2011 Racing So Far, including Silverstone Classic …02 Aug
2011 has been an exciting year for Team Tester racing. We have competed in five events now, each with their own little bit of soap opera drama!
Posing in the pits at Brands Hatch, May 2011
Our first race of the year was 7th/8th May at Brands Hatch in the Jaguar Enthusiast’s Club Jaguar E-Type Trophy racing against names such as Mike Adams and Tony Jardine. This was a real test for Jim as he was second driver in both the E-Types we have built. This was going to mean some slick organisation for the pit stops by Iain! Andy Dee-Crowne’s car qualified 4th out of the E-Types and Gary Morris 9th. After an hour of racing the cars finished 8th and 9th. During the race Andy’s car showed itself to have a faulty fuel vent valve, which meant pitting from 3rd to fix the problem losing any chance of finishing high up. However both cars finished their maiden races so we were really proud of the weekend’s results.
Lining up for the race at Donington
The second E-Type outing was again in the JEC E-Type Trophy, this time racing at Donington on 29 May. This particular race included Mr John Cleland, who once had a young whipper snapper for a mechanic on his Vauxhall BTCC car that went by the name of Jim Tester! During the race Jim had a spin and spectacularly passed Clelend! Sadly John’s car didn’t finish but ours finished 8th out of the E-Types for Gary and 5th overall for Andy and 2nd in Class. A fantastic result! (Check out some onboard action!)
Our third event, and second race at Brands Hatch, was competing in the E-Type Challenge at the Brands Hatch Historic Super Prix over 1-3 July. In this race Jim was the sole driver. Qualifying was difficult with a lot of traffic and Jim didn’t get a good clear lap. This meant he was in 20th position on the grid 8.2 seconds behind pole sitter Jon Minshaw. Race one was awesome though with Jim making up 11 places to finish 9th. This was his starting position for race two and he spent a very pleasant half an hour duelling with Mike Adams! Mike and Jim finished 7th and 8th with just 2.1 seconds separating them.
Our display at the Silverstone Classic 2011
And so we came to the Silverstone Classic. This was the highest profile race of the season (so far) for us, celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the beautiful Jaguar E-Type. Preparation for the event was long and extremely hard with an unforeseen engine issue arising. This was put right though and we set up stall in the new International Pits “The Wing”. Qualifying on Friday went smoothly, with Andy and Jim completing their required laps for the two races we were entered for: The E-Type Challenge (Andy driving) and The Gentlemen Drivers Pre’66 GT Cars (Andy and Jim driving).
Andy and Jim qualified 29th for the Pre’66 GT race. On lap 10 Andy pitted and handed the car to Jim who brought our lovely E-Type home in 33rd out of 63 cars.
Andy’s position for Race 1 in the E-Type Challenge was 21st. Race 1 took place in my favourite timeslot, 7.45pm (there is something very evocative about evening racing!). Sadly, halfway through the race Andy unexpectedly arrived in the pits with a large hole in the sump and so our weekend ended.
So there you have our race year so far. Jam packed and busy but oh so much fun! We were due to be out at Mallory next but an engine re-build beckons first. We plan on racing next at Oulton Park .. see you there!
CT
50 years of the glorious E-Type .. is it your ultimate historic sports car? It’s definitely near the top of our list! We are so excited about these events; we can’t wait to join in the celebrations and hope to ensure as many people as possible get to take part!
We are now working on Andy Dee-Crowne’s Jaguar E-Type. At this stage we are completing a roll cage and various bits of metalwork before the car goes to painters for it’s coat of glorious gunmetal grey. Andy will be using the car for tours, trackdays and the occasional race thrown in for good measure! Stay tuned for progress updates on our work with Andy. A keen historic car fan, Andy is in the process of selling his Jaguar XK120 and you can 
Preparations for the Silverstone Classic last week were .. interesting! We were due to race our 1953 Jaguar XK120 in The Daily Express Trophy for Production Jaguar Cars and at the last minute we were unable to get parts completed on the race engine. At the last minute, our good friend Roger Ludgate came to the rescue and loaned us his engine! Jim immediately got to work fitting it but unfortunately not quite in time for Thursday’s testing.
From this point in, Jim was head down getting into ‘the zone’; Iain, Loz and our fantastic support team were soaking in the atmosphere; family and friends had located their favourite viewing spots and me? Well, I was a bag of nerves reminding myself every now and then to breathe (regular readers will notice a pattern here!).
After the race Jim said “I am so pleased with my second place. At the beginning of the week it was hit and miss whether we would be able to compete as my proper race engine was not going to have certain parts back from machinists in time. I was able to borrow an engine which was 100 horsepower lower than my own so I was just hoping for a top ten finish. It wasn’t until we were heading for the assembly area before the race that the owner of the engine told me it had been under his workbench and not run for 11 years!”
As I entered the main marquee I was immediately greeted by ‘our’ Jaguar, gleaming in the central display. Next to it stood a lovely pale blue 1954 Jaguar XK140 Drophead Coupe and a 1989 Porsche 911 Carrara Speedster, and opposite an imposing 2008 Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe. Each car received attention, but every time I looked at the E-Type someone new was checking her out, investigating under the bonnet and in the boot and even sitting in the driver’s seat to try her out for size.
As lot 658 was announced, I actually stopped breathing … this was it! The auctioneer gave the potential purchasers a brief synopsis of the car; how modification work had just been completed by Tester Engineering and that it had successfully gained its FIA Technical Passport. And so the bidding commenced! As with all the lots no one was willing to commit early and the auctioneer eventually got bidding started at £80,000 and then they were off. It seemed to me that there were several people in the room bidding and also someone via the telephones. The bid went up by £2,000 or so at a time and peaked at £100,000. Unfortunately on this occasion, it didn’t reach the reserve set by the client but I have learnt that in the world of the auction this isn’t the end. The offer of £100,000 can remain in play and potential buyers can come back to see the car after the auction, as happened with the E-Type when it was viewed on Sunday.
