A very special silver trophy donated by King Hussein of Jordan in 1966 will be brought back into use for the aggregate winner of the one-litre Historic Formula 3 races at Brands Hatch in July in recognition of the 60th anniversary of the category.
The trophy will go to the aggregate winner of the two Historic F3 races during the Historic Sports Car Club Legends of Brands Superprix on July 13-14, and will sit alongside the F3 Nations’ Cup, which is also being run across the same event.
The trophy dates back nearly 60 years to the summer of 1966 when King Hussein of Jordan came to Britain for a 10-day state visit. Within the 10 days, there was a free day, and the King was asked what he would like to do on that day. He said that he would really like to see a motor race.
The most suitable event was a race meeting at the newly opened Ingliston circuit on the outskirts of Edinburgh. To support the event King Hussein arranged for a substantial silver cup to be made and engraved so that he could present it to one of the race winners.
The race chosen was the one-litre Formula 3 race, which was won by the late Peter Gethin. King Hussein made the presentation to Gethin and a year later the trophy was presented to Chris Williams after another F3 race at Ingliston.
The cup now permanently lives with the Scottish Motor Racing Club and, after discussions with the One-Litre F3 Historic Racing Association, SMRC members have kindly agreed to take it to Brands Hatch and present it to the aggregate winner of the Historic F3 races.
Andy Dee-Crowne, CEO of the HSCC, said: “There’s quite a story behind this trophy, and we’re delighted that the SMRC is allowing it to be presented to our Historic Formula 3 Championship winner for the Brands Hatch weekend.”