Historic GP Zandvoort 2025: Masters Racing Legends for 66/85 F1 Cars

Lukas Halusa won from the front in the first Masters Racing Legends race at Zandvoort, the Austrian converting his pole into a strong victory in the Brabham BT49C that he debuted at the Dutch event. Nick Padmore’s Lotus 87B challenged the Brabham early on but was dropped in the second half of the race, before a red flag cut the contest short with three minutes remaining on the clock.

“A win from pole with fastest lap, so a very good start with a new car”, said a jubilant Halusa. “The car was just amazing. For me, it was all about executing in the first lap. Because I knew that if I made a mistake, Nick would take advantage of it. No questions asked. And probably if Nick takes advantage of it, there’s another three cars behind who will also take advantage of it. So with these guys, it’s easy, if you lose one position, you can lose four in a lap very easily. So my focus was really all on the first lap. Once I realised that I’ve got this, he’s not faster than me, then I said, okay, let’s focus on my own race. Then I could start pulling a gap, especially because the car is so fast to do the quick stuff and the turns – it just goes where you point it. So really, really happy.”

“Yeah, it was really close [in the middle part]”, said Padmore. “But then the front tyres started to go and then the rears started to go and that was it. But I loved it. It’s the first time in that car for four years, so it’s nice to be back.”

Behind the two leaders, Matt Wrigley fought his way up to third, his Tyrrell 011 passing Warren Briggs in the McLaren M29 with a handful of laps still to go. In fifth, Andy Soucek netted an unchallenged win in the pre-78 class, a fine tribute to the 1975 Dutch GP-winning Hesketh was campaigning 50 years after James Hunt’s shock victory over Formula One’s erstwhile establishment. Even more valiantly, the Spaniard managed to keep the ground-effect cars of Mike Cantillon (Williams FW08) and Yutaka Toriba (Williams FW07C) behind him.

“It was good”, said Wrigley. “I was starting P5, after a bit of an issue in qualifying yesterday. Obviously I want to be winning the race, but to finish third from fifth is not bad. And it was nice to have a bit of a race with Mike. I got past Mike quite quickly, then Warren, sort of keep behind him for a little bit, and just make sure when I did it, it was right and clean, keep it around one piece. And then, to be fair, Lucas and Nick, they’ve just been too far up the road, and both driving great as always. So it was, we are where we are where we are and good for tomorrow.”

“It was so much fun”, said a happy Soucek. “The start was actually quite interesting because I decided to go on the inside in turn 3 and Matthew had the same idea, so I had to basically stick behind him and try and make a move on Mike. Mike obviously kept the outside and it was a bit of a battle but it was an interesting start. Then I saw had a bit more pace than Warren in the McLaren but overtaking here is not always very easy. So we had a few good battles. A few moments were really tricky, where I was locking the wheels because I was expecting something different. So it looked pretty under control from the outside but sometimes I was like, ah, I wasn’t expecting this! And it’s history made. For me, James Hunt was one of my idols. I’ve been grown up racing in single-seaters and he was sort of the cool guy on the block. To see that I can jump in his car 50 years later to commemorate his first win in F1 with the same car, gives me goosebumps. It’s a pretty unique feeling so I’m very very happy.”

“I had a great time”, said Mardenborough. “First time finishing a Formula One race and to go the distance in the March 741. I had so much fun out there, finished second in the class and had some battles out there. I can’t wait for race 2 and hopefully have a smile on my face at the end of Sunday as well. The track is amazing. First time driving this track in a long time and all the banked corners are such a good rush. You get a real sense of tunnel vision in these formula cars and on these circuits. These cars really make you feel human and not immortal and that’s what makes it so much more exciting as well. So it’s a very good privilege.”

“The race started off really well”, said Bullock. “We got a really good start and built up a gap between the cars behind us. But then we had a couple of incidents that were right in front of me, so that slowed me and brought everybody back to me. In the final couple of laps I had some cars that had either spun or had slow starts come past. I moved over to let them pass, as they were ground-effects cars, but I didn’t realize the other guy in my class was right up there! They went past and I was stuck. So I sort of bamboozled myself there. It was a shame to finish on the red flag but anyway it was a good race.”

