Photos by www.charliewooding.co.uk
The sixth running of the Historic Grand Prix Zandvoort served up a packed weekend of races and demonstrations from beautiful pre-war sports cars from the 1920s, Historic Formula 3, sports cars and touring cars to the Formula 1 machines from the 1970s and 1980s in the FIA Masters Historic Formula One Championship.
There was special anniversary: it was exactly 50 years ago that the three-litre Cosworth DFV engine made its competition debut during the Dutch Formula 1 Grand Prix at Zandvoort. Behind the wheel of the Lotus 49, the legendary Jim Clark secured the maiden victory in the first race for the new engine. To celebrate this occasion, the original Lotus 49 was back at Zandvoort. Led by Clive Chapman, the son of Lotus founder Colin Chapman, Classic Team Lotus looked after the car.
Other demonstrations included Porsche 917 K & 908/3, the 936 and the RS Spyder from the factory collection. Drivers included Le Mans winners Gijs van Lennep, Jan Lammers and Jürgen Barth. BMW Classic also had a presence with an impressive range of cars that included the world championship-winning Brabham-BMW BT52 Formula 1 car, the BMW M1 Procar and touring cars like the 3.90 CSL, 320i and E30 M3.
Highlights of the racing action:
Pre-War Sports Car
Charles Gillett and Edward Williams who took top honours for the second year running in the 1929 Frazer Nash Supersports in the Motor Racing Legends Pre-War Sports Car race. Rudi Friedrichs got a great start to lead the race in the early stages but the Alvis Firefly couldn’t hold off the Frazer Nash and Charles took the lead on lap 3 and never looked back. Friedrichs had to settle for second with Clive Morley the first of the Bentleys home in third place.
FIA Masters Historic Sports Cars
Leo Voyazides and Simon Hadfield came from last on the grid to win a fraught and incident-packed FIA Masters Historic Sports Car race at Zandvoort. Along with second-placed Jason Wright, their Lola T70 Mk3Bs were the only front-running cars that stayed out of trouble, as one rival after another fell by the wayside – either by mechanical misery or by their own doing. Voyazides drove well to claim the lead during his opening stint already, giving Hadfield little else to do than drive it home for the win.
FIA Masters Historic F1
Martin Stretton (Tyrrell 012) took a dominant victory in Sunday’s FIA Masters Historic Formula One race at Zandvoort as a blistered tyre put paid to Michael Lyons’ challenge in his Williams FW07B. From pole, Stretton eased away to a lead of 11.5 seconds at the finish.
Masters Gentleman Driver’s Race
In their Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupé, Leo Voyazides and Simon Hadfield took top honours in Sunday morning’s Stena Masters Gentlemen Drivers race at Zandvoort after Hadfield put in a storming drive to catch and pass Nicky Pastorelli’s Ferrari 250 GTO 64 with ten minutes to go.
Masters Pre-66 Touring Cars
From 36th on the grid, after mishap in qualifying, Steve Soper produced a storming drive to win the under-2-litre Cortina class in the Masters Pre-66 Touring Car race at Zandvoort, while taking the overall win as well. Soper was unleashed from the start, and was up to fifth by lap 3 of the shortened 40-minute race. His Cortina surged to the front on lap 6, as he passed Julian Thomas in the Ford Falcon, who took second overall and was the fastest of the over-2-litre cars. Even a 10-second time penalty for ‘misbehaviour on the track’ could not stop Soper from claiming the win.
