A capacity field of 48 drivers from the Historic Sports Car Club's Historic and 70s Road Sports categories will have the highlight weekend of their season when they compete in two races during the Silverstone Classic (25-27 July).
The Silverstone Classic is the biggest event for classic and historic racing on the British calendar and this is a rare chance for the Road Sports racers to tackle the Grand Prix circuit on the same bill as more than 100 Grand Prix cars in a total event entry of well over 700 cars.
On a weekend when many of the cars racing are hugely rare and valuable, the Stirling Moss Trophy races for HSCC Historic Road Sports offer some tremendous racing from cars that are both affordable and attainable for everyone.
Throughout the season, the HSCC runs race championship for both Historic Road Sports – cars built up to the end of the 1960s – and 70s Road Sports, for cars built through the 1970s. Both series are hugely popular and very well supported by competitors.
Over 80 entries were received and that list has been whittled down to 48 cars with a confirmed grid place and another 10 reserves. The result is a magnificent field of road sports cars spanning a quarter of a century.
The ultimate pace should be with the newer cars, but there won't be too much in it and some of the fastest 1960s cars could be right in the thick of the lead battle. The 70s races this season have featured some glorious battles across a diverse range of cars and the rare chance to race on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit should particularly suit the thundering Porsche 928 of Paul Anderson.
Ranged against Anderson will be the 3.5-litre Morgan Plus 8 of Richard Plant, although he was well down the reserve list at the time of writing. If he gets onto the grid, Plant is a potential race winner, as are father and son Charles and Julian Barter. Charles is a fiercely determined racer in his Datsun 240Z, once a road car of Le Mans racer Win Percy, while Julian is very quick in his TVR 3000M. Among the front-running smaller cars are the Lotus Europa of Rory Stockbridge, a winner here in May, and the Lotus Elan of Alan Harper.
It is earlier models of the rumbling Morgan Plus 8 that head the entry from the Historic Road Sports Championship, with cars for Bruce Stapleton, James Paterson and young Oliver Phillips. Stapleton and Paterson could match the very top pace, while a gaggle of Lotuses will also be snapping at the heels of the bigger cars.
The 1960s Lotus Elans of Peter Shaw, Jim Gathercole and Paul Tooms will all be very quick, as will the nimble Lotus 7s of Andy Shepherd and Martin Halliday. Among the Porsche 911 pack, top runner should be Robert Barrie, with opposition including the 912 of his partner Rebecca Ruff.
Whoever is at the front of the action, there will be battles all the way down this vast field. For anyone thinking about getting involved in historic racing, this is surely the best place to start.
