GT & Sports Car Cup Race Report: Silverstone Sees Pearson Prevail as Jaguar E Outruns Cobras

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR RACE WINNERS
Silverstone GP Circuit - 12th June 2022
John Pearson Jr & Gary Pearson

Pearsons prevail as Jaguar E outruns Cobras at Silverstone

Synonymous for decades, the Pearson family, Jaguars and Silverstone added another chapter to their illustrious history when brothers Gary and John Junior won the second GT & Sports Car Cup event of the season with Equipe Classic Racing at the massive MG Live! spectacular on June 12. Far from a gentle Sunday afternoon Grand Prix circuit drive in their E-type roadster, the local duo backed by Pearsons Engineering’s crack team of technicians led 36 of the 46 laps over the two-hour duration in outrunning a bevy of rampant AC Cobras.

Richard Cook and Porsche rallyman Richard Tuthill - the latter racing a Cobra for the first time and finding it very different to the rear-engined 911s he knows so well, and mentors drivers in ice driving schools in Scandinavia - finished just over a minute behind the svelte Jaguar. The sister ‘289’ (4.7-litre) Cobra of Richard Hywel-Evans/Olly Bryant and the closer Cobra Daytona Coupe of David Smithies/Chris Clarkson also took the chequered flag on the lead lap.

The battle for GT3 division honours was hotly contested as ever although Mark Holme and Jeremy Welch - of loyal race sponsor Denis Welch Racing - were never unseated from the lead. Jeremy performed another of his famous ‘musical chairs’ acts, carefully co-ordinated pitstops enabling him to anchor Austin-Healey 3000 owners Holme and Doug Muirhead to a one-two, their cars a lap apart at the close.

GT2 saw a new winner in Anglo-French teenager Oliver Marçais, who drove a mature solo race in his MGB to beat the similarly-mounted David and Matt Green and James Bilsland/Mark Hope by a lap. In doing so, Marçais lapped within 0.449s of Lotus Elite stalwart and top qualifier Marc Gordon’s fastest lap in the set.

At the climax of the prizegiving Gary and John Pearson were honoured to receive the Royal Automobile Club Family Award from RAC Chairman Ben Cussons - himself a passionate Jaguar racer - and Head of Motoring Jeremy Vaughan, our guests for the Silverstone weekend.

“This was a super event with a strong entry of fantastic cars including the return of the Ferrari marque, our traditional first-class hospitality and wonderful camaraderie on and off track. The drivers love Silverstone and this was GTSCC at its casually understated best,” reflected Vanessa Marçais of promoter Automobiles Historiques.

QUALIFYING

Talking point in the quality 29-car field was the return of the Ferrari marque to the GTSCC arena. Following the recent passing of GTO Engineering founder Mark Lyon and instigated by GTO Engineering’s Kevin Jones and friends Alexis de Beaumont and Niall Dyer decided to honour the prancing horse preparation guru’s memory by entering their delicious V12-engined 250 GT Berlinettas. De Beaumont was partnered by GTO’s Kevin Jones, while reigning FJHRA Historic Formula Junior champion Nic Carlton-Smith was humbled to be invited to share Dyer’s road-equipped car following the tragic death of Niall’s long-time co-driver Simon Diffey in a road accident a month previously.

After 40 minutes of clean running on the full 3.6604-mile layout in excellent summery conditions, Sunday morning’s qualifying pecking order had a remarkable - almost spooky - symmetry to it. Pairs of hard-topped Jaguar E-type roadsters, AC Cobra 289s and Cobra Daytona Coupes filled the first three rows of the grid, chased by three of the eight-strong Austin-Healey 3000 pack which set the GT3 benchmark, split by a Morgan +4 SLR and the gruff Shelby Mustang GT350 powered by the same Ford V8 as the Cobras.

Ironically, the second [of three built] Sprinzel Lawrencetune Racing Morgan coupe would have lined up with its stablemate, but for an overtaking under yellow flag infringement which saw it banished to the back. Following the ‘big Healeys,’ the brace of Triumph TR4s headed off the lone Lotus Elite, which beat the quickest of six MGBs to GT2 pole by a second in a TVR Grantura-free zone. The singleton Sunbeam Tiger was surrounded by ‘Bs,’ and even the Ferrari SWBs were lined up together.

