VSCC, Cadwell Park, 21 June, 2009

[John Turner]

Great meeting, 11 races, well supported by spectators; subjected to rain from about halfway through the afternoon which made an already oily track very interesting (wonder how the bikes got on there today!!!). Any other Ten Tenthers go to this meeting at this lovely circuit?

A few pic and paddock shots. My usual pictorial review will follow .... in due course!

[rbm]

a great day as usual at Cadwell.
Track was a tad slippery after the rain, I don't think I have ever been on a track with as little grip, came out of assembly, saw the oil flag so kept off the power, snicked second still at just over tick over and round we went! missed all the hard thing so it wasn't so bad and got to say I enjoyed the race.

[jamesholland]

I went, sadly not to compete, but it was an excellent meeting. The circuit looked very slippery indeed and all the drivers deserve credit for coping with the conditions. There were no nasty incidents or stoppages.
Some wonderful cars - 7 GP Bugattis and 2 Alfa Monzas as well as Maserati 6CM and ERAs R4D and E Type GP1; it was very exciting to see that car win The Shuttleworth Trophy.
Morgan 3 wheelers good value as always - they had their race in the dry!
The new standard sports care series or "set" was very well supported and some lovely cars turned out.
A bit strange seeing the 500s under a rolling start - how did you get on with that RBM?

[NPP]

I somehow (= through sheer stupidity) missed this. Is there a calendar or newsletter somewhere telling people who are not exactly insiders and club members about these events?

[John Turner]

They're usually listed on the websites of the respective organising clubs.

[John Turner]

11 starters; 11 finishers.

The mad 3 wheeler brigade with even madder passengers. I say that in affectionate terms of course since they're great ... but still mad! Passengers are allowed as they are treated the same as sidecar outfits, but it does also mean that the artificial chicane between Mansfield and the Mountain has to be employed. I don't think the drivers like this but it is a good vantage point for viewing and photographing. Over 6 laps and split into classes with a handicap system also in place, there is subtantial performance disparity between the front and back rows.

The 3 cars at the front of the grid were racing Morgans and disappeared down the road at a rapid rate of knots. The first pic shows them heading away from the startline. 20 is Guy Shotton, 47 Hamish Bibby and 46 Greg Bibby. They circulated together for a while until Hamish Bibby hit the front and drew away to win by 12.2 seconds. Meanwhile Guy Shotton and Greg Bibby stayed together longer although the latter eventually emerged into a clear 2nd place. 16 is Danny Hodgson in 1936 F type who finished 7th and the next pic shows the winner, Hamish Bibby (47). 82 is Alistair Rew, who I had last spoken to about 30 years ago when in his teens (I knew his Dad, Robin, founder member of the RSSOC, rather better) finished 4th and was also winner on handicap. He told me that the car was doing close to 110mph on the Park Straight before braking for Park, which I find a bit mindboggling - so how quick were the cars in front going beareing in mind that they were lapping 8-10 seconds faster! The gaggle of cars in pic 5 shows the battle between Dave Hodgson (17 - F type), George Gould (63 - 1949 F4 Sports) and Richard White (51 - Super Sports) being lapped by Chas Reynolds (30 - 1933 Super Sports) who finished 6th. White emerged the victor of the tail end battle, finishing 9th with the class award, whilst Gould was 10th, Hodgson 11th. Final pic shows Pete Clews who took his F type to 8th (38).

Since I have included all but one of the cars, my next post will complete the full set!.

[John Turner]

To complete the set; 37 is Sue Darbyshire (1928 Super Aero) who closed in on Rew but was unable to pass and finished 5th.

Well done to the intrepid passengers, too!

[John Turner]

21 starters; 20 finishers.

