Last year we learned that Shaun Lynn’s company Aythorpe Promotions Limited had taken over Motor Racing Legends. Given they only had around one week, any changes to the format or organisation of the event were unlikely, and so it proved.

This year the evidence of new ownership was everywhere to be seen. Whilst the new series for GT3 Legends was allocated pit garages, the other series were provided with matching white awnings, carefully laid out in line with the paddock plan so anyone wishing to visit the Pre War “Mad Jack”, or any other grids could find them all in one location.

For those who may be interested photographs from all races can be found here:

Qualifying and Races – Day 1

Other obvious changes were the use of the GP loop and the three day format. On all three days there were qualifying and races, so day one (Friday) kicked off the weekend with qualifying for the Formula Junior Historic Racing Association Front Engine cars.

Qualifying: Race 1 FJHRA Silverline Formula Junior Championship – Front Engined

The cars run in various classes: Class B2 and overall pole went to Ray Mallock in his Mallock U2; 8th overall and class B1 pole went to Graham Barron in his Gemini Mk 2; 16th overall and Class A pole went to Peter Fenichel in his Stranguellini FJ.

Qualifying: Race 5 Mad Jack for Pre-War Sports Cars

Qualifying for the Mad Jack pre war sports cars with 36 entries was the second largest grid of the weekend and with lots of classes, but the top three qualifying positions were: Pole, Gareth Burnett – Alta Sports (ably supported by John Ruston); 2nd Beebee and Beebee J in their Frazer Nash TT Replica; and 3rd Mallya and Ward in the former’s BMW 328.

Qualifying: Race 2 FJHRA Silverline Formula Junior Championship – Rear Engined

We moved on to qualifying for the Formula Junior Rear Engine cars. Alex Ames in his Brabham BT6 took overall and class E1 pole; Nic Carlton-Smith in his Lotus 20 was 9th overall and class D2 pole; C2 Pole and 16th overall was Stuart Monument in his Lotus 18; 22nd and E2 pole was secured by Mark Bates in his Lynx Mk2.

Qualifying: Races 3 & 6 U2TC.

Back from relative obscurity was the Under Two Litre Touring Cars race. Recently this class has been amalgamated with the Historic Touring Cars. Clearly there is an appetite for these cars but this small but perfectly formed grid could do with a bit more variety.

Fifteen cars of which 9 were Ford Lotus Cortinas, accompanied by three Alfa Romeo Guilias, a Mini Cooper S, a BMW 1800 Ti and the invitation class Anglia of Greg Carini. This last car was interesting because it ran with a 1600 crossflow engine, something it would not have done in period, hence the invitation class (I liked it though).

Overall and Class C Pole for race 1, went to Guy Smith’s Ford Lotus Cortina; followed in 2nd by the Smith/Reynolds version; and in 3rd was the Tilley/Bryant version. The grid for race two on Saturday, would be decided on the results of race one. Harking back to the old days of the European Historic Touring Cars, I hope this time the U2TC grid flourishes.

Qualifying: Races 4, 12 & 13 Superformance Ferrari Club Classic Series.

The GT3 Legends came out for untimed practice, before the Superformance Ferrari Club Classic Series took to the circuit for race 4 qualifying. Wayne Marrs’ Ferrari F355 Challenge secured Pole; followed by Gary Culver in his Ferrari 328 GTB; and, Chris Compton-Goddard in his F355 Challenge. The second fastest qualifying result was Marrs, Culver, Sowter. Note to self: find out how this works next time.

Qualifying: Race 8 HMRN Pre 63 GT

HMRN Pre 63 GTs were up next. Sixteen cars, showing an improvement on recent years for this class. However plus ça change as they say, once again the Spiers/Greensall Shelby Cobra secured Pole; in 2nd was the very pretty Fiskin/Franchitti Shelby Cobra 260; followed by Matt Holme in another Shelby Cobra.

race 1 FJHRA Silverline Historic Formula Junior Championship for Front Engine cars

The FJHRA Silverline Historic Formula Junior Championship for Front Engine cars was won in fine style by Ray Mallock, who stood on the top step of the podium at the end of 21 mins of racing. He led home Nick Taylor’s Elva 100 by 2.6 secs, with Charles Cook’s Nike Mk1 a further 2.8 secs back.