In ninth overall, Valerio Leone came from the back to win the post-82 flat-bottomed class in his Arrows A6, while the runner-up spots in the pre-78 class were taken Jann Mardenborough (March 741) and Martin Bullock (Williams FW06), the pair finishing 10th and 11th overall respectively.

On prime time on the Saturday programme, a strong 25-car entry rolled out in the sweltering heat of Zandvoort’s Historic Grand Prix, providing a beach vibe for the many thousands of spectators at the Dutch track. Lukas Halusa led the field in his Brabham BT49C, with four-time champion Nick Padmore’s Lotus 87B sitting right besides the Austrian. They were followed by recent new winner Warren Briggs in the McLaren M29, Mike Cantillon’s Williams FW08 and Matthew Wrigley’s Tyrrell 011, while Andy Soucek led the pre-78 runners in the 1975 Dutch GP-winning Hesketh 308. However, the oldest car in the field, Ewen Sergison’s McLaren M19A proved to be a last-minute withdrawal, with the hope of still competing in race 2 on Sunday.

Following a frantic opening lap, Halusa led Padmore, Briggs, Wrigley and Soucek, while Cantillon had dropped two places, but the safety car was out for a back-of-the-grid altercation between John Spiers’ March 761, which lost its nose, and Arthur Bruckner’s Arrows A6, with Stanley Fulton’s Penske PC3 also getting involved. They were soon cleared, with Bruckner back on his way again, so racing recommenced going into lap 3. This time, however, Geoffrey Rivet’s Trojan T101 reported to the pits with a suspension issue, while Max Werner’s Hesketh 308C was seen dropping a fair amount of places before also retiring to the pits with a dodgy gearbox.

On lap 3, Halusa led Padmore by eight tenths, while the Lotus had left a three-second gap to Briggs, Wrigley, Soucek in the leading pre-78 car, Cantillon, the emerging Yutaka Toriba in the Williams FW07C and Steve Hartley in the McLaren MP4/1. Greg Caton’s Fittipaldi F8 was ninth ahead of Martin Bullock, whose Williams FW06 ran second in the pre-78 class, just ahead of former Masters boss and class rival Ron Maydon in his Lec CRP1. In 12th and 13th, James Hagan’s Tyrrell 011B and Valerio Leone’s Arrows A6 were warring over the post-82 class lead.

By lap 5, Halusa maintained his advantage of eight tenths over Padmore, but the two had left Briggs behind by six seconds, the Kiwi now seriously hounded for third by Wrigley, while Soucek still managed to keep Cantillon at bay. A small gap to Toriba then emerged, with an even bigger one to Hartley and Caton. Further back, Leone had done the job to rob Hagan of the post-82 class lead, the Monegasque having come from the back of the grid.

One tour later, Wrigley had also completed his attack on Briggs to steal third from the New Zealander, after which a static pattern evolved, with only Jann Mardenborough’s March 741 passing Hagan for 13th overall.

While on lap 7, Padmore had manage to close the gap to four tenths, he suddenly languished by 1.5 seconds on lap 8. Wrigley was now on his own in third, still trailing by six seconds but having created a five-second gap to Briggs, who was under pressure from Soucek and Cantillon. Further back, Bullock lost places to Caton and Hartley, putting his second place in the pre-78 class under threat. In fact, Mardenborough would relieve him of it with seven minutes remaining on the clock. Meanwhile, Caton was handed a five-second time penalty for a start procedure infringement.

Ten laps into the race, it became apparent that Padmore could not keep up, Halusa having opened up a four-second advantage on the Lotus behind that indeed was now falling into the clutches of Wrigley’s Tyrrell. As the clock dropped below the five-minute mark, Halusa began to manage his lead before the safety car was called for a second time, which after a minute turned into a red flag that aborted the race. Jonathan Holtzman’s Tyrrell P34 sixwheeler had ground to a halt at the back of the circuit, while Steve Hartley’s McLaren MP4/1 proved to be a second casualty.

