SILVERSTONE FESTIVAL 2024
Saturday disrupted by heavy rain
Photo © Peter Osborne
A weekend of two very dfferent halves for this year's Silverstone Festival, with the weather making the difference. Heavy rain disrupted Saturday's proceedings with torrential conditions leading to the abandonment of that morning's single-seater races for Formula Junior, Formula 3 and Formula 2.
The first race on Saturday for Historic Formula Junior saw the cars go out and almost complete a sighting lap before the race was red-flagged almost before it started. A later attempt was also abandoned after just a couple of laps. Conditions were so bad that the two morning races for Formula 2 and Formula 3 single-seaters were not even attempted.
Next on track was the Adrian Flux Trophy for historic touring cars. In equally bad conditions pole sitter Julian Thomas took the ex-Andy Rouse Kaliber Ford RS500 into an early lead, only to spin it away at Aintree and hand the lead to the RS 500 driven by Paul Mensley.
A safety car period just before the pit stop window opening saw the Redkote RS500 driven by Michael Caine inherit the lead as he stayed out when the race leaders pitted. A strategy that came to naught when the safety car came out again just before Caine pitted towards the end of the pit window to hand over to Dave Bartrum. Darren Fielding in the ex-Steve Soper BMW E30 M3 took over the lead until the race was red-flag finished with eleven minutes left to race.
Ford RS500 (#41) of Michael Caine and Dave Bartrum splashes through the murk during the Adrian Flux Trophy Race
It was still raining, but track conditiosn were a little less wet for the RAC Woodcote and Stirling Moss Trophy race, which saw John Spiers' Lister Knobbly storm into an early lead from second on the grid, ahead of pole sitter Bon Grimes in the Lotus 15, only to surrender the lead to the Lister Costin of a hard-charging Nigel Greensall from sixth on the grid, who overtook both Grimes and Spiers into Copse on the first racing lap.
Greensall was not challenged for the lead after and took the win when the race was red-flagged after track conditions got worse. An almost race-long David and Goliath duel between Roger Wills in his diminutive Lotus 15 and David Hart in another Lister Costin, which finshed on the road with Wills in second ahead of Hart in third only for Wills to be demoted later to third for a yellow flag infraction.
The aborted attempt to re-run the Formula Junior brought Saturday morning's proceedings to a halt with just two of the scheduled races completed. After the lunch break fans were treated to the first of the weekend's Masters F1 races with the unmistakeable sound of 29 Cosworth DFV engines reverberating around the Northamptonshire countryside.
With a still wet track the cars completed two sighting laps behind the safety car before Stuart Hall in a March 821 from 1982 took the lead from pole-sitter Matt Wrigley (1982 Tyrell 011). The two fought for the lead the entire race with the win going to Hall by 0.356 seconds.
45 cars from an earlier (pre-1966) Grand Prix era were next out on a much drier but still slippery track. Will Nuthall in a Cooper T53 shot off from pole to pull out an 8 second lead over Charlie Martin (also in a Cooper T53) after a couple of laps, only to have to shoot into the National Pits and retiring with an engine problem. In the damp conditions John Spiers had pulled his front-engined Maserati 250F up to third from thirteenth on the grid, and when race leader Martin spun at Village Corner Spiers pounced to take over the lead from Sam Wilson (Lotus 18), which he held to the flag.
In the Masters GT Trophy race Neil Glover took the Lamborghini Huracan into the lead at the a start only to lose out around the Loop to second place man on the grid, Jonathan Mitchell in a Ferrari 248 GT3 who was soon overtaken by the Lambo Huracan of David and Jason McInulty, although Mitchell got in front again before the pit stop window opened under a safety car period.
The sunshine at the start gave way to leaden skies and heavy rain which brought cars in to the pits to change from slicks to wets, then a stuck BMW at Becketts brought out the safety car, followed by a red flag to end the race with John Minshaw in his BMW Z4 GT3 as the winner.
A wet track again for the Masters Endurance Legends cars to contend with on Saturday saw Harindra De Silva take the Pescarolo LMP1 in the iconic Gulf blue and orange colours into an early until he spun out coming into Village corner, takng the Peugeotv 90X of Steve Brooks with him and letting the ex-Mansells Zyteck 09S of Keith Frieser through into the lead, although Christophe D'Ansembourg in the second Gulf livered Pescarolo took the lead over later the same lap.
At the driver change pit stop Werner D'Ansembourg took over the Pescartolo from his father Christophe and brought the car home in first ahead of Stuart Wiltshir'e Peugeot 90X.
