We think we've reminded you enough, but this article comes to you on the very last day you can enter this Sunday's Silverstone GP round, using the entry form on our event page.
Now, cast your mind back to October 2022, when the CSCC enjoyed two days racing on the National circuit. With the office team being especially short of time, we never got a chance to bring you results, video or write-up from that weekend. So, hopefully better late than never, sit back and get revved up ahead of this Sunday's live-stream action.
Marc Peters was there for us on both days in October, video camera in hand, producing these highlights.
Most of our modern series raced on the Saturday:
Our classics can be enjoyed here:
All races were live-streamed, you can find these on the club's YouTube channel.
Results are here on TSL Timing.
David Stallard's official club photographs can still be enjoyed and purchased here (modern) and here (classic). David's photos are used throughout this article too.
On to the race reports, courtesy of Mark Paulson:
The club’s penultimate race meeting of the season took place at the home of the British Grand Prix for the Silverstone Spectacular. Our first visit to the National circuit since early 2019 was held under sunny early autumn skies and was full of close racing among the healthy grids. Sadly, there were a few more damage-incurring incidents than we would like on Saturday, but the racing was still overwhelmingly clean and fair.
Beginning with Sunday’s action, racing commenced with the Adams & Page Swinging Sixties Group 2, also including a trio of additional Group 1 runners. Nigel Reuben, not sharing his TVR Griffith with son Oliver on this occasion, had a clear pace advantage in qualifying, despite one gravelly moment. His best time around the 1.64-mile circuit was nearly a second clear of Jamie Keevill’s Lotus Elan.

Row two would comprise Dean Halsey’s Datsun 240Z, the Essex racer to be joined by coach Scott Gillam, and Jon Wolfe going solo in his TVR Tuscan V8.

Facing a 90-second success penalty for his wins at Snetterton, Castle Combe and Donington Park, Reuben knew a fourth victory in 2022 would be a tall order. But with Keevill and third-row starters Steve Hodges (Lotus 7 Series 2) and Stephen Pickering (Sunbeam Tiger) facing 30 second penalties at their pitstops, it wasn’t completely out of the question. Reuben gave it a good go, setting a searing pace until a failed suspension pick-up left him crabbing into the pits with a quarter of the race to run. Keevill and Wolfe had enjoyed a great scrap for second through the opening stint but when Keevill served his longer pitstop, it allowed Wolfe to ease to his first victory in the series for three years. His strong showing also earned him the driver of the race award from the commentary team led by Paul Truswell.

Keevill looked set for second, until a suspected electrical problem forced him to pull off at Copse with just two laps remaining. That gifted the Class G-winning Halsey/Gillam combination the place, with Halsey delighted to score another podium finish. Twenty seconds further in arrears was Pickering, ahead of the Elans of Bill Watt and Jon Crayston. With Keevill’s demise, Hodges may have challenged them for Class L honours but for getting caught up in Dave Roberts’s grassy moment approaching Becketts – where the National circuit diverts to join the Wellington Straight – on the first lap. Steven and Adam Chaplin were first Group 1 runners home, their MG Midget edging the Shaun Haddrell/Nick Watling Turner-Climax Mk1 in seventh overall. Roger Bowman’s Jaguar Mk1 secured Class H honours after Martin Reynolds’s stunning Ford Mustang GT350 ran dry.
Giles Dawson was in a league of his own among the 24-car Mintex Classic K field. His 89.3mph qualifying lap was some 3.7s clear of Alex Thisthlethwayte’s big Ford Mustang and would have put him third overall among the Swinging Sixties runners with which they shared a qualifying session. Thistlethwayte just edged the Tim and Mark Cousins Elan, which would face a 30s success penalty after Sam Smith won in the car at Snetterton. John McGurk’s Lotus Cortina was next, ahead of David Thompson/Jon Wolfe (TVR Grantura MkIII) and Simon Ham’s beautiful Jaguar E-type. Wolfe did well to post some quick times in after jumping from his Swinging Sixties Tuscan mid-session.

Come the hour-long race, Dawson was untroubled on his way to victory by more than a lap, despite a couple of Code 60 interventions and a lengthy safety-car period in the second half of the race. “That’s the first time it’s done an hour,” said a relieved Dawson, who was looking forward to enjoying a pub lunch after being plagued by unreliability in the 26R so far this year.

