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Dudley
Sterry’s victory in the VSCC Pomeroy Trophy on Saturday in
his 1937 HRG caused
ructions as he broke the Frazer Nash grasp on the challenge to find the
best
Grand Touring car. Sterry
dropped the
fewest number of penalties to finish on a score of 433.1 points, 8.3
ahead of
his nearest rival, Adrian Goding, in a 1963 Ford Cortina.
Frazer
Nashes have dominated the results since 2004 when the late, great James
Diffey
won driving his BMW 2002 tii. Winner for the
past 3 years, Patrick
Blakeney-Edwards swapped his usual drive, a Pre-war Frazer Nash
Super-Sports, for
a Post-war Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica and finished in third place with
415.2
penalties. Blakeney-Edwards
romped
through the first batch of racers with skill as the track conditions
worsened,
thanks to the deluge of rain that hampered proceedings throughout much
of the
day; he collected a 10 point penalty for running without a hood.
Phil
Stainton also flew the Frazer Nash flag bringing the Mags Diffey owned
1936 car
back in fourth
place; the highest placed
Pre-war example. Of
the six Porsches entered
in various guises, Josh Sadler was the highest placed, finishing fifth
in his
1971 911. Martin
Overington driving his
1927 Bugatti T35B was blisteringly fast despite the wet conditions in
the
second batch on track-his efforts earning him sixth place.
The Pomeroy
Trophy was first mooted by Club stalwart, John Rowley in 1947, (but
because of
petrol rationing it did not actually take place until 22nd March 1952).
He wanted to create a competition that would find the best all-round GT
car of
all time; for instance the car to take a driver and passenger to the
South of
France in speed, comfort and style; akin to a 1940s Top Gear challenge! It is the only event that
the VSCC run open
to any era of car; but competing vehicles must be road-going and have a
minimum
capacity of two litres or 1485cc is supercharged or turbocharged.
Laurence
Pomeroy's formula to calculate the efficiency of Grand Prix car engines
was
used as the basis for the calculations.
Entrants
have to submit the engine capacity of the car, the wheel base and its
age. These
calculations are entered into a formula
that generates a target number of laps that the car should complete
during 40
minutes circuit time on the Silverstone National Circuit. Entrants drive a series of
tests in the
morning such as a braking test, a ‘wiggle woggle’
through cones and an
acceleration test. Penalty
points are
deducted from the overall score for misdemeanors incurred during the
morning
tests and also for not having sufficient capacity to carry two large
suitcases
and having a functional hood.
The first
event was won by Peter Binns in a Vauxhall 30/98 who is still a Club
member.
The wide
entry criteria means that there is always interesting machinery out on
track. Tim
Dutton’s gold1972 Lamborghini
Muira attracted particular attention and the ex-Gerry Marshall Vauxhall
Magnum 'Spa' car
driven by Charlie Moore aroused nostalgia in the paddock.
The Vintage
Sports-Car Club returns to Silverstone on Saturday 24 April for the
first race
meeting of the 2010 season. The
GP Itala
Trophies Race Meeting has eleven races for Pre-war cars, 1950s
Sports-Cars, Pre
1961 Front engined Grand Prix cars and a HGPCA Pre 1966 Grand Prix Cars race.
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