600 Racing News

Paul is treating the meeting as a one-off at present. He said "Since racing Legends I've competed in MGs and Clios. At the moment I'm back on 'bikes but Legends have always been a very special part of my CV. My young son was too young to remember my two seasons in Legends so it will be nice for him to see the racing as well. I love Brands Hatch and I'm looking forward to racing in Legends again - Obviously the cars will have changed in the years since I raced but I'll give it a good shot!"

Paul is still one of the most successful drivers the UK formula has seen - he won 30 races from his 81 starts and has a better career race/points average than all the current top drivers.

Legends Cars growth in Europe is almost as fast as the cars themselves. A French series was started last year and is being run by former Super Touring Champion Jean-Phillippe Dayraut. This season has also seen the formula starting in Belgium and Spain, with further competitions due to start shortly in both Germany and Portugal.

“It’s fantastic to receive this invitation,” says 600 Racing Europe’s Phil Cooper. “It just goes to show how much respect the organisers of the Grand Prix have for Legends Cars as both a serious competition and as an entertaining concept. It’s still early days for the formula in France too. We’ve come a long way in a very short space of time.”

“This year’s UK entry alone underlines just how serious Legends Cars racing is being taken. Let’s face it, it’s economically tough out there and yet we’ve got full grids and the most talent rich entry we’ve ever had with champions from all fields of motor racing. It must be one of the competitive formulae in Europe and certainly the most cost effective given the level of competition.”

Legends Cars are the only UK National motor racing formula to contest a genuine World Championship each year, the event is contested in the USA at Infineon Raceway, (nee Sears Point) each November. The UK Championship is contested over 14 rounds at leading circuits in England, Scotland and Wales.

We all wish Jamie a very speedy recovery.

This year's championship is headed by 21 year old ex Karter Chris Grieve (a newcomer to the National Championship this season) by just five points from Legends veteran Peter Morton. Jamie Clarke is third just ahead of Lawrence Davey.

In total 75 Legends races have been run at Mallory Park with five of the current crop having taken wins there - Peter Morton (6), John Jon Higgins (5), Steve Thompson (4), Oli Poyser (3) and Ian Sturt (2). As usual consistency will be the key to the meeting and that may well play in to Morton's hands - the Yorkshireman has taken four outright victories at Mallory to Higgins's two and Poyser's one.

Stephen Treherne has now retired from Legends but his lap record around the club circuit (which we are using on 22nd) was set on 28th September 2003 at 54.707 seconds (88.83mph).

Round four's entry (29 cars) will see a little piece of Legends history written as our new five race format will be invoked for the first time. The circuit is licensed for 28 Legends Cars and so the complete field will be split into three for the heats. The bottom 15 drivers in the day's points after the heats will then have to contest a 'pre-final' to determine which 14 will join the top 14 for the 'A Final'. This format maintains our commitment to providing value for money for our drivers and ensuring that everyone gets at least three races.

The illustration can be scaled up or down to any size without loss of quality and is produced digitally. so that it can be updated whenever the car changes (colours/logos etc).

Glenn can be contacted on 01342 824844

The heats got underway on Saturday with Dave Newsham winning the first race from Steve Thompson. The second race saw a win for Jamie Clarke with Peter Morton in second. The third heat saw Morton go one better with a win from Dave Moore who again equalled his career best second place.

The final saw mayhem on the run down to the hairpin as Derek Pierce, John 'Jon' Higgins and Oli Poyser clashed in a shower of sparks against the concrete wall. On the restart Newsham was flying and hurtled off on his own whilst a spectacular battle was fought out for second place. Jamie Clarke came through as runner up with Paul Thompson having the race of his life to take third after a race long fight with Jim Clark, Chris Grieve and Marc Lord. This was classic Legends action with cars swapping positions throught and each place won was very hard earned.

The day's overall points were as follows: 1st Chris Grieve (480), 2nd Jamie Clarke (465), 3rd Dave Newsham (410), 4th= Peter Morton, Ian Sturt, Lawrence Davey (390).

The unofficial points totals now read: 1st Grieve (1,390), 2nd Morton (1,385), 3rd Clark (1,340), 4th Davey (1,300), 5th Poyser (1,175), 6th Pierce (1,140).

Sports Car Legend David Brabham was also on hand to watch the action and thrilled the fans with a demonstration run in Jim Clarke's car.

Nic’s Younger brother Richard has also been carving out a name for himself on the small ovals first in Ministox where he was national points champion and more recently in Legends.

The lads' father Karl Grindrod explained that the pair will contest as many rounds as possible but Nic's Pickup Truck racing campaign will take preference and therefore only Richard will be racing in the Legends at Rockingham and Mallory (where the Trucks are also on the bill) but Nic will join in where there's no clash in his commitments.

