Craig Davies blasted his Ford Mustang to honours in the Masters Pre-66 Touring Car race at the Silverstone Classic as the huge field provided one of the most entertaining races of the weekend.Sean McInerney (Ford Mustang) led from the rolling start as Leo Voyazides (Ford Falcon Sprint) spun spectacularly across the front of the pack after an incident at Village. That caused a shuffle in the order, as Craig Davies (Ford Mustang) grabbed the lead at Brooklands, but McInerney passed again into Club to lead over the line at the end of lap one.
Nigel Greensall (Ford Falcon) was in third ahead of the battling Mark Burton (Ford Mustang) and Roger Wills (Mercury Comet Cyclone), and Michael Gans in the leading Cortina. Ahead, Craig Davies grabbed the lead again at Luffield but with ten minutes gone, McInerney sadly slowed and retired from the absorbing lead tussle.
Craig Davies had a three-second lead from the David Huxley/Nigel Greensall Falcon, followed by Wills, Burton, Gans and now Rob Fenn’s Mustang as the pit window neared. There was some confusion over the pit window timing but Gans handed over to Andy Wolfe, Mark Burton handed the ailing Mustang to Eugene O’Brien, as the leading duo pitted together.
After the pitstops, Craig Davies held a convincing 12 second lead from Greensall, with Roger Wills in third but Andy Wolfe now in fourth, setting best sectors in his pursuit of the smoky Cyclone. Nigel Greensall sadly retired the Falcon from second, promoting the tightest battle of the race to second and third. Behind, crowds were entertained by the mesmerising formation Minis of Martin O’Connell and Dan Wheeler, the contest eventually being decided in Martin’s favour.
With nine minutes to go, Craig Davies’ advantage was 24 seconds ahead of Wills, Wolfe, O’Brien, Fenn and Ben Beighton (Ford Mustang), who then passed Fenn for fifth. Andy Wolfe was now one second behind, and sometimes to the side of Roger Wills, both cars assuming all kinds of unlikely angles through Silverstone’s corners as they sought a balance between power and grip.
At the flag, Roger Wills held off the “worrying” Andy Wolfe for second place as Craig Davies took a well-managed win in the Mustang, praising his team for having completed work on the car just a few minutes prior to the race. However, a penalty was applied to the Gans/Wolfe car for stopping outside the pit window, which promoted Ben Beighton to third overall, without costing the Cortina its THS victory. The entertaining Mini of Jonathan Lewis/Martin O’Connell won THD.
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