Toriba and Briggs triumph as Historic F1 cars entertain at Brands Hatch

Overseas stars Yutaka Toriba and Warren Briggs emerged the winners from two dramatic Masters Racing Legends contests at Brands Hatch as the series for 1966-85 Formula 1 cars entertained the crowds at the circuit’s annual Masters Historic Festival meeting.

Poleman Matt Wrigley, a double winner at this event last season at the wheel of his ex-Michele Alboreto Tyrrell 011, initially led away but soon found himself relegated to second by Japanese driver Toriba at the wheel of his Williams FW07C.

As Toriba then started to pull clear, Wrigley began to fall into the clutches of Mike Cantillon’s ex-Keke Rosberg Williams FW08 before a safety car period was required to retrieve Valerio Leone’s beached Arrows A6 from Sheene Curve.

The loss of third gear caused Wrigley to fall further back at the restart and drop to fifth as Cantillon, New Zealander Briggs in his McLaren M29 and the McLaren MP4/1 of Steve Hartley all swept ahead respectively. Cantillon pressured Toriba hard in the closing stages, but Toriba held on to record his first win in the series despite initially receiving a five-second penalty for a seatbelt violation, a sanction that was later rescinded.

Toriba was at the centre of more excitement again in race two. Moments after Briggs had dived inside poleman Hartley for the lead at Graham Hill Bend on the second tour, Toriba forced Wrigley off onto the grass on the outside as they jostled close behind.

As Wrigley recovered and Toriba was handed a five-second penalty for his role in the incident, Briggs came under increasing pressure from Cantillon for the lead. Attempting to make a pass at Paddock on lap 12 of 14, Cantillon clipped the rear of the McLaren and damaged his front wing, a move that dropped him to fourth.

Toriba then took the battle to Briggs but hopes of a grandstand finale disappeared when Toriba spun off at Clearways. The incident was enough to bring the race to an early halt and Briggs was declared the winner ahead of Wrigley and Cantillon.

Former British Touring Car champion Andrew Jordan produced a typically hard-charging performance at the wheel of his Lotus Elan that enabled him and John Tordoff to claim a stunning win in an eventful Gentlemen Drivers encounter on Saturday afternoon.

After starting third, Tordoff dropped out of the top six during his stint in the early part of the 90-minute race as the 4.7-litre V8 TVR Griffiths of John Spiers (sharing with regular co-driver Nigel Greensall) and Mike Whitaker (teaming up with former Le Mans star Sam Hancock) set the initial pace.

Spiers held off Whitaker’s challenge until dipping two wheels into the Paddock gravel before a caution period was required to recover Alex Thistlethwayte’s stranded Shelby Cobra from Surtees. Whitaker and Spiers continued their duel once the race resumed, while Thistlethwayte’s retirement left a two-way battle for third between the Elans of solo drivers Andrew Jamieson and Daniel Quintero. The order was then shaken up after the compulsory stops as Jamieson and Quintero emerged in front of Hancock, while Greensall rejoined fourth – after his car required a bump start – and Jordan resumed 10th.

The latter pair then set a succession of rapid laps to close in on the leading trio and, by lap 38 of 49, Greensall had snatched the lead while Jordan had fought his way up to third. However, Greensall’s fine recovery drive was to go unrewarded when major brake problems forced him to slow and drop to sixth by the finish, but Jordan avoided any such gremlins and eventually overcame Hancock on the approach to Paddock with a few laps to go before completing a memorable triumph. Youngster Connor Kay added to his impressive run of recent outings in his Elan 26R by relieving Quintero of third late on.

Spiers and Greensall were also luckless in the one-hour Pre-’66 Touring Car race on Sunday when their Ford Mustang (with Spiers at the wheel) was tipped into the Paddock gravel by the similar car of Robert Ross at the start of the third lap. Their misfortune helped Tom Sharp to achieve a long-term ambition of taking the victory spoils in his Ford Falcon despite a clutch glitch causing him to run wide at Druids on the final tour.

Sharp’s Falcon just about wrapped its talons around Pre-’66 glory

Photo by: Gary Hawkins

The problem allowed Matt Johnson (sharing his Mustang with Ross) to take the win on the road, but a track-limits penalty dropped the duo to third behind the victorious Sharp and Alex Taylor’s Mustang.

Consolation for Spiers and Greensall came in the pair of Masters Sports Car Legends races, where the duo claimed a dominant double success at the wheel of their 5.7-litre McLaren M1B. Second in the opening encounter was claimed by Georg Kjallgren in his Daren Mk2 ahead of the Cooper Monaco King Cobra of Keith Ahlers and James Billy Bellinger. Brake failure had pitched Kevin Cooke off track at Stirlings in his March 75S in race one, but he bounced back to take third in the sequel behind Kjallgren on a weekend where the series yielded only seven starters.

The first F2 Classic Interseries race was won by multiple Clubmans champion Mark Charteris in his ex-Brian Henton March 782, but former double Radical Cup UK conqueror James Lay kept him honest throughout in his ex-Alex Ribeiro 762 version despite “suffering a few hairy moments” as he continued to learn about his new car. Lay claimed victory in race two ahead of the similar machine of Manfredo Rossi di Montelera after Charteris was sidelined by mechanical woes.

Former Historic F1 champion Rossi di Montelera (Ralt RT3) was also forced to settle for second in both F3 Classic Interseries races as he was unable to deny countryman Davide Leone a double triumph at the wheel of his March 783. Third position in the first contest was initially taken by Chris Hodgen in his ex-Derek Warwick Chevron B38 after Alex Ames (Argo JM6) slid off at Stirlings, but a post-race penalty for overtaking under yellow flags handed the final podium spot to the March 793 of Frederic Lajoux.

Hodgen stormed through to fourth from row six in race two after usurping Lajoux at Surtees on lap 11 of 17, but a rostrum finish proved elusive as Frenchman Eric Martin took the position in his Martini Mk39.

Charteris (l) and Lay took an F2 win apiece

Photo by: Gary Hawkins