HONOURING TONY DRON AT THE CLASSIC
Motor Racing Legends Historic Touring Car Challenge Showdown named in Tribute to much-missed Writer and Racer.
This summer The Classic and Motor Racing Legends will pay tribute to the well-respected and much-loved racer and writer Tony Dron who sadly passed away aged 75 at the end of last year.
Having earned himself a reputation as promising young driver in Formula Ford and Formula Three, Dron in later life became a leading light in the classic car world both as one of historic motorsport’s top driver and as a leading journalist writing for the Daily Telegraph and Octane magazine and editing Classic Cars for nine years.
It is, though, for his giant-killing exploits in the British Touring Car Championship during the late seventies that Dron is best remembered, often amazing the crowds as he conquered the larger engine Capri cohorts in his plucky Triumph Dolomite Sprint.
Inspired by those heroics, several years ago Motor Racing Legends named its evocative historic racing championship for saloon cars of that period The Tony Dron Trophy.
In recent stagings of The Classic at Silverstone, The Tony Dron Trophy has been part of a larger grid featuring more modern tin-tops including Rover Vitesses and Sierra Cosworth RS500s. Now, in a special salute to Dron’s remarkable lifetime achievements, the entire grid will run under the Tony Dron Memorial Trophy for MRL Historic Touring Cars banner.
“I can think of no more fitting tribute to Tony than a grid of historic Touring Cars lining up at Silverstone,” said Dron’s wife, Charis. “It’s a circuit to which Tony had a huge emotional attachment and, even better, many of the entrants will have been his friends or racing rivals. I can picture him up there on a cloud, watching the action and downing a pint of real ale in approval. Thank you to Duncan Wiltshire and Motor Racing Legends as well as those at The Classic for making such a thing possible.”
Duncan Wiltshire, Chairman of Motor Racing Legends commented: “Tony had a long association with Motor Racing Legends and we were greatly honoured to name our Group 1 and 1½ Touring Cars series after him seven years ago. Now the expanded Tony Dron Memorial Trophy for MRL Historic Touring Cars at the Classic will be a fitting tribute to our much missed friend and we hope that as many Group 1 and 1 ½ cars will come and race in Tony’s honour and celebrate his exception talent behind the wheel when he raced professionally in the 1970s and 80s.”
As one of the on-track highlights at The Classic (26-28 August), the Tony Dron Memorial Trophy for MRL Historic Touring Car Challenge is expected to attract a packed grid of 50+ iconic touring cars dating to several of the sport’s golden eras. Qualifying takes place on Friday with the spectacular 50-minute showdown scheduled for Saturday morning over the bumper Bank Holiday weekend.
The bumper grid will also feature cars from the Motor Racing Legends Sixties Touring Car Challenge and U2TC – for 1960s Under 2 Litre Touring Cars.
The Tony Dron Trophy is one of four Motor Racing Legends races to feature at this year’s Classic, including:
- Royal Automobile Club Woodcote Trophy and Stirling Moss Trophy for 1950s Sports Cars
- Royal Automobile Club Historic Tourist Trophy (for the MRL Pre ’63 GT)
- ‘BRDC 500’ for Pre-War Sports Cars
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