Masters Grids Deliver Stunning Racing at Zandvoort!

The Historic Grand Prix weekend at the thrilling Zandvoort circuit delivered the full package of retro, beachside racing at the weekend, headlined by a fantastic grid of 26 3-litre Formula One cars in Masters Racing Legends. Under mainly sunny skies, with the exception of Friday afternoon, the Masters grids thrilled the Dutch crowds throughout with some very closely-fought races! Congratulations to Marco Werner, Lukas Halusa, Jamie Constable, Julian Thomas, Sam Tordoff, Craig Wilkins, Jason Wright, Felix Haas and Michael Lyons who all took the podium honours during the weekend!

Masters Racing Legends for 1966/1985 F1 Cars

On Saturday, Werner led home a mighty six-car scrap for ultimate Masters Racing Legends glory, as his Lotus 87B held off teammate Nick Padmore’s Lotus 77, Ken Tyrrell’s Tyrrell 011 and Lukas Halusa’s Williams FW08. While on Sunday, Halusa got one back over Tyrrell to claim his second overall victory in the series, as Matthew Wrigley recovered from Saturday’s ill fortune to surge up to third in his Tyrrell 011. Padmore completed the pre-78 class double with fifth overall, again following Werner across the finish line.

Masters Endurance Legends 

Meanwhile in Masters Endurance Legends, Jamie Constable was another double winner, as his LMP1 Zytek 04S engaged in a pair of fights with the LMP2 Lotus Lola B12/80 shared by Marco Werner and Nick Padmore. On Sunday, Werner crossed the line in first but was penalised for an altercation while attempting to pass the Zytek into the chicane. Local father-and-son duo David & Olivier Hart took a pair of convincing GT class wins in their Renault RS01.

Masters Gentlemen Drivers & Masters Pre66 Touring Cars 

The combined Masters Gentlemen Drivers & Pre-66 Touring Car race was Saturday’s curtain closer, and it proved to be a thrill to end, as former champion Julian Thomas fought off everything thrown at him and his Shelby Cobra Daytona, including safety cars, red flags, full-course yellows and strong local opposition from Nicky Pastorelli’s Ferrari 250 GTO ’64 and the Harts’ similar Daytona Cobra to claim a brave win. In the touring car section, Sam Tordoff made the race his own to follow up on his win at Brands Hatch while beating the similar Falcon of Robin Ward. In third, Harry Barton’s BMW 1800 tiSA managed to keep all the Cortinas behind.

Masters GT Trophy 

In the pair of Masters GT Trophy races, Craig Wilkins looked set to be yet another double winner on the weekend but a pitlane speeding infringement cost him a repeat victory on Sunday. The day before, Wilkins’ Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo Evo had completed a convincing win but Jason Wright in the Ferrari 458 GT3 gained from Wilkins’ misdemeanour in the second race. In a heavily disputed GT4 class, Vasily Vladikin’s BMW M3 GT4 and the Peter Reynolds/Daniel Quintero Ginetta G55 shared the honours across both days.

Masters Sports Car Legends 

A similar story seemed to develop in Masters Sports Car Legends, where Felix Haas and Michael Lyons claimed a solid win from the front on Saturday but were on the backfoot on Sunday when a full-course yellow allowed rival Jason Wright to make a ‘free’ pitstop and jump them. However, Lyons grabbed the Lola T294 by the horns to catch and pass Wright’s Lola T70 Mk3B for their second win of the weekend. Meanwhile, John Spiers and Nigel Greensall bagged a pair of Hulme class victories in their McLaren M1B.

After a fantastic weekend at the Dutch seaside, we head towards the green hills of the Czech Republic in three weeks’ time for the Masaryk Grand Prix Revival at Brno (12-14 July). After that we head back to the UK for two popular summer events, our Masters Historic Race Weekend at Donington Park (3-4 August) and the Silverstone Festival (23-25 August), an event that promises to be bigger and better than ever. And looking further afield, we have the Spa Six Hours (26-28 September) and our season-closer at Mugello (11-13 October) to look forward too!. We hope you will join us at all of them! Let's Go Racing!