2010 

Silverstone 1000kms
The Le Mans Series arrived in the UK with British Drivers Alan McNish for Audi and Anthony Davidson for Peugeot fighting for victory on the new Silverstone Arena circuit layout. Audi took top honours in Qualifying, locking out the front row from Peugeot. McNish made the early running as well, leading off from the start. Victory eventually went to Peugeot with Davidson taking the win for Peugeot. To see results and photos click here.
The Classic Endurance Series also arrived at Silverstone at the same meeting. To see results and photos click here. To see our report in Classic Car Passion click here.

Tour Britannia 7th-9th September 2010
Now in its sixth year, Tour Britannia visited the North East of England and North Wales before finishing in the Midlands. Starting in Chester, the first day consisted of visiting the historic Aintree circuit at Liverpool for a time trial before returning to the Oulton Park circuit for a race. The second day, the crews headed across North Wales, with several time stages being run at various stately homes before a race on the superb Anglesey racing circuit, followed by a timed run round the Great Orme at Llandudno. The teams returned to Chester for the over night break. Thursday started with a stage at Cholmondeley, Swynerton and Arbury house before the final race of the event at Mallory Park and the finish in Leicester. To see photos from the event click here. To see my report and additional photos in Classic Car Passion click here.

Donington Park Revived 3rd-5th September
After nearly 12 months absence from the racing scene, Donington Park has finally re-opened. Now being run by Kevin Wheatcroft, the son of the late Tom Wheatcroft, who bought racing back to Donington Park in 1977, the circuit has undergone major repairs to bring it back to the standard required for racing. There has also been a change to the circuit layout for the national circuit, with the chicane from the main straight to the start straight being move about 100 yards back, so that it is now opposite the chicane that goes out to the Melbourne loop. This makes the pit straight about 100 yards longer, giving the cars a higher approach speed to Redgate corner.
The circuit re-opened with the Masters Festival, covering all the historical major categories of racing, from historic Grand Prix cars through to historic Le Mans sports cars, GT and saloons. Also cars from the world famous Donington Collection museum were demonstrated at various points over the weekend. To see pictures click here. To read my report in Classic Car Passion click here To view additional photos from my Facebook album click here

MSA British Hill Climb Championship and Alfa Romeo Centenary August 22nd
Shelseley Walsh
The rolling hillside of Worcestershire, home of the oldest operational motor sport venue, Shelsley Walsh, paid host to a special celebration of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club for the Centenary of Alfa Romeo. Alongside the latest round of the MSA British Hill Climb championship, the Alfa Romeo celebration drew a large crowd of both cars and spectators over the weekend of the 21st and 22nd of August. With a special invitation class for Alfa Romeo cars and a couple of parades of some of the special cars on display, the fans were treated to a special day on Sunday, and in the sunshine, the steep hill was lined with spectators along its whole length.
To see photos and results click here. To see our report in Classic Car Passion, click here

 Just posted video from Cholmondeley Pageant of Power
 

VSCC Prescott Hill Climb 7th-8th August 2010

A spectacular roll by Winston Teague in his Wasp single seater shows the determination of competitors at VSCC events. He escaped unhurt, and when I spoke to him later in the paddock, his main concern was getting the car ready for its second run up the hill.
A very large entry of over 250 Vintage cars tackled the original Prescott hill climb course, which does not include the loop section. The original course uses orchard corner as a tight hairpin, straight up towards Pardon hairpin where Winston lunched his car up on to 2 wheels  before rolling over completely.
The 7000 strong crowd who had come to view some classic vintage cars, got two new course records to keep them entertained. Fastest time of day and new record for the fastest pre-war car to climb Prescott went to James Walker in his 1934 Frazer Nash single seater. The new record of 40.81 seconds broke the previous record held by Anthony Mayman by 3 tenths of a second. Another record was broken by Mark Walker who took his 1905 Darraq 200HP to a new Edwardian record of  47.96 seconds breaking the existing record by 3.71 seconds.