A 5 lap scratch race, split into engine capacity classes, in which a fine duel for the lead took place between Tony Seber's Wolseley Hornet Special (198) and Robert Carr's AC/GN Special (19). In fact, off the line Stephen Gentry held a slender advantage in the Bugatti Type 37A (83 - see pic1) although it was to be shortlived. The 3 of them rapidly left the rest of the field far behind. Class B winner, Richard Lake's Aston Martin 15/98 Speed model (77) finished 6th but Andrew Kellock's Fiat AC was never very far off and finished 7th, less than 3 seconds behind in the same class. Another Class B contender was Anne Beresford in her Frazer Nash Boulogne (101) which finished 21st. Pic 4 shows the intensity of the battle for the lead with Carr just forging ahead at this point, although Seber was to regain it for a while. Gentry's Bugatti is in the background never quite able to match the pace of the lead cars, but ready to capitalise on any mistake by the frontrunning pair. He was rewarded when towards the end of the race Seber came round well behind to finish 3rd, suggesting a spin or an 'off' somewhere, so the Bugatti finished 2nd, and was Class D winner, just 4 seconds behind Carr, who was both outright and Class C winner. This race was the start of a busy day for some of the cars and competitors, not least of whom was John Polson in his Talbot AV105 Replica (42) which finished a distant 4th chased home by Class A winner, Geoffrey Brandon, in his tiny Austin 7 Special (49). Finally, a pic of Hubert Fabri, in his Bugatti Type 35 which completed the race in 14th.

[rbm]

Originally Posted by jamesholland

...
A bit strange seeing the 500s under a rolling start - how did you get on with that RBM?

Not so bad with the track conditions the rolling start was in all a plus I think, I was at the back so just kept out of trouble, all in all a good race, passed a few, fell off on the oil, wasn't lapped, wasn't last - yep not a bad race.

[John Turner]

9 starters; 9 finishers (although my shots have 10 starters!)

A lot of trophies for not a lot of cars. A real shame that there were not more entries, but having said that there were some good cars in this and they provided some good racing and entertainment.

Duncan Ricketts in the dramatic E type ERA (3) was only 4th going into Coppice off the start but literally blasted his way by James Baxter's Single seater Frazer Nash on Park Straight to take 3rd and by Chris Curve, he was closing on the leaders, Robert Cobden (5 - Riley Falcon Special) and Mac Hulbert (2 - ERA R4D) - see pic 1. By the time he was heading toward Mansfield he was 2nd, as Hulbert, presumably carrying too much speed, locked up and took R4D onto the grass heading into the Gooseneck and lost that position - see Pic 2. Pic 3 shows the dice between Warwick Banks (17) and David White (16), both in Cooper Bristols. Next is the Bugatti Type 51 (32) of Stephen Shoosmith who was last and lapped by the field but, as you can see, didn't actually look slow! Once up to 2nd, Ricketts could make little impression on Cobden who looked to have the race under control, leading by up to 20 car lengths on occasions. Then it rained ..... very suddenly and very intensely ..... briefly it hailed, and Ricketts quickly closed in on Cobden - see pic 5. However try as he might, he was unable to overtake the Riley, so it was a real blow to Cobden when he made an error on the last lap and the ERA went by to take the chequered flag. Hulbert was not so happy in the wet as Baxter either, so fell behind the Frazer Nash, to 4th at the flag - see pic 6.

[John Turner]

39 is Rod King's Delage Special. It is not listed in the results so I can only assume that perhaps it did not have a transponder. 31 is Pete Candy's Riley Special Super RAT which I assume enjoyed the wet rather more than David Whites Cooper Bristol since he caught and passed him to take 7th. Finally, the Maserati 6CM (6) of Sean Danaher about which the commentators waxed lyrical and which finished 5th.

So, Duncan Ricketts won the Shuttleworth Trophy, Robert Cobden who was 2nd won both the Nuffield and Len Thompson Trophies, Warwick Banks was 6th and won the Post war class, and the handicap winner was Pete Candy.

[jamesholland]

Rod King retired the Delage/SS Special quite early on, pulling off into the Paddock.

[John Turner]

OK, thanks, James, but the point I was making really was that he wasn't classified at all on the results sheet, even as a DNF.

[jamesholland]

Understood John, I wasn't trying to nitpick. Apologies

[John Turner]

No problem, I didn't think you were. It's curious that it is not listed at all though, although I haven't checked the results on the VSCC website.

[John Turner]

19 starters; 17 finishers.

