date at Thruxton’s 40th Birthday

A very rare chance to compete at Thruxton has attracted a tremendous response from competitors in the Sports Racing Masters and Masters Top Hat Saloon races.

The two categories from the Masters Racing Series will be key elements of the 40th anniversary race meeting at the high-speed Hampshire circuit at Easter, with a two-day meeting on Easter Sunday (23 March) and Easter Monday (24 March).

"We've already got 60% of the Top Hat grid confirmed and we've had a lot of interest in the Sports Racing Masters races," said Christopher Tate of the Masters Racing Series. "The entry forms are now out and we very much hope and expect to fill the 33-car grid for both categories."

Both series will have two races, with the Pre-66 Saloons having a pair of 25-minute races and the Sports Racing cars (also Pre-66) having two half-hour races. "This is a very rare opportunity for drivers of top level historic cars to race at Thruxton," said Tate, who was himself a schoolboy spectator at Thruxton's first major race meeting on Easter Monday 1968. "It will certainly bring back some nice memories for me."

The Top Hat race will celebrate the round of the British Saloon Car Championship that supported the Formula 2 feature race forty years ago. In 1968, Brian Muir was victorious in his Ford Falcon from a field that included Ford Mustangs, Lotus Cortinas and Mini Coopers. The Top Hat race for pre '66 saloon cars will by a splendid re-creation of that race.

Thruxton is now the only major UK circuit with a layout that is unchanged over the 40 years that it has been a permanent race circuit. It is famed for producing close and exciting racing.