Extremely wet conditions added extra excitement to the Pre-War Sports Car support race at the Britcar 24-hour event, on the full GP circuit at Silverstone on September 10th.
From pole position on the grid, the little blue Alta owned by John Ruston and driven by James Diffey tore away through the rain, setting a seemingly invincible lead. But by the fourth lap, the large green Talbot 105 of Gareth Burnett (also owned by John Ruston) had caught up. “I knew I was quicker through Becketts,” said Burnett, “so I took advantage there and kept right up behind him down the straight, until I could get him under braking at Stowe.” The Talbot slipped past on the inside and steadily pulled out a six-second lead.
The battle for third place was similarly spectacular as the Frazer Nash BMW 328 of David Franklin gradually hauled in the Aston Martin Speed Model of David Freeman and Russell Busst. The entire field could be seen enjoying lurid four-wheel drifts as the cars skated through standing water. In the words of the race commentator: “In this rain, it’s like looking through a plastic curtain.”
Most of the field had been into the pits for the driver change before the Morgan 4/4 LM of John Clarke and Leigh Sebba shed a wheel at Luffield – requiring the Safety Car to come out for several laps. James Diffey’s strategy took in a late pit-stop to hand the second-placed Alta over to Patrick Blakeney-Edwards. But by now the Safety Car was out, which meant the Alta was held in the pit-lane for over a minute – and hence rejoined the field in 13 th place. When the Safety Car pulled off there were less than seven minutes of the race to go – not enough time to make up ground.
The leading Talbot of Gareth Burnett crossed the start-finish line with just two seconds of the race to run – hence 
extending the rain-drenched excitement by another lap. This last lap saw the Frazer Nash Supersports of Charles Gillett – driven for the first stint by Patrick Blakeney-Edwards – pip the Aston Martin Speed Model of Freeman/Busst to snatch second place. The final standing saw the Talbot 105 victorious; the Frazer Nash second; and the Aston Martin third. Other class winners were Adam Painter in his Maserati 4CS and the Stutz Blackhawk of Mike Preston and Michael Windsor-Price.
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