News in brief, February 2006

Reigning British Historic Rally champions Steven Smith and John Nichols are stepping up to a post-historic category Porsche 911 for the 2006 season. The 3-litre car is being built up by XS Racing and could make its debut on the opening championship event in early March.

Formula 5000 racer Frank Lyons has added an ex-Brett Lunger Lola T332 to his stable and hopes to race the car in the Derek Bell Trophy series this season. Lyons already has the ex-Tony Trimmer T332, but that car has been shipped to New Zealand for the winter, so the new car could be used to start the DBT season in early April.

Andrew Hepworth and Sean Nagle will enter a 1967 Ford Mustang in the Carrera Sudamericana in May. Son of ex-British hillclimb champ David, Andrew has only limited rally experience for the three-week event across Argentina, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador.

Two of the Top Hat Racing classes could run in the new Great and British racing package being developed by Dunlop for the 2006 season. Although primarily aimed at contemporary classes, Top Hat’s Groovy Baby and Best of British series are being tipped for a regular slot in the new racing programme.

The Frazer Nash Car Club has been reformed as a separate company, having been a VSCC section for many years. The FNCC was originally formed in 1933, but after the war the members chose to form a section within the VSCC. Following a recent review, it was agreed that the clubs would now operate independently, although the long-established links will remain.

The Heritage GT Challenge will have an extended seven-race programme in 2006, with races supporting BTCC and British F3/GT events. A class for Appendix K cars has been added to the series, which will cut off car eligibility at 1980.

Former saloon car racer Richard Meins has added the ex-John Surtees Lola T70 Spider, chassis number 1, to his collection and tested the car at Donington before Christmas. Having been totally rebuilt, it will run alongside the ex-Trevor Taylor/Peter Gethin Mk3B that Meins campaigned in World Sportscar Masters events in 2005. Meins intends to take the Spider back to a more original engine spec, closer to how Surtees first raced it as a Can-Am car in 1966.