Chris Needham (Altrincham) is the early leader of the 2026 Legends Cars Championship after a fabulous couple of days at Silverstone National Circuit over Easter weekend, 4th/5th April, where he raced to three terrific wins from the six races contested.

Although troubled throughout rounds one and two of the season by a recurring oil leak which mystified his team, Needham’s pace and skill was undeniable as he scorched to victories in the round one Final on Saturday, and then winning Sunday’s first Heat and the round two Final.

Needham tops the championship 65 points ahead of the similarly impressive Aaron Cooke (Croxley Heath) who, at the beginning of his first full season of Legends racing, claimed his maiden victory in Heat Two on Saturday and then repeated the success in Sunday’s second Heat. Cooke almost made it a hat-trick himself, missing out on the round two Final win by just 0.092 seconds.

Reigning Champion Tyler Read (Daventry) got his season off to the perfect start in race one of the year with victory, and although adding a couple more podiums he was hampered by a mechanical issue which did cost plenty of points. Other top three finishers were Oli Schlup (Cuckfield), who claimed five podiums, and Matt Knight (Bramber) who was third in round one Heat One.

Peter Barrable (Dublin) dominated the Masters Class for most of the weekend, taking five straight successes and a best overall finish of fourth. Problems in the round two Final, though, opened the door for Andy Bird (Calne) to claim his first class victory of 2026. In the Masters standings after two rounds, Barrable leads by 120 points from Bird, with Nick Price (March) third.

Three winners from three in Rd1 – including maiden win for Cooke
Race one of the year began frustratingly for Schlup when he and Ben Mahoney (Horley) were caught-up in contact at Copse and had to retire – while Oli’s father Mike Schlup (Cuckfield) also had to pit for repairs. After three laps behind the Safety Car racing resumed, with Needham leading Knight, Read, Price, Bird and Mark Beaty (Newcastle).

Read had moved to the head of the pack on lap five, but there was nothing to separate him from Needham who challenged hard. Read, though, just managed to shade the fantastic battle at the flag by a miniscule 0.005 seconds with the ever present, and impressive, Knight taking an excellent third.

Barrable moved through the order well to claim the spoils in the Masters Cup with fourth overall, taking the class win by only 0.048 seconds from Bird. Luke Simmons (Lingfield) rounded out the top six, just ahead of the returning John Mickel (Copthorne).

Cooke had drawn pole for Heat Two and he well and truly made the most of it, embroiled in an outstanding race-long scrap with both Read and Oli Schlup. Each of them took turns at the front, and there was never more than a whisker between all three. So close was it, into the seventh and penultimate tour the timing screens showed 0.000s with Schlup and Cooke side-by-side.

Schlup led into the final lap, but Cooke was able to get back ahead and chalk-up an excellent first Legends victory by 0.023s at the line. Read, who had backed off a little due to overheating issues, pipped Schlup for second with only 0.1s covering the top three. Needham was fourth, from 11th at the start, with top Masters runner Barrable only 0.022s shy in fifth, Mickel completing the top six.

The day one Final delivered another tremendous dice at the front throughout the 10 laps. Oli Schlup leapt from eighth to the lead over the course of the opening lap as Cooke climbed into the top four from 14th on the grid, and Needham charged into the top six from 18th. Simmons took a turn in the lead on laps two and three, before Cooke then made his way to the front with Schlup second.

Those two traded the lead during the second half of the race, as Needham all the while began to edge closer. Into the final tour Cooke led Schlup, Needham and Simmons, and it was Needham who pulled off a great move into Luffield to win by just 0.026s from Cooke with Schlup in third ahead of Simmons. Fifth for Barrable made it a clean-sweep of Masters victories for the day, with Read sixth.

Easter Sunday success for Needham and Cooke
Oli Schlup had drawn pole in the grid ballot for Heat One of round two and he led away into Copse, before Read moved ahead onto Wellington Straight. The pair were then glued together until the end of lap six, when the reigning Champion slowed at Brooklands with a mechanical issue.

