The Guards Trophy

STOP PRESS
The Hadfield Lotus 47 is a late entry for
Guards Trophy@Gold Cup. Driven by James and Simon Hadfield.
Will be great to have them on the grid.

Come and salute the Guards grid
Racing on Monday the Guards Trophy has drawn a splendid 20 plus entry. Out for the very first time this year are Joel Hopwood (Chevron B8), Mike Flewitt (Elan), Robert Yarwood (Crossle 9S), Mark Mayall (Jaguar E-type), Graham Moss (Shelby Cobra) and Robin Tuluie (Chevron B8). Steve Hodges (Chevron B8) might claim to be in this group having only managed two laps in his Brands Hatch debut.
Sam Harrison is back with a rebuilt twin cam in his Lotus 23, and could be a front runner around the twist and turns of Oulton. Others to watch are the Tusting Lenham and the Paterson Ginetta. The Colman Chevron was on the pace at Combe and new entry Tuluie may prove to be a 'dark horse". Musn't forget the sheer grunt of the Adam Sykes driven McLaren M1A Chevrolet.
Should be a great race. Enjoy.

MARCUS PYE REPORTS FROM COMBE

Scots Guardsman makes it three

Elliot Paterson’s 830-mile round trip from Auchterarder was rewarded with a third Guards Trophy victory of the season in the family Ginetta-BMW G16, previously in the winner’s circle at Snetterton and Brands Hatch. Alas the Castle Combe round, between the cornerstone Superprix and Oulton Park Gold Cup events, proved a bridge too far for competitors. Eight teams turned out for the 50-minute race, six regulars plus Swiss visitor Jürg Tobler (Lola Mk1) and Ian Beattie (Jaguar XK120) from the Griffiths Haig Trophy to maximise their weekends, the latter enlisting Tom Poulton as co-driver.

It was very tight at the top in qualifying, Mark Colman in father Hugh’s ex-David Good Chevron-BMW B8 pipping Paterson to pole by 0.016s with a 1m14.307s (89.62mph) lap. Renowned Combemeister Dan Cox was in touch having lapped Michael Richings’ Ford twin-cam engined Merlyn Mk4A round in 1:15.298.

Peter Thompson hedged his GT bets with two entries. His TVR Griffith, co-driven by Jon Payne, led the preliminaries on 1:17.527 with the Shelby Cobra of Charlie Allison - which old buddy Thompson would finish - on 1:19.434. The Ford V8-powered monsters, orchestrated by Steve Mace, were split by the Crossle 9S of Oliver and Andrew Gemmill. Tobler’s Lola and the Jag completed the grid, barely a second apart.

The duel between Mark Colman and Paterson entertained with the distinctive cars passing and repassing each other until the mandatory pitstops, after which Elliot - whose previous visit to Combe was “10 years ago” for Morgan Motor Company Challenge races - stretched away from Hugh Colman, setting fastest lap at 1:14.161 (89.80mph). On a scorching hot Sunday afternoon on which Paterson saw the Colmans roast, he was “delighted not to have a roof. I had my own air conditioning!”

From a delayed start, the Cox in the Merlyn was lapping swiftly before he was black-flagged for a fuel leak long after the Crossle retired. The last podium place was the TVR’s for it was never threatened by the Cobra, a lap down. “I’m a little warm, but not as warm as the brakes. They are cooked,” said Thompson, “but we’ve had a good day out at a brilliant circuit.” The consistent Jaguar and Lola completed the finishers.

Bob Yarwood debuts at Gold Cup
Bob is bringing his Crossle 9S, out for the first time this season. Mike Flewitt similarly debuts his Elan.
The grid is already 21 and growing nicely. Steve Hodges' (Chevron B8) entry is imminent and another handful are anticipated.
Should be a great meeting.

Gorgeous grid for Combe

Small in numbers but very big in quality, Guards put on great show at the HSCC 60th Anniversary meeting at Castle Combe. Ginetta, Chevron, Merlyn, Crossle, TVR Griffith, Shelby Cobra, XK120 and Lola Mk1 were gathered together. They looked perfectly appropriate together on the track.
For a while it looked like the Colman B8 would challenge for the lead. When with temperature issues it dropped away, the Paterson Ginetta eased to the flag just 11 seconds ahead after the 50 minute race. Early on the Gemmill Crossle looked up for its first podium but it succumbed to a gearbox issue. This left the hard charging Thompson Payne TVR Griffith to take the remaining podium place ahead of the Thompson Allison Shelby Cobra. Ambient temperature and the racing were hot, hot, hot. To see how hot scroll through to the 9th photo!
There were lots of smiles on the podium after an enjoyable race.
Now on to the Gold Cup in a few weeks where we already have 21 entries. Should be a great meeting.

The Fox Chevron B8 joins The Guards Trophy

We just heard from Paul. His rebuilt car, complete with a spanking new Craig Beck motor, will be joining our grid. Wil Arif and Paul's son James will be sharing the car.
Paul's diary is dauntingly full in August but the car will be with us at the October 10/11 Silverstone Finals.
We will give him a very warm Guards Trophy welcome.

Weekend's action
Care of Dan Dan the camera man and Motorsport Classics Media. Many thanks to them. If you are looking for an image of your car, they may be able to help out.

There are more images on this link;

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1tH4N2bTsBr9aTBDTCk6fl6uXo7drETUX

Where were Chris Bridle and Marcus Black?

We missed them, the 23 and the McLaren at Brands. The two of them were at the Festival of Speed. Chris was demonstrating a Cupra, Marcus took his lovely Lola.

We look forward to having them back on the grid.

We also wait for when Chris Goodwin's diary eases and he can join Guards Twin Cam Cup. What was he doing at the Festival of Speed?