MG 100 RACE REPORT

The MG Car Club’s mid-summer Silverstone Historic Grand Prix circuit showpiece is always a meeting to savour, with its variety of infield attractions supplementing the full range of racing classes battling on track. Yet this year’s event was particularly special as it also marked MG’s and Triumph’s 100^th anniversaries.

MGCC MG Cup

MG Cup’s Silverstone double header had a new look. Matt Simpson was back in the category in his Rover Tomcat after a year away and won both races. And in both he was chased gamely in second by Chris Boulton who, at last, had his new Class C MG ZR 190 running competitively. Boulton previously was a long-time competitor in a 170.

Simpson led all the way in race one, beating Bolton home by just under seven seconds and also received the Driver of the Race award.

Dan Ludlow was just behind Boulton in third and won Class B in his ZR 170 beating reigning class champion, and Chris’s cousin, Ian Boulton.

Race two’s story was similar. Simpson again dominated from pole and Chris Boulton was second but this time the gap was some 16 seconds. Jack Chapman in his MG ZR 170 was a close third and won Class B ahead of Ludlow and Ian Boulton. Craig Bayston meanwhile got Driver of the Race having climbed to finish P6 in his MG ZS.

Simpson said: “The car’s got really good pace and I knew if I got out in front and started picking off some of the Cockshoot cars [which it shared the grid with the MG Cup] that would slow Chris Boulton down so it was a real big push at the beginning.”

“I’ve come here without having done too much to the car in the past two years, aside from race it here last year. No new tyres or anything. I’ve done it on a small budget this year, old tyres, just spanner checked it and hoped for the best.”

Simpson’s dominant double was not without its problems though. “I’ve been dealing with a fuel pressure issue around slow corners so getting out front was important so that I could manage it,” he explained. “And then towards the end of the race, no tyres, oil pressure on the floor, I could smell burning oil. I couldn’t wait for that chequered flag!

“It’s [Silverstone] close to home and is a perfect circuit for the Tomcat. It’s just a shame to have the car sitting in the back of the workshop. So I give it a birthday every year and bring it out.”

Boulton meanwhile explained of the conspicuous improvement of his 190: “The car’s just not been feeling right and a bit underpowered, and it turned out that it had the wrong throttle bodies on it. So we got that sorted and this is the first time it’s been out. We didn’t get much testing on it, but out of the box it’s flying. You can always improve your driving but if the car’s good to start with we’ve got half a chance of getting somewhere.”

Luckiest man of the race must have been Paul Rigg, after the flywheel on a ZS became detached and a rather large chunk of it pierced the MGF’s windscreen, hit Paul on the shoulder and embedded itself in the rear bulkhead. We wish Paul and the car a speedy recovery. Equally lucky was Alan Forster whose Montego Estate was also struck by a piece of the flywheel. The impact, right in front of the driver, thankfully did not pierce the windscreen.

Matt Simpson was back out in the MG Cup after a year’s absence for MG 100 taking both wins.