The Grover Williams Trophy is for 1920's Grand Prix cars. It's a 25-car grid made up primarily of Bugatti Type 35s in a mix of the original plus later cars in 35A, 35B and 35C forms.
They'll be joined by a couple of Bugatti Type 51s, the successor to the all-conquering Type 35 that first appeared in 1931.
It's not all about Bugatti, though. Hoping to steal the limelight will be an Alfa Romeo RLTF from 1924, a Frazer Nash Boulogne, a stunning Talbot AO90 and a pair of 1930 Aston Martins.
Run originally as a celebration of pre-war Bugattis, the Grover-Williams Trophy has a slightly broader remit bringing together a more varied grid of 1920s Grand Prix cars, while also celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Bugatti Type 35.
Named after William Grover-Williams, winner of the first ever Monaco Grand Prix in 1929 driving a Bugatti Type 35, this 20-minute race delivered some of the most beautiful sights of the 81st Members' Meeting, evoking that early period of grand prix racing graced by drivers including Louis Chiron, Tazio Nuvolari and Grover-Williams.
Fittingly, given that this was in essence a celebration of the Type 35's centenary, the front row of the grid was dominated by the model. Julian Majzub staked his claim to pole barely a second ahead of Duncan Pittaway in second place. Tim Dutton prevented an all-Type 35 front row by putting his Type 51 third on the grid. He, too, set a best lap within a second of the pole-sitter, as did fourth-placed Matt Walton in his Type 51. Such close qualifying times promised close racing. The first non-Bugatti occupies the fifth grid slot. That's the Frazer Nash Boulogne of Tim Crighton.
Julian Majzub got off to a lightning start from pole, while Matt Walton also got a strong start from the second row. While Majzub was off on his own up front, Walton's efforts were curtailed by a mechanical fault that caused retirement. Charlie Martin's loss of a wheel brought out a red flag that curtailed Majzub's lead, but he soon re-established his advantage when the race was back on. The real battle was for second place, the scrap between Duncan Pittaway and Timothy Dutton coming to a premature end when the latter retired. The Bugatti Type 35, then, re-affirmed its status as the most successful racing car in history.
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