|
Turbo Time
 Enzo won yet again at Silverstone whilst all the action went on behind
him. The Le Mans Auto Italia series took on a different slant for its annual visit to the Northamptonshire Grand Prix venue. It was expected that the turbo cars would be able to stretch their legs
and Stuart Barrington-Hall proved that to be the case - but not without some unexpected competition from Lindsay Ward's remarkable Lancia Thema which also has a turbocharger and, spicing up
the action, was also running in Class C thus challenging a bullish Stuart's Maserati. It's good for the series to see more variety.
So, Enzo was at the top of the list after qualifying which was held in dry and mild conditions. Drummond Bone, running competitively on this track for the first time,
was 2.3 seconds in arrears after playing himself in and managing to knock the ignition switch off a couple of times - not conducive to quick lappery. For a short
time the remarkable Danny Wright was fastest of all in a JS Motorsports Alfa 156 - along with Enzo, possibly the most improved driver and team of the year? Class
B saw the welcome return of the ever-popular Giovanni di Gennaro with his Fiat 128 and he grabbed a time fourth overall and first in class in front of Gary Lucas
who had Jim Price breathing down his neck. Class C times were eagerly awaited and an interesting race was in prospect as Lindsay Ward had pipped Stuart by
the scant margin of 0.15 secs. Not only that but Julian Birley was only another 0.13 secs further back. Earlier, your scribe was treated to some inside
information from Brian Thorp on how to hustle an Alfa 33 round Silverstone and during qualifying he duly obliged by demonstrating what he had said and taking
his customary first in Class D. Immaculate, the car 'sold itself' as Brian will be changing horses for 2001. Ted Riddick beat a sideways Chris Forrest for runner
up positions. In Class E Graham Warner put 2.3 seconds between himself and Steven Pahlke. Further down, Tony Soper's free Alfa Sprint didn't disgrace itself fifth from last!
 Turbo time came at last at 15.30 and anxious eyes scanned the sky for rain as it had turned very dark and some spots were
felt. Thankfully it held off and an even more determined Enzo than usual emerged from Woodcote, at the end of the first lap, just one second behind Graham Warner (who therefore took the AGIP award for the 6th
time). Enzo was soon ahead and stretching a lead that was to expand to 16 seconds by flagfall. All eyes were on the Class C runners and Stuart had made a good start to pull himself clear of Lindsay and Julian.
Drummond put the hammer down after threading his way through traffic and headed to a second overall and a lap only 0.6 seconds off Enzo's pace. A terrific
battle was shaping up between Giovanni's 128 and Gary Lucas but sadly the Fiat expired with piston failure for the nth time leaving Gary the B win.
Meanwhile, the Lancia Thema was catching the Maserati and Julian Birley was doing a
great job of harrying them both. When it was all over Stuart took the class win in style but Lindsay took the fastest lap, good stuff enjoyed by the spectators. As ever, Brian Thorp took Class D with a ninth overall
performance but was beaten by the brilliant seventh overall taken by Graham Warner's Class E Alfa.
An indication of how clean our racing is was given by Lindsay Ward who was impressed by the lack of damage to his car at
the end of the race. This is good for the series and may it stay that way for Oulton and Donington.
( For more images from Silverstone Click Here )
|
