From Legends Cars Championship (United Kingdom) Media –
• Over 20 cars set to line-up at Silverstone as Legends campaign begins
• Champion Tyler Read ready to defend title against quality opposition
• Five-time former Legends Champ John Mickel makes welcome return
• Race winners Bird, Knight, Needham, Pett, Schlup, Simmons confirmed
• All-action 5/8 scale US-style racers ready for egg-citing Easter event!
More than six months since the fast and furious Legends Cars Championship concluded a superb 2025 season, the immensely popular 5/8 scale pocket rockets are back and ready to do it all again with the new season getting underway this Easter weekend, 4th/5th April, at Silverstone National.
Six fantastic Legends Cars races are in store at the Northamptonshire track as part of a busy MSVR weekend, and heading the entry will be the returning and defending Champion Tyler Read (Weedon) who is looking to become only the eighth driver in category history to claim back-to-back titles.
Read was highly impressive last year, also winning the Legends Cars Elite Cup crown, but there is a very healthy cast of proven race winners – and a particular former multiple Champion – all poised to mount a major challenge for the coveted No.1 as the 2026 season begins.
That man is, of course, John Mickel (Horsham) who is a five-time Legends Cars title winner in the UK and double World Champion. Making an eleventh hour decision to race in 2026, Mickel has been focusing largely on running his self-titled squad for the past couple of seasons following his recovery from injury in 2023, after a very nasty multi-car accident at Cadwell Park.
Oli Schlup (Cuckfield), who was third in the Championship and Elite Cup last season, heads the list of other contenders aiming to get their hands on the coveted crown. He is joined on the Silverstone grid by fellow multiple race winners Chris Needham (Altrincham), who was fifth in the Championship last season, and Marcus Pett (Boston) who is a former top four finisher in the standings.
Multiple winner Luke Simmons (Lingfield) returns and will undoubtedly be one to watch, one of the quickest drivers in the category, as will fellow race winner and front-runner Andy Bird (Calne) who will be aiming for a strong start to 2026. Bird was a top three Championship finisher back in 2023 and is a former Rookie Champion.
Matt Knight (Shoreham by Sea) joined the list of Legends Cars winners last season, having made big strides, and will be set on becoming a regular at the sharp end. Another outright Legends race victor, the reigning Masters Cup and double Elite Cup Masters Champion Peter Barrable (Dublin), ensures yet more top line quality among the entry.
One of the biggest improvers of the last couple of seasons is Nick Price (March), a driver who should be a top 10 regular this year and who, in 2022, was Points, British, European and World Champion in Grand Prix Midgets. Keep an eye out as well for Aaron Cooke (Croxley Heath), a triple Toyota MR2 Champion who has made one-off outings in Legends for the past couple of seasons.
Ross Marshall (Stirling), who was Legends Cars Rookie Champion almost two decades ago and is a former two-time Scottish Legends title winner, ended 2025 ninth in the Elite Cup battle and is yet another racer capable of very strong results.
Championship sponsor Mike Schlup (Cuckfield), father of Oli and a former Team Car Champion, is confirmed for his 12th year of Legends action. He is supporting the ‘Team of the Day’ award through his business Kalimex Ltd, the UK importer for JLM Liquid Tools.
Another returnee is Daniel Pooley (March) who has good experience of Legends from the past few years and is also former World Champion, double European Champion and two-time National Champion in Grand Prix Midgets.
Nathan Williams (Higher Bebington) enters his first full season of Legends this year with the Team #2Mater squad, having dipped his toe in the water at Oulton Park last season. The youngster, who won the OT Coupe Cup in 2025, raises funding for and awareness of the DKMS Stem Cell Register.
Ben Mahoney (Horley) is entering his third season of Legends action with his distinctive black Ford Sedan and will also run in the Masters Cup, as will David Bonser (Tamworth) who enters his sophomore season of Legends action after finishing runner-up in last year’s Rookie Cup battle.
While the majority of competitors are running the MT09 water-cooled, three-cylinder engine this year, Graham Butler (Rye) is staying with the air-cooled Yamaha powerplant. Butler, who is a firefighter and fire service engineer away from the track, heads into his third year in the category.
Also expected on the grid are several Team Cars, which are shared by at least two drivers during a season, with entries from Mickel Motorsport, Team #2Mater and also the team of former double Legends Cars Champion Will Gibson who, of course, is now the owner of Legends Cars UK.
Will Gibson – Legends Cars Championship Owner:
“Silverstone National is a fantastic track at which to begin the new season of Legends Cars, we’re delighted to be going back there and know the drivers will put on a great show for the fans. The entry for the first two rounds is packed with talent, we’ve got a large number of drivers who are proven multiple race winners and there is going to be guaranteed action throughout the field.
“We’re all looking forward to working closely with MSV [MotorSport Vision] again this year, the guys at MRF Tyres and our partners and sponsors at JLM Liquid Tools and Vital Equipment. It’s going to be another vintage year of Legends Cars racing and we can’t wait to get started this weekend.” Qualifying for the first two rounds of the Legends Cars season at Silverstone will get underway at 09.40 on Saturday, 4th April, with Heat One beginning at 11.55, Heat Two at 14.45 and the round one Final will start at 16.15. On Sunday, 5th April, Heat One is scheduled for 11.10, Heat Two at 14.50 and the round two Final will begin at 17.25.
Photo credits: JEP, Graham Holbon and George McNeill