The 2024 Derek Bell Trophy from the Historic Sports Car Club got off to a flying start at Silverstone today (May 4) with a superb grid, fine racing and a tremendous paddock atmosphere.
The opening double-header of the season marked the announcement that Martin Stretton, one of the UK’s most experienced historic racers and race car preparers, has taken on the role of series registrar in conjunction with Terry Jacob. Stretton will bring years of experience in powerful single seaters to the position while Frank Lyons, a stalwart of the Derek Bell Trophy for many years, will take the role of drivers’ representative for the series.
New for this year is a superbly appointed hospitality unit, which will be at all rounds of the Derek Bell Trophy to provide a base for teams and drivers as well as drinks and catering for those involved in the series.
The HSCC’s Derek Bell Trophy is for the most powerful historic single seaters, covering Formula 5000, Formula 2, Formula Atlantic, Formula 3 and more. The series opened at Silverstone with a tremendous 25-car entry for two races on the Grand Prix circuit and it was Henry Chart who took an impressive double win in his F5000 Trojan T101.
Andy Dee-Crowne, CEO of the HSCC said: “We’ve had a superb start to the Derek Bell trophy today and we’re absolutely delighted to announce that Martin Stretton has taken a role at the heart of the series. Having a driver and engineer of his standing on board is a great bonus for the series. Of course, Frank Lyons has been a loyal supporter of the DBT and I’m delighted that he is taking the role of driver’s representative. We’re planning to build the Derek Bell Trophy across the balance of 2024 and into 2025 as one of our flagship race series.”
The next date for the DBT is at Donington Park with a double-header over the weekend of June 8/9.