Tag Archives: OMS

Sunday Morning Lotus Hunting – Prescott

Apologies to readers of the regular Tuesday MG blogs which will return next week. On Sunday I attended the Speed Hill Climb at Prescott in search of a couple of Lotus models for Saturdays Lotus blogs.

GSM Delta Ford, Prescott

On arrival in the paddock I found much more than I bargained for, this GSM Delta Ford will feature in a forthcoming blog thanks to the owner Clive Scott who told me all about the car and his families involvement with it’s manufacture. Clive finished the day forth in a class of 15.

Ginetta G12 Zetec, Prescott

For a moment I thought this Ginetta G12 might be yet another car once owned by David Render, but Nick Stephens told me that this was not the case with his Ford Zetec powered example.

Maguire Mini Cooper S, Prescott

Derek Kessell has owned this Maguire Mini Cooper S for 24 years, it has never been raced and only ever used on hillclimbs. It was originally built with a Mini Clubman estate / station wagon body.

Force Empire DS600 Suzuki, Prescott

The tyres on Bill Chaplin’s Force Empire DS600 Suzuki show how tricky the conditions at Prescott were on Sunday Morning, full wets on the front and intermediates on the back, notice also a wild array of tweaked aerodynamic appendages that would not look out of place on a Formula One Car which helped Bill claim third fastest time in a class of 12.

OMS Hornet Suzuki, Prescott

Tina Hawkes driving her OMS Hornet Suzuki turned around her third fastest timed run in the lottery morning conditions, seen here, to a fastest time in class in the dry afternoon run.

Kayne Special III, Prescott

Last week I received an e-mail from John Biggs owner of the Kayne Special III, above, asking if I could put him in touch with Colin Cooper who built the car. When I met John on Sunday he told me that Colin had come to visit Prescott on Saturday and that they had a long chat about the car.

Pardon Hill House, Prescott

I know this is not a property blog, BUT, Pardon Hill House just has to be one of the most desirable properties on the planet for any motorsport enthusiast. You can see the Prescott Hill Climb course right in front of you from the benches right outside the back gate. Here’s hoping my lottery numbers come up before it is too late !

Chevron B47, Prescott

In the wake of the successful Lotus 79 in 1978 almost all open wheel cars the following season were built to take advantage of ground effects with varying degrees of success. Future Ferrari and Mclaren F1 driver Stephan Johansson was one of several drivers who started the 1979 with a Chevron B47, quite possibly the one in the photo above, but switched before long to the more successful March chassis on his way to claiming 4th spot in the 1979 British Formula 3 championship. Chris Bentley Jones who drove the car on Sunday claimed third fastest time in class.

Pilbeam MP97 Judd, Prescott

Sandra Tomlin, above, managed to avoid the wooden spoon in class and pip her son Oliver with whom she shares the wheel of the Pilbeam MP97 Judd.

Lotus 51A Ford, Prescott

I received a tip off last week that a couple of Lotus 51’s would be at Prescott like the won driven by Briony Serrell above, Brioney finished with 5th best time in a class of 13.

Lotus 51A, Prescott

Martin Tippet’s Lotus 51 was suffering from electrical issues and he could only manage 8th best time in class.

Lotus 61 Ford, Prescott

My thanks to Les Buck who is seen driving his Lotus 61 above, finished forth in class, for tipping me off last week at Brooklands that this event was taking place.

OMS CF06 Powertec SBD, Prescott

The two rounds of the Midland Hillclimb Championship main event were convincingly dominated by championship leader Trevor Wills driving the #3 OMS CFO6 Powertec SBD seen above.

Jaguar XK140, Prescott

Finally just as I was leaving a couple of dozen Jaguar XK’s appeared, including this 1956 XK 140, fitted with easy to clean steel wheels, which reminded me that GALPOT regular Geoffrey Horton would soon be getting up to compete in a Concours event in California with his own example of the model.

Further information on the timing results for this event can be found on Roger Warren’s excellent Resultsman website.