To see more pictures of this event click here or to see our article in Classic car passion click here

and another clip here

Silverstone Classic 23rd-25th July 2010
Claiming to be the largest Historic motorsport event in Europe, the Silverstone Classic had an impressive 22 race line up covering most categories of motorsport, from Formula 1 over several decades, Le Mans Sports cars, GT and Saloon cars, with even a Rally stage set up on the Wellington Straight.
The meeting also saw the return to racing of Motor Sport legend Sir Stirling Moss, who broke both ankles back in March. He showed that he had lost none of his skill during the race, but unfortunately had to retire the car from the race when it got stuck in 4th gear. The meeting also saw the first event in the Italian Historic Car Cup as the feature 1 hour race at dusk on Saturday evening.  Unfortunately the promising entry list saw several significant cars failing to arrive, including a pair of Ferrari 512 racers and a Ferrari 312PB. The remaining Ferrari 512S failed to complete a single lap in the race, leaving a pair of Abarth Osella prototypes to dominate the race with victory going to the smaller engined 2 litre PA1 of Grant Tromans and Michael Cain, who won by a clear 3 laps from the 1964 2 litre Cooper Maserati T61 of Michael O'Shea and Roberto Giordanelli.
To see photos from this great event please click here.
To see our report and photos in Classic Car Passion Click Here and our report and additional photos in Sports Car Digest by clicking here.

Cholmondeley Pageant of Power 17th-18th July 2010
Now in its third year, the “Chumley” Pageant of Power continues to improve and increase its appeal. It is quite unique in the UK, offering motorsport action for cars and bikes alongside water sports and aerial displays. The weather caused a slight problem with drizzle giving a damp course at certain times.
This year’s event proved that the modern road based supercar is finally a match for the classic and vintage racing sports cars and saloons. Nick Faulkner in the Lamborghini Gallardo proved to be the fastest over the 1.2 mile course. Surprisingly for the conditions, motorbikes took 2nd and 3rd places overall, with Tom Sykes riding the Kawasaki Ninja Zx-10R taking 2^nd overall and winning the motorcycle class.
As a tribute to Tom Wheatcroft, the Donington collection bought some of his favorite cars out for a run. These included the only rear engine Vanwall Grand Prix car, which had not been driven for over 40 years, the 1957 Vanwall Streamliner which had only been driven in Practice for the 1957 French GP and a rare  BRM V16.
One of the more interesting vehicles was the 6 wheeled JCB GT V8 dragster. It’s mighty V8 engine thundered as it blasted away from the start line, its 6 wheels failing to maintain grip, with the front 2 lifting off the ground. Its front bucket helped to maintain some stability.
With Power boat racing taking place on the mere next to the Start line, military displays and helicopter agility tests, car club classic car displays and historic scrambling in the centre of the circuit, there was something for everyone. To see results and photos click here {Photos and results coming soon]
To read our report and additional photos in Sports Car Digest click here and our report and additional photos in Classic Car Passion click here.

Goodwood Festival of Speed 2010
The Passion for Speed - Viva Veloce was the theme for the Festival of Speed 2010. The Festival has grown so much over the last few years, that this year an extra day was added on Thursday. The Moving Motor show allowed manufacturers to display their latest vehicles to an eager public using the famous Goodwood hill. There was an unfortunate accident which injured 4 people, when a member of the public lost control of a Honda and crashed into 4 people in one of the display halls, but otherwise, the event was a great success. The Festival of Speed started in earnest on Friday when the competitors took to the track to practice, with the main competitive and demonstration runs done over the weekend. The event celebrated the centenary of Alfa Romeo, and 60 years of the Formula 1 World Championship along with several major races from around the World. Alfa Romeo shipped over a large quantity of very old and rare cars for the event, and six of the current Grand Prix teams attended, including McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull, Williams, Mercedes and Lotus. To see more of this fantastic event click here To see additional pictures and my reports in Sports Car Digest click here and Classic Car Passion Click here

Auto Italia 2010
A splendid line up of Italian automobiles was on display at Stanford Hall for Auto Italia 2010. Celebrating the centenary of Alfa Romeo, the Alfa Romeo Owners club had a large display area with many members displaying a wide range of interesting vehicles. There was also a large display of historic Alfa Romeo in the main display area right outside the main house. The Ferrari Owners club had a very large display of Ferrari on show, with an Enzo and F40 at one extreme and a superb 275 convertible also among the massive line up. The Maserati Owners club also had a large display area next to the Ferrari's with one or two very interesting models. A 300S, Kyalami and Mexico model were all on display. In the main display area, a particular section caught my eye. A line up of 4 Iso models, including a Rivolta and Grifo. You don't often get to see these models in the UK, so 4 together was a rare treat. De Tomaso and Lamborghini were also represented along with Lancia and Fiat. There were even a couple of Innocenti sports cars, powered by the good old Austin A-series engine. To see my report and photos in Classic Car Passion click here and to see additional photos please click here

