Snetterton: 17th April 2021

The team arrived at Snetterton on the Friday before race day and set up camp in the paddock under blue April skies.

John took the black Elan out in free practice and it was soon working perfectly at lap-record speed.

Qualifying on race-day morning was going well.

John was immediately on pole and back in the pits waiting to see what happened when suddenly it became a fraught affair for the other competitors with a long red flag period caused by another car depositing all of its oil on track, so everyone came back and waited while our hardworking friends the Marshalls cleared up the mess.

Although on pole, John had to go out again as he had not completed the mandatory three timed laps, but rather than just cruise round, and despite heavy traffic and the remains of a mile-long oil slick you can see in the video, he improved his time to end up 3 secs ahead of the next fastest.

The Historic Road Sports season opening race was briefly a two-way contest as the Lotus Elan of Paul Tombs jumped everybody at the start.

John Davison followed closely for a few laps weighing-up his opposition, then passed Paul and edged away to have a comfortable eight seconds in hand at the flag.

Paul found some form towards the end and just squeaked fastest lap, but by then John was away, controlling the gap and untouchable.

First race of the season – Could not have gone better.

Silverstone International on the Grand prix circuit next time, and the mighty AC Cobra of arch-rival Kevin Kevlochian will put in an appearance.

Will the little 1600cc Lotus Elan’s superior handling in the corners be enough to vanquish the 5 litre,

475 horsepower, fire-breathing Cobra power advantage that it will have on the two long Silverstone straights?

We shall see.