VSCC 'Spring Start', Silverstone, 25th April

[John Turner]

29 starters; 24 Classified finishers.

Sponsored by V12 Telecom, this race was for various classes and ages of car over 12 laps. I suppose that Richard Attwood in Hubert Fabri's Aston DBR4 should have been favourite for this race but the earlier ERAs are so quick these days (much quicker than in period?) that you couldn't count them out for overall honours, although the Patrick Lindsay Trophy was their's for the taking, anyway. It was Mark Gillies (R3A) who got away at the front and built quite a good lead from Mac Hulbert (R4D) with Attwood in the Aston following closely. Attwood always paces himself into a race - we've seen it at Goodwood several times and this race was no exception. He stayed behind Hulbert for several laps before making his move, by which time he was over half the back straight behind Gillies. However, he closed the gap very rapidly thereafter to take the lead, although at the end Gillies was only 0.25 behind, so whether Gillies upped his pace after he was caught or Attwood eased back, only a glance at the lap times will tell. The first 3 were well clear of the field by the end but there were one or two good dices noted going on behind.

I hope no further explanation of the quality of my pics is warranted as I've gone on about it enough, so the first pic shows Gillies having already just lapped a couple of backmarkers with, in the background, out of Becketts, you can just see Hulbert and Attwood. Then Attwood at speed in the Aston, and a similar shot of Matt Grist in the Alfa Romeo P3 Tipo B, who drove very well to take 5th overall. Next shot shows ERA R12C in novice, Terry Crabbs hands. He finished 21st but is this a first outing for this car for some years? Heading under the road bridge are Alex Boswell (4 - Ferrari 625A), Barry Wood (36 - Cooper Bristol - 11th) and Sean Dannaher (29 - Maserati 6CM - 13th). The last pic shows the fine race between Michael Steele (14 - Connaught C type) and Boswell, the Ferrari listed as having a 3 litre (sports car engine, then?). Boswell won this battle by the end by just over a second to finish 8th:-

[John Turner]

36 starters; 33 classified finishers.

Split up into various capacity classes and including the new Silverstone Trophy for Special Sports Cars, this race was over 5 laps. I didn't reach Luffield in time for the start and since it was very soon apparent that my pics with my existing lens were coming out as if looking through the wrong end of a telescope, I took only a few pics. I really haven't much of an idea what was going on particularly as, although it was scratch race, I've noted references to handicaps on the result sheet. So, I can tell you that, on scratch results, Alex Ames won in his Frazer Nash TT replica, followed by Bob Burrell (Bentley Royce V12) and Jonathan Prosser (Frazer Nash Super Sports). Burrell also won the Silverstone Trophy.

The pics show John Polson in his Talbot AV105 going round the outside of Adam Singer's Bentley 3/8 Special to take 4th. John had a very good day in the Talbot. Singer was 5th and less than a second behind at the flag. Next is Kate Wells in an Aston Martin Sports (98) who came 28th and the following shows a gaggle of cars which I'm afraid I haven't tried to identify! Finally, the 1913/18 Vauxhall Viper Special (129) of Tony Lees towering above the rest of the field went very well to finish 16th overall, with its 11.7 litre engine.

[John Turner]

27 starters; 25 Finishers.

A 10 lap race withn a truly excellent and interesting grid with good racing through the field and a great dice for the lead.

A possible three way battle for the lead was denied us when, on the first lap Julian Mazjub, in 2nd place, in his Sadler MkIII tried to make up too much time on the leader, Tony Bianchi (Farellac Allard), going into Brooklands and threw it into the gravel. He was simply carrying too much speed and whilst he kept his foot in to extract himself and resume, it cost him a possible race win. It was left to the well driven Lotus 15 of Ewan McIntyre to challenge Bianchi. The Lotus much better through the corners even got ahead briefly through the Brooklands/Luffield complex but was outpowered down the straights. I have to say that I thought Bianchi drove really well, with excellent, neat and fair defensive lines, and thoroughly deserved his victory which he took by 1.46 seconds although that gap was a lot smaller through the tighter sections of the circuit. Majzub posted 2nd fastest lap and finished 4 seconds down on the winner. As JR has noted it was Adrian Van Der Kroft who posted fastest lap in the Cooper T49, but I must confess to not picking up on that pace at all, and he finished 11th, so what was that all about I wonder? However he was the first drum braked car home, so class winner. Are we sure that lap time is right, though?

