Four categories from the racing portfolio of the Historic Sports Car Club were in action at the Silverstone Classic (July 28-30), with double single-seater victories taken by Michael O’Brien and Sam Wilson.

Historic Formula Ford, the Jaguar Classic Challenge, the Super Touring Trophy and Formula Junior were all part of the fabulous weekend on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit and the Club was also responsible for organising the racing element of the event.

After three very full days, and some changing weather conditions, Club Chief Executive Officer Grahame White paid tribute to the work of the Club’s officials and marshals in delivering the race action.

“The Silverstone Classic is the biggest and busiest race weekend of the season and our team worked superbly to keep the racing on schedule and complete the entire programme as planned,” said White. “On behalf of the team in race control, I would particularly like to thank all the marshals for their hard work and professionalism.”

A capacity grid of cars from the HSCC’s Historic Formula Ford 1600 Championship produced two fabulous races as the Club’s 50th anniversary celebrations for the category continued. After some tremendous battles, Michael O’Brien claimed a double victory as Ed Thurston, Callum Grant, Max Bartell and Benn Tilley shared the other podium places.

The third round of the Jaguar Classic Challenge produced another of the weekend’s closest finishes when Gary Pearson took the flag just over a second ahead of father and son pairing Graeme and James Dodd. The impressive Ben Short took the final place on the podium as John Pearson joined his brother in the overall top four.

More fine single-seater racing came in Saturday’s double-header for Formula Juniors. Although not a round of the championship organised by the Formula Junior Historic Racing Association and the HSCC, there was still a full grid and it was Sam Wilson (Lotus 20/22) who took a double win over Andrew Hibberd (Lotus 22). Hibberd chased in both races, but a spin on the damp track in the opening race ensured a clear win for Wilson. Westie Mitchell worked his De Tomaso into third in the opening race while US visitor Tim Da Silva took the final podium place in the later race.

The JET HSCC Super Touring Car Trophy was a major crowd-pleaser as Touring Cars from 30 years of the BTCC had a pair of races from split grids. The star-studded field included famous touring car racers like Steve Soper, Gianfranco Brancatelli and Jim Richards, but it was Jason Minshaw who won the opening race in his Volvo S40. After an early spin delayed several front-runners, Jason’s brother Jon came through to second in his Audi A4, while the earlier cars were topped by Mark Wright’s Sierra RS500 after a mighty battle with the similar car of Brancatelli.

James Dodd’s Honda Accord was eliminated in a first corner tangle in the opening race but he came through to win on Sunday with a slender margin over Jason Minshaw. Brancatelli signed off a memorable weekend with victory among the older cars.

Full results from the Silverstone Classic are at www.mstworld.com
For more details about the HSCC, please visit www.hscc.org.uk