The Magazine
Previews of upcoming events, Race & Rally Reports, News, Reviews, Letters and Regulation Information from Historic Motor Racing News.
![Screenshot 2024-08-07 at 11.06.51 Screenshot 2024-08-07 at 11.06.51](https://historicmotorracingnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screenshot-2024-08-07-at-11.06.51.jpg)
Anderstorp Race Festival
The Swedish Racerhistoriska Klubben and the Anderstorp Racing Club jointly organised the fourth round of their 2022 championship at Scandinavian Raceway Anderstorp, their first visit to the southern Swedish circuit since 2013. Close to 200 drivers participated, including the guest grid NKHTGT from Holland with their pre-’66 GT and touring cars. Some Swedes took part in the Dutch heats and some Dutch took the opportunity to enter the Swedish races where they enjoyed driving on the 4.02-kilometre ex-F1 circuit in very mixed weather conditions. Indeed, it rained all day on Saturday, while on Sunday there was some sunny respite between showers.
Dix Mille Tours
As the August holidays came to a close, the 12th edition of the Dix Mille Tours on the Paul Ricard circuit ran on the same weekend (26-28 August) as the Silverstone Classic in blazing southern sunshine enjoyed by an audience of 15,000 spectators and nearly 460 cars from the clubs, coming to take advantage of the sinuous roads of the Var that lead to the circuit on its plateau above the resorts of Bandol and St Cyr-sur-Mer.
French Championships Historic Tour Val De Vienne
At the end of a long break of four months, the Historic Tour season resumed for its second half at the Val de Vienne circuit on 9-11 September for the fourth of six 2022 race meetings. The 3.7km circuit welcomed nearly 300 drivers over three days for two sprint races in each of the various championships, and the 200km Endurance race on Saturday evening.
Monterey Car Week
Exotic Ferraris, Jaguars, Aston Martins, Corvettes, Mustangs, a Lotus, Porsches, Maseratis passing us on Highway 101, just a reminder as we drove south from the San Francisco area through the hills and valleys of Steinbeck country toward the Monterey Peninsula that the Monterey Car Week was beginning. With over two dozen major events it is a busy week.
Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion
Regular Monterey-goers will fondly remember the days when seeing Stirling Moss, Tony Brooks or Juan Manuel Fangio in the Laguna Seca paddock was not all that unusual, and this year’s event was like old times, with its own star-studded cast in attendance, including Patrick Long, Dario Franchitti, Lyn St. James, John Morton, Rick Knoop, Jochen Mass, Jacky Ickx, Tom Kristensen, Henri Pescarolo, Stefan Johansson, Ron Fellows, Peter Brock and Bob Garretson, to name just a few.
HSCC Croft Nostalgia
Last run in 2019, pre-COVID, the Croft Nostalgia event brought the Historic Sports Car Club’s brand of racing back to the north east of England to a rousing reception on September 3-4. A good spectator turnout, many of whom arrived in a vast spectrum of classic cars – including an immaculate MG TA bought by its owner from a scrapyard for four pounds and 10 shillings in 1968 – witnessed some fine racing on one of the country’s most pleasant circuits.
VSCC Mallory Park
The Vintage Sports-Car Club made its annual visit to Mallory Park in Leicestershire on Sunday 21 August for the last of four 2022 race meetings. After morning practice, a grid walk-about was staged featuring the Edwardian class and much of the large crowd attended for a closeup view. John Whiteman reports…
The circuit is set in a natural bowl with excellent viewing over virtually all its 1.35 miles, but it was a great pity that the two commentators could only be heard in the paddock and not by the large crowd of spectators. Apparently, this is not an uncommon occurrence at Mallory.
Vintage Sports-Car Club Prescott Speed Hillclimb
In modern day parlance Prescott would be The Vintage Sports-Car Clubs ‘halo’ meeting but suffice it to say, it is the club’s most anticipated event as much for its social side as for the hill climbing. This year’s was held on 6-7 August in perfect conditions, both for climbing and picnicking in the Orchard. John Whiteman sends this report..
Historic Endurance Racing – Algarve Summer Party
After races at Barcelona, Pau and Spa, Historic Endurance Racing held its first race on Portuguese soil this season at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve on 30-31 July. The meeting was held in the heatwave conditions that have affected most of Europe.
NKHTGT Round Four – Assen
A regular fixture for the Dutch National NKHTGT Championship, competitors gathered at their home circuit of Assen on 5-7 August for their fourth round of the season. The series, for GT and touring cars also accepts some prototypes by invitation, but this time they shared the track with the German-based Triumph Competition & British HTGT cars, so no prototypes were on the grid.
HSCC Oulton Park
A week after the Oulton Park Gold Cup, which this year featured a mixture of races from different organisers, the Historic Sports Car Club returned to the Cheshire circuit to give its core club drivers the opportunity to race on the International circuit for a one-day meeting on 6 August. Summer holidays and competing events resulted in thin grids amongst the HSCC rank and file, who nonetheless spent an enjoyable day.
