Read Takes Early Legends Cars Points Lead at Dramatic Donington Park GP

Legends Cars Championship (UK) Media Release –

•    Double victory for Tyler Read on opening day of new Legends season

•    Reigning champ Will Gibson claims pair of wins in Rd2 and lap record

•    Connor Mills makes history with first win for new water-cooled engine

•    First victory for ex-champ Stephen Treherne since returning to Legends

Tyler Read (Weedon) is the early leader of the 2025 Legends Cars Championship following the opening event of the season at Donington Park Grand Prix Circuit over the weekend, 29th/30th March, where six truly sensational races got the new campaign off to a superb start.

As well as marking the introduction of the new water-cooled, three cylinder MT09 engine, which was utilised by nine of the entry’s competitors, the race meeting was also the first for the Legends Cars on the East Midlands venue’s full 2.49-mile Grand Prix Circuit layout.

Connor Mills (Upminster) made history by winning the first race of the year on Saturday, the maiden success for a car with the new MT09 engine, before Read, who was second to Mills in that race, then claimed a magnificent double in Heat Two and the round one Final.

On Sunday, reigning Legends Cars Champion Will Gibson (Farnborough) improved on a couple of day one podiums to take victory in Heats One and Two – he also set the new lap record for the GP Circuit of 1m46.933 seconds (83.73mph). This was all before the drama of the round two Final where he and Read came to grief with a lap to go while dicing for the lead, Read’s engine having cut out.

Through it all came 2011 Legends Cars Champion Stephen Treherne (Islington), to take a deserved first win since returning to Legends racing midway through 2023. That result also meant Treherne took four Masters Class wins, Nick Bridgeman (Baldock) claiming the other two. In the Rookie Class, Owen Lawlor (Dublin) took the wins in all six Donington races to make a great start to 2025.

Drivers opting to run the new water-cooled engine for the opening weekend were Read, Gibson, Mills, Treherne, Bridgeman, Jack Parker (Wolverhampton), Andy Bird (Calne), Oli Schlup (Cuckfield) and Ben Mahoney (Horley). The highest placed driver in the championship running the traditional air-cooled engine is Jamie Moylan (Naas), who is in sixth place.

Read blasts into early points lead on opening day of season

Gibson was the fastest by some margin in qualifying practice on Saturday, but when the ballot was drawn for the Heat One grid Mills had pole position. Making the most of the opportunity, he led at the end of lap one before Parker and then Read – up from 18th on the grid – took turns at the front.

Mills hit back on lap four and led by roughly a second from Treherne into the fifth tour. Still heading the way into the sixth and final lap, Mills went on to win by 0.2 seconds from the impressive Read and Gibson, the latter also setting fastest lap. An unfortunate final lap tangle at McLeans dropped Treherne and Parker out of contention, Schlup came home fourth.

Treherne lined-up on pole for Heat Two with fellow Masters competitor Bridgeman alongside. Read, from third on the grid, quickly moved into second while Treherne stayed in the lead into lap two and Gibson then challenged Read for second at Redgate. At the same time, the leader dramatically slowed and tumbled down the order.

Gibson took over at the front, but Read successfully challenged on lap three, and behind the lead duo there was plentiful jockeying for position between Moylan, Parker and Mills. On lap four, more bad luck came Parker’s way after running on at the chicane with team-mate Schlup.

Onto the sixth and last lap Gibson was back in the lead and Read was glued to his rear bumper, the latter then making his move into the Fogarty Esses. Holding on to the flag, Read won by a tenth of a second from Gibson with Mills third and setting the fastest lap. Bridgeman was the top Masters runner in a competitive fourth, from Moylan and the returning-from-injury Marcus Pett (Boston).

Treherne took the early lead of the round one Final from row three of the grid as Parker rocketed from 12th to second. Racing swiftly fell under Safety Car conditions to enable the stricken car of Chris Needham (Altrincham) to be recovered, and Treherne again encountered trouble as he slowed.

Parker assumed the lead and when the action resumed on lap four he led Schlup, Pett and Nick Price (March). Soon enough Schlup had moved into first but Parker responded as, behind, Read climbed from 19th on the grid. Before the end of lap seven Read was second, then he passed Parker.

At the flag on lap nine, the race distance extended by a lap due to the Safety Car, Read had pulled two seconds clear of Parker who was just a couple of tenths clear of Mills. Schlup took fourth again from Pett and Moylan, while Treherne just saw off Bridgeman for sixth and the Masters win by a mere 0.061 seconds. Gibson, meanwhile, retired with an oil pressure sensor issue.

