Matters of moment, June 2004

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Plans gather pace for Percy

Top Hat Racing’s Julius Thurgood is the driving force behind a new plan to help Win Percy return to racing at the Goodwood Revival Meeting in September.

The ‘Get Win Back on Track’ campaign is designed to raise a budget to enter the former touring and sportscar star in a Jaguar Mk1 for the St Mary’s Trophy races.

Percy has been confined to a wheelchair after a back operation left him paralysed last year, but he remains determined to race again. Regular historic saloon racer Leo Voyazides has offered the use of his Mk1 and hand controls will be fitted, subject to approval from the MSA.

Rare Gordini in HGPCA debut

The ex-Robert Manzon Gordini T16 of Belgian driver Marc Valvekens contested its first HGPCA race at Donington in May and finished eighth despite starting from the pitlane.

The car, which dates back to 1954, was driven by André Pilette and Paul Frère. Juan Manuel Fangio is also reported to have raced it at Bordeaux. The 2.5-litre car started five world championship grands prix.

Valvekens has owned the car for two years, but has been dogged by engine problems. He failed to start an HGPCA race at Donington in 2002 after engine trouble in qualifying. It raced only once in 2003, at Zolder, but Valvekens is hoping to contest more HGPCA events this season now that the car is running reliably.

Frère recently visited Valvekens in Belgium to be reunited with the car.

Thurgood is collecting donations for the project. He said: “Win will need plenty of mileage in the car to get used to the hand-control system.” But Percy has already sampled hand controls after recently driving the Porsche of Marc Haynes in a private test session.

Donations should be made out to ‘Top Hat Win Percy Fund’ and sent to: Top Hat Racing, Grove House, 80 Clarendon Street Leamington Spa, Warks, CV32 4PE.

Schyver targets big race schedule for Lotus 18

Michael Schryver plans to regularly campaign his ex-John Surtees/Jim Clark Lotus 18 in HGPCA events following his successful debut with the car in May.

His first outing in chassis 373 at Donington resulted in a mighty battle with Frank Sytner’s Brabham BT4 (see p22).

“I’ve been chasing the car for some time,” said Schtyver, who bought it from Jeremy Agace. The car has been comprehensively rebuilt by Simon Hadfield over the winter and was due to be raced at Pau and Monza in late May in back-to-back HGPCA events.

The Lotus was first raced by Surtees in the 1960 International Trophy at Silverstone. He later took the car to second in the British Grand Prix, while Jim Clark scored his first world championship points in it during the tragic 1960 Belgian GP at Spa. Legend records that the chassis was later used for grass-track racing in Holland!