Thistlethwayte was equally comfortable in a Class B-winning second, despite receiving a one-minute penalty for speeding under Code 60 conditions. That would have made the difference and elevated the Cousins car from third but for their own 32s penalty for falling 2s short of their required 2m30s stop, having also not enjoyed the best fortune with where the safety car picked up the field.
The caution period was required after Chris Winchester’s MGB spun exiting Woodcote and smote the wall, sadly inflicting front-end damage. It was Peter and Jan Boyles who won the class ahead of a sterling recovery by Will Linley and Rob Griffiths who had to start near the back of the field after speeding under a Code 60 in qualifying.

Class F winner, in an impressive sixth overall, was the Morris Mini Cooper S of Richard Parsons and Alistair Pugh, while Max Cawthorn joined Peter Barnard in the latter’s Elva Courier Mk4 to claim Class D. McGurk’s Cortina let him down mid-race, which left Class E to be fought between the two most unusual cars on the grid, the Hunter family Tornado Talisman GT and Cip Nistorica’s Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce, which was making its first appearance with the club, having been recommissioned for racing by Alfa specialist Nistorica’s Alficina concern. A couple of spins for the latter, on only his second weekend in the car, meant Brian Hunter was well clear at the flag in the car relayed by son James, making only his second-ever race start.
The JMC Racing Special Saloons and Modsports field were due to be joined by three Sports Racing & V8s entries, although Nigel Reuben was a non-starter after hitting trouble in the Swinging Sixties encounter. Setting the pace all day were regular frontrunners Danny Morris, in the Spirit of RPM Peugeot 309 GTI, and MG Midget-mounted Andy Southcott.
Southcott’s Vauxhall-engined Midget jumped polesitter Morris at the start of race one and led the opening tours before a lairy moment in front of the BRDC grandstand at Brooklands let Morris through. The turbo Cosworth-motivated 309, 30 years on from its Thundersaloons debut when Opel-powered, was not headed for the rest of the 15-minute thrash, as Southcott gamely tried to cling on, battling a disobedient differential. “As ever, I’m dedicating that to my late brother, Ricky Parker-Morris,” said an emotional Danny after taking his fourth win of the season in the car he shared for so long with Ricky.

Behind the lead pair, Dan Williamson’s monstrous Red Fox Classics Mustang briefly ran third before making multiple pitstops as a misbehaving side window refused to stay in place. A wheelspin-induced tardy getaway from Clive Anderson allowed fellow Thruxton winner Jack Gadd (Ford Escort RSR) to take advantage and run third. But Anderson’s Rover V8-engined BMW E30 powered past on the Wellington Straight before half-distance, and Gadd then spun exiting Brooklands in his haste to keep up. Gadd held fourth ahead of Martin Reynolds’s Ford Anglia and Robert Frost’s mighty Dax Tojiero. Seventh was Paul Eaton’s Holden Commodore VH ahead of Paul Sibley’s Midget, the first traditional modsports car home.

A very swift diff change on the Mike Johnston-built spaceframe Midget – with plenty of helping hands mucking in to assist – had Southcott ready to go again in race two. Sadly, there would be no rematch with Morris though, as the Peugeot’s gearbox had given up when he pulled in after the opener. So Southcott was unchallenged on his way to a 49s victory over Anderson. The margin was slightly unrepresentative as both Anderson and Gadd had to nurse their cars home. An injector on the Prism Motorsport BMW had packed up, forcing Anderson to back off with only one bank of cylinders firing properly, but luckily for him, Gadd’s DWG Escort was also on half-power due to an alternator problem.

