Brno GP Revival 2024: Masters Racing Legends for 66/85 F1 Cars

Matthew Wrigley was there to pick up the pieces when Oli Webb’s polesitting Arrows A3 was forced to retire from the lead in the first of two Masters Racing Legends races at the Brno Grand Prix Revival event. Wrigley’s Tyrrell 011 was well in command thereafter, heading home Mike Cantillon’s Williams FW07C by a healthy margin of 4.6 seconds. In an exciting fight for third, Werner d’Ansembourg seemed to have spun away his opportunity five laps from the end, but the Belgian Brabham BT49C driver hit back to repass Steve Hartley’s McLaren MP4/1 on the final lap.

“A good race”, said Wrigley, “Oli pulled away a little bit to begin with and I kept the gap for probably three or four laps. Then I got a bit of a vibration and he pulled away a little bit more gradually, and I thought I’d get the car to the end. Then I saw he was slow, it looked like he had a right rear puncture, which is a shame. Obviously, I’d rather win a race on track than win it like that but you’ve got to be there at the end to win it.”

“Wow, what a fantastic race”, Cantillon enthused. “I was blown away by how many spectators came out to support us. It makes the event so much more special when you see all the crowds going crazy in the background. I’m not quite sure what happened to Oli, but I was lucky enough to hold on to Matt. I couldn’t get him, he was too fast for me.”

“I started out in fifth position and was very surprised to see the gap during qualifying with the other drivers”, said young d’Ansembourg. “They’re really going hard, we’re a good group this weekend. So obviously very happy with the results, it’s more than I could have asked for.”

The result meant that three Front Row Racing cars monopolised the podium, a result that the team wished to dedicate to its terminally ill pater familias Colin Bennett, founder of the predecessing CGA Race Engineering team and father of current Front Row owners Alistair and Jay Bennett.

“It’s good on the team for Colin Bennett, so I think a one, two, three for him is a pretty special day”, said Wrigley. 

“I’d just like to say our team principal is very, very sick”, Cantillon added. “And on behalf of the team, he’s in our thoughts and that win was for him.”

In their battle, Hartley and d’Ansembourg Jr had pushed each other on to the effect that Jamie Constable (Tyrrell 011B), Steve Brooks (Lotus 91) and Christophe d’Ansembourg (Williams FW07C) finished a distant fifth, sixth and seventh respectively in a midfield that saw the early retirement of 2019 champion Matteo Ferrer’s Ligier JS11/15. In the pre-78 class, Ewen Sergison’s pre-72 Surtees TS9B valiantly hung on to the lead initially, but eventually succumbed to pressure from James Hanson in the Maki F101C, who then drove off to a comfortable 35-second lead at the finish. Peter Williams took a close third in class in the Lec CRP1.

“For the class win, it was nice”, said Hanson. “We had a nice race to begin with, with Ewen. I thought that was going to be a lot closer than it was, but I passed him on lap 4 and then tried to catch the Williams but didn’t quite manage it. Still a good race and the car is great fun to drive. It’s lovely and handles beautifully.”

In hot, humid and partly cloudy conditions, the Masters Racing Legends grid lined up for their first race of the weekend. Oli Webb led the field in the Arrows A3, flanked on the first row by Matt Wrigley’s Tyrrell 011. Up next were former champions Mike Cantillon in the Williams FW07C and Steve Hartley in the McLaren MP4/1, the pair leading Werner d’Ansembourg’s Brabham BT49C and Jamie Constable’s Tyrrell 011B. The fourth row was shared by returning 2019 champion Matteo Ferrer-Aza, whose Ligier JS11/15 was kept company by the Williams FW07C of Christophe d’Ansembourg, with Steve Brooks up next in the Lotus 91. From tenth on the grid, Ewen Sergison led the pre-78 runners in the 1971 Surtees TS9B, chased by James Hanson in the Maki F101C and Peter Williams in the Lec CRP1.

Following a closely contested opening lap, Webb led the field in the order in which they started, with Wrigley and Cantillon trailing the leader by tenths, while Hartley had lost a couple of seconds on the top three and was attempting to shake off both d’Ansembourg (W.) and Constable. In the pre-78 class, Hanson pressured Sergison for the lead. However, on the next tour, Webb had managed to increase his margin over Wrigley to 1.4 seconds, who in turn had left Cantillon 1.3 seconds behind, as Hartley continued to hold off the young d’Ansembourg and Constable for fourth, eight seconds down on the leader. Behind them, Ferrer had disappeared as the Ligier came into the pits with engine issues and a broken clutch cable, while almost simultaneously Brooks had jumped the older d’Ansembourg for seventh.

