The Motor Sport Month - Historic News
Connaught to race again
After 18 years in a French garage and nearly 30 years after its last event, the Connaught Streamliner will race again this summer in the hands of John Harper.
Chassis B3 was bought new by Leslie Marr and raced in the 1955 British GP, before going to New Zealand and later, in ‘toothpaste tube’ bodywork, finishing fourth at Monaco in 1957 with Stuart Lewis-Evans.
Harper, who has owned the car twice and raced it in the early ’80s, said: “It’s an imposing car, not at all slow.”
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Pageant to get rally test
The Cholmondeley Pageant of Power will feature a dedicated rally stage for the first time, with a one-mile asphalt test created for cars from the Rallying with Group B organisation.
With its own parc ferme, the stage will start near Castle Corner on the main course, running uphill through a chicane to a hairpin. Around 20 Group B cars are expected on July 16/17, and event boss James Hall hopes that the concept will catch on.
“Spectators can see the whole course, it’s the final piece in the jigsaw,” he said.
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Sytner saved after suffering heart attack in race
Historic racing ace and former British Touring Car Champion Frank Sytner is recovering at home in Monaco after suffering a heart attack while racing his Lola T70 Mk3B during the Donington Historic Festival.
The Lola left the track at Schwantz Curve during the inaugural hourlong opening part of the new 1000km Sports Car series and hit the tyre wall, with the 66-year-old unconscious at the wheel. Earlier in the afternoon he had taken his March 782 to second place in the Historic F2 race.
Only expert work by the marshals and medical crews saved the life of the 1988 BTCC champion, who was resuscitated trackside. His heart had stopped but their efforts had it re-started within three minutes.
After surgery and a spell at hospital in Nottingham, Sytner was allowed home. Three years ago he underwent heart bypass surgery, but had made a good recovery and returned to racing a range of historic cars with the same sort of commitment that has marked more than four decades of racing for the former BMW dealer.