Historic GP Zandvoort 2024: Masters Gentlemen Drivers & Pre-66 Touring Cars

A solo-driving Julian Thomas survived two safety-car periods and a red flag to win the Masters Gentlemen Drivers race at Zandvoort, as the Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupé driver fought off the renewed challenges of Nicky Pastorelli’s Ferrari 250 GTO ’64, the David & Olivier Hart Daytona Cobra and the Felix Haas/Michael Lyons AC Cobra.

“I was channeling Calum!” said Thomas about driving the full race instead of sharing with his mentor Calum Lockie. “I was using all of his advice and just thinking about what he would be doing. I kept trying to make a gap and then they’d take it away from me. In the end, I just went for it. The last 15 minutes, it was just qualifying lap, qualifying lap, qualifying lap…”

The Ferrari 250 LM of Yelmer Buurman/Alexander van der Lof was the victim of those two cautions, as Buurman’s advantage went up in smoke, forcing Van der Lof to give up places to Pastorelli, Hart Jr and Lyons. In sixth overall, Philipp Buhofer and Andy Willis took a dominant CLP class victory, as their Elan remained on the lead lap while their rivals Mark Drain/Andrew Haddon and Luc De Cock were put a lap down by the safety cars and subsequent red flag.

“It was a fantastic race”, said Pastorelli. “I tried to make a gap as I knew I was forced to stop longer as an elite driver, and at the end I really had to fight for second place, with Oli right behind me, and Lyons right behind him again.”

“We were having issues with our car”, said Hart Sr, “as it was losing some 50hp under full throttle. And that’s apart from the fact I needed to get used again to driving a car that you need to wrestle!”

In the touring car section, Sam Tordoff ran home an unchallenged win to remain undefeated in this Masters Pre-66 Touring Car season. Partly aided by a safety car in the dying minutes of the tourers’ 60-minute race, Tordoff’s Ford Falcon was a lap ahead when the Dutch national flag was dropped. Profiting from the safety car, Robin Ward’s Falcon and Harry Barton in the BMW 1800 tiSA vaulted the Lotus Cortina of Michael Lyons and Chris Stahl that had run second for the entire up until that moment. Right at the end, the Falcon of local father-and-son duo Henk and Thijs van Gammeren also caught up with the Lyons/Stahl Cortina to snatch fourth overall and third in the over-2-litre category.

“Yes, it was good”, said Tordoff. “I think we got lucky with the safety car to get a lap ahead of everyone else, but I enjoyed it. It was a long hour, actually, in the sunshine at Zandvoort. The car was good. We made some changes from two years ago, actually, that seemed to work. Yes, just had fun out there. I was dicing with the GT cars for the first 40 minutes or so until I had to stop and really enjoyed it.” 

“We had a problem in qualifying, so we started at the back. It was hard work”, said Ward. “The car was really hot. I’ve done longer in it at Spa, but not in the heat. We had a good, fun, clean run through the field, caught Harry up, had a bit of a dice. That was good. The safety car was good because it gave me a break, but Harry caught up again. Then we had another dice, and it was good. Really good, clean racing.”

“It was a difficult one”, said Barton. “We qualified well in the wet. The car is fantastic in the wet. I was lucky to get out first and get a good lap in early on. In the race, I was very conscious in my mirrors, just trying to make sure I get through the first lap. When the race settled down, I was like, let’s get some lap time in. We had to swap a gearbox early on just because of a mechanical fault. This one wasn’t quite as good as the other one, so it was interesting having to adapt in order to go around as quick as we could. I prefer in the race to not know where I am at all. I was talking to the car the whole race saying, you see that E-Type over there? I think we can get him. Let’s go. Robin and I had a great fight early on, then the safety car brought us back in together. I managed to get him on the safety car restart, but he had so much punch underneath that bonnet. I have a feeling if I had another lap or two, I might have gotten him. Ifs and buts…”

“We had some really great fights”, said Henk van Gammeren, “and to get third in class, we couldn’t be happier!” 

