The Masters Historic Festival at Brands Hatch is one of the highlights on the Historic racing calendar in the UK each year and one that I really look forward to attending, this year being the 15th running of this wonderful event. It combines evocative historic racing cars, reviving memories of years gone by, with the unique atmosphere that the Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit provides. It is a magical throwback to when the same cars raced at Brands in their heyday, at a Circuit that has changed little since and it is always great to hear the engine noise reverberating through the trees out on the GP loop.
This year, the event was just the 2nd to be held at the Circuit since spectators were allowed to attend following the easing of some lockdown restrictions on 17th May after the wretched Covid-19 havoc. That being the case, the number of spectators allowed for each day was 4000 so I booked in advance to attend the Sunday.
Arriving at the Circuit well ahead of the first race of the day, it was fairly obvious that the 4000 had sold out for that day and that many had chosen to take their cars inside to park closer to the action and their preferred spots. Having joined the queue and made my way to the infield, I parked for the day in a spot that was likely to remain fairly well shaded by a tree.
I particularly enjoy taking photos of the racing and know the best spots to stand, having been going to Brands for 62 years now. The angles achievable from the privileged positions of those holding Press Passes are ones that I prefer, but not having a Pass nowadays consigned me to the spectator areas.
The 90min Gentleman Drivers race was first up, with compulsory pitstops around half distance and many driver changes occurring at that time. This series is based on what were originally roadgoing sports/gt cars from the early to mid 1960’s, with the entry split into classes according to their year and engine capacity. This race proved to be fascinating, as tyre wear and driver strategy came into play. Fortunes yo-yoed over the course of the race, with several potential winners encountering problems that led to their retirements. Olly Bryant in his AC Cobra looked to have run the best strategy of conserving his tyres early on and not forcing the pace too much, leading from soon after the pitstops and well clear when gearbox maladies sadly sidelined him in the last 10mins of the race. That left another solo driven Cobra to collect the win, James Cottingham having also bided his time and not pushed too hard early on.
The hour long Masters Historic Sports Car race is for sports racing cars from 1962 to 1974, also including pitstops and driver changes, and was another to see victory go to a solo driven car. One of the stars of current WEC & ELMS racing, Alex Brundle (son of 1980’s Grand Prix driver Martin), qualified the Pearson run Lola T70 Mk3B on pole position and led away from the start. He maintained the lead as the front 4 cars broke away from the rest of the pack and continued to lead through the pitstops and even after a lengthy safety car period, to claim an excellent victory. The Lola T70 Mk3 of Nick Sleep and Martin Stretton came through to secure 2nd ahead of Henry Fletcher in his Chevron B19. The similar B19 of Jonathan Mitchell crashed out of 3rd after 11 laps, on the exit of Hawthorns (thankfully without personal injury), while Tom Bradshaw was forced to retire his B19 as a broken throttle cable ended his fine run in 2nd on lap 13.
The Masters Historic F1 series competitors had two races, one on Saturday won by Steve Hartley in his McLaren MP4/1 and chased to the flag by Lukas Halusa (McLaren M23) and Warren Briggs’ McLaren M29. The top 4 from Saturday result were reversed for the front 2 rows for Sunday race, so Mark Hazell started from pole and led the field for the opening 5 laps until Hartley made his move into the lead. Thereafter, Hartley extended his lead to over 20secs by the end of the 25min race, with Halusa coming through for 2nd and Hazell holding onto 3rd.
Pre-66 Mini races are always likely to produce good, close and exciting racing and the two races on Sunday afternoon were no exception. Ian Curley rocketed to victory in both, but it wasn’t as easy as that sounds. He was well clear early on in race 1 after an incident on the opening lap delayed the pack, but was caught towards the end by Nathan Heathcote and the last two laps saw a couple of place changes. Jeff Smith secured 3rd , clear of the chasing pack.
Curley and Heathcote had a good dice for the race 2 lead until Heathcote retired on lap 6. Smith retired on the opening lap, so it was Ollie Streek who took 2nd ahead of Matthew Page.
Equipe Libre also enjoyed two races and saw another double winner, as Tom Smith eased clear in both races with his MGB. Robert Binfield (Jaguar E-type) took 2nd ahead of Rob Cull with his TVR Grantura MkIII on Saturday. Peter Thompson charged from back of the grid after Saturday retirement to claim 2nd on Sunday , while the Willmotts came through for 3rd on Sunday followed by Cull and Binfield.
Steve Tandy was another double victor, this time in his Lola-Judd B12/60 as he raced from pole for lights to flag wins in both Masters Endurance Legends races. These races cater for Endurance Racing Sports Cars generally seen from 1995 to 2012 and this is a growing class within the Masters portfolio. Shaun Lynn took two 2nd places with his BR01, which seemed to take time to get the tyres up to a good working temperature each day despite the glorious weather.
All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable day - great racing, evocative cars, fantastic weather and a wonderful Circuit at which many of my older memories were made. Back at Brands, back behind the camera and back watching live Motorsport.
Opmerkingen