Three fabulous days of historic motor racing at the Oulton Park Gold Cup (26-28 July) was another highlight of the season for the Historic Sports Car Club with bumper grids and close racing.
The Gold Cup 2024 edition was as good as any as the weekend celebrated the 70th anniversary of this famous event and delivered fine entertainment for a typically strong crowd at the popular Cheshire track.
As well as a series of guest races from other promoters and clubs, five HSCC categories were at the heart of the event and it was the Derek Bell Trophy that thrilled the fans as a wonderful field of powerful single seaters went into battle.
Notably, a strong field of mighty Formula 5000s were at the core of the races and it was Michael Lyons who set a standard that no one else could rival as he returned to the cockpit of his Lola T400 for the first time in two years. Lyons set a scorching pace and was dominant as he won both races, but behind him it was all action and on Saturday as many as five cars battled for the runner up slot. Neil Glover, Mark Dwyer and Dave Banks in Formula 5000s battled with the Formula 2 March 742 of Graham Ridgway and the older Formula 5000 Crossle 15F that John Murphy was driving brilliantly at his home track.
After a tremendous spectacle, Dwyer worked his Trojan T101 up to second from Glover while on Sunday it was Brands Hatch winner Steve Ross who got his McRae GM1 home second as he came back from a testing accident on Saturday.
Another strong field of Historic Formula 3 cars arrived for a double header for the Historic Gold Cup, and it was Andrew Hibberd who won twice more to make it four in a row. On Saturday a light rain shower made conditions tricky in the early laps when the race restarted after a multiple car accident on the pits straight, thankfully with no injuries. Once re-started with light rain falling, Michael O’Brien forged ahead in the Tecno as Hibberd struggled for grip on very worn front tyres.
However, as the track dried the gap came back a little, but then changed completely when O’Brien hit a clutch problem and struggled to get the clutch pedal back off the floor. The time lost allowed Hibberd to sweep ahead for victory with the Tecno taking second before Enrico Spaggiari ran third in his Lotus 41X. He was being chased by the ex-Tim Schenken Chevron B9 of Jake Shortland until a misfire sidelined the Chevron while a late moment for Christoph Widmer allowed Francois Derossi through into what became fourth. On Sunday, in a shortened race, O’Brien retired as Hibberd won again while Spaggiari just pipped Peter de la Roche to the line for second.
Both Historic Formula Ford 2000 races ran on Saturday and delivered another brace of wins for Samuel Harrison, who moved closer to the 2024 title with his performance.
Harrison led the opener from the start and was able to just out-distance Graham Fennymore who then retired from second with a throttle problem. Later in the day, with light rain falling, Fennymore cut the early pace. However, as the track dried out Harrison was able to come into his own and move ahead for another victory. Fennymore claimed second, as Ben Glasswell took second and then third as the best of the rest.
Two Formula Junior races formed rounds of the Silverline UK Formula Junior Championship and in both cases Horatio Fitz-Simon had to start from the back in his newly restored ex-Paul Hawkins Brabham BT6 after a fuel issue early in qualifying.
In the opener, Fitz-Simon charged through the capacity field to finish third as Sam Wilson shook off the early challenge of Clive Richards for a commanding victory. On Sunday, Fitz-Simon once more started at the back of the grid but drove a storming race to cut through the pack and grab victory from Wilson at the end of an enthralling race.
Two races for a bumper field of Road Sports wrapped up the HSCC race content and it was series newcomer Connor Kay who claimed a double win in his TVR Tuscan. In the opener, as light rain made conditions tricky, Kay battled with the Morgan Plus 8 of Elliot Paterson before easing clear after John Williams spun his Porsche 911SC. Williams then recovered to third, just ahead of the Lotus Elans of Adrian Russell and Jim Dean. Kay had an easier time on Sunday when Paterson retired the Morgan and so the TVR was able to race clear of Williams and Dean while Neil Wood was the best of the concurrent Historic Touring Cars.
Another notable feature of the weekend was a fitting tribute to Alan Minshaw, who died recently at the age of 88. The local racer was a huge fan of Oulton Park and a whole gaggle of cars driven by Alan in his 50 year career of racing formed a fitting display and then took part in a demonstration on Saturday lunchtime.
Notably, his son Jason drove the stunning Maserati T61 ‘bird cage’, while BMW M3, DAF 55, Chevrolet Malibu and Chevron B8 were other cars to feature in the tribute to a very popular racer.