Motor Racing Legends Announces New Grids at Gala Awards Night
U.K.’s premier classic race organization honored 2018 series winners at gala awards dinner at London’s Royal Automobile Club.
On Jan. 23, the U.K.’s premier classic race organizer, Motor Racing Legends (MRL), crowned its 2018 series winners in style at a gala awards dinner at the Royal Automobile Club in London.
The evening was hosted by MRL’s chairman, Duncan Wiltshire, and attended by many leading figures of the British motorsport scene, including the CEO of Motorsport U.K., Hugh Chambers.
During the evening’s presentation, it was announced that MRL are to take on the organization of the two grids from the Historic Motor Racing News stable: the U2TC (for under two liter touring cars) and the Pre63-GT series.
Both the U2TC and Pre-63GT series will join MRL’s already extensive portfolio of historic race grids, which include: The Pre-War Sports Cars Series; the Historic Touring Car Challenge and Tony Dron Trophy for Touring Cars between 1966- 1990; the Stirling Moss Trophy and the Royal Automobile Woodcote Trophy for 50s Sports cars. All six grids will kick off the 2019 season at the forthcoming Donington Historic Festival, happening May 3-5.
The awards ceremony celebrated all the 2018 trophy winners. Highlights include Chris Ward, and John Young (Lister Knobbly) who lifted the hallowed Stirling Moss Trophy, the same trophy won by Moss for his first-ever British Grand Prix win in 1955 at Aintree. John Ure, and Nick Wigley raised the Royal Automobile Club Woodcote Trophy for their successful season in the Cooper Bristol T24/25, and Mark Smith took home the overall Historic Touring Car Challenge award.
It was the super-fast Alvis Firefly of Rudi Friedrichs that took home the overall Pre-War Sports Trophy, and The Tony Dron Trophy went to Patrick Watts and Steve Soper for their hard-fought success in Watts’ Group 1 Ford Capri.
Check out the full list of winners here.
Photos:Â John-Retter