Tag Archives: Historic Motor Racing

Historic Sports Car Club

HSCC Finals – Silverstone – October 2025

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Formula Ford racing stole the show at the recent HSCC Finals meeting as Callum Grant and Benn Simms shared Historic wins, Rick Morris claimed double Classic victory and Graham Fennymore and Michael Moyers would share the FF2000 spoils as the Silverstone National Circuit proved conducive to some very close racing.

The HSCC Championship Finals meeting on the Silverstone National Circuit would bring down the curtain on the 2025 Historic Sports Car Club season with a jam packed schedule filled to the brim with single seater action but complimented nicely by races for the Roadsports, Alfas and Guards Trophy.

Commencing day 2, Graham Fennymore celebrated his third championship crown in style by claiming victory in the second Formula Ford 2000 race of the weekend. Having lost out to Michael Moyers in race 1, Fennymore would initially snatch the lead of race 2 with an awesome move around the outside of the hairpin only for Moyers to sling-shot back into the lead on the Wellington Straight.

There was no coming back from Fennymore’s decisive overtake at Luffield one lap later however as the 2025 champion made light work of the traffic in the second part of the race to claim a 3.5 second victory. Meanwhile Adrian Reynard would end the day on the final step of the podium after catching and passing the Delta of Murray Shepherd in the closing stages.

The 2 Historic Formula Ford races proved highly entertaining as the Silverstone National Circuit aided some incredibly close racing. In race 1 Ben Simms (Jomo JMR 7), Callum Grant (Merlin Mk20A) and Gislain Genecand (Crossle 16F) put on one hell of a show as the three pilots broke away from the field and swapped positions at seemingly every opportunity. Simms would however put in some rapid lap times in the closing stages and lead heading into the final lap. Grant though was in prime position to take advantage of the very powerful tow and strategically opted to re-take the lead in the final sector meaning there was no way back for the Leicestershire man on this occasion.

Race 2 would see the same 3 protagonists break away again but with the lead pack soon reduced to two after Genecand was forced into retirement. Simms and Grant would again take it turns to lead but this time Simms appeared to have learned his lesson as, despite again leading entering the final lap, was able to keep Grant at bay! Grant would however land the Paul Simms Memorial Trophy thanks to his larger race 1 winning margin.

Starting from the back of the grid courtesy of failing to finish race 1, Sam Mitchell had it all to do in race 2 to claim the 2025 Historic Formula Ford title. The huge favourite heading into Silverstone proved his credentials however, flying through the field to join an almighty battle for 3rd by half distance. And whilst Oliver Chapman would claim the final step of the race 2 podium, the 14 points gained for fourth was enough to ensure Simms could not snatch the crown at the final opportunity.

Rick Morris rolled back the years in the two Classic Formula Ford races as the 78 year old followed up race 1 victory by standing on the top step again at the conclusion of the second encounter. Competing in a replica of the Royale RP29 used in period, Morris traded positions with 2025 champion Jordan Harrison on multiple occasions during race 2 but after a late safety car looked to be on the back foot. However as the track returned to green Morris managed to wrestle the lead back and hold on for the remaining 2 laps to round off an excellent weekend.

The Guards Trophy for largely pre 66 sports racing cars would close the meeting but much like Donington earlier in the year did not attract the greatest number of entries. Also like Donington however the racing more than made up for it as the Elliot Paterson piloted Ginetta G16 lead much of the early running with the Lotus 23B of Andrew Hibberd and Chevron B8’s of Neil Fowler and Dan Balfour battling it out for second.

Rob Tusting had been lying fifth before his customary early stop to allow the rapid Tusting jnr to get behind the wheel. And true to form Ben Tusting would bring the Lenham P69 Spider right back into contention with a series of stellar laps; so much so that Tusting the younger would find himself only a handful of seconds behind the leading trio of Paterson, Hibberd and Balfour as the pitstop window came to a close before managing to slide past all three within a handful of laps.

The race was far from over though as the 50 minute blast proved highly attritional. Indeed, the Daniel Pickett / Dan Eagling Chevron B16 had already returned to the pit garages before Balfour was forced into retirement and later race leader Tusting would also be sidelined.