Going into lap 4, Webb’s lead now amounted to a comfortable 2.3-second cushion over Wrigley who himself had cleared Cantillon by some three seconds. Hartley continued to be harried by d’Ansembourg Jr’s Brabham, the pair having dropped Constable by four seconds. Brooks was another ten seconds down, having broken free of d’Ansembourg Sr at the rate of seven seconds. Meanwhile, behind them, the pre-78 class was truly hotting up, Hanson now right on the tail of Sergison’s Surtees, and on lap 5, the Maki was indeed through into the class lead. At the same time, d’Ansembourg Jr found a way past Hartley to be fourth.

On lap 6, the gaps between the top three runners were four seconds each, with d’Ansembourg seven further ticks in arrears but – having cleared Hartley – now lapping slightly quicker than Wrigley and Cantillon ahead of him. Hartley still kept the young Belgian in sight, though, but Constable, Brooks and d’Ansembourg Sr were each eight seconds away from the car in front of them. In the pre-78 class, Hanson had found fresh pace once he had found his way past Sergison – in fact, the Maki was hauling in d’Ansembourg Sr’s FW07C while Sergison now had to watch his mirrors for Williams in the Lec.

At the front, Webb looked well under control, the gap to Wrigley having mushroomed to seven seconds on lap 8. Wrigley in turn had less to worry about Cantillon as well, as his advantage over the Irishman had grown to five seconds. However, drama ensued when Webb was seen crawling into the pits with a flat right rear tyre – the Arrows A3 was out of the race! As a result, Wrigley inherited the lead, now leading Cantillon by 4.4 seconds. And that wasn’t all, as behind them, Werner d’Ansembourg had spun around the back of the circuit to hand his freshly conquered third place to Hartley. Now an angry young Belgian, d’Ansembourg was soon back on the tail of the McLaren, though, as the final few minutes of the race were ticking away.

Maintaining his four-second margin, Matt Wrigley reeled off the remaining to take a strong win from Mike Cantillon, while Werner d’Ansembourg managed to steal third from Hartley on the final lap. Constable was a distant fifth, 17 seconds down on Hartley, with Brooks in sixth a further nine seconds in arrears. Christophe d’Ansembourg narrowly held pre-78 class winner James Hanson for seventh overall, as the Maki crossed the line 35 seconds ahead of Sergison, with Williams in the Lec following home third in class, six seconds behind the Surtees.

Brabham BT49C driver Werner d’Ansembourg completed a storming run from the front row to claim his first win of the season and his second career victory in an exciting second Masters Racing Legends race at the Brno Grand Prix Revival. Having passed poleman Steve Hartley (McLaren MP4/1) for the lead on the opening lap, the young Belgian rallied off to an impressive 9.8-second advantage before the race finished under safety-car conditions due to Mike Cantillon’s Williams FW07C going off into the gravel two laps from the end. 

“Yeah, brilliant race”, said d’Ansembourg. “I mean, it’s the best result you could hope for. I was at an advantage, as I think I was the only one with fresher tyres. Starting P2, I managed to overtake straight away, so then it was just easy, clean racing. From then, the gap kept building, and at the end, I did stress a bit when I saw the safety car. But yeah, I came in first, so I’m so happy.”

Saturday’s winner Matthew Wrigley (Tyrrell 011) was young d’Ansembourg’s closest challenger, chased by Cantillon, as they both also managed to pass Hartley early on. On the back of Cantillon’s demise, Hartley still claimed the final podium spot. The McLaren was followed home by Steve Brooks (Lotus 91) who passed Jamie Constable (Tyrrell 011B) for fourth, while Matteo Ferrer-Aza’s Ligier JS11/15 came from the back to pip Constable to snatch fifth right at the end. Brake failure in his Arrows A3 ensured that Oli Webb’s charge from the rear of the grid was halted prematurely.

“A bit of a lonely race”, Wrigley confessed. “I think at the start it was good fun just getting past Steve and Mike. It was never that easy to get past and then by the time I’d done that Werner had gone up the road, really. By the time I got past he’d pulled such a gap because he drove so cleanly straight from the start. And then I was just struggling a bit with the car and so I managed it a little bit. Then Mike was coming back at me but he spun, so it was a bit easier. The safety car came out and I thought we were going to get one lap to go for it. Werner and I both missed the chequered flag and didn’t see it! So first and second for the weekend, couldn’t get much better. I’m very happy with that.” 

“It was all exciting!” said Hartley. “We had a problem with the car yesterday and they worked till late hours last night and couldn’t find a part. Then they found something that might just help a bit and it did. It made me drive it a bit quicker, so I could keep my mind. That was exciting for me and getting third is even more exciting, so here we are.” 

In the pre-78 class, the order was turned upside down compared to Saturday’s result, as Peter Williams in the Lec CRP1 passed Ewen Sergison’s Surtees TS9B for second place in class before taking the lead from James Hanson in the Maki F101C. Hanson had just reclaimed first position in class when the Maki suffered a puncture, to hand the top two places back to Williams and Sergison.

