John Burton made it four wins from six races in the Martini Trophy when the series switched to Oulton Park for the HSCC’s Gold Cup meeting (28/29 August).

Created by the Historic Sports Car Club, the Martini Trophy is for the 2-litre sports-racing cars of the 1970s and has a four-event schedule in 2011. The Oulton Park races marked the third weekend of the season and the 2-litre cars made a great spectacle as Oulton Park hosted its first 2-litre sports car race.

For the second event running Burton was the class of the pack in his Chevron B26 as the pair of races followed similar patterns. Twice Charlie Kemp (Lola T210) chased the flying Chevron to earn a brace of second places overall as well as a double victory in the class for non-winged cars. “Charlie kept me honest all the way through,” said Burton. “He drives brilliantly and I couldn’t let up for a second,” said Burton. Kemp was pleased to have stayed in touch with the newer car. “I never gave up,” said the Lola racer.

Third place in both races fell to Doug Hart (March 75S), despite this being something of a bogey track for the Londoner. Although he likes the track, Hart is always aware that he had his biggest ever accident at the Cheshire track several years ago.

A fine fourth in the opening race, to record his best Martini Trophy result to date, was Al Fleming (Chevron B36) after a long battle with the B19 of Jonathan Loader. Having both retired with minor problems in Sunday’s race, Sandy Watson and John Sheldon took fourth and fifth on Monday in their B19s. Watson was delighted with the result despite some worries during the 25-minute race. “The exhaust broke, the rear bodywork was loose and the oil pressure light was coming on,” said the Swiss-based Scot. Sheldon was pleased with his result after being sidelined by a failed battery in the opening race. “It’s lovely to come back to Oulton Park,” said Sheldon.

Making its Martini Trophy debut was the Chevron B31 shared by Graeme and James Dodd and resplendent in a new Martini stripes livery. Although the car showed strong pace – Graeme ran as high as third in the opening race – fuel pressure problems blunted their challenge with the car that Graeme intends to race regularly in 2012.

The final 2011 date for the Martini Trophy is at the Dijon (France) on 1/2 October.