Mega Gallery and Report: Historic Grand Prix Zandvoort 2020

Submitted by Marcel Hundscheid on September 16, 2020

By Marcel Hundscheid / Speed-O-Graphica

Sit back, relax and enjoy our comprehensive report of the Historic Grand Prix Zandvoort 2020. Our European correspondent Marcel Hundscheid was able to attend the reknown historic motor racing event, despite the restrictions due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite the global impact and limitations resulting from COVID-19, Circuit Zandvoort managed to organize and host a Corona-proof version of the 2020 Historic Grand Prix. The programme was adapted and the number of available tickets for spectators was limited.

In June it was decided that the event would run without spectators, but just a month later it appeared that due a relaxation of COVID-19 measures a limited number of spectators was possible. This made it unique as was one of the rare events in Europe that could go on with a limited amount of spectators and media.

It was the first major event held on the renewed layout including the two new bankings. Instead of the earlier editions in 2020 the programme focused on the different races. In this article we focus on the several highlights over the weekend that could be seen in action.

Shortly before the event the FIA decided to cancel al their historic motor sport championships as the COVID-19 pandemic continues across European countries. Therefore, the 2020 editions of the FIA Masters Historic Formula One and Sports Car Championships, as well as the FIA Historic F3 European Cup, have all been cancelled. The FIA Historic F3 European Cup was planned as a one-off event at Zandvoort.

The decision will not directly affect the remaining round for F1 cars and sports cars during the Historic Grand Prix at Zandvoort. Masters Historic Racing, which runs both championships on behalf of F1, now runs the races at Zandvoort under the banner of Masters Historic Formula One and Masters Historic Sports Cars.

Over three days, spectators could enjoy the presence of 4 different Masters Historic Championships including Formula One, Sports Cars, Endurance Legends and Gentlemen Drivers. Furthermore touring cars and GTs from NK RECO GTTC, HARC NK82-90, Dunlop Historic Endurance Cup filled the grid, as historic single seaters were gathered into Historic Monoposto Racing.

Tiny tin tops like the Mini Cooper, Fiat Abarth and NSU TT thrilled the crowd under the Battle of the Dwarfs banner. Finally CanAm bangers, sports cars and GTs fought their battles in the 100 miles Trophy.

Irishman Mike Cantillon was unstoppable in Masters Historic Formula One driving a Williams FW07C. Cantillon claimed double victory and was named Official Track Record Holder for the renewed Circuit Zandvoort with a fastest lap of 1:31.977. Former triple Le Mans winner Marco Werner couldn’t threaten Cantillon, but he did collect two pre-78 class wins as well as two overall places in a Lotus 77. On Saturday Steve Brooks finished third in a Lotus 81 as Mark Hazell crossed the finish line in third on Sunday with a Williams FW08.

Amongst the Cosworth DFV-powered F1 cars, the appearance of a F5000 Lola T332 was somehow unexpected but nevertheless welcome. Lola’s T332 was a refinement of the earlier T330 and very successful in 1974, 1975 and 1976 in the UK, the US and the Tasman Series.

Powered by a 5 liter Chevrolet engine, chassis HU41 was raced by Graham McRae, Mike Hall and Al Unser back in 1974. Later HU41 was converted to a CanAm car into the early 80s. Due to a crash in 1984 the tub was rebuilt and restored during 2014 and 2015 to the original F5000 specifications. In Zandvoort HU41 was raced by his present owner Steve Farthing.

One of the highlights was the presence of the iconic Tyrrell P34 6-wheeled Formula 1 car. CGA Engineering from the UK created a brand new chassis (9) in co-operation with the Tyrrell family, who supplied the original drawings to aid the project. Former F1 designer John Gentry, who worked for Tyrrell from 1977, oversaw the design and build process at CGA, ultimately resulting in a brand new chassis in 1976 spec.

The car is owned and raced by American Jonathan Holtzman. Sadly for the Zandvoort spectators the car couldn’t enter both Master Historic Formula 1 races as Holtzman wasn’t able to travel from the US to the Netherlands due to COVID-19 restrictions. Originally seven chassis were built, two of which were lost due to crashes at the time. The five remaining cars are in museums or in private collections and have not been used for years.

The Lec refrigeration company funded the design of a Formula 1 car back in 1977. Mike Pilbeam designed the Lec CRP1, powered by a Ford Cosworth 3 liter DFV-engine. Briton David Purley debuted the car at the Race of Champions in Brands Hatch finishing in 6^th place.

During the Historic GP at Zandvoort Lec CRP1-77-002 was raced by Masters Historic Racing founder and supremo Ron Maydon. This car made a final appearance in 1979 at Thruxton. Over the years it was fully restored by WDK Motorsports and made a first appearance at the 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Aston Martin Masters Endurance Legends brought LMP2-prototypes, former GT1, GT2 and GT3s to Zandvoort. On Saturday it was the BR01 driven by Jack Dex who raced in his own league to an unchallenged victory. The Briton won the first race by over a lap from the Maserati MC12 of David Hart and Nicky Pastorelli.

Dex couldn’t repeat his triumph on Sunday as the stewards penalized him for an unsafe release during the mandatory pit stops. Hart and Pastorelli were handed victory as Dex finished in 9^th position and a lap behind the winning Maserati.

David Hart and his son Olivier gained further success by winning the Masters Gentlemen Drivers race on Sunday. Initially it was Nigel Greensall who opened up a 30 second gap on David Hart in his Shelby Cobra Daytona. A slow pitstop followed by a puncture ruined his race. Olivier Hart managed to break Greensall’s earlier fastest lap time and grabbed a dominant win.

The 100 Miles Trophy is a series open to GTs, touring cars, sports prototypes, group 5, TransAm and CanAm cars. At Zandvoort nearly 20 cars entered two 30 minute races.

During the first race two titans battled it out for the overall victory. In the beginning Felix Haas from Switzerland in his Lola T294 managed to hold of German Georg Hallau in a Lola T310 CanAm. Disaster struck when Haas suffered a puncture and had to visit the pits. Hallau grabbed a commanding victory and Haas had to settle for a sixth place. On Sunday Hallau scored his second win of the weekend, although Peter Schleifer in a McLaren M8F finished within 1.5 seconds in second place.

Despite COVID-19 restrictions, Circuit Zandvoort managed a perfectly organised event with spectators and saw great racing action over the weekend. We are eagerly counting down the days for the 2021 edition!