New lap record: Mullins mighty at Mondello
Sylvie Mullins arrived at the final Irish Championship Circuit Racing meeting of 2023 at Mondello Park last weekend with just one aim: to break Cian Carey’s outright lap record.
For many years, the mark was stuck at 50.22s courtesy of Nigel Greensall. But Carey, in his Formula 3 Dallara F317, slashed this to 49.275s last year.
A determined Mullins, in his four-litre Gould GR55B hillclimb car, obliterated it to 48.129s in the first BOSS Ireland race while, in race two – after a few adjustments – he incredibly lowered the mark to 47.380s, almost two seconds under Carey’s old record.
Villeneuve livery: Giles' FF1600
Classic Formula Ford racer Russell Giles’ Van Diemen RF77 turned heads at Silverstone last weekend, resplendent in a livery inspired by McLaren M23/8-2 in which Gilles Villeneuve made his F1 debut there in the 1977 British Grand Prix.
Such was Redditch-based Giles’ attention to detail that the car carried the French-Canadian’s number 40.
Villeneuve impressed mightily in a two-year-old chassis running seventh before pitting with what transpired to be a faulty water temperature gauge.
The RF77 was designed by David Baldwin, who also penned period F1 Ensigns, from which styling cues are evident.
Special Saloon: Delta Sunbeam Stiletto
Enthused by racing Paul Knapton’s Maguire Stiletto at Croft last month, Ray Rowan bought the long-dormant Delta-based Sunbeam Stiletto that Revolution Wheels boss Pat Mannion commissioned in the late 1970s and was last raced regularly at Lydden by Peter Thurston.
After a run at Curborough, as found, Rowan decided to support the Historic Sports Car Club's Modsports and Special Saloon finale at Silverstone last weekend in the 1600cc Ford twin-cam engined machine.
Having qualified sixth, the former British Sprint and Hillclimb champion was second by Becketts, where a broken stub axle ended his day. “Its stability is not the best, but it’ll be grand,” he said undaunted.
Racer retires: Bicknell bows out
Marcus Bicknell ended his racing career at Snetterton last weekend with a spirited drive in his Joey Logano-tribute, Taurus-styled V8 ASCAR.
The 75-year-old former Clubmans racer retired from the first Classic and Modern Motorsport Club race with his car stuck in third gear but recovered from 28th to finish 15th in race two.
Pic of the week:
