Zandvoort Historic Grand Prix 2016
Zandvoort was our first race destination for September, we didn’t just see a great weekend of racing but also some brilliant support and a drive through to historic town you will find it hard to match anywhere else in the world. Team Titan took 3 different cars, the Ford Mustang, Chevron B8 and the Lotus 91, we were also join by Collin Ellison all the way from South Africa. This was the first time Collin had raced outside of South Africa and also first time he had ever sat in the Ford Mustang and Chevron B8.
Both the Chevron and the Mustang only had one race this weekend with qualifying on the Friday, Mustang racing on the Saturday and Chevron on Sunday. Collin and Greg were sharing the driving in both cars with a compulsory 1 minute pit stop which gave them the chance to change drivers. First car to qualify was the Chevron which was place 19th on the grid, 4th in class, hopes were running high as Collin showed a lot of promise as it was his first time driving the chevron and also first time round Zandvoort. The race was going well and Greg started to move through the pack, after the driver change Collin found some space and started to close in on Jamie Boot. Unfortunately time was not on our side and as the clock ran down Greg/Collin finished in 14th place, 5 higher than then they started which was a very pleasing finish.
We didn’t have the greatest start in the Mustang as after 4 laps (3 fast laps) in qualifying we had mechanically problems which unfortunately meant the car had to retire for the duration of qualifying. After some great work from Tom and Mitchell the Mustang was ready and raring to go for the race. After starting from the back of the grid Greg and Collin both had a great race managing to finish the race in 14th, 4th in class. Fun was had throughout the weekend by racing drivers and the rest of the team. The traditional demonstration lap on the Saturday night was the cherry on top of the cake to a fantastic weekend, including more than 50 race cars, varying in age, make and model. Many people lined the streets to greet the the cars and teams, enjoying the rare opportunity to take many photos and get up close and personal with these historic cars. We are hoping to carry the good spirits onto our next racing event at Spa.
The main event of the Masters weekend was the Historic Formula One Cars. The weekend got off to a great start with a strong qualifying session with Greg putting the stunning Lotus 91 on the second row of in P3 with only a gap of 1.6 seconds between Greg and Nick Padmore in pole position. After Race one the pack finished the same way it started with Nick Padmore leading from the green light to the chequered flag. Greg started to close the gap on Christophe D’Ansembourg finishing just 0.6 seconds behind. Sunday came along which meant the second and last of the historic formula one races, Greg got off to a great start getting into 2nd place early on giving him to chance to try and push for the lead, after some great racing Greg was closing the gap on race leader Nick Padmore but wasn’t able to catch him enough finishing the race 2nd just 1.355 seconds behind Padmore.
Racing wasn’t the only great thing about Zandvoort, on Saturday once the racing had concluded the majority of the historic cars from all different classes and eras lined up on the track for something truly unique, a drive into the beautiful town of Zandvoort to show the locals and visitors all the cars from this weekend’s racing. The streets were lined with thousands of people as the historic cars paraded through the streets.
There is a full write up from all the weekends racing her on the Masters site.
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