Barrable, with a helpful push from Needham, had closed onto the top two and they went into first and second ahead of Schlup. At Becketts on lap seven Needham passed Barrable and went on to take his second win of the weekend on lap eight. The margin was just 0.131s from Schlup, with Cooke starring again in third – up from 18th on the grid – as Barrable was nudged back to fourth.

Cooke had a more straightforward task in Heat Two, starting from pole, but the battle was no less fierce as he claimed his second victory by a mere 0.032s. Leading through Copse at the start, he was soon passed by Mickel who had made a strong launch from fifth. By lap two at Becketts, Read – who started in 14th place – was right there at the sharp end and he grabbed the lead with Cooke second.

Beginning to ever-so slightly edge away, Cooke was back ahead into lap five and Read then hit back on lap seven to lead again, all the while with Schlup catching. Cooke led over the line into the last lap and stayed there to Luffield, where Read dived for the inside. On the sprint to the flag, though, Cooke was able to shade Read for the win, followed by Schlup, Needham, Simmons and Barrable.

Marcus Pett (Boston) made the early running at the start of the round two Final, leaping from sixth to the lead, as the likes of Read, Schlup, Needham and Cooke made their expected charge through the order. Read, from 12th on the grid, grabbed the lead on lap two but couldn’t shake Knight and the latter moved ahead on lap four prior to a two-lap Safety Car period.

Racing resumed on lap seven with Knight at the front, although Read hit back before the action was red flagged due to an incident at Luffield. Racing re-started over four laps with a nail-biting conclusion, Needham smartly slicing his way into the lead to take his third win from Cooke, Schlup, Read, Knight and Simmons. Bird claimed his first Masters win in seventh, just seeing off Price.

Chris Needham – Rd1 Final, Rd2 Heat One, Rd2 Final Winner:
“It’s been alright hasn’t it! For once the luck has swung my way all weekend, I don’t know how but it has. We’ve still got the oil leak [after Rd2 Final], still got a problem, but somehow managed to drag it round. I didn’t have the pace in that race, the front three were quicker and I was clinging on. Then they decided to all battle going into Turn Two on the last lap, and that was my door – picked my right moment and luckily it worked out.”

Aaron Cooke – Rd1 Heat Two and Rd2 Heat Two Winner:
“It’s my first time being able to start at the front of a Legends grid, I pulled dead last in the first one and got caught in a right mess on lap one, so I’m pleased to have redeemed it in race two. I knew the draft down the back straight was huge, it’s like a really fast game of chess with these cars – brilliant racing. Tyler kept us honest the whole race [Rd2 Heat Two], really tough racing, hard but fair.”

Tyler Read – Rd1 Heat One Winner:
“Race one of the season was a really good one, all went well and I got it on the last corner – we started the season how we meant to go on. From there it tailed off a bit over the next few races, we had a problem with the car which gradually got worse with my engine cutting out in the first race on Sunday. It’s not the best start to the season for us, but what can you do? We’re still up there.”

There are only two weeks to wait for rounds three and four of the Legends Cars Championship, which will also mark the first two rounds of this year’s Legends Cars Elite Cup, at Donington Park National over the weekend 18th/19th April. Competing at the Leicestershire venue as support to the British Touring Car Championship, there will be LIVE coverage of day two on ITV4 and at ITVX.

Provisional 2026 Legends Cars Championship Points (after Rd2)
1st Chris Needham, 1105pts; 2nd Aaron Cooke, 1040pts; 3rd Tyler Read, 930pts; 4th Peter Barrable (M), 850pts; 5th Luke Simmons, 830pts; 6th Oli Schlup, 820pts

Provisional 2026 Legends Cars Championship Masters Cup Points (after Rd2)
1st Peter Barrable, 850pts; 2nd Andy Bird, 730pts; 3rd Nick Price, 540pts; 4th John Mickel, 515pts; 5th Graham Butler, 270pts; =6th Ben Mahoney/Mike Schlup, 215pts