Lovely mix of cars in this one, in which Duncan Wood (20 - Morgan Aero) in the quickest car (tricar?) in the race defeated the handicappers and everyone else to win. Here he is ahead of the Dougal Cawley GN/Ford Special Piglet (27) which failed to finish. 2nd pic shows Andrew Kellock (63 - Fiat AC) passing the Morgan 200 Mile Aero of Francis Wood (105). Kellock finished 2nd whilst Wood was 9th. Pic 3 is of Julian Brownridge in his Wolesley Hornet Special 2 (60) who finished 16th. The next 3 pics were taken with my camera having suffered a bit of water ingress following the sudden downpour, so have been subjected to a bit of photoshop enhancing to overcome the misting! So how 'cool' is this then? Tony Lees in the Vauxhall Viper Special (51) looks over at me (I'm the only person/object there!) with left leg reclining in relaxed style on his way to 5th in, believe it or not one of the quickest cars in the race. He averaged 54 mph, which given the nature of both track and car, means, what(?), surely over 90mph down Park Straight. Basically a hybrid utilising parts from 1913/1918 and conveying the Edwardian racing style, it was one of the stars of the meeting from my point of view. Next pic -what is it with these guys? - Jonathan Rose looks back at the Marshals post, in his Frazer Nash Semmence (123)! I do not attribute this distraction to him finishing last, on handicap, however! Finally, in a pic, which I like to think creates a bit of atmoshere, Peter Fenichel (41 - MG K Special), Robin Everall (46 - Alvis 12/70 Sports Special) and Mark Brett (50 - BALLAMY-Ford LMB V8) have just crested the hill at the end of Park Straight and head into Park Corner. They finished 6th, 8th and 9th respectively.

[John Turner]

12 starters; 9 finishers

A 6 lap race for Vintage and PVT cars up to 1100cc. Mainly the province of Austin 7s, they were joined by 2 Riley Brooklands and an HRG Le Mans Model.

William Mahany took the lead in his HRG (22) and looked to have his name on the Trophy for the 5th consecutive year! The first pic shows Geoffrey Brandon slipping his A7 special up the inside of John Way's A7 Ulster into Park. However, Way reasserted himself later and they finished 4th and 5th. Next is the Riley Brooklands (40) of Ralf Emmerling who was 3rd. The diminutive A7 special (106) of Nicholas Allen who failed to finish. Next we see Mahany on his way to victory but chased very hard by Frank Hernandes in the A7 Blaue Maus Special (29), pics 4, 5 & 6.

[John Turner]

15 starters; 13 finishers

The track was still wet for this 5 lapper, the handicapping done off the start, and the first batch of cars away, in the first pic, shows them running down the hill out of Charlies, on the Park Straight. In the lead at this point is the 200 Mile Aero Morgan (105) of Francis Wood, Mark Groves (100 - Austin 7 Ulster), Leonard Lord (104 - Riley Falcon) and Cyril Hancock (75 - Fiat New Balilla). They finished 9th, 5th, 2nd & 10th respectively, so clearly Lord made very good use of his handicap and lapped consistently well despite posting a best lap slower than two of the others in that pic! The next pic shows the winner, Philip Bewley in his Bugatti T35 who came through the field to pip Lord by just over 2 seconds. 67 is Norman Pemberton who I had the pleasure of meeting at this event last year, in his Talbot 95/105 Sports Special (67). He was unable to overcome his handicap and was placed last of the classified finishers, although that was partly due to him getting a jump start penalty, along with Ashmead (62 see below). Next is Richard Lake's Aston 15/98 Speed Model which came in 6th. Close formation - Richard Ashmead's Riley Brooklands (62 - 12th), Chris Guest's Bentley 4.5 Le Mans (70 - 4th) and Tony Seber's Wolseley Hornet Special which failed to finish. Finally, Michael Hudson's Bugatti T35B (94) quickest car in the race but unable to overcome his handicap, finished 8th.

[John Turner]

10 starters;10 finishers.

