Morris’ Peugeot beats the British marques at CSCC’s Brands Britannia

On a weekend where multiple anniversaries were celebrated at the Classic Sports Car Club’s Brands Britannia meeting, Danny Morris upstaged the British marques in his Peugeot 309 Thundersaloon.

“It has got a British engine,” he smiled sheepishly after winning the second Special Saloons and Modsports race in the Cosworth-powered Spirit of RPM machine, competing – as always – in memory of his brother, Ricky Parker-Morris.

Wrong-footed in traffic, Morris lost out on the final lap of the opener to the relentless pursuit of fellow local Tom Carey’s BDG-powered Honda CRX silhouette, which itself had Sam Wilson in Rikki Cann’s Aston Martin V8 Vantage on its tail. Morris made no mistake in the sequel, Cosworth turbo power keeping Wilson’s Newport Pagnell grunt at bay as Carey parked up with a sticking throttle.

The series was celebrating the 50th birthday of ‘Baby Bertha’, Dealer Team Vauxhall’s Super Saloon synonymous with the late Gerry Marshall. Deputising for injured owner – and spanner man – Joe Ward, Chris Conoley starred in the 5.7-litre Chevrolet V8-powered beast. He charged from eighth to fourth then repeated that result in the afternoon despite losing out to Matthew Ellis in the nippy Talbot Sunbeam Lotus his father Martyn had earlier taken to seventh.

Half a century of Jaguar’s XJS was marked by the late Tom Walkinshaw’s V12-powered 1984 European Touring Car title winner joining TWR’s later XJ220C Le Mans car for an energetic demonstration. Outgoing Jaguar champion Colin Philpott then took his six-pot version to its first win of the season, holding off a charging Jack Robinson.

Champion-elect Robinson had scored a commanding eighth win of the season in his Swallows Racing-prepared XK8 ahead of Philpott and Rodney Frost’s sister XJS, the Powerbell pair recovering from being caught napping by James Ramm’s V12 example after a Code 60 intervention.

Robinson’s chief points rival Mark Bennett suffered a costly non-finish in his Auto Reserve X-Type with clutch and gear-selection issues after enjoying a scrap with Chris Boon’s supercharged XK8, but returned to win his class later.

In the Morgan Challenge’s 40th anniversary season, two-time champion Keith Ahlers stormed to personal win numbers 110 and 111, his first since turning 70 last month. The veteran’s 4.6-litre +8 was 15 seconds up the road in the opening contest but could not shake off the attentions of Louis Ruff’s more modern BMW turbo-powered +4 in the second stanza. Both Ruff and Tom Richards (two-litre Clubsport) continued their class-winning runs to remain tied on points heading to the Thruxton finale.

Midget & Sprite Challenge multi-champion Paul Sibley reached new heights by completing a clean sweep of the entire season, earning the stunning Steve Everitt Memorial trophy in the Brands opener. But limited entries in the Modsports class have restricted his scoring and enabled Hugh Simpson to claim the overall title with 11 from 12 road-modified class wins.

Behind Sibley, Pippa Cow and Connor Kay relished a thrilling battle for second under the midday sun, which Cow edged. James Hughes bounced back from halfshaft failure to beat Kay home in the weekend’s curtain call as seemingly innocuous contact sidelined Cow.

Sibley completed his remarkable unbeaten Midget & Sprite campaign, but still missed out on the title!

Photo by: Gary Hawkins

Kay had looked a good bet to overcome a 20s previous winner’s penalty in Swinging Sixties Group 1, only for fuel-pump failure to halt his TVR Tuscan. Having crawled pit-ward via the rear entry, he engaged the backup and rejoined to loom large in the mirrors of leader Steve Hodges’ Lotus 7 S2. Hodges saw off the Tuscan, unaware it was three laps down.

A safety-car restart infringement denied second-on-the-road Ben Snee (Lotus Elan 26R) and handed the position to Geoff Taylor’s TVR Griffith, doubling up from Group 2. Taylor matched the result in the second split after an entertaining battle with winner Ray Barrow (Chevrolet Camaro) and local man Chris Watkinson’s third-placed Mini.

Snee, fifth in Group 2, was not content with two 40-minute races in a day and looked to make it third-time lucky in Classic K where he started alongside fellow Elan man Will Linley on the front row. Switching from Avon to Dunlop rubber caught Snee out and led to a minor skirmish at Druids. He then kept Linley honest for the rest of the stint and emerged in front after their pitstops.

But Snee’s stop was too short so, although Linley caught and passed him to earn victory on the road by 0.25s, he would have inherited it anyway. Snee’s penalty dropped him to fourth behind Malcolm Johnson (Elan GTS) and Pete Chambers (Lotus Cortina).

Elans of Linley and Snee had a close Classic K tussle

Photo by: Gary Hawkins

Showers before both Magnificent Sevens races left slick-shod pacesetters Colin Watson and Tim Davis struggling for grip in the early stages. On treaded rubber, Richard Carter gleefully scampered ahead but his advantage did not last long. Watson powered back ahead while Davis, using a less powerful spare engine, snatched second in traffic late in race one. The trio repeated the order – and a BOSS podium lockout – in the rematch.

Saturday’s racing began with a bang – or two – as the Modern Classics Porsches of Richard Chamberlain (993) and David Harrison (964) separately suffered heavy collisions with the pitwall. Harrison’s was particularly frightening; having tangled with Jordan Spencer’s MGB GT V8 while battling for second, the Nathan Luckey-started car rolled along the wall before sliding to a halt on its roof. Both drivers emerged unscathed. The race was called with Roger Hamilton (Ginetta G20) taking victory and Spencer edging the similarly-mounted Russell McCarthy to Future Classics honours.

Richard Wheeler took a dominant Slicks Series victory in his Lamborghini Huracan GT3. Closest challenger Andrew Christopher’s Ferrari 488 Challenge retired with damaged rear suspension after tangling with a backmarker. Teen star Archie Buttle (Ginetta G56 GTA) drove a strong race to second, while Wheeler was delighted to be joined in the top three by his 16-year-old son Michael. Making his senior debut, the Fiesta Junior graduate advanced his GT4 McLaren from ninth on the grid.

Tin Tops glory went to Steve Simpson’s Peugeot 206. Despite a 30s success penalty and clutch failure, Adam Brown’s Ford Fiesta had closed to within 12s when a halt was called six minutes early.

Wheeler’s Lambo heads the Slicks Series field, while his son joined him on the podium

Photo by: Gary Hawkins