Marshall reunion: Gregor races Gerry's Triumph
Gregor Marshall was reunited with his late father Gerry’s Triumph Dolomite Sprint production saloon car in the recent Historic Racing Drivers Club Gerry Marshall Trophy race at Silverstone.
Gerry Marshall raced the distinctive Triplex-liveried car to two production titles in 1978 before selling it to David Yates. It was then acquired by Irish racer Reg Tuthill, who placed it in storage in 1986.
“Reg and his son Jason decided about five years ago to restore it and Ken Clarke [ex-TWR] got involved to check it was the original,” said Marshall Jr.
“He rubbed the bodywork right back to find it was blue underneath. Only when we found the original Autosport article [of when Marshall Sr bought the car], which showed it was blue when dad bought it just after I was born, were we 100% certain!”
Marshall shared the two-litre car at Silverstone with Jason – witnessed by Tuthill Sr plus Clarke – and plans further outings in it. “The car was finished just in time to deliver it on the Saturday evening and I only just fitted in it!” added Marshall.
Unusual Ginetta creation: Robinson's G12
Alan Robinson’s intriguing Ginetta G12-esque Sport Special debuted at Silverstone last Sunday.
The fruit of five years’ toil, its tubular chassis features a Ford Duratec engine mated to an Audi A4 transaxle, with Mazda MX-5 suspension uprights and steering located by bespoke wishbones.
“I stopped counting at 4000 hours,” said the 72-year-old semi-retired Pershore sailmaker, who spent a year working on the body plug alone.
Revelation on track: Harmer's LF2R
Tim Harmer’s Revelation LF2R sports-racer made a dream race debut at Silverstone last Sunday, finishing fourth overall in the opening 750 Motor Club Bikesports race and winning class A for cars with modified engines.
Lessons learned from Harmer’s cost-effective Revelation single-seaters – of which a dozen have been made since 2005 – have shaped the prototype, which was started six years ago although other priorities delayed its completion.
A devastating battery fire during testing at Blyton, where Harmer is a leading driver coach, set the project back, but the former 750MC Kit Car champion has bounced back stronger.
“I wanted to be out regularly this year but the LF2R is evolving,” he said. “We have moved away from the [Honda] Fireblade engines and are now using DayTuner Performance 1000cc Suzuki GSXRs, which are fantastic.”
Harmer is now intending to build further examples in the future, once the car has more race mileage under its belt.
“It’s got huge potential for affordable racing and driver training, but my philosophy has always been to develop a project before looking to sell replicas,” he said. “We’ve already had interest in it from potential customers, but I want to do a full season in 2024.”
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