This would leave the Lotus 23B of Andrew Hibberd in pole position to take victory having earlier made his way past Russell Paterson’s Ginetta. And, with Paterson not able to match the pace of son Elliot, Hibberd was able to cruise to a 38 second victory; in turn taking a rather unexpected, but well received, share of the overall championship title.

Day 2 of the meeting would turn out to be a good one for Hibberd who earlier had taken runner up spot in the combined Formula Junior race aboard his Lotus 22. Sam Wilson proved the class of the field though as the Cooper T59 man wrapped up a second Formula Junior victory of the weekend whilst Jon Milicevic claimed a second podium of the weekend with 3rd.

By far the quickest, and most aurally pleasing cars on display were the largely Formula 5000, Formula 2 and Formula Atlantic machines found in the Derek Bell Trophy where Peter Williams claimed race 2 victory aboard his invitation class LEC CRP1 after just managing to hold off a late charge from the F2 Lola T460 of Mark Williams. Dan Eagling had lead the early running and looked to be on course for a second Derek Bell Trophy victory of the weekend only for his March 742 to suffer a timing belt failure. Mark Mercer meanwhile would claim the final step of the race 2 podium having snook past the Chevron B40 of Chris Porritt in the closing stages.

In the Roadsport categories, Mark Godfrey claimed day 2 Historic victory aboard his Lotus 7. In what proved an entertaining encounter where Paul Tooms and Frazer Gibney also lead, Godfrey found his rhythm in the second half of the race and having eased the lead back away from Tooms would go on to claim a 4 second victory.

TVRs would meanwhile dominate the 70s race with Anthony Ross taking an early lead and never looking back in his 3000M. Julian Barter in a similar machine would cross the line some 7 seconds in arrears whilst Russell Paterson would follow up son Elliot’s combined race 1 victory with 3rd on day 2 aboard the family Morgan Plus 8.

Elsewhere Jack Berry (Alfa Romeo 4c) and Jamie Thwaites (Alfa Romeo Giuilietta) would share Alfa Romeo and Italian Intermarque championship victories. Thwaites had looked set for double victory but for a mistake at Becketts which would cause the pole man to drop out of contention.

This had been a thoroughly enjoyable first experience of the Silverstone National Circuit, which although proved more difficult than normal for the non-signed on photographer, did produce some fantastic racing. Not a bad way to bring to a close my 2025 circuit racing season! Now to start drafting plans for 2026 …

FULL RESULTS

GALLERY

Equipe Classic Racing

Equipe 6 Hour – Donington Park – July 2025

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Rory Butcher, Ben Tinkler and Ben Barker claim inaugural Equipe 6 hour glory aboard their Lotus Elan 26R in what proved to be an excellent new addition to the British Historic Racing calendar.

Attracting a decent entry is always a worry when a new event is brought to the fore but thankfully the inaugural running of the Equipe 6 hours at Donington Park was very warmly received with a fantastic 32 glorious pre-66 machines lining up for the start of the race.

Mirroring the format of the very successful Spa 6 hours, but crucially not allowing the all conquering GT40, a plethora of Lotus Elans and MGB’s would make up the bulk of the entry but with a couple of Cobras and Healey’s, amongst others, thrown in for good measure. And with a great mix of drivers too (the Equipe regulars being joined by a fair few professionals) we were set for one hell of an afternoon’s racing.

And it would be one of the pro’s in the form of ex-BTCC race winner, Rory Butcher, aboard the front row starting #40 Elan 26R who would lead the early running as the pole sitting #600 similar machine of John Tordoff dropped back. Instead it would be the AC Cobra Daytona Coupe of Jeremy Cottingham and the Elan 26R Shapecraft of Michael O’Brien who would take the fight to the Scotsman in the early stages.

However, neither the Shapecraft or Cobra Daytona would make it to half distance which left the JCT backed pole sitting Elan the mostly likely challenger with a clearly fired up Andrew Jordan dragging them right back into contention; this after an early puncture enforced a second pitstop within the first quarter of the race.

