SRCC Sports 2000 were invited to join the Motorsport Celebration Meeting at Thruxton, an ultra-fast
circuit which we had not visited since 2016.
A 33 car entry, comprising 18 Duratecs and 15 Pintos made for a crowded qualifying session on
Saturday in dry and sunny conditions.
Attendance by several welcome new car and driver combinations and returnees resulted in a much
improved Pinto representation.
At the end of the session Michael Gibbins in his MCR had Pole by exactly half a second from Tom
Stoten (Gunn TS11) with Charles Hall (Gunn TS11) and Josh Law (MCR) on the second row. All four
covered by less than 1.4 seconds.
Chris Yarwood (Lola T88/90) was quickest Duratec Class B from Peter Brouwer (Fox Lola T88/90)
Paul Streat in 14 th position headed the Pinto field in his Class A Lola T87/90 from welcome returnees
Damian Griffin (Class B Lola T598) and Peter Needham (Class A Van Diemen).
Fastest Historic Pinto was Juerg Tobler in his Royale S2000M closely followed by Bruce Chambers in
his ex-Charles Fogg Lola T592.
While some were able to relax in the sun for the rest of the day and others even took part in a Kart
competition on the adjacent track a few faced long sessions involving an engine change, gearbox
rebuilds and other repairs.
Sunday.
Race day was dry but cooler than the previous day.
The 33 car grid was the largest at the meeting and promised the most competitive racing by a
significant margin.
At the start Gibbins headed into the lead unchallenged but Stoten fell to third behind fast starting
Hall.
Notable first lap movements included Roger Donnan, Colin Peach, Bruce Chambers, Brian Casey and
Colin Feyerabend who each gained four positions and Giles Billingsley and Chris Yarwood who both
made up three positions. Peach and Chambers both gained two further positions on their second
lap.
As the race settled down retirements included Andy Chittenden (ex- Clive Steeper Tiga SC87) and
Roger Donnan (MCR) after 6 laps , Giles Billingsley (MCR) after 9 following a mix up regarding track
position at the chicane, Mira Feyerabend following a similar incident at Allards on lap17, Bruce
Chambers after lap 19 and Charles Hall sadly near the end of the race.
The final result was 1 st Gibbins, 2 nd Stoten, 3 rd Bacon (all Duratec Class A).
The first three finishers in Duratec Class B were Peach who finished a notable 4 th overall having
started 19 th on the grid, Yarwood and Brouwer.
Duratec DB fell to Peter Williams from Mike Turner.In the Pinto field Paul Streat was never headed winning Class A followed by Peter Needham and Paul
Moffatt. Class B winner was Damian Griffin from Mike Fry and Ross Hyett.
Historic Pinto winner was Hugo Besley from Juerg Tobler and Historic DB winner was Jonathan
Loader from Colin Feyerabend.

The second Sports 2000 race was set for late in the afternoon by which time the weather had
become overcast with the threat of rain.
Hard work during the interval enabled five of the six cars that retired from the first race to make it to
the grid for the second.
At the start Gibbins resumed his commanding lead followed by Stoten, Bacon and Peach but by the
end of the first lap Peach had moved into third.
The Pinto field was again led by Streat with Griffin heading Class B and Loader first Pinto Historic.
Meanwhile Charles Hall was making impressive progress from 28 th on the grid to 11 th at the end of
lap 1, 4 th after three laps and 2 nd by the end of lap 13. Other drivers who made significant progress
from lowly grid positions were Giles Billingsley, David Houghton and Keith Mizen.
Later in the race rain showers became a factor on some sections of the circuit and several drivers
experienced spins and other mishaps, particularly in or approaching the chicane.
The final result was 1 st Gibbins, 2 nd Hall and 3 rd Stoten.
Duratec Class B again went to Peach while Williams secured Duratec DB.
Paul Streat was overall Pinto winner and took Class A from Peter Needham while Damian Griffin’s
efforts to solve gearbox problems between races successfully secured him Pinto Class B ahead of
Ross Hyett.
Juerg Tobler won Pinto Historic Class and Colin Feyerabend headed Historic DB.

Report courtesy of Alan White-Aldworth.