On 26 Oct 24 the Royal Navy, British Army and RAF car racing teams once again met to do battle for the Inter-Services motor racing trophy at the Holly Birkett 6 hour team endurance event. It is one of the largest events on the UK motor racing calendar, with up to 70 teams racing on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit, making both the track and the paddock very busy places. The race uses a handicap system that awards credit laps to teams that run slower cars to provide somewhat of a level playing field on which to compete regardless of the car type being raced. The teams then decide a running order amongst their 4 to 6 cars and each completes a stint before handing over to the next driver in a relay style, with the exchange happening as one comes into the pits and the next exits the garage to takes its place on track.
The Birkett has been running for 73 years and the RAF team have not only been the most successful team at the event overall on handicap but came into the 2024 event as the reigning Inter-Services champions. Having won the event overall in 2023 and with 3 drivers who were new to the event, it was somewhat uncertain as to how 2024 would work out. The track started damp, so the experience of Sqn Ldr Si ‘Frodo’ Frowen in his Ginetta G20 was put into action to start the race on the greasy surface left from overnight rain. As the track dried out, he was setting some great times and ultimately put the RAF team right in the hunt in the overall handicap standings.
The comparative performance of Cpl Alex Smith’s Honda Integra Type R to the rest of the RAF team had caught the attention of the 750 Motor Club handicappers, so he had been limited to 28 laps of the circuit. Thus, the Team Manager, Sqn Ldr Darren Berris, had decided that Alex would only run on a dry track to best utilise that speed. Thus, as the track had dried, Alex was dispatched to follow Frodo to hopefully set the team up for the rest of the race. After just 3 laps the Safety Car came out, just as the unpredictable Silverstone weather came into play with some unforecast drizzle. A swift decision was made and Sgt Ian ‘Doops’ Cooper was sent out in his Daewoo Nexia onto a slightly greasy track for his first ever Birkett experience. Doops put in a great stint to buy the team time and with some frantic work from the support team to prep a car with wet tyres, in case the track got wetter, the team were able to better assess the track conditions and adjust the running plan.
Out next was Cpl Luke Arpino in his MX5, another first timer for this year. With the track having dried out, Luke was able to find his feet quickly and over the course of his laps, he set some great times to keep the RAF in the hunt, not only overall, but more importantly ahead of the other services.
Now that the track had dried Alex Smith was able to realise the full potential of his pace and was dispatched for the remaining 24 of his 28 laps he had left to complete. After a strong unfaltering performance, his hour on track was over and the RAF were stretching their lead over the other services and always around the top 5 overall.
With about 2 hours to go, Sgt Matthew ‘Beachy’ Beech had his chance. The last of the newcomers to this event and in his first season in his BMW 325i Beachy set about learning the track and his lap times showed a great learning curve. As his stint came to an end he was setting some strong times, keeping the RAF teams position promising.
So it was to Frodo that the honours would go to bring the team home. As an experienced driver in the Birkett, Frodo knew what to do and set about delivering a strong final stint.
With the calculations required to organise the handicap credit laps, it had been the norm to publish half hourly updates, but until the last lap is complete, it is never clear what the final result is. For 2024 750 Motor Club had worked some magic with TSL Timing, so they had a live results page running. This live information and the associated updates meant that the RAF had jumped between 1st and 8th overall most of the race, but with a handicap adjustment being made mid race for the RAF due to Frodo being faster than the handicapper had expected, then the final result would come in that the RAF had finished 5th overall on handicap. An amazing achievement considering that 3 of the team, whilst being worthy and accomplished enough to warrant selection, had never driven the event before.
More importantly the RAF had triumphed over the RN and Army for the third year running for which all the drivers, and all the team that supported them, should be proud.
The RAF Car Racing team now move onto their next challenge; the Race of Remembrance at Anglesey, over the weekend of the 9th and 10th Nov 24.
