Attending the Gold Cup at Oulton Park has been a life-long wish for me. In the past it’s just never been a viable option to attend, but this year, things conspired and got together at the right time in the right place, and together with Kev, Craig & Ron, we were all able to go together. Now the Gold Cup is all about Classic Cars… You may be thinking well Kev, what do you know about classic cars? And the only truthful answer is ‘not a lot’, but I have owned and driven one in my lifetime, and I can appreciate good design and engineering of the times. I visited the Haynes International Motor Museum with Brad last year and enjoyed walking around looking at the classic machines and feats of engineering that were on display there, and for as much as the Gold Cup is an opportunity to get Classic Cars to be on display from around the World, the Gold Cup is more than that… There is actual on-track-racing action too.

Looking at old and dated classic machinery is one thing, but watching it being driven on a racetrack, competitively is quite another. It was the second day of racing at the Gold Cup that we attended on the 31st July 2022, and we would be treated to quite the selection of cars sharing the track together throughout the day racing in different races such as: The Special Saloons & Modsports from the Classic Sports Car Championships, Historic Formula 2, Historic Formula Junior, The Vintage Sports Car Club, The Historic Grand Prix Cars Association, Masters pre-66 Touring Cars, The Vintage Sports Car Club and 1950’s Sports Cars. All in all, a packed schedule of racing (all in the Afternoon again thank’s to the Residents of Oulton).

When we arrived at the track, we were treated to an on-track parade of invited guests who had the opportunity to drive around the circuit behind the pace car for a couple of laps. We enjoyed waving to them as they drove on past. Following this was the er.. National Anthem, which was to be performed on the Start / Finish Grid by a singer named “Anna Beaumont” or “Gemma Louise Doyle” – Yeh, we had no idea either! So after all the fluff was out of the way it was time to get down to the racing. The first thing out was the CSCC Special Saloons & Modsports cars for the ‘Tony Sugden Trophy’. This race was a 15 minute race around the full Oulton Park track including the Shell Hairpin. Now to say these cars could move would be an understatement unworthy of a description of them. They had a lot of cars on the grid.. 28 were on the entry list and I would take a guess that most of those made it to the track. There were classics such as the legendary Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500, a Corvette C3, some Lotus Esprit Silhouette Specials, Triumph TR7 V8, Lotus Elan S3, Honda CRX, Ford Anglia 105E, Aston Martin DBS V8 Marsh Plant, Triumph Spitfire and so many more. All sharing the track in the same race at the same time. The noise from them all was a tremendous spectacle, and they were able to get up close to each other and actually race. You wouldn’t think it, cars from such different periods of time, but all there, able to be competitive and have scraps up and down the field. – Brought back memories of our old jumps into the past and the classic touring car series we tried our best to drive in simulators.

Next up came the first running of the Historic Formula 2 and Historic Formula Junior races which were both 20 minutes apiece. Now while the Special Saloons & Modsports cars were a joy to look at and listen to, they are still, for all intents and purposes, road-going cars, or they are at least based upon them. The Historic Formula 2 and Historic Formula Junior cars are not at all road-going cars, and neither should they be. They are in fact, real race cars. Proper racing. Open wheel to open wheel. Fast. Low drag Race cars. With engines to match. The noise from these cars was immense. Approaching ye olde levels of Formula One (before the reduction to v8’s and lower).

I actually got the camera out for the Historic Formula 2 race and took some snaps. (I didn’t say they were good snaps), but it has been around three years since I have picked up a camera… There’s another thing that can be crossed off of the x40 list! The photos I took where not at all perfect to start with, but I’ve had a go at editing them to provide something show-able. (Or at least that’s what I am going with, I haven’t edited them yet, so if they turn our ok, I’ll put some of them in this article. If not, note that the photos above are all from the Oulton Park Gold Cup website! The Historic Formula 2 race was also the first to bring out the Double Waved Yellows, Safety Car and I think even the Red Flag, all in the same race. Where we were sat at Knickerbrook we didn’t see any of the race-stopping action, but we could hear about it from those sitting close who had a radio tuned into Race Control. We did see the odd one or two cars plunge into the gravel on the outside of the corner, but only one got themselves beached and had to be recovered to a safer place. The Historic Formula Junior had an entry list of 30+ drivers and the Historic Formula 2 grid wasn’t far off with 22 entries. There was only one series which seemed to be lacking in terms of its entry list, and that was the Aurora ‘Derek Bell Trophy’ which had only seven entrants to its 20 minute race.

I cannot lie but some of what we thought would make great racing, such as the Masters Pre-66 Touring Cars which featured fifteen entrants driving the likes of Ford Lotus Cortina, Ford Mustang, Ford Falcon Sprint, BMW 1800 Tisa and Austin Mini Cooper S.. Really didn’t and ended up being a long and boring race to watch. The leader had got himself a massive lead early on and wasn’t challenged from there. Then came 2nd, 3rd and 4th close together who simply didn’t seem able or willing to overtake each other, then was the rest of the field. The only real overtaking you saw during this SIXTY minute race, was when cars were lapping each other. What seems silly is that you have this grid size of fifteen doing a 60 minute race, and then you get a grid of 30+ cars competing in a 20 minute sprint, or in the lines of the Special Saloons & Modsports cars who had a grid size of 28 racing over just 15 minutes. It all seems a little bit backwards when it comes to racing somedays.

But I think we all enjoyed ourselves and each others company. It was a long day and a lot of driving involved for Kev so we made the decision to leave after the second Special Saloons & Modsports race as that was the one I think we all enjoyed the most. That ended in a late red flag I think so we took the opportunity to make a move and head back. It was a long afternoon of sitting in the hot sun again, of course without any protection.. so we were all lobsters the next day. But I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Fantastic friends and company for the whole day. Cheers Guys.

These Photographs are heavily edited and not at all my best. But for the first time picking up a camera in a couple of years, with no prior practice, I am happy to just know I remember how to edit them. Click on the image for a larger version. Full quality versions are available upon request.