Bill Coombs’s two races in the Grand Prix Masters (1970s and 1980s F1 cars) races at Silverstone over the Classic Weekend (July 24/25) had an additional and unexpectedly rewarding outcome for him.

Late yesterday evening, the owner and president of the French horological design company, Bernard Richard, of Bernard Richard Manufacture (BRM watches), decided that Bill was the “Driver of the Silverstone Classic Weekend”, and so awarded him a top of the range BRM watch in the event’s closing ceremony right at the end of the meeting.

Bill had taken third place in Saturday’s Grand Prix Masters race after gearbox problems had dropped him back from an early lead, in the Tyrrell 009 which run by Peter Orlando’s squad. Then in race two on Sunday, in front of a bumper crowd, Bill was able to win from Steve Hartley’s Arrows by just a few seconds – but not by enough to win on combined race results, that honour going to Hartley.

Bill’s racing, however, in the opinion of Monsieur Richard and the fellow judges, was an outstanding one and a real treat for the crowd – the award proved a popular choice as well, marking as it does the first ever time that any Masters racing member has won such an award at one of Europe’s main historic festivals.

Bill Coombs and Tyrrell will next be out with Grand Prix Masters at the much anticipated re-opening of Donington, on September 3-5th.

The 2010 Masters season now races on, with two grids at Castle Combe this coming weekend, and three grids at the Nurburgring Oldtimer on August 14/15.