La Vie en Bleu 2010
The Bugatti Owners Club staged their French weekend spectacular at the end of May at their fantastic Prescott Hill climb course. With demonstration runs by the ex-Aryton Senna JPS Lotus Renault turbo 98T and several Bugatti Veyron's, the event also had a great French flavour with 24 competitors running Bugatti's, as well as a large number of Renaults and even some Citroens competing. There were also great static car displays by various car clubs showing some very interesting French cars. Fastest Time of the day went to Terry Davis in a Reynard TKD 913 single seater in the Franco-Brittanique Challenge Racing Car Handicap class, though he did not win his class. French honour was restored with the first class winner being the Peugeot 106GTi of Philip Dallow who set the fifth fastest time overall behind the single seater racing cars. To see photos and results click here. To see my report in Classic Car Passion and additional photos, click here

VSCC Curborough Speed Trials 2010
The Vintage Sports Car Club made its annual trip to the Curborough Sprint course near Lichfield over the May Bank holiday weekend. Bright but cold weather  drew a good sized crowd out to enjoy the action from a large and varied field. James Baxter in his Frazer Nash single seater retained the Curborough Trophy by setting Fastest time of day again, but due to the colder weather, he did not beat his time from last year. Mark Walker again proved to be one of the stars of the event in his 105 year old Darraq. Having driven the car to the event on the road, he then threw it round the course beating over 4/5th of the field and set a new class record and finished 1st on Handicap in the Edwardian or Earlier class. Full results and photos Click here

RAC Tourist Trophy - Silverstone Supercar Showdown
The FIA GT1 World Championship arrived at Silverstone at the beginning of May 2010, with supporting races for the European GT3 and GT4 championships. Using the new Arena circuit layout for its first race meeting, the track proved to be demanding challenge for the GT drivers and a pleasure for the spectators. The Qualifying race on Saturday provided a one-two result for the Hexis racing Aston Martin team with Makowiecki/Accary taking the victory from Hirschi/Piccione. The GT1 World Championship race for the RAC Tourist Trophy proved to be an interesting race on a drying track. Darren Turner and Thomas Enge took first place on the road in their Aston Martin at the end of the race, but the under floor skid plank was found to be worn beyond the permitted minimum thickness and the car was excluded. Second on the road were Accary and Malowiecki in another Aston Martin, but then they were given a 15 second penalty for not serving a drive through penalty within the required 3 laps, which demoted them to third. This gave victory to Jamie Campbell-Walter and Warren Hughes in the Nissan GT-R with the Aston Martin of Accary and Malowiecki offically classified 2nd overall.  See results and photos by clicking here

The European GT3 Championship saw two races held over the weekend. German lady driver Ellen Lohr, the only woman to have won a round of the DTM championship, was teamed with Philip Geipel in the Argo Racing Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 and they dominated the first race until with only 12 minutes remaining Mike Parisy in the Corvette Z06R managed to pass Lohr into Brooklands. He then ran out of fuel. Lohr then spun the Lamborghini and the victory was snatched by the Porsche 911 GT3 of Tim Bergmeister and Jose Luis Cunuill. The second race on Sunday saw various cars take the lead. Inital leader Dino Lunardi in the Corvette Z06R was replaced by another Corvette of Hohenadel before the Porsche 911 GT3 of Haering and Estre took the lead, before Estre spun off.  Victory eventually went to Keilwitz and Hohenadel in their Corvette Z096R.

Silverstone opens new Arena circuit layout.
When Silverstone regained the Moto GP for 2010 from Donington Park, the plan was to create a new circuit layout for the motorbikes. The track would leave the existing circuit between Club corner and the Abbey bend, and rejoin the National straight just after Becketts, and at Brooklands re-join the existing Grand Prix circuit. After much development work carried out at the circuit over the winter and laying down the new parts to the circuit, it was decided to run the F1 British Grand Prix on the new Arena circuit as well. The circuit was finished and at the end of April, the new Arena layout was officially opened by HRH The Duke of York on Thursday 29th April 2010 in front of a VIP audience. We have a special photo report from Mike Jiggle. Click here to see his photographs.

