Nunquam Desiste – never give up – was the story of Chris Chiles père-et-fils’ stunning victory over the cream of the country’s Jaguar E-type in the 2025 GT & Sports Car Cup opener, generously supported by Denis Welch Motorsport, at Silverstone on May 31. A seventh Cobra win at Silverstone – the Chiles equipe’s first at ‘the Home of British Motor Racing’ – brought the Anglo-American cars’ total to within one of the Coventry cats’ cumulative score in the race first run in 2008.
“Funnily enough we’ve come to think of Silverstone [GTSCC uses its 3.6393 mile Historic GP layout, with the relaxed sweeper into Club, rather that the tight Vale complex which is harsh on brakes and transmissions] as an E-type circuit,” said Chiles Junior afterwards. “We’ve got the grunt [a strong 289ci/4.7-litre Ford V8 develops more than 400bhp] but the Jags are nimbler and have the aero. The best are not easy to live with, but it’s very close as we saw today.”
Junior thundered away from P4 on the 37-strong grid and immediately engaged in combat with polesitter Richard Kent in CUT 7, the hallowed blue-nosed E-type Fixed Head Coupe raced in the Pre-1965 by midlands garage proprietor Elmer Richard ‘Dick’ Protheroe. A scintillating duel ensued, in which Chiles had all four wheels over the Woodcote exit lines in a 120mph four-wheel-drift on one occasion during lappery, but did not consider lifting off the loud pedal. He growled briefly past the svelte gunmetal coupe a couple of times, but it was not until lap 15 that Chris was able to make any advantage stick.
Kent put Chris Ward in to bat after 17 laps, with a rapid exchange approximately one-third of the race’s two-hour duration run, and one circuit before Chiles installed his father. Ward, formerly Silverstone driving centre’s chief instructor, was always going to have the legs on Senior, but the 81-year-old snake charmer – International Supersports Cup champion in an 8.8-litre Interserie March-Chevolet 707/717 in his prime don’t forget – held his own over a stout half hour middle stint in which he ran third, behind Ward and Gary Pearson, now aboard brother John’s E-type following another slick Pearsons Engineering stop.
Modern GT ace James Dorlin, 26, sensational in Alistair Dyson’s E-type after a brilliant 51 second handover, and Jason Minshaw who replaced Mark Burton in Martin Melling’s gorgeous low-drag coupe without wasting a second in the MRM pit, howled past [still with second stops to make], but Chiles Jr instantly refound his momentum. When the interlopers pitted again, Chris sat fourth as Kent clambered back into CUT 7 – retaining the lead over Gary Pearson and Alistair Dyson.
The race was on in earnest, but high drama lay ahead for both top Jaguar crews. Having tailed Kent comfortably for a while, Pearson shot past, only to slow immediately and pull off on lap 37. “Something didn’t feel right and the engine wasn’t pulling,” said Gary, who subsequently discovered that his front brakes were locked on due to master cylinder failure. Kent retook the initiative, but two laps later was out too. A splutter was his only warning of the coil suddenly breaking down, which silenced the straight six, leaving Dyson with a tenuous lead.
But Chiles was on his tail and hurtled past on lap 40. Over the course of the remaining seven laps, Junior tempered his pace only slightly, extending an advantage of more than 62 seconds over Dyson before acknowledging the chequered flag. Burton/Minshaw remained on the lead lap in a meritorious third. Ironically, the Cobra’s Ford V8 cut out on the slowing down lap and Chris parked it. “We fuelled it tightly, but when we got back to the workshop there was still enough in the tank for it to have reached the pits. The coil failed,” said Classic Racing Cars team chief Gary Spencer, reflecting on a stroke of luck. The father/son combo’s fifth GTSCC win together – all at different venues – since Albi in 2019, with Simon Garrad, was certainly memorable for Chiles Sr.