“The level at Masters is tougher than anywhere else”, said Thijs van Gammeren, “so it’s an additional challenge. But we’re very pleased with the result.”

As the curtain closer for the Saturday of Zandvoort’s Historic Grand Prix, the combined Masters Gentlemen Drivers & Pre-66 Touring Car grid lined for their respective 90 and 60 minutes of racing in which the John Spiers/Nigel Greensall TVR Griffith was a sad absentee following its forceful off during Friday’s wet qualifying session. Two local family teams were up front, David & Olivier Hart sharing a Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupé and Alexander van der Lof sharing a Ferrari 250 LM – the car for which Enzo Ferrari fought hard to allow it to be a GT car – with son-in-law Yelmer Buurman. After the opening lap, however, it was a third Dutch-run car that cheekily claimed the lead, as former Italian F3000 champion Nicky Pastorelli passed both in his Ferrari 250 GTO ’64, with Julian Thomas driving solo in the other Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupé coming through into second.

The new order that established itself on lap 3 was Pastorelli leading Thomas by eight tenths, followed by Hart Sr fighting with Buurman and Felix Haas in the TVR Griffith over third. In sixth overall, Sam Tordoff led the touring car division in his Ford Falcon, while in seventh, Philipp Buhofer’s Lotus Elan was in charge of the GT cars’ CLP class for now. Michael Lyons was eighth in the Lotus Cortina he would share with Chris Stahl, with Lee Mowle’s Jaguar E-type and Stephan Joebstl’s Elan completing the top ten for the moment. Belgian Luc De Cock’s Elan was 12th overall and third in the CLP class, while Geoff Letts ran third in the touring car race, two positions ahead of Matt Johnson’s Mustang and Harry Barton’s BMW 1800 tiSA. Local man Henk van Gammeren’s Falcon ran sixth among the tourers.

Five laps in, and Pastorelli’s lead over Thomas had increased to 2.5 seconds, while Buurman despite the 250 LM leaking fluid had cleared Hart Sr for third, with Haas and Tordoff and Buhofer all giving immediate chase. Six seconds further down, Lyons’ Cortina was another machine leaving fluids behind while Mowle was under investigation for a false start, which on lap 7 led to a five-second time penalty. In Mowle’s rubber tracks, Peter Thompson’s AC Cobra had reached the overall top ten at the cost of Joebstl’s Elan. Further back, Robin Ward’s Ford Falcon was making up places following a troubled qualifying session and was about to pass Barton for fifth in the touring car race.

The 250 GTO ’64 at the front had grown its lead to 6.2 seconds at one-sixth’s distance while Buurman already trailed Pastorelli by half a minute, having left Hart to worry about Felix Haas a further five seconds behind. In seventh overall, Buhofer continued to lead the CLP class, while De Cock had taken second place in class from Joebstl. In the touring car race, Tordoff led Lyons, while Johnson had passed Letts for third, with Ward and Barton up next.

As the tourers’ pit window approached, Pastorelli’s lead over Thomas remained the same at about six seconds, with Buurman a further 30 seconds adrift. Hart and Haas circulated at 47 seconds from the leading Ferrari, with Tordoff keeping a close watch on the fight between the Daytona Cobra and the Griffith. The first pit window now open, Matt Johnson was the first to come in to hand the Mustang to Robert Ross, while father Henk van Gammeren was relieved in the Falcon by son Thijs. Further back, Nils-Fredrik Nyblaeus came in to swap places with Jari Konola in another Falcon. Next time around, leader Tordoff was in for his stop, which would be longer due to his elite-driver status. Ward, Barton and Allan Thom in another Cortina were the next to stop, with Lyons now also coming in to hand over to Stahl while Geoff Letts was relieved by brother Alan. 

