750 Motor Club Grove & Dean Insurance Birkett Relay

Although typical October weather is rarely something that puts a (metaphorical) dampener on an event with the atmosphere of the Birkett Relay, you might be forgiven for thinking that 2016 attendees had a sixth sense of the forecast when booking…

The 66th running of the 750 Motor Club’s legendary event proved to be one of the most well-supported in recent history, with a capacity grid of 70 teams all managing to start the race – as well as a healthy reserve list – and it was the first Birkett for many years that remained dry from start to finish.

It was Aaron Bailey (Radical SR3 RX) who lined up at the head of the field for 2016, and this year he had recently crowned 2016 ROC Bikesports champion Phil Knibb (Radical SR3) alongside for company, in the Tracktime Solutions team. Bailey’s outfit ran this year under the moniker ‘We Don’t Like Second’; a tongue-in-cheek hat-tip towards 2015 winners ‘Inspires’ after years of healthy rivalry between the Radical and Spire sports-racing outfits respectively. As the safety car left the circuit to signal the start, it was Bailey who made the most of his Birkett experience to sear into an early lead, making a clean break from the team’s newfound rivals to gain more than four seconds by the end of the first lap. That opener was the only one during which the frontrunners would ever get to see Silverstone’s Historic GP Circuit without traffic en-route, thanks to a track density that meant there was a car for every 73.4 metres of Northamptonshire tarmac.

The mighty JPR Motorsport team of Saker Sportscars not only had the pace to net second from Knibb in the opening tour (with manager Paul Rose taking the first stint), but also the past Birkett experience necessary to convert their lap times into success with all that’s required of a six-hour relay. Rose tussled on and off with Bailey as they made their first forays throughout the field of acclimatising Birkett newcomers and relay old-hands. It was Bailey who pitted first of the leaders, coming in early on lap 14. He was followed by a slower change for JPR a lap later, offering a welcome chance for Tracktime Solutions driver Knibb to make some headway upfront with a 24-lap stint. Behind the trio sat the first of the omnipresent Birkett Clubmans teams; where Steve Dickens was taking the opening stint for The Defibrillators. Dean Cook headed the charge of production-derived sportscars in the early stages; running in fourth overall in a TVR Sagaris for team The GRP Boys, behind whom Doug Lague was first out for 750MC formula team RGB’Argy and Peter Ritchings held on to the fifth place for Hart Attacks; the second longstanding Birkett Clubmans team.

By the end of the first hour it was Neil MacDonald’s Anetec HRD team of BMWs who were running first on handicap, flanked by Smart car team ‘Only Smarties Have The Answer’ and 750MC one-make formula team Tegiwa M3 Cup in their inaugural Birkett year. Aaron Bailey’s Radical was retired to the trailer with engine troubles after his short first stint but crucially without delay, with a gremlin that made little difference to the overall strategy. The same however could not be said of JPR’s Saker woes. Despite the Rapx S1 models all having run the 2016 season with near perfect reliability; it was their traditional season concluder that proved too much for exhaust systems. Not one but two of the entries’ assemblies cracked and needed welded repairs in the pit garages, with the third car already retired in practice thanks to an ECU malfunction. The time spent without any car on track hit the JPR team especially hard, languishing all the way down in 21st place after two hours. Up ahead, Tracktime Solutions were busy holding on to a single lap lead from We Don’t Like Second; themselves just a single lap ahead of what was proving to be a storming Birkett year for the RGB’Argy squad, despite Adrian Moore’s AB Sabre giving up in qualifying and forcing the shared use of Tim Hoverd’s self-developed variant for his stint.

The Defibrillators were also troubled by needing to perform an impromptu clutch change as well as losing tine to a loose wheel nut, however a relentlessly consistent performance from the Tegiwa M3 Cup team had tipped them to the top of the handicap leaderboard, where both Adam Shepherd and Carl Shield would both go on to notch times down into the 2min22 marker, with BMW Cup second and 2015 handicap runners-up Carbon8 Coupe Cup B in third place. The top two positions were reversed an hour later as We Don’t Like Second confusingly were now first on the road after a temporary drop in pace for Tracktime Solutions, whereas Simon Garmston – the only first time Birketteer on the Baileys’ team – did a 30 lap stint at a strong pace. Handicap leaders Tegiwa M3 Cup were now joined with a full complement of BMW teams in the half-way podium standings; Team Eco-Trailer/ATL’s mix of three E36 Compacts and one M3 Cup car placed second, with 2015 Automac BMW top scorers Routec Racing placing their family-driven trio of Compacts in third.

