Last weekend I sat in a rural idyll amongst wild flowers on a grassy slope listening to skylarks and the howl of racing engines because I was at Thruxton for their 50th anniversary meeting.
If you don’t follow racing you wouldn't know that halfway between Andover and Stonehenge, on the road to the West Country in ancient rolling Downland, is Britain's fastest racing circuit. And it has Church, not the type you get married in but Church bend, which is one of the fastest bends on any circuit anywhere and ranks along with Eau Rouge at Spa or Paddock Hill at Brands Hatch as one of those corners where a driver takes a deep breath before charging through.
Thruxton had arranged an exciting programme of events and races and to help the celebrations along the Williams Grand Prix team had brought a selection of Formula 1 cars. Karun Chandhok drove Keke Rosburg's 1982 championship winning car so fast it was difficult to synchronise your eyes to the noise. For patrons who wished to lap at a more sedate pace there were leisurely bus trips around the circuit. On Sunday two motor racing greats, Nigel Mansell and Murray Walker, officially opened the new hospitality centre and The Red Devils (Parachute Regiment's display team) dropped in.
Whilst all the action was taking place there were a couple of people in the paddock I wanted to have a chat with and as I was admiring the 1950s sports cars I spotted Chris Ward, J.D. Classics driver who has recently won the sports car race at The Monaco Historique meeting and had been at The Mille Miglia (a rally for classic cars in Italy).
Will: Congratulations on Monaco, how was it ?
Chris: Monaco was fantastic and went well from the moment we arrived, we were fastest in practice and qualifying, set a new lap record and won in torrential rain. It was nice to go there with a different car because we are known for the C-type (Jaguar) so to win in the Cooper was fantastic especially for all the boys and girls back at JD who have been working on the car. The Mille was great, we took 11 cars and 11 finished, it's an amazing event for people to enjoy their cars, not just the drivers but the spectators as well.
W: Do you ever worry about the enormous value of the cars you're driving ?
C: You have to concentrate on the job in hand. The people who give you the privilege to drive their cars want the cars to do well, if it finishes on the podium it's another string to its bow, it adds to its provenance and todays provenance is as important as what the car achieved in the past.
W: How's it gone so far today ?
C: Today has been character building. We had handling concerns last time out at Donington and we haven't managed to get it near the other Listers we've run. It's only had a spanner check since Donington, a lot of the corners here (Thruxton) are very fast and we have a problem with push (means the car isn't turning in to a corner as the driver would like). The boys have been working really hard to adjust the set up and I also need to modify how I'm driving to accommodate the handling characteristics so hopefully we'll make some improvements for the race. The boys are working really hard and are as passionate about the cars as I am, without a good team behind you a driver is nowhere.
W: When are you out again ?
C: We're at the Silverstone Classic and hopefully we'll be able to do a bit of testing before then to dial the car in.
Chris won his first race and was second in his second.
A great place to spectate at Thruxton is the chicane just before the pit straight and it's from here I watched the Historic Formula Ford qualification session. Watching the drivers brake from top speed and deftly flick their cars right left right is truly exciting. Historic Formula Fords look like miniature 1960s F1 cars. Ex F1 driver and TV presenter Tiff Needell started his career in these cars and still owns the same car which he was throwing around with verve. Mike O'Brien, owner of Classic Team Merlyn was on hand so I took the opportunity to find out more about the championship.
W: How did you start racing ?
Mike: I got a bank loan in 1972 and raced an MG Midget then I moved to Formula Ford which is the type of car we're running here today.
W: What is Formula Ford ?
M: Formula Ford started in 1967-68, it's a single seat racing car using a Ford 1600cc engine. Historic Formula Ford is a very popular championship with nice user friendly cars that are relatively easy to set up, it's a great formula for all levels of driver but as always in racing attention to detail is important if you want to run at the front.
W: When did you start your team ?
M: I was always involved and started running other people's cars from the early 1980s. W: What else do you run at the moment and what have you run in the past ?
M: In Formula Ford we run Classic Team Merlyn, we also run a Formula 2 McLaren and a Brabham and Lotus in Formula Junior and we are currently working on an ex Le Mans GT40. In the past we've run cars in Formula Ford 2000, formula 3, Sports 2000, The British Touring car Championship in the 1980s and even truck racing.
W: Didn't you drive for Merlyn in the past ?
M: I was the Merlyn factory driver for the 1978 season. That was their swan song in Formula Ford after that they went downhill. They had drivers like Jody Scheckter and Tony Brise driving for them but by the time I arrived they had lost interest. They had been doing it for 10 years and had other more financially rewarding engineering work outside of motor racing.
W: How much will a season cost ?
M: A whole season would be in the region of £ 45 - £ 50,000 which in racing terms isn't a lot considering there are 9 meetings with double headers at all of the meetings. It's not cheap for the man in the street but many teams spend more than that on a weekend in GT racing. If you want to do it properly it's what you've got to spend.
W: What are you doing next season ?
M: We'll be running Classic Team Merlyn and also a bit more Formula Junior but if a customer came along with an interesting car we'd do something with it.
W: Didn't your son drive in Formula Ford last year ?
M: Yes, Young Michael finished second by one point last year and is now driving for McLaren in British GT racing and is part of their young driver programme, which is a good indicator of how competitive Historic Formula Ford racing can be.
Mike's driver Ben Tusting qualified and finished in 8th position, Tiff Needell qualified 6th and finished 5th. The next time you're whizzing along the A303 on the way to the West Country for your summer holiday
pop in and have a look at Thruxton. A thoroughly modern circuit but one that has managed to keep hold
of its original atmosphere. I can't promise you'll bump into Nigel Mansell but I can promise a warm and friendly welcome and Tiff Needell does give high speed hair raising rides around the fastest track in Britain.
William Lansbury June 2018
