Silverstone Festival 2025: Masters Racing Legends for 66/85 F1 Cars

Having been given Steve Hartley’s McLaren MP4/1, Tom Bradshaw duly converted his shock pole into a sensational win on debut, as the former multiple Masters Sports Car Legends race winner led the first Masters Racing Legends race at the Silverstone Festival from start to finish while also easily surviving a late-race safety-car period.

“I’m still pinching myself now!” said a jubilant Bradshaw. “Yeah, you roll down the pit lane with the DFV roaring behind you, it’s the hairs on the back of your neck standing on end, and that’s enough for me. And then to come away with a win is stuff dreams are made of. Massive out-of-the-blue shock to be invited to do this and I’ll be forever grateful to Steve Hartley for giving me the opportunity. It’s a childhood dream, isn’t it?”

Bradshaw soon broke away from the pursuing Stuart Hall, whose March 821 had pipped Matt Wrigley’s Tyrrell 011 for second on the opening lap. Despite his best efforts, the reigning champion failed to find a way back past the March. Towards the end, Werner d’Ansembourg closed up to make it a group of three in hot pursuit, the Belgian’s Williams FW08C having inherited fourth when Yutaka Toriba’s Williams FW07C went wide at Copse halfway into the race.

“When that safety car came out, I thought, well, it’s either going to work or I’m going to have a lap of hell”, said Hall about the dying moments of the race. “In fairness, we’re not really racing that McLaren, so it was all about trying to keep Matt behind, and there was a car behind Matt as well. So I was like, if Matt has a pop, there’s likely someone else is going to slide up the inside as well, so I was having to just focus on my exits…”

“No opportunity to pass Stuart there”, said Wrigley, “but at least we got the car back in one piece, which is the main thing. I enjoyed the race, I think I could have got past him if I had had a bit more pace. It’s always great to race against him, very fair, but he never really made a mistake to capitalise on. We’ll see in the reverse grid race tomorrow.”

Max Werner’s Hesketh 308C looked set to win the pre-78 class, the German having passed the pole-sitting March 761 of John Spiers early on, but when the Hesketh retired during the safety-car period, Spiers was handed back the lead and subsequently the win. Martin Bullock’s Williams FW06 moved up into second in class, while Craig Davies claimed a podium spot on his Formula One debut in Ron Maydon’s Lec CRP1. James Hagan initially led the post-82 class in his Tyrrell 011B but Ian Simmonds (Tyrrell 012) used the safety-car restart to beat the Irishman to the class win. Further back, Mark Hazell’s Williams FW08 completed the post-82 top-three.

Following a cloudy and fresh Friday, the first day of racing at the Silverstone Festival proved to be hot and sunny. The Masters Racing Legends would start an afternoon programme stuffed with Masters races, with 28 3-litre F1 cars lining up for their first race of the weekend. Tom Bradshaw was the surprise pole sitter in Steve Hartley’s McLaren MP4/1, as Matt Wrigley’s Tyrrell 011 lined up alongside on the front row. Stuart Hall’s March 821 and Yutaka Toriba’s Williams FW07C shared row two, and Werner d’Ansembourg’s Williams FW08C (replacing his Brabham BT49C) and Sam Hancock in the Fittipaldi F8 were on row three. In 14th overall, John Spiers headed the pre-78 runners in his March 761 while in 16th, James Hagan led the post-82 cars in his Tyrrell 011B.

Out of Abbey, Bradshaw was on it to open up a gap, but behind him Wrigley was swamped by Hall braking into Village. In fourth, Toriba was harried by d’Ansembourg (W.), with Hancock, Constable and Briggs holding a watching brief right behind, the latter two having passed Cantillon. Into Stowe, the Japanese and the Belgian were side-by-side but Toriba hung on into Vale. After the opening lap, Bradshaw led Hall by a second, but going into lap 2, the gap was visually increasing. In fact, after two laps, the McLaren led by 2.8 seconds.

In the pre-78 class, meanwhile, Max Werner’s Hesketh 308C had moved ahead of Spiers’ March, while Hagan split Martin Bullock’s third-placed Williams FW06. Ian Simmonds held second in the post-82 class, chasing Bullock and leading Craig Davies’ pre-78 Lec CRP1 and Mark Hazell in the post-82 Williams FW08.

