Dan Pickett and Dan Eagling land thrilling Guards Trophy victory in their Chevron B16 whilst Sam Mitchell and Jordan Harrison claim respective double Historic and Classic Formula Ford victories and Graham Fennymore and Ben Glasswell share Formula Ford 2000 spoils at the HSCC Summer 2025 Donington Park meeting.
Headlining day 2 of the meeting were the Pre 72 GT and Pre 70 Sports Prototypes of the Guards Trophy which although a little light on numbers (Possibly impacted by running on the same weekend as the Thruxton Retro) saw an eclectic starting grid that was full to the brim with quality.
Indeed just 14 cars would head into Redgate on lap 1 of the scheduled 50 minute pitstop race headed by Murray Shepherd after a storming start from 6th on the grid in his GT40! A trip through the Old Hairpin gravel trap for the Ford man would however leave Andrew Hibberd to lead the early running in his Lotus 23B with the Lenham P69 Spider of Rob Tusting and Chevron B16 of Dan Pickett in hot pursuit.
The race action would really heat up on the opening of the pit window 15 minutes in however as Pickett and Tusting headed to pitlane at the first opportunity to allow their quicker co-pilots the largest possible amount of seat time. And having entered the pits nose to tail the two machines would exit almost alongside with Ben Tusting just keeping the Lenham in front of the now Dan Eagling driven Chevron.
Meanwhile Murray Shepherd was clearly getting to grips with the Stephenson family Ford GT40 and was making his way back towards the front. In fact Shepherd was past Hibberd and back in the lead of the race as the pit window drew to a close. But, having been lapping much quicker through the middle part of the race, it would be Tusting and Eagling that would hold a large lead as the pitstops unwound, with absolutely nothing to separate the very rapid duo.
Following an excellent first half of the race, Rob and Ben Tusting’s race would soon start to fall apart though as Eagling eventually found a way past Ben Tusting’s defences on lap 26 just as the Lenham P69 was also hit with a time penalty for track limits. And things would get worse still as, possibly unaware of his time penalty and with just a couple of laps remaining, Tusting junior would mis-judge his braking at the Roberts chicane and collide with the back of Eagling’s Chevron, forcing the P69 Spider into instant retirement.
Thankfully Eagling escaped relatively unscathed and was able to bring the stunning Chevron B16 home to claim a hard fought and well deserved victory. Hibberd meanwhile would cross the line second in his Lotus 23B after a consistent drive whilst Chris and Freddie Lillingston-Price would top the Chevron B6/8 runners to round out the podium positions in their B8 as the Ford GT40 of Henry Stephenson dropped back after the stops.
As always there was single seater action aplenty and the second Historic Formula Ford race of the weekend would prove to be a cracker as Sam Mitchell aboard his Merlyn MK20 claimed a second victory in as many days.
It was far from plain sailing for the Merlyn man however as fellow front row starter Ben Simms made a great start and held a relatively comfortable lead at one point before his Jomo JMR 7 developed a misfire in the closing stages. This allowed Mitchell, who had dropped back to third early on, to close in on the erstwhile leader and snatch victory on the penultimate lap. Frenchman Gislain Genecand meanwhile was well in the lead battle throughout and came home a very close third, in turn taking top spot in the over 50s class in his Crossle 16F.
Sunday’s Classic Formula Ford encounter (for Pre 82 machinery) would prove a little more straightforward as Jordan Harrison dominated proceedings aboard his Lola T540E to claim his second victory of the weekend. The battle for the remaining podium positions was less clear cut however as Tom Gadd, Rick Morris and Roy Alderslade fought it out with Gadd, aboard his Van Diemen RF81, eventually claiming second and Roy Alderslade (Merlyn MK20) completing the podium as Morris dropped back before being forced into retirement.
Rainfall and delays would push the Formula Ford 2000 race back to after lunch where on a drying track Graham Fennymore looked to be heading for a second victory of the weekend before being the cause of a red flag as a result of his Reynard SF81 expiring on the exit of Redgate. This resulted in a re-grid for a final 5 minute blast that saw Ben Glasswell (Reynard SF77) claim a fine victory having originally lined up 9th! Behind, Adrian Reynard (the man responsible for designing ¾ of the grid) would claim an excellent second after a delightful last lap pass at Redgate whilst Paul Allen aboard his Delta T78 would have to make do with third.
The combined 70s and Historic Roadsport races produced the largest grids of the weekend and it would be John Williams aboard his Porsche 911 SC who would top a fine field of 30 plus 60s and 70s machinery during Sunday morning qualifying. The pole sitter largely had things his own way in race 1 too as Williams went on to claim a relatively comfortable victory.
Race 2 would be a different story altogether though as Mark Godfrey, aboard his Lotus 7, seemed to find pace as the day progressed and, along with Race 1 winner Williams, put on a great show in race 2. Indeed the duo would swap positions on multiple occasions before the Lotus 7 man went on to claim a 2.6 second victory to go with his earlier podium. Meanwhile George Daws (Datsun 240z) looked to be heading for a double podium after claiming the race 1 runner up spot only to be denied by a late charge from Anthony Ross aboard his TVR 3000M.
Earlier in the day Jack Berry claimed a second Alfa Romeo and Italian Intermarque victory of the weekend after an action packed, red flag shortened, race 2. Starting third Jamie Thwaites claimed victory on the road in his Alfa Romeo Giuilietta after passing the MiTo 404 of Berry mid way through the event; but, after being hit with 15 seconds of time penalties for multiple track limit violations would find himself back behind the race 1 winner on the final time sheets. Barry McMahon meanwhile would claim an excellent third in his Alfa Romeo Giulia after starting from the back row of the grid.
Elsewhere, Jas Sapra and Paul Cook would share BMW Car Club Racing Championship victories whilst disappointingly the Griffiths Haig Trophy races turned into more of a demonstration as just 4 cars made the start of both races! A real shame as the 4 cars that did enter were of the highest quality and included Graham Moss’ original Lister Jaguar Knobbly. But with FISCAR included on the Thruxton Retro schedule numbers were always going to be a problem.
Numbers hopefully won’t be a problem for the inaugural running of the Equipe 6 hours at the Leicestershire circuit in just under 1 weeks time. What a prospect, would wall to wall sunshine be too much to ask? I CAN-NOT WAIT!
GALLERY
Paul Commons Motorsport 