A race over 7 laps for Special Pre War Sports cars. Although challenged for a couple of laps by the GN/Ford Special 'Piglet' (27) of Dougal Cawley, this turned out to be a benefit for winner, by nearly 25 secs, Jonathan Cobb, in the Frazer Nash Ford (7). I suspect that Cawley either had mechanical problems or a spin somewhere for such a gap to have opened up. They are seen here on the first lap out of Charlies onto Park Straight. Behind is Richard Iliffe's Riley Kestrel 12/4 Special (43) and Mac Hulbert in Julian Bronson's Riley Blue Streak (21). The second pic is of Chris Jackson at speed in his Alvis Firefly Special (59) in which he finished 9th. Pic 3 shows Mac Hulbert, who has got ahead of Iliffe to take 3rd. However, he was not to stay there, and it seems fair to say that since the track was damp and the car new to Hulbert, he was not entirely comfortable in what was a potential race winning car. He chose the better part of valour in someone elses car and succumbed eventually to attacks from all the cars seen behind here, to finish 6th. Behind Iliffe is Dudley Sterry (121 - HRS 2 seater Sports) who had an excellent race to move through the field to take 3rd, and Tim Hopkinson' s Riley Special (38) who finished 5th. Iliffe (43) was to finish 4th. Next we have the Bentley 3 -litre Sports of Paul Murphy who was last and the final pic is of Peter Fenichel's MG K Special (41) which took 7th. The only car that I have been unable to include a shot of is the Fiat 508S of Geoff Toms who finished 8th.

[John Turner]

25 starters; 22 Finishers.

Sponsored by H&H, this was over 7 laps for both standard and modified Pre War sports cars. The race was both a scratch and a handicap event. Although the headline event of the meeting was supposed to be Race 3 for the Shuttleworth and Nuffield Trophies, frankly this one should have been, and in reality, it actually was. The best grid of the day by far, both numerically and qualititively, it's certainly worth two posts worth of pics! There were some seriously 'proper' motor cars in this race.

I don't have access to the grid positions but my recollection is that Chris Mann was on the second row of grid with the Alfa Romeo Monza (119) and made a superb start, bursting through the front row to take the lead ahead of the Bugatti Type 35B (26) of Mike Preston. In pic one, with the track still very wet, you see the pair of them cresting the hill in Charlies. Both were to be tested by the track conditions, as we shall see. In pic 2, is that a smile on James Hudson's face (17 - Aston Martin Ulster) as he watches the other Monza in the race, that of Andy Johnson come by - they'd both fit nicely in my garage, please! Johnson had started from way back on the grid, I know not why, and he was already, on this first lap, making rapid forward progress. Pic 3 is of John Polson's Talbot AV105 (42), who also made a great start, but fell back a little during the race, when a couple of other cars found their natural pace, but nevertheless he finished a fine 7th, and was one of the unsupercharged capacity class winners. John recently became a Ten-Tenther, so if you find time, John, it would be good to hear your account of your day at these races! 109, is the Bentley 3 litre Speed model, but very much in Touring guise, of Graham Carr, which although last of the classified finishers went very well to win the handicap award. Mark Groves retired after only completing 5 laps in his Austin 7 Ulster (100); here he is being pressed by the Lea-Francis Hyper TT (57) John Gill, who went on to finish 13th. Last pic on this post, is of the Talbot Lago T23 (47) of Richard Black which finished 12th.

[John Turner]

On pace, Preston had the edge on Mann's Monza and took the lead fairly early on. He even edged away, and looked to have the race under control, except that the dicey track conditions would be a significant factor, and halfway through the race he spun, and although he recovered the track, Mann was through and back in the lead and determined this time to hold onto it. In his attempts to get back on terms, Preston, ran wide into Coppice (see pic 1) but regained the track still in contention. On the last lap it all unravelled for Mann, as it was his turn to go off, and he was to drop 3 places to finish 4th. Preston duly took the flag to win overall, and also therefore was first Vintage car home and first VSCC 'standard' car. The Alfa and the Bugatti had put on a great show but they were not alone. The battle for 3rd between Jeremy Brewster (34 - Lea Francis Hyper) and William Mahoney (22 - HRG Le Mans Model) was even closer at times, and they were never very far away from the leading pair, and when Mann went off on the last lap they inherited 2nd and 3rd places respectively, with Brewster capturing the Geoghan Trophy itself, for being the first under 1500cc car home. Pic 3 shows Andy Johnson passing his final victim, Martin Overington (116 - Bugatti Type 35B) to take 5th place in his race through the field. He clearly had the pace of the leaders and who knows what would have happened had he started at the sharp end of the grid. Overington was 6th. Pic 4 is of John Guyatt's Talbot Lago T23C. He finished 8th overall and was another of the unsupercharged capacity class winners. When did you last see, if ever, one of these in the flesh, either on road or track? Never, for many of us, I suspect, for it is a Brough Superior Alpine (120). Driven by Jeremy Fack it finished 9th. The last pic is of, a no doubt unhappy, Matthew Parkin climbing away from his Frazer Nash Super Sports (110) which he had to park on the approach to the Mountain on the penultimate lap.

