Masters Historic Festival 2023: Masters Sports Car Legends

In a bitter race of attrition, Nick Sleep and Alex Montgomery came through to claim a surprise win in the first of two Masters Sports Car Legends bouts at Brands Hatch’s Masters Historic Festival. Their Lola T70 Mk3 inherited the lead when Chris Beighton’s T70 Mk3B seemed on course for victory, only to falter with three minutes still to go.

“We just heard that he had a flat rear tyre”, said Montgomery. “Hard luck for Chris, but it’s good to be here!”

Jason Wright moved up into second place with another T70 Mk3B, 7.5 seconds down on the winners, while Robert Shaw salvaged third place in his Chevron B19 despite coming under intense pressure from the Stephan Joebstl/Andy Willis Lola T212, which then expired on the final lap. Nick Pink took fourth in the Lola T210 after a race-long fight with Paul Allen’s T212 that also failed to make it to the end. Meanwhile, the pole-sitting James Claridge/Gonçalo Gomes Lola T296 proved to be an early retirement.

“My HANS device was very uncomfortable in the race, especially in the second part of the race”, said Wright. “I would have liked to have been closer to Alex towards the end. But they had a big accident in practice, so I’m happy to see them here.”

“It was looking like a bit of a tussle with Andy at the end”, said Shaw, “but then it looked like an engine issue, and the pressure was off…”

In the Bonnier class, Georg Kjallgren gave the Daren marque a win over the Chevron B8 shared by Peter Thompson and Charles Allison while the Hulme class failed to see a winner: around the midway point, both the John Spiers/Nigel Greensall McLaren M1B and the Keith Ahlers/Billy Bellinger Cooper Monaco King Cobra succumbed to mechanical issues.

The Masters Sports Car Legends cars lined up for the late-afternoon start of their first race of the weekend, the series uniquely having two 40-minute races instead of one 60-minute race. In brilliant spring weather, with the sunshine glinting off the cars, James Claridge stormed off into the lead but Beighton was on it into the opening lap and soon found himself in the lead. Before the end of the lap, Nick Sleep in the T70 Mk3 also found a way past Claridge before John Spiers got the T296 going into lap 2.

So now, Beighton in the T70 Mk3B led Sleep in the earlier car, 2.2 seconds ahead, with Spiers and Claridge giving chase and Jason Wright up next in the other T70 Mk3B. Stephan Joebstl was sixth in the Lola T212, leading Robert Shaw’s Chevron B19, Nick Pink’s Lola T210 and Paul Allen in another T212. Georg Kjallgren led the Bonnier class in the Daren Mk2, ahead of Peter Thompson and Paul Ingram in the Chevron B8s. Splitting the Daren and the Chevrons, Keith Ahlers ran 11th overall in the Cooper Monaco King Cobra that was second to John Spiers’ McLaren M1B in the Hulme class.

Four laps into the race, Beighton had increased his lead over Sleep to 3.9 seconds who was coming under pressure from Spiers, while Claridge and Wright fought over fourth place, the American handed the position when Claridge’s Lola T296 was seen grinding to a halt into the next lap. Thanks to quick work from the marshals, the issue was resolved without requiring a safety car. Meanwhile, on lap 7, Paul Ingram returned his Chevron B8 to the pits and into the paddock, hit by brake issues.

As the clock ticked down to the pit window, Beighton led Sleep by five seconds, with Spiers continuing to harry Sleep for second place. Wright was three seconds in arrears of the Sleep/Spiers battle but finding more speed with every lap, while Shaw trailed Wright by 19 seconds. Joebstl looked at a 7-second gap to Shaw but had eight seconds in hand over the fight between Pink and Allen. Half a minute further down the road, Kjallgren, Ahlers and Thompson were nose-to-tail.

