Bumper crowds, fields, at Brands Hatch Masters

A sunny spring weekend welcomed fans and racers to this year's Masters Historic Festival at Brands Hatch. The weekend of racing at the West Kingsdown circuit featured the full works of Masters Historic Racing, from Masters Racing Legends for 1966/185 F1 cars through the diverse grid of Pre-66 Touring cars.

Masters Racing Legends for 1966-1985 F1 Cars

In two Masters Racing Legends races for the1966-’85 Formula One cars, Mark Hazell (Williams FW07B) won from pole position under pressure from pre-78 class winner Nick Padmore (Lotus 77). Padmore then went on to claim overall honors in race 2, as he profited from the weekend’s unlucky man, Steve Hartley (McLaren MP4/1) dropping out of the lead with six minutes to go. Ken Tyrrell (Tyrrell 011), Warren Briggs (McLaren M29) and Mark Higson (McLaren MP4/1B) also starred by claiming their best ever series results.

Masters Endurance Legends

Peugeot 90X drivers Steve Brooks and Stuart Wiltshire split the wins in Masters Endurance Racing Legends, with Brooks getting the better of Wiltshire in race 1 but being prevented from taking part in race 2 as his car’s gearbox had seized. Meanwhile, the Ligier JSP3 cars provided loads of entertainment, with the Marcus Jewell/Ben Clucas pairing coming out on top in both races.

Masters Gentlemen Drivers

Bookending the Saturday with practice and their 90-minute race, the 35-car Masters Gentlemen Drivers field failed to disappoint, as a fraught race rich with incident was won by John Spiers and Nigel Greensall in their TVR Griffith. The fight between Spiers and fellow TVR driver John Davison was the highlight of the race before Davison would suffer an unfortunate delay later in the race. Giles Dawson drove a brilliant race to bag second overall in his Lotus Elan, while Mike Whitaker made it two TVR Griffiths in the top three.

Masters Pre-66 Touring Cars

On Sunday, all 40 cars in the Masters Pre-66 Touring Car field similarly delighted the crowd, the win cornered by Sam Tordoff’s Ford Falcon, Tordoff coming back from his elite-driver pitstop penalty to catch and pass Mike Whitaker Jnr in the best of the Ford Mustangs. Spiers and Greensall lifted third overall in their Mustang, with Josh Cook in fourth winning in a Lotus Cortina ding-dong among no less than five cars. Jeff Smith, meanwhile, proved untouchable in the Mini class. Mike Whitaker Jnr was later awarded the Peddle Team of the Weekend award for his drive, taking home a Peddle electric bike.

Masters Sports Car Legends

The Masters Sports Car Legends had two races instead of one, and Chris Beighton would have won both had his Lola T70 Mk3B not expired just minutes from the end of race 1, handing a surprise victory to the Nick Sleep/Alex Montgomery T70 Mk3. Beighton made up for it the next day with a dominant win. Montgomery chased him early on but the T70 Mk3 dropped back at the stops to allow Jason Wright to take up the chase in the other T70 Mk3B but the American was pipped to second on the final lap after a storming drive from Nigel Greensall in John Spiers’ McLaren M1B.

Masters GT Trophy

Craig Wilkins doubled up in the Masters GT Trophy, as he proved to be the series’ dominant force in his Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo Evo. Jason McInulty made Wilkins work hard for his first win but had to come from the back to once again claim second place on Sunday. Neil Glover and Aaron Scott completed a Lambo 1-2-3 on both occasions while Sam Tordoff (Porsche 997.2 Cup) and Ray Harris (Ginetta G55) were the respective Cup and GT4 class winners.