Masters Historic Festival 2024: Masters Gentlemen Drivers

In a tale of two halves, TVR Griffiths ruled in the first part of the 80-minute Masters Gentlemen Drivers race that closed the Saturday of the Masters Historic Festival at Brands Hatch, but in the second half, Dan Eagling’s nimble Ginetta G4R came through to beat the all bigger cars led by John Davison’s TVR.

“We’d hoped to get close to a win around here, because we’ve been close at Silverstone and we thought this would suit the car”, said Eagling. “It was about being really patient at the start against some of the bigger engined cars. It was quite difficult because we make up our time at the back where they’re a bit slower. Once we were at the pit stops, the little cars obviously get a small advantage over the bigger ones – that really helped me to get some clean air. I just tred to be as consistent as possible and make it to the end – which which I just. No, I wasn’t managing the gap, that’s what I had! Another lap and I think yeah they’d have been on me.”

“I really enjoyed it”, said Davison. “I was in the lead at the beginning towards the pit stops and able to get a gap each time the safety car went in, but I didn’t have enough car left to catch up after the stops. I tried but I was going to put it in the gravel or the wall if I went any faster!”

A strong comeback run by Andrew Jordan hauled the Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupé with Roy Alderslade back up to third ahead of two more TVRs, with Mike Whitaker and Harry Barton in a seemingly endless battle over fourth that ended up Whitaker’s way. Giles Dawson looked to be able to run Eagling close but when the throttle cable snapped on his Elan, he had to work hard to even finish and eventually brought the car home in seventh overall, in the process losing second place in the CLP class to the Simon & Cameron Jackson Elan.

“It was a tough race”, said Alderslade, “as it always is in the Cobra – a really hot car to drive so i was quite pleased to hand over to Andrew for more racing. But it was exciting and Andrew has done a fantastic job.”

“Yeah, it was hot!” said Jordan. “I was pleased to we were able to chase down the TVRs but I just ran out of brakes and tyres at the end.”

“I think I’ve got a pair of shoes that are older than Harry, so I’m quite glad that I beat him”, said Whitaker. “He’s got professional aspirations and I’ll be back behind my keyboard after the bank holiday! But yeah, it was fantastic – if you’re not going to win, you just ask for a great race, and I had a great race with Dan Eagling and John Spiers early on and then with Harry later.”

“I was up into second place and then and then the linkage snaps. I was literally pulling the pedal back with my foot!” said Dawson, looking back on a lost opportunity.

In the opening stages, the TVR Griffith of reigning champions John Spiers and Nigel Greensall initially led before Davison came through to lead Spiers, Barton and Whitaker, but Greensall was forced to retire in the second half of the race. Meanwhile in C2, the tale of two halves continued, as Michael Russell turned the tables on his Morgan rivals Calum Lockie/Simon Orebi Gann and Keith Ahlers/Billy Bellinger to move his Austin Healey into a commanding lead in the second half of the race.

Ending a wonderful first day of the 18th Masters Historic Festival, the Masters Gentlemen Drivers field rolled out for their 80-minute race, with two TVR Griffiths grabbing the initiative right from the start, as John Spiers and John Davison got ahead of Roy Alderslade’s pole-sitting Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupé. On the second lap, Harry Barton also pushed through, as did Jason Minshaw in Martin Melling’s Jaguar E-type, who then proceeded to grab third from Barton. Behind Alderslade, Mike Whitaker was sixth in another Griffith, with Dan Eagling leading the CLP class from Giles Dawson and Rob Fenn – Ginetta G4R versus Lotus Elan 26R.

On lap 3, we had a change of the lead, as Johns Spiers and Davison switched places, but Minshaw was sitting pretty in third and looked ready to pounce. Barton now had Whitaker to contend with, as Alderslade had lost a place to another TVR, with David Brabham in the Pearsons E-type also coming through, the Australian now having split the CLP-class cars. In fact, on lap 4, that group had relegated Alderslade to tenth overall, where Alex Thistlethwayte showed interest in taking the place. Next time around, his Cobra was promoted into the place automatically, as Minshaw suddenly disappeared from the top-three, the E-type suffering from low oil pressure.

So, on lap 5, we had four Griffiths in the first four, but Eagling was looking to dislodge Whitaker from fourth, with Brabham in sixth, but 2.5 seconds away from the quick Ginetta. Dawson and Fenn were hammer and tongs over seventh overall, with Alderslade and Thistlethwayte in a Cobra war over ninth.

Further back, in 19th overall, Calum Lockie had put Simon Orebi Gann’s Morgan Plus 4 SuperSport ahead of Michael Russell’s Austin Healey 3000 to lead in C2, with Bruce Montgomery and Keith Ahlers involved in another Healey vs Morgan tussle over third and fourth in class. In C1, Massimo Caiselli’s Porsche 911 held the class lead after an early off from the rival 911 of James & Mark Bates but the Italian was into the pits with an engine issue on lap 6, effectively finishing the class fight there and then.

