Masters Historic Race Weekend 2024: Masters Endurance Legends

The More Modern Historics!

Race 1

Tomlinsons charge to victory in first Masters Endurance Legends race at Donington

Lawrence and Freddie Tomlinson took a convincing win in the first Masters Endurance Legends race at Donington Park after their ex-LNT Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S hit the front soon after the mandatory mid-race stops. In a close battle between the first three cars that lasted between laps 25 and 26, Tomlinson Jnr passed his rivals in short order before running out to a lead of 27 seconds at the chequered flag.

“Dad did a great job in the first stint to get back up to P2 after a tricky start”, said Freddie Tomlinson. “I was third from the pit stops and overtook the top two cars to take the lead and get the win. So yeah, really good. The car was mega. Everyone at Ginetta has done a great job and the Ginetta-Zytek’s done really well.”

In the leading LMP2 car, Alfie Briggs took a strong second place overall, as the teenager also caught and passed Alan Purbrick in the ex-Rebellion Lola-Judd B12/60 that had led the first part of the race in the hand of David Brise. Briggs in the ex-ESM HPD-Honda ARX-04b subsequently proceeded to put some 30 seconds between himself and Purbrick, while he comfortably beat class rival Mike Newton whose Lola B08/80 ended up fourth overall.

“Lawrence started in the Zytek, David started in the Lola”, said Briggs. “David and me got ahead of Lawrence going past turn 1 and then David just disappeared into the distance.

Lawrence caught back up to me and got past me and started chasing after David. Coming for the pitstop, I was ahead of Freddie, but behind Alan and then I managed to get ahead of Alan and unfortunately Freddie came past me.”

“David started and he had a really good first opening session and I thought we were going to do really well”, said Purbrick. “So we knew we were in with a chance of a podium. Whether it would be second, third, we’re not quite sure. And then unfortunately in the driver changeover, which we did really well, I stalled it coming out of the pit lane and couldn’t get the car going. I had to recycle the car a couple of times, which probably dropped us 20 seconds but it is what it is. It’s a lovely track and lovely to actually turn up here and get on the podium, so I’ll take it.”

Jack Fabby won the LMP3 class, as his Duqueine-Nissan D08 vanquished a mighty gaggle of Ligier-Nissan JSP3s, of which the Grahame Tilley/Sennan Fielding example led early on in Fielding’s hands, before Fabby took the lead halfway into the race, with Ron Maydon following through into second place in class.

On a typically fresh Donington Sunday morning with overcast weather and the occasional spot of rain, the Masters Endurance Legends grid lined up for their first race of the day. Lawrence Tomlinson led away in the Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S he also raced in period, followed David Brise in the ex-Rebellion Lola B12/60, but Alfie Briggs stuck to the Lola’s tail in the HPD-Honda ARX-04b as the leading LMP2 machine. However, Brise was soon on the move, as he hit the front halfway into the opening lap, with Briggs and a fast-starting Sennan Fielding in the first of the Ligier-Nissan JSP3 LMP3 cars following through. On lap 2, though, Tomlinson got back into his stride to repass Fielding.

The other LMP2 car, Mike Newton’s Lola B08/80, was still stuck behind Jack Fabby in the Duqueine-Nissan D08, while he was chased by three more LMP3 cars pedalled by Oli Webb, Ron Maydon and Mark Drain. Ian Stinton in the TVR Cerbera was next, but Marcus Jewell had already been forced to retire his Ligier on its out lap.

At the front, Brise set a searing pace to leave Briggs and Tomlinson behind by six seconds after four laps, while on lap 5, Tomlinson found a way back past the HPD to regain second place but now trailing 7.8 seconds. Fielding and Fabby in the two leading LMP3 cars followed four more seconds behind. Further back, Stinton was in trouble, the Cerbera coming into the pits on lap 7.

On that very lap, Tomlinson first set a lap time that was quicker than Brise’s, to cut the gap back to seven seconds. Indeed, next time around, the Ginetta-Zytek beat Brise’s fastest lap of the race, and Tomlinson’s deficit was now down to 6.3 seconds. Two ticks further down the road, Briggs held a watching brief while keeping the LMP3 cars at least eight seconds away.

