Endurance Icons joined the Motor Racing Legends bill for the first time at the BRDC Classic, a new grid drawn from endurance prototypes and GTs spanning the 1990s to the 2010s. Two 30-minute sprints on the Silverstone Grand Prix layout gave the category a strong first outing, and both went the way of Keith Frieser’s Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S.
Race 1: Former Mansell machine takes premier win
The first of the two sprints came alive early through Shaun Lynn’s #7 Bentley Speed 8, which stole the show in the opening stint as it battled the #9 Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R8 of Niklas Halusa, much as the two would have in the early 2000s.
The win, though, went to the Scott Sport-run #5 Beechdean Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S of Keith Frieser – the car Nigel Mansell, the 1992 Formula One World Champion, raced alongside sons Greg and Leo at the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans and famously crashed early on. Frieser came through after the Bentley was penalised for a short pit stop and dropped to fifth, behind Max Lynn’s #8 Cadillac Northstar LMP. Niklas Halusa took a distant second in the Audi R8, with Mike Newton third in the same #25 MG-Lola EX264 he raced at Le Mans in 2005.
GT honours went to the #23 Nissan GT-R GT1, the JRM car that won the 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship, driven through the field and into the class lead in the closing stages by Jake Hill and Colin Sowter.
Race 2: Frieser does the double
A second 30-minute race closed out the debut weekend. Frieser and Halusa lined up alongside each other on the front row and led the field to the green, the opening lap passing without incident.
Max Lynn, giving his Cadillac its first race action since Le Mans 2001, needed a lap to move from third into second at Halusa’s expense, while his father Shaun Lynn began to lean on his Bentley Speed 8, passing two-time Le Mans LMP2 winner Mike Newton for fourth.
As the race settled, the procession was broken by a safety car to recover the stranded #31 Courage C65 of Mark Drain.
The stops reshuffled the front, the professional drivers dropping back on their longer pit time. It did little to slow Max Lynn: as soon as racing resumed, the Cadillac Northstar LMP was on the move again, working his way to third with Halusa’s Audi R8 following him through to fourth, ahead of Newton.
Frieser saw it out for his second win of the weekend, five seconds clear of Shaun Lynn. The elder Lynn was saved by the flag, with son Max closing rapidly in the final minutes.
Father-and-son duo Zak and Max Brown were best of the GTs, taking Zak Brown’s #51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 GT2, run by United Autosports, to a 12-second win.
A treat for fans and drivers
Endurance Icons ran a single weekend in 2026, and on the evidence of its debut it looks a strong fit for the Motor Racing Legends bill. If the reaction from drivers, fans and organisers carries any weight, there is every reason to hope it returns in 2027.
