Light cars defy heavy rain at the 2023 Longstone Light Car Race

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

The Light Car Race was resurrected by Dougal Cawley of Longstone Tyres and the Vintage Sports-Car Club in 2021 after roughly a 60-year hiatus. In 2021, the race won the RAC Historic Motorsport Event Of the Year award. On 9th July 2023 the second award-winning Longstone Light Car Race took place at Donington race circuit in England, run by the VSCC.

The ethos behind the race was to get people out who may not otherwise race, in cars that people don’t often see on track. The result was a full grid of 40 quirky cars ranging from Austin Seven Chummies, through Salmsons and Amilcars, to GNs and Bédélias. This 40-minute, two-driver race began with a dry practice in the morning, where teams were able to fine-tune their driver changes and wrangle with any mechanical matters. As expected, some cars fell by the wayside, but most had a superb steady practice and many managed to fix the problems that arose in time for the race.

The English weather never ceases to amaze us, but it did so once again in the afternoon. After several sun-burned noses and shoulders, the brooding skies brought forth the most torrential rain, with thunder and lightning, putting a temporary stop to racing. It was touch-and-go as to whether the Longstone Light Car Race - the last race of the day - would be able to go ahead. However, with an easing of rain and Dougal convincing race control that these were no ordinary racing cars and wouldn’t suffer from excessive water on the track, because their 30cm ground clearance meant the flooding wouldn't be issue, and a light car doing 35mph on 350-19 tyres is certainly at no risk of aquaplaning. The race, although reduced to 30 minutes, was on!

What a joy to see such a full grid of vintage cars racing so closely. At every point in the race there were little battles happening, with Harry Colledge’s Austin Chummy and Iain Roche’s Amilcar up at the front, all the way to Matthew Parkin’s Trojan and Seb Welch’s Austin toward the back of the pack. The closest racing was seen between the two Morgans, which finished just 0.27 seconds apart after a 30-minute race! Watching cars four abreast and dawdling round Redgate Corner, not being able to call who might come out on top, was incredibly exciting.

The driver changes ranged from the slick to the ridiculous; Matt Shepherd came in to the pits to find his co-driver Andy Cawley not yet wearing his race outfit so, after a little discussion, headed out to do another lap while Andy changed! Such is the nature of this race – the emphasis is on the fun and the little battles you have with people on the track, rather than the desire to win outright. With this in mind, it is customary in the Longstone Light Car Race to disqualify the first three ‘winning’ cars and award the following three finishers as first, second and third. This was an excellent race, full of humour and camaraderie, reminding everyone why we do this in the first place. Our hats go off to the marshals and VSCC team who endured the weather to enable us all to race.

Official VSCC results:
1st - Harry Colledge/Alex Peacop (Austin Chummy)
2nd - Iain Roche/William Way (Amilcar)
3rd - Dermot Johnson/Patrick Johnson (Salmson AL22)

All disqualified for trying too hard!

Longstone Light Car winners:
1st - Ben Maeers/Justin Maeers (Morgan Sports Family)
2nd - Matt Moore/Mark Daniell (Morgan Super Aero)
3rd - David Johnson/Dennis Johnson (Austin Chummy)

Concours winner: Paul Rodgers/Annabel Jones (New Carden Family Tourer)

The winners' prize was a half-drunk magnum of Champagne in the pit lane after the race. The first half of the Champagne had been drunk by the other competitors, marshals and spectators. Awarding the prizes before the race had been considered, but it was decided drinking Champagne before going racing was not such a good idea!

The plan for 2024 is to run the Longstone Long Car Race for standard 1920s touring cars, such as Alvis 12/50, Delage DIS, Ford Model A, Rolls Royce 20hp and Austin 12/4. Watch this space. If you are interested in taking part in these races, or for that matter any of the races run by the VSCC, it is possible to apply for a British racing licence if you find it difficult to get one in your own country where there may not be as much pre-war car racing available.

Words: Dougal Cawley; photographs: Phil Rainford
 

Aggiunga un commento...