Oulton Park Gold Cup 2014

Typically mixed British bank holiday weather failed to dampen an excellent weekend’s racing at the 2014 Oulton Park Gold Cup. The packed 20 race programme was headed by a pair of races for the HSCC Super Touring Trophy, for touring cars of the 1990s, and the Derek Bell Trophy for F1, F2 and F5000 single seaters of 1970s vintage.

The Super Touring Trophy headed into the weekend with the destiny of the inaugural series title at stake, with the final round being held during the meeting. James Dodd and Stewart Whyte started the weekend 14 points apart. Dodd got off to the worst possible start by crashing during the very wet Saturday qualifying session, ensuring he would start Race 1 from the back of the grid. He recovered to finish 4th, but with Whyte taking the victory, his lead was slashed to 7 points. Behind the dominant winner, BTCC legend John Cleland emerged as the victor from a race long battle with Paul Smith’s Audi A4 to take second place, albeit 25 seconds behind.

“BTCC legend John Cleland emerged as the victor from a race long battle with Paul Smith’s Audi A4…”

The weather for Sunday’s title decider was damp, with spots of rain in the air as the cars headed to the grid on slicks. James Dodd suffered further misfortune, as his cars left rear wheel came loose on the green flag lap. He limped to the pits with smoke pouring from the car, leaving Whyte as the hot favourite to win the race and claim the title. Dodd started from the pitlane, knowing he had to finish second to hold on to his championship lead. On lap one, Whyte led the field away, with Cleland tucked in close behind as the cars headed towards Island Bend. Cleland got his nose alongside Whyte as the cars entered the fast left-hander, and as Whyte attempted to brave things out around the outside, he dropped a wheel onto the grass and spun off into the gravel. As a despondent Stewart Whyte climbed from his Honda Accord, it gifted James Dodd the championship win. At the front, Cleland was able to hold off Paul Smith to take a popular victory.

“1974 Gold Cup winner Ian Ashley completed the podium after a storming drive from the back of the grid.”

The Derek Bell Trophy produced a pair of superb races on Monday. The first encounter was held on a damp but drying track, leaving the drivers with an interesting dilemma around tyre choice. Michael Lyons, starting from pole in his thunderous Eagle FA74 Formula 5000 car, opted for wets, and quickly built a lead over the chasing pack in the early running. Richard Evans had made the opposite choice in his Formula 2 March 742, gambling on the track drying towards the end of the race. As the race approached half distance, his gamble paid off, as he was able to haul Lyons in. The pair then enjoyed a fantastic battle for the lead, with Lyons using the extra power of his Chevrolet V8 to stay ahead on his very worn tyres. It couldn’t last until the end, with Evans getting past at Knickerbrook two laps from the end to take a well deserved victory. In the far wetter second encounter, Lyons was victorious, taking the win by less than a second from a charging Evans. 1974 Gold Cup winner Ian Ashley completed the podium after a storming drive from the back of the grid.

Sunday’s Guards Trophy Sports Racing mini-enduro built to a thrilling finish despite a thin grid, with Hugh and Mark Colman taking their Chevron B8 to victory by snatching the lead from Nick Thompson and Sean McClurg halfway around the final lap. The Guards Trophy GT race featured a much fuller 26 car grid, with Matt Nicoll-Jones taking the win in his powersliding Jaguar E-type. The Martini Trophy for 2-Litre prototypes completed the sportscar action for the weekend, with Robert Oldershaw’s Lola taking the win, before Tony Sinclair’s flame spitting Lola T292 also claimed victory.

Full results from a packed weekend of racing can be found here.

Many thanks to Alan Jones at the HSCC.

All images by Paddock42’s Richard Crawford.

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