Brno GP Revival 2024: Masters Endurance Legends

The More Modern Historics!

Race 1

Frieser wins Brno’s first Masters Endurance Legends race from the front

Keith Frieser ran home a convincing victory in the first Masters Endurance Legends race of the Brno Grand Prix Revival weekend, as his Zytek 09S led all 20 laps of the contest to beat Jamie Constable’s older Zytek 04S. Towards the pit window of the 40-minute race, Constable looked capable of posing a serious threat to his Canadian rival but after the stops, Frieser ran out to an unchallenged 16.7-second lead and the win.

“You know what”, said Frieser, “Even though there were not so many cars, it was quite fun. My good friend Jamie Constable was right behind me and I think he got a tow from me down the straight. So he stuck with me pretty good for a bunch of laps and put some pressure on. Then after that, it was just a matter of doing laps and focusing.”

“It was great fun”, said Constable. “I managed to stay with Keith for the first half of the race, before I took an early pitstop. Unfortunately, I managed to stall at the pit, so Keith got a gap. I was hoping I could hassle him enough he might make a mistake, but then as soon as he got the gap, it was over. The revenge is tomorrow!”

Matteo Ferrer-Aza drove a somewhat lonely race to third in the ex-Wayne Taylor Racing Chevrolet Corvette DP, as the Italian tried in vain to stay with the Zyteks up front. The IMSA Daytona Prototype eventually finished a lap down but still well ahead of the leading LMP3 car of Mark Drain, who took fifth overall in his Ligier-Nissan JSP3.

“It was a good first race seeing as we finished it – and finished it on the podium against two other strong cars that we weren’t able to match in pace”, said Ferrer. “So it was as good as we could have got. Just very happy to be back with Masters after a five-year break. Not a lot has changed – still a lot of familiar faces, but the series is still as good as it was, and I’m really happy to be back at the helm of such a cool piece of machinery.”

Ferrer and Drain were split by a mighty effort from Oli Webb and James Hanson in the Mosler MT900R, the GT3 car not only claiming fourth overall but a dominant GT class victory as well. In sixth overall, André Hartl’s Porsche 997 GT3 took second in class.

“It was a great race, with a little bit of a fight with the LMP3 car at the start”, said Webb. “After that, I managed to pull away. The car was really nice to drive, really predictable, and it was a pleasure to share the car with James. GPX prepared the car well with Jakey and the guys, so other than being a little bit hot in the car it was really good fun.”

“I can’t say much more than Oli”, said Hanson. “He did all the hard work, I just had to make sure I didn’t go off. The guys did a really good job preparing it.”

Coming towards the end of Saturday’s programme at the Brno Grand Prix Revival, the Masters Endurance Legends cars rolled out for their first contest of the weekend, the two Zyteks of Keith Frieser and Jamie Constable leading the field. With a flying opening lap, Frieser immediately put 2.2 seconds in between himself and the other Zytek chased by the ex-WTR Chevrolet Corvette of Matteo Ferrer-Aza. In the leading GT car, Oli Webb wasn’t far away, his Mosler MT900R still leading Mark Drain’s LMP3-class Ligier-Nissan JSP3, with André Hartl’s Porsche 997 GT3 up next.

Constable wasn’t allowing his rival to run away with it, though, as the older Zytek closed the gap to 1.8 seconds on the next lap while Ferrer kept a close watch four seconds further down the road. On lap 3, another chunk of four tenths was sliced out of the Canadian’s lead, who now led by 1.4 seconds, as Ferrer’s IMSA machine slowly lost touch with the two LMP1s up front. Webb had now bravely put 14 seconds between himself and Drain who himself had 36 seconds in hand over Hartl.

Over the next few laps, the gap between the 09S up front and the chasing 04S remained the same, but on lap 7, Constable managed to get the gap to within one second, as the battle of Zyteks hotted up. Ferrer now lagged some 33 seconds behind, with the Italian holding a similar margin over Webb in the Mosler, who in turn had created the same distance to Drain’s Ligier.

Right at the moment Constable’s Zytek seemed glued to the rear of Frieser’s machine, it ducked into the pits for its mandatory stop, as the pit window had just opened. With Constable in the pits, Frieser put the hammer down to set fastest lap of the race so far, as the Candian continued on his way for now. On lap 10, Hartl was the next one in, followed by Drain and Ferrer. The next time around, it was Frieser’s turn, with Webb following him in to hand over to James Hanson.

It needed one more lap for the pitstops to all pan out, but the timing screens showed that on lap 13 Frieser now led Constable by 6.5 seconds, following a combination of stronger in and out laps. In third, Ferrer had lost touch with the top two to trail by 71 seconds, while Hanson in the leading GT car was now a lap down but still holding a healthy margin over Drain’s LMP3 Ligier.

Over the next few laps, the lead battle slowly but surely fizzled out, as Frieser put victory out of Constable’s reach, expanding his lead to 13 seconds on lap 17, with less than five minutes remaining on the race clock. In third, Ferrer was well adrift, but with a big gap to Hanson in fourth, while Drain and Hartl now trailed the leader by a respective two and three laps.