Next up, the B class battle also looked done and dusted when Simone Zainoni’s Triumph TR3 disappeared into the gravel trap to bring out the safety car and leaving the Peter James/Alan Letts Chevrolet Corvette on its own – but the Triumph eventually returned to action. The safety car negated the small gap that Davison had built over Spiers and Barton, but Eagling had managed to pass Whitaker for fourth overall before the race was neutralised. At the same time, David Smithies returned the second Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupé to the pits with a big oil leak.

With less than a full hour of racing still left, the green flag was waved to Davison, who produced a stonking opening lap to lead by two seconds from Spiers and Barton on lap 12. For two laps, it was stalemate at the front, but on lap 14, Rob Fenn’s Elan went missing – moments later, it was found in the gravel trap at Stirlings, ushering in the arrival of another safety-car period while promoting the Simon & Cameron Jackson Lotus Elan to third in class.

When green conditions returned, the pit window was still moments away, so no-one was able to profit from the situation. However, Bruce Montgomery came in all the same but that was a mechanical issue as the bonnet was opened as soon as the Austin Healey stopped. At the front, Davison had once again nailed his opening lap, and now cars were allowed to pit for their mandatory stop. Simon Jackson handing over to son Cameron, and Keith Ahlers being replaced by Billy Bellinger were among the first to do so. Next time around, Barton and Whitaker came in for their stop, while Roy Alderslade handed over to Andrew Jordan, and Alex Thistlethwayte handed over to Nick Padmore. The same applied to John & Sam Tordoff in their Elan, and Mark Drain handing a very familiar ex-Mark Martin Elan to Andrew Haddon.

On lap 20, Michael Russell, Charles Allison (with Peter Thompson now in) and Evans (with James Littlejohn in), Calum Lockie (for Simon Orebi Gann) were among the stoppers, while the top three of Davison, Spiers and Eagling continued their first stint. On lap 21, though, Spiers, Eagling and David Brabham dove into the pitlane for their stops, the latter making way for Gary Pearson. Now, Davison and Dawson were the only ones still to stop, but on lap 22, in they went.

As soon as the leaders had fed back in, the two top CLP-class cars had taken charge, thanks to their shorter stops. In fact, Dawson had pipped Eagling coming out of the pits but the Ginetta had soon regained the class lead – and the overall lead! Behind them, three TVRs battled hard for third, Whitaker now just in front of Barton and Davison, but the former leader soon pushed through to be reassume the mantle of fastest TVR driver. Sixth was Cameron Jackson’s Elan, with a fast-approaching Andrew Jordan two seconds down, while both were handed 5-second time penalties for speeding in the pitlane. This effectively promoted Gary Pearson’s E-type and Nigel Greensall in John Spiers’ TVR. Rounding out the top-ten was Haddon’s Elan, but Sam Tordoff was closing on him. Meanwhile in C2, Michael Russell had retaken the lead from his two Morgan-mounted rivals, Bellinger ahead of Orebi Gann.

25 minutes still remained on the clock, as Eagling continued to lead from Dawson, the latter unable to keep up with the Ginetta which now led by 9.8 seconds. While Davison had dropped the other two TVRs, he had also closed on Dawson’s Elan to gain the place on lap 28. Behind the warring Whitaker and Barton, Jordan had passed Jackson for sixth overall, but still eight seconds away from the TVR fight. Greensall in turn was homing in on Jackson, with Pearson, Haddon and Tordoff up next.

Among the leaders, the race was far from over, as Davison now circulated a second a lap quicker than Eagling, and on lap 31, the gap was down to 7.1 seconds. In third, Dawson was losing ground to Barton who in turn was usurped by Jordan on lap 32, the Daytona Coupé leaving Barton to continue his squabble with Whitaker over fourth. In fact, Dawson was Jordan’s next victim, but still with his 5-second time penalty hanging over him. In sixth, Cameron Jackson was aiming to pounce on the TVRs ahead on him. 24 seconds further down the road, Pearson was under pressure from Sam Tordoff and James Littlejohn, and on lap 34, the E-type lost two places to both Elans. Meanwhile, Greensall’s TVR was seen smoking, resulting in a shock retirement for the reigning champions.

With 15 minutes left, Davison’s challenge looked like tailing off, as Eagling managed to stabilise the gap to Davison, with Jordan continuing to approach the top two, but a few minutes later, Dawson lost fourth to Whitaker and Barton in one go, and now had to worry about losing second place in the CLP class to Cameron Jackson. Tordoff, however, wasn’t among Jackson’s first pursuers anymore, as the blue Elan had lost a lot of ground to drop back down behind Pearson and Haddon.

In the final five minutes, Eagling’s Ginetta began to lose a bit of pace after all, making for a finely poised finale, as Jordan continued to close on Davison. 27 down on the leader, Whitaker, Barton and now Jackson warred over fourth, as the latter had demoted Dawson to seventh – and third in the CLP class. As the race clock wound down to its full 80 minutes, Eagling worked with the few seconds that he had still in hand, to eventually win by 1.1 seconds from Davison, with the Alderslade/Jordan in third, their time penalty becoming a moot point because of their 17-second gap to Whitaker, Barton and Jackson. Dawson was seventh ahead of Littlejohn, Tordoff and Haddon, as Pearson just dropped out of the top ten. In C2, Michael Russell held firm against the two Morgans, leading Bellinger home by a massive 50 seconds, with Orebi Gann third in class.