Race Report: Silverstone - 27th & 28th May

Qualifying

After a very hot few days the weather was marginally cooler & windy as the 22 Jaguars took to the track. Friday testing proved invaluable to those who had taken part as drivers had to learn the circuit for the first time. Silverstone, being very flat & with a number of circuit configurations, can be very difficult to know which way to turn for the first few laps. Disconcerting at first!

Colin Philpott took pole from David Howard by a mere 0.5 of a second, with Rodney Frost & Patrick Doyle’s XJSs on Row 2. Frost led Class B from Walker & Boon. Lenthall, in his first outing for a number of years, posted a respectable 1.23.9 to qualify 11^th. Adam Powderham & Tom Robinson are getting to grips with the glorious sounding supercharged XJRs, qualifying 5^th & 8^th. In the standard class A, Michael Holt led from Simon Blunt & Nick Wade. Crossley was unlucky to slip into the gravel at Club, necessitating yellow flags.

Race 2

If race one was exciting, race 2 was utterly enthralling. Drama before the start meant a non-start for Nick Wade with a blown head gasket in the pits, Joining Dickins non-start with a similar problem yesterday. More dramatically & unluckily, David Howard’s XJ12 bust an oil pipe in the Assembly area & the car caught fire, although thankfully extinguished without too much damage. So much excitement event before the cars took to the green flag lap!

At the start, Philpott again took the lead from Frost & for two laps the field spread out a little until the whole race ignited. Powderham held off a strong challenge from Connew until lap 9, when the latter was picked off by Lenthall, who was showing no rustiness in the XJS after his long lay-off. Meanwhile, Doyle, who started from the back of the grid after Saturdays stoppage, put the power of the V12 to excellent use. He made up 8 positions on lap 1 & proceeded to carve his way through the field, going from 8^th to 4^th on lap 4. It took until lap 11 to get past 2^nd man Frost & then reeled in the race leader. On the final lap he passed Philpott on the back straight, only to be repassed at Stowe in an audacious manoeuvre, netting Philpott his second win of the weekend & Doyle Drive of the Day.

After replacing a damaged door (courtesy of Lenthall delivery service), Walker was unlucky to have to pull up when said door kept flapping open. A massive 4-car battle between Cologne-Brookes, Blunt & Holt continued for lap after lap before finishing in that order, although Sewell disposed of Brookes on lap 11. Further ahead, Bye (XJ6), Pearce (XK8), Boon (XJS) & Robinson (XJR), changed position lap after lap. Robinson took Pearce in an outstanding move at Club, to secure Class D third. Dunford took class A third for the second time during the weekend.