John Clark, winner of the first GTSCC race at Silverstone in 2008 with Jeremy Welch, bookended fellow Scot Alasdair McCaig’s contribution to finish fourth, a lap down, in their Ecosse blue Jaguar E-type. “At my age that’s a result,” said Clarky. A further tour behind, Marcus Anderson soloed to a splendid fifth in his iridescent blue Jaguar roadster, with Touring Car winners Michael Squire/Rory Henderson (Ford Mustang), the AC Cobra 289 of Charlie Allison/Peter Thompson and GT3 victors Crispin Harris/James Wilmoth (Austin-Healey 3000) also on 45 laps, one more than the other three surviving ‘Squealeys.’
In GT2, super competitive as ever, the top five – representing four marques – finished on the same lap! Victors once more were Malcolm Paul/Rick Bourne in the former’s red TVR Grantura Mk3, but Olly Bryant was haring after them in Michael O’Sullivan’s Lotus Elite and finished only 43 seconds shy, having passed Joe and Piers Ward’s blue Grantura. The Morgan +4 Super Sports of Simon King/Richard Plant flew largely under the radar into fourth, ahead of Tim and Laurence Jacobsen’s MGB. Remarkably, the Broadspeed Mini GTS of Alice Locke/Matt Green was classified 17th overall in their wake.
No fewer than 13 families competed in the event, 11 sharing cars and two (father/daughter and uncle/nephew) across separate entries. The Jacobsens won the Royal Automobile Club award having driven down from Scotland and entered into the meeting with customary gusto. Drivers of the Day John and Gary Pearson received the coveted pair of Baltic Watches timepieces for their efforts.
At the conclusion of the prizegiving there was a spontaneous and rapturous round of applause in the marquee in appreciation of Aubrey Finburgh, Vanessa’s father and guiding light, who passed away earlier in the month, aged 83. “This was a very emotional and difficult event for us, but the enormous love and support received from the GTSCC family, both immediately after Aubrey’s passing and here at Silverstone carried us through. Aubrey was certainly here in spirit.”
Qualifying
A fine entry of 38 teams arrived at ‘The Home of British Motor Racing’ for our season-opener at Silverstone Circuits Limited’s BRDC International Trophy meeting, organised by the HSCC. Seventy-five years to the month after the venue hosted the first World Championship Grand Prix, little evidence of the former airfield remains, but the current GP circuit presents a challenge that competitors relish.
Five Jaguar E-types surrounded the Chiles family Cobra after the 40-minute qualifying session. Richard Kent/Chris Ward aced it in CUT 7, their 2m23.636s (91.21mph) best 0.423s quicker than James Dorlin in Alistair Dyson’s roadster, in the 24s with John and Gary Pearson’s similar car. Chiles Jr was content with a conservative 2:25.229, set near the end, two seconds clear of Jason Minshaw’s mark in the MRM low-drag coupe, co-driven by Mark Burton for the first time in several years. John Clark/Alasdair McCaig gridded sixth, the last team inside 2m30s.
Julian Thomas, guesting in the triple Le Mans contending Austin-Healey 3000 ‘DD300’ with Christiaen van Lanschot, was delighted with a GT3-leading seventh on 2:31.308 (88.58mph). “I’ve driven the car before and it’s beautifully balanced. Its performance is similar to other quick Healeys, but it takes much less effort to do the times,” said the Racelogic electronics guru, who headed off the Cobra of old Marcos racing buddies Peter Thompson and Charlie Allison on row four.
The Lotus Elan 26Rs of Steve Jones/Chris Atkinson and Tony and Niamh Wood shared the next rank, the latter’s parakeet green example – run by Dominic Sheppard of Martin Stretton Racing. Jeremy Welch put Nils-Fredrik Nyblaeus’ Healey onto P11, second in GT3, on his second flying lap, before the Swede took over and Jeremy qualified Doug Muirhead’s Lotus 11 Le Mans S2 as second driver. Michael Squire/Rory Henderson’s Ford Mustang completed the top dozen, just ahead of Marcus Anderson’s pretty E-type.
