Sir Jack Brabham was guest of honor at the Historic Sports Car Club’s race meeting at the pictureque Oulton Park circuit in the Northwest of England on August 25-26. A large crowd was on hand to witness a varied and interesting entry of more than 400 cars participate in 14 closely fought races over two days.
From the ’50s through the ’70s, the Gold Cup was Oulton Park’s premier event, attracting all the great Grand Prix stars. The HSCC and circuit owners Octagon recently joined forces to resurrect the Gold Cup, bringing in a number of cars that had actually competed in the period. The FORCE pre-1972 race for GP cars included examples of Surtees, Brabham, March and Cooper together with a group of F5000 and F2 cars. Flavien Marcais dominated the FORCE race in Luke Chapman’s glorious-sounding 1972 BRM P180, while other race winners included Richard Attwood in a Brabham BT4 and Andy Middlehurst in a Techno F2.
Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of Oulton Park and plans are already under way to repeat the revived Gold Cup over the undulating 2.7-mile course which has long been a favorite of drivers and spectators alike.
Submitted by Keith Booker
