Thirty Lotus Cortinas battle hard in the Jim Clark Trophy | GRR
The Members’ Meeting presented by Audrain Motorsport has a history of one-make racing. From Minis to Ford GT40s, there have been many shootouts between equally matched machinery around the historic Sussex circuit.
For the 80th Members’ Meeting, a grid of thirty Lotus Cortinas will take to the circuit, marking marks sixty years since the seminal performance saloon car was launched. The Lotus Cortina is arguably the first fast Ford, setting the template for winning races on a Sunday and selling on Monday.
And the Lotus Cortina did plenty of winning on Sundays, the prolific white over green livery being synonymous with victory. Arguably the most famous driver to pedal the car to victory was legendary Team Lotus grand prix driver Jim Clark who took victory in the 1964 British Saloon Car Championship. Indeed, he won almost every race he entered in a Cortina.
The Jim Clark Trophy is named in the Scotman’s honour, and is two-driver race that will see owner-drivers and VIP drivers battle for overall honours. The pros come from Formula One, Le Mans and BTCC and include such names as Tom Kristensen, Karun Chandhok, Tiff Needell and Dario Franchitti. That’s another way of saying the racing was close, determined and truly spectacular.
If you were expecting a gridful of cars in a shared livery, you’re in for more variety than that. As well as the famous red and gold Alan Mann Racing Cortina, there’s a whole spectrum of cars that deviate from the standard factory colour scheme. Our photographers captured them all for this gallery.
The 80th Members’ Meeting presented by Audrain Motorsport is live now! You can watch every second of the action right here on GRR.
Photography by Jochen van Cawenberge.