News in brief, September 2004

The Bentley Speed Six in which Frank Clement and Dick Watney finished second at Le Mans in 1930 has been sold at auction for close to £2.8 million. The Works No2 team car was sold to a private European buyer at the Christie’s auction during the Le Mans Classic weekend. The price represents a record for any car sold at auction in continental Europe and is understood to be a world record auction price for a Bentley.

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Thirty classic rally cars from a 1961 ex-works Ford Anglia to Group B supercars from the 1980s, will star at the Deutschland Rally on August 20-22. The cars will be demonstrated over the same challenging Rheinland-Pflaz special stages used for the concurrent World Rally Championship event.

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David Stokes was hospitalised after rolling his Escort on the Manx Historic Rally. Co-driver Den Golding was uninjured, but Stokes was admitted for observation after taking a blow to his crash helmet.

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David Coulthard has won the Hawthorn Memorial Trophy for the fifth time as the most successful British or Commonwealth driver in Formula One. Only Nigel Mansell has won the award more times than Coulthard, whose fifth success takes him ahead of four-time winners Damon Hill and Jackie Stewart.

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Jonathan Palmer was reunited with the Canon Porsche 956 in which he won the 1984 Brands Hatch 1000Km, sharing with Jan Lammers, during the Historic Superprix at Brands Hatch. The new circuit owner took in some demo laps despite torrential rain. The car is still owned by his former team boss Richard Lloyd.

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The VSCC will mark the 65th anniversary of its annual Welsh Trial over the weekend of October 9-10. The event, based as usual in the border town of Presteigne, will take in some classic hills on each day of the competition.