Masters Historic Festival 2020: Masters Formula One

Tyrrell 011B racer Martin O’Connell produced a faultless performance during the opening Masters Historic Formula One race of the weekend at Brands Hatch this afternoon, with a dominant lights-to-flag success.

Having earlier qualified on pole position by a full eight tenths of a second, O’Connell was never headed – or even challenged – throughout the 18 laps of the Kent venue’s famous Grand Prix Circuit.

Although his winning margin was four seconds, O’Connell had been as much as seven seconds clear of his pursuers and during the last couple of laps he certainly backed off to some degree.

Steve Hartley took the chequered flag in second place in his McLaren MP4/1, just shading the Lotus 91/5 of Greg Thornton – the pair having been locked in a fantastic battle race-long.

Front-row qualifier Thornton maintained second position until lap four when Hartley’s pressure paid off. Setting the fastest lap of 1m22.280 seconds in his ex-John Watson McLaren, Hartley did then begin to catch race leader O’Connell.

Getting the lead down to 4.5 seconds by the start of lap six, O’Connell then started to increase his advantage once again as Thornton began to fill Hartley’s mirrors with a bit of a resurgence.

On lap nine, Thornton made a bold attempt at re-taking second into Paddock Hill Bend but Hartley was able to rebuff the challenge and he held on to ultimately shade the Lotus driver by just 0.152 seconds at the chequered flag.

Sky Sports F1 pundit, and former Grand Prix winner, Johnny Herbert posted a top five result on his maiden outing in the University of Bolton prepared Ensign N180B – even though the car stopped on the final lap.

By far the closest multi-car battle was the one over sixth place between the Theodore TR1 of Philip Hall, which took Fittipaldi class honours, Lukas Halusa’s McLaren M23 and Ian Simmonds’ Tyrrell 012 (Lauda). The six-wheeler Tyrrell P-34 of Jonathan Holtzman placed ninth overall, ahead of the Surtees TS16 of Marc Devis.

Steve Brooks retired early on with an electrical fault in his Lotus 81, Chris Perkins’ Surtees TS14 had clutch problems and Ron Maydon’s LEC CRP1 retired due to difficulties with the car cutting out when exiting corners.

Greg Thornton took a fantastic win in his Lotus 91/5 during the second Masters Historic Formula One race of the weekend at Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit this afternoon, seeing off a late charge from race one victor Martin O’Connell.

After taking the lead of the race on lap two at Druids, Thornton – who had started on the front row of the grid – stormed away from the chasing pack and crafted a lead of almost three seconds by lap five.

For 17 laps his win never looked in doubt, but after losing a full five seconds on the 18th and final tour the eventual winning margin was just 0.9 seconds from the Tyrrell 011B of O’Connell.

The action was fast and furious early on, with terrific overtaking largely courtesy of Thornton and O’Connell. Steve Hartley’s McLaren MP4/1 was third initially, before O’Connell sliced past at Graham Hill Bend with a great move on the opening lap.

O’Connell then moved into second at the same left-hander on lap two, but the leading Lotus of Thornton looked particularly strong and he started to build his advantage with every lap.

Hartley soon moved back into the top three and as the race entered its second half, he began to pile some serious pressure on O’Connell. By lap 16 the gap was down to only 0.3 seconds, but through backmarker traffic O’Connell was able to escape up the road.

At the chequered flag on lap 18, Hartley was around three seconds adrift in third with Steve Brooks’ Lotus 81 taking fourth position. Midway through the race Brooks was in sixth, but he took fifth on lap nine and then moved into fourth three laps later.

Race winner Thornton had the fastest lap of the race, a time of 1m22.717 seconds, and also won the ‘Head’ class. Lukas Halusa in sixth overall won the ‘Fittipaldi’ class in his McLaren M23 and Ian Simmonds’ seventh placed Tyrrell 012 won ‘Lauda’.

Race two proved a frustrating one for Sky Sports F1 pundit and ex-Grand Prix winner Johnny Herbert, with retirement on lap six for the Ensign N180B. Chris Perkins was the only other retiree in his Surtees TS14.