After 20 laps, Frieser crossed the finish line as the winner, heading home Constable by 16.7 seconds to claim a convincing win. Ferrer’s Corvette DP ran home a distant third, by now a lap down on the winner. Hanson bagged the GT class win in the Mosler, trailing Frieser by two laps, with Drain up next as the LMP3 class winner, and Hartl’s Porsche as the second GT car home.

Race 2

Constable hits back in second Masters Endurance Legends race at Brno

Having been forced to concede to his rival on Saturday, Jamie Constable hit back to beat Keith Frieser to victory in the second Masters Endurance Legends race at Brno. Again, the two Zyteks were in a class of their own on the daunting Masaryk circuit, but this time Constable converted his chase of Frieser into a decisive pass on lap 7, before his 04S opened up a gap and controlled the pace until the chequered flag.

“I had a great race with Keith, like I did yesterday, but I managed to get a little bit closer to him this time”, said Constable. “It was really hard to overtake him because he’s got great power on the straight, but I was so much quicker around the corners. It was still hard because you lose the aero when you get close, but then finally… Matteo [Ferrer] in the Formula 1 race overtook me at a particular bend and it was a blind spot. So I thought, oh, I can use that! I used that on Keith and went down the inside, which was a bit of a blind spot.

He didn’t know I was there. And he went to turn, of course, and I’m there. And he couldn’t. And that was it. Then I managed to get away but he was catching me at the end, so I had to keep on it. There was no rest. But it was great, and great fun. It’s always a nice race with Keith.”

Frieser’s 09S inched ever closer towards the end but was left 5.3 seconds short of a second win. The Canadian did finish well ahead of third-placed Matteo Ferrer-Aza, whose Chevrolet Corvette DP crossed the line 1 minute and 17 seconds in arrears, in an encouraging first couple of Masters runs for the IMSA machine.

“You know what?” said Frieser. “It was a very good race and Jamie drove exceptionally well today. We were very close for many laps and then he did a really good move on me. After that, honestly, I just couldn’t quite catch him. He drove so hard and we’re both out of breath and exhausted here! You don’t need 30 cars to race, you just need one other guy, so it was very good, and a really good event here. You guys did a good job, thank you so much.”

“In the DP Corvette, we made some changes to try and dial out the understeer we had

Yesterday, which was a positive effect”, said Ferrer. “So it was a much more enjoyable race despite it being lonely. But not getting lapped this time around, so that’s a step in the right direction for sure. We treated the weekend as somewhat of a rollout test because we hadn’t run the car before. The car has run flawlessly, so a very happy end to the weekend.”

In fourth and fifth, Mark Drain and James Hanson lifted respective LMP3 and GT class honours. Hanson’s Mosler MT900R ran a strong fourth overall initially, but was soon passed by Drain who proceded to finish a lap down on the two leaders.

As the end of a hot and sunny Brno Grand Prix Revival weekend approached, the Masters Endurance Legends grid lined up one more time to round off the five Masters races on the Masaryk circuit. The two Zyteks led away, chased by Matteo Ferrer-Aza’s Chevrolet Corvette DP, James Hanson in the Mosler MT900R and Mark Drain in the Ligier-Nissan JSP3.

From pole, Keith Frieser maintained first position in the 09S but Jamie Constable was pushing the Canadian in the earlier 04S, tracking the lead Zytek by seven tenths on lap 2. Ferrer was seven seconds behind in his IMSA machine, while Hanson and Drain proved equally matched over the first two laps of their GT3 vs LMP3 battle.

Ten minutes into the race, Frieser was still unable to shake off his British rival, as Constable kept the gap to within a second. In third, Ferrer was losing touch, though, as trying as he might, the Italian’s Dallara-built Daytona Prototype trailed the Zytek by 22 seconds on lap 6. Further back, Drain had managed to pass Hanson and now began to put some air between the Ligier and the Mosler.

Seven laps were completed when the pit window was opened, and right at that moment Constable made his pass for the lead stick, as the 04S got ahead of the 09S. In fact, the Briton turned up the wick to produce fastest lap of the race on lap 8 to clear Frieser by 2.7 seconds. As he continued to push on, the gap increased to 4.7 seconds on lap 10 before Constable and Frieser simultaneously pitted on lap 11, following in Drain and Hanson who by now were both a lap down. 36 seconds later, Ferrer was into the pits as well, meaning that the top five were all stationary now!

Following a pair of strong in and out laps, Constable led Frieser by 8.4 seconds as they rejoined for their second stints but Frieser had the bit between his teeth and clawed back his deficit to 7.6 seconds on lap 14. However, less than ten minutes were remaining, so the Canadian would have to hurry up to make his charge stick.

As the clock wound down, Frieser continued to slice off tenths here and there, but Constable looked well in control until the chequered flag, ending his weekend on a high with a win by 5.3 seconds. Ferrer was a distant third, over a minute down on the two Zyteks, while Drain and Hanson each took LMP3 and GT class honours, in fourth and fifth respectively.