Mustill's newest monster: Volvo S60 silhouette
Nigel Mustill, synonymous with meaty saloon and sportscars, debuted Wessex Commercials’s latest beast at Castle Combe on Easter Monday. Acquired from the Spa-Francorchamps Museum, his second Volvo S60 silhouette won the 2011 Spa 12 Hours - by 15 seconds - with Vincent Radermecker/Nico Verdonck.
Rebuilt with a seven-litre Chevrolet LS7 V8 engine mated to its Sadev transaxle, the monster was shaken down by Craig Dolby (whose 64.959s Combe GT lap record was set in Mustill’s 6.2-litre S60 in 2018) at Donington Park recently. Mustill tussled with Alex Fores (Caterham) and plans to race the Volvo again at Thruxton this weekend.
Unwanted attention: Fergus Campbell and Will Sharpe
Colliding while battling for the lead of a race is unfortunate, but doing it twice is careless. That’s what happened in the MG Owners’ Club races at Brands Hatch last weekend when MG ZR drivers Will Sharpe and 2020 champion Fergus Campbell clashed in both races.
The first flashpoint occurred when Sharpe attempted to round leader Campbell at the fast downhill Paddock Hill Bend. The cars touched and both went off, leaving Sharpe beached in the gravel (above) and Campbell delayed.
In race two, Campbell got a run on Sharpe exiting Graham Hill Bend. Contact was made on the following Cooper Straight and the pair careered over the grass at Surtees.
Reigning champion Steve McDermid was the chief beneficiary as he picked up the pieces to win both races.
Quick fix of the week: Steve Hill
Steve Hill and his unique Mitsubishi Evo took fifth place in the second round of the British Rallycross season opener at Lydden Hill, with arguably the story of the weekend.
His Mitsubishi suffered a misfire in the latter stages of the semi-final, down to a broken valve spring in the engine. In an impressive effort with limited time between the semi and final, Hill’s team removed a spring from its spare engine, used a shoelace poked down the spark plug hole to hold the valve open and change the parts required in time for Hill to make it to the final grid. Ingenious!
Unusual car: South African Mathews Special
An obscure South African racing car, credited with being the Mathews Special, attracted attention when it joined the 500 Owners Association’s Formula 3 pack for the first time at the Vintage Sports-Car Club’s Cadwell Park race meeting on Saturday.
Sidelined by a broken throttle cable in practice, the unconventionally chassised JAP-engined machine started the second race only to lose its chain. Enthusiastic owner David Andrews, from Dorset, is using the car - about which very little is known, thus period history is sought - to earn licence signatures towards racing the ex-works/Reine Wisell 1970 F2 Chevron B17C he has acquired.
Tyrrell on the pace: Ken Tyrrell's progress
American racer Ken Tyrrell showed his progress in Historic Formula 1 by taking pole position at Donington Park in his Tyrrell 011.
Bizarrely sharing the name of the team founder, the Floridian had done some racing at home before coming to Europe with the Historic F1 car.
REPORT: Dogfight between Terrier and Mallock for Formula Junior spoils
“I did three events last year and I love coming here,” said Tyrrell, who had his first experience in a racing car at the Jim Russell School at Snetterton in 1986.
“This was kind of a big step and it's so unbelievable,” he said of being able to race in Europe. “The car is now working superbly. It's more about me getting up to speed than the car.”
