The Classic Touring Car Racing Club’s championship season concluded at Silverstone with all categories enjoying two races on the venue’s International circuit.
A first visit to 1.85-mile layout for three and half years served up plenty of exciting racing with almost impeccable driving standards. Alongside a number of regular winners, notable successes included a first Pre-’83 win in his Mitsubishi Lancer Turbo for Neil Philpotts.
But perhaps the most outstanding performance came from James Janicki in Classic Thunder. Having taken his Nissan Skyline to a first win in five years, he then did it again – after spinning to the back of the field!
Classic Thunder & Historic Thunder
James Janicki’s rear-wheel-drive Nissan Skyline R32 earned a brace of wins in two thrilling Classic Thunder contests – each in rather different circumstances.
Two fittingly thunderous new cars were among the entry. Long-time series frontrunner Andy Wilson debuted his 6.2-litre Mercedes C63 AMG, built for the pan-European Superstars series that attracted big-name drivers after expanding from its Italian roots in 2007.
Dave Farrow was also having a run out in Rick Kerry’s V8-powered BMW 1 Series, a car that is currently for sale. Farrow set the pace in qualifying, going some 0.7 seconds faster than Janicki’s Skyline. Third fastest overall was top Blue Oval Saloon Series runner Piers Grange (Ford Escort Mk2), ahead of Kevin Denwood’s bulging BMW Compact.
Two more BMWs would fill the grid’s third row in the form of Antony Unitt’s E46 M3 and the E36 version of provisional champion Ian Bower. Restricted by brake problems, Wilson still managed seventh fastest time in his first competitive run in the car on a dry track. Ross Craig’s class-leading Honda Civic was next, ahead of the leading Historic Thunder entry, Paul Eaton’s Holden Commodore VH.
Regular Historic pacesetter Colin Voyce was sadly sidelined without evening making it on track after suffering throttle body failure on his Mountune turbo-powered Escort Mk1.
Light rain ahead of the first race was beginning to intensify as the cars gathered in assembly, making for tough tyre choices. Amid the strong winds of Storm Amy, the majority reckoned the track would stay relatively dry and opted for slicks but some, including polesitter Farrow, opted for wet rubber.
Farrow converted pole position into the race lead but soon found his treaded tyres turning to jelly, making the S65-engined 1 Series a real handful. Grange hit the front on the second tour, but there was drama behind the lead pair.
A blistering start from Wilson fired his Mercedes into third, despite almost turning himself into the pitwall as he clipped the front of Unitt’s car. Just over a lap later, the Mercedes had a wild spin at Abbey and dropped well down the order.
Janicki, who’d made a steady start, was delayed by Wilson’s spin and dropped to sixth behind Bower, Denwood and Unitt. But, with the Skyline up to speed, the Norfolk racer began pumping in quick laps and powered past all three over the next two tours.
Farrow was Janicki’s next target and, with the wet-shod 1 Series looking a real handful, he was easy meat.
Another fastest lap brought Janicki onto Grange’s tail. The pair proceeded to have an entertaining duel over the next few laps, with Janicki regularly powering past on the Hangar Straight only for Grange to retake the lead through the tighter Club, Abbey or Farm corners.
Grange executed a daring around-the-outside pass at Abbey on the penultimate lap but, once again, his Smith & Jones-powered Escort didn’t quite have the legs on the Skyline as Janicki swept back past to record a 0.37s win.
“Shame it’s a bit late in the season,” smiled Janicki, having finally got the Jimboformance Skyline on song.
Having continued to slip back, Farrow was eventually forced to park up when a sensor failure caused the 1 Series to lose power. So fellow guest driver Unitt came through for a comfortable third (second in Thunder) ahead of Denwood’s Voycetune Compact.
Provisional champion Bower was beaten in Class C for only the second time this season as fuel surge slowed him in the closing stages. Shaun Morris’s similar E36 M3 was on hand to take advantage and claim fifth overall.
Behind Bower, Craig was a class-winning seventh overall in the Aligned Concept Engineering Civic, ahead of Neil Wade’s Honda-powered Mini R50 and Daniel Gandesha (M3 E36).
In Historic Thunder, Eaton failed to start after his Commodore broke its differential and a half-shaft on the green flag lap. Provisional champion Rikki Cann was another to be struggling with wet tyres on his Aston Martin V8 Vantage but brought the car home just ahead of Melvin Hooker (Jaguar XJS V8) to win the category.
There was no threat of rain for Sunday’s rematch but the cool temperatures still played their part in another entertaining contest.
