Masters Race Weekend 2020: Aston Martin Masters Endurance Legends

The More Modern Historics!

Race 1

Lynn triumphs in AMMEL Race 1

Shaun Lynn triumphed in the opening Aston Martin Masters Endurance Legends race of 2020 at Donington, today, in a safety car-affected race.

Starting from pole position, Steve Tandy blasted away in the Lola B12/60-Judd as Mike Newton took his Le Mans class-winning MG Lola EX257 up to second on the opening tour ahead of Jack Dex (BR 01). Dex’s team-mate Shaun Lynn chased in the second Russian-built chassis with Phil Quaife (Ferrari 430 GT2) next up.

As Tandy built the lead, Dex upped his pace and caught Newton, the BR diving up the inside heading into Redgate to put the newer prototype ahead. Newton’s MG Lola started to fade as the pit stop window approached, allowing Lynn (BR 01) to catch and pass him for third place.

David Methley (Chevrolet Corvette) made an unscheduled pit stop early in the race and then ended his race on lap 16 in the Redgate gravel when his brakes disappeared. That brought out the safety car which enabled Quaife and Lynn to pit under the caution conditions, especially good news for Quaife who had an extra two minutes to serve in the pits an a solo Elite driver. The safety car failed to pick up the leader, allowing Lynn to gain almost a lap over Tandy, the margin after the first racing lap being over one minute. Tandy was on a mission for the remainder of the race.

Tandy piled in fastest lap after fastest lap, with Dex running third and Newton fourth, but the gap never came down sufficiently allowing Lynn to run out a winner. Tandy was a frustrated second from Dex and Newton, while Quaife gained fifth from Marcus Jewell (Porsche 911 GT RSR),

Class wins fell to Lynn, Tandy, Newton, Quaife, Jewell/Ben Clucas and John Cockerton (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup).

Race two for the Aston Martin Masters Endurance Legends is this afternoon at 15:40.

Race 2

Tandy triumphs at Donington

Steve Tandy made up for earlier disappointment by winning the second Aston Martin Masters Endurance Legends race at Donington this afternoon.

Tandy’s Lola B12/60-Judd blasted in to the lead and asserted himself as his tyres and brakes came up to temperature. Behind, the two Russian-built BR chassis of Jack Dex and Shaun Lynn chased hard but Tandy was in uncompromising mood having lost a certain race one win to a confused safety car intervention.

This time, Tandy wasn’t to be denied. The experienced sports car and GT racer bolted way from Lynn but the gap rose steadily, even allowing for the traffic which Tandy caught early on. As the margin rose to over 18 seconds to Lynn, Shaun then came under attack from team-mate Dex who found a way past on lap 15 to move into second place and a class lead. Dex tried to catch the older Lola but Tandy was not ready to relax his pace.

Although the order shuffled on the pit stops, allowing race one winner Lynn a chance to lead the pack briefly, Tandy was back ahead when it counted, taking the win by 17.9sec. The ex-Dyson Racing Lola ran out the winner with 36 laps completed in the 40-minute duration.

The internecine BR battle went the way of Dex who was able to stave off race one winner Lynn after the pit stops, the margin between the pair being 26.9sec as Lynn dropped away in the second stint, while fourth was Mike Newton in his Le Mans class-winning MG Lola EX257. As in race one, the RML-tended car faded in the second stint, the 2004-built car giving away a decade to its rivals.

Class winners were Tandy, Dex and Mike Newton, while the GT classes fell to Phil Quaife (Ferrari 430GT2), Marcus Jewell/Ben Clucas (Porsche 911 RSR) and John Cockerton (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup).