Masters Historic Festival

July 7th 2014

THE ANNUAL MASTERS HISTORIC Festival at Brands Hatch was a truly mixed bag, with some good grids and tremendous racing countered by some worryingly small grids. Star drivers of the weekend included Michael Lyons, peerless in Grand Prix Masters, and

father and son pairing Chris Chiles Sr and Jr, who emerged victorious from an absorbing Gentleman Drivers contest. To fill the hole left in the timetable by the cancelled Group C races, an Fl demonstration session was arranged which was topped by an ex-Senna Toleman and Damon Hill’s title-winning Williams FW18. However in racing terms

young Lyons was the star of the show, firing the ex-Rupert Keegan Hesketh 308 to a brace of commanding wins.

Rob Austin took time out from his fledgling Audi BTCC campaign to race his Arrows A4, but was snagging the ignition switch when changing gear, dashing any hopes of attacking Lyons.

The two-hour Gentleman Drivers contest had a fine field and delivered a cracking race as fortunes ebbed and flowed. Mike Whitaker’s TVR ran out of brakes, Allard Kalil charged his Chevrolet Corvette from the back of the grid until the diff expired and Gary Pearson led until collecting a puncture on his Jaguar E-type. Through it all, with a beautifully measured performance, came the pair of Chileses to put the AC Cobra ahead when it mattered. Roger Wills set out with a mammoth mission to contest every one of the weekend’s 15 races, but the plan went wrong early on when his Russian GAL Volga felt poorly over the dips and crests of Brands Hatch. Consolation came with victory in Sports Racing Masters in one of his McLaren Mls. Meanwhile, Leo Voyazides bagged a total of four wins two in Saloons with his Ford Mustang and a World Sportscar Masters double in his Lola T70Mk3B. Paul Lawrence

Winning AC Cobra of Chiles Sr/Jr. Below: Voyazides/Hadfield Ford Falcon won Pre-66 Touring Cars