The HITEK Electronic Materials Alfa Romeo championship heads to the south-east for the popular and well supported Festival Italia meet at Brands Hatch for rounds 7 and 8 around the 1.2 mile Indy circuit.
Heading the entry list is last year’s Festival double race winner and Alfa champion Barry McMahon in his 156 turbo, one of eight cars in the Modified class which includes Ted Pearson’s Mito 2 litre turbo, a welcome addition to the grid. Andy Page is in the Giulietta 116, a car dating back over 40 years but a frequent sight on the Alfaracer grids. George Osborne, last year’s Power Trophy class champion is this year entered in the Modified class. He was a double winner last time out at Anglesey and will be as competitive as ever in his immaculate Alfa 75. Completing a very varied line up of Modified cars is Keith Waite in his 75 and Daniel Wood in his 164 whilst one to watch out for is Modified class leader Scott Austin in the turbocharged 156.
At the halfway stage of the season it’s very tight between the top two in this year’s championship with V6 class leader Tom Hill holding a slender 1 point lead over the Twin Spark class leader Andrew Bourke, with James Ford third, a further 25 points adrift in his 156 Twin Spark.
Joining Tom Hill’s Alfa GT in a competitive field of V6 cars is fellow Revs Italia driver Graham Seager in the 147 GTA, the Darnells Engineering 156 GTA of Dave Messenger, the GT of Gabriele Iaccarino and the 147 GTA of returning driver Paul Webster. Tom has a healthy 34 point lead over Graham in second with Gabriele a further 19 points adrift.
A strong Twin Spark cup entry with a number of cars supported by Bianco Motorsports makes up the second part of the grid that gets under way on the flag after a 10 second delay following the Modified and V6 cars getting under way on the lights. Andrew Bourke leads the class by 25 points from James Ford in second with Jon Billingsley a further 14 points behind in third. Last year’s Twin Spark class champion Richard Ford is in his black and gold Hitek Electronics Materials 156, Andrew Fulcher in the distinctively liveried Filippo Berio 147, Toby Broome in his newly acquired 156 and Andreas Georgiou returns in the Bianco 156. Regulars Robin Hall and Andy Winterton are in their 156s and Jonathan Tortolani returns in the ex Luther Blissett 156. We also welcome newcomers Giles Billingsley in a 156, Adrian Norman in a 147 and experienced racer Wil Arif in a 145.
Thanks again go to the 750 Motor Club and Motor Sports Vision for the staging of this event and thanks to all the sponsors for their valued contribution to making this a successful championship.