Janicki was swamped at the start as Grange powered clear, with Denwood, Bower and Unitt also jumping the Skyline. Janicki powered back into fourth on the Hangar Straight but was still slower through the corners.
Unitt nosed alongside as they exited Club and, on cold rubber, light contact was enough to send the Skyline into a lurid spin. After a wild series of gyrations and fishtails, Janicki was left facing the oncoming traffic on the Hamilton Straight but thankfully was avoided by everyone.
Meantime, Farrow was on a flyer in the EDF Motorsports-run 1 Series. He’d risen to fourth within two laps only to blow the differential next time around and end the weekend with nothing to show for his pace.
As Grange continued to hold a comfortable lead, Bower passed Denwood for second and Janicki began to mount his comeback from the back of the field. Having made his task a little harder with another huge tank-slapper exiting Club on the second lap, Janicki got to work and fired in a series of fastest laps. Passing Unitt on lap eight of 13, he was back into fourth with Denwood and Bower next on this radar.
The two BMWs were enjoying their own scrap for second. Having kept the pressure on the new champ, Denwood found his way through shortly before Janicki powered past the pair in one go on the Hangar Straight.
Now leading Classic Thunder, Janicki was still some 14s adrift of BOSS man Grange. Even going around 2s a lap faster, that looked insurmountable – until suddenly it wasn’t… The Escort began misfiring due to a suspected fuel issue and Grange’s pace dropped dramatically over the final three laps.
Janicki swept past into Stowe on the penultimate lap and went on to record his second win of the weekend. Denwood beat Bower to a strong second overall, although it wasn’t enough to overhaul Wade (third in class in the race) and the absent Adrian Bradley in the Class B points standings.
Unitt also closed up to Bower but had to settle for fourth overall, while Craig’s bullet-proof Honda won Class D again, fifth in Thunder.
With the Holden fixed, Eaton charged through from the back of the grid to finish sixth in Thunder and win the Historic section for the first time, well clear of Hooker with Cann a non-starter.
Eaton held off Morris over the second half of the race after the latter had been heavily delayed behind Janicki’s first-lap spin. But the Salisbury racer’s BMW still took second in class ahead of Gandesha.
Blue Oval Saloon Series
As he has been for much of the season, Piers Grange was effectively in a class of his own among the all-Ford category that shared track time with Classic & Historic Thunder.
Pole position, two fastest laps and two BOSS wins were the Cheshire man’s reward as his Smith & Jones-powered bewinged Mk2 Escort battled with the leading Thunder runners, well clear of the rest of the BOSS entry (see above).
“Just a shame he’s got a few more ‘neddies’,” Grange smiled after being pipped by Classic Thunder man Janicki in the opener, adding: “But it was good, I enjoyed that.”
Second time around, even a dramatic loss of pace over the closing stages, owing to a fuel-related misfire, could not deny Grange the BOSS honours.
In an attritional opener, the Sierras of Joey Binks and Craig Owen both retired when heading for likely top-three finishes. Binks’s RS500-spec version shed a front wheel and pitched him into the gravel at high speed. Owen’s overheating Cosworth blew a spark plug and forced him to park up on the final lap.
Club chaiman Stuart Caie also retired when his Capri’s clutch failed, having already had brake trouble.
It was champion Tim Mizen who came through to finish second in the opener in his Zetec-powered Fiesta Mk3.5. Mizen himself then suffered his first true mechanical failure of the season in Sunday’s race when the Fiesta’s throttle began sticking.
Cliff Pellin’s Mk7 Fiesta, third in the opener, thus took second on Sunday ahead of the Mk6 version of Todd Hawkins who was delighted to break into the BOSS top three. Rob Taylor’s similar Mk6 was yet another casualty but the Hailsham man had already done enough to secure second in the points ahead of Grange.
Pre-’83 Group 1 Touring Cars
The Pre-’83 Touring Cars served up a Saturday sizzler as long-time Mitsubishi racer Neil Philpotts secured a first win in the category for his Lancer Turbo. Provisional champion Jonathan Corker then hit back with another Sunday success in his Datsun 510.
It was Corker who was fastest in qualifying, three tenths quicker than Nic Grindrod, who was hoping to have put the gearbox problems of his Ford Escort Mk1 behind him. Back out in his father David’s Alfa Romeo GTV6, Jake Margalies was third fastest, ahead of Nick Williamson’s misfire-stricken Rover SD1.