Indeed the former British Touring Car Champion was able to lap much quicker than Tinkler (who had taken over from Butcher in the race leading Elan) during the second stint and had closed the gap significantly before both machines headed for their mandatory 5 minute fuel stop at around half distance.

Current Toyota BTCC driver James Dorlin would take over the reigns from Jordan whilst Ben Barker had found a gap in his World Endurance Championship exploits to fill the hot seat of the erstwhile leaders. And with drivers of this calibre at the head of the field it was no surprise to find them continue to pull away from the rest of the pack but with the gap remaining relatively constant between themselves.

A safety car with just over 1 hour and 25 minutes remaining would however give both crews the perfect opportunity to make their final stop. Butcher and Jordan would be re-installed in the respective #40 and #600 Elans for the final stint but as the track returned to green it became apparent that the long time leaders had gained almost a lap on the rivals as the safety car pitstops unwound.

Jordan was not about to give up on victory however but try as he might, with plenty of sideways moments along the way, it was all too much to ask as Butcher put in a sublime final stint to take victory by almost 1 minute. With confirmation, if ever it were needed, that it was the #40 Elan’s day when the car came to halt on the slowing down lap! Talk about timing! A thoroughly deserved victory however as I am not sure Butcher, Tinkler and Barker put a foot wrong throughout the entire 6 hours!

Such was the pace of the two leading crews that third place car of Connor Kay, Ben Caisley and Dominic Mooney would end the event some 10 laps in arrears in their similar Elan 26R! However third place overall would have seemed like a pipe dream after the trio were delayed early on after an issue with a brake overflow tank saw them receive the dreaded meatball flag!

Fourth home would be the leading AM crew in the form of Nick Sleep and Alex Montgomery after a brilliant drive aboard the fabulous “Hairy Canary”. In fact the AC Cobra crew were right in the mix for large parts of the race but with the necessity for a second 5 minute fuel stop and a few wayward moments would drop back. 4th overall representing one hell of an effort by the two driver crew however as they Man handled the American Brute through the event’s 6 hour duration.

A few wayward moments would be understatement of the year for the fifth place crew of Rob Cull, Gerry Buggy and Tom Smith. Cull had been running in the top 5 before an off at McLeans within the first hour brought out the safety car and dropped the #46 Elan to 25th. This was just the beginning however as the car would find itself in the same gravel trap on at least 3 more occasions before the day was out. All the more remarkable then that Cull, Buggy and Smith would claim the AM runner up spot. It must have been some drive between the offs and perhaps a case of what might have been!

Elsewhere Simon, Dan and Andrew Smith would complete the AM podium in yet another Elan with 6th whilst Bruce Duckworth, Graham Hill and Jamie Mason would claim an excellent 7th aboard the leading MGB. Meanwhile Mike Thorne, Sarah Bennett-Baggs and John Todd would come home 8th in the leading Austin Healey whilst Tim Mogridge and Nicholas King would end the day in 11th in their Triumph TR4 despite a lengthy visit to the Old Hairpin gravel trap in the final quarter of the race.

What an event this had been! I absolutely love the fact that the general public were granted free access to the pre-event grid walk and that the category winning machines were wheeled into Garage 39 for the post event party! It would have been nice to see a few more marques represented (TVR Griffiths and Jag E-Type come to mind) but that’s just splitting hairs! A big thank you to Rob and John for brining this awesome event to the UK. If the competitors enjoyed it half as much as I did then we should see the event go from strength to strength in years to come.

FULL RESULTS

GALLERY

Motor Racing Legends

Motor Racing Legends – Silverstone – October 2023

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Despite a post qualifying engine change, Harry Barton and Oliver Reuben headed a TVR Griffith 1-2 to claim Pall Mall Cup victory at Silverstone.

For the third successive year, the Motor Racing Legends meeting on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit would bring down the curtain on my historic racing season and despite a noticeable drop in entry levels over that time period the stand out Pall Mall Cup for Pre 66 machinery still provided excellent entertainment value.

