More Tuscan celebration races possible
TVR CAR CLUB
Organisers of the TVR Tuscan Challenge anniversary race at Castle Combe are hoping to turn the contest into a regular event.
Ten cars took part in the 30th anniversary race on Monday, held to celebrate the popular category (see report, page 72). In response to interest from other drivers, the TVR Car Club would now like to hold an annual race.
“Some of the guys who aren’t racing, like [two-time Tuscan Challenger winner] Steve Guglielmi, they’re all making the right noises, saying we should do it once a year, something like that,” said club competition secretary Graham Walden.
“The Tuscan Challenge legacy is immense. You see right up to Formula 1, Formula E, World Endurance Championship, there are guys who cut their teeth in the Tuscan Challenge, either racers or team members.”
Drivers from the original series, including Martin Short, Dave Mason and Hugh Marshall, returned for the anniversary race, competing alongside regular TVR Challenge competitors.
“This was my car exactly as I raced it, and we’ve restored it – qualifying is its shakedown!” said Short. “It’ll probably be my one and only outing in my old car. It’s too nice to do a campaign in it now.
“Particularly between 1996 and 1999, the Tuscan Challenge was the most hard-fought, tough one-make championship. Every time you got in one of these you did wonder if you were going to die; they were hard to drive and the [on-track] fighting was so tough. Nothing’s really matched these.”