On lap 10, Spiers was the first one in to hand over to Nigel Greensall, and he was soon joined by Joebstl, with Andy Willis taking the Austrian’s place. With his elite driver penalty effected at the stops, Greensall rejoined in tenth overall, with Willis a further 30 seconds adrift. Next in were Kjallgren, Allen and Thompson, the latter handing over to Charles Allison, but the big news was Greensall returning to the pits after a single lap around Brands Hatch. Now two laps down, he rejoined the race plumb last. But it was worthwhile as also in the pits, but seeming staying there, was the Ahlers/Bellinger Cooper Monaco King Cobra with an engine that had mysteriously cut out, meaning that Greensall had reassumed the lead in class.

While Beighton, Shaw and Pink continued to circulate, Nick Sleep was now in as well, swapping places with Alex Montgomery. On lap 13, Beighton put in the fastest lap of the race before coming in for his mandatory stop, and Shaw and Pink duly followed him in. As he exited the pits, Beighton still held his ten-second lead over Montgomery, but now Wright was third, profiting from Greensall’s mishap, the McLaren having been in for a third stop. Shaw was fourth but now chased by Willis, while Paul Allen and Nick Pink were again duelling over the same stretches of tarmac. The same applied to the Bonnier class fight between Kjallgren and Allison, now just two seconds apart.

With ten minutes still to go, Beighton had slowly but surely enlarged the gap to Montgomery to 13.9 seconds, with Wright now 25 seconds behind the leader. In fourth, Shaw was rapidly losing ground to an Andy Willis on fire in the Lola T212. Meanwhile, the Allen/Pink and Kjallgren/Allison fights continued to entertain.

But then drama unfolded, as Beighton hobbled into the pits with a puncture, with Greensall returning for the fourth time to now retire with a loose front-left wheel nut. So now, Montgomery was the new leader, with nine seconds in hand over Wright while Willis continued to approach on Shaw, now just a second adrift. Meanwhile, Allen had also stopped out on track, releasing Pink from his war over fifth place, while Kjallgren had managed to drop Allison by ten seconds.

As the final seconds ticked away, Montgomery took the Lola T70 Mk3 home for a surprise win ahead of Wright, but instead of claiming third Willis agonisingly stopped out on track too, helping Shaw to keep his spot on the podium. Pink was fourth ahead of Bonnier class winner Kjallgren and his rival Allison, with just six cars making it to the chequered flag…

From the back of the grid, Chris Beighton drove a storming race to hit the front after three laps and take home victory in the second Masters Sports Car Legends race. Making up for Saturday’s disaster when the Lola T70 Mk3B failed minutes from the end while in a winning position, Beighton took no prisoners this time to win by 23 seconds.

“Absolutely!” Beighton said about making up for the previous day’s disappointment. “It was heartbreak for both me and the team. They were deflated, just as I was. So towards the end, I did all the things you do to make sure you finish. I enjoyed it, though, and I particularly enjoyed the chase early on!”

Alex Montgomery was Beighton’s closest pursuer in the first half of the race but a botched pitstop while handing over to Nick Sleep dropped the Lola T70 Mk3 to fifth. Jason Wright took up the chase in the other T70 Mk3B but he was chased all the way to the line by Nigel Greensall in the McLaren M1B started from the back by John Spiers. With mere seconds remaining on the clock, Greensall made it past for second place overall in the Hulme class-winning machine.

“That was wild!” said an excited Greensall. “The McLaren is like an old friend, but it’s like riding a wild lion! John drove a storming stint from the start to get up to P5, I think he drove his fastest stint ever. It’s such a pleasure to join Chris and Jason on the podium.”

“I fell asleep!” Wright said about being pipped by Greensall. “I couldn’t see anybody and couldn’t read the entire pit board, and when I did see him, it was too late. But it’s great to be here, I love the track and love to be back in the Lola.”

Sleep recovered to fourth, harried by Gonçalo Gomes in the Lola T296 shared with James Claridge. Robert Shaw was into the mix as well, until the Chevron B19 spun while defending from Greensall, Shaw ending up sixth. Nick Pink was seventh, one lap down in his Lola T210, while Georg Kjallgren’s Daren Mk2 doubled up on Bonnier class wins as the Swede once again beat the Chevron B8 of Charles Allison.