Young Scottish prospect Gordie Mutch opened a few eyes by planting John Clark’s E-type on pole position, his 2m30.713s (87.43mph) penultimate shot a scant half second swifter than the Pearsons, who were content to run three [flying] laps each on home soil in John’s gunmetal hued car to meet Motor Sport UK stipulations. The Cobras of Hywel-Evans/Bryant and Richards Cook and Tuthill were separated by a thousandth, 2:32.481 playing a catch-up 2:32.482! Paul and George Pochciol’s white fastback derivative was a tenth adrift on 2:32.613, chased by the Ford France tribute-liveried sister version of David Smithies/Chris Clarkson.

A quarter of a second covered the swiftest Healeys on row four, GT3 leaders Holme/Welch’s 2:36.199 (84.36mph) shading James Haxton/Jack Rawles’ best by 0.253s. Doug Muirhead/Welch in black-topped TON 792 [‘The Chairman’s Car’] were not quite a second shy, gridding ahead of Simon Orebi Gann’s ex-Gordon Spice Morgan in which the indisposed Keith Ahlers’ ace co-driver and spannerman Billy Bellinger subbed splendidly for peripatetic Scot Calum Lockie, competing on the continent.

Eleventh was the Mustang fastback of Stuart Lawson/Bill Wykeham, with the Healey 3000s of Mike Thorne/Sarah Bennett-Baggs - debuting their ex-David Grace machine in effectively a taster session as its long-distance fuel tank was being refoamed, thus it would not go two hours - Christiaen van Lanschot/Karsten Le Blanc (DD300) and Crispin Harris’ Oulton Park class winner 0.306s apart. With Crispin indisposed this time, Citroen C1 racer son Al eagerly stepped up to join James Wilmoth. The other members of the A-H posse, Mark Pangborn/Harvey Woods and Paul and George Ingram weren’t far shy, ahead of the Triumph TR4s of Allan and Daniel Ross-Jones (another dad-and-lad equipe) and Colin Sharp, who had been busy post-Oulton refettling his gearbox, a second apart.

Top of the GT2 tree was the slippery Type 14 Lotus Elite of Marc Gordon/Nick Finburgh, Peter Kirwan-Taylor’s fibreglass monocoque brainchild’s 1216cc Coventry-Climax FWE engine purring like a sewing machine. Their 2:47.618s (78.61mph) benchmark was a second beyond the familiar black and ivory liveried MGB of Brian and Barbara Lambert, who shaded the GT4 Sunbeam Tiger of Neil Merry and graphic design legend Julian Balme, a Tiger Club stalwart, by 0.030s.

The next brace of MGBs saw Oliver Marçais promisingly inside 2m50s, clear of Mark Hope/James Bilsland. Marçais had spotted his water temperature gauge shooting upwards during Saturday’s MG B 60th Anniversary and retired to the pits to save the rebuilt engine. A blocked radiator core was the culprit. The TTP crew changed the head gasket and thanks to Jeremy Welch who sportingly loaned the rad from daughter Arabella’s car, Oliver was able to start the GTSCC event.

The magnificent GTO Engineering-built Ferraris of de Beaumont/Jones and Dyer/Carlton-Smith were 1.464s apart behind them, chased by another trio of MGBs in the hands of David and Matt Green, Nigel Batchelor/Nick Ruddell - better known in Historic racing circles for saddling the Kieft GP car and an early Chevrolet Corvette respectively - and Richard and Alice Locke.

RACE

With John Pearson “not feeling too good,” with flu-like symptoms, a change of plan saw Gary start the #82 Jag with the intention of bookending the driving around a short middle stint by his sibling, at Silverstone overseeing HP Tyres’ Dunlop supply operation over a huge weekend. From the rolling start at 15.45, Gary opened a five-second lead over the Cobras of Cook and George Pochciol on the opening lap, then extended his advantage by maintaining a metronomic pace.

Behind them, Clark, Hywel-Evans, Smithies, Holme, Muirhead, Lawson and van Lanschot settled into the chase as competitors prepared to play the long game on a pleasantly warm afternoon. Gordon led GT2 initially in his svelte Lotus, from Brian Lambert and Oliver Marçais, Gordon’s pursuers separated by Sharp and de Beaumont’s wailing Ferrari, up four places from its grid position. Also making progress up the order was John Emberson’s Morgan SLR, albeit not on the pace of Orebi Gann’s version.

Clark dropped to seventh, behind GT3 pacemaker Holme, as he found his equilibrium in the pole-starting E-type, meanwhile Lawson and Muirhead, Pochciol and Cook and Smithies and Hywel-Evans traded places in the opening skirmishes. Wilmoth ran a strong third in GT3, the ‘Crispy Moth’ Healey pursued by Pangborn and van Lanschot’s ex-Le Mans warrior. Bilsland was the first to make a routine pitstop, after nine laps, but this proved tactical.