Qualifying: Race 10 RAC Pall Mall Cup

The RAC Pall Mall Cup took on a new format this year. Previously this was a three hour race, this year it has been reduced to two hours. This was a multiple driver race and would involve pit stops and in some cases refuelling.

At the end of the session the Spiers/Greensall Jaguar E-Type Lightweight topped the times followed by the Wakeman/Grant-Peterkin/Hancock AC Cobra and the Matthews/Griffiths Elan 26R.

Race 2 FJHRA Silverline Historic Formula Junior Championship for Rear Engine cars

The FJHRA Silverline Historic Formula Junior Championship for Rear Engine cars was quite a close race only 25 seconds covered the first ten finishers.

Pole sitter, Alex Ames ran out the winner ahead of Phillipp Buhofer, but third placed qualifier Spencer Shinner was unclassified, leaving the spot to Mark Woodhouse in his Lotus 20/22.

Qualifying: Races 7 & 12 GT3 Legends

This was the second time the GT3 Legends Series has appeared following its debut at the October Silverstone event last year where 23 cars took to the track. 24 cars were entered for this race with Jonathan Mitchell’s gorgeous Aston Martin V12 Vantage taking Pole by 1.5 secs from the Max Lynn Nissan 370 Z, (humorously misnamed as a Nissan Skyline GTR). Third on the grid was the equally gorgeous Holme/Jordan Chevrolet Corvette C6 Z06R.

Race 3 U2TC

There were some interesting names on the grid for this one, Guy Smith ex Le Mans winner and Alex Brundle, one time sportscar star, now historic racer and TV pundit, who would be pedaling his Mini Cooper S. Guy Smith’s Lotus Cortina “checked out” as they say; he won by 43 seconds ahead of the similar Dagenham product of Jonathan Mitchell and Richard Dutton’s Lotus Cortina in third. Although a small grid, the driving was at times quite spectacular, with plenty of sideways action to keep the spectators happy.

Race 4 Superformance Ferrari Club Classic Series

Having qualified seventh for the final race of day one, Tim Mogridge ran out the winner in his Ferrari F355 Challenge, closely followed by Tristan Simpson in his similar Ferrari and Colin Sowter in the only F355 Spyder in the race.

Day 2 Saturday

Although some of the club displays were in place on day one, there were many more classic car clubs present today. I managed to spend some time with the XJS Club where Carol and Michael Blaine had set up the club awning and were preparing bacon buns and coffee.

But keeping pace with track action limited my ability to wander around the the other club stands. Worth noting that according to my Fit Bit, I covered over 20k steps on this day!

Qualifying: Race 11 – Historic Touring Car Challenge with Tony Dron Trophy

A wonderfully sunny morning greeted 20 Touring Cars hitting the track to qualify for the HTC race. Originally this grid catered for Groups 1.5 (Derek Bell Trophy), 2 and Group A cars from 1969 up to 1985. However, the period has extended to 1989, thus bringing in the BMW E30 M3, Ford Sierra Cosworth and, the Nissan Skyline, to the possible detriment of the Group A Rovers and Metro Turbos etc.

There were two Derek Bell Trophy cars entered, the Mike Whittaker Patrick Motorsport Rover SD1 (this is an original car from 1980) and the Raphael DE BORMAN Ford Capri 3 0S.

Ric Wood’s Nissan Skyline took pole only .5 secs ahead of the similar car of Bailey/Middlehurst who, in turn were .5 secs ahead of the Sierra Cosworth of Julian Thomas.

Race 5 Mad Jack for Pre-War Sports Cars

Skinny tyres, rattly old chassis and powerful engines make for exciting races. Rudi Freidrichs in his Alvis Firefly Special had won this race on the previous three occasions, today, starting from fourth on the grid he was up to second and hounding pole man Burnett by Redgate. These two drivers proceeded to put on a great display of clean but close racing, swapping places four or more times until the pit stops calmed things down. All the while the Beebee Frazer Nash TT Replica was keeping them honest.

The Mallya/Ward BMW 328 starting in third eventually finished fourth with fastest lap. The overall result was Burnett, Freidrichs (with class fastest lap) and Beebee.