Thanks for joining me on this “Sunday Morning Lotus Hunting” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at an extraordinary FIAT 600. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Never Seen It As Bad As This ! – Prescott Speed Hill Climb

Britain’s wettest drought in history continued apace this weekend, but I did not let that get in the way of attending 3 very different events in 3 days. I’ll not be blogging them in order for any particular reason but I’ll start with the last one, Prescott Speed Hillclimb which I attended yesterday afternoon, first and post blogs on the Bristol Italian Auto Moto Festival on Sunday and the Spring Performance Car Action Day at Castle Combe next Monday.

March 792, Prescott SHC

I got to Prescott yesterday afternoon just in time to have a quick £3.00 bacon sarnie and have a quick look around the paddock before making my way to the top of the hill. The last time I saw a March 792 sporting Philip Morris Marlboro colours for Swedish hot shot Eje Elgh, like the one above belonging to Stuart Ridge, was 25th March 1979 at Silverstone.

Porsche 996 GT3, Prescott SHC

The two days had much in common it was close to freezing at Silverstone and only 4º C yesterday, at both events it was absolutely tipping with rain but mercifully there are a few more trees at Prescott which gave a vestigal illusion of shelter from the strong Easterly winds. Above Robert Lancaster-Gaye above heads for a over 2000 cc / 122 cui Road Going class win in his Porsche 996 GT3.

Ginetta G15, Prescott SHC

Before I left home I checked the weather and there were severe weather and flood warnings for the beautiful Gloucestershire countryside in which Prescott is located. Andrew Russell could not get below 60 seconds in the Modified Series Production class Hillman Imp powered Ginetta G15.

Westfield iRacer, Prescott SHC

With a 120 mph capability and 0-60 time of 5 seconds the Westfield iRacer is shockingly quick for a vehicle that is barely audible thanks to it’s two 100 hp electric motors which drive each rear wheel. The iRacer was being demonstrated in racing spec which has a 15 minute battery life. 2/3rds of the battery weight can be saved for hill climb events which, in the UK, rarely last more than a minute per run.

Chevrolet Special, Prescott SHC

Part of the attraction of going to Prescott was the promise of seeing some big brutal cars with plenty of horsepower, nothing quite prepared me for the two Chevrolet Specials and Jagernought Rover which were built for sand racing in the Channel Isles, thats Gurnsey, Jersey and Alderney in the English Channel. Scot Rayson’s Chevrolet Special above used to be Jaguar powered, it still has the Jaguar running gear but is now powered by a 6.3 litre 384 cui Chevy V8. Spare a thought for the Sand Racers who as I write this are headed back across the English Channel in significantly less than calm waters.

OMS 25, Prescott SHC

One reason today’s blog was posted a little late is that the intelweb will tell you the driver of the car above is Tricia Davis to add to the confusion the programme tells me that the car is a Reynard 913 which it most certainly is not. The programme tells me Tricia did not take part while a Terry Davis did but also in a Reynard. I believe most of the photo’s on the interweb showing this helmet and ascribing it to Tricia are incorrectly labeled and vice versa for Terry Davis. I further believe that Terry has acquired or at the very least borrowed an OMS 25 for the event. My ears were too wrapped up against the weather to discern if this information was disseminated over the Prescott tanoy. Please correct me below if I have that completely wrong !

DJ Firehawk, Prescott SHC

As I was walking down the hill during the event one marshal quipped that he had never seen the conditions so bad, fortunately this did not stop Wallace Menzies claiming a Race Cars over 2000 cc / 122 cui class victory in the #4 Cosworth powered Tillicoultry Quarries DJ Firestorm, that’s a Firestorm model manufactured by DJ Race Cars. To the left of the #4 DJ Firestorm Lee Adams can be seen telling a journalist….

GWR Raptor, Prescott SHC

how he stormed up Prescott in 43.82 seconds to claim fastest time of the day (FTD) in his giant killing up to 1600 cc / 97.6 cui class GWR Raptor Extreme, seen commencing his final run above.

My thanks to the Prescott press office for a hot off the press copy of the unconfirmed results which not only allowed me to share the information here but also warmed my hands up nicely as I walked back to the car.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Never Seen It As Bad As This !’ edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’ I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I shall be looking at continuing the series of blogs on Colin Coppers specials looking at the Kayne Special III. Don’t forget to come back now !

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