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Chevron B8 gets 50th anniversary race at 2018 Oulton Gold Cup

The 50th anniversary of the evocative Chevron B8 sports-racing car will be marked with a unique one-make race at the Oulton Park Gold Cup meeting next August

The Chevron B8 was one of the most successful projects from talented designer and engineer Derek Bennett, the founder of Chevron.

Now, for the first time, a dedicated race will be held for B8s and its forerunner, the B6.

The cars were built in a former mill in Bolton and were regularly tested and raced at Oulton Park.

The HSCC is aiming at a grid of more than 20 cars for this race on August bank holiday Monday 2018, and has already sparked major interest from car owners across Europe.

In 1967, Chevron produced around six or seven examples of the model initially called the GT. Later in 1968, the GT was renamed as the B6.

Over 40 B8s were built during 1968 as GT or Group 4 cars, many with two-litre BMW engines although some used Ford-based FVA or FVC engines.

More B8s were produced than any other Chevron model during the decade that the company was at the forefront of UK race car production. Sadly, Bennett died after a hang-gliding accident in 1978.

The B8 made its race debut at Cadwell Park in early March 1968 in the hands of John Bridges and won its first race with Phil Silverston at Silverstone on March 30 1968.

Fifty years on, the B8 continues to be an incredibly popular car for historic racing.

Grahame White of the HSCC said: "The Chevron B8 is one of the most desirable and sought-after sports-racing cars of a generation and we thought it was very appropriate to mark the car's 50th anniversary with a race at Oulton Park.

"Derek Bennett was a truly gifted race car designer and constructor but was a very unassuming character.

"I think he would be amazed, but quietly rather pleased, that we are going to celebrate 50 years of one his most successful designs."

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