Race 6 U2TC

At the end of 21 laps, Guy Smith once again triumphed, coming home 19.5 secs ahead of the Smith/Reynolds Lotus Cortina which in turn was 35 secs ahead of Jonathan Mitchell’s similar car.

Race 7 GT3 Legends

Anyone familiar with Le Mans will know that in recent years the most popular category of sportscar racing has been the GTPro and GTAm category. With cars like the Mercedes SLS GT3, the Aston Martin V12 Vantage and Audi R8 GT3 giving fans the opportunity to watch “super cars” perform as they should.

The GT3 Series evokes those memories and when coupled with the “greenscape” that is Donintgon Park it makes for excellent viewing.

After 51 minutes Jonathan Mitchell’s Aston Martin V12 prevailed. Having started from Pole he led home the Holme/Jordan Corvette by 57 secs, Christian Albrecht’s Mclaren MP4 12C was a furthe 1 sec back in third, having displaced the Nissan 370Z of Max Lynn.

Qualifying: Race 16 – RAC Woodcote Trophy and Stirling Moss Trophy

Twenty-four sports cars from 1950 to 1959 took to the track to qualify for this race which included some interesting specials like the Wilmott R/Willmott J Jaguar XK140 Gomm Special, and the Burton/Gannon Jaguar Alton.

Ultimately the Spiers/Greensell Lister Knobbly secured pole, ahead of the Bryant/Tilley Lotus 15 and the Lynn S / Lynn M Lister Jaguar Knobbly in third.

Race 8 HMRN Pre ’63 GTs

Snakes Alive! (sorry). Thundering V8s dominated this race. Starting from pole the Shelby Cobra of Spiers/Greensell finished second behind the Shelby Cobra 260 of Franchitti/Fiskin (qualified second), and ahead of the Shelby Cobra of Matt Holme who qualified third.

Race 9 Superformance Ferrari Club Classic Series

Although Tim Mogridge won race 4, he was back in his original qualifying position for the start of this race. (I must try and find the rules for this series). So, starting from pole Wayne Marrs won from Gary Culver (2nd on the grid) and Colin Sowter (3rd on the grid).

Race 10 RAC Pall Mall Cup

It was getting close to Gin O’Clock when the cars left the assembly area for the two hour RAC Pall Mall Cup marathon. The bigger engined cars had dominated qualifying, the top ten comprised three AC Cobras, three Jaguar E-Type Lightweight/Semi Lightweights, a Ford Mustang and two Lotus Elan 26Rs.

At the hour mark the Spiers/Greensell Jaguar E-Type Lightweight was leading by a lap from the Lynn Elan 26R and the Freidrichs/Pearson AC Cobra.

After two hours all 24 cars were classified finishers but the top three were; Lynn S/Lynn A Elan 26R, Oeynhausen/Newall Jaguar E-Type Roadster and the Freidrichs/Pearson AC Cobra in third.

Time for that gin and tonic…………………….

Day Three Sunday

Yesterday afternoon the Historic Racing Drivers Club marched into the paddock with three grids, The Gerry Marshall Trophy, The Jack Sears Trophy and The Dunlop Allstars with the Alfa Romeo Challenge.

Qualifying: Race 14 HRDC Gerry Marshall Trophy

First out of the blocks this morning was the Group 1.5 and Willhire class cars of the Gerry Marshall Trophy. Thirty-three cars blasted out of the assembly area to qualify for the afternoon’s 40 minute two-driver race.

Michael Whitaker Jnr in his Sanyo liveried Rover SD1 secured pole position followed by Charles Rainford’s Ford Capri Faberge and in third was Michael Whitaker in his Patrick Motorsport Rover SD1.

Race 11 Historic Touring Cars with the Tony Dron Trophy.

Having experienced a problem in the Gerry Marshall Trophy qualifying, Michael Whitaker was absent from the grid, leaving the Raphael De Borman Capri as the only Tony Dron Trophy representative.

Ric Wood’s blue Nissan Skyline led the pack away from the start and held the lead until lap 6 when he pitted, never to return. That left the No 55 Bailey/Middlehurst Nissan Skyline GTR to run out the winners after 1 hour, followed home by Darren Fielding’s BMW E30 M3 (winner class HT4B) and Steve Dance winner of Class HT2C in third place.