There was plenty going on down the field and of the (known!) Ten-Tenthers, Peter Horsman was 9th in the Lotus 17, and Ben Eastwick was 10th in the D type Jaguar. Peter has already commented on his early mishap, which without it would almost certainly have netted him 5th. This was a thoroughly entertaining race and really represents my idea of what historic racing should be all about.

A return to my 'old' camera from 2007 brought about a slight improvement in my pics, although restricted for the rest of the meeting to the Luffield Complex due to focal length etc! The pics show McEwan already closing on leader Bianchi on the first lap just after Mazjub's self delaying tactic! Next is Malcolm Verey's Allard J2X (59) which finished 14th. The 3rd pic shows the contrast between the Elva Mk 111 (245) of Ralf Emmerling and the Lotus 11 (11) of Malcolm Ricketts to good effect. Ricketts was to finish well ahead in 16th place whilst Emmerling was 22nd, nearly a minute behind. Pic 4 is off Mazjub, driving the dramatic Sadler in typically exuberant style. The flag marshal is warning David Bennett (27 - Aston DB3S - 21st) that he is about to get gobbled up ..... when the Sadler gets straight, that is! In the next shot, it is Bennett doing the lapping, on the Maserati 200S of Gordon McCulloch (245 - 25th). Finally, two separate battles together. On the outside Barry Cannell (7 - Willment Sports) is being chased by Philip Walker (111 - Lotus 11) whilst they are lapping Adam Singer (239 - Kurtiss 500S) and Bruce Riches (80 - Elva Mk5). In both dices, the chasing car succeeded in capturing the place - Walker 5th, Cannell 6th, and Riches 23rd, Singer, 24th:-

[john ruston]

AVK time was correct for the last lap .
He had job sorted by then.Will be unstoppable by September!
See what happens should his Irish mate drive it.

[john ruston]

John Polsons 105 Rep had not turned a wheel until 2 am on Saturday and has one of Ian Polsons 3 litre Ally engines.Think the car will work well.
Malcome Verey has bought a Talbot Special so will soon join Pre War gang.

[John Turner]

John, I'm looking forward to AVK's future performance in the Cooper. And, yes, John P's 105 replica went very well all day.

[John Turner]

28 starters; 25 finishers.

A 5 lap handicap race. Can't really describe this, so I'll go straight to the pics:-

The first shows Alex Pilkington in the Alfa Romeo 6C 1750, which sadly failed to finish. Next, a better pic of John Polson's Talbot AV105 replica which finished 3rd. Pic 3 is of the very neat Riley Special of Tye Mountney which posted fastest lap but was beaten by the handicappers to finish 6th. 113 is the winning Riley TT Sprite replica of David Pryke. Terence Rowing about to roll the Austin 7 Ulster, from which he emerged shaken but not stirred; in fact he was thrown out and standing up before the car had stopped moving. Finally, Andrew Kellock, who finished 22nd in his Fiat AC takes a look at the forlorn Ulster, with the 23rd placed Vauxhall 30/98 Velox of Paul Rogers looking to take advantage of Kellock's momentary distraction. Terence Rowing is standing to the right of the picture.

