GalleriesFor spectators, as well as competitors, this was truly a race to savour – both for the tremendous grid of 48 pre-War sportscars and for the heart-stoppingly close racing. Nor was the race without its share of spins and offs, as the drivers grew ever-more determined to win their own particular battles, right through the field.
The one-hour, two-driver BRDC 500 race, organised by Motor Racing Legends, began with Bill Ainscough on pole in his fabulously quick Alfa Romeo 8C. The ever-competitive Alta Sports of Gareth Burnett and Luke Stevens was second on the grid and hard on the Alfa’s heels… finally coming through to take first place, relegating Ainscough’s 8C to second (and a class win). The Frazer Nash Supersport of Charles Gillett and Patrick Blakeney-Edwards took third overall (and a class win), followed by the Neumark/Hope Alfa Romeo 8C in fourth.
Further down the grid it was a race to thrill Talbot enthusiasts, with no fewer than three Talbot 105s, one of which was shared by three drivers: owner John Ruston, Julian Bronson, and Mags Diffey – widow of the sorely missed historic racer James, who passed away earlier this year. Fittingly, this year’s winning Alta is the very same car in which James himself won this race in 2006.
Meanwhile, two Stutz sportscars also graced the field – in more ways than one, as it turned out, since Motor Racing Legends Chairman Duncan Wiltshire managed a gentle spin (blaming the enormous steering wheel for making quick directional changes a challenge), and hence a short trip over the lush green grass of the Silverstone infield. But despite starting from the back of the grid, Wiltshire and team-mate Mike Windsor-Price took the huge black Stutz Blackhawk Le Mans replica, owned by Norman Barrs, to a very respectable 16th position overall. Barrs’ other Stutz, piloted by Colin Warrington and John Guyatt, finished 12th.
Class winners not already mentioned include the Clarke/Horsman Morgan 4-4 LM and the Dee/Bell Aston Martin Speed Model ‘Red Dragon’.
Pictures of all the competing cars are available from Tim Scott of Fluid Images
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