Two 16 year olds, Edward Thurston and James Clarke, finished ahead of more experienced competition at the Croft Nostalgia Festival on 7 August. Thurston came out on top in the Historic Formula Ford Class, while Clarke scored a podium finish in Historic Touring Cars despite both racers being too young to drive on the road.
However, the youngsters didn’t have it all their own way: also proving that age is just a number was Peter Williams, who contested the Historic Formula 3 class just a week before his 81st birthday.
The Classic Clubmans category played host to an enthralling cat and mouse duel between John Harrison and pole-sitter Mark Chateris in which the latter triumphed despite taking evasive action in the face of a spinning back marker.
The brute power of Warren Briggs’ Ford Mustang took on a bevy of more agile Lotus Cortinas in the Touring Car class, with a poor getaway by Briggs coupled with Croft’s all-round challenge enabling Mark Jones to complete a weekend double.
A titanic effort from Peter Shaw took his 1964 Lotus Elan storming from the back of the 32-car ‘70s Road Sports grid to produce the fastest lap of the race by more than a second, before brake trouble led to a spin that took him out of contention.
Away from the racing, crowds were treated to five on-track parade laps showcasing military vehicles, classic cars and vintage motorcycles, while an incredible 14-cylinder Bristol Hercules was fired-up each hour.
