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Martini International Meeting

Silverstone, Northampton, Great-Britain

Date: 12/5/1974
Track length: 4.718 m
Attendance:
Entries accepted:
Starters:
Finishers:

Pole position: Graham
Fastest lap: Graham in 1.42,8 = 164,95 kmh

Distance: 17 laps
Average speed: 159,71 kmh
Weather: Dry
Ruleset: Group 1B
Car info: 1974 Cars

Pictures

Practice was held on a drying track, some drivers managing a couple of laps on slicks near the end, so the grid for the Castrol Anniversary Gp1 race wasn't a precise indication of race form. On pole position was Stuart Graham's Chevrolet Camaro, 2.3s faster than Richard Lloyd's Camaro then the sister cars of Vince Woodman and Malcolm Wayne.

Stuart Graham went streaking into the lead pursued by Lloyd and Woodman, but Malcolm Wayne made a diabolical start and the entire field had to avoid his Camaro, and Mr and Mrs Markey nearly had their marriage lines read again. First time round Graham, Lloyd and Woodman were evenly spaced out way ahead of Lanfranchi and Hanson who were tied together, Rouse, Handley, Walkinshaw, Blackburn, Brindley and Williams. Then at Abbey, Lloyd had a nasty moment as a front wheel bearing seized on his Camaro, and he limped to the pits out of the race.
The lead battle seemed to be over, with Graham well clear of Woodman's Camaro, and the pair of them increasing their lead over Lanfranchi and Hanson, who touched at Copse but continued their tense struggle. Barrie Williams confirmed practice form by romping away with the 2500 cc class, but behind him the Dolomites of Dron, Rouse and Hine were absolutely as one. Until, that is, Rouse and Hine tried a scissors movement on Dron, misjudged it slightly and sideswiped each other, Hine spinning and dropping away. Further back again, the Avenger GTs of Bell and Unett plus Mike Chittenden's BMW 2002 TII were effectively blocking off Stan Clark's path, and it was beginning to look as though the Alfa driver would never find a way through.

With 12 laps run Walkinshaw's oil radiator union split and with oil spraying on his rear tyres, he spun out of contention at Club corner. A couple of laps later he spun again, but still managed to finish the race fourth in class for a few points with no oil left in the V6 engine.
Five laps to run, and Stuart Graham was visibly slowing, his gearbox playing up badly. From a box full of neutrals he managed to select third for the remainder of the race, but Woodman was catching him rapidly and with two laps remaining Woodman went through, on his way to a 4s victory. Hanson was an apparent third, having managed to pull five seconds clear of Lanfranchi; Malcolm Kay claimed fifth followed by Barrie Williams, who gave Mazda their first class win of the series. Biggest cheer of the day went to Stan Clark, who judged his finish beautifully. Tailing Unett, Bell and Chittenden up to Woodcote for the last time, Clark went in tight - and flat out - and just got the Alfa's nose ahead under the chequered flag. The drama was not over yet, however, for after the race Graham's Camaro and Rouse's Dolomite were both disqualified for having no thermostat in their cooling systems.

Touring Cars class A-D
Pos Pos in class # Team / Entrant
Car- Engine		 Drivers, Nationality Engine
vol. (cc)		 Engine
Type		 Group Distance,
time		 Qualifying position Qualifying time Fastest lap Reason out,
remarks
1 1 5 VMW Motors - Team Esso Uniflo
Chevrolet Camaro Z28		 Vince Woodman, GB
 5736 V8 D 17 laps, 30.05,0 3      
DSQ   4 Castrol
Chevrolet Camaro Z28		 Stuart Graham, GB
 5736 V8 D 17 laps, 30.09 1     Gearbox, DSQ: Proper thermostat missing
2 1 27 Dealer Opel Team
Opel Commodore GS/E		 Peter Hanson, GB
 2784 L6 C 17 7      
3 2 31 Van Der Steen
BMW 3.0 CSi		 Tony Lanfranchi, GB
 2985 L6 C 17 5? 1.48,3 1.47,4  
4 2    
Chevrolet Camaro Z28		 Malcolm Kay, GB
 5736 V8 D 17        
5 1 40 Team Castrol
Mazda Savanna RX-3		 Barrie Williams, GB
 2 x 491 R2 B 17 laps, 31.24,6 6? 1.48,5 1.48,4  
6 3 14  
Chevrolet Camaro Z28		 Bob Ridgard, ZA
 5736 V8 D 17   +10 seconds penalty    
7 3   Hermetite Products
Ford Capri 3000 GT		 Holman “Les” Blackburn, GB
 2993 V6 C 17 11      
DSQ     Team Broadspeed Castrol
Triumph Dolomite Sprint		 Andy Rouse, GB
 1998 L4 B 17 8     DSQ: Proper thermostat missing
8 2   Roller Chain Distributors Ltd
Triumph Dolomite Sprint		 John Handley, GB
 1998 L4 B 17 10      
9 3 52 Team Broadspeed Castrol
Triumph Dolomite Sprint		 Tony Dron, GB
 1998 L4 B 17 12      
10 4 51 Shellsport Arden
Triumph Dolomite Sprint		 Rob Mason, GB
 1998 L4 B 17 13      
  1   Roger Clark Cars/Esso Uniflo
Alfa Romeo 1600 GT Junior		 Stan Clark, GB
 1570 L4 A 16 laps, 30.53,8 16   1.53,8  
  2   Chrysler Dealer Team
Hillman Avenger 1600 GT		 Bernard Unett, GB
 1594 L4 A 16 laps, 30.53,8 20   1.53,8  
  5?    
BMW 2000 TII		 Mike Chittenden, GB
 1990 L4 B 16 laps, 30.53,8        
  3   Chrysler Dealer Team
Hillman Avenger 1600 GT		 Roger Bell, GB
 1594 L4 A 16 laps, 30.54,0 17   1.53,8  
  4   Team Hartwell
Hillman Avenger 1600 GT		 Simon Kirkby, GB
 1594 L4 A          
  4 28 Shellsport
Ford Capri 3000 GT		 Tom Walkinshaw, GB
 2993 V6 C   9     Oil radiator/spin
       
Ford Capri 3000 GT		 John Brindley, GB
 2993 V6 C   15      
      Penthouse Racing
Mazda Savanna RX-3		 Wendy Markey, GB
 2 x 491 R2 B   19      
    46 Bill Shaw Racing/Shellsport
Triumph Dolomite Sprint		 John Hine, GB
 1998 L4 B          
    57 London Sportscar Centre
Ford Escort Mk.I RS 2000		 Alan Foster, GB
 1993 L4 B          
    65 Cartune Volkswagen Ltd
VW Passat TS		 Melvyn Adams, GB
 1470 L4 A          
    60 George Bevan
VW Passat TS		 Bill McGovern, GB
 1470 L4 A          
DNF   1 A.J. Rivers Simoniz Racing
Chevrolet Camaro Z28		 Richard Lloyd, GB
 5736 V8 D   2     Wheel bearing
DNF     Wisharts Garages
Chrysler Hemicuda		 Gordon Spice, GB
   V8 D         Engine
DNF      
Chevrolet Camaro Z28		 Malcolm Wayne, GB
 5736 V8 D   4     Puncture
DNF   2  
Chevrolet Camaro Z28		 Les Nash, GB
 5736 V8 D         Engine/spin
DNF      
Vauxhall Firenza Magnum 2300		 Gerry Marshall, GB
 2279 L4 B   14     Engine bearings
DNF      
Vauxhall Firenza Magnum 2300		 Tim Stock, GB
 2279 L4 B   18     Engine bearings