NEWS
A triumphant return to Cadwell Park for ERA R3A highlights a fantastic weekend of VSCC Motorsport
Wednesday 10 June 2015
The VSCC enjoyed yet another bumper weekend of Vintage motoring with our annual Cadwell Park Race Meeting on Sunday 7 June, preceded by the BARC Harewood Vintage Hill Climb and Scottish Tour on Saturday.
Results from both competitive events are now available to download from the Event Pages; follow the links below, where you can also view photos in the galleries:
With regular pilot Mark Gillies behind the wheel, the famous voiturette led home two 1957 racers in the Kurtis-Offenhauser Indy Roadster of Fred Harper and Clive Wilson’s Cooper T43 in a spectacular line-up, combining both Vintage and Pre-1961 Racing machinery, alongside three more of Bourne’s ERA representatives; R4A, R7B and AJM 1, the latter the winner of the Nuffield Trophy as the first 1500cc finisher. Eddie Gibbs followed a strong performance at Cadwell last year with victory in the Len Thompson Memorial Trophy in his Frazer Nash.
Also in the feature race, Tom Walker’s 12-litre Hispano aero-engined 1918 Amilcar Special – the day’s oldest competing car – enjoyed a Circuit Racing debut by taking the Pre-1931 John Holland Trophy victory with an outstanding 6th place finish overall, ahead of Robert Carr, always strong at Cadwell in his AC/GN.
Having been thwarted by Christian Pedersen’s rapid Austin 7 racer at Snetterton last October, Will Mahany got his revenge this time, claiming an historic 10th Spero Trophy win in his HRG Le Mans. He also took victory in the Standard & Modified Pre-war Sports-Cars Race with the Geoghegan Trophy presented to a thrilled Jo Blakeney-Edwards, the first Vintage Car home in her Frazer Nash Super Sports. Richard Iliffe took the Melville Trophy win in the Special Sports-Cars Race in his Riley Kestrel 12/4 ahead of David Pryke, making his first visit to Cadwell in his Riley 12/4 TT Sprite Rep.
The pair were amongst a strong contingent of Rileys reporting for duty on the day, with the Garry Whyte Trophy Handicap Race attracting a splendid grid of Pre-war Racing and Sports-Cars from the Coventry-based manufacturer to remember him; eventually won by Nick Hayward-Cook’s single-seater example. We were honoured to welcome Garry’s family to award the Trophy in an emotional Post-Race Presentation.
Charles Gillett followed last year’s hat-trick of wins with a successful defence of the Frazer Nash/GN Race in his 1929 Super Sports, whilst away from the racing programme, the day also saw the 90th Anniversary celebration of the 1925 Frazer Nashes, with ten of the original cars taking part in a track parade. Hamish Bibby and Bill Tuer continued their dominant start to the year with victory in the Morgan Three Wheeler Club Challenge, re-started following an incident on the first lap.
Simon Kelleway followed his podium finish in the Riley Handicap Race with an outright victory in one of the day’s Pre-war All-Comers iterations in his Riley Special, the other won by Bill Cleyndert’s competitive Wolseley Hornet Special. The day ended in somewhat appropriate fashion with R3A leading home Nick Topliss’s R4A in an ERA 1-2 in the finals All-Comers Pre-war Scratch Race.
Not to be overshadowed, it was the latter ERA, who took the spoils at Harewood the preceding day, where the BARC once again hosted the Club’s annual Vintage Hill Climb event at the popular Yorkshire venue.
Following his ‘Fastest Time of Day’ at Wiscombe Park Hill Climb last month, perennial VSCC Hill Climb Champion, James Baxter piloted the ex-Pat Fairfield and Bob Gerard ERA R4A to a new Pre-war Record of 66.24 secs to take a second consecutive victory of the season, ahead of Tim Greenhill’s Wolseley Hornet Special and Tony Lees’s AC/GN ‘Cognac’, who were amongst the many Competitors also seen racing at Cadwell the following day.
VSCC stalwarts, Pete Candy and Julian Grimwade were both Class Winners in the Riley ‘Super Rat’ and Frazer Nash Norris Special respectively, as was Cadwell victor, Charles Gillett in his Frazer Nash, who topped a competitive Sports-Car Class, ahead of Club President Tim Kneller’s Riley TT Sprite. David Pryke was another enjoying his weekend of Vintage motorsport with a Special Sports-Cars Class victory, whilst regular front-runners, Durward Lawson’s Riley and the Lea-Francis of Richard Houlgate both claimed top spot in their respective classes.
To complete the Club’s triumvirate of events over the weekend, Saturday also saw twenty Pre-war cars gather near Selkirk in the Scottish Borders to participate in the Club’s annual Scottish Tour, taking in the beautiful Eskdalemuir Forest, Hermitage Castle, the Reiver Valleys and the Cheviot Hills. With representatives from Bentley, Bugatti, Delahaye, Hudson, Rolls-Royce, Star and more, this year’s event was the biggest yet, with participants also enjoying an evening meal at the Philipburn Country Hotel at the end of the day.