“the trail of oil laid down around the circuit made for some tricky racing…”

A dramatic fire halted The GRP Boys’s spaceframed RSR Escort, and although Wayne Crabtree escaped unhurt and the car suffered only minor damage thanks to an ultra-quick marshal response, it was shortly after when the 750MC safety car was dispatched for its second run of 2016 to Chapel Curve. The first was to allow the removable of other GRP Boys’ entrant Darren Dowling’s TVR Sagaris, and the second was a transmission issue for Stuart Lines’ VW Golf that had left the car immovable on track. Reigning handicap champions Owens/Area Motorsport still hovered around the top ten in their defensive plight, but a mystery misfire for the EP3 Civic Type-R of Mark Grice and didn’t help the Honda-derived team. After taking evasive action to avoid traffic, a run over a sausage kerb for BMW Compact driver Jon Watt resulted in a cracked sump for the Routec Racing’s BMW Flyers’ driver, and the trail of oil laid down around the circuit before he could retire to the pits made for some tricky racing.

With just one hour to go, We Don’t Like Second had settled in to a comfortable three lap hold over Tracktime Solutions, but there was a real race on behind as fastest lappers of the day JPR Motorsport had been steadily climbing back up the leaderboard. They resided fourth at five hours, and despite the masterclass in making their way through the field, it was Burkett stalwarts RGB’Argy who remained in third place with a lap in hand, having overcome their own issues to maintain the same consistent pace.

The Jonathan Roberts-managed RGB crew of Colin Chapman, Tim Hoverd, Adrian Moore and Doug Lague maintained the gap require to the close to finish a comfortable and well-deserved third, with Chris Tilley’s Tracktime Solutions (Phil Knibb, Neil Primrose, Andrew Rath, Ben Sharich, Charles Graham, Andrew Higginbottom) second on the road. With Paul’s Salisbury’s management, the unwavering pace of We Don’t Like Second (Aaron Bailey, Lee Bailey, Doug Carter, Brian Murphy, Simon Garmston) meant that the relay stalwarts reclaimed the scratch victory crown, with a team that we suspect may be subject to another name change for 2017.

JPR Motorsport (Paul Rose, Steve Harris, Mark Burton) finished fourth with the fastest lap of the day (posted on lap two) as mild recompense, with Rock and Roll Centres (Rory Hinde, Owen Fitzgerald, Piers Ried, Neville Anderson) fifth and the highest place scratch team of road-derived cars.

After a relentlessly consistent performance, it was Jon Winter’s Carbon8 Coupe Cup B (Will Taylforth, Alex Cursley, Simon Miles) who notched up the triumphant overall Birkett handicap win in 2016 they they came so close to grasping last year. They took the well-deserved victory ahead of the M3-based team Red Rascals (Kevin Dengate, Jamie Ingram, Kenny Coleman, David Kidd, Chris Lovett, Reece Jones) and Joe Cassar’s mostly Honda powered DHD Motorsport (Danny Cassar, Steve Cassar, Daniel Adams, Garry Barlow, Nigel Ainge) in third.

Routec Racing’s Compact Triers (Simon Roche, Neil Roche, Martin Roche) were the highest placed BMW team, with the traditional Birkett prize-regulation of no team being able to receive more than one award allowing the Matt Howard-managed Tegiwa M3 Cup team (Luke Sedzikowski, Craig Shepherd, Julian McBride, Carl Shield, John Brown, Adam Shepherd) to clinch Class B honours.

Fabulous Fiat Formula Cars (Mark Glover, Bill Rutter, Andrew Lake, Ian Barley, Oliver Collett, Martin Kemp) were Class C winners and managed by Peter Bove, with Allsorts (Martin Webb, Craig Wilkins, Neil Hinson, Carl Woodwiss) taking the top spot in Class D.

Full results for the 2016 Birkett Relay Race in association with Grove & Dean Motorsport Insurance can be found here.