AvD Oldtimer Grand Prix
With a new organiser taking up the mantle, the longest standing historic event in the world was looking to wash away the memories of COVID and last year’s floods, even though its club-sized meeting in 2020 proved anything but unpleasant. Having been forced to postpone its 49th edition for a year, the 2022 Oldtimer Grand Prix did feel like a fresh start, with Masters, the HGPCA and Formula Junior returning to add to the numerous local series. Mattijs Diepraam reports…
Oulton Park Gold Cup
Originated in 1954 as a non-championship Formula 1 race, the Oulton Park Gold Cup evolved over many phases before becoming North West England’s contribution to British Historic racing’s landscape. In a bid to counter a decline in support in recent years, exacerbated by COVID-19 and travel restrictions for overseas competitors, and a seemingly fait accompli sequestration of its traditional August Bank Holiday date by Classic Silverstone, circuit group owner MotorSport Vision instigated a broader selection of races on 29-31 July this year, inviting some from outside logistics organiser HSCC’s portfolio.
Super Spa
After COVID put paid last year to a new end-of-year meeting at Spa, (to be known as Spa Hat trick), organiser Roadbook scheduled its third Spa meeting, after the Spa Summer Classic and Spa Six Hours, for the weekend of 5-7 August this year, and named it SuperSpa, launched with the slogan ‘not all heroes wear capes, some wear helmets.’ While Spa is well-known for its erratic and anything but predictable weather conditions, drivers and the public enjoyed three days of uninterrupted sunshine. Marcel Hundscheid Reports..
Vintage Sports-Car Club Silverstone
After the hype and excesses of the British Grand Prix two weeks earlier, Silverstone returned to its grass roots on Saturday 16 July when it hosted The Vintage Sports-Car Club’s Hawthorn Trophy meeting. It was the first race meeting at the circuit to which the club could welcome spectators since 2019, and competitors and the public alike were greeted with a glorious sunny day, the downside of which was high temperatures causing overheating problems on some cars. John Whiteman Reports….
HSCC Legends Of Brands Hatch Superprix
The European Formula 2 Championship took its final curtain call at Brands Hatch in 1984 before being replaced by F3000, thus merits the HSCC’s retrospective, run for two-litre cars to 1978 and 1600cc predecessors from ‘67-’71. The spectacular cars always deliver on the Grand Prix circuit, indeed the annual Legends Superprix’s double-header could not have been more hotly fought. Invitee Martin Stretton – the 2007 and ’09 champion, running his March 712 with a two-litre Ford BDG engine narrowly prevailed each day, shading 782 drivers Matthew Watts (BMW M Power) and Matt Wrigley (Hart power).
GP de France Historique
Who doesn’t love visiting le Castellet in Provence in early summer? The nearby beaches at Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer and Bandol are just the spot for a seafront lunch with a cool glass of rosé, followed by a short brisk but twisty drive up to the baking hot circuit. The 2022 French Historic Grand Prix at Paul Ricard on 18-19 June revisited the history of F1 and various other single-seater categories. Once again, its impressive paddock boasted many stars including Rene Arnoux, Jean Alesi and others, chatting and signing autographs. Éric Hélary was one of these and he was going to drive a Formula Ford for the first time in over 30 years.
HSCC Donington
The normally popular HSCC Donington weekend on 18-19 June offered 22 races over two days and if the grids were not as full as some previous years, then they were still holding up well. With a largely wet Saturday and dry Sunday, those with a race on each day could test their driving in both conditions. For four laps one time Euro Series champion Adrian Reynard led the Historic FF2000 race driving one of his very own cars and looking very impressive, but it was regulars Ben Simms and Graham Fennymore who eventually took victory in both races in that order.
Le Mans Classic
Four years since the last time, including a nearly-moment in 2020, Peter Auto’s Classic Le Mans, now legendary in its own right, exploded into action with over 600 cars entered in a plethora of races to compete on the hallowed, mostly public roads, of La Sarthe. Back in the sixteenth century Christopher Marlowe must have been prescient, when in Dr Faustus he writes, ‘Why, this is hell, nor am I out of it….the stars move still, time runs, the clock will strike, the devil come….’ There is much to Le Mans that is unique, but time is almost bent during this event.
Snetterton Historic 200
Entries may have been small across promoter Motor Racing Legends core grids for the first Snetterton Historic 200 event on 16-17 July, but quality action embroiling wonderful cars, with strong HRDC supports, entertained an unusually large spectator turnout. With focus, Duncan Wiltshire’s organisation and MotorSport Vision, owner of the venue which hosted non-championship F1 races in the early 1960s, could be grown into something really special. Marcus Pye Reports..