A damp morning qualifying session, courtesy of monsoon conditions throughout the UK on the day previous, looked likely to produce a mixed up grid however the cream rose to the top by the end of the session as Touring Car legends Rob Huff (Jaguar E-Type) and Andrew Jordan (Lotus Elan) ended up sharing the front row of a relatively healthy 29 car grid.

Huff and Jordan would then use all their experience on a drying track to escape up the road early on with the more powerful Jaguar in the hands of Huff building a commanding lead before handing over to Richard Meins.  Meins however was not as comfortable in the tricky conditions and was quickly swallowed up by a double stinting Jordan, TVR Griffith of Oliver Reuben and Daytona Cobra of Harvey Stanley.

And it would be the latter two that would find themselves embroiled in an almighty mid race battle for the lead (once Jordan had pitted for a second time to hand over to Simon Evans) with Stanley eventually managing to streak away and build what looked to be a potential race winning margin.  That all came to an end a few laps later though as Stanley found himself beached in the Becketts gravel thus handing the advantage back to the TVR of Reuben.

Despite unable to keep up with Stanley, Reuben’s pace was such that Harry Barton (having taken over from Reuben for the final stint) would find himself with a lead of more than 40 seconds over Huff (back in the E-type) and a second Nigel Reuben Racing TVR in the hands of John Davison as the event entered the final hour; a margin that appeared more than necessary given the pace of Huff and the even more rapid Davison.

In fact Davison (taking over from Nigel Reuben) was setting the track alight, soon passing Huff and then setting his sights on the team car of Barton.  However time would be against Davison in the end as Barton just had enough in hand to reach the chequered flag first, bringing to an end a quite brilliant 3 hour race which saw the top 5 all on the same lap and top 3 covered by a little over 10 seconds!  Incredible considering there was not a single safety car intervention throughout!

In a field containing Cobras and E-types I’m not sure many would have predicted the final outcome but the Nigel Reuben Racing machines came into their own as the track dried out to land a memorable 1-2; even more remarkable considering the winning car only just made the grid following a post qualifying engine change!

Earlier in the day, Amspeed prepared BMW M3s completed a lockout of the podium positions in a damp Historic Touring Car Challenge race. With varying degrees of precipitation throughout tyre choice proved a lottery but it was Darren Fielding who just got the better of Colin Turkington (sharing with Mark Smith) in the latter stages to take victory with Tom Houlbrook rounding out the top three.

Having been in two minds whether to make the trip following a busy week it turned out to be a brilliant day at the Northamptonshire Circuit; the completely unexpected sunset and seemingly unrestricted garage access combined with one of the best historic endurance races of the season made it a day to remember.

GALLERY

Uncategorized

Donington Delivers one Helluva Historic Festival

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In what has become tradition, May Day bank holiday weekend saw the historic racing community welcomed by Donington Park for the 6th running of the utterly brilliant Donington Historic Festival; this year able to benefit from substantial investment which has brought the famous Leicestershire circuit back to it’s very best.

As is also tradition, the early May bank holiday weekend weather was, shall we say, mixed!  Whilst Saturday was blessed with a sunny start and end to the day, hail and rain showers were a feature of the early afternoon; conditions made more tricky by just how cold it was.  It is not normal to see one’s breath in late April, even in England!

The first race of the weekend, the opening round of the HSCC Historic F2 championship, slotted nicely between showers however.  Where, on a drying track, Andrew Smith in his Formula Atlantic specification March 79B was one of a minority to gamble on slicks; a decision which paid dividends as he recorded a dominant 53 second victory over series newcomer Dean Forward.

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And it was the Warwickshire man who was again first to the chequered flag in Sunday’s second encounter.  After quickly passing the fast starting Forward, Smith was able to build a winning margin of 35 seconds over the ‘3rd gear-less’ March 782, making it a weekend to remember for the Team Gunston March pilot.

