Historic GP Zandvoort 2025: Masters Sports Car Legends

Father and son David & Olivier Hart utterly dominated the first Masters Sports Car Legends race at Zandvoort, as their Lola T70 Mk3B surged away to an unassailable lead before a late safety car brought the field back together. Young Olivier still managed to create a 19-second gap at the chequered flag to lead home the pre-67 Hulme-class-winning McLaren M1B shared by John Spiers and Nigel Greensall.

“It was more of a test drive for me”, said Hart Sr about being so far ahead. “Yes, that sounds a bit silly, but if it goes that easily I though I would try some tricks – and I’ve actually learned a lot from it, taking turns in third gear instead of second, or the other way around.”

“At the safety-car restart, I tried a little trick”, said Hart Jr. “I saw the guy behind me wasn’t paying attention, so I just floored it. After two laps I had a huge gap. No damage and the car is back in one piece. It’s a great car, a great track and I really enjoyed it.”

Greensall came back after the restart to reclaim second position from the Andy Willis/George McDonald Chevron B19 that in Willis’ hands had stormed from the back to be second on lap 5. Andy Newall gave John Spiers a hard time in Steve Seaman’s Lola T70 Mk2 Spyder before Seaman brought the car home in fourth overall. Meanwhile, Keith Ahlers and Billy Bellinger finished a close fifth overall in their Cooper Monaco ‘King Cobra’, completing the pre-67 podium behind Spiers/Greensall and Newall/Seaman.

“I had a great fight with Andy”, said Spiers. “He’s often been following me, but this time I’ve really had a good time to follow him. The cars were very evenly matched and I got alongside a few times. The cars are sliding around a lot, the track seemed quite slippy. Great fun, so I stayed out longer than I’d planned!”

“Oh, it was fantastic”, said Greensall about his final two-lap dice with McDonald. “Thoroughly enjoyed it. The B19 is a super little car that and I’ve raced one regularly in other events so I kind of know what they’re like. It was just a case of trying to set the move up and do the best I could. Initially, I passed him on the penultimate turn and we went side by side around the final turn but then he was able to outbrake me going down to the first turn so he then re-passed me and then I re-passed him around the back of the lap and then he re-passed me again on the infield. Then I tried to set it up so I could go get a run coming out the final turn and I had just enough power to get ahead. So we have swapped places probably about seven or eight times in the last two laps!”

“The big cars are quite difficult”, said Willis about coming through from the back of the grid. “Because they they have a completely different characteristic so they’re they’re obviously fast on the straight bits or on corner exit, they spoil your corner speed which is where the little cars score, so you have to sort of pick your moment.”

“In two laps probably eight or ten times”, McDonald agreed about his fight with Greensall. “It was one of the most intense two laps of racing I’ve had in a long time! That thing is just a missile on the straights. I’m very grateful for the opportunity that the owner gave me but that was the first time I’ve driven the car, so I was trying to learn the car while racing one of the best guys in the business at the same time! I thought I’d got him, but then he was just like an Exocet missile on the start-finish straight…”

Behind them, Ingo Strolz in the Lola T210 fought Paul Allen in the almost similar Lola T212 before the latter went off at turn 9 to summon the safety car. The Ferrari 365 GTB/4 of Alexander van der Lof/Yelmer Buurman was also involved in that battle before it was forced to retire, just as the two Bonnier class runners, Olivier Huez in the Ginetta G16 and the Afschin Fatemi/Nick Padmore Porsche 910.

On a bright Saturday morning in the dunes, the Masters Sports Car Legends grid lined up for their first 40-minute race of the weekend, with David Hart leading the field in the Lola T70 Mk3B from a trio of pre-67 cars: John Spiers in the McLaren M1B, Billy Bellinger in the Cooper Monaco ‘King Cobra’ and Andy Newall in the Lola T70 Mk2 Spyder. Next up were Alexander van der Lof in the only GT car in the field, the Ferrari 365 GTB/4 ‘Daytona’, and the open-top Lolas of Ingo Strolz and Paul Allen. The Bonnier class would be contested between Olivier Huez’s Ginetta G16 and the Porsche 910 shared by Afschin Fatemi and Nick Padmore, the former starting, while the Chevron B19 shared by quick Hall & Hall mechanics Andy Willis and George McDonald would have to come from the back, with Willis starting the race.

After the opening lap, Hart Sr led the emerging Newall, Spiers and Bellinger, while Willis had made his way up to fifth following a demon opening tour. On the next lap, Willis was up to fourth, and then third, and on lap 5, the Chevron was in second place, having also passed Newall. The Lola T70, however, was now half a minute further up the road.

15 minutes into the race, Hart had increased his lead to 35 seconds, while Willis had gapped the warring duo of Newall and Spiers by 11 seconds. Bellinger trailed the pair by 16 seconds, while the Lolas of Paul Allen and Ingo Strolz fought Van der Lof in the Ferrari in a gaggle of three cars. Behind them, as the pit window approached, Huez held Fatemi at bay for the Bonnier class lead.

Van der Lof, Huez and Fatemi were the first to pit in unison, the former handing over to Yelmer Buurman while Fatemi was relieved by Nick Padmore. Moments later, they were joined in the pits by Paul Allen and John Spiers, the latter giving the McLaren to Nigel Greensall. Huez, however, would not leave the pits, as the Ginetta had succumbed to a broken wheel bearing. Nog long after, Padmore got no further than his out lap with the Porsche 910, leaving the Bonnier class without any runners.

On lap 11, Hart came in from the lead, with Newall stopping too. Olivier Hart would get into the Lola T70 Mk3B while Steve Seaman would take over the Mk2 Spyder. Willis and Bellinger continued for the moment, but on lap 13 they also came in for their mandatory stop, with George McDonald and Keith Ahlers taking over respectively. Moments after, Buurman was back into the pits for a second time in the Ferrari Daytona, and then the safety car emerged, as Paul Allen’s Lola T212 had been lost in the gravel of ‘no name corner’, turn 9.

