John McGurk Lotus Cortina Racing 2019

John McGurk Racing
Justin Law and John McGurk Donington Historic 2019

We have a lot of clients interested in our Lotus Cortina Racing Car, I thought you may be interested to know how I got on this year. 

Donington Season Opener.

My first race was at Donington with the HSCC on 30th March. Just before qualifying we noticed a problem with the rear axel which resulted in unwanted last minute mechanic panic! We begged and borrowed from other competitors and just managed to get out for qualifying in the nick of time, although at the back! This resulted in 13th place on the grid which was a shame as the car was more capable (than the driver!).

The race was fantastic fun, the weather was perfect and I launched away from the start line, lots of huslting for the first few laps before settling down and going as hard as I could. A great clean race and I mangaged to cross the line in 7th Place. I was delighted given the expert company I was chasing. 

I was fastest overall through sector 3, 2nd fastest through sector 1 and 4th in sector 2. 2nd fastest through the spedtrap at 92.6 MPH! 

All in all very happy in deed.

Donington Historic Festival 3-5th May 

This is a BIG weekend for any classic racer surrounded by great names like Steve Soper, Andrew Jordan, Callum Lockie etc. I’m way, way out of my depth. 

It’s a 40 minute race with a driver change. My friend Justin Law didn’t take a huge amount of convincing and together we went for it. We qualified 14th which was dissapointing but the grid was packed with 32 cars and getting a good time was difficult but we were still 2 seconds off the pace. As Justin always says anything can happen! The car ran like a dream until just before outr driver change when the throttle pedal bracket broke away! This meant having to use your foot and the inner wheel liner together to accelerate and decelerate, it was odd but I managed. Then came the rain! Donington shares the circuit with the flight path from East Midlands airport, you can imagine the loose rubber, oil and AV Gas makes the course frankly dangerous conditions. The speeds came right back and everyone nursed their way home with lots of spinning cars to dodge. A very happy 8th place, the car in one piece and time for a beer! 

Silverstone CTCRC 

I headed to Silverstone near Oxford for a weekends racing with the Classic Touring Car Racing Club. I had never raced here on the Historic circuit before but my car had a few years ago. It was a familiar face for some. Again a very popular grid with everything from a Ford Falcon to Mini Coopers and Ford Anglias. This was heaven where the racers were the owners and mechanics too, everyone loved their cars and the respect on the course was clear to see. It was by far the best weekend of the year. I finished 3rd on Saturday after an awful launch from the start finish line, and had another go on Sunday and managed 2nd place. 

With thanks to my very special fan club who cheered me all the way…..

I was even interviewed afterwards! 

Looking forward to 2020!