FEATURE : THE HSCC IN 2003
Tyrrell owner John Delane with Jackie Stewart at Oulton Park
The way we were : 20 years ago
Salvadori , Moss and Brabham at the Gold Cup
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The HSCC went into the 2003 season with eight core championships covering Historic Road Sports , 70s Road Sports , Classic Sports , Derek Bell Trophy , Classic Formula 3 , Classic Racing Cars , Historic Formula Ford and Historic Racing Saloons . In addition , the Jaguar XK Series was now running with the club and a growing number of Formula Junior championship dates were at HSCC race meetings .
A new sponsor was announced for the 70s Road Sports Championship as Lotus Esprit racer Andy Reeves supported the category through his Wesprey Castings business . Millers Oils was the sponsor of Historic Road Sports , a deal arranged by racer and agent Robin Longdon , while Retro Track and Air supported Classic Racing Cars . Matthew Watts , from the aircraft and race car restoration operation , would race his Brabham BT16 in the championship . An attempt was made to create a 70s Road Saloons category , but the concept never really got off the ground despite the efforts of series chairman Richard Thorne . One or two cars did appear , including the Ford Escort RS2000 of Bob Trotter , but the idea was quietly shelved and the cars that
emerged were absorbed into the 70s Road Sports category .
The season started with race meetings at Donington Park and Cadwell Park in April before a new-look Silverstone weekend in May . At the instigation of venue operator Octagon Motorsports , the 17 / 18 May weekend featured a series of Vintage Sports-Car Club races alongside the regular HSCC categories and the action moved to the International Circuit layout .
In the April 2003 edition of HSCC News , the thinking behind the event was explained . “ Our first Silverstone meeting could well turn out to be the start of something big . Octagon Motorsports has played a part in creating this idea and
“ It ’ s a dangerous circuit and we will probably run a bit late , but that ’ s normal here .” we look forward to it working well and perhaps growing into the Classic Festival for 2004 . It is no secret that Octagon wants a major historic meeting at
Silverstone again , as Brands Hatch and Oulton Park both have one , and this is possibly the embryonic event .” Since the US-owned organisation had moved the former Coys Festival to Oulton Park to become the Gold Cup , Silverstone had been without a headline classic festival .
In the club office , Philip Parfitt was into a relatively brief term as competitions ’ secretary and would soon be replaced by Martin Atack , who joined the club in January 2004 . Emma North ( later to become Emma Jemmett ) joined the