With over 50 registered competitors, the Morgan Challenge is the official race championship of the Morgan Sports Car Club (MSCC). The Challenge has nine classes, allowing any four-wheeled Morgan built between 1936 and 2018 the opportunity to compete against other vehicles with similar levels of performance. The class-based points system allows drivers from any class to win the overall championship.
The Morgan Challenge is supported by AR Motorsport, the competition arm of the Morgan Motor Company, and Yokohama tyres. It was founded in 1985, built upon the annual Morgan race held since 1966 at the Bentley Drivers’ Club Silverstone event.
Noted Jersey-based historic racer Keith Ahlers is the Championship’s most successful driver, with 97 race wins going into the 2018 season, and ambitions to complete a century of victories. However, with average grids of 27 cars in 2017, he had to face plenty of rivals.
Qualifying at Snetterton was a very wet affair for the 31 cars entered although by the end of the 20-minute session a familiar name was on top of the timesheets, with Keith claiming pole in the dying seconds of the session. It had been a remarkable tussle for pole, with the less powerful four-cylinder and V6-engined cars able to apply their power more effectively through their narrower tyres, until the slightly drier conditions at the end allowed Keith to use his power sufficiently to bag the top spot in his Plus 8.
Race one started in equally damp conditions, and while Keith started from pole, by the end of lap one he was down in fourth place, having gone straight on at Brundle corner. This allowed Derby’s Andrew Thompson to take the lead in his ARV6, and he proceeded to pull away from the field. By lap three, Keith had made it past Phill Thomas and Simon Orebi Gann, but the conditions allowed Andrew to maintain the gap and even increase it on some laps.
However, by lap eight Andrew was starting to seek the wetter parts of the track to cool his tyres, while Keith carried on charging on the less-wet line, and by the end of lap ten Keith was right on Andrew’s bumper, before diving to the inside and taking the lead at Riches. With the chequered flag flying at the end of lap 13, Keith won by just 1.9 seconds from Andrew, with Phill from Haywards Heath just under 30 seconds further back, claiming his first overall podium in the Championship.
By race two the conditions had become damp rather than wet, vastly improving the visibility available for those in the chasing pack. Keith set off from pole again, the grid reflecting the results of race one, but Andrew led at the end of lap one, as Keith avoided putting down too much power too early. By lap two though Keith was able to apply all 380 bhp, and powered past Andrew to secure his 99th race win in the Morgan Challenge.
Behind Keith, Andrew cemented an excellent race weekend with another second place. The drier conditions clearly suited the more powerful cars, with the big Plus 8s of Philip Goddard and Roger Whiteside charging through the field to third and fourth respectively, ahead of the more nimble cars that had done so well in the wetter conditions earlier in the day.
The Championship now moves on to the Silverstone National circuit, where two more 20-minute races will be held tomorrow.
