James Dodd overshadows Rickard Rydell return at Silverstone Classic

Honda driver James Dodd grabbed the headlines from the returning Rickard Rydell with a double victory in the JET Super Touring Trophy races at the annual Silverstone Classic.

Rydell’s return to action in the Volvo S40 that carried him to the 1998 BTCC title was one of the highlights of the annual historic event, with the Swede putting his car on pole position during a hard fought qualifying session on Friday – where he edged out Dodd’s Honda Accord by less than a tenth of a second.

The opening race of the weekend would go the way of Dodd, who moved into the lead on lap one and was never headed as he eventually took top honours by just over seven seconds.

Rydell had to settle for second spot, with third going the way of Jason Hughes, who swapped his MG ZS for a Vauxhall Vectra that was used as a spare shell by the factory Vauxhall squad.

John Cleland meanwhile took fifth spot in his Vectra, just behind the Holden Commodore being raced by Abi Eaton.

From pole in race two, Dodd again stormed to victory ahead of Rydell, with Cleland this time able to get onto the podium himself after beating Hughes to the line by less than half a second.

Away from the Super Touring Car Trophy, a special parade took place featuring touring cars from throughout the ages, from the car used by Jack Sears during the first year of competition right through to a modern-day Subaru Levorg – with the on-track return of the iconic Volvo 850 Estate being a particular highlight.

A number of other stars from the touring car world were also in action, with Rob Huff victorious in the Gallet Trophy for under 2 Litre Touring Cars and Jake Hill producing a giant-killing performance in the International Trophy for Classic GT Cars (Pre ’66) with victory in a Lotus Elan.

There were also appearances on track for the likes of Tim Harvey, Steve Soper and Mat Jackson, whilst there was a surprise return to competition for Jeff Smith in the Transatlantic Trophy for Pre ’66 Touring Cars.

It marked Smith’s first race outing since the accident at Croft during BTCC qualifying last year that left him with multiple injuries, and ended in a 20th place finish.