Motor Racing Legends has almost filled the entire 44-car grid for the Woodcote Trophy at July’s Silverstone Classic – and entries for the support race at the Spa Six-Hours meeting in October, still more than four months away, have already exceeded last year’s total grid.
“Drivers keen to be accepted for the top historic events seem to be submitting their entries earlier and earlier,” says Duncan Wiltshire, Chairman of Motor Racing Legends, which runs the Royal Automobile Club Woodcote Trophy races for pre-1956 sports-racers. “Historic racing is becoming increasingly competitive – not only on the track, but also in the race to get a place on the grid.
“In previous years, the bulk of entries has come in quite close to the closing date, but for 2007 we’ve seen entries many months in advance – and we’re talking about cars of the calibre of ex-works C-type and D-type Jaguars, Ferrari 750 Monza and Maserati 300S. These aren’t cars with only an outside chance of being accepted – they are the cream of genuine, early post-War sports-racers.”
Nor is it just the Woodcote Trophy which has seen this trend. The grid for the Silverstone Classic round of the Motor Racing Legends Pre-War Sports Car Series – the BRDC 500 – has seen a similar picture, with subsequent races at the Oulton Park Gold Cup and at the Spa Six-Hours meeting following this same pattern.
“It’s a reflection of the increasing demand for races accepting only genuine, unadulterated historic cars, competing just as they would have done in their heyday,” concludes Wiltshire.
This year’s opening races for both the Woodcote Trophy and the Pre-War Sports Car Series are at Dijon on June 22 – 24. The full racing calendar for both series can be found on our calendar page.
STOP PRESSOne of the 44 entries in the Woodcote Trophy is Jaguar D-type XKD 545. This is the car which won the 1956 Watkins Glen Grand Prix in the hands of George Constantine – and which hasn’t been seen in the UK since the 1970s.
The D-type’s new owner, Tony Pickering, bought XKD 545 from its American owner in December, with the intention of recommissioning it for racing after a gap of almost 30 years. “The car’s last race was in Australia in the 1980s,” says Pickering. “We’ve entered it for the Le Mans Legend in June, and for both the Silverstone and Spa rounds of the Woodcote Trophy.” Tony’s son Gavin Pickering, a modern Le Mans driver, will be piloting the historic D-type at the Silverstone Classic, along with co-driver Spencer Marsh. The car will wear race number 49 – the same number it wore in its famous victory at Watkins Glen in 1956.
 |
 |