The Masters Historic Festival Brands Hatch GP

Brands Hatch welcomed the Masters Historic Festival over the weekend (25th & 26th May 2019) with two days of historic racing on the legendary GP circuit showcasing Single Seater, GT, Sports and Touring cars from the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s.

Masters Gentlemen Drivers (1 x 90 mins) Julian Thomas and Calum Lockie took the top step of the podium in their Shelby Daytona Cobra in this 90 minute endurance race with Rob Fenn finishing in 2nd place fifty-two seconds behind the Thomas/Lockie pairing. Steve Soper qualified his Lotus Elan 26R on pole but failed to be classified, suffering damage later in the race after taking evasive action along the Cooper Straight while avoiding back markers during a battle with Fenn for 2nd place, also in a Lotus Elan 26R he shared with Jake Hill. Soper retiring the car on lap 30. 3rd went to Mark Donnor and Andrew Smith in the E-Type Jaguar who was being chased down by Marco Attard in the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray he shared with BTCC ace Tom Ingram.

The Thomas/Lockie Shelby Daytona Cobra.

FIA Masters Historic Formula One (Race 1) Martin Stretton piloting the Tyrrell 012 fended off Micheal Lyons in the Williams FW07B with the Williams driver chasing the Tyrrell in a nose to tail battle for the lead that would end in drama resulting in a premature ending to the race. Into lap 16, Lyons tries for a pass on Stretton on the outside into Paddock only to end up in the barriers. Lyons was still classified 2nd at the red flag leaving Matteo Ferrer-Aza in the Ligier JS11 in 3rd.

The Tyrrell 012 of Martin Stretton.

FIA Masters Historic Formula One (Race 2) The second race victory went to the McLaren MP4/1 of Steve Hartley who started on the second row in 4th. The Tyrrell 011 of Jamie Constable took an early lead from the pole-sitting Lotus 87B of Jonathan Holtzman who began to tumble away into the middle field. Later Hartley moved into 2nd and began to reel in race leader Constable making the decisive move for the race lead into Druids, out braking Constable with race one winner Stretton following Hartley through to take 2nd. The race finished with the chequered flag being shown under caution when the Williams FW07C of Mike Cantillon had an off into the gravel trap at Clark Curve which resulted in a safety car.

Steve Hartleys McLaren MP4/1

FIA Masters Historic Sports Cars (1 x 60 mins) The Lola T70 Mk3B pairing of Robert Beebee and Martin O’Connell emerged victorious, beating Henry Fletcher in his Chevron B26 to the top step of the podium under the red flag in a race where the safety car was called for on more than one occasion. From the rolling start, Henry Fletcher from third on the grid took the lead from the Lola T70 Mk3 piloted by Jason Wright by lap 2. The first safety car came on lap 8 when Tom Bradshaw’s Chevron B19 had an off at Graham Hill Bend. The second safety car came when Jonathan Mitchell’s Chevron B19 stopped out on track. The Beebee/O’Connell Lola took the lead on lap 25 and one lap later the safety car being called into action once again for the recovery of the Chris Jolly/Steve Farthing Cooper Monaco T61M which came to a stop out on the circuit. The field being released and the prospect of a five car dash to the line, Paul Alan’s Lola T212 went off at paddock Hill which brought out the red flag bringing the race to a early finish. Fletcher was classified in 2nd place, 3rd going to the Lola T70 Mk3 of Jason Wright and Andrew Wolfe.

The Beebee/O’Connell Lola T70 Mk3.

Masters Pre ’66 Touring Cars (1 x 60 mins) The Ford Mustang duo of Rob Fenn and Jake Hill triumphed taking the race lead on lap 20, remaining out in front until the race conclusion. At the start, after an early safety car for the recovery of the James/Snowdon Mini Cooper at Graham Hill Bend, Craig Davies and his Mustang took the lead building up a sizeable gap between himself and the 2nd place. The safety car was needed on lap 14 for the removal of Williams Wards Mini and with the pit window open many made the dash into the pits for the mandatory driver change. The Ford Lotus Cortina of Mark Sumpter emerged from a busy pit lane in 1st followed by Jake Hill in the Mustang. Lap 18 and the green flag waves, Hill chased down Sumpter, taking the race lead at the start of lap 20. The Fenn/Hill Mustang crossed the line after covering 30 laps of the Brands Hatch GP circuit with just over three seconds in hand over Sumpter’s Cortina and Craig Davis two seconds behind the Lotus Ford.

Pre ’66 Winning Mustang of Rob Fenn & Jake Hill.

Historic Formula 2 (Race 1) A record grid for the HSCC Historic Formula 2’s at the Masters with 34 cars lined up on the start line. Miles Griffiths took the first win of the weekend in his Ralt RT1 with gap of 1.510 seconds over the 2nd place Mach 782 of Martin Stretton. 3rd place went to Mark Charteris in his March 742.

Historic Formula 2 (Race 2) Martin O’Connell in his Chevrom B40 had a comfortable win in race 2 of the weekend with a gap of just over five seconds from the 2nd placed car of Miles Griffiths. 3rd went to Mark Dwyer in a March 782.