Big Healey boys Crispin Harris/James Wilmoth and Mark Pangborn/Harvey Woods were split by less than seven tenths in the GT3 chase, with Nick Sleep/Joel Wykeham (Shelby Mustang GT350) and GT2 pacesetter Olly Bryant in Michael O’Sullivan’s Lotus Elite on their tails. Bryant’s 2:36.688 (83.61mph) last lap dash in the 1216cc Climax FWE-engined coupe – raced under US Lotus importer Bob Challman’s Ecurie Shirlee banner from new – demoted Rick Bourne’s 2:37.972 in Malcolm Paul’s TVR Grantura “Trevor” to second in class, with Paul and George Ingram’s Healey between them.
Two more Healeys, Richard Locke’s silver blue Sebring-historied example, shared with Matt Green, and David Smithies/Chris Clarkson’s were intermingled with the two sports racers, both new to the series. The Muirhead/Welch Lotus – a stopgap to race while his famous Healey “The Chairman’s Car” is being rebuilt by Denis Welch Motorsport – with a 1216cc single-cam engine and Nick Finburgh’s recently-acquired two-litre FPF-powered Cooper Monaco T49, co-driven by Ollie Crosthwaite, were very closely matched, despite Coventry-Climax power units of disparate configurations and capacities. Oliver Marçais and veteran Rob Newall were next up in Sir David Scholey’s hard-topped GT3 Jaguar XK120.
The Triumph TR4 of Allan and Daniel Ross-Jones was in the 2:40 bracket, pursued by the TC1 contenders, separated by 0.278s. Ellie Birchenhough and ERA racer Nick Topliss had co-opted former FF1600 champion of Brands and BTCC Ford Sierra Cosworth ace Karl Jones into the Dorset Racing Mini Cooper S – “the first time I’ve driven a Mini,” grinned the Welshman – which started on a 2:41.408 (81.17mph) class pole. Meanwhile, Alice Locke excelled in the Mini-derived Broadspeed GTS fastback, raced in period by John Fitzpatrick, with Matt Green juggling between it and her dad’s Healey.
Quickest of the five GT2 MG B teams were the Jacobsens, who lined-up between the zippy tourers on the grid. Marc Gordon’s Lotus Elite, powered by its “miracle engine” according to co-driver Nick Finburgh, was replaced for the race by Marc’s Jaguar XK140, and he was also added to the Cooper Monaco driving roster for a different sightline.
Joe and Piers Ward’s TVR Grantura “Fred” – a late substitute for Joe’s “not quite ready” Healey – and the MG Bs of Dan and Den Pickett, Nick and Chris Thompson (with preparer Sean McClurg), Brian and Barbara Lambert, and Beverley, Chris and Oliver Phillips were interspersed with the Morgans of Simon King/Richard Plant and Sharlie Goddard/Graeme Smith, as well as the early GT3 Jaguar E-type FHC of UK-domiciled Romanian classic car restorer Ciprian “Chip” Nistorica and Welshman Grant Williams. GTSCC debutants Benjamin Tarlow/Richard Baxter completed the field in their Elite.
All bar the Lamberts’ MGB – spraying oil from its rear axle which required a workshop repair – formed the impressive 37-car grid for the afternoon race, with its rolling start signalled at 15.08.
Race
Kent and Chiles, who snarled out of the starting blocks like a rocket, set the early pace, watched from close quarters by Dunlop tyre supplier John Pearson, with Dyson, Clark and Allison in the second Cobra chasing. Tony Wood ran seventh initially, passing Burton and van Lanschot, as the meaty Mustangs of Squire and Sleep made it four cars between him and the grey Elan of Jones on the opening lap. The agile green Lotus continued to ascend the order, Wood picking off Clark and Dyson in short order to lie fourth.
