The sun heated up and rain cooled down the Autodrom race track asphalt on Saturday

14.05.2017 08:34
The first day of the Most Historic Grand Prix event held in its debut year on the Most motor-racing circuit over the weekend of 13 and 14 May has been a success. Although the Saturday warm sunny weather was occasionally broken by a rain shower, this had no effect on the smooth running of the programme. On the contrary, the temporarily wet tarmac combined with slick tyres fitted on the racing cars put a proper thrill and attractiveness from the spectators’ point of view into battles on the track. Thus, for example, Kai-Uwe Roßner of Germany in a Lada 2101 lost a comfortable win because of a rain shower on the last lap of the Saturday Haigo ADAC series race that featured battles between formula and touring cars involved in the former Eastern Bloc’s Peace and Friendship Cup. As he had to slow down dramatically on the wet track, he was happy to secure at least the second step of the podium. But edge-of-the-seat battles could be seen in all categories. Above all, it was a joy to look at the Historic Grand Prix Cars Association (HGPCA) formula cars that used to take part in the 1930–1960 and 1961–1965 Grands Prix. Commemoration of the glory of the unforgettable era of the world’s leading motor sport category was intensified by the 67th anniversary of the first Formula One Grand Prix that falls exactly on the 13th May. The single-seaters that used to appear in the pre-1960 Grands Prix were dominated by the Maserati 250F 2523 dating from 1954. Spanish driver Guillermo Fierro was showing his delight at winning the race more than half a minute ahead of the runner-up. The car has an interesting history. It was driven by Maria Teresa de Filippis of Italy in Grand Prix races in 1958 and 1959. She was the first of only two women to qualify for a Formula One race. Her compatriot, Maria Grazia Lombardi, even took part in seventeen F1 Grand Prix races in the 1970s. By contrast, the Brabham BT7, which was the favourite to dominate the 1961–1965 Grand Prix cars because it managed to win two Formula One races in 1964, failed to succeed. At first, American driver James King’s engine was cutting out after the start. Although he did narrow a big gap, some technical problems definitely prevented him from achieving a good result towards the end of the race. He finished seventh while it was German Peter Horsman in a Lotus 18/21 P1 who came across the finish first. The FIA Lurani Trophy series drivers battled it out for European championship points in Formula Junior cars from the 1950s and 1960s at Most. During Saturday’s race, James Murray of Great Britain, driving a Lola Mk 5A, and Italian Manfredo Rossi di Montelera in a Lotus 22 delivered a breath-taking duel with the gap between them being just one and a half seconds at the flag. On the other hand, the finishing order did not determine the outcome of the FAS AČR Czech Trophy regularity rally. In fact, local drivers in specially built works cars and individually constructed vehicles were supposed to set two identical times as far as possible in two measured laps. In Division 1, the smallest difference between the two times was achieved by Jan Profeld in a Ford Faster. In Division 2, it was Karel Jílek in a MTX 2-01 who gained the same objective. However, the fastest time bar none in this category was clocked by Adam Klus in a MTX 1-05 doing a 1m38.434s. The Saturday race programme culminated with battles between British Triumph Competition and British HTGT series Grand Turismo cars. There were famous MG, Morgan, Triumph, Jaguar and Lotus GT cars standing on the grid. “There were a lot of things to watch all day long. The cars are fascinating here. But I must admit that most of all I’ve been impressed by the British cars reminding agent James Bond’s car fleet. I have really enjoyed the day,” said fifty two years old Milan from Chomutov. The organisers were entertaining the spectators throughout the day. In addition to the adrenaline-pumping show on the track, the visitors of all generations really enjoyed an aerobatic show performed by Petr Kopfstein, a superb pilot and participant in the Red Bull Air Race Master Class world championship, as well as helicopter sightseeing flights, passenger rides in historic cars from the 1970s or an autograph-signing session with motor sport celebrities. These celebrities included Jürgen Barth, the winner of the 1977 edition of the famous 24-hour Le Mans race, and local legends such as Miroslav Adámek, Václav Lím and Břetislav Enge. In their own way, even the youngest visitors to the Autodrom motor-racing circuit enjoyed the Saturday programme spending the time with a number of attractions and prize competitions on the children’s traffic-drill playground. “This is our premiere. We are pleasantly surprised at the attendance and public acceptance, which is very positive for the time being," said Jana Svobodová, the AUTODROM MOST Business and Marketing Manager, appreciating the first day of the race weekend.

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