Donington Park to recommence racing in September
In March there was a save Donington rally held at the East Midlands circuit for fans to show their support for Donington Park. Kevin Wheatcroft, son of Tom Wheatcroft who had originally restored and owned the circuit, said that he had several serious groups who wished to organise events at Donington Park, and that he was down to three serious bidders for the lease of the circuit. He insisted that his main aim was to find someone to run the circuit and restore it back to full operation for racing. It has been announced that racing will recommence at the beginning of September with a Masters Festival. Click here to view pictures from the save Donington rally

Superleague and Masters Series opening event.
The Superleague season kicked off at Silverstone on the 3rd and 4th of April. Each car is supported by a leading football team, including Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, AC Milan, PSV Eindhovan and Brazilian club Corinthians to name but a few. Local drivers James Walker represented Liverpool and fellow British driver Craig Dolby was driving for Tottenham Hotspur. Former Grand Prix drivers Narain Karthikeyan, Sebastian Bourdais  and Robert Doornbos also now race in the Superleague. With 2 races held over 45 minutes duration, the two winners at Silverstone were Craig Dolby and Sebastian Bourdais. The top six then go forward to the Super Final to decide the overall weekend winner. Local driver Dolby managed to complete a very successful weekend with a second win in the Super Final for Tottenham Hotspur.
Silverstone saw the start to the Grand Prix Masters and World Sports Car Masters series at the beginning of April. Supporting the Super league event round the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit, the Grand Prix Masters had two races over the weekend, and the World Sports Car Masters had a single race on the Sunday. Click here to see my report on the Masters series races in Sports Car Digest http://www.sportscardigest.com/2010-masters-historic-racing-silverstone-results-photos/ and some photos and a report in French at Classic Car Passion. Click here for the results

Historic Sports Car Club (HSCC) Season opener.
The HSCC got their 2010 season off to a good start at Silverstone on the 28th March.  Although the circuit is still undergoing major redevelopment, the National circuit was put to good use by the competitors and an exciting meeting saw races for Classic Formula 3, Roadsports, Historic Touring cars, Classic Racing cars, Historic Formula Ford, Formula Junior and Sports/GT cars in the Guards Trophy race, Click here to see photos & results. Click here to read my report and see other photos on Sports Car Digest.

Rare Citroen Prototypes

Read my article of rare Citroen prototypes that appeared at the Classic Motor show at Veloce Today. Click here to read..

Race Retro
 

A mixture of static classic motorsport show and a live action rally stage make Race Retro such a great experience. All forms of classic motorsport are available, from historic circuit racing, rallying, motorcycle racing, and drag racing. The outside action allows fans to see some spectacular Group B rally cars perform on a 1/2 mile tarmac stage. This year a new stage was created, nearer to the exhibition halls, and the organisers even created a jump on the fast main straight to provide even more thrills. To see photos from the show click here To read my report of the show in Sports Car Digest click here and to read my report and see even more photos in Classic Car Passion magazine click here

Historic Kart demo at Race Retro

Cold February, It must be the Pom
The VSCC start their season with the Pomeroy Trophy meeting to find the best GT car. After several years dominance by the Frazer Nash, this year saw a new winner being added to the Trophy, Dudley Sterry driving a HRS 2Str sports. Click here to see photos and the results. To read my report on the meeting and more photographs in Sports Car Digest click here. More photos can be seen in my report in Classic Car Passion, click here.

Welcome to 2010.
The season has an early start in the UK with the annual Autosport International Racing Car show taking place at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC), near Birmingham. The show is now in its 20th year, and continues to draw large crowds of fans. This year was no exception. Sir Stirling Moss opened the show to the public on the Saturday morning, but the large crowd had really come to see just one man, the new World Champion Grand Prix driver Jenson Button. Making several appearances over the weekend, Jenson was "blown away" by the level of public support that he received at the show, and found the interactive nature of the show something quite different. He was use to seeing the large fan base at Silverstone, but said that in the car you can't hear the fans, only see them, but at the show he could hear them and talk to them. To see pictures from the show click here. To read my report in Sports car digest magazine click here, and to see more pictures in Classic car passion, click here. Also details on the 2010 Trofro Abarth 500 championship in my article on Veloce Today web site.