The Mostyn Rutter Vauxhall Firenza was rolled out of the chicken shed in June 2010 for its first race since Donington Park 2002, unfortunately a couple of laps into the race the engine blew and the season was over before it started.
The Engine was rebuilt by DTV man Gerry Johnson and this meant we were able to reappear for the final round of the Autoglym Post Historic Touring Car Championship at the Rockingham Speedway near Corby. Although we would have preferred to do a Firenza friendly circuit like Oulton, Donington or Brands the opportunity to run the rebuilt engine before the winter was to big a lure.
Qualifying
Having not been to Rockingham before the opportunity to shake the car down on Friday was taken allowing time to bed the engine in and learn the old left and rights. This was mostly spent dodging Caterhams but was worthwhile.
Competition on race day would come from various Rover Vitesse, Mk1 Escorts, Jaguar XJ12, Ford Capris, BMW CSL, Chevrolet Camaro, Truimph Dolomite Sprint, Ford Lotus Cotina Mk2, Ford Escort XR3 and a Fiat 128.
The session went well with 16 cars on track in total. Mostyn posted a 1.42 on lap 3 putting him an excellent 6th overall and 2nd in class behind a very potent Ford Escort MK 1 RS2000 which was in the hunt for the championship. With no obvious issues the session ended and we were back in the paddock ensuring the car was ready for the early afternoon race.
The Race
The Weather now was very warm, the sun blazing down on the fantastic facility of Rockingham. Despite a good grid position the race was a lot tougher and once the lights went to green the Firenza bogged down and lost a couple of places by the first corner.
The Firenza became involved with in a good dice with 3 cars from other classes, this included a Camaro, Capri and Golf MK1, we ended in a finishing position of 12th. Our best lap time during the race was 3 seconds down on qualifying, due to both the heat and the battles with other cars. We were pleased the car and engine survived the heat (and the Rockingham walls), overall the race was deemed enjoyable, all agreed this is better than potentially a lonely race higher up the order!
This was the first race finish for car and driver in 10 years and the engine held together so overall everyone in the team was pleased. A respray over winter to the red colour scheme that the car ran in during the 80s/early 90s Super Road Saloons, some new Dunflops or Toyos (depending on regs) and hopefully more races next season.
Can't Wait!
