Historic 750 formula gets a new lease of life for 2018
On a weekend with a grand total of 319 entries for the 750 Motor Club at Brands Hatch, the Historic 750 Formula stood out with a significantly larger field than in 2017.
New driver representative Lyndon Thruston has been working hard to make the series more well-known, advertising it at VSCC events and the Kop Hill Climb, and keeping those interested up to date via a mailing list.
“We started rebranding the series probably 18 months ago. It’s all about publicity,” Thruston said.
“We’ve always had a really great series with really great people, but it’s about letting other people know.
“We were very lucky to get an invite to the VSCC Festival at Snetterton last year, and we took quite a few of our cars up there, just to show who we were, to make us accessible. If the people can’t come to you, go to them.
“We had loads of interest. At 1100hrs I rang the guys at the display asking how they were getting on and I got a picture of six cars surrounded by people, really interested in something.
“We had 16 cars enter last year throughout the races, it was a little bit low and less than we wanted. This year 27 entered today, we’re expecting a full grid of 26 at Mallory Park, we’ve got 32 registered drivers, 10 of which are brand new to the series.”
The eagerly anticipated supercharged Warren made its appearance at the Brands Hatch meeting, the rebuilding of which drew significant crowds at the Race Retro show.
But, even with more Austin 7s and Formula 3 500cc cars on the grid, the series is still pushing to get its name out there.
“We’re joining a handicap race,” added Thruston. “The idea is to invite anyone with a historic car under 1500cc, which is a similar performance to us, to join us to give them a feel for what we’re doing.
“In the handicap they won’t have to necessarily comply to all our rules, they can just come out, get some interesting cars on the track and open up to people who maybe haven’t got somewhere to race.”
A new cam belt and control Dunlop Crossfire tyre has had its hand in levelling the playing field, which demonstrated itself well in the two races at Brands.
Christian Pedersen’s Austin 7 led off the line in race one but was passed by the Gerrel Mk1 of Ben Myall out of Graham Hill Bend, and then Martin Depper’s Centaur Mk14 also found a way by on the next lap. Depper and Myall diced for the lead, with Myall starting a pass on the inside of Paddock Hill Bend on the penultimate lap and completing it into Druids as Depper ran slightly wide.
A mistake from Myall on the exit of Graham Hill Bend meant Depper got back through at Surtees. The duelling pair were split by just 0.03 seconds at the finish.
Myall was unchallenged in race two after Depper spun at Graham Hill Bend and hit the barriers, bringing out the red flags. Thruston (Historic 750 DNC) and Trefor Slatter (Centaur Mk11) battled for second, with Thruston coming out ahead.