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The Pre 91 Touring car field were not quite so lucky with the weather.  Whilst a dry start allowed the BMW of Mark Smith to take the lead from pole, rain began to fall during the mandatory pit stop window.  And it was during the driver changes that Chris Ward, taking over the Broadspeed Capri from BTCC hero Steve Soper, was able to get the jump on the Mark Smith/David Cuff E30.  And the heavier the rain fell the more comfortable the lead became; Ward putting in a sublime drive in testing conditions to claim the Tony Dron Trophy by over 1 minute.

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In fact Ward would carry his strong form into the 2.75 hour, somewhat disappointingly supported, ‘1000km’ Sportscar race.  Again paired with Paul Gibson, the 2015 winners faced a very different challenge if they were to repeat their success.  The cold and damp conditions would not favour their powerful Lola T70 where instead it was the nimble Chevron B8 of Martin O’Connell who was able to take an early lead.

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Ward, installed on lap 32, would find himself 3 laps down to the little 2 litre prototype but a succession of fastest lap times on an ever drying track brought the #9 Lola back into contention.  Meanwhile James Littlejohn had been in the sister Gibson car since lap 20 and on lap 77 it was he who finally hunted down and passed the O’Connell piloted B8.

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Oliver Bryant had looked best placed to tackle the rogue Chevron having kept his T70 in touching distance throughout the first half of the race.  A very slow pitstop on lap 60 however dropped the #14 machine 5 laps and it would be an uphill struggle from then on in.

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And so with the Chevron now struggling to keep pace in the early evening sunshine, the fight for top spot would turn out to be an all family affair with Paul Gibson emerging from the car’s final pit-stop just in front of son Daniel in the #10.  However it was Gibson Senior who managed to maintain the lead over the last 20 or so laps, claiming race victory for a second successive year.  But for a mis-read pit board Gibson Jnr may well have put up a stronger fight.

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Bryant meanwhile would fight back to claim a strong third position, ending the race just over 1 minute behind the winners; a story of what might have been given the #14 T70 spent 1.5 minutes longer in pit lane!  P3 honours and fourth overall was just reward for a great drive by Martin O’Connell and Andrew Kirkaldy in the Chevron B8.  Had the rain continued who knows what the outcome would have been!

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Sunday’s schedule would feature a further 7 races, in many respects headlined by the 90 minute GT & Sports Car Cup for Pre-66 GT and Pre-63 Sportscars.  Traditionally a battle between Cobra and E-Type it was the Oliver Bryant piloted Cobra who was able to take an early lead from the Julian Thomas and Gary Pearson Jags and the pole sitting similar machine of Leo Voyazides.

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Both E-types had soon fallen by the wayside however leaving an all Shelby battle up front; Hadfield, installed in the #75 Cobra during an oil enforced safety car period, now finding himself at the head of the field following a quicker turn around during the stops.  However, opting for a short Grahame Bryant stint proved to be key strategically as Bryant junior had almost 30 laps to hunt down the leader.

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And sure enough with Voyazides back in the driving seat on lap 45 the deficit was reduced to just 5 seconds with Bryant, clearly on a mission, able to haul his mis-firing Cobra into the lead with a little over 10 minutes remaining.  The retirement of Voyazides shortly after allowing for a comfortable drive to the flag with the now second and third placed Clark/Smith E-Type and Friedrichs/Mallock Aston Martin DP214 over 1 lap in arrears.

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New to the schedule for 2016, the pre-50 Grand Prix cars battling for the Nuvolari Trophy put on a great Display.  Sunday’s dry second race saw Callum Lockie in his Maserati 6CM able to get the better of race 1 winner, Michael Gans, after an almighty scrap between the two.  Gans, in ERA R1B, had fallen to third at the start but was able to take the lead on lap 11 before the vastly experienced Lockie made the decisive overtake just 1 lap later.

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The very sideways Pre-66 under 2 litre touring cars never fail to entertain with onlookers eagerly awaiting a good battle between the leading Ford, BMW and Alfa crews.  But whilst BMW were able to take the fight to the Lotus Cortinas in qualifying, all 3 leading 1800s were in trouble with electrical problems before the race had really begun.  This left the the Andrew/Max Banks Alfa to successfully chase down the Fords of Andy Wolfe and Dion Kremer and build a healthy lead over the opening stint of the race.