Saturday's racing was rounded out by the Masters Sports Car Legends which saw the spectacle of not one, but two Ferrari 512Ms driven by David Hart and Alex Ames fighting for the lead from the start. The restart from a safety car saw Alex Brundle take the Lola T70 past both Ferraris into the lead. Olivier Hart having taken over the Ferrari from father David charged after leader Brundle and took the lead with around 12 minutes left to run to take the win at the flag. Second place was only settled on the line when James Claridge muscled his Lola T296 past Brundle's Lola T70 to take the position by a whisker.
Sunday dawned bright and clear in contrast to Saturday. A monster 50 car grid of Formula Junior's started off proceedings with Michael O'Brien (Lotus 27) taking the lead at Aintree from pole sitter Alex Ames and running away from the rest of the field to score the win at the flag by almost 7 seconds over Horatio Fitz-Simon (Brabham BT6).
The following Formula 3 race followed a similar pattern with Andy Smith's March 783 running away from the rest of the field to win by over 20 seconds from Dominik Jackson's Lola Toyota T670.
The BRDC 500 race for Pre-War Sports Cars saw the oldest cars of the weekend take to the track with at least two of the cars dating from 100 years ago. Pat Blakeney-Edwards had placed the chain-driven Frazer Nash Super Sports on pole in Friday qualifying, but was beaten away from the start by Gareth Burnett in the Alta Sports until PB-E reclaimed the lead at Brooklands on the same lap.
Blakeney-Edwards handed the Frazer Nash over to Chris Ward at the mandatory pit stop having built up a 27 second advantage over Burnett. With around 12 minutes left to run James Morley's Bentley lost a wheel with the car coming to rest in a dangerous position on the edge of the track between Abbey and Farm bringing out the safety car, which soon turned into a red flag ending of the race. The Blakeney-Edwards/Ward Frazer Nash the winner by 37 seconds over the Alta of Gareth Burnett.
At the start of the Formula 2 race three cars, the Marchs of Andy Smith, Matthew Watts, and Alex Kapadia swiftly built a gap that was almost the length of the National Pits straight on the first lap! Smith pulled away from the battling Watts and Kapadia, setting the fastest lap until lap 4 when he pulled into the pits and retired, handing the lead to Alex Kapadia who pulled away from Matthew Watts to take the win by 9.5 seconds from Watts.
In the RAC Tourist Trophy the front row Cobras of John Spiers and Gregor Fisken led away from the start, initially Spiers in the lead until Fisken dived up the inside at Abbey to take the lead. Spiers made a mistake at The Loop and let Garry Pearson's E-Type through. After the pit stops the two Cobras, now driven by Chris Ward and Nigel Greensall, battled for the lead with Ward in front until he ran wide at Stowe and let Greensall through with ten minutes left to run, but a fuel pressure problem forced Greensall to retire before the finish handing the win to Chris Ward, from Richard Cook in another Cobra and the Person brothers' Jaguar E-Type.
The second of the weekend's Masters F1 race started with a reverse grid from Saturday's race which meant the previous day's winner Stuart Hall was ninth on the grid. Didn't seem much of a problem for him as he got the car up to second by lap 2, closely followed by Matt Wrigley, who lunged past Hall down into Vale to take second spot behind Christoph D'Ansembourg on the following lap and then to pass D'Ansembourg for the lead at Village corner. At about half distance Hall got past D'Ansembourg at Copse, when D'Ansembourg ran wide, to chase after Hall but was not able to catch him before the chequered flag. An interesting addition to the runners in this race was the twin-chassis Lotus 88B from 1981 driven by Nick Padmore which was banned and never raced in period, but Padmore took from 25th on the grid to seventh at the end.
The winning Pescarolo of Christoph and Werner D'Ansembourg from Saturday's Masters Endurance race led the field away for Sunday's race behind the safety car, as Robert Blain's HPD Honda ARX was beached, only for the race to be red flagged. On the restart the D'Ansembourg's Pescarolo and the Peugeot 90X of Stuart Wiltshire quickly opened a gap to the Zyteck 09S of Keith Frieser and the rest of the chasing pack. D'Ansembourg and Witshire finished in the same order at the flag.
Although John Spiers was on the front row of the Pre-1966 GP Cars in his Maserati 250F, due to winning Saturday's wet race, in Sunday's dry race he was beaten away from the start by loads of the mid-engined cars lead by Charlie Martin. Perhaps the drive of the weekend was Will Nuthall's from 39th at the start, due to problems he experienced in Saturday's race, to catch and pass Charlie Martin and take the win.