And so Halusa won from pole, with Padmore and Wrigley completing the podium, while Soucek claimed pre-78 honours in fifth overall, following Briggs home. Next up were Cantillon and Toriba. Caton was eighth ahead of post-82 class leader Leone and the remaining pre-78 podium duo of Mardenborough of Bullock, while Maydon was another late retirement. In 11th overall, Hagan took second in the post-82 class ahead of Ian Simmonds in the Tyrrell 012. 20 cars made it to the finish.

Lukas Halusa bagged a second win in a very successful weekend at Zandvoort, as the Austrian’s Brabham BT49C caught the pole-sitting Williams FW08 of early leader Mike Cantillon on the hop after a late safety-car restart. As a result, Halusa completed a strong run through the top part of the grid, having started sixth on the partially reversed grid.

“Yeah, it was a perfect weekend” said Halusa. “The car was amazing. Today was a bit tougher but it was executed well. I mean, I’m so pumped. The whole race was nose to tail through all the fast bits as well. I had a few really nice overtakes. My favourite was on Mike – out of the [turn 3] bowl along turns 4, 5 and 6 side by side. I trust Mike a lot, and he gave me the room. I went around the outside of Andy, but I don’t think he was fighting it hard in a flat-bottomed car. Nick missed the gear, so that was actually the only reason I got past him. Unfortunately, Matt dropped out. That was a shame because, as a teammate, it would have been nice to have him up on the podium as well. And yeah, I do think I could have caught Mike without the safety car. I was on fresh tyres and sort one to one and a half seconds a lap faster, and we had nine minutes to go, so yeah, I think I had him…”

“I was really delighted with my pace”, said Cantillon. “We got a gap of 4.8 seconds at one point – and then we had the safety car. I thought, oh dear. I could see that Halusa had the pace on me. We came out of the bowl, went up the hill side by side – and it gets a bit tight at  the top up there, so I lifted and then he was gone. I wasn’t very happy about the safety car, but there we go.”

Nick Padmore’s Lotus 87B claimed third after a busy race fighting Andy Soucek’s Hesketh 308, Matt Wrigley’s Tyrrell 011 and Yutaka Toriba’s Williams FW07C. Both Soucek and Wrigley failed to finish the race, leaving Toriba to challenge Padmore for third towards the end, with Warren Briggs ending up fifth in the McLaren M29.

Valerio Leone took his Arrows A6 to a second post-82 class win of the weekend, while in seventh overall, Jann Mardenborough inherited the pre-78 class win from the retiring Soucek. The top positions in the post-82 were completed by James Hagan (Tyrrell 011B) and Ian Simmonds (Tyrrell 012), while Marty Bullock (Williams FW06) and Ewen Sergison (McLaren M19A) filled the remaining spots on the pre-78 podium, Sergison bagging the pre-73 class win in the process.

“I had a lot of fun out there”, said Mardenborough. “Getting more used to the March and managed to go a little bit quicker. Also, my technique in the car to use first gear and not worry about doing something wrong has improved, so I’m happy about that. I was quite glad that the safety car came out because I was starting to lose some brakes. As I said yesterday, you feel human in these cars – you certainly feel mortal, the heart rate is high, but I feel alive when I drive these cars and this is what it’s about. First win of this year for me, so it may continue. I go to the Spa 24 Hours next week and the intention is to go on!”

“Not a bad race”, said an understated Bullock. “Good start, that went quite well. The rest of the race was all good, no incidents. Then we had a safety car and I had my very good friend James Hagan behind me. I passed the bloke on the finish line as I should and then braked too late, missed a gear and James came through, so he is a very happy Irishman! But second in class, we’re quite happy with that. The young man that won the class is an excellent driver and a very nice fellow.”

“The car’s not been seen for 49 years, and now it’s out, won its class and finished third overall [on the pre-78 podium]”, said Sergison after failing the start the race the day before. “So it’s nice after all the heartache. It was a very busy race for me, because I started from the back. I think there was one lap where me and Peter Williams overtook each other about four times – just literally every corner we changed places, it was amazing! But five would have been good because then I’d have stayed in front… I got him later on, so yeah, it was good.”

