DONINGTON HISTORIC FESTIVAL – Masters

Donington Festival roared again into life and as always some of the greatest race cars lined up to tackle one of the UK’s favourite circuit’s….news from Masters Historic Racing.

FIA HISTORIC SPORTS CAR CHAMPIONSHIP

Bryant scores solo success

A rare retirement for the Lola T70 Mk3B of Leo Voyazides and Simon Hadfield left the way open for victory for the similar car of Olly Bryant in the FIA Masters Historic Sports Car Championship.
With the hour-long race running into the early evening of a fine spring day, a good crowd was still on hand to witness the spectacle of a 25-car field charging away from the rolling start.
There was drama on the opening lap as Carlos Monteverde spun his Lola T70 Mk3B at the old Hairpin and sadly ended his race in the gravel trap. That moment set the first two cars away clear of the rest of the pack and Bryant was able to go on and dominate the race as dramas befell the two cars most likely to challenge. The Grant Tromans/Martin Stretton hit brake trouble, which resulted in a trip to the gravel and the loss of eight laps. Then, with the car stuck in second gear, Voyazides retired to the pits.
Ultimately, Bryant won by over a lap from fellow solo T70 Mk3B drivers Jason Wright and Mike Donovan. The result for 2nd and 3rd was later reversed due to pit stop infringement by Jason Wright. Emanuele and Gianpaolo Benedini shared their Chevron B16 to head the 2-litre cars by a comfortable margin from the B23 of Tim Cousins/Steve Hart.

GENTLEMEN DRIVERS PRE-66 GT CARS

GT Thriller

There was no question of saving the best till last in the very successful Donington Historic Festival. A stunning Gentleman Drivers grid lined-up for a 90-minute contest and delivered what many onlookers considered the race of the season so far.
The big talking point of the early laps was the pace of Chris Beighton in Tony Eckford’s Sunbeam Le Mans Tiger as he rocketed into the early lead. Carlos Monteverde chased in his Jaguar E-type but both cars would later pick up drive-through penalties for safety car infringements.
Instead, after the round of pit stops, attention turned to the lead contest as Simon Hadfield took over the AC Cobra of Leo Voyazides with a lead of around 10 seconds over the similar car of Olly Bryant, who had taken over from his father Graeme.
For the final 40 minutes of the race, Bryant mounted a relentless chase of Hadfield, clawing back fractions of a second as both cars scythed through traffic. The two drivers were completely on the limit and with 10 minutes to go, they were nose-to-tail. But Hadfield was not about to let go of his lead and defended superbly as Bryant attacked in a compelling battle.
Into Redgate for the final time they were side-by-side as Bryant tried to go around the outside. However, a backmarker just cost him momentum and Hadfield held on to win by a tenth of a second after a battle of very highest order. “That’s proper racing,” said Hadfield after congratulating his rival.
Michael Gans/Andy Wolfe completed the podium in their Cobra while the Lotus Elan of Mark Martin and Martin Stretton topped the 2-litre cars at the end of an epic race.

MASTERS PRE-66 TOURING CARS

Flying Falcon

A fine 33-car field for the Masters Pre ’66 Touring Cars had no answer to the supreme pace of the Leo Voyazides/Simon Hadfield Ford Falcon, which rocketed ahead from the start and went a second clear on the opening lap as Voyazides laid the foundations of a commanding victory.
The Falcon of Mike Gardiner and the Mustang of Neil Brown gave early chase to the fleeing Voyazides, but Gardiner posted an early mechanical retirement, as did Henry Mann when he lost all drive in his Mustang.
Up front, Voyazides went further and further clear and then handed over to Hadfield to complete the job. Such was their pace that they lapped the entire field with 10 minutes of the race still to run.
Brown handed his Mustang over to Ross Hyett and the main interest then centred on the progress of the ultra versatile Nigel Greensall, who took over the Mustang of Karsten Le Blanc and set about hunting Hyett down. In his first race in the car and his first race at Donington for 22 years, Hyett knew he would not contain the flying Greensall and a 20s margin was trimmed at up to three seconds a lap before Greensall swept into second with time to spare.
For many laps, a great 2-litre battle raged between the BMW 1800 of Sean McInenrey and the Lotus Cortina of David Tomlin and only a late race puncture for Tomlin finally settled the matter in the BMW’s favour.

Words by Masters Historic Racing. Masters Gentlemen Drivers pre-66 GT – photo by Jeff Bloxham.

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