Qualifying: Race 15 HRDC Jack Sears Trophy

Forty-Three cars formed the largest grid of the weekend for the Jack Sears Trophy. This is for pre 1966 touring cars and includes everything from the Ford Galaxy to the Austin A40.

It was no surprise that pole went to Sam Tordoff in his Ford Falcon, followed by the Spiers Greensall Ford Mustang and in third place the Smith/Reynolds Ford Lotus Cortina.

Race 12 GT3 Legends

The second 50 mins race for these thourobreds with the Mitchell Aston Martin on pole, Max Lynn’s Nissan 370Z second and the Holme/Jordan Corvette in third. Christian Albrecht started fourth in his McLaren MP4C which he would turn into second behind winner Mitchell, after 50 mins of racing, demoting the Lynn Nissan to third. The Corvette of Holme/Jordan fell away from lap 12 and eventually finished 19th.

Qualifying: Race 17 HRDC ‘Dunlop Allstars’

“Only” 39 cars for this the final qualifying session of the wekend. A session that was dominated by big rumbling V8s, but this time pole was secured by the TVR Griffith of Mike Whitaker Snr ahead of the similar car of John Spiers with Sam tordoff’s Falcon in third.

Race 14 HRDC Gerry Marshall Trophy

This one had a twist in the tail.

I’ve mentioned previously that in period cars over 3500cc were banned by the RAC British Saloon Car Championship but that did not stop manufacturers homologating their products, hence we had the sight of the Lewis/Brundle XJ-S which started fourth, chasing the very rapid Sanyo Rover SD1 of Michael Whitaker Jnr for the lead. After 20 laps there was only 2.094 secs between them and, because Whitaker had been “pinged” for track limits he received a 5 secs penalty, thus reversing the on track positions. In third was the Young Jo/Young Ja Chevrolet Camaro, which started 5th.

It is possible that this is the first time a Jaguar XJ-S has won a Group 1.5 race!

Race 15 HRDC Jack Sears Trophy

This 40 mins, two driver race saw 43 cars head down to Redgate on the first lap. By the end 36 would be classified finishers. The Smith/Reynolds Lotus Cortina, came through from third on the grid to win, they were followed home by the similar car of Giddings/Streather and in third place another Lotus Cortina, that of Richard Dutton.

Race 16 the Royal Automobile Club Woodcote Trophy & Stirling Moss Trophy

After 1 hour of racing the Tilley/Bryant Lotus 15 was victorious having led from the end of the first lap. They crossed the line 33 secs ahead of the second placed Lister Knobbly of Will Nuthall, who beat the Crossthwaite/Finburgh Cooper Monaco T49 by two secs. The original pole setter Spiers/Greensall Lister Knobbly retook the lead during the pit stops but on lap 13 it eventually fell away to finish 5th.

Race 17 HRDC Dunlop Allstars.

Quite possibly the prettiest grid of the weekend, it included such specimens as Ben Colborn’s Alfa Romeo GTAm Superformance, Marc Gordon’s Jaguar XK 150S, and among others Mark Ellis’ Morgan +4. Having qualified his TVR Griffith on pole Mike Whitaker Snr led from flag to finish ahead of John Spiers’ Griffith and Sam Tordoff’s Ford Falcon.

Final thoughts:

I liked it, the format was somewhat gruelling for those who were there all three days but the mix of qualifying and racing meant there was interest throughout the weekend. My personal opinion is that the GP loop adds nothing to the event, other than a heavy braking point and 20 seconds or so to the lap time. It does add more viewing space so hopefully there will be bigger crowds next year to enjoy it.

The two hours for the Pall Mall Cup was about right; and for the first time, other than at the Silverstone Festival, since the changes to the HTC grid there was a respectable number of cars, let’s have some more at Snetterton and beyond.

Julius Thurgood retains management of the HRDC but it now falls under the ownership of MRL. This was the first event since the takeover and the HRDC competitors didn’t have the allocated awnings (nor did the Formula Juniors on Friday), so moving forward, it will be interesting to see how these series are incorporated into the MRL branding.

Other things to like, were MSVR accrediting me as part of Tripos Media Partnership; the paddock layout and organisation and the chance to meet and chat to some old mates from my time racing, although I did miss a few.

Happy to receive comments.