As Bradshaw broke away, Wrigley began to close up to Hall, putting the March under immense pressure going into lap 4. Behind them, the order remained stable, but in the pre-78 class, Werner had put Mark Higson’s McLaren MP4/1B between himself and the pursuing Spiers. Further back, Hazell had passed Davies to go after Simmonds’ second place in the post-82 class.

In front, Bradshaw’s had mushroomed to a massive 5.9 seconds on lap 4, as Hall gave himself some breathing air to Wrigley. Toriba, however, was gone from fourth place, the Japanese having dropped behind d’Ansembourg (W.), Hancock and Constable as his FW07C went wide at Copse.

Bradshaw’s pace continued to be relentless, as he clocked another fastest lap of the race to lead by eight seconds on lap 6. Meanwhile, d’Ansembourg had now wiped away the gap to Wrigley tried to pass the Tyrrell into Abbey, but Wrigley would have none of that. The three had dropped Hancock by six seconds, the Fittipaldi leading a group consisting of Constable, Toriba, Briggs and Cantillon, with d’Ansembourg (C.) in the FW07C, Steve Brooks in the Lotus 91 and Dan Gore’s Tyrrell 010 some 11 seconds behind that in another group of three.

In 13th overall, Werner continued to lead the pre-78 class, with Higson still acting as a buffer to Spiers in second place. In 15th, Hagan held a five-second lead of class rival Simmonds, while Bullock and Davies contested third place in the pre-78 class.

On lap 8, Constable disappeared with a spin at Club, as all of his pursuers moved up a place. At the front, Bradshaw controlled his eight-second gap to the Hall/Wrigley/d’Ansembourg (W.) group while a late push by Cantillon resulted in the Irishman passing both Briggs and Toriba for sixth. Soon the safety car emerged, though, as the stranded Constable was unable to get his Tyrrell going again. Sadly, Werner’s Hesketh evaporated from the pre-78 lead at the same time, handing it back to Spiers as he retired to the pits.

The Tyrrell’s removal was quickly dealt with, allowing the safety car to come in with one more green lap still remaining. Bradshaw’s lead had been wiped out, but he was confidently away on the restart, denying Hall any opportunity to have a go at him. So after his shock pole, Bradshaw completed his Silverstone dream ride with a win on debut. Hall, Wrigley, d’Ansembourg (W.) and Hancock all remained in the same order, but Briggs managed to repass Cantillon for sixth. D’Ansembourg (C.) crossed the line in eighth, ahead of Brooks, Gore and Higson, while Spiers claimed the pre-78 win in 12th overall. Behind the March, Simmonds got the hop on Hagan for the post-82 class win, while Bullock took second in the pre-78 class, ahead of Davies who claimed a pre-78 podium in his first Formula One race. Behind Peter Williams’ Lec CRP1, Mark Hazell grabbed third in the post-82 class.

Tom Bradshaw completed a dream weekend at the Silverstone Festival by winning the second Masters Racing Legends race in great style. Coming from seventh on the partially reversed grid, the McLaren MP4/1 driver was soon up into fourth and then accomplished the remarkable feat of passing the entire top three in the space of a single lap!

“The car’s been absolutely phenomenal from the start of the weekend”, said Bradshaw. “It’s really given me a good base to get more confident as we’ve gone through. So I knew I had the pace to do it. It was just finding ways through. Silverstone always lends itself to good racing, so I knew if I’d be patient and just wait for the gaps to appear, they did. I don’t know what happened to Stuart [Hall], I think his gearbox let go coming out of Luffield, so that was a freebie and then I managed to get past Sam and Mike. The car was on rails from there on in. It was just sit back and enjoy myself and push on because it just rewards you, the more you push this car. Just an absolute dream come true. Still pinching myself, still keeps sinking in the longer I’m here.”

Having started his Williams FW07C from pole, Mike Cantillon was unable to prevent Bradshaw from nailing an absolutely perfect historic Formula One debut weekend, but the Irishman did well to fend off attacks from Sam Hancock in the Fittipaldi F8 and Stuart Hall in the March 821. When Hall dropped away, Matt Wrigley (Tyrrell 011) took up the gauntlet to challenge and vanquish Hancock for the final podium spot.

“We had a difficult day yesterday”, said Cantillon. “The team worked tirelessly through yesterday evening and we got it all sorted. So the car was alive today but I was in my mirrors thinking, when’s Tom going to come or Stuart or Matt, so I just had to try and break away as much as I could in the beginning of the race. Tom in a straight line was just incredible and I didn’t fight him for it. He just had too much pace. Congratulations to him on the double!”

