Round 3
Round 3 of the 2023 Bugatti Owners Club /Fassi Classic Speed Championship was held on Coronation Day at Shelsley Walsh Hillclimb, the only visit to this historic venue for the series in 2023.
Generally wet and miserable weather conditions were forecast - and they didn't disappoint!
The meeting was held as a two day Midland Championship event with a large entry but progress through the runs was well organised and ran well. One day competitors (including Fassi runners) were only given a single practice run followed by two counting attempts. This actually worked out ok as the awful conditions didn't exactly inspire risk taking and everyone seemed fine with the situation. Times were generally a long way off of handicaps except for a few of the slowest cars.
The Saloon class was once again the most numerous with a broad selection of fine machinery present. Fastest saloon car time went to Simon Braithwaite (Escort Mk1)followed once again very closely by Mark Hobbs (Escort Mk2) , third was Martyn Saunders making it an Escort trio for the second meeting in sucession. Handicap winner was series sponsor Leigh Carter from Fassi in the Fiat, second was team mate David Fripp followed by the Triumph Vitesse of Alister Clark.
Sportscars had six starters including three Scimitar coupes. Garry Cox was once again the fastest on the day from Ian Stainburn (who also took the handicap win) , third quickest was Steve Phennah in his trusty MGB roadster. Second on handicap was Ian Beattie in the lovely Jaguar XK120 roadster from Steve Phennah. Nice to see a return by Terry Cox, out once again in his own Scimitar Coupe.
Just two Racing cars & Sports Racing cars were entered. Fastest time on scratch on the day & best handicap time in the class went to Ian Baxter in his very pretty Brabham BT16. The car had started life as a 1 litre 'screamer' F3 car before being converted to a Lotus twincam Formula B spec and sent to the states. Ian's more normal mount is an Alta used in VSCC events. Also making a welcome Fassi outing was Shelsley regular Briony Serrell in her Elva Mk7 twincam.
Results for the Overall championship and the Classic Hillclimb awards can be found on the other pages within this section.
