What Autosport’s looking forward to in national motorsport this year

Finally, there are some positive developments in the world of national motorsport. After months of uncertainty, the green light has been given for track action to start in England this weekend and plenty of organisers are reporting pent-up demand to get back racing.

And there is no shortage of things to look forward to in 2021. From exciting events to fascinating title battles and eye-catching new series, here are some of the elements we are most eagerly anticipating for the year ahead. Of course, more than anything else, we just want to be back at circuits, watch some great competition and see spectator banks bustling once more.

But, with a third wave of COVID-19 sweeping Europe, the UK’s successful vaccine programme possibly slowing down and so much still up in the air, we still cannot be sure if any of these potential highlights will actually take place. For now, we just have to remain optimistic that the season ahead can still be a good one.

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Bumper grids

 

Photo by: Richard Styles

There has been plenty of stories about encouragingly large entries on the national news pages of Autosport in recent weeks.

Whether it is Equipe Classic Racing putting on extra races at its Brands Hatch opener to cater for increased demand, five of the six Classic Sports Car Club grids at its Oulton Park meeting quickly selling out, Legends reporting bumper registration levels, the 750 Motor Club securing over 1600 entries within 24 hours of bookings opening, or British Formula 4, which has struggled for numbers in recent years, attracting an increased entry even though it is due to be the final season with the car.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic creating difficult economic conditions, the continued restrictions mean spending in other ways – like eating and drinking out and holidays – is still not possible and therefore budget to get out on track is protected in some cases. Motorsport can offer escapism from the harsh realities of the current time and it is welcome to see such strong demand. SL

British Hillclimb Championship set for a comeback

 

Photo by: Steve Jones

Founded in 1947, the British Hillclimb Championship has fascinated me since I was a lad visiting Great Auclum, near Reading, in 1969.

The shortest venue in its illustrious history closed after the 1974 event but the staples at super-steep Shelsley Walsh (in Worcestershire’s Teme Valley), writhing Prescott (close to Cheltenham), and Craigantlet (outside Belfast) remain, alongside other hallowed courses. They all guarantee an exciting day out, and the speeds at Shelsley and Wiltshire’s Gurston Down – with its hairy downhill start – are jaw-dropping if you’ve not witnessed them before.

After a full year’s lull due to COVID-19, the top exponents are yearning to get going. Sean Gould in the latest of the family’s machines – which have carried the speciality’s boldest drivers to a record 20 titles since Chris Cramer put the marque on the map in 1985 – may well be the man to beat when the discipline once aptly described as “Formula 1 Up the Garden Path” all kicks off again. MAWP

Ford GT40 action in the Amon Cup (personal highlight)

 

Photo by: Motorsport Images

It’s not every weekend you get to see a field of Ford GT40s going head-to-head in anger, but that’s exactly what two race meetings are due to feature this season.

In fact, dedicated races for the fabled machine have only taken place at the Goodwood Revival and Members’ Meetings in recent times. But, courtesy of Motor Racing Legends, the Amon Cup – named in honour of ex-Formula 1 driver Chris who took Ford’s maiden win at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1966 – will be held at both the Donington Park Historic Festival (1-2 May) and on the Silverstone Grand Prix layout (30-31 October).

The two 80-minute contests will be open to pre-1966 examples of the widely revered GT40 – which recorded four Le Mans 24 Hour wins on the bounce between 1966-69 and forged a legendary rivalry with Ferrari that was brought into the mainstream via the film, Le Mans ’66. The Amon Cup should certainly be a blockbuster event in 2021! SM

Double British F4 delight at Thruxton

 

Photo by: Jakob Ebrey/Motorsport Images

Watching single-seaters battle around Thruxton is a highlight any year. The high-speed nature of the track, with its long straights leading into some heavy braking zones, creates slipstreaming aplenty and means there is no shortage of overtaking – unlike some of the modern venues that slicks-and-wings cars visit around the world.

There have been some epic British Formula 4 contests at the Hampshire speedbowl in recent times and a double treat is on the cards this year as the British Touring Car Championship – and therefore British F4 – is due to make two visits to Thruxton. Just to add even more intrigue to the mix, the series has tweaked its format to add a fully reversed-grid race to its 2021 weekends, adding to the spectacle of the Thruxton bouts.