Splendid is the word that describes the cars, the race and the wonderful setting of Cadwell Park.

[J. Polson]

First post on here so hopefully will work. Had a most enjoyable time as usual at this wonderful circuit. Starting with a very pleasant drive to the circuit on the Fri night in the Talbot.
Practice went absolutely fine, then in the first race running as a racing car without wings and lights was left for dead at the start by three serious racing cars but had an enjoyable race nonetheless and think we won the handicap section. Running with road equipment on this time for The Geoghan Trophy was most enjoyable and challenging on a wet and very slippery track and was very pleased to emerge seventh, credit must be given to John Guyatt for the quality of this race since John has made a great effort to get good quality pre war sports racing cars out and the resulting races have been superb so far this season.
The final race of the day was a little dissapointing since by that point the circuit was so slippery with my fairly old Dunlop racers (racing drivers excuse no35) that we couldnt keep up with cars we usually beat and finished way back, a great day though and topped off with a very pleasant drive home in the Talbot

[John Turner]

I know that you joined in April, but as it's your first post, welcome John. The first of many I hope. Thanks for your account; I'll finish this review eventually, in due course. (Saw you at the Classic; will be reviewing that, too).

[John Turner]

10 starters; 10 finishers. (But see below)

Although the records show 10 starters, I think there were actually 12; maybe a couple did not have transponders. A 6 lap race started in gloomy conditions which deteriorated rapidly to rain! Neil Hodges took the lead from the start in his Cooper Mk8 Monoposto(92), and in the first pic he heads for the Mountain section for the first time with the field already beginning to spread out behind him. Behind is Mike Fowler (28 - Cooper Mk5), Simon Frost (24 - Cooper Mk9), Roy Hunt (8 - Martin 500) and Brian Jolliffe (84 - Cooper Mk9). In pic 2, we see Hunt, who was to finish 5th (and handicap winner) splashing down the main straight towards Coppice and in pic 3 Mike Fowler doing the same but in 2nd place at this stage and closing on leader, Hodges. The next pic shows Frost in the Mountain. He'd suddenly woke up to the fact that Hodges and Fowler were not that far ahead and that he seemed able to lap faster than them in the increasingly wet conditions. The chase was on! 36 is Hakan Sandberg's rare JBS which finished 9th. The final pic shows the 3 leaders, Fowler having got ahead of Hodges, with Frost at the back; he'd driven very well to reel the leading pair in and on lap 5, overtook both to take the lead. Unfortunately, it all fell apart for him coming through Barn for the last time when the wet track got the better of his exuberance and he clouted the barrier, dropping behind the other two. Such was the lead of the first 3 however that he still managed to trickle across the finish line in 3rd with what appeared to be deranged steering, with 5 seconds to spare from Jolliffe. Fowler won by 0.71 secs from longtime leader Hodges.

[John Turner]

11 (?) starters; 10 finishers.

An 8 lap race for Vintage Racing Cars, I'm again unsure of the number who started as I have pics of at least one not appearing in the results sheet.

On a damp track with conditions worsening through the race, Jonathan Cobb led away in his Frazer Nash Ford (7) - see pic 2, building a comfortable lead to Robert Carr (19) in his AC/GN Special- see pic 6. Early on, Dougal Cawley had also been well up in his GN/Ford Special 'Piglet' (27) see pic 1. However as the rain got worse, it was the Aero Morgans that handled the conditions better and moved up. Duncan Wood was the first of these to make a move, catching the leader halfway through the race, only to retire (he doesn't even appear as a DNF). Following him through was Gary Caroline (11) - see pic 5 - who took the chequered flag when Cobb spun on the last lap. Pic 3 is of Richard Scaldwell's GN/JAP GP (25) which finished 5th. Pic 4 - what a splendid sight! - 3 Bugattis together in the Mountain section. 83 is Stephen Gentry's T37A (8th), 26 is Mike Preston's T35B (9th) and 194 is Chris Hudson's who passed both of them to finish 7th in his T35B.

Incidentally, apart from John Polson, is anyone else reading this? There has been no other comment, since Race 3!