Tom Waterfield claimed victory in the opening Historic Grand Prix Cars Association (HGPCA) race of the weekend at the Oulton Park Gold Cup, putting him in a strong position ahead of the final race day on bank holiday Monday. The Historic Gold Cup itself will be awarded to the overall HGPCA winner following tomorrow’s encounter.
Waterfield led from pole in a truncated race, which was delayed after several cars came together during the initial attempt and the red flag was shown. Once the race got underway, Waterfield resumed the pace he’d shown already this weekend to drive home win by a comfortable margin on a circuit which was slippery in places following spells of drizzle throughout the day.
It was Rudi Friedrichs who was his nearest challenger, crossing the line almost 13 seconds behind the winning Cooper T53 in a similar car. Behind that, Tim Child rounded out the podium after rising from sixth on the grid to fourth early on in his Brabham, before moving past Mark Shaw’s similar machine to claim a trip to the rostrum on the final lap.
Shaw held on to take fourth from Rod Jolley who completed the top five in yet another Cooper. Tony Lees, sixth by the flag was another to show strongly in one of the classic British marque’s machines. James Denty was the best of the Lotuses in his 21, one spot ahead of another from Colin Chapman’s stable, the 18 of Nick Taylor.
Eddie Williams was ninth, one place ahead of former Historic Gold Cup winner Justin Maeers, who moved up from the very rear of the field to take 10th.
Historic Grand Prix Cars Association, Oulton Park Gold Cup, Race 1
- Tom Waterfield, Cooper T53
- Rudi Friedrichs, Cooper T53, +12.817s
- Tim Child, Brabham BT3/4, +13.593s
- Mark Shaw, Brabham BT4, +23.436s
- Rod Jolley, Cooper T43/51, +46.300s
- Tony Lees, Cooper T53, +52.509s
- James Denty, Lotus 21, +53.240s
- Nick Taylor, Lotus 18, +53.801s
- Eddie Williams, Cooper T43, +55.327s
- Justin Maeers, Cooper T53, +1m17.527s
Click here for full results and timing from this weekend.
Earlier in the day, Graham Seager claimed the first victory of the Gold Cup weekend with a win in the Hitek Alfa Romeo and Italian Intermarque Championship in his Alfa Romeo 147. This was followed by a strong showing for John Williams in his Porsche 911SC, who won the first of two 70s Road Sports races for the Charles Barter Trophy. In the Kevin Kivlochan Trophy for earlier Historic Road Sports, it was Mark Godfrey who topped the podium in his Lotus 7.
Fans of Historic Formula 3 were in for a double treat, with two generations of classic car in action during the day. This included the older 500 Owners Association machines, with Fergus Cameron and Finley Cameron sharing the spoils in across two contests. In the Historic Formula 3 Championship race for 1960s ‘screamers’, it was Callum Grant who claimed the honours.
A popular feature of this year’s Gold Cup has been the return of the Vintage Sports-Car Club’s Vintage and Historic Seaman Trophies for pre-war Grand Prix cars. For many on-site, a highlight was a strong contingent of ERAs, and it was machines from the beloved British manufacturer which dominated. Mark Gillies was first from David Morris and Michael Gans.
The Sunday line-up also included both of the weekend’s Historic Formula Junior Races. Callum Grant won each of these in his Merlyn Mk5/7.