RACE PREVIEW
Bason is one of the leading contenders in the class for 1600cc Formula 2 cars . But the man he has to beat , as ever , is Frenchman Robert Simac who races the ex-Jean-Pierre Jaussaud March 712 . Simac has now won the Historic F2 crown seven times in a remarkable run in his selfprepared March .
The F2 grid also takes in Formula Atlantic cars of the same period as they look and sound very similar , albeit running with only 1600cc engines . Formula Atlantic was introduced to the UK in 1971 and ran as a feeder category for Formula 2 for several years before it faltered in the second half of the decade .
At Brands last month , the star of the Formula Atlantic classes was young Benn Tilley in the Modus M1 owned by Simon Hadfield . Tilley has the car on loan and runs it on a shoe-string with his small family team . His prodigious pace and outstanding natural ability at just 22 marks him out as a driver with a big future if he is able to find more drives and more backing .
Another Atlantic car set to claim some big scalps is the March 79B of Andrew Smith , who will be as fast as anything in the corners but out-gunned on the straights by the bigger-engined F2 cars .
RACE 2 Saturday 09:40 - 10:00
Friday 10:52 - 11:10 Friday 10.13 – 10.40 RACE 413 Saturday Sunday 11:00 11.20 - 11:20 – 12.10
At the very head of the race will be perhaps the ultimate F2 car , the March 782 . This is the car that took Bruno Giacomelli to the 1978 European F2 title and a gaggle of them will be on the grid at Silverstone . Notable is the ex-works car raced by Marc Surer in period and now superbly presented and driven by F2 stalwart Matthew Watts . This is the car that finished third overall in the recent shootout at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the capable hands of young Ben Mitchell .
Another top 782 is the car of Matt Wrigley , who was recently married to his fiancé Jessica . Wrigley has quickly become one of the leading drivers in F2 as he followed in the footsteps of his father Mike into historic racing .
A double victory on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit in early July re-affirmed Martin Stretton as a strong contender in his twolitre March 712 . Although the 1971 car is from the 1600cc era , Stretton confirmed evidence of the 712 running with a two-litre Ford engine in 1973 and 1974 and that ’ s how he has configured his car for the last couple of seasons . It may lack the downforce generated by the later bodywork but it is incredibly fast in a straight line and Stretton drives it superbly .
Another driver now finding his feet in a March 782 is Martin Wood , who has returned to racing in recent times in Historic F2 under the wing of Lifetime Racing and Dan Eagling . There are lots more rapid drivers in this quality grid , including Mark Mercer and Greg Audi ( Ralt RT1s ), Tim da Silva ( Chevron B35 ) and teenager Samuel Harrison in his Lola T240 . It should be an awesome spectacle !
PAUL LAWRENCE
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