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Aston Martins at Silverstone – 10th August 2024

This was the second year the AMOC flagship race, the St. John Horsfall Trophy for Pre-War cars, has been run at the Bentley Drivers Club meeting. FISCAR also had a race for 50’s cars, with one Aston Martin entering.

For Members wishing to spectate, the AMOC had dedicated parking next to the paddock, with around 30 Aston Martins coming and going throughout the day.

The St. John Horsfall race was the first race on the timetable. Two cars did not make the start after Qualifying: Heinz Stamm, who came over from Switzerland, had the steering arm break in his Speed Model Replica and Edward Bradley had a piston problem in his Ulster. Darren Turner, who was racing Jonathan Lupton’s LM4 Team car, qualified on pole but on the green flag lap had a misfire so came into the pits and did not start the race.

19 Aston Martins took the start - Stephen Skipworth, Speed Model Monoposto, took the lead, from 4th place on the grid, being chased hard by Alan Middleton (Speed Red Dragon) and David Freeman in the Spa Special. David Freeman took the lead on lap 2. On lap 5 just 1.6 seconds separated the first 4 cars, with Nigel Armstrong (Speed Model) joining the front trio. Middleton and Freeman fought side by side, with just 52 thousandth of a second between them at one point. On lap 8 Middleton took the lead. Skipworth had an ignition problem that took him to pull off the track on lap 9. The race was 15 minutes long, the leader went over the finish line 2 seconds before the time was up, so we enjoyed another lap, while Alan must have been hoping to see the chequered flag.

Special mention to Members who came to race from Switzerland (Marc Fischer and Heinz Stamm), Austria (Peter Dubsky), Netherlands (Ivo Noteboom), Guernsey (David and Thomas Ozanne), France (Richard Braun) and USA Rob Burt and John-Henry Rogers.

David Freeman, Alan Middleton and Nigel Armstrong on the Winners Podium - Photo provided by David Freeman

Ten members of the Horsfall family joined us for the event, to commemorate 75 years since the passing of Jock Horsfall, who was killed at Silverstone, while racing an ERA. The St. John Horsfall race was inaugurated in 1950, with the Horsfall Trophy going to first on handicap.

The Horsfall Trophy - photo by Simon Halls

 This year, it was won by Tom Wood, in his first ever race, driving the 1934 Long Chassis MkII belonging to Neil Pickstone and Simon Isles. Tom improved his lap time from qualifying to race by over 5 seconds – well done Tom.

The Horsfall family presenting the Horsfall Trophy to Tom and Sue Wood

In the Times Challenge Trophy, 9 Aston Martins and 2 Lagonda’s took part on this 28 car grid. Rob Blakemore (Speed Model) was the first Aston Martin home in 5th place, followed by Richard Braun (Speed Model Replica) in 9th and Thomas Ozanne (Speed Model Replica) in 13th. Sadly Jonathan Lupton (LM4) and Alan Middleton failed to finish.

In the FISCAR series for 50’s cars, their grid of 37 cars was a fantastic collection of many marques. Peter Baker flew the Aston Martin flag in his 1952 DB2. Peter qualified 27th but had to start from the pit lane, which put him back to 36th. He steadily made his way back to 26th by the end of the race, finishing 2nd in his class of 5.

More photos are in the Photo Album available to Members: 2024 Silverstone - Horsfall Race

Full results for the race day are on the Timing Solutions Ltd website : Link. Horsfall Handicap results are in the PDF Book for the race.

Report by Anne Reed
Photographs by Marion Freeman, Graham Young and Simon Halls