Fourth was Abbie Eaton, stepping into dad Paul’s Holden. The W Series racer and one-time Mazda MX-5 champion enjoyed a good battle with Reynolds, running side by side through the end-of-lap complex before powering ahead. Reynolds’s Anglia blew its differential in the closing stages, and with Frost’s Tojiero also out, Cheng Lim was able to bring his seven-litre RAM Cobra home fifth ahead of Sibley.
Not for the first time, the Adams & Page Swinging Sixties Group 1 set, for smaller cars, provided some of the closest racing of the weekend, with fantastic action that was kept clean throughout the 40-minute stanza. With several of the frontrunners set to serve 30s winners’ penalties at their pitstops, it levelled the field amongst them, although Richard Perry’s full-minute handicap following his Anglesey double in May meant his Austin-Healey Sprite dropped from contention after the stops.
It was the Thruxton-winning Smith family MGA that pipped Perry to pole position, Jack going just 0.02s faster than the MED Sprite, and the first eight all within half a second! Jack Smith was passed for the lead by Ian Staines’s MG Midget going into Becketts for the first time, but Smith got a run exiting Luffield on the second tour to lead once more as they crossed the line. Smith Jr stayed in front until the stops, albeit building only a few seconds’ advantage over the battles behind and confessing that he may have taken too much out of his tyres before handing over to dad Steve.

Behind the MGA, Chris Watkinson’s Mini, Sam Polley’s Mini Marcos – up from seventh on the grid after understeer struggles – and Perry led the chase after Staines suffered a spin at Luffield. Watkinson and Polley traded second place before their stops, which were only a lap apart. With both serving success penalties, they remained close behind Steve Smith when he emerged a lap later, albeit Watkinson had lost a few seconds.

But with no pitstop handicap, two more cars joined the lead fray – the BMWs of Tom Pead (1600 Ti) and Charles Tippet (2002 Ti), who had taken over from daughter Claire Norman. Pead passed Smith Sr. for the lead at Copse, only for Polley and Pead to immediately hit back. Polley then dived inside Smith just half a lap later at Brooklands as the breathless action continued. Alas, Smith then started to slow and a repeat of the car’s Oulton Park fan belt failure meant he was forced to bring the overheating MGA in to retire. Pead’s chances also evaporated when he spun at Copse in the closing stages, allowing Polley to ease home 6.5s clear of Tippet, with Watkinson completing the podium.
Polley’s delight with the victory was only tempered by the thought of the 60 second penalty he was saddled with at the Cadwell Park season finale! Being named the commentators’ driver of the race provided further consolation. Pead salvaged fourth, ahead of Connor Kay’s Class B winning Midget and the Mini Jem of Pete and James Crudgington, while Ian Hulett impressed in seventh overall, winning Class D in his Austin-Healey Sprite.

Further intrigue came in the form of the MGB GT entered by The Grand Tour’s Richard Hammond, as part of his restoration venture, The Smallest Cog. Piloted by newcomer Anthony Greenhouse and Abbie Eaton, doubling up with her Special Saloons ride, the entry and its multi-camera entourage generated plenty of paddock interest. Sadly, the TGT test driver had to park up shortly after taking over from Greenhouse.
The 29-car A2 Speedpanel Modern Classics entry was headed in qualifying by the glorious Porsche 964 Turbo of Piers Maserati. Going solo this weekend, with brother Miles otherwise engaged at the NFL in London, Maserati was nearly a second clear of the V8-powered TVR Tuscans of Alex Taylor and Stuart Daburn. It was a welcome return to the fold for Daburn after his nasty Anglesey smash in May which had left both car and driver worse for wear. Next up was Tom Mensley, having a second outing in his recently-acquired Amspeed BMW M3 E36 Evo.

Putting aside Saturday’s travails in his Mazda RX-7, Taylor jumped ahead at the start then withstood the pressure from Masarati, managing to eke out a small advantage before pitting shortly after half-distance. With Masarati required to stop for an additional 20 seconds, courtesy of his Donington win, that was effectively job done for an elated Taylor, as his Rassler Racing Tuscan held the gap to the flag. Masarati, who was penalised a further minute for speeding under Code 60 conditions, was almost as happy, thrilled to have been given a thorough workout.
Masarati’s penalty did not prove costly, as Daburn and Mensley – third and fourth – were penalised similarly. Mensley, who had briefly run third after Daburn went in too deep at Becketts on the first lap, was further censured for taking his mandatory stop before the pit window had opened but had two laps in hand over the fifth-placed Porsche 993 RSR of Dave Whelan and Aidan Farrell.