For those who remember 1960s saloon car racing the Pure Michigan Mustang Celebration Trophy was perhaps the high point of the weekend with a grid packed with Mustangs, Falcons, Lotus Cortinas, Minis, and more. The monstrous Ford Falcon Sprint driven by Sam Tordoff sprinted away from the start followed by the Mustangs of Nigel Greensall and Jann Mardenborough. After the pit stops John Spiers was in the lead in the Mustang he'd taken over from Greensall until Sam Tordoff unwound tne pit stop deficit to retake the lead, which he held to the finish ahead of Julian Thomas' Falcon and the Broadbent/Mardenborough Mustang.
Rounding out the weekend's racing, the International Trophy for Classic GT Cars (pre-1966) saw a 53-car grid take to the track. Ford V8 power in his TVR Griffith saw Nigel Greensall take the lead from Olivier Hart in the similarly powered Shelby Daytona Cobra. After the pit stops Hart took the lead which he held to the end despite a close challenge from Julian Thomas in another Dayona Cobra over the last few laps.
RACE RESULTS:
Race 1: Historic Formula Junior
Abandoned due to heavy rain
Race 2: Formula 2 Classic Interseries
Abandoned due to heavy rain
Race 3: Adrian Flux Trophy for MRL Historic Touring Cars
First: Darren Fielding – BMW E30 M3
Second: Ric Wood – Nissan Skyline GTR
Third: David Tomlin – Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500
Race 4: F3 Classic Interseries
Abandoned due to heavy rain
Race 5: RAC Woodcote & Stirling Moss Trophies
First: Greensall/Spiers – Jaguar Lister Costin
Second: David Hart – Lister Costin
Third:Roger Wills – Lotus 15
Race 6: Masters Racing Legends Formula One
First: Stuart Hall – March 821
Second: Matthew Wrigley – Tyrell 011
Third: Jamie Constable – Tyrell 011B
Race 7: HGPCA Pre 1966 Grand Prix Cars
First: John Spiers – Maserati 250F
Second: Sam Wilson – Lotus 18
Third: Charlie Martin – Cooper T53
Race 8: Masters GT Trophy
First: Jon Minshaw – BMW Z4 GT3
Second: Nick Maton – Lamborghini Gallado GT3
Third: Grimes/Mowlem – Ferrari 458 Challenge
Race 9: Masters Endurance Legends
First: D'Ansembourg C/D'Ansembourg W – Pescarolo LMP1
Second: Stuart Wiltshire – Peugeot 90X
Third: Shaun Lynn – BR 01
Race 10: Masters Sports Car Legends
First: Hart D/Hart O – Ferrari 512M
Second: Claridge/Gomes – Lola T296
Third: Brundle/Pearson – Lola T70 Mk3B
Race 11: Historic Formula Junior
First: Michael O'Brien – Lotus 27
Second: Horatio Fitz-Simon – Brabham BT6
Third: Sam Wilson – Cooper T59
Race 12: F3 Classic Interseries
First: Andy Smith – March 783
Second: Dominik Jackson – Lola TRoyota T670
Third: Eric Martin – Martini MK39
Race 13: BRDC 500 for MRL Pre-War Sports Cars
First: Blakeney-Edwards/Wardl – Frazer Nash Super Sports
Second: Gareth Burnett – Alta Sports
Third: Rudiger Friedrichs– Alvis Firefly Special
Race 14: F2 Classic Interseries
First: Alex Kapadia –March 762
Second: Matthew watts – March 722
Third: Mark Charteris – March 782
Race 15: RAC Historic Tourist Trophy
First: Fisken/Ward – AC Cobra
Second: Richard Cook – Shelby AC Cobra
Third: Pearson G/Pearson J – Jaguar E-Type
Race 16: Masters Racing Legends Formula One
First: Matthew Wrigley – Tyrell 011
Second: Stuart Hall – March 821
Third: Mike Cantillon – Williams FW07C
Race 17: Masters Endurance Legends
First: D'Ansembourg C/D'Ansembourg W – Pescarolo LMP1
Second: Hugo Cook – Lola B12/80
Third: Stuart Wiltshire – Peugeot 90X
Race 18: HGPCA Pre 1966 Grand Prix Carss
First: Will Nuthall – Cooper T53
Second: Charlie Martin – Cooper T53
Third: Tim Child – Brabham BT3/4
Race 19: Pure Michigan Mustang Celebration Trophy
First: Sam Tordoff – Ford Falcon Sprint
Second: Julian Thomas – Ford Falcon
Third: Mardenborough/Broadbent – Ford Mustang
Race 20: International Trophy for Classic GT Cars
First: Olivier Hart – Shelby American Cobra Daytona
Second: Julian Thomas – Shelby American Cobra Daytona
Third: Harry Barton – TVR Griffith
All photos © Peter Osborne