“I wasn’t there for the first laps”, said Wrigley, “I couldn’t quite get the car underneath me. I was struggling with it a bit. So after the safety car was out, I needed a reset. The car’s been great all weekend. I love being here, and it’s just great to have family and friends here. And to be honest with you, I was catching Mike at the end. One more lap might have been the right time, but it’s been a great weekend.”

In the pre-78 class, John Spiers (March 761) and Marty Bullock (Williams FW06) fought tooth and nail for the class win, with Spiers hanging on to also complete his set of double wins. In the post-82 class, though, James Hagan (Tyrrell 011B) turned the tables on Ian Simmonds (Tyrrell 012) as they split the Silverstone Festival class wins between the two of them.

Following a busy grid walk on the Hamilton Straight, the Masters Racing Legends machines headed off for their second race of the weekend to open another jampacked and sunny afternoon of Masters racing. On the partially reversed grid, sensational race 1 winner Tom Bradshaw would start the McLaren MP4/1 on loan from Steve Hartley from seventh on the grid, with Stuart Hall’s March 821 and Matt Wrigley’s Tyrrell 011 right in front of him. Mike Cantillon was on pole in his Williams FW07C, with Warren Briggs’ McLaren M29 next to the Irishman, while Sam Hancock’s Fittipaldi F8 and Werner d’Ansembourg’s Williams FW08C shared row three. John Spiers sat on the pre-78 class pole, right in front of post-82 pole sitter Ian Simmonds in the Tyrrell 012.

At the start, Cantillon was off like a scalded cat, while behind him Hancock wasted no time in passing Briggs for second into Village, completing the move into the Loop. In the Maggotts/Becketts complex, Hall was all over the McLaren too and managed to outbrake it into Stowe to claim third. Behind Briggs, Bradshaw was already up into fifth ahead of Wrigley and the two d’Ansembourgs, with Brooks and Gore completing the top ten for now. In 13th, Spiers led the pre-78 class, now chased by Jamie Constable’s Tyrrell 011 coming from the back. Martin Bullock’s Williams FW06 was second in class, another place down, with Craig Davies in the ex-Ron Maydon Lec CRP1 in third. In the post-78 class, James Hagan’s Tyrrell 011B had stormed past Simmonds to lead the class in 11th overall, chasing Mark Higson’s McLaren MP4/1B in tenth.

However, soon the safety car was out for Werner d’Ansembourg’s Williams having come to a halt in the middle of Hangar Straight. Moments before, Bradshaw had nicked fourth from Briggs. Meanwhile, having already been forced to start from the back after the previous day’s retirement, Yutaka Toriba finished a miserable weekend by reporting to the pits after the opening lap.

With the recovery flatbed having been forced to cover quite a distance to the stranded Williams, the field could only be released going into lap 5. Cantillon put his foot down out of Vale and as a result had Hancock and Hall covered – but only for a couple of corners, as Hancock attacked the Irishman coming out of Aintree. He failed, though, handing Hall an opportunity to pounce, but when the March driver failed as well, it was Bradshaw who stole third from the Rothmans-liveried machine. Into Stowe, the McLaren then flew past the Fittipaldi to chase Cantillon, who fell victim to Bradshaw’s unrelenting pace into Abbey. In the space of one single lap, Bradshaw had passed three cars!

The MP4/1 immediately broke away from Cantillon, while Wrigley suddenly loomed in Hancock’s mirrors, Hall suddenly having dropped out of the fight. Into the Loop and out of Aintree, the two were side by side, and Wrigley completed the move into Brooklands. Further back, Constable had made it up to seventh behind d’Ansembourg (C.) and Briggs. Hagan still led the post-82 class, while Spiers and Bullock were embroiled in a fierce contest for the pre-78 class win.

At the front, Bradshaw pumped in the fastest laps of the race to clear Cantillon by four seconds, as the clock wound down to zero. Eventually winning by 5.8 seconds, Bradshaw completed an impressive double on debut. Wrigley almost caught Cantillon for second, with Hancock in a close fourth. D’Ansembourg (C.), Briggs and Constable were next, followed home by Brooks, Gore and Higson. In 11th, Hagan won the post-82 class, with Simmonds second in 14th overall, while Spiers managed to hold on to his slim advantage over Bullock to claim a second pre-78 class win. Four seconds behind them, Peter Williams pipped Craig Davies for third in class in the battle of the two Lec CRP1s.