Power team in race for starting grid

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Mid Wales motorsport team Guttercrest Racing has found itself in an off-track race – to reach the start line for the next meeting.

Ben Power, from Guilsfield, near Welshpool, was involved in a huge accident at Silverstone, and now the car needs to be completely rebuilt to be ready for the races at Croft in North Yorkshire on May 28 and 29.

“I had come through from the back of the grid and was going for the lead, when I got pushed past my braking point by a car behind,” explained Ben.

“That sent me into the side of another car, and when we came to a stop, I was hit in the rear and the front, which wrecked the car.”

Ben was lucky to escape with just a sprained wrist, but his father Nick – the Guttercrest team manager – is now working flat-out to rebuild the car.

Before the Silverstone meeting, the former British Junior Rallycross champion achieved third place in the final at Donington Park as well as second place in a heat.

At Silverstone, he gained another third place in Saturday’s final, before Sunday’s incident.

Legends racing originated on the US oval tracks, and the cars have an American look, being 5/8-scale replicas of classic US models. Guttercrest Racing runs a Ford Coupe 1937 replica, with a 1250cc Yamaha motorcycle engine.

With identical cars and the fastest drivers having to start at the back of the grid, there is said to be more overtaking in a single Legends race than in a whole season of Formula 1. Throughout 2011, Motors TV is showing every round of the series.

Guttercrest Racing is backed by the family-owned aluminium guttering company Guttercrest, based in Oswestry. The team has further Welsh support from Cardiff-based PR consultancy Weltch Media, as well as Ripla Designs.