82nd Members’ Meeting race results

Race 1: Hailwood Trophy Part 1

The Hailwood Trophy is split over two parts, so whatever happens in Part 1 is only half the story. Nonetheless, Dan Jackson put in a great showing astride his Harris-Yamaha TZ350. He started from pole and established a lead of around three seconds. That was until second-placed man Michael Russell clawed his way back and snatched the lead. Jackson resisted, though, and regained the place to win the race. There were many other close battles throughout the field, but all eyes will be at the sharp end of the grid for Sunday’s Hailwood Trophy Part 2.

Race 6: Hailwood Trophy Part 2

The motorcycles of the Hailwood Trophy returned for Part 2 on Sunday morning, and the same names were in contention for victory as Michael Russell and Dan Jackson got away from the front row. Their battle at the front raged for the entire seven-lap duration, and it was Jackson who prevailed, just holding off Russell to win by 0.399 seconds. Levi Day ran a very strong race from fourth on the grid, setting a series of quick laps to join the battle for top honours, eventually rounding out the podium places a little more than a second back.

Hailwood Trophy Combined result

Race 2: Gordon Spice Trophy Part 1

This year’s Members’ Meeting sees the Gordon Spice Trophy running in its new format for the first time, with the smaller engined cars separated into the new Win Percy Trophy. Jake Hill established an early lead in the Gitanes-liveried Ford Capri. Eventually, though, the superior power of the V8-engined Chevrolet Camaro of Andy Priaulx made its presence felt and the American car hit the front. Hill’s fortitude was rewarded, though, when Priaulx’s retirement meant he inherited the lead. Rob Huff crossed the line in second place to complete a Capri one-two.

Race 12: Gordon Spice Trophy Part 2

The big Group 1 touring cars returned for their final outing at the 82^nd Members’ Meeting on Sunday evening, and completed their programme with quite the flourish as Part 2 of the Gordon Spice Trophy saw the cars’ owners get their chance to shine. Fred Shepherd kept his composure to hold on for victory after James Thorpe ran wide at Woodcote to lose the lead in his Camaro. Their battle was relentless, but the action was similarly fraught behind. Andrew Smith ran a solid race to come home third, as the likes of Mike Whitaker Jr. and Jack Tetley engaged in a breathless duel.

Gordon Spice Trophy combined result

Race 3: S.F. Edge Trophy

There’s no race quite like the S.F. Edge Trophy. Each one of the Edwardian machines is as different as the next as they hail from the most experimental era of pioneering motoring. One thing many of them have in common is enormous displacements, but even that’s all relative. A 4.0-litre Vauxhall is rather modest compared to the 27-litre Fiat S76, after all. Mark Walker claimed victory with the Darracq 200hp, benefitting from the retirement of Julian Majzub’s Sunbeam ‘Indianapolis’. 

Race 7: S.F. Edge Trophy Part 2

The Edwardians were back for another outing on Sunday morning, and it was once again expected to be a straight fight for the win between Julian Majzub in the Sunbeam and Mark Walker in the Darracq. A tyically slow start for Walker put him back amongst the pack in the early laps, but he soon set about tearing through the field in pursuit of his rival. Majzub made the most of his clear air to forge a comfortable lead at the front, but once Walker had cleared the likes of Ben Collings and Neil Gough, he set about setting some blistering lap times to try and close the gap. He got within touching distance as the pair entered the Chicane for the final time, but the Darracq unfortunately made contact with the wall at the exit, allowing Majzub to cruise to victory.

S.F. Edge Trophy combined result

Race 4: Gurney Cup

The Gurney Cup was a race of two halves. An off by the Ford GT40 of Christian Albrecht and Seb Perez first brought out a safety car and then a red flag. For the restart, the second drivers had taken their seats and we were treated to an utterly spectacular display by Frank Stippler aboard the Ferrari 206S he was sharing with David Franklin. Starting from the very back, he began scything his way through the field, setting a fastest lap en route to catching the Ford GT40s of Rob Huff and Andre Lotterer who were battling for the lead. Stippler passed them both to take a remarkable victory. Is it too early to call it the drive of the weekend?