The Masters Racing Legends grid rounded off a brilliant Masters weekend at the Historic Grand Prix with a late Sunday start to thrill the Historic Grand Prix crowd. Mike Cantillon’s Williams FW08 was on the reverse pole, with Andy Soucek in the Hesketh 308 joining him on the front row. Warren Briggs’ McLaren M29 and Matt Wrigley’s Tyrrell 011 formed the second row, while Nick Padmore’s Lotus 87B and Saturday winner Lukas Halusa in the Brabham BT49C were on row 3.

Initially, the start was aborted for Marc Devis in the Surtees TS16 being stalled on the grid, but it was green flag after that. On the second lap, Wrigley found a way past Briggs to immediately claim third behind Cantillon and Soucek, while Valerio Leone’s Arrows A6 passed Jann Mardenborough’s March 741 for eighth, the pair chasing Yutaka Toriba’s Williams FW07C. Bullock was tenth in the FW06, leading James Hagan’s Tyrrell 011B and Jonathan Holtzman in the Tyrrell P34, the Irishman second in the post-82 class behind Leone, and the American fourth in the pre-78 class, trying to catch Soucek, Mardenborough and Bullock.

The next time around, Cantillon had broken away from Soucek by 1.8 seconds, while Wrigley put air between himself and Padmore in fourth. Behind them, Halusa demoted Briggs to sixth, and then op lap 4, Wrigley completed another pass, this time on pre-78 class leader Soucek. Going into lap 5, he was looking at a four-second gap to Cantillon. However, next time around, Wrigley went missing, his Tyrrell 011 seen slowing down to a crawling pace, crippled by a broken rear suspension.

With Cantillon now leading by the comfortable margin of 5.7 seconds over Soucek, Halusa was on the move as well, passing Padmore for third in a group of three that led Briggs by two seconds. Toriba chased the New Zealander by three seconds, the McLaren itself having tore away by 11 seconds from Leone, who had left Mardenborough, Bullock and Hagan trailing.

At the front, Halusa wasn’t done yet, as now Soucek proved to be his next victim. As soon as the Austrian found free air, he set about closing the gap to Cantillon, and on lap 8, he had reduced it to 3.5 seconds. Soucek had lost quite a bit of ground in the meantime but for now kept Padmore at bay. All the while, Briggs and also Toriba were homing in on them. Then a gap of about 20 seconds appeared before Leone hove into view as the post-82 class leader, the Monegasque leading pre-78 pursuers Mardenborough and Bullock. Hagan and Holtzman were next, followed by Ian Simmonds in the Tyrrell 012 and Ewen Sergison in the pre-73 McLaren M19A that was patched up after its Saturday issue.

With seven minutes remaining, however, the action was paused when the safety car appeared because of Holtzman sadly running into trouble for the second time this weekend. Moments before it was called, Padmore had finally managed to vault Soucek for third. Fortunately, it would only be a brief interlude, because two laps later, action resumed, now with Halusa right on Cantillon’s tail for a four-minute dash to the chequered flag.

Indeed, it proved all change on the first green-flag lap, as Halusa passed Cantillon for the lead, while Soucek repassed Padmore for third and Toriba moved ahead of Briggs for fifth. Leone and Mardenborough kept their positions, but Hagan passed Bullock for ninth while the Australian now had Sergison to deal with in a fight for the third step on the pre-78 podium. That suddenly became a fight for second place, as Soucek’s Hesketh ground to a halt in the Hans Ernst chicane…

At the front, Halusa ran out to a five-second lead at the chequered flag, with Cantillon and Padmore in second and third, the latter holding off a charging Toriba to salvage his podium. Briggs was fifth ahead of post-82 class winner Leone – another double winner this weekend – and Mardenborough, who inherited the pre-78 class victory. Hagan took second in the post-82 class, while Bullock successfully defended second spot on the pre-78 podium from Sergison, who did take the pre-73 class win in tenth overall. Peter Williams’ Lec CRP1 claimed third in the pre-78 class while in 12th overall, Ian Simmonds trailed home Leone and Hagan as the third-placed man in the post-82 class.