July 12th-14th | Series | Organiser | Car | Placing / Fastest lap |
BRNO | Masters Gentleman Drivers & Pre-66 Touring Cars | Masters | BMW 1800 TiSa | Finished: 1st First In Class |
Brno Revival Grand Prix 2024. Weather conditions. Hot and humid with nighttime thunderstorms.
We admit it. Until Masters Racing added this event as third round of their Pre-66 Touring Car Championship 2024, the significance of racing at this Czech circuit had passed us by, and only after arriving was all revealed. The original 1930s Masaryk circuit stretched over a full eighteen miles of public roads through town and forest. Now that’s been reduced to a more sizeable track comparable with Silverstone. Difference being, this is not a disused airfield. Instead, drivers attack a series of undulations and bends with a majestic hilly and wooded backdrop, extending over 3.3 miles. As we were also to find out, the surface is very abrasive, giving concern as to whether our BMW 1800 TiSA could be flat out for one hour on a single set of tyres. Luckily, the competition was such that our driver Harry, not usually known for holding back, could slow for the tight corners during the second thirty minutes, and after the compulsory pit stop, still win our third successive victory in a row. For the guys at Retro Engineering, our prep company, it was a long, eight-hundred-mile-long slog each way with the trailer, but their efforts were well appreciated and rewarded with foaming tankards of local Czech pilsner beer. So, all in all, it was a great weekend with the team returning home with a nice trophy. Which is more than can be said of the England footballing squad.
Next comes Masters Weekend at Donington Park (3-4 August) where Barton Racing have entered Harry in the TVR Griffith, BMW 1800 TiSA, and wait for it, our Toyota Supra GT4 EVO, appearing by special invitation in the exclusive Masters Endurance Legends two forty-minute outings. Donington, unlike Brno is our local circuit, just an hour from base, good news, although sadly, the beer is not up to the same standard.