Winning double for Gibson before drama opens door for Treherne victory

Parker drew pole for Heat One on Sunday morning and led the field through Redgate, with Mills up to second before taking the lead into Cramer Curves. Read made quick progress from eighth and was with Parker by the end of lap two, then hitting the front the next time around at the Fogarty Esses.

By lap five it was as many as eight for the lead, with Treherne now leading the pack. Schlup, who was an ever-present, then led to Hollywood as the action gathered even more momentum but onto the final tour Read was back ahead from Schlup, Mills and Gibson – the latter having battled back from a trip across the gravel on lap two which dropped him to 10th.

Schlup made his move on the outside at Hollywood to lead, but as the train reached Fogarty’s the top seven were almost tripping over each other. Gibson had the inside line for Melbourne Hairpin and expertly dived through, holding the place out of Goddards to bag his first win of 2025. Read finished second with Mills shading Schlup for third. Parker and Moylan completed the top six.

As blue skies became ever more prevalent, Heat Two began with Bridgeman leading from second out of Redgate and Moylan following from fourth. Moylan grabbed the lead into Fogarty’s from Gibson, with Treherne – an ace start from 14th – passing Bridgeman as well for third. Into Redgate on lap two, Gibson pulled out of the draft and passed for the lead before opening a slight advantage.

Treherne deposed Moylan on lap two and Read, who started 13th, made expected progress to soon be in the top three. After taking second on lap four out of McLeans, he closed on Gibson and moved for the lead into the Hairpin on lap five. Gibson hit back into Fogarty’s on the last lap to take the win from Read and Mills, up from 16th, in third. Treherne was fourth ahead of Moylan and Needham.

Incredibly, the round two Final witnessed the top three in the standings at that point all failing to finish. Treherne stormed through from row seven of the grid to lead by the end of the first lap, before Needham moved ahead on the second tour – although then shuffled back to third on lap three when Gibson, up from 19th at the start, bump-drafted Treherne into the lead.

Gibson soon moved past before Mills, running fifth, ran straight on at Melbourne on the fourth tour with brake issues – retiring on the spot. Gibson continued to lead while Read got ahead of Treherne for second, and the top three pulled well clear of the rest. On the penultimate lap at Goddards, though, Read and Gibson tangled while disputing first place when the former’s engine cut-out.

Stranded with no way of rejoining the race, both retired as Treherne swept through and went on to win by almost five seconds from Parker, who was just ahead of Schlup and Needham. Bird and Price completed the top six, a track limits penalty dropping Luke Simmons (Lingfield) to seventh.

Tyler Read – Rd1 Heat Two and Rd1 Final Winner:

“It’s been a mega start to the year, definitely the way we wanted to start the Championship – that’s what we’re looking for this year. Two wins on Saturday, I was happy with that, and then settling for second in the Final was all about points, that’s the mindset. With the new engine it’s a lot easier to stop the car on the brakes, and we have the flat shift and blip to downshift. It’s a lot of fun!”

Will Gibson – Rd2 Heat One and Heat Two Winner:

“We showed in testing we’re quick, the whole reason we went to America [at the end of last year] was to learn how to drive these things [water cooled engines] fast. Myself and Tyler who did that are the fastest guys here, and fair play to Connor – he’s no slouch and doing really well. The draft is so big now, so it’s all about tactics. With the new engine the cars are unreal to drive, proper race cars, but wow – the racing is close! It’s good to get a couple of wins on the first weekend.”

Connor Mills – Rd1 Heat One Winner:

“We’ve had a few issues, struggling with the brakes over the weekend, but we’ve still managed to bag good points and it was nice to win the first race on Saturday. I like the new engine a lot, it puts everyone on a more level playing field I think – it’s made things fairer, in my opinion, and means the best drivers are coming through because of their ability.”

Stephen Treherne – Rd2 Final Winner:

“We had a very mixed weekend with a bit of everything. I was taken out in one race, threw away some good results with driver mistakes, had an electrical-related DNF and then we had an opportunistic win in the final race. Our pace was good though, so overall I’m pretty happy.”

There is now an eight-week break in the Legends Cars calendar with rounds three and four, also acting as the first two rounds of the 2025 Legends Cars Elite Cup, taking place on Saturday, 24th May, and Spring Bank Holiday Monday, 26th May, at Oulton Park International Circuit. The racing will mark the debut on the British GT Championship package of the Legends Cars.

Provisional 2025 Legends Cars Championship Points

1st Tyler Read, 960pts; 2nd Connor Mills, 885pts; 3rd Oli Schlup, 840pts;

4th Jack Parker, 840pts; 5th Will Gibson, 765pts; 6th Jamie Moylan, 735pts

Photo credits: George McNeill