So now, all of a sudden, the gaps between Hart Jr, McDonald and Greensall were negated, allowing for an exciting three-minute dash to the chequered flag. Young Olivier had the bit between his teeth, though, and immediately pulled out a huge gap on the first green-flag lap, while McDonald and Greensall squabbled over second place, the McLaren coming through towards the end of the lap, following a dice that kept them swapping places at least eight times before Greensall’s Chevrolet power helped him through on the final straight. Ahlers kept his margin in hand over Seaman, while Strolz was already a lap down, so unable to make up any more places.

After 19 laps, Hart crossed the line in first, followed by Greensall, who also won the pre-67 Hulme class, and McDonald, while Ahlers and Seaman occupied second and third in the pre-67 class, ahead of Strolz in sixth.

Local heroes David & Olivier Hart completed a mostly unchallenged double with another strong win in Zandvoort’s second Masters Sports Car Legends race. Early on, father David was hounded by George McDonald in the Chevron B19 he would share with Andy Willis, but when that faltered on lap 3, their Lola T70 Mk3B went on to win by a full lap.

“It was more of a test for myself”, said Olivier Hart about his comfortable win. “It went well, we were fast. But it is what it is, we won the race and that’s what it’s about.”

“I said earlier that I prefer to fight for second place than take an easy win”, his father agreed.

Towards the end of the 40-minute race, attention diverted to Ingo Strolz, who managed to guide his Lola T210 past the Andy Newall/Steve Seaman Lola T70 Mk2 Spyder and the Keith Ahlers/Billy Bellinger Cooper Monaco ‘King Cobra’ to bag second place. Ahead of the stops, Newall and Bellinger had a close contest for P2, having been elevated into second and third after the demise of the McDonald/Willis Chevron.

“I think I had a pretty good start”, said Strolz. “I had quite high hopes to finish a bit high, so to speak, as qualifying went well. But I made a few rookie mistakes, had a drive-through, but at the end I was able to fight pretty well, and I finished second. I’m satisfied.”

“Billy started the race”, Ahlers explained. “As usual, the Lola and the McLaren were very slightly quicker than he was, which we expected, but he was keeping in touch. The McLaren pulled in very early, I think at the end of the first lap with a problem which put us into P2 and we very closely matched from that point in. The Lola came in a lap before us, we took the last possible chance to stop, I jumped in the car and I had a small lead on the Lola, he must have had a slow out lap which put me into class P1. Then it was just a balance between making sure the gap got bigger without throwing it everything away. Shortly before, on the last but one lap, the little Lola T210 caught me. I waved him past just to make sure that I took the finish, so all good.”

John Spiers and Nigel Greensall saw their challenge evaporate right after the start, when Spiers was forced to report to the pits for an unscheduled stop. Rejoining the action two laps down, their McLaren M1B managed to fight back to claim fifth ahead of Bonnier class winner Olivier Huez in the Ginetta G16.

The Masters Sports Car Legends grid kicked off the Sunday of the Historic Grand Prix at Zandvoort, with Saturday’s winners lined up on pole. David Hart would once again start the Chevy-engined Lola T70 Mk3B, with John Spiers alongside him in the equally Chevy-powered but slightly older McLaren M1B. George McDonald would start the Chevron B19 that he finished in race 1, with Billy Bellinger again doing the first stint in the Cooper Monaco ‘King Cobra’. Andy Newall in the Lola T70 Mk2 Spyder and Ingo Stroltz’ Lola T210 shared the third row, ahead Olivier Huez in the Ginetta G16. Alexander van der Lof in the Ferrari 365 GTB/4 ‘Daytona’, however, was sadly forced to forfeit with cooling issues, while of Paul Allen’s Lola T212 wasn’t ready after its crash the day before.

The race hadn’t even truly started when Spiers reported to the pits, so it was McDonald who took up the chase of David Hart in the Lola – and did well to stick with the T70, trailing it by 1.6 seconds after two laps. Newall tried as hard as he could, but was more worried about Bellinger and Strolz in his back than about keeping pace with the leaders. On lap 3, however, McDonald failed to appear, having ground to a halt in Hugenholtz corner with a fuel-pump issue before his car was pushed safely behind the barriers. Meanwhile, Spiers had rejoined but two laps down.

After five laps, Hart led Newall by 46 seconds, with Bellinger hounding the Lola by four tenths. Strolz was 12 seconds down on the battle for second, while Huez had been lapped for the first time. Four tours later, the pit window had opened and the situation remained the same, with Newall and Bellinger’s fight the focus point of attention.

Spiers and Newall were the first to come in on lap 12, handing their steeds to Nigel Greensall and Steve Seaman respectively, with Huez following them in. Bellinger came in the next time around, followed by Strolz and the leader, Olivier stepping in to relieve father David.

With 12 minutes to go, and all the stops having cycled through, Hart Jr now led by a full lap, while Ahlers had pipped Seaman for second place. The Lola now trailed the Cooper Monaco by 12 seconds, while Ingo Strolz was seven seconds down on third place. Greensall was giving it his all and reclaimed fifth place from Huez going into lap 17.

As the clock ticked down to zero, all eyes were on Strolz, whose pace was good enough to challenge the pre-67 cars. In three consecutive laps, the Austrian managed to pass both Seaman and Ahlers, to claim second place behind the all-conquering Lola of Olivier Hart. Four seconds behind Strolz, Ahlers took third, with Seaman 16 more seconds in arrears. Greensall was fifth, a lap down, with Huez another lap down.