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Whilst Wolfe would soon retire, another MK1 Cortina in the hands of Neil Brown had starting making progress.  And once taking over the reigns, Fortec boss, Richard Dutton, carried on Brown’s hard work to close in on Max Banks during the second half of the race; a gutsy charge that left the Ford man just 10 seconds shy of the untouchable Giulia Sprint GTA at the flag.  Meanwhile David Tomlin made it two Fords on the podium, passing Kremer in the pit-stops and managing to hold off the Swiss pilot during the closing stages of the race.

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The RAC Woodcote Trophy for pre-56 Sportscars was yet another highlight of the weekend, proof if ever it were needed that historic racing is much more than just a demonstration.  Throughout the entire 1 hour duration of the race, Fred Wakeman and later Patrick Blakeney-Edwards tried all they could to get past the D-Type Jaguar of Gary Pearson.  The Cooper Jaguar Type 38 was more than a match for the D-Type but Pearson was immaculate through the traffic and, as Blakeney-Edwards put it, there is no getting past the Northamptonshire man when in that kind of form!

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Colin Turkington made a one off appearance in the HSCC Super Touring Car Trophy race, and the Northern Irishman showed his class by taking third place in the Mark Smith BMW E30.  The older BMW was no match for the Gordon Noble Jnr Vauxhall Vectra or the Stewart Whyte Honda Accord however; with the former able to get the better of regular front runner Whyte on this occasion.

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Following an article in Motor Sport magazine I was very much looking forward to the final event of the day, the Pre 80 endurance race for Sports racing GT and Touring Cars.  You just cannot beat the sound of a 3 litre DFV formula 1 engine and on this occasion we were blessed with not only the magazine featured Lola T282 of Leo Voyazides and Simon Hadfield but also the T292 of Michele Liguori.

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Hadfield had earlier put the Gitanes sponsored T282 on pole with a fantastic 1.05.872 but it was Liguori who beat Voyazides into Redgate, immediately gapping the Greek pilot and leaving him to fight with the Chevron B19 of Martin O’Connell.  Unfortunately, the expected DFV battle never materialised as a coming together between O’Connell and Voyazides at Goddards put the Chevron out of the race and left Voyazides with a broken wheel; the former calling it a racing incident whilst the latter was less diplomatic!

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Whilst Liguori was now able to cruise to victory, Voyazides with broken wheel replaced, and later Simon Hadfield were able to drag themselves back up through the field to a phenomenal second place; missing out on victory by just 26 seconds after at one stage being 2 laps down!  The sight and sound of Hadfield taking on the Craner Curves in this glorious machine is one of those memories that will stick around for years to come!  Ever wondered what is missing from modern day racing?  This car sums it up completely!

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My time at the festival may have been over but the racing continued throughout Monday, where …

David Tomlin piloted his Lotus Cortina to victory in the HRDC ‘Coys Trophy’ whilst Stewart Whyte charged to glory in the second Super Touring Car race.  Callum Lockie, sharing an E-Type with Julian Thomas, continued his excellent weekend by taking the Jaguar Classic Challenge honours.  Chris Ward made it a hat-trick of weekend race victories by taking the Stirling Moss Trophy for Pre-61 Sport Cars.  Fred Wakeman and Patrick Blakeney-Edwards claimed the Mad Jack for Pre-War Sports Cars victory and last but not least, Andrew and Mike Jordan raced their Austin A40 to top spot in the HRDC Pre-60 Touring Car race.

FULL RESULTS

GALLERY

This had been another fabulous Donington Historic Festival.  The festival and circuit organising team just seem to get it, be it the friendly and welcoming circuit staff, the excellent commentary team, the ability to get touch close to millions of pounds worth of famous racing cars, a fantastic selection of races across the weekend and now the freedom to roam over the entire infield.  And having fond memories of the venue as a child in the late eighties and early nineties it is great to see the circuit in such good shape!  If only the Dunlop Bridge and Spitfire were to make a return …

All images © Paul Commons (Paul Commons Motorsport Photography)