ROYAL AUTOMOBILE CLUB HISTORIC TOURIST TROPHY ( MRL PRE ‘ 63 GT )
Friday 12:04 - 12:31 RACE 14 Sunday 11:40 - 12:30
Ask anybody under 40 about Gran Turismo and but for the odd blank look , chances are he / she will tell you it ’ s a driving game developed for Sony ’ s PlayStation consoles . In fact , the PlayStation is celebrating two landmark anniversaries in 2022 : 30 years since the concept ’ s gestation in 1992 and 25 since the developed product hit the marketplace to global acclaim in ’ 97 .
What does this have to do with a sensational race for iconic Pre-1963 cars at The Classic , Silverstone ? Well , the big-earning favourite - now evolved into Gran Turismo 7 - had to be rooted somewhere . Gran Turismo [ GT for short ] was the Italian nomenclature for some of the most stunningly beautiful and road going sports cars of all time . Think Ferrari 250 GT Berlinettas and GTOs , Aston Martin DB4 GTs and Jaguar E-types .
While racing was not on the agenda when these muscular machines were conceived , it was inevitable that many examples would find their way into the hands of pecunious sporting enthusiasts .
Interest in the photogenic GT genre ensured that race promoters offered prestigious races for the cars . The Royal Automobile Club Tourist Trophy contest morphed from a World Championship sports car race at Goodwood into an exclusive GT affair in 1960 . Grand Prix drivers peppered the cast for these endurance races which attracted large audiences .
For the first two years Stirling Moss was victorious in three-litre V12-engined Ferrari 250 GTBs ( known colloquially as ‘ short wheelbases ’) entered by patrons Rob Walker and Dick Wilkins . These results extended his run to four successive TT victories , and his total to seven . In August 1960 , Stirling out-ran
John Ogier ’ s Essex Racing Team Aston Martin DB4 GTs driven by Roy Salvadori and Innes Ireland . Graham Hill ’ s Porsche 356B Carrera Abarth GTL and four Ferraris led the chase . The top 10 was completed by Lotus Elites , driven by Peter Lumsden and Graham Warner , owner of The Chequered Flag sports car emporium in Chiswick . Austin-Healey 3000s , Chris Lawrence ’ s works Morgan Plus 4 , Dick Jacobs ’ pale green MGAs , Elva Couriers and an AC Ace-Bristol were also in the field .
Moss beat Mike Parkes in Maranello Concessionaires boss Colonel Ronnie Hoare ’ s scarlet and Cambridge blue 250 SWB in ’ 61 , when Salvadori and Jim Clark led the chase in Ogier ’ s curvaceous Zagato-bodied DB4s , finishing ahead of teammate Ireland ’ s regular version . Hill was sixth for Porsche , ahead of the Elites of Les Leston , Lumsden and Bill Allen . Among the smaller capacity entries were a trio of Triumph-engined Morgans - again led by Lawrence , who finished 11th , and later masterminded the legendary SLR aerodynamic coupes .
By 1962 Ferrari ’ s GTO [ O for omologato ] had arrived and locked out the TT podium at Goodwood with Ireland , Hill and Parkes . Salvadori , who with Hill had finished third and first respectively on the Jaguar E-type ’ s competition debut at Oulton Park in April ’ 61 , was fourth in a John Coombs-entered
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