Just a few weeks since the Legends Cars Championship was last in action at its spiritual home of Brands Hatch, the fast-paced category returns to the Kent venue for rounds seven and eight of the season next weekend, 6th/7th June.
Following on from a hugely successful support slot to the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup on the full Grand Prix track four weeks ago, the 5/8 scale Legends Cars will this time be taking to the 1.2-mile Indy Circuit for the fourth meeting of the season.
Renowned for consistently providing stunning action, the six races scheduled for next weekend’s event at the shorter of the two Brands Hatch configurations will form part of the always sensational American Speedfest. Celebrating all things Americana, with the NASCAR Whelan Euro Series topping the bill, the annual spectacular attracts many thousands of racegoers every year.
Going into rounds seven and eight reigning Legends Cars Champion Tyler Read (Daventry) heads the way at the top of the points table, albeit not by much with a slim advantage of 50 points over Aaron Cooke (Croxley Green).
Returning to the series lead last time out on the Brands GP Circuit, for the first time since the opening day of the season at Silverstone, Read chalked up some seriously consistent scoring and just missed out on extending his 2026 tally of wins which stands at four.
Cooke, meanwhile, has a total of five wins under his belt in his first full year of Legends Cars racing and has already marked himself out as a genuine title challenger this season. Winning twice at Silverstone and Donington Park, Cooke claimed victory number five on day one of the Brands event.
Third in the championship is Chris Needham (Altrincham), 70 points adrift of Cooke, and he too has five wins to his credit so far this season. After sealing a magnificent winning hat-trick at Silverstone, and thereby taking the early points lead, Needham battled some misfortune at Donington but has continued to consistently rack up the points and challenge at the front.
Oli Schlup (Cuckfield), who experienced his own misfortune earlier in the season, finally broke his 2026 duck last time out with his first victory of the year in the round five Final. He duly added two further wins in round six to leap up to fourth in the standings and firmly establish his title bid.
Completing the top six are Luke Simmons (Lingfield) and Peter Barrable (Dublin), both former race winners and easily capable of success next weekend. Barrable presently leads the Masters Cup class battle by 180 points from Andy Bird (Calne), the latter this season’s only other outright race winner so far and a driver coming from behind after a major accident at Donington Park in April.
Following Bird in the overall points top 10 are Marcus Pett (Boston), Matt Knight (Bramber) and Ross Marshall (Stirling). Rookie Class leader Nathan Williams (Higher Bebbington) is 12th in the outright championship after a sensational weekend on the GP track at Brands last time out, where he raced to a best-yet fourth position overall in Heat Two of round six.
Through his racing Williams is also raising funds for, and awareness of, the DKMS Stem Cell Register which is of huge importance to his family. His father, Andy, received a stem cell transplant earlier this year which has given him a second chance at life thanks to an anonymous donor – Andy had been diagnosed with blood cancer.
In the UK someone is diagnosed with the illness every 14 minutes and only 7% of the population are actually on the Stem Cell Register. Of those, only 16% are from ethnic minority backgrounds. DKMS will be in the Legends Cars paddock at Brands Hatch, so stop by the tent to find out more – all it takes is three cheek swabs to register!
Other drivers to watch include Nick Price (March), third in the Masters Cup and 11th overall, five-time Legends Cars Champion John Mickel (Copthorne) and category regulars Mike Schlup (Cuckfield), father of Oli, Graham Butler (Rye), Ben Mahoney (Horley) and David Bonser (Tamworth).
Legends Cars racing, of course, is unlike any other on British circuits with grids for the Heats, of which there are two in each round, set by ballot rather than qualifying times. The grids for each round’s Final are then determined by taking each competitor’s scores from the Heats, then reversing them so the highest scorers start nearer the back, the lower scorers at the front.
The points system is also pretty unique with 200 for a race victory, 185 points for second and 170 points for third. Scores then reduce by 10 points per position down to 18th place, with all other finishers claiming 10 points and retirees awarded five points.
Will Gibson – Legends Cars Championship Owner:
“American Speedfest is always one of our biggest events each year, it’s a fantastic festival with thousands of people coming along to enjoy the weekend and we’re absolutely delighted to be part of it once again. Brands Hatch is such an important place in the history of Legends Cars, where it all began, so it’s equally fantastic to be back so soon after last month’s incredible GP track event.
“There is so little to choose between top championship challengers Tyler [Read], Aaron [Cooke] and Chris [Needham], and Oli [Schlup] is closing in fast after his first wins of the season. We’re expecting another outstanding weekend of Legends racing as we hit the mid-point of the season, so we hope to see plenty of fans coming to see us in the paddock.”
Qualifying practice will take place at 10.50 on Saturday, 6th June, with Heat One following at 12.35, Heat Two at 15.00 and the round seven Final at 18.05. On Sunday, 7th June, Heat One of the day will begin at 11.05, Heat Two is scheduled for 14.35 and the round eight Final is set to begin at 16.15.
Provisional 2026 Legends Cars Championship Points (after Rd6)
1st Tyler Read, 2955pts; 2nd Aaron Cooke, 2905pts; 3rd Chris Needham, 2835pts; 4th Oli Schlup, 2660pts; 5th Luke Simmons, 2440pts; 6th Peter Barrable (M), 2290pts
Provisional 2026 Legends Cars Championship Masters Cup Points (after Rd6)
1st Peter Barrable, 2290pts; 2nd Andy Bird, 2110pts; 3rd Nick Price, 1580pts
