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75th Members Meeting a Rainford family affair

Goodwood’s 75th Members Meeting marked a milestone in the Rainford household as this years Weslake Cup was the first race in which Shaun and his son Charles both competed.  Father and son both drove admirably with Charles taking advantage of a spin to pass his father on track. Charles made it as far as 2nd position, before the red flag, from 9th on the grid, and Shaun ran as high as 3rd from 8th on the grid, before losing the podium spot to customer Mike Haigh. You can read an article which Shaun gave an interview for on Goodwoods website by following the link below.

https://www.goodwood.com/grrc/event-coverage/members-meeting/2017/3/75MM-weslake-cup-celebrating-the-a-series-engine/

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75th Members Meeting Weslake Cup

Thankfully bad weather was kept at bay for the 75th Members Meeting. Although the track was damp for qualifying the rest of the weekend was dry and mild. We campaigned 5 cars in the Weslake Cup with considerable interest in a 6th. Shaun and Charles Rainford qualified in 8th and 9th whilst Ian Burford, Mike Haigh and Larry Tucker qualified 10th, 12th and 17th. The race was fairly chaotic with a yellow flag, a red flag and a restart. Charles made his way up to second place before the restart but was pulled off the grid whilst the marshals were looking for an oil leak. Shaun restarted the race in 3rd but lost the podium to our customer Mike Haigh. Ian Burford and Larry Tucker finished the race in 9th and 13th. The winning Lenham GT of James Colburn had the original Lenham bodywork repaired here at CCK with repair sections taken from original Lenham moulds. We also supplied a bespoke roll cage Quaife dog engagement gear box and limited slip differential with our solid pinion spacer.

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MG Lenham GT “SS1800” FOR SALE

Following this weekends successful Goodwood campaign the MG Lenham GT known as “SS1800” is coming to the market. The original car was built not only to take on the other Sprites and Midgets of the day but also to challenge the larger capacity cars including Jaguar E-types. The car had many specific modifications, such as telescopic dampers, developed by John Britten and his mechanic Oliver Ball and they built the car to be as light as possible. In the 1966 season Britten netted 14 victories as well as the 1150cc class record at Brands Hatch.

Roll forward to 2007 and with the impetus of Julius Thurgood to revive the under 1500cc Grand Touring cars we set about recreating the legendary car with John Britten and Oliver Ball. We started out with a 1962 MG Midget just like Britten had done decades before. With John and Oliver every detail and modification was recreated accurately. The car was completed in time for Goodwood Revival in 2007 and race there again in 2010 in the Fordwater Trophy with Shaun Rainford bringing it home in 2nd place having lead the race for a number of laps. Shaun also posted the fastest lap at 1:35.591 which still stands to this day. The following year saw the inaugural season of the HRDC. In the opening round at Brands Hatch Shaun Rainford and SS1800 qualified on pole and went on to win the race with a fastest lap of 59.552. Another pole position followed at Silverstone with another podium at Snetterton. Since then and up until the Goodwood’s 75th Members Meeting, SS1800 has done very little work. After receiving the invite, SS1800 was comprehensively rebuilt. The differential was rebuilt with a solid pinion spacer, a brand new Quaife dog engagement gearbox was fitted and the engine was rebuilt. The car is offered for sale in Goodwood trim following a 4th place finish in the Weslake Cup at the 75th Members Meeting. Viewings welcome by appointment. Any queries please contact Daniel. £POA

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Lenham GT and Lotus Talbot Sunbeam on the rollers

Today we had two cars on the rollers. The Lenham GT David Stubbings was in for a pre-season tune up as his first race with the HRDC is Easter Monday at Castle Combe. We also had a lovely Lotus Talbot Sunbeam rally car brought in by Ben Harris of B&M Motors. The Sunbeam managed a very healthy 138bhp at the wheels.