The Birmingham based pair will be entered under the Viking Rover/Vauxhall banner and take the total number of National Championship registrations past the 30 mark for the 2005 season.

Points after round one: Mason 585, Newsham 540, Gauld 515, Klos 440, etc.

The new race format with three heats, each including two thirds of the field, proved a big success with Chris Grieve winning the opener whilst defending champion Oli Poyser won the second. Heat three saw Lawrence Davey take his fifth career win (and his first National win).

Morton took the day's overall win by jut five points from Jamie Clarke who in turn was five clear of Chris Grieve. The rookie trophy was won by MG graduate Nick Evans whilst Robin Webb won driver of the day.

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This is our 8th time at the Cheshire circuit and the second season on the trot that the year’s opening round has been held here. Legends racing sees a few subtle changes this season – the first being a new format which has been devised to accommodate more registrations. Briefly the changes mean that there will be more Legends action as there will be at least four races per meeting (three heats each with two thirds of the entry and then the finals).

We welcome two newcomers to Legends at Oulton Park – the first is Iain Holden who lives in Lancashire and is joining the Firth Steels Motorsport team. Next up is former MG Owners Club Champion Nick Evans (Herts). Several other drivers are graduating from the Scottish Championship into the UK National competition. Leading these entries is reigning Scottish Champion Derek Pierce (East Kilbride). Next up is Dave Newsham (Inverness) who was the top scorer at our Winter weekend last season and also won the final in our last National round in 2005. Hexham’s Chris Grieve is the current Knockhill lap record holder and a multiple race winner. Malcolm Clark (Newcastle) has two race wins to his credit whilst his nephew Dan has several podium finishes to his. Also making the move into the National Championship is Inverness based racer Jeff Stewart.

Several drivers on the entry list have already enjoyed success at Oulton and could perhaps be touted as favourites for early season honours. Previous race winners include – Ian Sturt (Ashtead) won the first ever Legends race at Oulton on 7th August 1999 – his second career win. Derek Pierce meanwhile won the opening race of last season. Peter Morton (Cleckheaton) and last year’s champ Oli Poyser (Gloucester) have won twice there, the latter winning his on his 100th Legends start last season, the former also having recorded three fastest laps. The most prolific Oulton race winner of the current crop however is the returning ex double champion John ‘Jon’ Higgins (Chester) who has won three races there (and three fastest laps). Both Peter and John were overall round winners on their last visits to the circuit with John holding the Island circuit lap record at 1.41.676 (83.63mph).

At the time of writing around thirty entries are expected for the opening round with the third heat on the day also being the 400th National Legends race held in the UK.

Evans was spotted doing some testing in his ex Team JCF car at Mallory Park. Holden recently took and passed his ARDS course under the watchful eye of former Legends hero Dave 'Cheap as Chips' Franklin. The new arrival to Legends is looking forward to a new arrival of his own - Iain and his wife are expecting their first child in the next few weeks.

Last week's edition of the paper again cited Legends in a positive light thanks to an article which set about finding the positives in UK racing. Legends' format of short balloted grid races was highlighted as 'the way things should be done'.

09-Apr-05, Oulton Park, Round 1
24-Apr-05, Donington, Round 2
30-Apr & 01-May-05, Rockingham, Round 3
22-May-05, Mallory Park, Round 4
04 & 05-Jun-05, Knockhill, Rounds 5 & 6
25 & 26-Jun-05, Croft, Round 7
16 & 17-Jul-05, Anglesey, Rounds 8 & 9
30 & 31-Jul-05, Brands Hatch, Rounds 10 & 11
13 & 14-Aug-05, Pembrey, Rounds 12 & 13
03 & 04-Sep-05, Rockingham, Round 14

Iain has been in and around racing for a long while behind the scenes. He is a former mechanic to the late Ray Tyldesley, the former BriSCA Formula One Stock Car World and European Champion. Ian is hoping to run Ray's old race number, 85 for his 2005 Legends Rookie Championship campaign.

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We'd like to wish you all a very happy Christmas and look forward to seeing you in the new year.

The book, 'Hot rod racing: the golden years' shows that the formula has strong links with Legends Cars today. Current driver Glenn Burtenshaw's dad Alan is featured in the book and team owner Martin Davey also helped source some of the photos from his personal collection. Martin points out however that he is too young to be included in this book but hopes to feature in the latter chapters of the follow-up on the 1980's!

Further details on the book including details of how to obtain it can be found online here.

Evans, 43 from Hemel Hempstead, has been eyeing up the competition for some time and it was a Legends test drive last September that finally saw him decide to make the move. “The car was awesome to drive,” says Nick. “I knew after just a couple of corners that I wanted to race one. There’s so much that’s ‘right’ about the Legends formula – balloted grids mean I’m going to have to do some overtaking and everyone that’s seen the car thinks it’s superb.”

