HGPCA thriller headlines Donington Historic Festival action

While there were plenty of enticing duels and scintillating races in all the categories across the Donington Historic Festival weekend, the first Historic Grand Prix Cars Association encounter was the standout contest. Off the line, it was Tom Waterfield’s Cooper T53 that led the pack from pole, but Tim Child’s Brabham BT3/4 was already lurking in his mirrors from his third position off the grid.

With his Brabham dancing under braking, Child chose the chicane to dive up the inside on the first lap as he left it impressively late to make the pass. Even though he was now in front, Child couldn’t pull away as Waterfield shadowed his every move. Soon, the leading Brabham began a stout defence against Waterfield, who clung closer and closer to Child’s gearbox.

At mid-distance, Waterfield found a way past with a neat cutback on the exit of Redgate, but his edge faded as lapped traffic became a factor in the dogfight for the lead. Thrusting his car sideways into seemingly every corner, Child attempted to draw level with the leading Cooper, but to no avail. Eventually, Child finally made a move stick on lap 16 of 20 at Coppice to reclaim first place.

From then on, it really was Child’s race to lose – which he duly did, as he got ludicrously sideways at the Old Hairpin on the last tour to allow Waterfield to triumph. Waterfield was delighted but explained how hard it was to keep up with Child’s newer Brabham.

“The thing is that [the Cooper] is a couple of years older than the Brabham,” explained Waterfield, who later took a more straightforward victory in race two. “So [the Brabham has] bigger tyres and slightly wider suspension. You’re moving around a little more in the Cooper so, on a day like today, the tyres get hot and you end up sliding everywhere. It was good fun, but you had to keep a little bit back. Otherwise, you’re just going to cook it everywhere.”

There were not many machines in the paddock that matched the thrill factor of the GT3 Legends contenders. Race one was a frantic affair in which Jonathan Mitchell piloted his Aston Martin V12 Vantage to victory. Off the line, it was 2019 British GT champion Graham Davidson who got the jump in his own Vantage as he performed a daring move around the outside of Redgate to edge clear of Mitchell. Mitchell then pressured Davidson relentlessly over the coming laps, until the start of a safety car period on lap 10 of 38.

There was confusion over whether the pitlane had officially opened as Mitchell dived into the pits for his mandatory stop under the safety car. Davidson stayed out until lap 23, but there was more drama to come as Mitchell was awarded a drive-through penalty for the early timing of his stop. This wasn’t enough to cover the time he made up while pitting under the safety car, however, and he still emerged well clear of Davidson, which is how the pair stayed to the flag. Race two was a much smoother event as Mitchell stayed firmly in command to take his second win of the weekend.

The Historic Touring Car Challenge was a tin-top delight as the pairing of Ashley Muldoon and James Kellett took the win aboard their BMW E30 M3 in the first encounter. It was an all-Nissan front row, but the Andy and Chris Middlehurst R32 Skyline clashed with the similar machine of Simmo Arthur turning into Redgate. The Middlehurst car dropped out with a puncture, while Arthur fell into the pack and later retired with a suspected blown turbo. It seemed that Julian Thomas in his ex-Andy Rouse 1989 Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500 would comfortably take the win, but all was not well aboard the Ford.

“On lap two, coming up to Redgate, the brake pedal went to the floor,” explained Thomas. “I was having to pump the brakes up before every corner, so I was having to left-foot brake coming through the Craner Curves and then swap feet to change down. Then it just got worse and worse, and there wasn’t enough room between some corners to pump it up, so I would go for the brakes but there was nothing there.”

With such elaborate footwork required to keep the Sierra on the road, it was bound to come to grief and, with a mere five laps to go, Thomas skated off at Coppice, handing the victory to Muldoon and Kellett. Darren Fielding’s M3 and the disappointed Thomas completed the top three.

The heavens opened for the second race, and the Middlehurst Skyline took an impressive victory from the back of the grid, making the most of its all-wheel-drive traction in the difficult conditions.

Halusa and Ames (r) won Pall Mall Cup enduro after starter trouble for the leading Elan (l) of Kay and Mooney

Photo by: Steve Jones

Compared to the frenetic action of other categories, the two-hour Royal Automobile Club Pall Mall Cup enduro was expected to be a calmer affair, but this was not the case as there was drama up and down the field. Lukas Halusa and Alex Ames initially led the proceedings in their Jaguar E-type, but all eyes were on the Connor Kay and Dominic Mooney Lotus Elan, which darted from fourth to second on the charge into Redgate on the first tour. Kay wasn’t intending to settle for second, however, and hounded the E-type until the local hotshot slipped through on lap 12.

The Elan was firmly out front until its mandatory pitstop, where a delay was caused due to an issue with the starter motor. The problem being that the starter had decided to reposition itself from its original Lotus mounting point and now lay on the asphalt in the pitlane instead.

Following the necessary bump start, the Lotus resumed in second place, having lost track position to Halusa and Ames, and that’s how they stayed to the line. They were joined on the podium by Kyle Tilley and Christian Albrecht (Elan) in third.

Stuart Roach overcame a poor start in the first Formula Junior race to emerge victorious in his Alexis Mk2. As the lights turned green, it was second-placed man Sam Wilson who led out of Redgate. Roach was quick to reverse the situation, however, and regained the lead before the opening tour was even over. Roach was unchallenged from then on, taking the flag over three seconds ahead of Andrew Hibberd in his Lola Mk2.

The second bout, for newer machinery, ended with a comfortable win for Alex Ames as he secured the top step on the podium in his ex-Mike Hailwood Brabham BT6 ahead of the Lotuses of Clive Richards and Philipp Buhofer.

Arguably, the race with the most upbeat atmosphere was the Generations Trophy, where each two-driver MGB team is made up of two generations of the same family, and it was the father-son pairing of Nick and Harry Whale who took the top step of the podium.

Unfortunately, for the Historic Racing Drivers Club ‘Top Hat’ pre-’66 touring car competitors, the weather took a turn for the worse in the closing minutes of their race, but that didn’t stop the John Spiers and Nigel Greensall Ford Mustang from sliding its way to victory.

The oldest machinery in action came in the Mad Jack Pre-War Sports Cars races in which Rudi Friedrichs triumphed twice in his 1932 Alvis Firefly Special, comfortably setting the pace in both contests.

Friedrichs’ Alvis Firefly flew to pair of Pre War wins

Photo by: Steve Jones

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