[John Turner]

25 starters; 23 finishers

This race was over 12 laps and split into 4 classes, the fastest of which were the Tasman/Intercontinental formula cars (class 12). Mark Piercy (27 - Cooper T53) took the early lead but was soon caught and passed by John Harper (1 - Brabham BT4), although Piercy then pressed Harper very hard until he spun and dropped down the order to finish 4th, elevating a strong 3rd place battle between John Clark (51 - Cooper T51), Nick Wigley (7 - Cooper T51) and Rod Jolley (2 - Cooper T45/51) to one for 2nd place. It was Wigley that took 2nd, from Clark, with Jolley a few seconds behind at the flag in 5th. Sid Hoole was the first class 11 (pre66 multi-cylinder rear engined GP) car home in 7th place in his Cooper T66, followed very closely by 8th place Andrew Smith, first in Class 9 (rear engined pre 1959 cars of under 2-litres) in his Cooper T43. Class 10 (pre 66 4 cylinder rear engine) winner was 10th place Doug Mockett in Cooper T53. You might have noticed that Coopers were by far the most numerous of the marques!

Pic 1 shows Rod Jolley (2) leading Marshall Bailey (20 - JBW F1 - 15th), Brian Maile (9 - Cooper T41 - 21st) and Geoffrey Connell (28 - Cooper Bristol - 20th). I'm almost inclined to believe that Jolley was lapping the others but since I think that this is an early shot, maybe he started from the back? 2nd pic shows Harper ahead with Piercy in close attendance. Next is Doug Mockett (53), Andrew Wareing (62 - BRM P261) and Tony Ditheridge (8 - Cooper T45). Wareing passed Mockett to finish 9th and Ditheridge was 13th. Nick Eden (17 - Cooper T45) and John Bussey (Cooper T43) are not overtaking the Cooper Bristol (52 - down as a Gordini 235S in the results, driven by Eddie Macguire!). It is the other way round, as the earlier car went onto finish 12th whilst Eden and Bussey were 16th and 14th respectively. Pic 5 shows Nick Wigley (7), John Clark (51) and Rod Jolley (2). finally we have Sid Hoole (66), Andrew Smith (3) and lapping Alex Morton (21 - Lotus 21 - 19th).

[morrisnutter]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Good stuff there. Love the little MG PA(?) and that Vauxhall looks like it came straight off the Lands End Trial!

Nearly correct! I took part in a Phillip Young endurance rally at the end of March- London to Edinburgh and won my class. I decided against washing off the bodywork dirt since it's a futile exercise which is soon undone!

This was the first race for my car since I finished a full mechanical rebuild in early March. Before that it had lain since 1964. Does anyone else have more pictures? Unlikely as I was an awful lot slower than everyone else with comical levels of understeer, so ended up tail end charlie in both my races.

Incidentally, Terry Rowing who rolled in race 5 was ok(ish). Very bruised and a broken collar bone but otherwise cheery.

[John Turner]

37 starters; 35 finishers.

Lovely mix of cars for this 8 lapper. Conducted at a slightly slower pace than in previous years as the VSCC had restricted cars to standard and mildly modified (JR, I hope you are taking notes for next year! Sure you would approve of this and would have enjoyed the front running marques). As you can see an excellent high quality grid which provided good racing all down the field, including the one for the lead. Best tell the rest with pics!

In pic 1, Mike Preston's Bugatti T35B (61) is about to be passed by the eventual winner, Sam Stretton in the Alta Sports (223). Preston finished 8th. 130 is the non finishing Frazer Nash TT Replica of Steven Pryke and 103 is is John Guyatt in the Talbot Lago T150C which finished 6th. The next pic shows Jane Varley about to pass the Bentley 4.5 of Neil Davies in her Aston Martin Speed Model. She finished 9th, Davies, 10th. Nicholas Eden (93 - Alfa Romeo Sports - 13th) and Tim Kneller (71 - Riley Brooklands - 12th) with Neil Jones (182 - Lagonda LG45 TT Rep - 16th) and Jo Blakeney-Edwards (187 - Frazer Nash Super Sports - 17th). Next is the Bentley 4.5 Le Mans (154) of Chris Guest who was placed 23rd. Ivan Dutton's Bugatti T44 (205 - 26th) dicing with Pryke before the latter pulled into the pits to retire. Finally, the lead battle before it was caught and passed by Stretton. Martin Overington had made a great start in his Bugatti T35B (39) and held the lead for 4 laps, pressed closely by poleman, Richard Pilkington in his Talbot T26 SS (37) and Christopher Mann in the Alfa 8C Monza, the 3 circulating closely for 4 laps before Stretton passed them all to take the lead on lap 5. Pilkington also passed the Bugatti on that lap to finish 2nd and was shortly followed by Mann, so from being leader for half the race, Overington had been demoted to 4th at the end. However, less than 2 seconds covered 2nd, 3rd and 4th at the flag, although Stretton had pulled away to win by 7 seconds in the Alta.

