22.10.23 - HRDC Jack Sears Trophy - Jaguar Mk1 3.4
Held at Silvertone in Northamptonshire, the HRDC Jack Sears Trophy - 45 minutes race took place on the 22nd of October in beautiful sunny conditions with a hint of winter cold. For a couple of years we have been cultivating our interest for the classic Jaguar saloons racing and in particular the Mike Hawthorn Challenge series of racing where we hope to run our very own Jaguar Mk1 - ex Bill Pinckney and Derek Bell, once the build is complete.
For this weekend however, Cip has been invited by Grant Williams to share the joys and spills piloting the most well known Jaguar Mk1 in existence, still racing after a career that extends to nearly 70 years of track time. Grant Williams and BUY1 are most famous for the spectacular races at the Goodwood Revival where they won St Mary’s Trophy several times and have been on the podium of the famous race countless times.
To be invited to compete alongside Grant and the race BUY1 has been an honour and a privilege, a day that will always be fondly in our memories.
On Friday, we booked an entire test day at Silverstone on the GP layout of the circuit, the same layout used by the Formula One. Getting to invitation to race in a prestigious car is one thing, doing well in the race is another. So we planed using Friday as an introduction to classic Jaguar saloons racing but we have been faced by unpredictable weather conditions, typical British weather in October. In comparison to other parts of the country, we have seen plenty rain at Silverstone but now as bad so Cip could put the power down in testing. By the afternoon, a dry line has appeared and we have completed nearly 2 hours of running on track with a few twitchy moments but learning and getting more confident all the time.
On Sunday, we started the day with a 25 minutes qualifying session to set the starting grid for the big race. Both drivers sharing a car had to do a minimum of three timed laps, so Cip went out first followed by Grant in the second part of the session. Our best time was set by Grant and the time placed us 19th on the grid from a field of 41 cars, but most importantly we were on the first position in our Coombs class against the other classic Jaguars. The race started well for Cip off the line but a mistake on cold tyres made him run wide and lost some ground. In the next few laps we managed to claim back some positions to bring BUY1 into the pits for the mandatory pit stop where Grant took over the wheel to finish the race. Grant expertly put the pressure on and fought like a lion to bring it home first in class and 19th overall even after an unexpected 10 seconds stop / go penalty dictated by a regulations infringement, not switching the engine off during pit stop.
Overall, it has been a fantastic day at the race track and would like to thank the entire Grant Williams Racing for the opportunity. We’ve had an amazing race season with our own prepared Alfa Romeo Giulia Spider and to end it with racing BUY1 has been magnificent!
Thanks go to our friends and sponsors that made all this happen :
Motorsport photography by Rupert Phillips
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