At least 20 cars from the Historic Sports Car Club’s Guards Trophy will form one of the headline races at the Mondello Park Historic Festival (12/13 August 2023).
The pre ’66 GT cars and pre ’69 sports-racing cars will have two non-championship races at the Irish track. There will be an hour-long race on Saturday and a 40-minute race on Sunday for the Irish International Grand Prix Trophy, which dates back to 1929 and the road circuit races at Phoenix Park in Dublin.
To make the event as attractive as possible for UK-based racers, the organisers from Mondello Park are offering a free entry as well as support with transport, accommodation and carnet costs. The early response from competitors has been excellent and to ensure a bumper grid of cars the invitation has been extended to cars from the HSCC’s Historic Road Sports and 70s Road Sports categories.
The weekend will start with four 20-minute test sessions on Friday, followed by 30 minutes of qualifying on Saturday morning and the opening race on Saturday afternoon. The races will run to usual Guards Trophy regulations with a mandatory pit-stop and the option of two drivers. The date falls neatly in the existing Guards Trophy calendar between the Brands Hatch Superprix in mid-July and the Croft Nostalgia event in early September.
HSCC Guards Trophy chairman Hugh Colman said: “We’ve had a great response from the Guards Trophy competitors and should have at least 20 cars. To make sure we have closer to 30 cars on the grid, I’m keen to hear from any Road Sports competitors with suitable cars who are interested in joining us.”
The Historic Festival at Mondello Park will be a major event in the calendar of the Irish track with racing, displays, demonstrations, classic motorbikes and a host of off-track attractions.