The Oulton Park Gold Cup is one of the most prestigious trophies in British motorsport and has been won by some of the greatest racing drivers, including Stirling Moss and Jim Clark, with Norfolk's Dan Eagling having added his name to the long list of winners.

Eastern Daily Press: Dereham’s Dan Eagling on his way to winning the Oulton Park Gold Cup in the Mark Halstead owned Chevron B8. Picture: Paul LawrenceDereham’s Dan Eagling on his way to winning the Oulton Park Gold Cup in the Mark Halstead owned Chevron B8. Picture: Paul Lawrence (Image: Archant)

In the 1960's the Gold Cup was raced for by contemporary Grand Prix machinery but has recently been awarded to historic cars with the iconic Chevron B6/8, which was built in nearby Bolton close to the Cheshire circuit, selected for this year.

'It was a great feeling to be told you have won the Gold Cup and it was an honour to drive an iconic race car such as the Chevron B8,' said Eagling, who shared the achievement with Andrew Kirkaldy.

The race was held to celebrate 50 years since the first win at the Cheshire circuit for the Chevron B6/8 and was split into two categories, depending which tyre was fitted.

While Kirkaldy was the overall winner on Dunlop tyres, Eagling contested the Avon section and had to overcome renown historic racer Simon Hadfield to secure the victory.

Eastern Daily Press: Dan Eagling splashing his way victory in the Oulton Park Guards Trophy GT category with the Ginetta G4R owned by Mark Halstead. Picture: Lifetime RacingDan Eagling splashing his way victory in the Oulton Park Guards Trophy GT category with the Ginetta G4R owned by Mark Halstead. Picture: Lifetime Racing (Image: Archant)

'The drive came about simply because Mark Halstead had one. It had not been raced properly since a restoration and he thought it would be nice to be part of the 50th anniversary race,' explained the local driver.

'In the first part of the race I built my confidence in the car and ran second to Hadfield but after my early pit stop I started to push more and as Hadfield exited the pits from his later stop I was right on him.

'I thought I need to pass him while his tyres were cold and managed to do so into the Knickerbrook chicane later that lap. Two laps later the safety car came out and I thought we were going to have a good race to the finish but he stopped and the last few laps were quite straight forward.'

It wasn't the only success Eagling had at the Gold Cup meeting with the local racer also driving Halstead's Ginetta G4R in the Guards Trophy event.

'The Ginetta GR4 is the car that raced at Sebring in 1965. Mark brought the car back from America and restored it. I drove it to help set it up and he asked if I would like to give it its first race back in the UK and I was lucky enough to win the GT section only beaten by the Chevron B6/8's.'