One of the side effects of the delayed start to the BTCC season amid the pandemic is the jumbled-up calendar, and that means the series begins at Thruxton for the first time since 2010, making the opener even more hotly-anticipated than usual. SL

Keen taking on Barwell in British GT

 

Photo by: Jakob Ebrey/Motorsport Images

Another year, another chance to ponder whether Phil Keen will finally end his British GT hoodoo and take the title that has eluded him so many times before. But, in 2021, there’s an added dimension to the debate as the 37-year-old will be lining up against the Barwell squad with which he won 13 races in the past five seasons.

Instead, Keen joins the ambitious WPI Motorsport team alongside patron Michael Igoe, who claimed a first British GT win at Donington Park last year with Andrea Caldarelli. A flurry of different co-drivers as the pandemic caused major calendar congestion in 2020 hampered Igoe’s continuity but, with the championship’s benchmark driver alongside him this year, there will be no such excuses.

The Silver-Silver graded combinations that dominated last year have been outlawed, so it will be the best Pro-Am pairing that takes the title. Even before factoring in the return of four-time champion and acknowledged Pro-Am master Jonny Adam, Keen’s battles against the Mark Lemmer-run Barwell squad he knows inside out will make for a fascinating dynamic to the season, which is due to get underway at Brands Hatch on 22-23 May. JN

The BRC starting at Oulton Park

 

Photo by: SMJ Photography

Rallying, more than any other discipline, was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and the British Rally Championship was no exception as it got just one round in before the season was cancelled.

Already its planned 2021 calendar has changed on multiple occasions since it was first announced last December but, all being well, the return of the BRC should take place at Oulton Park on 31 May – with a further six events planned. The Cheshire venue is no stranger to top-tier rallying, having played host to the opening stage of Wales Rally GB for the World Rally Championship in 2019.

The Neil Howard Stages is a staple of the Motorsport News Circuit Rally Championship and it will be interesting to see how regulars of that category fair against the elite of the BRC. But, more importantly, it should herald the return of the discipline across the country for the year ahead. SM

Castle Combe’s Retro & Classic Weekend

 

Photo by: Mick Walker

Run by competitors for competitors, Equipe Classic Racing is one of the great success stories of recent seasons.

The organisation puts on tremendous racing for owners of GT and sportscars of the 1950s and ’60s, and attracts bumper grids drawn from within a sociable fraternity. An ever-increasing following, with an appetite for quality track time, has enabled ECR to continually broaden its horizons and wield considerable power in the circuit hire stakes.

New this July is an exclusive Retro and Classic Race Weekend at Castle Combe, showcasing its ’50s, Pre-’63, GTS and Libre fields, interspersed with the resident championships. These cars are particularly well suited to the Wiltshire ex-airfield circuit, forced to celebrate its 70th anniversary in muted fashion last season, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Turning the clocks back to spotlight the MGs, Morgans, Triumphs, TVRs and Jaguars that were the bedrock of Combe’s first two decades will give drivers and spectators alike much to enjoy. MAWP

Celebrating 60 years of the Jaguar E-type

 

Photo by: Jakob Ebrey

One-make racing in historics could be considered something of anathema but can work well. Goodwood’s Porsche 911 and Ford GT40 contests, for example, included some fine drivers and great spectacle. And a field of Jaguar E-types should fall into the same category.

Expect to see a number of events celebrating the famous Big Cat’s 60th birthday this year, including at Shelsley Walsh, with perhaps the highlight the gathering at the Silverstone Classic at the end of July.

Always a top UK event, the Classic celebrated the E-type’s half-century with two Challenge races in 2011, both won by the three-wheeling example of Jon Minshaw. The Historic Sports Car Club-run and Jaguar Heritage-supported E-type Challenge was a big hit that year, being one of the few series to score five stars in Autosport’s rating of new categories. So much so that it continued beyond that anniversary season and there’s no reason to think 2021 won’t be similarly spectacular.

The Mini Cooper’s six decades will also be marked at the Classic. The Mini races at Silverstone and Goodwood in 2019 were incredibly dramatic – and the expanses of the British Grand Prix circuit encourage slipstreaming epics. KT

Cammish v King in the Carrera Cup (personal highlight)

 

Photo by: Jakob Ebrey/Motorsport Images

Having steamrollered his way to the Porsche Carrera Cup GB title in spectacular style last year, Harry King remained grounded about defending his title in 2021. “There could be a new rookie, or a new driver, who comes in and makes my life hell and a lot more difficult,” said King at the end of last season. He was certainly right to be wary.