[john ruston]

Alex Ames was in Mags Diffey's Nash so thats bug...ed up her handicap for the next VSCC race !

Jane Varley very good driver and its good to see her passing Neil in his 4.5 litre Bentley

Fox and Nichol now open to cars of various capacities , it originally had a lower limit of 2 litres to cater for cars that were run by F&N. Pleased Sam won the race in my old car and now Joses as he trys very hard (and has a very trying brother).

Martin Overend is the most sideways driver in old crocks sports car racing and now has to prove he can adopt his Bentley sideways action to the Bugatti

[John Turner]

29 starters; 21 Finishers.

A race over 10 laps, the programme does not differentiate between the cars competing for each trophy, and nor do the results sheets tell us who won what! The VSCC website just says the 'The GP Itala & Lanchester Trophies Race for Std or Mod vintage or Edwardian cars & Pre-1926 N/A cars', but since many of these cars are specials built after the periods defined, I'll let someone else work it out and just stick to overall results here.

Although Gary Caroline was on pole in his Morgan Super Aero, it was Geraint Owen who took the lead early on and stretched away from the field to win by over 16 seconds. Caroline was 2nd although for much of the race embroiled in a battle for that position with Charles Gillett (Frazer Nash Super Sports - 3rd), Alex Boswell (Bequet Delage 2 GP - 4th) and last year's winner, Chris Williams in the aero engined Napier Bentley. Williams spun in Brooklands towards the end but nevertheless finished 5th.

First pic shows Robert Towell (147 - Morgan Aero - DNF), Nicholas Pellett (159 - Sunbeam TT - 20th) and Paul Grant (176 - Bugatti T37 GP - 21st). Next, the winner, Geraint Owen in Bugatti T35B (68). A pair of retirees - Robert Tuluie indicates his intention to pull in at the end of lap 2 in his 134 Menasco Pirate (134), a car that is completely unknown to me, and is followed here by Chris Hudson who retired his Bugatti T35B (84) a few laps later. Pic 4 shows Paul Grant again being lapped by the dicing Neil Perkins (169 - Bugatti T37A) and Roger Sweet (70 - Franziss Special). Sweet got ahead of Perkins to take 11th by just half a second. The Napier Bentley of Chris Williams in Woodcote, and finally, the 7th place Bentley 3/8 special of Joseph Singer.

[John Turner]

27 starters; 25 finishers.

Over 5 laps, Jane Varley, good driver that she is, definitely put one over the handicappers here, posting fastest lap and winning by 12.5 seconds in the Aston Martin Speed Model (see pic 1). Pic 2 shows the Bentley Boys, Martin Overington going on to finish 2nd in his 4.5 litre (141) leaving Chris Guest well behind in 5th place in his 4.5 Le Mans (154). Geoffrey Brandon was 3rd in his Austin 7 Special (131) and ghere he is seen ahead of Leonard Lord's Riley Falcon (167). Frazer Nashes, rarely have their wheels pointing in the direction they are actually going, and Paul Weston's TT Replica (120) is no exception. Unfortunately, he failed to finish. Behind is Hugh Birley's Austin 7 Ulster (195 - 14th), and in the background Colin Bugler's Lagonda LG45 TT Replica (82 - 15th). Pic 5 shows the last lap and the battling pair of Steve Allen in his Bentley 4.25 special and James Hudson in Aston Martin Ulster closing fast on the aforementioned Leonard Lord. Somehow the Riley held them off to the flag but 1.5 secs covered all three as they crossed the line, 7th. 8th and 9th. The late Tom Delaney will not be forgotten but his son, Geoffrey maintains family tradition anyway, and finished 18th in the Lea Francis Hyper (83).

