Frieser, Wrigley and Cope are double winners at the Masters Historic Festival!

Once again, the weather gods looked favourably on the Masters Historic Festival at Brands Hatch, offering a full house of sunny days! The paddock camaraderie and racing brought smiles to our faces throughout a busy weekend as well! On the track, canadian Keith Frieser, Matthew Wrigley and Paul Cope were the big winners, all netting double wins in their respective series.

Masters Racing Legends for 1966/1985 F1 Cars

Wrigley proved to be unbeatable in both Masters Racing Legends races, as his Tyrrell 011 won from pole on Sunday morning before inheriting the lead in the afternoon race when Steve Hartley’s McLaren MP4/1 and Yutaka Toriba’s Williams FW07C clashed. Toriba had been a strong second in Race 1, on his Masters debut for the car, while Simon Fish bagged a couple of podiums in the Arrows A4. Meanwhile, Mark Harrison was a happy man in the afternoon race when he took his first ever Masters podium in the Shadow DN9. The pre-78 class wins were shared between the Lec CRP1s of Ron Maydon and Peter Williams.

Masters Sports Car Legends 

Paul Cope’s March 75S had to deal with quite some opposition in the two Masters Sports Car Legends races, but came out on top in both of them, as he fought off challenges from the debuting GRD 74S of Guy Jeynes Ellis/Matt Manderson and the Lola T296 with James Claridge at the wheel. The John Spiers/Nigel Greensall McLaren M1B was an early casualty in Saturday’s race but came back to finish second on Sunday.

Masters Endurance Legends

Keith Frieser similarly conquered the competition in the two Masters Endurance Legends races, as his Zytek 09S LMP1 took a pair of comfortable wins, especially after Steve Brooks’ Lola B98/10 suffered its demise in qualifying. Youngsters Jack Fabby and Alfie Briggs tried to keep Frieser honest in their LMP3 Duqueine-Nissan D08 and looked set for a couple of second places before Fabby coasted to a halt on the penultimate lap of the second race. In his MG Lola EX264, Mike Newton did well to claim two LMP2 class wins as well as two overall podiums.

Masters GT Trophy 

Two Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo Evos shared the wins in the Masters GT Trophy races, as they fought the newly arrived older GT3s. Defending champion Craig Wilkins opened his 2024 account with a win, but failed to start the second start, allowing the Neil Glover/Aaron Scott pairing to race to victory. Adam Sharpe and George Haynes gave chase in the GT3 Mosler MT900, as did Richard Meins in the BMW Z4 GT3 while Gary Culver’s Ferrari 458 Challenge was a strong presence as well.

Masters Gentlemen Drivers 

As Saturday’s curtain closer, the Masters Gentlemen Drivers GT race proved to be highly entertaining, as Dan Eagling managed to beat all the big cars in his nimble Ginetta G4R. A legion of TVR Griffiths attempted to thwart Eagling’s progress, with John Davison’s example eventually proving the fastest example. Following a strong comeback race, the Roy Alderslade/Andrew Jordan Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupé ended up third.

Masters Pre-66 Touring Cars 

In Sunday’s Masters Pre-66 Touring Car race, reigning champion Sam Tordoff continued where he left off in 2023, as he got his title defense off to a successful start in his Ford Falcon. Mike Whitaker Jnr was his closest challenger for the entire race, chased home by the similar Mustang of the indefatigable John Spiers/Nigel Greensall combo. Dominant class winners Victor Cullen (Lotus Cortina) and Nick Swift (Mini Cooper S) starred by claiming fifth and sixth overall.

All the results are HERE