27/09/2004 - The racing McCarthy clan topped the British Sports Car Festival at Brands Hatch last weekend by filling all three podium places in the Thoroughbred Sportscar Championship race.
Roy McCarthy guided his more powerful MGB GT V8 home to win from his two sons Spencer and Russell in their MGBs. While Spencer got to within 8.3s of McCarthy Sr, Russell acted as something of a tail-gunner, holding off a gaggle of cars 20 seconds adrift of his father.
The two younger members of the family were also in action in the MGCC's BCV8 Championship, but could not replicate the podium success, both finishing lower down the order. Instead, it was left to Steve Williams to take the win, taking the flag over 10 seconds clear of Joe Parrington and 38 seconds ahead of third-placed series veteran Peter Collis.
The MG Car Club-organised meeting was a triumphant celebration of classic British sportscars, with only one race falling to a non-British marque - Stephen Archer's Porsche 993 RS romped to victory in the AMOC Intermarque race, although four classic Aston Martins followed him over the line.
Elsewhere, there were countless examples of British muscle scoring victories, with MG, Aston Martin, Morgan, Davrian, Triumph and Austin Healey all represented on the top step of the podium.
Edward Sharpe scored victory for Aston in the first race of the weekend, the AMOC Championship. Sharpe romped away in his DB4 and won by more than 21 seconds from Gary Pearson and Pete Foster in similar cars.
The Morgan marque had two races to itself, with Grahame Bryant's Plus 8 taking victory in the first Morgan Motor Company Challenge event and Morgan Plus 8 stalwart Keith Ahlers winning the second outing.
Bruce Fullerton drove the only Davrian in the meeting, and did the marque proud by scoring a win in the Revival JEC Allcomers race, staving off a gaggle of Jaguars and Ken Culverwell's Lotus 23B. He only did it by 1.082s, though, as Nick McCaffrey's E Type shadowed him over the finish line.
Triumph was also guaranteed a victory, as the TR Register caters solely for the marque, and it was Graham Miller's TR7 V8 that did the honours. However, Triumph didn't have to rely on a one-marque series in the end, as Henderson's TR6 beat off all comers in the Safety Fast Trophy 40-minute enduro event at the end of the day.
Meanwhile, Austin Healey's highlight came in the MG Midget Challenge for the Steve Everitt Trophy, in which Tim Storrar's Sprite held off Dave Weston's Midget to take the chequered flag.
The mighty Midget got its revenge in the Total Butler Championship race, in which Mike Holmes's machine just kept Luke Stevens' Sprite at bay to win by a tiny 0.956s gap.
There were a couple of races for slightly less powerful machinery too, with MG Trophy regular Barry Benham's MG ZR getting away from the warring ZRs of Peter Felix and Colin Wilmott to win, and Chris Hughes scoring an easy win in the MG Metro Cup outing.
|
Secure Shopping | Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy
Customers