Behind the victors in Classes C and D, Stephen Harrison (Honda S2000) and Steven Summers (Lotus Elise S1), Rodney Frost’s Powerbell Jaguar XJS was the first home of a six-strong entry of Big Cats, with the one-time Jaguar Saloon & GT champion earning the driver of the race award in the process.
There was no rest for Daburn, who was immediately back out in the Advantage Motorsport Future Classics series where his Tuscan started alongside Steve Scott-Dunwoodie’s Ford Sierra RS500 on the front row of the grid. Third fastest qualifier, the Lancashire family’s Morgan +8 was another likely contender, while a three-tenths margin between the front-engined Porsches of Richard Harman (944) and Mark Chilton (928) was a portent of their close-fought scrap.

Scott-Dunwoodie’s massive lock-up at Becketts on the opening lap let Bill Lancashire into the lead. From there, he controlled the opening half of the race, keeping just out of reach of Daburn, who further demoted Scott-Dunwoodie on lap two. The RS500 had lost it's third gear and while Scott-Dunwoodie continued to manhandle the beast – and returned to the lead with the fastest pitstop of all – he was visibly struggling and eventually had to park up just after three-quarter distance when the manifold started to loosen too.

Daburn pitted before the Morgan, with his one-minute penalty for early-season wins at Snetterton and Thruxton handing Howard Lancashire a whole lap advantage when he took over from his dad. Daburn unlapped himself, and caught and passed Harman for second overall, but clearly had no chance of catching the well-driven Morgan. No matter; Daburn was delighted to just be back in action at the sharp end and earned himself the race’s driver of the day award.
Chilton led Harman in the opening stint and, after both had pitted, Harman was disappointed to find himself just behind on track. But he hadn’t factored in that Chilton had served a success penalty which, like Daburn’s, cost him almost a whole lap. Thus it was a happy Harman who took third overall, Keir Edmonds’s Porsche 911 Carrera won Class B in fifth overall. Sam Smith’s Mazda MX-5 was well clear of his Class D rivals in sixth overall. Class C went to Stephen Gilbey and Matthew Molineux in their BMW E30, just 10s clear of David Newnes on his first time out in a fantastic looking Group N spec M3 of similar vintage.
As the only entry in the 1970s section, Matthew Irons and grandson Jake Severs couldn’t be beaten in their BMW 323i E21, but nonetheless impressed on their way to seventh overall.
Saturday’s action, for the more modern categories, began with the Co-ordSport Tin Tops. The first attempt was red-flagged following a first-lap accident in the midfield approaching Becketts, which left Terry Upton’s Ford Fiesta ST and a pair of Clio's heavily damaged. The complete restart was held over a reduced time of 30 minutes and was dominated by Russell Hird’s Honda Integra Type R. Hird jumped from the second row of the grid into the lead and was never headed, except during the pitstop phase.

Equally impressive was James Slater’s drive from the back of the grid – after qualifying woe – to second in his Honda Civic Type R, earning himself the commentators’ driver of the day award for the category. The pole-sitting Integra of Nigel Ainge and Danny Cassar ran third in owner Ainge’s hands and slipped to the lower reaches of the top 10 after the stops, owing to its one-minute success penalty. But a charging drive by Cassar, with a fastest lap nearly 2 seconds quicker than anyone else, hauled the car back into third by the flag, only 48 seconds down on Hird.

Adam Brown (Fiesta ST) won Class C in fourth overall, despite his own 30 second winner’s penalty, while Anglesey winners Stephen Reynolds and John Ridgeon (Renault Clio 182) also overcame their longer stop to take Class C. It was sadly a day to forget for front-row starter Manoj Patel, who pitted early on to have his wheel-nuts tightened, then called in for good with fuel concerns.
A smaller than usual Gold Arts Magnificent Sevens field was further depleted when serial winner Tim Davis was unable to start. His BOSS team-mate Colin Watson was slow away, but the third BOSS car of Jeremy Adams led the way until the pitstops when he relayed Rob Singleton. It was David Holroyd that emerged in front but he was chased down by Tim Davies (not to be confused with Tim Davis) who took the lead with two laps to go by sweeping around the outside at Brooklands when Holroyd was slightly baulked by a backmarker.

