The highlights from an entertaining club racing season

Now in my 48th year of writing for Autosport, I reflect on another interesting season over which I have reported 25 varied meetings at 12 venues, commentating at many, and attended more out of my undimmed passion for club and historic events.

Bookended by the Vintage Sports-Car Club’s Pomeroy Trophy and the Historic Sports Car Club-run Walter Hayes Trophy Formula Ford spectacular, both at Silverstone, 2024 has featured the usual contrast of emotions. Saying goodbye to old friends is difficult, but watching emerging talent taking on established stars on track is always fascinating.

While the Spa Six Hours was my only non-UK racing pilgrimage, the unexpected opportunity to visit France’s extraordinary Musee National de l’Automobile (the Schlumpf Collection) at Mulhouse was a long-held ambition realised.

In Memoriam John Turner and ‘Suggy’

My year started poignantly with invitations to speak at the funerals of racing champions John Turner and Tony Sugden. Both raced Skodas – or caricatures of the Czech coupes – with distinction. Dorset timber merchant Turner’s F5000 Leda-based S110R thundered into my life 50 years previously, in 1974, and it’s been wonderful meeting his acolytes to progress a project about the ultimate home-built Super Saloon.

Doncaster auto electrician Sugden was an omnipresent club racing force for five decades. I competed against him at Silverstone in 1982 and was privileged to track test his stunning Skoda-Cosworth YB for Autosport. Tony won more Cadwell Park races than anybody else, initially on motorcycles in the 1950s. Surely he deserves the anonymous turn onto the Mountain to be named Suggy’s…

Sidecar racers wow new fans

My interest in sidecar racing was slim prior to Goodwood’s Members’ Meeting in April. This was limited to attending the 1978 British Grand Prix at Silverstone to see Switzerland’s Rolf Biland and Briton Kenny Williams star on the controversial BEO 77A and watching Isle of Man TTs on television. More a three-wheeled ‘sports prototype’ car than anything motorcycle-related, with both rears driven, the Yamaha-engined BEO demanded little of its co-pilot. The same cannot be said for today’s physical outfits.

At Goodwood, six elite pairings laid rubber and lifted inside wheels alarmingly through the chicane in a remarkable demonstration. Anglo-French world champions Todd Ellis/Emmanuelle Clement won the flying start single-lap shootout with an awesome 1m21.174s (105.55mph) shot. Three chasers were within 1.183 seconds!

Modified Fords at Castle Combe

Who doesn’t like a modified Ford? My first sight of the dedicated racing series for Blue Oval devotees at Castle Combe’s May Madness event left an indelible impression. Escorts and Fiestas, Sierra RS500 and Sapphire Cosworths, Capris (one powered by a big V8), Focuses, a very hot Cortina Mk2 and a Puma filled the circuit to capacity and provided a tremendous spectacle.

I enjoy posting iPhone videos chronicling racing categories that trip my trigger on my Facebook page – how I wish it had been possible in the 1970s, let alone so simple, with the likes of Super Saloons in their pomp – but was stunned by the social media engagement. More than 10,000 plays in short order show that I’m not alone.

Thruxton’s bumper harvest

Jochen Rindt Trophy delivered a great spectacle at Thruxton

Photo by: Steve Jones

Reopened for car racing in 1968, and the circuit that hosted F2 and F5000 in my teenage years, Thruxton has been my local race track for two thirds of my life. This season’s fixtures enabled me to land a trio of commentary gigs alongside my reporting duties. May’s 750 Motor Club meeting featured Clive Hudson push the Sport Specials lap record under 1m20s – late-1970s FF2000 times – in his self-designed Eclipse.

May’s Classic Sports Car Club visit also entertained, while June’s Thruxton Historic event was the jewel in its crown, with a stunning Classic Racing Car Club Jochen Rindt Trophy centrepiece. Both are back on 21-22 June 2025, so make it a date! The event was also notable for new circuit owner Alex Thistlethwayte’s victory in his Chevrolet Camaro, restored to Martin Thomas’s period Ovaltine livery.

500cc F3 at Oulton Park Gold Cup

July’s Oulton Park Gold Cup event celebrated the 70th anniversary of 1954’s inaugural edition, won by Maserati 250F-mounted Stirling Moss. Stirling previously starred in 500cc F3, thus it was brilliant that members of the 500 Owners’ Association – custodians of the charismatic cars since the 1960s – were invited to race at the Cheshire circuit’s retrospective. Being among the cars in the assembly area, with the aroma of methanol fuel pervading the air as they were warmed up, was magical.

The crackle of Norton, JAP and Triumph engines transported veteran onlookers back to their Oulton debut in August 1953, when Don Truman, Les Leston and Don Parker were winners. That Ninian Sanderson’s Staride, victorious there that October, was competing was extra-special.

Croft’s club racing heritage

Historic Modsports and Special Saloons recreated Croft club events of old

Photo by: Steve Jones

The atmosphere at Croft has always been special, as I recall from visits to the ultra-fast and scarily bumpy old airfield perimeter track in the late 1970s. Back then, the lap’s return leg was a straight linking the current Sunny and Clervaux corners, now effectively the overspill paddock. What stood out for me then was the sheer enthusiasm of competitors – local heroes of the calibre of Andy Barton – matched by that of a regular and knowledgeable fanbase.

August’s HSCC-run Croft Historic weekend was the closest yet to a period ‘clubbie’, with Modsports and Special Saloons the spectators’ favourites alongside Formula Ford 1600 (in Historic and Classic timeframes), FF2000, Road Sports and GTs on the bill. A nostalgic package perfectly tailored to the occasion.

