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The club racing season began last weekend with the British Racing & Sports Car Club kicking proceedings off at Silverstone.
This was just the first of a whole plethora of different events due to be held in the UK over the next eight months, which cater for a diverse range of machinery.
There is plenty to look forward to, but some race meetings stand out more than others and here is a selection of events and championships Autosport’s writers are most eagerly awaiting.
An epic line-up in British GT, begins 1 April
British GT field features both quality and quantity this year
Photo by: JEP
Returning champions, a plethora of factory drivers, and new machines to tame throughout a sell-out grid – the British GT Championship has all the ingredients to provide another thrilling year of action.
A total of 36 full-time entries – with further one-off additions likely – are due to take part in the nine-race, seven-round calendar, which gets under way at Oulton Park on 1 April before taking in the usual venues of Silverstone, Donington Park (x2), a return to Spa after a one-year absence, Snetterton, and the season finale at Brands Hatch.
Four-time champion Jonny Adam returns with fledgling team Blackthorn, father-and-son duo Rob and Ricky Collard team up at Barwell Motorsport, while Aston Martin Formula 1 ambassador Jessica Hawkins will make her debut at Beechdean.
BMW factory driver Raffaele Marciello remains with John Ferguson at RAM Racing for another year, and nearly-man Phil Keen returns at 2 Seas alongside 2022 GT3 champion Ian Loggie.
On the car front, the new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 is set to race in the championship as well as updated GT4 versions of the Ginetta G56, Ford Mustang and Vantage, while the Lotus brand is due to make a comeback. With further live television exposure planned on Sky Sports F1 once again, possibly at as many as five events, the UK’s top endurance category is going from strength to strength. Stefan Mackley
Goodwood Members’ Meeting & Revival, 13-14 April/6-8 September
The 60th birthday of the Mustang is due to be celebrated at the Members’ Meeting
Photo by: Motorsport Images
Goodwood Road Racing Club’s events at the hallowed circuit need no introduction, but the three-day Revival in September – beloved of spectators since 1998 – and more relaxed Members’ Meeting in April bring golden eras of the sport back to life with peerless panache.
This year’s 81st MM is the 10th since the sequence of second-tier British Automobile Racing Club ‘clubbies’ run from 1949-66 resumed with the 72nd in 2014, COVID-19 having deferred 2020’s by a year. The Sunday’s double-driver Ken Miles Cup Ford Mustang race commemorates the 60th anniversary of the pony car’s introduction and reminds us of Roy Pierpoint’s and Jack Brabham’s exploits in the rumbling 289ci V8s.
The Derek Bell Cup Formula 3 race will be another anniversary highlight, 60 years after future triple F1 world champion Jackie Stewart tested Ken Tyrrell’s Cooper-BMC impressively at Goodwood, then dominated the 1000cc category’s inaugural season in 1964. Supplementing the racing action will be an awesome Can-Am cavalcade and a Sidecar Shootout.
Alongside epic racing at the Revival, two of Ferrari’s greatest heroes will be honoured in landmark years: John Surtees, who made history by adding the F1 crown to his seven world motorcycle championships in 1964; and Niki Lauda, who bagged two of his three F1 titles on Prancing Horses. The Austrian would have turned 75 last month. Marcus Pye
Ford vs Chevy race at American SpeedFest, 8-9 June
Chevrolet Camaros and Corvettes are among those due to tackle special Brands Hatch race
Photo by: Gary Hawkins
Brands Hatch’s American SpeedFest fixture is always a popular one. The combination of exciting EuroNASCAR, Legends and Pickups action on track and a wealth of American-themed displays off it ensures a bumper crowd. And there is a special race due to be on the timetable for this year’s 11th edition.
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The organisers of the eclectic Bernie’s V8s series ran a special Corvette race last year to celebrate the American car’s 70th birthday. This time around, they are celebrating the glory of American muscle cars more broadly with a Ford vs Chevy battle that encompasses the racing and a host of fan-voted categories as the two US car giants are pitted against each other.
Ford Mustangs and Chevrolet Camaros are likely to be the focus of the on-track battle, but organisers are targeting a range of other historic machinery to be part of the grid, including the likes of Ford Falcons and Corvettes. Let battle commence! Stephen Lickorish
Super Touring Power at Brands Hatch, 29-30 June
Inaugural Super Touring Power event proved hugely popular with fans
Photo by: Gary Hawkins
The Super Touring era of the 1990s has always been a favourite at Autosport, but even we were taken aback by the enormous support that Brands Hatch’s inaugural Super Touring Power event garnered last year. Not only were there scores of fans, lots of whom queued to get autographs from period heroes such as Alain Menu and Paul Radisich, but many of the era’s stars and cars were there, both on and off-track.
Being a MotorSport Vision event, there were some great detail touches too, such as being able to play the original PlayStation TOCA games, and period music.
Expect the same again. Already confirmed are the Nissan Primeras that dominated last year, with current British Touring Car star Jake Hill and twice championship runner-up Anthony Reid again leading the charge. Jason Hughes will provide opposition with his ex-Jason Plato Vauxhall Vectra, as will Peugeot 406 and Honda Accord machinery, and there are bound to be plenty more tantalising announcements between now and June.
The tin-top extravaganza will provide plenty of racing, which this year will include two contests on the Sunday exclusively for the Group A cars that preceded Super Touring. So, fans of firebreathing Ford Sierra RS500s should also add this event to their 2024 diary. We already have. Kevin Turner
Santa Pod Dragstalgia, 5-7 July
Wide range of historic dragster machinery is due to descend on Santa Pod
Photo by: Richard Styles
Born in the USA, the ground-shaking discipline of drag racing has been a highly specialised part of British motorsport since the fabled dragfests of the early 1960s. State-of-the-art nitro-burning cars have become so fast that their courses have been trimmed from a standing start quarter-mile to 1000 feet – attend Santa Pod Raceway’s FIA European Championship opener on 24-27 May or finale on 5-8 September for a chance to see 3.7-second 320mph action – but the appetite for older machinery is huge.
