Youngsters take to podium at Croft Nostalgia Festival

| 10 Aug 2016

Two 16 year olds, Edward Thurston and James Clarke, finished ahead of more experienced competition at the Croft Nostalgia Festival on 7 August. Thurston came out on top in the Historic Formula Ford Class, while Clarke scored a podium finish in Historic Touring Cars despite both racers being too young to drive on the road. 

However, the youngsters didn’t have it all their own way: also proving that age is just a number was Peter Williams, who contested the Historic Formula 3 class just a week before his 81st birthday. 

The Classic Clubmans category played host to an enthralling cat and mouse duel between John Harrison and pole-sitter Mark Chateris in which the latter triumphed despite taking evasive action in the face of a spinning back marker. 

The brute power of Warren Briggs’ Ford Mustang took on a bevy of more agile Lotus Cortinas in the Touring Car class, with a poor getaway by Briggs coupled with Croft’s all-round challenge enabling Mark Jones to complete a weekend double. 

A titanic effort from Peter Shaw took his 1964 Lotus Elan storming from the back of the 32-car ‘70s Road Sports grid to produce the fastest lap of the race by more than a second, before brake trouble led to a spin that took him out of contention. 

Away from the racing, crowds were treated to five on-track parade laps showcasing military vehicles, classic cars and vintage motorcycles, while an incredible 14-cylinder Bristol Hercules was fired-up each hour. 

“As ever, Croft Nostalgia Festival has been a fantastic weekend, with so much going on to appeal to all ages,” said circuit manager Mike Cantelo. “The racing was first-rate, the parades huge popular and the displays of classic cars and military vehicles quite frankly mind-blowing.

“It was great to see so many people getting fully into the spirit of the occasion by donning period dress, and I think the smiles on the faces of everybody who attended spoke volumes.”