Lining up for their second race of the weekend, the Masters Sports Car Legends grid would run their race just ahead of lunchtime. Race 1 winner Alex Montgomery ran away into the lead, chased by Jason Wright’s T70 Mk3B, Robert Shaw’s Chevron B19 and Nick Pink’s Lola T210. Georg Kjallgren continued in the lead of the Bonnier class in his Daren Mk2, ahead of Charles Allison driving solo this race in the Chevron B8. Chris Beighton, who lost the win late into race 1, had soon fought his way up to fourth while John Spiers in the patched up McLaren M1B was up into sixth quickly enough. James Claridge in the Lola T296 found himself in a similar position – getting a car that retired in the first race up the order. Sadly, the Keith Ahlers/Billy Bellinger Cooper Monaco King Cobra proved a non-starter.

Two laps down, Beighton had already stormed his way past his fellow T70 Mk3B driver Jason Wright to be second, with Montgomery some three seconds out in front. Behind Shaw’s Chevron, Spiers was up into fifth at the cost of Pink, with Claridge now up to seventh, ahead of the Bonnier class fight between Kjallgren and Allison.

Beighton quickly cut his deficit to Montgomery and sure enough, the orange Lola took the lead going into lap 4. Wright had dropped the lead fight by five seconds, with Shaw a further four seconds down. Spiers was still closing by seven tenths a lap, with Claridge still fighting to find a way past Pink’s older Lola. Meanwhile, Allison had passed Kjallgren for the Bonnier class lead.

Having put the hammer down, Beighton extended his lead over Montgomery to just under ten seconds as the pit window approached. Wright still trailed Montgomery by four seconds while the gaps to Shaw and Spiers remained, each being around three seconds. Nine ticks further down the road, Claridge had finally managed to pass Pink, as Kjallgren had got back on Allison for eighth overall.

The pit window now open, Beighton led by 14.6 seconds, with none of the cars electing to pit just yet. One lap later, however, Claridge was in to hand over to Gonçalo Gomes. The Lola T296 was followed in by Kjallgren’s Daren, but the top-four continued to stay out. John Spiers was in to have Nigel Greensall strapped into the McLaren, though, as the leader’s advantage had risen to 18.9 seconds, with Beighton once again improving on his fastest lap of the race. Wright was in next, and on the next lap – the thirtheenth of this race – the leader was into the pits, followed by Alex Montgomery from second place to hand over to Nick Sleep, with Robert Shaw, Nick Pink and Charles Allison suddenly all following suit. Everything went smoothly for Beighton but Sleep stalled the T70 Mk3 before he was able to rejoin.

So with 12 minutes still remaining, Beighton had completed 15 laps and led Wright by 33 seconds, with Shaw just 1.6 seconds behind in third. Turning up the wick, Greensall had hauled the McLaren M1B up into fourth ahead of Sleep, but behind them Gomes was flying as well. Pink was now a distant seventh while Kjallgren and Allison were still embroiled in that Bonnier class fight.

Now well in control, Beighton slightly backed off his pace, as he consummately led the three-way fight over second place, Wright holding a slender margin over Shaw and Greensall, as Gomes had caught up with Sleep for fifth place. On lap 18, Greensall was all over the back of Shaw’s Chevron which spun in its defense to release Greensall in his chase for second overall. In fact, Sleep and Gomes also profited as Shaw was relegated to sixth. In seventh, Pink was now driving a lonely race, while Kjallgren had managed to put some ten seconds between himself and Allison.

As Beighton headed for victory, the interest in the final minutes was Greensall attempting to pip Wright on the line, while Sleep and Gomes fought hard over fourth place. With 15 seconds left on the official race clock, Greensall moved past Wright to steal second place overall for the pre-66 machine, as Sleep hung on to keep Gomes at bay for fourth. Shaw and Pink took a distant sixth and seventh, while Kjallgren took his second class win of the weekend in eighth, the Swede finishing with 11 seconds in hand over Charles Allison.