Dragstalgia, at the home of British drag racing in July, is an encyclopaedia of straight-lining history, showcasing extraordinary cars and motorcycles spanning the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. The quickest quarter-milers are still capable of 200mph terminal velocities, with Bob Hawkins (yes, the veteran Formula Fordster) first to enter the Cannonball feature in his 427cu in slingshot rail Time Traveller II.
Wild Bunch dragsters, caricature Gassers and Outlaw Anglias are huge spectator draws at this vintage lifestyle event. This year’s 13th edition already boasts an entry of almost 40 Nostalgia Superstock cars, American monsters from Ford, General Motors and Mopar marques battling for supremacy, cheered by partisan supporters. Even if you are only curious, prepare to be blown away. Marcus Pye
Pre-’66 Touring Cars at Croft, 27-28 July
Historic tin-tops will join the modern BTCC machinery at Croft
Photo by: Ollie Read
The inclusion of a diverse mix of guest categories at British Touring Car Championship events was undoubtedly a highlight of last year. The Legends, classic Minis of the Mini 7 Racing Club, Radicals and Caterhams added a new dimension to the race meetings, and it was great for a range of different club series to get their turn in the spotlight.
And, while all of them are back for more guest appearances this season, there is a fifth division joining the package. The Classic Touring Car Racing Club’s Pre-’66 tin-tops are on the bill at Croft, and this will be the first time in over a decade that some truly historic machinery has raced alongside the BTCC.
Given the CTCRC is also celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, the trio of Croft contests should be extra-special. Expect the likes of Ford Mustangs, Cortinas and Anglias, Hillman Imps and Austin A40s to entertain the crowds with even more variety on the BTCC undercard. Stephen Lickorish
Silverstone Festival, 23-25 August
Big grids of spectacular cars are a regular feature of the Silverstone Festival
Photo by: JEP
Along with the Goodwood events, the Silverstone Festival – or Classic as it was previously known – has been one of the biggest historic meetings in the world for three decades. The sheer breadth of machinery, from pre-war sportscars to almost-current Le Mans racers via Cosworth DFV-engined Formula 1 cars, is one of its key appeals. F2, F3 and touring car contests always add to the variety.
Other attractions of the Historic Sports Car Club event include quality drivers and packed grids, plus the historic Silverstone Grand Prix layout often makes for some fine wheel-to-wheel action.
The event is so big that it’s impossible to take it all in across just one day. And for those with kids, there are displays, activities and off-track performances to keep those less taken with the racing entertained for hours.
As usual, an effort has been made to commemorate particular anniversaries and figures. The big one this time is Ayrton Senna, 30 years after the three-time F1 champion was killed at Imola. The hope is for a record-breaking gathering of cars raced by the Brazilian, and the special tribute has the blessing of the Senna family. Kevin Turner
Castle Combe Autumn Classic, 21-22 September
Combe event is set to expand to two days this year
Photo by: Ollie Read
The runaway success of last season’s Castle Combe Autumn Classic – named Event of the Year in the 2023 Royal Automobile Club Historic Awards – has brought unprecedented demand for grid slots at the 2024 edition, expanded to two days.
This year’s 16-race showcase features 12 varied groups. Joining perennial favourites the GT and Sports Car Cup and Fifties Sports Car Racing, the Historic Racing Drivers’ Club returns to the party on the Sunday. Packed Jack Sears Trophy, Allstars and Gerry Marshall Trophy fields are central to Julius Thurgood’s charismatic circus, as close to the spirit of 1950s, 1960s and 1970s club racing as you will find.
The Historic Sports Car Club’s content grows with spectacular 1000cc Formula 3 screamers, in the category’s 60th anniversary year, and Historic Road Sports joining the Griffiths Haig Trophy sportscar races. Last season’s popular debutant the Ferrari Club Classic brings another triple-header, and an exciting local angle will be a race named for Bath garage owner Ron Fry, a legendary Ferrari competitor at Combe in the 1960s.
An Ecurie Classic Racing/Jaguar contest and Mini Se7en and Miglia bouts guarantee frenetic tin-top action, while a relaxed paddock replete with nostalgic elements also makes it special. Marcus Pye
Formula Ford Festival/Walter Hayes Trophy, 19-20 October/2-3 November
End-of-season Formula Ford events provide close racing
Photo by: JEP
We’ve said it many times before and we’ll say it again: Formula Ford provides some of the best racing action in motorsport. And that’s never been more true than at the end-of-season blue riband events: the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch and Silverstone’s Walter Hayes Trophy.
The single-seater category may not be as popular as it once was, when it offered the first step on a pathway for young talent to reach the pinnacle of the sport, but nevertheless it has continued to provide entertainment for more than half a century.
Not only that but, with the Festival celebrating its 50th running in 2021, names from the past have made popular appearances back behind the wheel at recent events, including ex-Formula 1 driver and 1992 Festival winner Jan Magnussen and 1991 victor Marc Goossens. All of this has helped ensure that the events remain must-visit destinations for fans of motorsport.
The Festival will take place, as ever, on Brands Hatch’s Indy layout on 19-20 October, and is followed two weeks later by the WHT on the Silverstone National circuit where, if it stays dry, you can stand by for epic slipstreaming. Stefan Mackley
