Ganley Festival - Hampton Downs January 2015

[timbo61]

Nearly. U.S. visitor Travis Engen in his Lotus 23 was able to take avoiding action and duck inside the Corvette.

[Jaydee]

Biggest buzz, ever, sitting in the middle of a rolling start for Group C Cars. When those lights go out, the adrenaline, the sound and vibrations are something I'll never forget.

These cars were and are a very special part of 'modern' motorsport history. Great to see one here and hats off to Warwick for taking it on. I guess you all know its sister car won Le Mans in 1991 and here is Jonny Herbert doing a lap of honour in it at Le Sarthe in 2011. I was there and you have to imagine the sound. Great car, great driver, great team.

JD

[video=youtube;81zhOQ5PvaE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81zhOQ5PvaE&x-yt-ts=1422411861&x-yt-cl=84924572[/video]

[Shoreboy57]

Biggest buzz, ever, sitting in the middle of a rolling start for Group C Cars. When those lights go out, the adrenaline, the sound and vibrations are something I'll never forget.

These cars were and are a very special part of 'modern' motorsport history.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81zhOQ5PvaE&x-yt-ts=1422411861&x-yt-cl=84924572

Would be great to see a Group C Porsche at next year's festival

[ERC]

Would be even greater to see an Aston Martin... (Winks at Jaydee...)

[Jaydee]

Am working on it!

In the meantime for Shoreboy 57, here's a photo of yours truly giving Ziggi ('they don't like it up them Mr Mannering") Brun in his 962 a hurry up at Brands some years ago. It was about as close as I ever got to the back of a Group C Porsche (I got him at Clearways on this lap and then the engine let go pretty spectacularly at Paddock Hill bend - "Ron" wasn't happy with me).

The other one are the two Aston Group C cars at Snetterton. I think Ray Mallock is in the Nimrod so I must have been in the EMKA. Fabulous bloody things but how someone drove them for 24 hours, I have no idea. The understeer on the EMKA in particular on tight tracks was totally knackering.

[nigel watts]

[nigel watts]

[nigel watts]

[DewiAusTransAm]

HMC Week 1 Review in this week's Auto Action in Aus. Week 2 Review will be in next weekend's edition.
Also included review of F5000s and Week 1 of the Festival in general.

[ERC]

Check this out - Bruce Manon driving Mike Sexton's Ford Escort.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J42ayb1Js2A

[Snoozin]

Holy cow! That MG vs Cobra could have been a lot worse!

[ERC]

Holy cow! That MG vs Cobra could have been a lot worse!

True. Our only two car contact of the weekend, so considering the size of the grids (and four handicap races), quite amazing. The MGB V8/Cobra crunched the MG's right front wing and the Cobra sustained a bit of damage to the RHR guard. The lime green MGB V8, overtaken on turn 1 (inexperienced competitor!) freaked out and just dinged the wall, so that was the sum total of our panel damage for the weekend.

[Paul Wilkinson]

Great clip, also one of my favourite races of the day! That's one hell of a speed differential, I think you're right to say it's amazing more damage didn't occur. A couple of drivers looked a bit uncertain of what to do with a car coming up so quickly from behind. Bloody great from a spectator's viewpoint though. This and the class with the Corvette and 47 replica were my favourites by a long shot.

[GD66]

Yes, good fun, well driven, and jeez that Escort has got plenty of gnaw. But those ditherers you've mentioned Paul, are a huge hazard, do they not use their mirrors, or is it once-a-year drivers ?

[nigel watts]

[nigel watts]

[Andrew Metford]

Yes, good fun, well driven, and jeez that Escort has got plenty of gnaw. But those ditherers you've mentioned Paul, are a huge hazard, do they not use their mirrors, or is it once-a-year drivers ?

To be fair to the slower guys, this series usually comprises 2 separate races - the "fast" group, and the "slow" group, so the speed difference between fastest and slowest in each race is nowhere near as great. It is probably the very first time about the slowest quarter of this weekends' grid have been in a race with cars as fast as Mr Manon, so it must have been a bit of an eye opener for them at the pace at which he caught and passed them. I think everyone in ERC did a sensational job, some of the other classes, with half the number of cars on the track and no where near the speed difference, had far too much biff and barge for my liking and left me feeling rather dismayed at the often unnecessary carnage to what were immaculate cars at the start of proceedings.

[DewiAusTransAm]

HMC/Trans-Am Week 1 Highlights Video
[video=youtube;oSddBgZ5orE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSddBgZ5orE[/video]