Race 5: Arundell Cup

Formula Juniors regularly produce some of the most exciting racing of the weekend. They might not be the quickest cars, but they make for brilliant wheel-to-wheel action as they head into the likes of Madgwick and Woodcote two- or even three-wide. Sam Wilson's flag-to-flag victory might sound straight forward on paper, but he lost out Alexander Ames at the start, and the pair were joined by a flying Callum Grant, who stormed through the field from seventh on the grid to lead on lap four. From there, it was a hugely entertaining three-car battle for the win, with Wilson eventually taking the chequered flag ahead of Ames, while Grant incurred a ten-second time penalty that saw him drop to fourth.

Race 8: Whitmore Cup

The Whitmore Cup at the 82^nd Members’ Meeting was certainly deserving of its name, as a field of extremely talented drivers put on a clinic of historic touring car driving as Minis battled Cortinas and Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprints GTAs. It was a close battle at the front, as Guy Smith led home Max Chilton by less than two seconds to take victory in his 1964 Cortina. Ford Lotus Cortinas locked out the podium places with Chilton and Justin Law, as Nick Swift just barely missed out on third place as the leading Mini by just half a second.

Race 9: Win Percy Trophy

The Win Percy Trophy brings together a grid of Group 1 touring cars from the 1970s and early '80s – and what a variety of cars it is. Even the front row of the grid featured wonderfully mismatched machinery. A rotary-powered Mazda RX-7 coupé lined up with a rear-wheel-drive Ford Escort RS2000 saloon and a front-wheel-drive Volkswagen Golf GTI hatchback. Any one of them could have crossed the line first, but in the end it was the Escort of reigning BTCC champion Jake Hill and owner Kerry Michael that claimed victory. It was hard fought, though, and the win could so easily have gone to the Golf.

Race 10: Earl Howe Trophy

On a weekend filled with plenty of close and intense racing, the Earl Howe Trophy was more an opportunity to sit back and enjoy these cars for the incredible works of art that they are. A field of British pre-war sportscars was made up primarily of Bentleys, Lagondas and Aston Martins, it was an Alta Sports, driven by Gareth Burnett, that took the chequered flag first, 14 seconds ahead of Patrick Blakeney-Edwards’ Frazer Nash and Christoff Cowens’ Vauxhall 30-98. The closest battle on the track was for fifth place, which saw Andrew Taylor and Matthew Moore finish side by side, with Taylor’s MG K3 Magnette just barely squeaking into the top five.

Race 11: Moss Trophy

The pre-1963 GT cars put on quite the show on Sunday afternoon but the result itself was unfortunately decided by the disqualification of both Dario Franchitti and Harrison Newey after their Aston Martin DB4GTs were both found guilty of technical infringements. That left the chasing trio of Jon Spiers, Gregor Fisken and Alexander Van Der Lof to take their places on the podium after a brilliant three-way battle that lasted for the entirety of the race as Cobra led Cobra led Ferrari 250 GT SWB. The Moss Trophy has always been a great race to watch, and this year was no different.

Race 14: Salvadori Cup

Competition was as fierce as we hoped it would be in the Salvadori Cup, which closed out Members’ Meeting with a battle between Roger Wills and Bonamy Grimes for victory. Their respective Lotus-Climax 15s were the pick of a field of late 1950s sportscars, as they cruised away from a midfield enraptured in duels of its own – Richard Wilson in particular gaining places up to sixth in his own Climax 15. Grimes continued to set fastest laps in his pursuit of Wills, who was bogged down by traffic with minutes to go. When his opening came, Grimes took the only chance needed for the win, lapped cars playing to his advantage as Wills failed to find a clear path to mount a reply. The top three was rounded out by James Thorpe, who comfortably held the place he qualified in.

The 82^nd Members' Meeting is live now! You can watch every moment of the action on our live stream right here on GRR.

Tickets for the 83^rd Members’ Meeting will be available for a limited time immediately after this year’s event for Members and Fellows of the GRRC. Admission and Grandstand tickets will go on sale on Monday 14^th April for Members, and Wednesday 16^th April for Fellows.

Photography by Jordan Butters.