Meanwhile, the stalemate between the GTs continued to exist, with Pastorelli, Thomas and Buurman all circulating at a similar pace. The Hart versus Haas battle now raged a full minute down on the leader, with Buhofer up in sixth following Tordoff’s stop. Mowle was seventh ahead of Thompson and De Cock, as Joebstl came in for an unscheduled stop to hand third in class to Drain’s Elan. Tordoff still led the touring car race but now from 12th overall, with Stahl in second place and Letts in third, ahead of Ward, Barton and the younger Van Gammeren.

On lap 18, however, Pastorelli’s Ferrari entered the pits for an unexpected visit, leaving Thomas in an untroubled lead. Once the GTO had rejoined it was down in seventh place, ironically just moments before the GT pit window would open. Drain was the first to come in, to hand his Elan to ‘fast amateur’ Andrew Haddon and he was soon joined by David Hart (handing over to son Olivier) and Markus Schenkl (handing his E-type to Nick Padmore). Mowle was in next, to allow Phil Quaife into action, while Joebstl’s Elan remained stuck in the pits, retiring with a bent front wishbone. On lap 21, Haas came in to have Lyons take his second stint, now in a GT car, while Buhofer switched places with Andy Willis. On lap 22, it was De Cock’s turn, followed by Steve Jones who handed his Elan to Chris Atkinson. At the same time, Dutchman Abraham Bontrup came in for his stop in the AC Cobra, along with leader Thomas and Thompson in another Cobra, with Charles Allison taking over. Buurman followed on the same lap, with father-in-law Alexander van der Lof waiting to step into the Ferrari 250 LM. 

Further back, Alan Letts had gone missing in the touring car section, in the process handing third place to Robin Ward’s Falcon which was still chased by Barton’s BMW. Letts’ stricken Cortina was enough to warrant the arrival of the safety car on lap 24, with 40 minutes still remaining for the GTs and just ten for the tourers, so this definitely set the ball back rolling again in both races. It definitely put Pastorelli back into play, as the Dutchman had managed to vault Van der Lof just before the safety car came out. Hart Jr would be another one to profit, as he was now right on the back of Van der Lof. On the other hand, those cars with a lap down, starting with Phil Quaife’s E-type, now had a mountain to climb. 

Less than four minutes remained on the tourers’ race clock when the field was released. At the front, Thomas thundered off, soon chased by Pastorelli and Hart Jr, with Van der Lof, Willis and Lyons up next. In seventh overall, and as the only car on the lead lap, Tordoff had to complete one more tour before being flagged off as the dominant touring car winner, making it two from two so far. Behind him, Ward, Barton and Van Gammeren took full advantage of the safety car to demote Stahl to fifth, with Ross in sixth and Konola in seventh.

The GT race would rage on for half an hour, as Thomas for the moment maintained his eight-second lead over Pastorelli and Hart Jr. Van der Lof still held off Lyons, now 26 seconds down on Thomas, while Willis was the clear leader in the CLP class, a full lap ahead of Haddon and De Cock in second and third. With 18 minutes to go, though, Thomas’ hard work which had seen him increase his lead to 12 seconds was undone when Abraham Bontrup dropped his Cobra at Scheivlak. This evoked another safety car, but with 15 minutes remaining on the clock, this was converted into a red flag.

It wasn’t over yet, however, as the race was restarted behind the safety car, which in fact allowed Bontrup to rejoin the race. After the restart, Thomas wasn’t going to be thwarted, as the Daytona Cobra once again stormed off to leave Pastorelli trailing. Behind the Dutchman, Lyons was up into third ahead of Hart Jr while Van der Lof was losing ground in fifth. As the final car on the lead lap, Willis was safe as the CLP class leader, despite having to serve a drivethrough penalty. 

As the leaders raced towards the chequered flag, Thomas only put more space between himself and his pursuers, who were nose-to-tail until the flag dropped. Pastorelli remained second, but Hart Jr fought back to regain third from Lyons. Van der Lof was a distant fifth, while Willis claimed CLP class honours in sixth. Quaife was seventh, one lap down, ahead of two more CLP class runners, Haddon and De Cock in another two Elans. The Peter Thompson/Charles Allison AC Cobra completed the top ten.