Brise had certainly got the message, as the Lola dipped beneath the one-minute mark for a best lap of 59.7, and made that a 59.4 on lap 11, increasing Tomlinson’s mountain to climb to 7.8 seconds. Behind them, Briggs had begun losing a second per lap to the two LMP2 cars, and on lap 12 trailed them by 6.9 seconds. However, his advantage to Fielding and Fabby had grown to 14 seconds, as the two youngsters fought over the LMP3 class lead. Newton was 13 more seconds behind while being hounded by Webb, who in turn led Maydon and Drain by some 13 seconds.

As the pit window approached, Brise kept on pounding in the hot laps, his advantage now accumulated to 10.5 seconds, as Jack Fabby in the Duqueine was the first to come in for his mandatory stop. Next time around, Tomlinson was in to hand over to son Freddie, with Drain joining him later on in the lap. On lap 18, Webb pitted to switch places with Guy Ziser, but Brise, Briggs, Fielding, Newton and Maydon carried on as long as they could, Briggs and Maydon coming in on lap 20, with Newton joining them. Then, on lap 22, Brise finally came in to hand over to Alan Purbrick, with Fielding leaving it until lap 23 before handing the Ligier to Grahame Tilley.

After all the stops had cycled through, Purbrick led Briggs by an ever narrowing margin, with Tomlinson (F.) not far behind in third, the three split by a mere 1.5 seconds. Newton had vaulted Tilley for fourth overall, while the latter was chased and soon usurped by Fabby and Maydon, with Ziser and Drain up next. At the front, it was all change on lap 25, though, as Briggs and Tomlinson passed Purbrick to claim the top spots, and on the next lap, Tomlinson was through into the lead. Now gathering pace, the younger Tomlinson was soon found up the road by 5.3 seconds, as he and Briggs dropped Purbrick by two seconds a lap.

Ten minutes remained on the clock, and Tomlinson was firmly putting his stamp on this race, extending his lead over Briggs to 7.4 seconds on lap 28, while Purbrick had been left a further 13 seconds behind. Newton trailed Purbrick by 37 seconds, and although the LMP2 Lola now lapped two seconds quicker than the LMP1 Lola, it would be a tall order for Newton to catch Purbrick for third overall. In LMP3, Fabby led Maydon, Tilley, Ziser and Drain.

As the clock wound down, Tomlinson’s lead grew to a convincing 27 seconds as he crossed the line for the final time on lap 38. Briggs, in turn, had created a gap of over half a minute to Pubrick. Newton was a distant fourth, 30 more seconds down, while Jack Fabby’s Duqueine won the LMP3 class over a gaggle of Ligiers led by Maydon, with Tilley/Fielding, Ziser/Webb and Drain up next.

Race 2

Tomlinsons double up in Masters Endurance Legends at Donington

Father-and-son duo Lawrence & Freddie Tomlinson pulled off the double in the pair of Masters Endurance Legends races at Donington Park, as their Ginetta-Zytek also ran away with the second MEL race of the Masters Race Weekend. The pair reclaimed the lead as soon as David Brise was forced to retire the Lola B12/60, denying teammate Alan Purbrick a run in the car. Brise had hit the front on lap 7 before the Lola faltered with an oil leak.

“It was great”, said Lawrence Tomlinson. “I made a much better start this time, but the race became a bit complicated in the first stint because it was just starting to drizzle at the Craner Curves and up to McLeans, so I was leading but I decided it was much better for the guy who was behind to go on the water first. So I let him let him by and stayed two seconds behind him, which was great. Then he started to put oil down for three laps and that was it. I just brought it in and gave it to Freddie, and he wins!”

At the stops, Alfie Briggs briefly took over the lead in the HPD-Honda ARX-04b, as Freddie Tomlinson took his elite-driver penalty at the stops, but the Ginetta-Zytek was soon back into the lead before pulling out towards a commanding 28-second lead at the chequered flag. Briggs did win the LMP2 class ahead of Mike Newton’s Lola B08/80 who took a lapped third overall.

“I started second and tried to chase after Lawrence at the start in the Zytek”, said Briggs. “Then the Lola caught up to me and got past. After that, I was just driving around, it got to be a bit of a boring race for me.”

“It was great to be finally getting on top of the car”, said Newton about his improved pace. “It’s the first time we’ve raced it since 2010. It’s been a bit of a learning experience to get back there, but it really felt I was back in a familiar office again today. So a great job by the team, it’s handling superbly now. We’ve chased all the issues out and wonderful job, what can I say?”