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King did not know it at the time, but one of the drivers attempting to stop him marching to a second crown would be one of the category’s most successful racers ever: Dan Cammish (above). Having lost his British Touring Car Championship seat with Team Dynamics through no fault of his own, Cammish has returned to his roots and is seeking an unprecedented third Carrera Cup title.

Renewing his partnership with Redline Racing – which yielded 31 wins and nine further podiums in three years – the battle between the young man of the moment, King, and the returning master, Cammish, is set to be thrilling. How can you not be excited by the prospect of two of the best drivers in the series’ history battling it out for honours? Bring on round one at Snetterton in June. SL

CSCC breaking new ground at Brands Hatch

 

Photo by: Gary Hawkins

Not many clubs get the opportunity to race on the legendary Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit. And, through a positive to emerge from the pandemic and subsequent calendar shuffling, the Classic Sports Car Club has the chance to do just that.

If the opportunity of racing at a higher-profile GT World Challenge Europe meeting was not enough, running seven support races around the longer Brands layout makes the prospect even more exciting. The CSCC has attracted the largest entries of any UK club over the past couple of years and it is likely grids will be at the 46-car capacity for the August bank holiday weekend event.

Watching the latest machines of the sportscar world is one thing, but adding in the unique cars of the Special Saloons and Modsports series and packed grids of classic tin-tops, produces a great mix and is something to look forward to. SL

HSCC in rare trip to Mallory Park

 

Photo by: Mick Walker

Mallory Park, stencilled onto rural Leicestershire like a rasher of back bacon around a lake, has been a hotbed of motorised warfare in its present form – with the Shaws’ Hairpin extension – since the 1960s. A short distance from Bosworth Field, where in 1485 King Richard III was slain as the Wars of the Roses neared its conclusion, the modern battleground is regarded as one of the finest club circuits for two, three and four-wheeled combat.

The Historic Sports Car Club’s Historic and ’70s Road Sports competitors enjoyed double-headers in 2018, but the organisation hasn’t visited en masse since 2010, thus September’s fixture promises good old-fashioned sporting action across its various categories.

It’s a far cry from the 1970s when Formula 5000 and Aurora British F1 cars hurtled round the deceptively technical 1.35-mile track – the quickest breaking 40 seconds – and the invasion of the Bay City Rollers’ tartan-clad fans in 1975. Nonetheless, racers get a lot of laps for their money and that pesky hairpin compresses fields to the delight of ardent local spectators. MAWP

The return of the Goodwood Revival (personal highlight)

 

Photo by: Motorsport Images

There’s no way of glossing it over, Goodwood was dealt a body blow last year when the pandemic forced the cancellation of its Members’ Meeting, Festival of Speed and Revival, the last two run annually since 1993 and 1998, respectively. October’s made-for-TV SpeedWeek salvaged something but was never going to rival the experience of ‘being there’ for the biggies.

The Revival is my favourite, for so much centres on the motor circuit and campus for three days in September. It’s not just the competition – although the wartime aerodrome’s 2.4-mile perimeter track repeatedly delivers the quality of racing for which it was renowned in its 1948-’66 heyday – but the spectacle of pre-’66 cars and motorcycles driven to their limits on treaded tyres was consigned to history by the advent of slicks and wings. Tributes to stars and cars of yore, wonderful aviation and, of course, period costume code make it truly unique in today’s comparatively bland times.

If it’s the only race meeting you attend in 2021 it’s worth the admission price. But, Goodwood virgins beware, it’s addictive! Another pandemic-related scheduling change is the Members’ Meeting moving from its traditional early-season slot to October instead. MAWP

The 50th Formula Ford Festival

 

Photo by: Gary Hawkins

The roll-call of past Formula Ford Festival winners who have gone on to the pinnacle of the sport began with Geoff Lees as early as 1975, with Anthony Davidson in 2000 the most recent victor to reach the heights of Formula 1.

It may not be a breeding ground for future F1 talent anymore but that’s certainly not to say it’s lost any of its magic or appeal, with the Brands Hatch Indy circuit providing a perfect setting for the Kent-engined machines. This year, the event on 30-31 October will celebrate the 50th running of the Formula Ford Festival since it was first held in 1972 – ironically the first four events being staged at Snetterton before finding its permanent home at Brands in 1976.

The British Racing and Sports Car Club’s event is followed a week later by another helping of FF1600 action, with the popular Walter Hayes Trophy taking place on 6-7 November. SM

- By Stephen Lickorish, Stefan Mackley, Marcus Pye, James Newbold and Kevin Turner

 

Photo by: Gary Hawkins