Davies held off Holroyd to the flag but a fractionally short pitstop for the latter meant he incurred a penalty that dropped him to fifth. Richard Carter inherited second (and the Class F win) after trading places with Watson on the final tour. Singleton was just behind, having had a grassy moment at Becketts on his out-lap.

The Liqui Moly Slicks and Verum Builders Open Series race had to be red-flagged when a fire broke out on the Short family Mosler MT900 Super GT car, shortly after Morgan took over the seven-litre machine – not their usual mount – from younger brother Marcus. The duo had taken a voluntarily extended 40 second pitstop penalty as a handicap measure, and had dominated the opening laps, but expectant onlookers were sadly denied a thrilling chase to the flag by the fire. It was later traced to over-fuelling, when running the pit-limiter to control the beast to 60kp/h under Code 60.

The crew that should have benefited from the Mosler’s demise were Nigel Mustill and pro- driver Craig Dolby in the former’s Solution F ‘Volvo S80’ silhouette. But, with a Code 60 and the red flag coming during the pitstop sequence, Dolby was left to climb through from 16th for the 15-minute restart. That he did with alacrity, passing the leading BMW M4 of Sam Allpass – who had started the original race from the back of the grid – towards the end. Allpass held second, ahead of father-and-son duo Mark Smith and Aaron Moulton-Smith, Class B winners in their BMW M3 E36 Evo.

Kevin Bird and son Charles Hyde-Andrews-Bird (Porsche 991.1 Carrera Cup) won Class A2 and David Harvey (Lotus 340R) was the first of the Verum Builders Open Series runners home.
On only his second appearance in his Japanese-import Toyota Starlet GT, Josh Brooks put in a fine performance to win the Motorsports School Turbo Tin Tops race. Polesitter Brooks was briefly headed by Phiroze Bilimoria’s ex-VW Cup VW Scirocco at the start before charging past on the Wellington Straight. He was then closed down by Snetterton and Brands Hatch winner Carl Chambers (Peugeot 208 GTI) before the latter was first to stop, with his one-minute penalty dropping him from contention.

Once the stops had cycled through, Brooks was left with a healthy lead and the former Toyota MR2 racer streaked to victory by 23 seconds over the Mini Cooper S R56 JCW of Class D winners Sean Woodard and Josh Fulbrook. Keith Issatt’s Mini Clubman completed the podium ahead of Class A winners, John Hammersley and Nigel Tongue, who had the pace for second without their previous winner’s penalty. Chambers could only manage seventh, but notably within a minute of the winner. The Mr Tyre Motorsport Puma Cup section was won by Luke Johnson.

Saturday concluded with the TrackRoadRace New Millennium’s field of BMW exotica, together with a couple of GT4 Aston Martins and a trio of Porsches. Unfortunately, it was the third race of the afternoon hit by a red flag. On this occasion, it appeared that the BMWs of Matthew Sanders (E46) and Simon Baker (1 Series Coupe), together with John Jackson’s Aston, were trying to recreate the infamous pincer accident of Renault twins Alain Menu and Willy Hoy around Jo Winklehock’s BMW at Thruxton in 1996. Happening at the start of the second lap, it meant Sanders was turned heavily into the pitwall and all three picked up race-ending damage. Happily, all three drivers were able to walk away after some expert attention.

Once barrier repairs were complete, the race was restarted over 30 minutes. Dominic Malone took his ex-Andy Priaulx BMW M3 E90 to a relatively untroubled victory, albeit by less than 2 seconds in the official classification after he received a 30.4s penalty for a fractionally short pitstop. Giving his E36 Evo another run, Mark Smith was second, with Nathan Wells’s E46 GTR completing the podium. Alex Heynes (M3 E36) just held off Ashley Muldoon’s similar car for fourth, earning the driver of the race nomination for his efforts.

Tommy Grout (M3 E36) took the honours in Class M2 for less modified machinery, while the Jacksons’ demise meant Martin Addison’s Aston was the sole Class A finisher. Among the Class B Porsches, Patrick Scharfegger’s Boxster S claimed the laurels after Natalie McGloin (Cayman S) was another hit with a short pitstop penalty.

The nature of Silverstone’s National circuit always provides close racing action (let's see what the Grand Prix brings on Sunday).