In LMP3, Sennan Fielding held an early advantage in the Ligier-Nissan JSP3 shared with Graham Tilley, but after the stops Jack Fabby took command in the sole Duqueine D08 taking on all the Ligiers in class. Tilley hung on to second place in class, keeping five seconds in hand over Mark Drain’s similar Ligier.

Straight after lunch, the Masters Endurance Legends field got underway for their second race in three hours’ time, as Lawrence Tomlinson led away in the Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S, with Alfie Briggs sitting next to him in the HPD-Honda ARX-04b. David Brise, however, was quick off the mark and put the Lola-Judd B12/60 in front of the leading LMP2 to chase after Tomlinson Snr in the lead. On lap 3, Brise trailed the Ginetta-Zytek by six tenths, but that’s where his march stopped, as Tomlinson managed to keep the gap at a similar margin for the next few laps.

Behind the top three, Mike Newton’s Lola B08/80 led the train of LMP3 machines in which Sennan Fielding had marched to the front in the space of three laps, passing both Maydon (co-driving with Marcus Jewell this time) and Jack Fabby in the sole Duqueine D08. Maydon was pushed by Guy Ziser and Mark Drain for seventh.

In fact, Tomlinson produced a fastest lap of the race on lap 5 to go nine tenths clear, but the next time around, Brise lowered the mark to close back up again. Pressuring the Ginetta-Zytek, Brise managed to claim the lead on lap 7, to break free to a 1.9-second lead on lap 8. By now, Briggs trailed both LMP1 cars by 11 seconds, with Newton a further five ticks behind. And while Fielding had hit the LMP3 class lead in fifth overall, Fabby wasn’t letting go, the Duqueine snapping at the lead Ligier’s rear wing lap after lap. Meanwhile, Maydon, Ziser and Drain were similarly tied to a string, 30 seconds in arrears of the two class-leading machines.

Putting the hammer down to produce the first sub-minute lap of the race, Brise accumulated a lead of 3.1 seconds on the 11th lap of the race, with three more minutes remaining for the pit window to open. During their fight for the class lead, Fielding and Fabby had caught Newton, and on lap 12, Fielding found a way past. Further back, Drain had vaulted Ziser, whose Ligier seemed to be slowing.

On lap 13, however, Brise was into the pits, a couple of minutes ahead of the pit window. An oil leak had stopped the Lola… Suddenly, Tomlinson (L.) found himself back in the lead again, with Briggs seven seconds away, as times began to creep upwards – it had started spitting with rain.

Three laps later, both Tomlinson and Briggs pitted, along with Fabby, Drain and Maydon, all electing to complete their mandatory mid-race stops at the same time. Freddie Tomlinson took over from his father, and both he and Briggs were set to regain the leading places once Fielding and Newton had chosen to do the same. However, the longer stop for the Ginetta-Zytek – because of the younger Tomlinson’s elite-driver time penalty – had helped Briggs to vault the Tomlinson for the virtual lead of the race, as Newton poured in for his pitstop. Just like in the morning race, Fielding stayed out for as long as he could, but on lap 23, he was finally in to hand over to Grahame Tilley.

In his wake, Tomlinson (F.) had closed the gap to Briggs to pick off the HPD on lap 22, so when Fielding finally came in to do his stop, Tomlinson was already back up into the lead, with Briggs now trailing by 2.9 seconds. Newton was third, still only six seconds away from Briggs, having found additional speed compared to his morning pace.

At the front, Tomlinson got his foot down to lower the fastest lap of the race to a 59.1, just three tenths of his own pole time. As a result, Briggs was left hanging dry 12 seconds in arrears, while Newton kept pace with the American-Japanese LMP2 car. In LMP3, Fabby had reclaimed the lead from Tilley, who had 21 seconds in hand over Drain, but the latter was lapping two seconds quicker. Jewell was next up, with Webb playing catch-up behind him.

Less than nine minutes remained when Tomlinson took his lead above 15 seconds, allowing him to sit back and relax a bit. Newton had slightly fallen away from Briggs again, so the teenager looked safe for second place. Fabby’s LMP3 class lead over Tilley continued to grow, but Drain stopped making an impression on Tilley, his deficit geting stuck at some 15 seconds.

As Tomlinson crossed the line as the winner for the second time in a day, his lead had grown to 28 seconds online. Briggs was the LMP2 class winner ahead of Newton, while Fabby also doubled up on LMP3 class wins, leading home Tilley/Fielding, Drain, Maydon/Jewell and Ziser/Webb.