Article by Andrew Blacklee

The fifth round of the Speed Championships brought us back to the Midlands with a new venue – the Motor Industry Research Association - which is situated on the A5 some 15 miles north of Coventry.  The Speed Championship contestants were pleased to be invited to the event by the Bentley Drivers Club who themselves turned out with a complete cross section of their marque from several original 8 litre Bentley 3’s dating from the 1930’s to an outlandish 6.7 litre Bentley Turbo R equipped with rear spoiler.

The Speed Championship was represented by 14 drivers and it was pleasing to also be joined by Steve Cox the Championship organiser even if he was without his V8S 500 having only just returned bleary eyed to the country from the States that morning.

The sprint course formed the major part of two circles totalling 1.7 kilometres and was inside the bank curved of the main Mira circuit.  The early morning practice run started on time but it soon became clear that whilst the safety standards were high there would be a more laid back approach to the two practice runs and drivers should turn up when ready rather than running in exact number order. 

Top of the pile after the practice runs was Dave Morris in his race Tuscan with a time of 55.24 seconds closely followed by the predictably fast Simon Cole in his 4.8 Wedge at 55.67 seconds and Paul Edwards (T350c) at 56.75 seconds.  Dave Morris would however later suffer under the handicap rule but with a car that looked and sounded so good he had some consolation. 

As there was only a total of 60 drivers at the event the organisers were able to hold the first round of timed runs before lunch but unfortunately light rain led to unpredictable track conditions – especially on a circuit new to most of the drivers.

The Vixens of Geoff Stallard and Alan Bankhurst posted virtually identical times but the driver least affected by the rain was Simon Cole in his 350/480 being within half a second of his best practice time.

The lunch break at Mira proved an opportunity for the tvr drivers to socialise with the Bentley Boys and learn about the history of some of the earlier models racing that day.  One of the Bentley Club members had chosen the event as an opportunity to test drive his 6.5 litre Ultima Can-Am which was certainly a crowd pleaser especially as it was road legal and had been driven to the event.  As no photography is permitted at Mira a photograph showing a selection of these contestants lined up in the local hostelry car park after the event will have to suffice.

The second and final timed run then followed with the track starting to dry and everyone realising this was their only chance to set a fast time.

Three drivers achieved times of 54 seconds namely Paul Edwards, Simon Cole and Dave Morris but the latter suffered under the handicap and finished the day in 6th place.

The event winner was Steve Lyle in his V8S and other drivers to mention were John Wilson with his Cerbera 4.2 and Alan Davies who both set consistent times throughout the event.  The Blacklee brothers as usual shared Richard’s Chimaera 450 and finished within half a second of each other with Richard setting the faster time.

This was a great day out for the tvr drivers and we would to again thank the Bentley Drivers Club for their excellent hospitality on the day.  Motor sport as it should be!