All-in wrestling at Goodwood

The best racers have always excelled at the wheel of anything, so the versatility of British Touring Car stars Jake Hill and Tom Ingram does not surprise. Hill’s natural talent shone immediately in historic circles, his pace in a Lotus Elan astonishing a few seasons back. Goodwood habituees have come to admire his combative prowess at Members’ Meetings and Revivals, but Jake dug to unprecedented depths in September’s RAC TT Celebration.

Relayed into past master Olly Bryant’s AC Cobra, Hill met his match in Ingram in Mike Whitaker’s TVR Griffith. The cars had crossed swords there in period, but the one-hour race’s final throes were awesome as, wrestling 400bhp apiece, Tom clawed past for victory. My race of the year to that point…

750 Formula storms Mallory Park

Pack of 750 Formula frontrunners were inseparable

Photo by: Steve Jones

Run continuously since 1949, the 750 Formula is the UK’s longest-serving club racing category. Founded in 1939, the 750 Motor Club’s sporting activities kicked off a decade later, after the Second World War, based on regulations designed around the ubiquitous Austin Seven. Ending its landmark 75th year, the Historic 750 Formula and its current equivalent (running 1108cc Fiat engines) provided an extraordinary window on the promotion at Mallory Park in October.

Onlookers witnessed the largest turnout of early cars to date in the colourful catch-all, which also welcomes survivors from the Ford-engined 1172 Formula/F1200/F1300 eras. But the penultimate 750F championship round that day was extraordinary. Never had I seen one in which half the field disputed the lead. That the 1969-rooted Cowley MkIV triumphed was apposite.

Celebrating my 25th Spa Six Hours

I regret not being at the first Spa Six Hours historic event in 1993. With 23 cars, it was financially disastrous, but Alain Defalle and Vincent Collard persevered and support blossomed. From my debut in 1997 – as reporter and competitor, in Lotus 23B and Elan – I was hooked on the race, long-centred on FIA-homologated pre-1966-spec cars. September’s edition marked my 25th and my umpteenth as English commentator.

Bringing the racing element forward 24 hours in 2023 – with Sunday a sell-out trackday – has changed its dynamic for owner-drivers, as has the number of pros piloting late-built Ford GT40s, which comprised a quarter of this year’s 80-car entry. It’s still a wonderful spectacle, on the greatest circuit, but are 100-plus starters a memory?

Fabulous Formula Ford finales

Smith resisted attacks from a swarm of rivals to take Walter Hayes Trophy spoils

Photo by: Steve Jones

Both end-of-term Formula Ford contests were special. Remembering De Vliegende Hollander Gerrit van Kouwen – whose brilliant 1984 Festival Lola victory I reported – with his family and friends at Brands Hatch in October was something I was drawn to do.

A fortnight later, however, James Beckett’s 24th Walter Hayes Trophy event at Silverstone was even closer fought. Dry conditions helped, but the Grand Final was the finest race I’ve witnessed in years. How Rory Smith withstood such incredible pressure I don’t know, but his 0.293s winning margin is pulled into sharper focus by the first six being covered by 0.995s and the top 22 (of 31 finishers) in a writhing snake that spanned the Wellington Straight’s width by less than 10s!

Other highlights from the 2024 national campaign

Another BTCC star shines in historic machinery – Stephen Lickorish

Packed Jack Sears Trophy grid brought Donington Historic Festival to a brilliant close

Photo by: Mick Walker

You have already read about one of Marcus Pye’s highlights of the year being British Touring Car aces Jake Hill and Tom Ingram tussling in historic machinery at Goodwood. And my favourite club racing moment of 2024 features another BTCC star putting on a show in an old car.

The Historic Racing Drivers Club Jack Sears Trophy contest brought the Donington Historic Festival to a cracking close and featured some brilliant battles among its packed grid of tin-tops. Josh Cook was in the thick of the action and spent the entire race dicing with fellow Lotus Cortina pilot David Dickenson. The pair going either side of two lapped cars having their own fight on the pitstraight was spectacular, but they ultimately could not deny Le Mans winner Guy Smith’s example.

Getting behind the wheel of a Ma7da – Stefan Mackley

Mackley experienced a whole range of emotions when competing in Ma7da

Photo by: Jon Elsey

Not for the first time (and hopefully not the last) my own racing exploits were some of the most memorable moments from the past year. Having sampled Ben Powney’s now title-winning machine for an Autosport feature on the Ma7da Championship back in 2022, my intention had always been to return for some ‘unfinished business’.

With a Team Sellars Racing-run car, I competed in both the Snetterton and Brands Hatch meetings in August, becoming immersed in the life of a club driver and all the highs and lows that go with it. From the camaraderie between drivers of varying experience, sifting through data looking for time, suffering my first ‘proper’ accident and trying just to survive in torrential rain – good or bad, the experience showed why people are so passionate about our sport.

Magical Manx shows rallying at its best – Paul Lawrence

Closed-road rallying in the stunning scenery of the Isle of Man is tough to beat

Photo by: Paul Lawrence

In a season that took in more than 70 competitive events, choosing just one highlight is never easy, but any trip to the Isle of Man for a rally will always be a standout. This year’s Manx Rally was one of the best, with fine weather and tremendous competition for both the Asphalt and British Historic championships.

The short but technical Balladoole stage, which runs right along the coast, is a fabulous place for photography and, with two stages back-to-back, the action was relentless. This was closed-road rallying at its very best in a place where it has long been a way of life. The sea shimmering in unbroken May sunshine in the background made it perfect.