STRATOS UK MOTORSPORT WEEKEND 2001

August 25/26 2000 - Abingdon UK

 Motorsport Weekend Photo Gallery

A terrific turnout at the event resulting in 26 cars attending during the course of the 2 days. We'd like to thank all the owners, who attended and made this event possible.

We'd also like to express our sincere thanks to all the officials, and marshals, who gave their time freely to make sure the event ran smoothly. A special thanks to Barry Guess, the Event Director of the Abingdon Carnival, as without Barry's assistance the Stratos UK Motorsport Weekend would not have been possible.

Congratulations to gary Lomas, who took 1st Place in both the SPRINT and the RALLY at the first ever STRATOS UK MOTORSPORT WEEKEND.

Gary Lomas receives his awards from Chris Savage.

The victorious Stratos of Gary Lomas

26 Stratos attending over 2 days, and motorsport activity all weekend, plus fabulous weather, made the first ever STRATOS UK MOTORSPORT WEEKEND an event that those who attended will remember for a long time.

It started at the Abingdon 4 Pillars Hotel on the Friday, when several owners arrived at varying times during the evening, including our 3 Americans, Jeff Davison, Scott McGill, and John Lagerquist, who had endured flight delays on top of a long flight time just to get there.

I got caught in traffic departing from London, so the start of the video session was a little delayed, but once going everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, and it was good to be able to sit and chat amongst ourselves either in the video room or in the bar.

The competing Stratos all went through scrutineering, and noise check, without any problem, although we were already 2 Stratos short. Graham Scott was unable to attend as he had to travel to America due to business commitments, and Mark Chapman had his head gasket fail late on Friday afternoon. After an all-night session, he just couldn’t quite get it ready in time to be able to drive it down to the event.

Even so, we still had 5 Stratos competing in the SPRINT.


Andrew Ferguson was using his original Lancia Stratos, and everyone enjoyed seeing it perform, and hearing the sound of the Ferrari engine.



Tony Favarin was driving the Hennessy Racing Evolutione, powered by a twin-turbo Alfa V6, and a figure of 350bhp was being talked about, with the boost turned down!!! However, ECU mapping problems forced the car to retire after only the morning runs.

We had 2 Corse S Replicas. Gary Lomas in his white, red, and blue car, powered by a standard Alfa V6, and Andrew Dearing in his white car, powered by a 250bhp Alfa V6.



Finally, David Watson’s Allora powered by a standard Alfa V6.

By the time of the first runs of the sprint at about 9:30, the sun was shining, and we were starting to fill up the Stratos display area in the centre of the runway. The sight of all the Stratos was causing extreme interest from many of the sprint competitors and spectators.

2 practice runs, and 2 timed runs, over the Bentley Course on the morning, followed by 2 practice runs, and 2 timed runs, over the Abingdon Course on the afternoon, allowed the competitors the opportunity for some competitive fun. Many of the other Stratos owners, watching the action, realised that this was a non-damaging form of motorsport, and several are now planning to compete in next years event.

At the end of the day, the overall positions were:-

1st Gary Lomas
2nd David Watson
3rd Andrew Dearing
4th Andrew Ferguson
5th Tony Favarin

An excellent drive throughout the day by Gary Lomas netted him first overall, and he becomes the first holder of the Stratos Sprint Trophy. Chris Savage was kind enough to present the awards, and he can be seen above presenting the Trophy to Gary Lomas.

Everyone who competed, or even just displayed their Stratos, received an award. So everyone went away happy. 

BUT, the weekend wasn’t over yet!! 

Back at the hotel, Ken Tomblin and Paul and Ian Hassall, put on a display of videos and photos which kept everyone enthralled all evening – AND, of course, there was the bar!!! When I went to bed at 1:15am, the bar was still packed!

Sunday was the RALLY. A total of 90 competitive miles, comprising a mixture of fast sections, and tight twisty sections in full view of the spectators (a ideal spot to spin a Stratos!)

Gary Lomas, Andrew Dearing, and David Watson, were competing again, and had been joined for the RALLY by 2 more replicas.
Tony Aylott and Jan Leach were driving their white example, while Richard Gibbons was competing with his red car. Both cars were powered by standard Alfa V6s.

Today was not without drama for the competitors – in fact, only 2 of the cars managed to complete the whole rally.

Richard Gibbons was battling hard with Gary Lomas to be leading Stratos after 4 stages, only for his car to overheat, and blow the head gasket.

Andrew Dearing broke a driveshaft on stage 2, which gave him a stage maximum penalty. The resulting time loss effectively put him out of the running, but his service crew managed to replace the driveshaft, and keep him in the rally.

Tony Aylott started off steadily as this was the first ever event for the car, and began to speed up during the day, but was eventually forced to retire when the throttle linkage broke.

David Watson showed how NOT to drive a Stratos, with numerous spins throughout the day – almost always in full view of the spectators. His day was further hampered by a misfire which got progressively worse throughout the day, rear bodywork which detached itself mid-stage, and then, finally, with only 4 miles of the final 12 mile stage to complete, the clutch broke, and the car retired on the final stage.

Throughout it all, Gary Lomas drove excellently, keeping the pressure on the other drivers, and, for the second time during the weekend, was rewarded with 1st place overall, and yet another trophy.

So, an excellent weekend, with plenty of excitement, and plenty of opportunity to mix and converse with other Stratos Owners. Visitors came from the USA, Holland, Germany, Italy, France and Ireland.

Congratulations to Gary Lomas, who went home with loads of trophies. And a special thanks to everyone who attended, because, without all your Stratos, the event wouldn’t have worked.

To those who missed the event, planning is already underway for next year’s event, which will again be held at Abingdon. This time over the weekend of June 8/9 2002 – and I promise it will be even more spectacular still !!!!! 

So start making your attendance plans now and keep watching the website for news of next year's event.