The VSCC will be back in action this weekend as joint hosts of the prestigious Brooklands Double Twelve Motorsport Festival, featuring Speed Trials, Driving Tests and Concours d’Elegance, in addition to a whole host of other Vintage and motoring activities at the famous Museum site and neighbouring Mercedes-Benz World in Weybridge, Surrey. For more information (CLICK HERE).
- BARC Harewood Hill Climb (CLICK HERE)
- Cadwell Park Race Meeting (CLICK HERE)
With regular pilot Mark Gillies behind the wheel, the famous voiturette led home two 1957 racers in the Kurtis-Offenhauser Indy Roadster of Fred Harper and Clive Wilson’s Cooper T43 in a spectacular line-up, combining both Vintage and Pre-1961 Racing machinery, alongside three more of Bourne’s ERA representatives; R4A, R7B and AJM 1, the latter the winner of the Nuffield Trophy as the first 1500cc finisher. Eddie Gibbs followed a strong performance at Cadwell last year with victory in the Len Thompson Memorial Trophy in his Frazer Nash.
Also in the feature race, Tom Walker’s 12-litre Hispano aero-engined 1918 Amilcar Special – the day’s oldest competing car – enjoyed a Circuit Racing debut by taking the Pre-1931 John Holland Trophy victory with an outstanding 6th place finish overall, ahead of Robert Carr, always strong at Cadwell in his AC/GN.
Having been thwarted by Christian Pedersen’s rapid Austin 7 racer at Snetterton last October, Will Mahany got his revenge this time, claiming an historic 10th Spero Trophy win in his HRG Le Mans. He also took victory in the Standard & Modified Pre-war Sports-Cars Race with the Geoghegan Trophy presented to a thrilled Jo Blakeney-Edwards, the first Vintage Car home in her Frazer Nash Super Sports. Richard Iliffe took the Melville Trophy win in the Special Sports-Cars Race in his Riley Kestrel 12/4 ahead of David Pryke, making his first visit to Cadwell in his Riley 12/4 TT Sprite Rep.
The pair were amongst a strong contingent of Rileys reporting for duty on the day, with the Garry Whyte Trophy Handicap Race attracting a splendid grid of Pre-war Racing and Sports-Cars from the Coventry-based manufacturer to remember him; eventually won by Nick Hayward-Cook’s single-seater example. We were honoured to welcome Garry’s family to award the Trophy in an emotional Post-Race Presentation.
Charles Gillett followed last year’s hat-trick of wins with a successful defence of the Frazer Nash/GN Race in his 1929 Super Sports, whilst away from the racing programme, the day also saw the 90th Anniversary celebration of the 1925 Frazer Nashes, with ten of the original cars taking part in a track parade. Hamish Bibby and Bill Tuer continued their dominant start to the year with victory in the Morgan Three Wheeler Club Challenge, re-started following an incident on the first lap.
Simon Kelleway followed his podium finish in the Riley Handicap Race with an outright victory in one of the day’s Pre-war All-Comers iterations in his Riley Special, the other won by Bill Cleyndert’s competitive Wolseley Hornet Special. The day ended in somewhat appropriate fashion with R3A leading home Nick Topliss’s R4A in an ERA 1-2 in the finals All-Comers Pre-war Scratch Race.
Not to be overshadowed, it was the latter ERA, who took the spoils at Harewood the preceding day, where the BARC once again hosted the Club’s annual Vintage Hill Climb event at the popular Yorkshire venue.
Following his ‘Fastest Time of Day’ at Wiscombe Park Hill Climb last month, perennial VSCC Hill Climb Champion, James Baxter piloted the ex-Pat Fairfield and Bob Gerard ERA R4A to a new Pre-war Record of 66.24 secs to take a second consecutive victory of the season, ahead of Tim Greenhill’s Wolseley Hornet Special and Tony Lees’s AC/GN ‘Cognac’, who were amongst the many Competitors also seen racing at Cadwell the following day.
VSCC stalwarts, Pete Candy and Julian Grimwade were both Class Winners in the Riley ‘Super Rat’ and Frazer Nash Norris Special respectively, as was Cadwell victor, Charles Gillett in his Frazer Nash, who topped a competitive Sports-Car Class, ahead of Club President Tim Kneller’s Riley TT Sprite. David Pryke was another enjoying his weekend of Vintage motorsport with a Special Sports-Cars Class victory, whilst regular front-runners, Durward Lawson’s Riley and the Lea-Francis of Richard Houlgate both claimed top spot in their respective classes.
To complete the Club’s triumvirate of events over the weekend, Saturday also saw twenty Pre-war cars gather near Selkirk in the Scottish Borders to participate in the Club’s annual Scottish Tour, taking in the beautiful Eskdalemuir Forest, Hermitage Castle, the Reiver Valleys and the Cheviot Hills. With representatives from Bentley, Bugatti, Delahaye, Hudson, Rolls-Royce, Star and more, this year’s event was the biggest yet, with participants also enjoying an evening meal at the Philipburn Country Hotel at the end of the day.
The VSCC will be back in action this weekend as joint hosts of the prestigious Brooklands Double Twelve Motorsport Festival, featuring Speed Trials, Driving Tests and Concours d’Elegance, in addition to a whole host of other Vintage and motoring activities at the famous Museum site and neighbouring Mercedes-Benz World in Weybridge, Surrey. For more information (CLICK HERE).
