ANNUAL HISTORIC EVENT AT THRUXTON
Plans for more classic racing after 50 th anniversary success
An annual classic and historic racing festival at Thruxton is now likely after the success of the circuit’s 50th anniversary meeting last weekend.
After a large crowd watched a mix of races and demonstration sessions, circuit boss Bill Coombs said he hoped to build on the event and create an annual historic festival at the high-speed Hampshire track.
With races from Motor Racing Legends, the Historic Sports Car Club and the Mini Seven Racing Club, the 50th meeting celebrated the heritage of the UK’S fastest circuit and some fine racing was capped by two slip-streaming thrillers for the Historic Formula Fords.
“We’re very keen to have a flagship historic meeting covering all the ages, to appeal to a wide audience,” said Coombs, an accomplished historic single-seater racer. “I hope the 50th event is not a one-off and I’d like to try and build it into one of the big events of the Thruxton season. This weekend worked very, very well and there is plenty of content out there. The track has a great history.”
If Coombs is able to develop the meeting into a regular fixture, it will join the British Touring Car Championship and British Superbikes as key dates in the Thruxton calendar, which is limited to just 12 noisy days of qualifying and racing each year.
Highlights of the demonstration sessions included former F1 racer Karun Chandhok pushing hard in an ex-rosberg Williams FW08C: “It is a very special car and I love Thruxton from my days in Formula 3. It’s got a lot of character!”
‘A large crowd turned out’ Historic cars shone, below