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The Cortina was one of the
best tin-tops of the 1960s
Special race for Lotus Cortina
Brands Hatch event to celebrate 50th birthday of iconic saloon
tHe 50tH annIVersarY
of the lotus cortina will be
celebrated with two races
on the brands hatch Grand Prix
circuit in August.
the cortina-only grid will appear
at the lotus Festival meeting on
August 24-25 and organisers are
hoping for a large entry, as well
as a number of cars for display.
each race will be 25 minutes
long. they will be for solo drivers,
but entries will be allowed to run
different drivers across the two.
carol spagg of race organiser
historic Motor racing said:
“we had 28 cortinas on a 60-car
grid at silverstone last year. this
Many Cortinas are
still raced with verve
year’s one-off race will give us the
opportunity to have a recordbreaking
number of lotus cortinas
all racing together. it is bound to be
popular with drivers and spectators.”
Motorsport Vision’s Kevin ritson
confirmed the exact technical rules
have yet to be finalised, but expects
both Appendix K and historic
racing saloons register machines
to be eligible. “the idea is to get
as many as possible,” he said.
“we’d be pleased with 30 cars.
“it’s also the 50th anniversary
of Jim clark’s first F1 title so we’re
hoping classic team lotus can
bring something along too.”
the 1558cc lotus-developed
Ford tin-top was homologated in
september 1963. it went on to score
many race and rally successes,
including the 1964 british saloon
car championship (now btcc) in
the hands of Jim clark and the 1965
european touring car championship
with sir John whitmore.
historic ace simon hadfield,
who has scored many lotus cortina
successes with leo Voyazides in
recent seasons, welcomed the
initiative, but also warned against
making the regulations too open.
“it’s a good thing,” he said.
“they’re a fantastic racing car and
are a bedrock of historic motorsport.
if leo or somebody else wanted to
do it i’d love to.
“its success or failure will be
how it works around everyone else’s
racing. that’s what hurt the elan
anniversary races last year – too
close to other events.
“if they make it Appendix K how
many hrsr cars would they knock
out? not many. if they keep it to
Appendix K everyone will know
where they are.”
LOTUS CORTINA STATS
EnginE: 1558cc twin ohc straight-four
BTCC wins: 7
ETCC wins: 17
TRans-aM wins: 1
AUTOSPORT SAYS…
BEN
aNdErSON
NaTiONal
EdiTOr
ben.anderson
@haymarket.com
THIS IS THE YEAR OF A NUMBER
of significant motorsport milestones:
legendary UK sportscar marque
Aston Martin is celebrating its
centenary, while the home of motor
racing in the North West of England
– Oulton Park – is 60 years old. In
addition, the seminal Porsche 911
and the Ford Lotus Cortina will
both turn 50 in 2013.
Special ‘celebration’ races are in
vogue for 50th birthdays right now,
and the half-century of the iconic
Lotus-developed Ford tin-top will be
celebrated with something along
similar lines at Brands this summer.
Piggybacking the established
Lotus Festival in August is a sensible
move – one that paid off reasonably
well for the Classic Sports Car Club’s
2012 ‘Lotus Elan 50’ celebration.
Where that arguably over-stretched
itself (with a second race at Donington
later in the year), the Cortina event
will sensibly stick to a single weekend.
After all, it won’t be possible to
achieve the sheer volume of cars
that gave us 2011’s E-type Challenge
anniversary series; two races, at one
big event, makes sense.
But there is a potential snag in
the timing. MSV’s August 24-25 date
clashes with the HSCC’s Oulton Park
Gold Cup meeting, which includes a
grid for Historic Touring Cars. That
means Gold Cup Cortina loyalists will
probably have to choose between
the North West and the South East.
The Brands event is also just one
week before a round of the U2TC
series at Paul Ricard, which means
the European racers that make up
the bulk of the Silverstone Classic’s
healthy Cortina following may stay
away in an act of preservation.
Let’s hope not; the sight of 20-plus
Cortinas, sideways and threewheeling,
would be a fine one indeed.
Extra contact details
Kevin Turner, features editor
kevin.turner@haymarket.com
CONTENTS
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tom roche
January 31 2013 autosport.com 73