A warm welcome in Brno for the Brno Grand Prix Revival

Returning after a ten-year hiatus, Masters travelled east with a choice selection of grids to be warmly welcomed by a highly appreciative crowd of enthusiasts at the Brno Grand Prix Revival. On a glorious summer weekend in July, Matthew Wrigley and Werner d’Ansembourg split the wins in two exciting Masters Racing Legends for 3-litre Formula One races, while Zytek pair Keith Frieser and Jamie Constable took turns for the Masters Endurance Legends wins. The Masters Gentlemen Drivers race ended up in a Lotus Elan 1-2 with Stephan Jöbstl & George McDonald being eventual victors, with Harry Barton claiming the Pre-66 Touring Car spoils.

Masters Racing Legends for 1966/1985 F1 Cars

The pair of Masters Racing Legends races proved to be highly competitive affairs, as a particularly strong post-78 entry looked to add some wins to their tally. In the end, Matthew Wrigley (Tyrrell 011) and Werner d’Ansembourg (Brabham BT49C) took one victory each. On Saturday, Wrigley was there to pick up the pieces when polesitter Oli Webb’s Arrows A3 suffered a puncture, while he and Steve Hartley (McLaren MP4/1) chased home an unleashed d’Ansembourg on Sunday.

Saturday’s result – with Mike Cantillon’s Williams FW07C in second and d’Ansembourg in third – delivered a poignant 1-2-3 to Front Row Racing, which the team graciously dedicated to their terminally ill team principal Colin Bennett. In the pre-78 class, James Hanson (Maki F101C) and Peter Williams (Lec CRP1) took a win each.

Masters Endurance Legends 

In Masters Endurance Legends, Keith Frieser’s Zytek 09S and Jamie Constable’s Zytek 04S fought hard to take one trophy each. Frieser led Saturday’s race from the front while fending off Constable’s challenge and was all set for a repeat assignment on Sunday. This time, however, Constable produced a clever pass copied from Masters Racing Legends rival Matteo Ferrer-Aza earlier that day to overtake his Canadian adversary for the win. Meanwhile, returning 2019 FIA Masters Historic Formula One champion Ferrer took a pair of thirds in his ex-Wayne Taylor Racing Chevrolet Corvette DP. Mark Drain (Ligier-Nissan JSP3) and Oli Webb/James Hanson (Mosler MT900R) bagged the respective LMP3 and GT class wins.

Masters Gentlemen Drivers & Masters Pre66 Touring Cars 

In the combined Masters Gentlemen Drivers & Pre-66 Touring Car race, Hall & Hall produced a Lotus double with their Stephan Joebstl/George McDonald and Philipp Buhofer/Andy Willis pairings, as their Elans fought all the way to the line. However, two-thirds into the race, defending champions John Spiers and Nigel Greensall still looked odds-on for another victory, only for their TVR Griffith to disappear in a trail of oil from its diff. The fight for C2 class victory was equally entertaining, as the Morgan Plus 4 Super Sports of Keith Ahlers/Billy Bellinger and Simon Orebi Gann/Calum Lockie were separated by a thin sheet of paper. In the end, Lockie got it by a whisker. In the concurrent touring-car race, Harry Barton’s BMW 1800 tiSA ran off to a dominant win.