Silverstone always remains one of the biggest challenges of the racing season. The English drivers know this track like the back of their hand and want to win in front of their home crowd. With their regular drivers Hart/Hart/Pastorelli, the DHG team was already present on Wednesday to conduct extensive testing with the five different race cars on Thursday.

Qualifying went smoothly, so no major technical adjustments were needed to the cars. On Saturday morning, the first day of racing, the track temperature was a bit different, almost 20 degrees colder than Thursday, and the rain made the track extra slippery.

David’s first race was with the Lister, which hadn’t been driven for some time and hadn’t really found its speed in recent racing seasons. During qualifying, David was more than satisfied with the power and setup of the Lister, which was prepared by the new tuner Woodham-Mortimer. This all resulted in an excellent P6, not far from the top.

Promising start

The start of the race in heavy rain was promising; David quickly managed to push the Lister to the front and battle with Oliver Bryant in the much lighter Lotus 15. Like a fish in water, David braved the rain in the Lister and closed the gap to the leader, Bryant, by less than half a second. After the pit stop, the Lister even took the lead, and the two drove a thrilling race, ultimately resulting in a well-deserved second place.

Later that day, Olivier was given the opportunity to show off his skills in the Alfa GTA, again in a field of the best drivers from the British Touring Car Championship, including Steve Soper. Olivier had qualified P2, 0.2 seconds behind the much faster Ford Mustangs, which were 30 km/h faster on the straight. It was a true spectacle, the little GTA in the trunk of the mighty Mustang, which Olivier maintained lap after lap, sometimes 0.8 seconds behind the number one driver. After the pit stop, disaster struck for the small GTA: a puncture from P2, likely the result of track debris after another competitor crashed earlier in the race.

As the highlight of Saturday’s finale, the Lolas, McLarens, and smaller Chevrons were given the opportunity to show their speed on track. Nicky had put the Lola in P3 in qualifying. Now David was allowed to start the Lola in this impressive field, with several smaller sports cars that could give him a hard time. Once again, he got a great (rolling) start from the second row, with a strong field following him. P3 became P6 after a few laps. The Lola became more difficult to drive due to some understeer, and the gear shifting also presented unexpected problems. After the pit stop, Nicky Pastorelli quickly discovered the problem: a broken gearshift rod caused him to retire from the race.

Changing Conditions

Sunday morning marked the first race for the brand-new Ford Capri, which had only just been finished. In qualifying, David and Nicky managed to finish P13. Unfortunately, a brake-balance issue prevented them from moving up in this strong field. The race conditions were mixed, with a slightly wet track and a dry line. The decision was made to start on slicks with the extremely powerful Capri. David, as always, got off to a good start and noticed the brake balance was already much better, allowing him to move up to P8 with a number of clever overtaking moves. After the pit stop, Nicky Pastorelli took the wheel of the Capri and immediately saw the benefit of the adjustments, improving his practice lap times by almost two seconds. On lap 19, the Capri finished, placing Hart and Pastorelli second in class and fourth overall.

In the afternoon, the AC Cobra was given the opportunity to prove its worth. Once again, in a dominant field of nearly 60 race cars, Olivier qualified on pole, 0.6 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. David and Olivier had to brace themselves; they knew the Masters race would be a battle of the titans. David took the start, and Olivier had to finish it off to climb as high as possible onto the podium. David managed to stay ahead of the entire field for the first few laps, but numbers two and three were right on his tail, which certainly didn’t make things easy. A crash from Minshaw also caused David to go off into the grass, dropping him back. He managed to climb back to P2 by the time he pitted. Now it was Olivier’s turn to finish it all off, which he did, setting a fastest lap at the end of the race by over 0.6 seconds, bringing the Cobra across the finish line in a fantastic second place.

Results Silverstone Classic:

RAC Stirling Moss Trophy

1. Bryant Lotus 15
2. David Hart Lister Costin
3. Nuthhall/Wood Lister

Transatlantic Trophy pre ’66 Tiuring cars

1. Fenn/Hill Ford Mustang
2. Davies Ford Mustang
3. Wolfe Ford Cortina

DNF Olivier Hart (Flat tire)

Yokohama Trophy Hist.Sports Cars.

1. Banks McLaren M6B
2. Pearson Lola T70
3. Ferraro Lola T292

Failed David Hart/Pastorelli (bak)

Hist. Touring Car Challenge

1. Lyons Ford Sierra
2. Davies Ford Sierra
3. Dance Ford Capri

Hart/Pastorelli Ford Capri (second in class)

Int. Trophy Classic GT Cars pre’66

1. Thomas/Lockie AC Daytona Coupe
2. Hart/Hart AC Daytona Coupe
3. Dodd/Dodd E-Type Jaguar