Classical Gas
www.classictrials.co.uk
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His appetite wetted by son Chris’s exploits in his Escort, and a couple of outings in the car, Neil decided to go racing with his own machine and acquired a 3 litre Mk 1 Capri that had been prepared for Historic Saloon Car Racing.
The car arrived during the autumn of last year and over the winter it was tidied up after 5 years of storage, but otherwise was mechanically left pretty much as it was apart from a re-spray.
The original plan had been to sort it out at a track day, but the designated one was cancelled, so the first time Neil drive the car was at practice at Thruxton on Easter Monday. The car went well and Neil was fifth on the grid of 21 cars.
Neil got away well and was fourth at the end of the first lap. Tony Crudgington got by Neil in his Triumph Dolomite Sprint but disappeared after a couple more circuits. The rest of the race was pretty uneventful. David Howard won in his Jaguar XJ12, just in front of Nick Dann in a similar Capri to Neil’s and Stephen Primett in his 2 litre Escort. Neil was around 15 seconds behind this leading group, a long way in front of the rest of the field.
This was a pretty good result for the first event, especially considering Neil had arrived fresh from The Lands End Trial in Primrose.
There was quite a wait until the next event. A double header at the CSMA Brands Festival. The twisty nature of the Brands Indy circuit didn’t suit the Capri quite as much as Thruxton’s wide open spaces and Neil qualified 12th on a grid of 30, close behind last years champion, Nick Dann in his class leading Capri.
There was carnage on the start when five of the cars eliminated themselves in a pile up, including Nick Dann. After an agonising wait the restart got away cleanly with Neil in the middle of the pack. He had several duels but managed to keep it on the Island to finish 11th overall and first in Class B.
Three of the cars in Neil’s class had been eliminated in the first lap pile up. Two of them were irreparable but Neil and his team helped Peter Holton repair his Rover P6 for Sundays race.
The following day things weren’t so eventful. Neil finished 11th overall and first in class again. This puts Neil 2nd overall in the championship.
