Masters Historic Racing Announce 2018 Calendar
Two new venues and a return to popular historic festivals will make up the Masters Historic Racing European calendar for 2018, which will take its core championships to eight events, with all five of its categories being represented on the prestigious Silverstone Classic timetable for the first time.
The first venue on Masters’ 2018 tour will be the Motor Legend Festival at former Grand Prix venue Imola, Italy (April 20th-22nd), this will be the first of two new venues for the Masters Championships. The FIA Masters Historic Formula One Championship, FIA Masters Historic Sports Car Championship and the new Masters Endurance Legends will all hit the track, as will the Gentlemen Drivers and Masters Pre-66 Touring Car categories.
After Imola, Masters heads back to its UK roots with its traditional Festival at Brands Hatch, May 26th-27th. All five grids will be represented at the former home of the British Grand Prix at an event that always delivers action and a big home crowd.
Masters will head to a new track on the third stop of its European tour as the stunning venue of Most in the Czech Republic plays host on June 22nd-24th for the Most Historic Grand Prix. The two FIA Championships, plus Gentlemen Drivers and Masters Pre-66 Touring Cars will take to this track which is nestled in the countryside just 90 minutes from Prague. It’s a circuit at which very few Masters competitors will have had the chance to race at before!
Next come two of the historic motor racing calendar’s longest-established events: the Silverstone Classic and the Nürburgring Oldtimer Grand Prix. The Silverstone Classic on July 20th-22nd will allow Masters the opportunity to run all five of its categories at the Home of British Motor Racing, including an into-the-dusk race for the Masters Endurance Legends. The MEL grid will be joined by FIA Masters Historic Formula One Championship, FIA Masters Historic Sports Car Championship, Gentlemen Drivers and Pre-66 Touring Cars to provide five action-packed grids for the bumper crowd.
Now in its 46th year and the longest-running historic festival, the Oldtimer Grand Prix (August 10th-12th) at the Nürburgring, Germany, is likely to host four Masters Grids: FIA Masters Historic Formula One, FIA Masters Historic Sports Cars, Masters Endurance Legends and Gentlemen Drivers. The Oldtimer always produces a great atmosphere and excellent racing with a tremendous mix of cars.
The Zandvoort Historic Grand Prix, comes next on August 31st-September 2nd. The Dutch seaside circuit has embraced historic racing over the last few seasons and, with an enthusiastic and knowledgeable crowd, it is a track that is the perfect backdrop to historic racing! The FIA Masters Historic Formula One Championship will be joined by the FIA Masters Historic Sports Car Championship, Gentlemen Drivers and Masters Pre-66 Touring Car categories.
The Spa Six Hours is another successful historic racing weekend and will play host once again to the five Masters categories on September 14th-16th. The Belgian circuit, the home of the Belgian Grand Prix and World Endurance Championships, will echo its modern racing with rounds of the FIA Masters Historic Formula One Championship, FIA Masters Historic Sports Car Championship and Masters Endurance Legends, a year on from its pilot race.
The final Masters race weekend, with championships to be decided, will be at Dijon-Prenois, France, on October 12th-14th. This will mark a return to Dijon as Masters categories last raced there in 2015 and all five championships will hit the track in an all-action weekend at the Dijon Motor Cup.
“We are very excited about our 2018 European season,” said Masters Historic Racing Founder, Ron Maydon. “With the new masters endurance legends set to wow fans and attract new cars and drivers from all over the world, we are looking forward to a great season! The FIA Masters Historic Formula One Championship continues to be tremendously popular wherever we go and our FIA Masters Historic Sports Car Championship is a perfect way to look at the history of sports car racing.
“Gentlemen Drivers and Masters Pre-66 Touring Cars continue to deliver big, diverse grids with close racing. We are looking forward to offering our drivers some new and exciting venues this year and taking our excellent form of competitive and memory-jerking racing to a wide audience across Europe.”