Carl Shreeve (Triumph Dolomite) and Jared Knight (Escort Mk2) would fill row three, with Philpotts only seventh fastest but confident of working his way forward.
Reece Cannell brought his lovely Ford Capri Mk2 out for a second appearance with the club and was eighth fastest in Pre-’83 but sadly unable to start the race. Stuart Caie’s also missed out after his Mk3 version’s clutch failure in BOSS.
Between the two Capris on pace came Bob Bullen. His Mk1 Escort was sporting new rear panels and Bullen had done well to pull its floor straight after a smash earlier in the season.
Among the 1600cc entries, Phil Waller’s Chrysler Sunbeam was on its fourth engine of the season but again sadly failed to make it beyond qualifying. Robyn Slater’s Mk1 Escort set the class pace ahead of Andy Foyle who was debuting his stunning replica of Stirling Moss’s 1980 Audi 80 GLE.
From their front row starts, Corker and Grindrod were first into Abbey as a lightning getaway by Philpotts jumped him alongside Williamson. The pair’s trajectories collided as they aimed towards the apex, with Williamson sent into a spin as the Rover’s front-left clipped the Mitsubishi’s rear-right.
The gyrating Rover sent the rest of the field scattering in avoidance, all doing well not to collect the spinner. But Williamson dropped to the back of the field and had to mount a recovery drive through the Pre-’66 runners.
Out front, Philpotts was closing in on the leading duo, setting the race’s fastest lap on the third tour. With the Lancer’s handling transformed by new wheels, tyres and shocks, Philpotts was now able to take full advantage of his turbo grunt. He powered past Grindrod on lap four of an eventual 12 and set about catching Corker for the lead.
Philpotts caught the Datsun and made his move approaching Stowe with two laps remaining. But, just as in the opening Thunder contest, it was a case of one car being quicker on the straights and the other in the corners.
Corker got back in front into Chapel on the next lap and the pair traded the lead twice more before Philpotts once again powered past on the Hangar Straight to clinch victory by a quarter of a second.
“It’s taken a long time to get to the front,” said the Merseysider. “I’ve been battling this car all year!”
Grindrod was a relatively lonely third, pleased just to have made the finish. Fourth, and second to Philpotts in Class B, was Margalies, who withstood pressure from Shreeve in the Triumph. Williamson’s fine recovery brought him all the way back up to sixth, third in class.
Class D leader Slater’s race came to a smoky end when his Escort’s oil filter detached itself and deposited the engine’s contents, thankfully without causing any further damage. It meant that a delighted Foyle, while competing only as a guest, effectively won the 1600 class in what was the former modified production saloon competitor’s first race in 33 years.
With the championship already sealed (provisionally), Corker had taken the opportunity to enter Pre-’93 Touring Cars too, using the extra track time as a competitive test session. The plan clearly worked as set-up tweaks helped unlock another few tenths from the Datsun to give him the edge in Sunday’s race.
Philpotts made the better start from pole position but Corker was ahead by Chapel on the first lap. The Hull racer never looked back, motoring to a 7.5s victory to round off a very successful season: it was his ninth win of 2025.
Even an oil leak caused by a loose rocker couldn’t put a dampener on his efforts, and Corker quickly cleaned up (literally) to come back out for the Pre-’93 race a little later.
Philpotts was a comfortable second to win Class B and clinch (provisionally) third overall in the championship standings. Grindrod held off Margalies for third in his venerable Mk1 Escort, quipping that he’d “just need a Japanese car” to challenge for more overall victories.
Shreeve again finished fifth, this time ahead of Knight as Williamson continued to be plagued by a misfire and slipped to seventh. But that was still more than enough to confirm the Rover driver’s (provisional) runner-up position in the overall championship standings.
Slater returned to take Class D honours as a split fuel injection tube sidelined Foyle’s Audi. Mike Broadway’s Jaguar XJ6 this time made the finish after a distributor problem ended his race prematurely a day earlier.
Pre-’66 Touring Cars
Sharing the track with their Pre-’83 cousins, the older cars also served up two lively races. Piers Grange proved the man to beat in his mighty Ford Mustang, and he duly took a victory double. But Lotus Cortina-mounted teen sensation Oliver Law proved he is one to watch, only missing out on a maiden win to a track-limits penalty.
Grange set the pace in qualifying, just a couple of tenths quicker than Law, who was back in his father Justin’s Cortina after impressing at the Donington Park season opener. Third quickest was Simon Gusterson (Cortina), while Barry Sime’s giant-killing Morris Mini Cooper was next, best of the Class C tiddlers.
