Donnington Park three hour classic relay & Equipe Pre '63 race

The weekend saw a three-driver, two-car team racing at the three-hour classic rally, with Mark Holme, Doug Muirhead and Jeremy Welch all taking a stint at the wheel. The team qualified in pole position out of 42 cars, and race rookie Muirhead took the first hour in the car, eventually bringing it into the pits sitting in P7. Holme took the second session demonstrating his experience and skill to fight his way into first. But as the end of the session approached, Holme had a coil failure, bringing his stint to an early end. Despite facing a penalty for having two cars on the track at the same time, the team made the decision to send Welch out on track which resulted in the team dropping back. But skill and ambition shone through once again, and Welch passed the chequered flag in third.
The Sunday race was a 40 minute sprint, with Holme as the driver. He qualified in pole position again, but a dicey start saw the CarSafe driver drop down the timesheets. “I dumped the clutch and the car spun. I dropped from first to seventh by the first corner,” explained Holme. He was, however, able to keep pace with the front six in a crowded field where there was only 0.7s between Holme in seventh and first place. Holme stuck with the frontrunners, ultimately taking full advantage of their poor racecraft and out-driving the majority of the field to finish in second.