80 Racing Caterhams Bound for Silverstone
14 April 2006
No less than 80 racing Caterhams will descend on Silverstone on Saturday
April 22nd when the British Automobile Racing Club organises a nine-race
programme of national motor racing featuring three races for the bookatrack.com
Caterham Graduate Championship.
The three-division championship for the Caterhams is one of the most
successful in British motor racing and a remarkable field of 80 cars
will gather at Silverstone for the second round of the championship.
That assures plenty of close and exciting racing in these identical
cars, and if the opening round is a guide, the on-track action will
be superb. The Caterhams come in three divisions, each with its own
race and each with slightly different technical regulations. What all
three divisions do is provide great racing at modest cost and on a level
playing field.
Biggest of the three grids is the Super Graduate class, with a capacity
38-car field. In the opening race of the season at Castle Combe, Charlie
Hunt beat Trevor Newman by less than half a second, with Andrew Ennis
and Mike Solan leading the chase. Irthlingborough's John Parker is the
local hope. Next up is the Mega Graduate class, with well-travelled
Guy Halley from Perth aiming to make it two wins from two races, but
Stuart Simpson ran him close at Castle Combe. Finally, in the Graduate
class Andrew Outterside started the year with a win but the unrelated
Graeme Smith and Graham Smith will be pushing hard.
Two more excellent grids will line up for the opening rounds of two
of the most popular championships for single-seater racing cars of the
1970s and early 1980s. In total, nearly 60 classic Formula Ford cars
will make for some great racing. The more powerful cars race in the
Universal Racing Services Classic FF2000 Championship, for the 2-litre
Ford Pinto powered cars racing on slick tyres and using rear wings.
Former multiple champion Eddie Wilkins pits his Argo JM14 against a
horde of Van Diemens in class A, while Oxford-based neurosurgeon Peter
Richards races his Delta T79 in class B to help raise funds for the
new Oxford Children's Hospital. Just as popular is the Universal Racing
Services Classic FF1600 Championship for the 1600cc Ford Kent engined
cars. David Gathercole, Guernsey pensioner Dave Lowe, FF1600 veteran
Simon Davey and Andy Powell with his striking 'Pink Panther' Royale
are some of the contenders.
Another championship starting at Silverstone is the 2006 BARC Clubmans
Cup, for the front-engined sports-racing category that has been racing
at Silverstone for over 40 years. The current cars are sleek MG-powered
racers and the grid will include the race debut of the latest model
to come from the Mallock marque, based in nearby Hartwell. The latest
Mallock Mk35B will be raced by Paul Gibson, once the biggest rival to
the Mallock team when he built his own cars under the Vision name. After
two decades of rivalry, the two Clubmans dynasties have now joined forces!
Racing slightly older versions of the Mallock are two Northampton races,
and both could be winners on home ground. Howard Payne has been racing
at Silverstone for more than 20 years, while young Alex Osborne is one
of the rising stars of the category. Meanwhile, two category veterans
returning to racing are Martin Mansell and Richard Gilmour, while Barry
Webb, Mike Evans and Peter Richings have all been Clubmans champions
over the years.
The opening round of the Formula Renault BARC Championship will be
the fastest race of the day, with 17-year old Felix Fisher likely to
make a good impression. Wrapping up the programme is a double-header
for the Kumho BMW Championship, with an entry headed by the M3 of Rick
Kerry.
Racing starts at 1.15pm with qualifying from 9am. Admission is £10
for adults, children free, paddock and stands free.
See series calendars for all 2006
Caterham Championships
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