Evans started racing in Gearbox karts over a decade ago but took a sabbatical to set up his own business. He then joined the BARC MG Owners Club Championship racing a Maestro. He won the newcomers trophy in 1996 and was outright Champion in 2001. Nick also won the class championship in 2002, his first season racing an MG F.

The Pro class saw the UK pairing of National champion Oli Poyser and Jamie Clarke in action. Oli ran as high as second but lost out in a battle with former World Champion Mike Samis to drop back to sixth. Jamie had qualified in second place on the front row of the grid but was taken off on the first lap demoting him to the back of the field. Despite this put in a real charge and came through the field to take third place behind American pairing Scott and George Sheldon.

The Masters division saw Peter Morton take a win in the heats and he lined up on the second row of the grid for the final. With three laps to go he was running second behind American ace Bobby Christensen when he was hit by Robert Gayton going into a corner and fired out of the race. Jim Clarke had a dismal time in the heats with engine problems and he qualified 22nd (out of nearly 50 entrants in this division). He drove superbly well to finish fourth, Christensen taking the win.

With three of the Brits taking top six positions the team had done enough to retain the Translatlantic Trophy. Poyser's sixth place earned him enough points to be crowned World Champion in the season long points championship.

Heading the team is UK Champion Oli Poyser, the 24 year old from Gloucester who is aiming to follow in the wheeltracks of last year's winner John 'Jon' Higgins and previous UK winners Tick Steward and John Mickel. "There's no other motor racing in this country where you can go and take on the best in the world. It's a fantastic opportunity," says Poyser. "The disadvantage for us is that the circuit is very long and technical and the Americans get to race there at least two or three times a year. I've only raced there once before but the Racetec boys (Oli's team) have been there several years so that will help." Despite a perceived disadvantage, the British team usually fare well and Poyser himself finished 5th in the event last season.

Joining Poyser will be Legends stalwart Peter Morton (Cleckheaton) who has just completed his 7th season in the formula in second place and who seems as keen as ever. In addition to committing to the World final, Morton has just announced that he will expand his GM/Firth Steels team next year to run a second car and he is currently in negotiations with several drivers who have expressed an interest in racing with him in 2005.

The UK team is completed by Jamie Clarke (Formby) who finished third in the UK Championship this year, his first season in the competition. Clarke also competed at Sears Point last season, as Scottish Champion, and finished one place ahead of Poyser in 4th. Jamie's father, Jim completes the two car 'Clarke Engery/Kanco Motorsport' team and the four man UK squad.

The second race saw a vintage display of sychronised leading from the Treherne brothers - Stephen leading Mark across the line with Ali Topley in third. Jamie Clarke bagged race three from Greive and an in form Dave Moore. Newsham wrapped up the final early on with Moore second and Mark Treherne. The 'last chance race was again won by Newsham this time from Lawrence Davey. Second in the points was Greive with Topley in third. Top rookie was Clio refugee Mark Davies ahead of Chris Robinson and Andy Pyke. Entertainer of the weekend went to the returning Karl Turner. Neil Tressler bagged the first of two 'fun' awards for the 'daftest lap' of the weekend. Simeon Maurer won the 'wooden spoon'.

Simon Belcher, who is the current Semi Pro World number two and was 6th in this year's UK championship, tells us that "John 'Jon' Higgins will be back in a Legend at Rockingham, I cannot make it on the Saturday so I will be entering my car as a team car with JJ driving on Saturday and me driving on Sunday I offered him the Legend for both days and I would race his Days of Thunder car for him but he has declined that part of the deal."

Details of our 'Winter Weekend' (Rockingham, Days of Thunder, 2nd & 3rd October) will be online shortly. It is expected that we will have five races,(three Saturday and two Sunday) over the meeting.

"The battle for 18th in the championship has been extraordinary this year" explained Glenn "I'm sure it's had the whole motorsport community enthralled!, finishing 17th has always been my dream and maybe next year I can turn that dream into a reality".

Despite constant media speculation it seems Robin Webb (24) is likely to turn down the opportunity to run a car in the "2005 Butlins Bumper Car Championship (Bognor division)" for another year, and will instead "take things a little easy" and win the Corgi Legends Championship instead.

PRESS RELEASE ENDS

Lance Gauld is OK after a nasty 'off' in the second race in the SMRC meeting at Knockhill on Sunday. He posted this message on the Scottish Racing Forum: "Thanks for your concern folks, im ok took a big hit and was winded with a very sore neck so they took precautions and extracted me from the car, just home from hospital with painkillers and instructions to take it easy, but otherwise A-OK. The car stood up great."

Steve (left) was taken to hospital as a precaution and was kept in overnight. He spoke to Phil Cooper this morning (Monday) and reported that he was up and about but pretty well shaken up and sporting some heavy bruising. Moore good news is that Steve fully intends to rejoin the grid at the earliest opportunity.