It meant that Sime had a couple of Pre-’83 cars as well as Grant Williams (Jaguar Mk2), Billy Kenneally (Ford Anglia), guest Andy Hack and Mike Davies (both Minis) between him and Class C points rival Jake Swann (Anglia) who found that the fresher rubber he’d borrowed from dad Kevin’s car was not as good as it looked.
Among the smaller cars in Classes D and E, there were some sterling efforts to return to the grid after the bruising multi-car pile-up at Brands Hatch in the summer. Imp men James Ibbotson – the provisional overall champion – and Steve Platts both made their returns in rebuilt cars, thanks in large part to the efforts of fellow racer Brendan Rooney and his father Colin.
Series stalwart – and provisional Class D champion – Brian Bedford also returned in a completely reshelled Austin A40.
A good start by Grange helped him keep a Pre-’83 car between himself and the pursuing Cortinas. They were enjoying a good scrap for second, with Gusterson initially holding sway. While Grange went on to win by more than 3s, Law managed to get the better of Gusterson and eke out a 2s margin as the pair completed the Pre-’66 top three.
Behind them, there were some fantastic battles in the rest of the top 10. A switch around of his tyres helped Swann get back on the pace and he soon latched onto Sime’s Mini in the contest for Class C honours. Williams’s Class A Jag also resumed its regular tussle with the smaller cars and managed to pip them to the line as Sime held off Swann’s advances by just 0.4s. Crucially, the Mini had also set a faster lap, giving the Scotsman the advantage in the points race.
Some 12s further back, Billy Kenneally headed a four-car scrap for seventh in Pre-’66, just ahead of his father Pat (Cortina) and the Minis of Davies and Martyn Armstrong.
Justin Law had planned to take over his Cortina for Sunday’s race but given how well Oliver had gone in the opener, plus the fact he would have had to start from the back of the grid, he let his son have another go.
The teenager repaid the faith shown in him with a terrific drive that arguably deserved a maiden victory. From the start, he kept in front of Gusterson and immediately latched on to Grange’s Mustang. The youngster executed a superb move around the outside of Village to take the lead, only for Grange’s V8 power to take him back ahead on the Hangar Straight.
But some beautiful drifting through the corners helped Law Jr to squeeze back past and take the flag. It would have been his first victory – not just in Pre-’66 Touring Cars but anything – so he was particularly unfortunate to lose it to a 5s penalty for exceeding track limits.
Law dropped to third in the official classification, behind Grange – who looked to have done enough to confirm himself in the top three of the overall championship standings – and Gusterson.
Williams once again took fourth, this time a couple of seconds clear of the Class C contest. Sime and Swann traded the lead of that, and a little paint, before the Mini came out on top to successfully retain his class crown.
Billy Kenneally was again best of the rest in seventh, while Hack bounced back from Saturday retirement to head a trio of Minis completing the top 10. Armstrong and Tony Davies, having a relatively rare outing in the family Mini in place of brother John, followed him home. The latter benefited from Pat Kenneally being another to lose out to a track-limits infringement.
In Class E, Ibbotson and Rooney put on an end-of-season show for the spectators, trading places on multiple occasions. Rooney scored his first class win of the season after Ibbotson had taken the honours a day earlier.
Bedford earned a double in Class D. He was unopposed on Saturday but saw off Keith Wright’s Morris Minor on Sunday after Wright made the switch from his recalcitrant Cortina overnight.
Super Tourers
The ever-popular Super Tourers enjoyed their third and final outing of the season with a six-car entry. Sadly, that was reduced to five when Rick Kerry blew a hole in his Peugeot 406 Coupe’s engine in Friday testing.
Jason Hughes, the 2023 series champion, was in a league of his own in qualifying. His 2000-spec Vauxhall Vectra was 1.8s quicker than nearest challenger AJ Owen, back at the wheel of his Duratec-powered Ford Mondeo.
Irishman John Whelan was having a second outing in his Opel Vectra. After a troubled weekend at Brands Hatch, he went third quickest, ahead of the BTC-T spec Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch of Roger Stanford. Allan Scott completed the field in his V6-powered Mazda 323F.
Hughes took a relatively untroubled win in the opening race. But Whelan’s fastest lap on the final tour suggested he’d got himself fully up-to-speed in his similar Vectra and set things up nicely for a Sunday rematch.
