Gallery: John Retter Photography
Perfect spring conditions were served up for the three day Derbyshire based classic race event – Donington Historic Festival – which took place last weekend Apr 27-30 and has now firmly established itself as one of the UK’s major classic race events of the year.
What was new for 2017?
All qualifying took place on the Friday prior to the weekend, allowing the three day event to a close on Sunday evening and not the Bank Holiday Monday. The usual Drivers VIP lounge has also gone with competitors having their own hospitality around the Paddocks, the smaller venues making a much better social space for entertaining.
Race Highlights and Results:
Four races for Formula Juniors got the FJHRA/HSCC Silverline Formula Junior UK Championship off to a fine start with an entry of almost 60 cars. The two front-engined races were real crowd pleasers as John Sykes gave his rare Merlyn Mk2 a pair of wins against a fierce challenge from the Lola Mk2s of Robin Longdon and Justin Fleming. Full report
The HSCC Super Touring Challenge opened with a pair of races and it was James Dodd at the head of the action as he returned to racing after two very limited seasons in 2015 and 2016. Dodd’s Honda Accord was the clear pacesetter in both races as he opened his title bid with a dominant double win.
On Sunday, a 40-minute race got the 2017 Jaguar Classic Challenge off to a flying start with a packed grid of pre-1966 Jaguars including a huge array of E-types. Marque expert Gary Pearson was the class of the field but Ben Short gave strong chase despite his lesser experience, while father and son Graeme and James Dodd completed the podium.
A fantastic 27-car field kicked off the 11th season of Historic Formula 2 run by the Historic Sports Car Club. Adding to the impressive grid was the fabulous Ferrari 166 Dino of Graham Adelman, believed to be the first Ferrari ever to run in Historic F2, wins came for Frazer Gibney and Richard Evans Read full report
In the Motor Racing Legends grids 26 cars lined up for the Stirling Moss Trophy. It was Chris Ward who finished as the overall race winner in the JD Classics Lister Costin, having been chased hard by Will Nuthall in the ‘Woods’ Lister Knobbly. The Cooper Monaco of Charlie Martin and Justin Maeers was third and the Lister Knobbly piloted by a solo Nuthall failed to finish but still maintained second position.
Mad Jack Pre-War Sports Cars race, Blakeney-Edwards/Wakeman duo had the race pretty much sewn up from lights to flag. In the early stages Fred Wakeman enjoyed a great battle with Sam Stretton in the Alta Sports before Sam retired with a misfire. Lukas Halusa sadly lost out to a podium in the closing laps of the race suffering clutch issues but finished in 5th place.
Saturday’s Historic Touring Car Challenge race was as action packed with Chris Ward/Steve Soper romping home with a clean win 36 secs ahead of the field. Behind David Tomlin (Ford RS1800) and Dominik Roschmann (BMW3.0 CSL) swapped places in the closing laps. Oliver and Grahame Bryant were overall winners of the Tony Dron Trophy in their Chevrolet Camaro Z28.
An unfortunate incident unravelled in Saturday’s qualifying of the Royal Automobile Club Woodcote Trophy qualifying, where an oil spill sent cars spinning in all directions. JD Classics Cooper-Jaguar T33 had to be recovered and was out of Sunday’s race leaving Patrick Blakeney-Edwards and Fred Wakeman a clear path to victory in their Cooper T38. The Jaguar D-Type of Carlos Monteverde & Gary Pearson looked to offer a serious challenge early on, but the Jaguar D-Type sadly retired on lap 16. Til Bechtolschiemer fought hard in the Allard J2 to move up to 2nd in the latter part of the race but failing brakes saw him fall back towards the end, leaving Wolfgang Friedrichs & Simon Hadfield to pick up 2nd in the stunning Aston Martin DB3S closely followed by John Ure and Nick Wigley in their Cooper Bristol T24/25.
Andy and Max banks picked up a double win in the U2TC Trophy for pre-66 under 2-litre Touring Cars campaigning their Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint. The gang of Ford Lotus Cortinas heading up the grid were no match for the Alfaholics crew. The Ford Lotus Cortina of Steve Soper was 2nd in both races.
Julius Thurgood’s HRDC ‘Touring Greats’ grid for pre-60 Touring Cars was another packed grid with 40 cars heading four abreast or more at times into the first few corners. The Jordan father and son duo, were in a class of their own in their Austin GT40 finished nearly 1 minute clear of the Jaguar Mk1 of Butterfield-Dorlin. Neil Brown was third in his Austin A35 ‘Speedwell’.
A full grid with reserves waiting, lined up for the 2 hour feature GT and Sports Car Cup race, which roared off first thing on Sunday morning, the pecking order soon settled down with the Bryant father and son team leading the field and ultimately finishing on the top step of the podium exactly 80 laps later. Gary Pearson and Carlos Monteverde were 2nd in a Jaguar E-Type.
A full set of results from the weekend can be found here
Editor: Sarah Bennett-Baggs
Ed’s note: Hubby and I were out at Donington campaigning in the grey Healey 100/4, a shake-down for our new engine and set-up which proved some success as we finished Sunday’s Woodcote Trophy race – 4th in class – 15th overall. We still have some set-up work to do, to get the car performing as it used to, but it was a good start to the season and fantastic to get back out on track with the throttle stops open and finish with a car still working!
Thanks to Jack Chatham for making it go, Dave Brassington and Chris Byrne for the photos.
