The JD Classics Ford Cologne Capri driven by Chris Ward took home the victory at the 2017 Snetterton Historics, staged 8 July at the Snetterton Circuit in Norfolk, England.
It was the first time the Maldon-based team had competed at Snetterton since winning the 2014 Autosport three-hour race there in the team’s Jaguar E-Type Lightweight ‘1196 WK’. This time, it was the turn of JD Classics’ 1973 Ford Cologne Capri, driven by Chris Ward.
Qualifying for the Motor Racing Legend’s Historic Touring Car Challenge began on Saturday morning, and it took Ward three flying laps to set a pole position time. But, with competition from a BMW M3 E30 and fellow Ford Capri, the team decided to try and improve their lap time. Given one more flying lap, Ward set a pole position time of 2:04.504 — four seconds faster than the Capri in second, driven by Steve Dance.
The race began with a rolling start on Saturday afternoon, and Ward drove consistently to draw out a large gap between the JD Classics Capri and the chasing pack. By the time he had come in for the mandatory 60-second pit stop on Lap 17 and returned to the race, Ward was well over a minute ahead of the chasing Ford Capri RS2600.
Post-pitstop, Ward continued to pick up the pace, achieving a fastest lap of the race, with 2:04.885. By the end of the race, Ward crossed the finish line more than a lap ahead of the second-placed Ford Capri RS2600, taking another victory for the Cologne Capri.
Derek Hood, JD Classics founder, said: “It was fantastic to be back at Snetterton this weekend, and brilliant to see our Cologne Capri back in action, too. It’s been more than a year since it last competed but it’s clearly lost none of its speed, with this second consecutive victory. Another brilliant drive by Chris, and some real world-class race preparation by all of JD Classics’ expert technicians.”
[Source: JD Classics]