Owen had been passed by Whelan into Club at the end of the first lap, then also slipped behind the leading pair of Pre-’93 cars that were running concurrently. But he was pleased to have a trouble-free run in the Mondeo and finish as third Super Tourer. A spin on cold tyres pushed Stanford further down the order but he brought the Astra home safely.
Unfortunately, Whelan aggravated a back injury in the opening race and was unable to take his position in the sequel. Hughes was thus completely untroubled en route to a fourth consecutive victory.
Owen was second and Stanford third, both having tussled with some of the Pre-’93 and Pre-’03 entries. Seventy-five year-old Kiwi Scott, the former TWR engine guru, completed the finishers in what he intends to be his last-ever race.
Pre-’93 Touring Cars
One of the few titles that remained undecided heading to Silverstone was for Pre-’93 Touring Cars, although Ian Bower held a commanding lead as he sought a third championship crown. Any hopes that Will Davison had of denying him were dashed when engine problems struck his BMW. So Bower celebrated in style, with his ninth and 10th victories of the 15-race season.
Bower’s BMW M3 E36 was fastest in qualifying by some 1.3s from Shaun Morris’s similar car. Jasver Sapra and Daniel Gandesha made it an all-E36 top four.
Sapra’s blow-up in the first Classic Thunder race meant he was unable to take part in either Pre-’93 race and left Bower and Morris to contest the honours. Both were quickly in among the Super Tourers and put on a show as they battled the more sophisticated machinery.
Ultimately, Bower took a comfortable win, over 10s clear of Morris. First-season racer Gandesha was thrilled to secure his first-ever trophy with third in Pre-’93.
Guest drivers Jonathan Corker (Datsun 510, doubling up from Pre-’83) and Luca Nardone (BMW 325 E30, returning after a strong showing at Pembrey) had a good tussle for fifth in Pre-’93, in which Corker prevailed. There were also class wins for Jamie Sturges’s beautiful BMW M535 E28, on its first appearance of the season, and Byron Aldous (Volkswagen Corrado).
With the title well beyond doubt (provisionally), Bower could fully relax in Sunday’s sequel. He enjoyed an entertaining battle with AJ Owen’s Super Tourer Mondeo; the BMW was faster in a straight line while the Ford was better on the brakes and through corners. The pair exchanged places on several occasions, shadowed by Morris, before Owen settled in behind the pair.
So Bower rounded off the season as he’d begun it, with another imperious double. Morris ended a sometimes challenging year on a high with a pair of second place finishes. Gandesha too repeated his earlier result with a second Pre-’93 podium.
Despite an oil leak in his preceding Pre-’83 race, Corker and crew turned the Datsun around for him to return and edge Nardone once again. Sturges took the Class C laurels once more; hopefully we shall see more of the Ramair Filters E28 next year.
The year didn’t end so well for Aldous when he blew a hole in his Corrado’s engine. It had served him well, going right back to his days in Road Saloons almost a quarter of a century earlier! At least he has plenty of time to source a new one over the winter.
Pre-’03 Touring Cars
A rather thin field of Pre-’03 machinery was topped by Ross Craig on his return to the category. The Peterborough man’s Honda Civic Type R EP3 was doubling up from Classic Thunder and took a dominant pair of victories.
Craig was fastest in qualifying by over 3s from John Hillyer’s BMW E36 Touring, with Kam Tunio (Civic) and champion-elect Dave Cave (BMW 328 E36) next up.
Hillyer had performed another complete rebuild of his engine since Snetterton, and was now running a baffled sump in an attempt to avoid the surge problems that had been its downfall. But more bad luck was to befall the Juan Maria Traverso tribute car when a relay failed at the start of Saturday’s race.
Whether Hillyer could have found the pace to match Craig became a moot point. But, as it was, the Aligned Concept Engineering Civic was unchallenged en route to victory by more than three quarters of a minute.
Cave edged Tunio by just 0.4s for second in Pre-’03, putting the seal (provisionally) on the title in his first year of racing. “I don’t really know what I’m doing, but seem to be doing something right!” he quipped.
Dave Hutchins was fourth in his Civic, ahead of Pre-’03 debutant Mel Higgins (Citroen Saxo).
Craig completed the double in Sunday’s race, and also got to play with some of the Super Tourers, passing Roger Stanford’s Vauxhall Astra.
This time Tunio got the better of Cave for second. Hillyer came through from the back of the grid to finish fourth, second in class. Hutchins and Higgins completed the finishers.
Full results are available via the TSL website.
All images courtesy of CTCRC official photographer Steve Jackman/Eat My Pixels