“The car’s good. The circuit’s good. The ladies are good!” said a concise Williams.

“It was fine, but it was just the tyres”, said Sergison. “They were too soft, I think, and there was no tyre left. It was all gone, I couldn’t keep up with anybody. So I had a pretty lonely race, I never even saw the safety car. Chasing after myself, I was still flat out everywhere apart from where the incident was and still never caught it…”

On a bright Sunday afternoon in the Czech Republic, the Masters Racing Legends came out for its second race of the Brno Grand Prix Revival weekend on the daunting Masaryk circuit. On the reversed grid for Saturday’s first four, Steve Hartley’s McLaren MP4/1 and Werner d’Ansembourg’s Brabham BT49C would occupy the front row, followed by Mike Cantillon’s Williams FW07C and race 1 winner Matt Wrigley in the Tyrrell 011. Next up were Jamie Constable’s Tyrrell 011B, Steve Brooks in the Lotus 91 and Christophe d’Ansembourg in the second Williams FW07C, while propping up the rear and sandwiching the pre-78 class runners were the previous day’s unlucky drivers – Oli Webb in the Arrows A3 and Matteo Ferrer-Aza in the Ligier JS11/15.

A demon opening lap saw young Belgian Werner d’Ansembourg immediately snatch the lead from Hartley, while Wrigley was already one up on Cantillon and back in their order from race 1. Behind Constable and Brooks, Webb had made waves to be seventh after the first lap, with Ferrer up into tenth, chasing Christophe d’Ansembourg and pre-78 class leader James Hanson in the Maki F101C. Further back, Peter Williams had got his Lec CRP1 ahead of Ewen Sergison’s Surtees TS9B for second in class.

On lap 2, the young d’Ansembourg had created a fine 3.6-second lead for himself, and was now chased by Wrigley and Cantillon, both having passed Hartley whose moment at the front had proved to be shortlived. Constable was holding off Webb who had managed to pass Brooks for sixth, while Ferrer was also up another place, thanks to Hanson making a mistake to drop down to 11th behind Williams.

Now in second place, Wrigley was undoubtedly keen on making an impression on the leader, but instead the Brabham pulled out to a 4.5-second lead on lap 3, which only increased to 6.3 second following the next tour – Werner was on fire! Behind Hartley and Constable in fourth, there was misery for Webb, as Saturday’s polesitter was once again forced to give up the chase, as the Arrows A3 headed into the pits on lap 4, its brake pedal gone. In the pre-78 class, meanwhile, Hanson had caught back up with Williams again, with Sergison trailing the pair by six seconds.

At the front, d’Ansembourg (W.) continued his charge, extending his lead to an impressive 7.5 ticks on lap 5. Wrigley had shrugged off the challenge from Cantillon and led the Irishman by 2.6 seconds, while Hartley was a further 2.5 seconds adrift in fourth. Behind the McLaren, Constable and Brooks had swapped places, the Lotus 91 now ahead of the Tyrrell 011B, as Ferrer caught on with the pair. D’Ansembourg trailed the Italian by seven seconds. Further back, Williams continued to hold off Hanson for the pre-78 class lead.

Halfway into the race, d’Ansembourg was still lapping quicker than anyone else, as the only driver to dip below the two-minute mark, and by lap 7, the Belgian’s lead was approaching ten seconds. Behind him, the field was all but settled, but Ferrer began to push Constable for sixth, as the Tyrrell and the Ligier stormed across the line side by side. In ninth and tenth overall, Williams and Hanson continued to be nip and tuck for the class lead, producing a riveting duel that thrilled the crowd.

Nine laps completed, and d’Ansembourg now began to conserve his pace, his nine-second advantage more than enough to maintain the lead towards the end. Wrigley and Cantillon continued to be separated by some two seconds, with Hartley now four seconds behind but safe in fourth. The same applied to Brooks in fifth, who had left Constable and Ferrer trailing by 12 seconds.

But then, on lap 10, as Hanson had only just passed Williams for the pre-78 class lead, with Constable and Ferrer also switching order, Cantillon was in trouble, as he went off into the gravel, leading to the safety car’s deployment. Moments later, in yet more drama, Hanson’s Maki was seen slowing down on the circuit before coming to a halt, as the Japanese machine had suffered a puncture…

And so the race finished under the safety car, with Werner d’Ansembourg claiming the win after a storming drive, with Wrigley and Hartley completing the podium. Brooks was fourth ahead of Ferrer, Constable and d’Ansembourg (C.), with Peter Williams turning the tables on his pre-78 rivals by clinching class victory from Sergison and Hanson.