{"id":17,"date":"2024-12-18T22:05:37","date_gmt":"2024-12-18T22:05:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hrsr.co.uk\/wordpress\/?page_id=17"},"modified":"2026-01-08T09:39:59","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T09:39:59","slug":"historic-saloon-racing-drivers-stories","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/hrsr.co.uk\/index.php\/historic-saloon-racing-drivers-stories\/","title":{"rendered":"Drivers’ Stories"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neil Wood<\/h3>\n
\"New
Neil Wood’s Ford Anglia \u00a9 Paul Lawrence<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“My earliest memories of the HRSR were in late 1987 when my dad (Barry) purchased the Mike Crabtree Lotus Cortina.<\/em>Dad had been racing since the early sixties in various categories known most notably for his exploits in the works Ginetta G15 to great success.<\/em><\/p>\n

The first meeting with the Lotus Cortina was in early 88 at\u00a0 Snetterton and a certain Sir John Whitmore was on pole, dad finished 2nd to John that day\u2026..we were both hooked. What a brilliant race series we thought, a fantastic group of fellow enthusiasts led by Glenn Maskell of which many of the fellow racers made us feel most welcome.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Geoff Divey<\/h3>\n
\"Abarth
Abarth leads Austin A40 \u00a9 Geoff Divey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Some great memories of racing with the HRSR over some 8 years.<\/em><\/p>\n

Highlight (lowlight!), a 10 lap door handle to door handle race with Andy Colley (Imp) and my Abarth 100TC at Castle Combe. We were fighting over last place and Andy beat me by a cars length after many swapping of place.<\/em><\/p>\n

Many great overseas races – Hockenhiem, Rouen, Le Mans Bugatti circuit, Croix en Ternois.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Joe Gomm<\/h3>\n

“One story that comes to mind was a Silverstone meeting on the National circuit. Having finished the Qualifying, I was parked up next to (the Late) Peter Ergis. He was looking a bit despondent and I questioned why? He said he was not happy with his lap times and could I give him any advice? I said \u201cPete as an observer I think you\u2019re going in to hot and you\u2019re slow coming out, so my advice is \u2018Slow in Fast Out\u2019”<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Tony Castle-Miller<\/h3>\n
\"Abarth
Tony Castle-Miller’s Abarth \u00a9 Peter Collins Photographic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“It gives me great pleasure to see the re-launch of the HRSR website and I hope it helps to maintain the HRSR, as a racing series, into the future. I understand that the HSCC is, in effect, re-launching the Historic Racing Saloons. If the \u2018originals\u2019 can assist the HSCC and HRSR effort, it can only be a good thing \u2013 best of luck.<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s now some 25 years since my last circuit race, but in some ways it seems like yesterday. At the recent HRSR lunch, around three dozen \u2018old\u2019 HRSR drivers turned up and it reminded me how much fun we had years ago and what great memories were made.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

John Searby<\/h3>\n
\"John
John Searby’s Austin A40 \u00a9 John Searby<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Whilst driving a fast A40 road car I read an news article in the club magazine by David Lewis saying he was going to race in a new Historic series – so I joined him and entered my car in the HRSR.<\/em>
\nIt was to be a huge learning curve as I had never raced before. I drove my A40 to Mallory Park for my first race and I was rubbish – but I persevered and kept improving my lap times and gradually added faster race tweeks to the car.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Peter Wray<\/h3>\n
\"Peter
Peter Wray’s Lotus Cortina \u00a9 Chris Harvey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“I had raced special saloons (Ford Anglia Lotus twincam and Ford Escort FVC) with my brother, Chris, from 1966 until 1977 when we ran out of money with having young families to support. About 10 years later I noticed in the motoring press that the HRSR saloons were at Cadwell Park so I trotted along to watch. The sight of Glen\u2019s red Anglia chasing Bob Sherring\u2019s red Galaxie up the mountain and trying both sides to get past in to Hall Bends (he never quite made it) got my juices going and I found an advert for a Lotus Cortina for sale near Northampton.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

David Lewis<\/h3>\n
\"\"
\u00a9 Steve Jones<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“I had previously competed in what was then known as the Classic Saloon Car Championship run under the auspices of the Classic Saloon Car Club from 1980 to 1982 in an Austin A35. Several drivers from this era, who later went on to be the driving force of the HRSR series also competed in A35\u2019s including Glen Maskell and Phil Wight.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\"Pre
\u00a9 Adrian Oliver<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Adrian Oliver<\/h3>\n

Round 1 \u2013 Donington Park \u2013 Sunday 2nd April 2006<\/h4>\n

“The season commenced with a gathering of drivers and their families the night before Round 1 at Donington Park. A marquee in the paddock, kindly provided by Roger Cope, was the venue for the presentation of prizes and trophies for the 2005 season. The gourmet buffet and bar provided by Ann and Les Ely proved as popular as ever and the HRSR camaraderie was on full show.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Phil Wight<\/h3>\n
\"Phil
Phil Wight – Ford Mustang \u00a9 Chris Harvey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“I have very fond memories of racing in the HRSR meetings in the 80\u2019s and 90\u2019s. It attracted some very well known drivers such as, Gerry Marshall, Tony Lanfranchi, Sir John Whitmore, Mike Crabtree, Les Nash, Peter Baldwin, Rod Birley and George Polley.<\/em><\/p>\n

In 1986\/87 I enjoyed racing my Lotus Cortina and am indebted to Simon Holland for all his help in building and race preparing it and thanks go to Trevor Humphrey and Melvyn Johnson at Meltune for all their help and advice.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neil Wood “My earliest memories of the HRSR were in late 1987 when my dad (Barry) purchased the Mike Crabtree Lotus Cortina.Dad had been racing since the early sixties in various categories known most notably for his exploits in the works Ginetta G15 to great success. The first meeting with the Lotus Cortina was in … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-17","page","type-page","status-publish"],"yoast_head":"\nDrivers' Stories - HRSR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Historic Racing Saloons drivers remember their HRSR race experiences\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hrsr.co.uk\/index.php\/historic-saloon-racing-drivers-stories\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Drivers' Stories - HRSR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Historic Racing Saloons drivers remember their HRSR race experiences\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hrsr.co.uk\/index.php\/historic-saloon-racing-drivers-stories\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"HRSR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/1541484839435006\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-08T09:39:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/hrsr.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/black-anglia-leads-grey-mini-1920-1024x845.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"845\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hrsr.co.uk\/index.php\/historic-saloon-racing-drivers-stories\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hrsr.co.uk\/index.php\/historic-saloon-racing-drivers-stories\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hrsr.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/0f5592915799db928175c7c9bcf71918\"},\"headline\":\"Drivers’ Stories\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-18T22:05:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-08T09:39:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hrsr.co.uk\/index.php\/historic-saloon-racing-drivers-stories\/\"},\"wordCount\":909,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hrsr.co.uk\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hrsr.co.uk\/index.php\/historic-saloon-racing-drivers-stories\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/hrsr.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/black-anglia-leads-grey-mini-1920-300x247.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hrsr.co.uk\/index.php\/historic-saloon-racing-drivers-stories\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hrsr.co.uk\/index.php\/historic-saloon-racing-drivers-stories\/\",\"name\":\"Drivers' Stories - 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