Wood’s promising run was soon over, however, for Tony was slipstreaming a Cobra on the Hangar Straight when air pressure ripped the car’s bonnet off, which left the rasping twin-cam engine al fresco and took out the windscreen as it escaped. Niamh jumped in as it was still running well, but a gearbox glitch ended their run. Already out were Smithies with an unusual engine failure and Gordon’s XK. Marc’s day was not over, for he would go on to finish Finburgh’s Cooper Monaco.
The battle for GT3 honours was fascinating. Dutchman van Lanschot led initially from P9, but was overhauled by Harris on lap four. Concerned that DD300’s engine was not at its peak, Christiaen pitted and put Thomas in for a second opinion. Alas the old warhorse did not go much further for – not before Julian set the fastest lap in the division – it succumbed to multiple piston failures, dodgy fuel the likely culprit. George Ingram moved up to second in class at that point, and Richard Locke to third when Nyblaeus relayed Welch.
Jeremy clawed his way back to second, ahead of the Ingrams and Locke/Green, before putting the car’s owner back in and taking over Muirhead’s Lotus 11 for the closing stint. In a very tough fight, Harris and Willmoth earned a well-deserved class victory with a great eighth, two laps behind the overall winners. A lap adrift of the Crispy Moth Racing car, Nyblaeus/Welch, George and Paul Ingram and Locke/Green covered the same distance, barely two minutes apart. Oliver Marçais needed a splash and dash stop to get the XK home fifth in class, but the ‘Nistorica Historica’ E-type was retired by Williams when a cylinder head core plug popped out before half distance.
GT2 saw Joe Ward and Tim Jacobsen quickly establish themselves ahead of Malcolm Paul, with O’Sullivan chasing. Paul’s trump card as ever was rapid Rick Bourne, who zoomed the #47 TVR back to the head of the pack, tussling with the Locke and Ingram Healeys from GT3 as he did so. Bryant took over the white Elite, wresting second in class from the Wards with three laps to spare and finishing less than 44 seconds behind Paul. Plant in King’s Morgan climbed past Laurence Jacobsen’s MG B in the middle phase of the race and kept fourth behind the Ward TVR. Less than two minutes separated the top five in class, with Paul/Bourne an outstanding 12th overall. The Picketts were only a circuit behind them in the second MGB. The only B to fall was the Phillips car, although mum, dad and lad all had a go.
While the Mustang notchback had a superb run to sixth, it had no class opposition, although Nyblaeus and Welch tested Nils-Fredrik’s little-used Swedish-built Ford Falcon Sprint promisingly on the eve of the event and may yet take it to Thruxton instead of the Healey. The little Broadspeed GTS of Alice Locke/Matt Green was 3-4mph quicker than Ellie B’s Mini ‘Pixie’ through all three speed traps, pulling 111.8mph on the Hangar Straight, where Dorlin’s 143.3 in Dyson’s Jag was peerless.
Both sports racers finished, 20th and 21st, Muirhead’s Lotus 7.673s ahead of Gordon in Finburgh’s Cooper, Welch having reversed their order on the penultimate lap.
Next stop on the GTSCC calendar is our long-awaited return to Thruxton, the UK’s fastest circuit, on mid-summer’s day, Saturday, June 21. On our previous visit, in 2020, Mark Holme/Jeremy Welch scored a remarkable victory, against the odds, in Mark’s ex-John Gott Healey SMO 746, last there in the 1970s in steroidal Modsports spec. The renamed Thruxton Retro event boasts its best race programme yet and is family-friendly, with live music on Friday and Saturday evenings, the latter headlined by ABBA tribute band Bjorn Again.
Following that, attention turns to the popular and super-relaxed Castle Combe Autumn Classic – highlight of the Wiltshire circuit’s 75th anniversary season – on Saturday, September 20. Subsequently, travel to Portugal for the traditional finale at the magnificent Autodromo do Algarve from October 24-26. To secure entries, contact Vanessa.
Photo Credit – Jeff Bloxham
find more news here.
