hot Rods on a short oval but this time on the country’s best purpose built circuits. They’re also joined on the same grid by the Sevenesque Sports Car Series, designed to cater for anyone who runs a Caterham, Westfield or Tiger that stays true to the original design philosophy of the classic Lotus 7 – hence the name Sevenesque.

One of the fastest and longest standing championships in club racing, it’s always a pleasure when Sports 2000 come to play. There’s always the premise of well populated grids and high speed, white knuckle racing that comes from these gloriously quick machines. The Duratec field sees an eclectic mixture of chassis from MCR, Gunn, Carbir and more doing battle, while the Pinto contingent are set to contest their own individual race with cars from marques such as Tiga, Lola and Shrike all in contention for the win. This championship brings an impressive and diverse field of sports prototypes that seem as though they span a timeline of several decades, however the speeds they produce are anything but nostaligic!

If that’s just doesn’t feel fast and crazy enough for some reason, then perhaps another form of motorsport joining us certainly will – superkarts! It’s a category of motorsport that even multiple MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi quoted as “quite incredible”, “very fast” & “a lot of fun”, which is high praise from a man such as himself. Shooting up to over 100mph with little protection and sitting millimetres off the ground, the drivers who compete certainly need to have nerves of steel in order to handle this mighty little machines. The BSA National Championship for F125 Open headlines their entry with a mixture of GP winners and former champions, while a separate pair of standalone races for 250 and 450cc Superkarts are set to entertain in addition.

Last but certainly not least, there’s a massive influx to this meeting from our friends at the Track Attack Racing Club, with four of their impressively populated championships competing here this weekend. The newly-branded Justmotorsportads.com Nippon Challenge shares track time with the Deutsches Marques Cup also extends an invitation to competitors from their Tricolore Trophy at the same time, while the latter will also star in three races of their own on Sunday. In addition, the ever popular YourIrishShop.com MR2 Racing Series always tends to provide competitive action with the original Mk1 Toyota MR2 while allowing drivers to compete on a budget. All in all, Track Attack bring a wonderful variety of makes, models and nationalities to the party and we’re glad to have them here.

So, with this much diversity in the field, there should be something to cater to any racing fan’s tastes, be it single seaters, sportscars, tin-tops, sports prototypes and even karts. Who says there’s no variety in motorsport anymore? This weekend, it’s virtually assured!

Weather Forecast: This weekend's weather is set to be cold but remain dry and cloudy for pretty much the entirety of both days, with the highest temperature being 9 degrees all weekend. There's set to be brief sunshine breaking through mid Sunday morning with a light shower also touted towards the end of the day's racing. For a full breakdown courtesy of the Met Office, you can find it via the link here – SILVERSTONE WEATHER.

Also, the final instructions, timetable and entry list for the weekend can also be found here – SILVERSTONE ST GEORGE’S RACE WEEKEND.

Tickets are £10 each day on the gate, which considering the fact that you have 21 races across two days means that equivalates to less than £1 a race – bargain! Also, full colour B5 sized race programmes will be available at £3 each.

Scott Woodwiss


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