Masters Historic Festival

Brands Hatch

29th - 30 May 2021

If you are a Formula 1 fan you probably watch the racing on your telly box and make the journey to Silverstone once a year to watch, therfore the opportunity to watch the pinnacle of motorsports live is somewhat limited.

However there is another option, admittedly without Mr Hamilton - the Masters Historic Festival. This classic car race series has the Masters F1 as its headline event and usually runs three times a year in the UK.

Donington was the first event held this year but unfortunately it was run behind closed doors due to the government’s restrictions relating to COVID-19. 

The other two Masters events are Brands Hatch, from where we are reporting, and the Silverstone classic, another event that the PistonClick team makes an annual pilgrimage to.

There are seven more race meetings in the series this year, the majority of which are being held on the other side of the channel at great tracks like Paul Ricard and Zandvoort. The Masters is also a global race service, with similar events held in the USA.

At Brands Hatch we had the opportunity to photograph the Grand Prix Racing of yester-year.

The COVID-19 restrictions were being lifted, so limited numbers of spectators were allowed to attend and the PistonClick team headed to the picturesque Kent race track last weekend to capture the action.

Photographing the Masters Historic Festival is becoming a PistonClick favoured event and for a good reason. The F1 race cars are so nice to photograph, but what we can’t reproduce here is the sound of these classic machines. 

If you haven’t heard these engines on full throttle I would recommend Brands. It is one of those tracks that lets you get close to the action and therefore close to the machines.

Just past the bridge at Hawthorne Hill will give you the full experience of speed and noise that only an F1 car can deliver.

So let’s take a look at the runners and riders. Series F1 leader Steve Hartley in the number 77 McLaren MP4/1 was to make two from two to remain in the top spot in this headline event.

All well and good for Hartley, but for the spectators seeing the Williams, Arrows and Tyrrells out on track where they belong are the winners one and all.

The Masters Historic Festival is not just about F1 , that is just one part of the days racing entertainment. The Masters was originally set up to celebrate race cars that have been superseded by the latest machines, whose owners don’t want them gathering dust is a museum.

The range of cars taking part is somewhat diverse the and there appears to be a class for anyone who is fortunate enough to own a historic race car. This is one of the reasons we like to attend this event, the diversity.

The Historic Sports Car class has some of the most obscure machines on show. Le Mans-style sports cars and Group 4 period cars from 1962 up to 1974 are out on the track at the same time, competing in different classes

Tom Bradshaw in the Chevron B19 who took the honours last time out at Donington Park was accompanied by a brace of open topped cars chasing down #23 Alex Brundle in the Lola T70 Mk3B.

Bradshaw was to break down after a rolling start when another Chevron B19 crashed and the safety car was deployed. Brundle took first place, Martin Stretton in the #108 Lola T70 Mk3 second and #80 Henry Fletcher’s Chevron B19 third.

The Masters Endurance Legends are impressive looking beasts with some great liveries.

The cars racing are from 1995 -2016 with Prototype and GT also eligible. Steve Tandy in the Lola-Judd B12/60 numbered 16 dominated, taking two wins from two over the weekends racing.

In the GT class the great looking Aston Martin DBR9, driven by Richard Meins, put the hammer down in the closing laps chasing  Marcus Jewell in the Porsche 996 GT3 RSR to grab the win by the narrowest of margins, 0.054 seconds according to the timing sheets. 

The Masters Gentlemen Drivers had 46 cars entryies for the mini-endurance races; pre-1966 GT cars are the order of the day for this race series. TVR, AC Cobras, E-Type Jaguars and Healeys are just a few of the classic cars racing.

One thing that did stand out, not just in this race but in all of them, was how well prepared the cars were.

Not only were the drivers testing the limits of the cars engineering, it looked like they had polished and prepared the vehicles for a Sunday car show, not a down and dirty race meeting.

21 James Cottingham in his Shelby Cobra took the win in an incident rich race from 53 Alex Brundle and John Pearson in the E-type Jaguar, with car 14 John Spiers and Tiff Needell in the TVR Griffith coming in third. 

In the C2 class it was the battle of the Austin Healey 3000 with 191 Mark Holme and Jeremy Welch beating Mark Pangborn and Harvey Woods. In the C1 class the Ogle SX1000 #107 driven by Mark Burnett and Nick Swift beat Mark and James Bates’ Porsche 911.

In the Masters Pre-66 Minis it was the usual close quarter battle with loads of close racing.

Ian Curley in the red car 66 would prevail in both races. 

Masters Pre-66 Touring does exactly what it says on the tin, mass production saloons built prior to 1966.

This can include American V8 Muscle cars to the iconic Minis and Ford Cortinas from this side of the pond, all taking part in mini-endurance races for one or two drivers with mandatory pit stops.

Julian Thomas and Calum Lockie in the 192 Ford Falcon would prevail over a group of chasing Mustangs after the mandatory pit stops.

Dave Coyne in car 74 took second with 72 Roy Alderslade third place and the Cortina class honours. In the battle of the Minis, Nick Padmore and Giles Page came in ninth overall to win the Mini class.

That concludes our snapshot of the Masters Historic Festival from Brands Hatch, a glorious day out at a great location with great racing and for sure the drivers are not out for a nice Sunday drive - they are racing and racing hard.

Thanks go out to RPW Photography and David Harbey for helping out on this report. 

You can see more of Davids work via the links below.