The Ingram family Healey sounded rough from the start, but soldiered on to two-thirds’ distance before being retired. Thorne/SBB stopped a lap earlier, looking forward to exercising their promising steed again. Out already, though, were the Pangborn/Woods Healey, which suffered half shaft failure in The Loop after a great scrap with rivals in the thick of GT3, Sharp’s TR4 with another gearbox issue and de Beaumont’s Ferrari when its diff wilted. Fortunately, its stablemate ran to the finish, accompanied by a superb V12 yowl which was appreciated by all who ran up close, plus marshals and onlookers at trackside.

Behind leader Gary Pearson, who thoroughly enjoyed chasing Mutch (relayed into Clark’s Jag after 11 laps) through traffic before putting brother John in to bat for a short nine-lap sprint an exciting high-octane V8 duel unfolded. Pochciol and Cook scrapped for 15 laps, before Richard edged ahead. He stopped three laps later to install Tuthill, while Paul Pochciol relieved son George next time round.

Tuthill, Clarkson (now in Smithies’ Cobra coupe) and Bryant (in for Hywel-Evans) were more than a minute behind leader John Pearson, but Olly was on a charge. In the course of eight laps, Bryant snarled through to second place, drawing Tuthill with him as the deficit to P1 was eroded to 30 seconds. A lap after, Gary Pearson leapt back aboard the Jaguar - promoting Tuthill to the lead he would hold to the end of his fine middle stint 10 laps later - Bryant and Clarkson pitted for car owners Hywel-Evans and Smithies to finish. Gearbox failure had trailered Clark’s Jag in the interim, Mutch having climbed to third before the pitstop stagger unwound.

Back ahead after Cook replaced Tuthill, Pearson reeled off the remaining laps secure in the knowledge that he again had best part of a minute’s cushion to the nearest of the four Cobras. Cooke/Tuthill, Hywel-Evans/Bryant and Smithies/Clarkson all completed the Pearsons’ full 46 laps, with the Pochciol/Pochciol Daytona Coupe on 45, almost 21 seconds clear of GT3 victors Holme/Welch. A flurry of fastest laps by Bryant mid-race culminated in the best of 2m31.685s (86.87mph).

Mark had double-stinted in his Healey, with a mandatory 30 second stationary stop between runs for this. He was still on the lead lap after 34 circuits (having just set the class’ best lap), when he then handed it over to Welch who had leapt out of Muirhead’s car five laps previously. The latter was classified seventh, on 44 laps, pursued by the Lawson/Wykeham Shelby Mustang and van Lanschot/Le Blanc’s British Racing Green Healey. On 43 laps, the aerodynamic Morgan coupes of Orebi Gann/Bellinger and Emberson/Horsman broke the Healey GT3 monopoly in 10th and 11th, 29 seconds apart. Wilmoth/Harris Jr and the Ross-Jones TR4 were next back, the six-cylinder Healey having growled past the four-potter to snatch 12th two laps from home.

The GT2 fight was an intriguing one, for Gordon’s agile Elite had the legs on the MGBs of Brian Lambert and Oliver Marçais initially. Brian went top by running four laps longer before his first stop, but Barbara could not match her husband’s pace thus their challenge faded as Marçais’ was in the ascendant when he began to reel-in Nick Finburgh taking his turn in the Lotus. Gordon’s aspirations came unstitched at the second stop when his harness was not tightened securely and he spun on his out-lap as a consequence. Fuel starvation presaged the combo’s retirement after 39 laps, albeit not before Gordon had set fastest lap, shading Marçais’ by 0.449s.

Oliver went to the top of the class on lap 27 and coolly remained there to the chequered flag, which he took in an impressive 14th place overall. Green/Green and Bilsland/Hope finished a lap behind, with fellow MGB drivers Lambert/Lambert and Batchelor/Ruddell a further circuit down, separated by the Merry/Balme Tiger.

The GT & Sports Car Cup will have its next outing at the Autumn Classic, Castle Combe on Saturday 24th September, entry forms below. If you have not already done so, be sure not to miss your opportunity of joining the grid, enter now!

Report by Marcus Pye

GTSCC WINNERS
John Pearson Jr & Gary Pearson

GTSCC CLASS WINNERS
GT2 - Oliver Marçais - MG B
GT3 - Mark Holme & Jeremy Welch - Austin Healey 3000
GT4 - John Pearson Jr & Gary Pearson - Jaguar E-type

GTSCC 'Driver of the Day' - Marc Gordon & Nick Finburgh - Lotus Elite
Royal Automobile Club ‘Family Award’ - John Pearson Jr & Gary Pearson - Jaguar E-Type