Fast-starting Dodd scores Cooper win

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Cooper Monaco driver Graeme Dodd was a runaway winner of the opening round of the BRDC Historic Sports Car Championship at Silverstone at the start of April. Less than four-tenths of a second had blanketed the top three in qualifying, but a blistering start by pole man Dodd left his rivals toiling.

“On practice times, I thought that I was in for the race of my life. I got the lead and thought that I must concentrate. It was oily and slippery out there,” reflected a jubilant Dodd.

Philip Walker (Lotus 15) led the chasers, but a spin at Luffield on lap eight thwarted his hopes even though he resumed without losing a place. John Harper’s misfiring Cooper Monaco held third until a rear wheel parted company exiting Becketts for the sixth time.

“It felt a bit squiffy at the rear, and I was considering pitting,” said Harper, surveying a rear hub which had all four wheel studs sheared as well as half the brake disc missing. The brake caliper was nowhere to be seen.

Harper’s demise left Barry Cannell to fill a distant third spot, just ahead of the Class B-winning Peter Horsman and Jamie McIntyre, the latter having recovered well after a quick trip through the Brooklands gravel trap.