[John Turner]

27 starters; 25 finishers.

The second race for 1950s sports cars, this one mainly for the earlier drum braked cars. It was another very interesting grid and some of these cars are rarely seen, so I'll probably spread the images over a second post.

I believe that Flavien Marcais was on pole for this race in his Jaguar C-type, but neither he, nor indeed anyone else, could live with the Cooper Bobtail of John Clark who drove away to win by nearly 20 seconds, whilst Marcais had his hands full of John Ure's Cooper Bristol T24/25. Marcais seemed to have that battle won when he moved a few lengths clear only then to visit the gravel in Brooklands, throwing all his good effort away and had to settle for 3rd. I must confess not to remembering too much more about this last race of the day, no doubt mentally packing up to get the results sheets from the media centre and heading home.

The fisrt pic shows the MG Dick Jacobs Special (74) of Stuart Dean leading the MG Parson of David Clewley home to finish 12th & 13th respectively, still less than 2 seconds apart at the flag. Next we have John Clark's all dominant Cooper Bobtail (108) already drawing away from his pursuers, Flavian Marcais (233) and John Ure (6), the Cooper Bristol with wings and half a pasenger seat to make it into a sports car. Pic 4 is of Alex Quattlebaum's Leco which finished 5th whilst pic 5 shows Michael Thorne indicating his intention to pit and retire in his Cooper Bobtail, as Jonathan Procter goes by in his Frazer Nash Sebring to finish 6th. Final pic is of Mark Butterworth (133 - Allard K3) lapping Tanya Lewis (241 - Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica - 25th) on his way to 17th.

[John Turner]

A few more.

Richard Wills Ferrari 212 Inter finished 19th. Both Oscar MT 4s but Tony Bailey's (45) is an earlier car (1953) but with a later (1958) body (I hope that I've guessed that correctly) whilst Stephen Rettenmaier's is in it's original 1955 form. They finished 21st and 22nd respectively. 240 is the very well presented Jaguar HWM of 20th placed Hans Jorg-Hubner and 52 is what is described in the programme as Eddie McGuire's Cooper Bristol but is surely the Gordini mentioned earlier in this thread. It finished 4th. Finally, Neil Collins in his 24th place Healey Silverstone, followed by the about to retire Playford MG of Howard Maguire and the 7th place AC Ace Bristol of Frederik Wakeman.

An absence of posts by anyone else suggests that I'm now on my own in this thread. Is anyone out there?

[Peter Mallett]

I'm out here!

[john ruston]

Flavians first race for about 3/4 years since his illness.Mr Finburgh will still give him a bollo..king for going in gravel.
Thats that Gordini.Nice to see Eddie keeping it on black stuff!

[Peter Mallett]

John,

Knowing your shorthand I'm sure you are referring to a post above, but "Flavian" who? Who is "Mr Finburgh" and what has he to do with this thread?

[John Turner]

I'm guessing Mark Finburgh prepares the C-type?

[john ruston]

No its Marks brother Mr Aubury Finburgh,Father of Vanessa and Nick,who's son in law is Flavian Marcais.
He owns the family C type and one of the most well known men in Historic racing and been around for donkey's years.A character and a very good bloke.Surprised you didn't know and Flavian is mentioned in this Forum on a weekly basis and many on here raced in his organised outing at Silverstone yesterday.

[Peter Mallett]

There may well be more than one Flavian.

[john ruston]

Only know the well known one in Historic racing!
Flav and the C Type were a well known pairing until his very serious illness when Nick took it over.