Oliver dominates HGTCC at Silverstone

It was a real family affair in the Charterhouse Heritage GT Car Challenge at Silverstone on Saturday (11 August) during the British F3/GT meeting. While Grahame and Olly Bryant scored a resounding win in the 45-minute race in their Morgan +8, three more father and son combinations packed out the top five finishers.

Qualifying

The Bryants served notice of their intentions by taking pole position, Oliver lapping just over a tenth of a second faster than the Chevrolet Camaro of Stuart and Peter Hall, with Stuart having a run in the Camaro for the first time since his fabulous fourth place in the Le Mans 24-Hour in June.

Rick Lloyd/Peter Horsman put their Morgan +8 third on the grid from the Camaro of Arthur and Boysie Thurtle, while British GT racer Tim Mullen made his historic racing debut and helped Nicholas King to put their Aston Martin DB4 fifth on the grid.

Race

The rolling start was a fabulous sight as around 10,000bhp was unleashed and in places cars were three and four abreast on the charge to Copse. Up front, Grahame Bryant got a cracking start but had to fend off the flying Arthur Thurtle as the pack streamed into the first corner.

While Bryant settled into the groove, Lloyd soon moved his Morgan through to second from Thurtle as the leading trio began to edge clear of the pack. Further back, Harvey Death was already on the move and passing bigger cars in pursuit of Youles.

By lap three, Lloyd was ready to challenge for the lead and boldly went ahead around the outside at Luffield. But there was little to choose between the Morgans as they headed towards the start of the pit-stop window. One of the first to stop was Pete Hall to hand the Camaro over to so Stuart and that would mark the start of a fine drive. "I hope he can do it," said Pete when commentator Ian Titchmarsh asked if Stuart could get into a podium position by the end of the race.

Horsman was second, while Hall was charging along and soon went ahead of Roy McCarthy and Boysie Thurtle as he stormed through to third place. Further back, the Mullen/King Aston went out with a suspension problem. "I don't know how much the car is worth, but I thought it was better to park it," said Mullen.On lap 10, Bryant pitted to hand over to his son, and three laps later Lloyd brought his Morgan in. Unfortunately, a problem getting the car restarted cost them time and the Bryant Morgan swept ahead before Horsman rejoined. "It's a new ignition switch we've fitted, so he's got an excuse," explained Lloyd. With a late stop, the MGB GTV8 of Russell and Roy McCarthy led for a couple of laps, but once the pit stops were over, it was “BRDC Rising Star” Olly Bryant with a clear lead.



While Bryant further extended his lead, posting the fastest lap of the race in the process, the main interest lay in the contest for second place and when Horsman ran a couple of slow laps it seemed possible that Hall could catch him. However, Horsman soon regained normal pace and that settled the finishing order. "It looked expensive when he was going slowly," said Lloyd. "The brakes had stuck on and I couldn't get the pedal to release," said Horsman. However, he then managed to kick the pedal free and settled back into a safe second, 25s ahead of the Hall Camaro. Oliver commented after the race; “I didn’t know my position after the stops so I just pushed until I saw plus 10 on the pit board. I then just settled into a rhythm to bring the car home safely. It’s a shame Peter was delayed in the stops, it was going to be a great race between us! Dad drove brilliantly as the start so I am pleased with the result”

Results – 45 minutes

• 1 Grahame Bryant/Oliver Bryant (Morgan +8) 29 laps in 46m29.197s (84.18mph)


• 2 Rick Lloyd/Peter Horsman (Morgan +8) +42.296s


• 3 Pete Hall/Stuart Hall (Chevrolet Camaro)


• 4 Arthur Thurtle/Roger Bennington (Chevrolet Camaro)


• 5 Russell McCarthy/Roy McCarthy (MGB GTV8)


• 6 Peter Wheeler/Ben Samuelson (Aston Martin DB4)


• 7 Alec Hammond/John Young (Chevrolet Camaro)


• 8 Bob Searles/Tony Jardine (Aston Martin DBS V8)


• 9 Ian McCallum/John Bussell (Aston Martin DB5)


• 10 George Miller/Les Goble (Aston Martin DBS V8)

Class winners:

• Hall/Hall


• Bryant/Bryant


• Tony Lees (Morgan +8)


• Nathalie Boyd/Mike Youles (Mini Cooper S)

Fastest lap:

• Oliver Bryant 1m31.982s (88.02mph)