NEWS
Nuthall cruises to a second Bob Gerard Memorial Trophy win whilst Vintage GN Racers steal the show.
Monday 22 July 2013
Cooper Bristol pilot, William Nuthall dominated the feature race at the Vintage Sports-Car Club Bob Gerard Memorial Trophies Race Meeting cruising to victory 7.83 seconds ahead of a fabulous field spanning four decades of racing car history. Nuthall’s margin for pole in the 1953 machine was a mere second ahead of a pack of four Pre-war challengers. Steve Russell qualified his original Gerard Bristol in a creditable sixth place. Nick Topliss leapt to the fore off the line in ERA R4A and held onto second place until the fifth lap when Fred Harper’s Kurtis Indy Roadster and Tom Dark’s unique Bugatti Type 73C moved into second and third places and hounded him down.
The sleek Bugatti was poetry in motion as it powered around Mallory in fourth position, but towards the latter stages of the race he was reeled in by Rob Cobden’s on-form Riley Falcon Special. Harper became a dominant force in the Kurtis settling into a good pace to hold second proving the Kurtis’s recent engine re-build to be a huge success, but he couldn’t chip into Nuthall’s lead who never looked to falter throughout the 12 lap duration. Topliss was thrilled to add a third place podium spot in this race after victory in the opening Scratch race of the day which was only his eighth ever race in the recently purchased iconic single seater and his first ever visit to Mallory Park. Terry Crabb battled hard with Peter Candy’s Riley ‘Super Rat’. In the past, the headline race has faced stiff competition for entries as the European Historic Racing season is in full swing, but this year, the Club were delighted to welcome a strong grid of these racers, defiant in support for Mallory Park which is currently facing a huge planning battle.
The GN Special racers in the Vintage Racing car race tried their hardest to steal the limelight of the day however, by putting on an unforgettable demonstration in ‘friendly racing’ racing side by side swapping places on ever lap over the 10 lap duration. Justin Maeers’s Cirrus aero-engined ‘Parker GN’ trailed Robert Carr’s AC engine car by a marginal 1.9 tenths of a second in practice so all fingers were pointing to a very close race between the duo. Off the line they headed into Gerards side-by-side and this opening lap set the tone for a thriller where on every lap they exited the fast ‘Devil’s Elbow’ corner in tandem, playing chicken as to who relented for the long and narrow ‘Gerards’ corner...this thrilling battle ensued for several laps, until unbelievably, neither of them was willing to give up the fight and they committed to the corner like two figure skaters, perfectly skimming the right hander and drifting upside on another and so onto the charge for the ‘Esses’ and ‘Shaws’ with nothing but victory in their sights. Fellow ‘GN’er’, Dougal Cawley had kept close to the pair in third, whilst fighting off his Uncle Chris Hudson’s Bugatti charge in 4th until he spun off and lost a chain, as they same ‘lack of chain, stops play’. By the last lap it was still too close to call and Carr willed every ounce of his GN’s straight-line speed to nudge ahead of Maeers by one of the closest margins in the VSCC racing history, a mere 5 hundredths of a second! The crowd were in raptures and the pair were full of jubilation at the post-race podium.
Morgan racer, Sue Darbyshire successfully completed her own heroic challenge having diced for the duration of the second race for Standard and Modified Pre-war Sports-Cars in similar fashion against HRG man Andrew Mitchell whose 1937 1 1/2 litre model machine was on-song to take victory. Whilst Sue celebrated her second place finish, her dedicated husband and chief mechanic, George Darbyshire had her methanol fuelled racing car ready in the assembly area ready for her to leap into in the consecutive event, Sue hardly had time to stop for breath, as she powered from fifth position to take third behind the GN pair.
Sam Wilson netted a third victory in the John Taylor Memorial Trophy race for Formula Juniors Cars, his 1961 Lotus 20/22, three of four rear engined cars in the well supported race dominated from start to finish. By the twelfth and final lap he had 43.86 seconds in hand to Ian Ashley’s Lola Mk2 and Richard Ellingworth’s Gemini Mk11.
Justin Maeers managed to get his hands on a winner’s laurel later in the afternoon in the Mallory Park Trophy for Special Pre-war Sports-Cars. The Parker GN, now equipped with wings and lights enjoyed another tussle with Dougal Cawley’s GN until he came to grief again, this time with more serious engine problems, his retirement opened the door for Guy Plante to close down on the leader in his Alvis Speed 25 Special but the lightning fast 4 litre car could not catch Maeers who took the victory 15.3 seconds ahead. Ewan Getley took a gallant third in his versatile Bentley3/4 ½ litre which also performs well on the off-road trials hills. With the bit between his teeth Maeers also won the final Handicap race of the day, the first time he had entered this format of race and proclaimed afterwards that he loved the thrill of overtaking the entire field (the fastest qualified starts at the back, the slowest at the front).
The Dick Baddiley Edwardian Cars Race struggled for entries this year, mainly due to many serious mechanical incidents plaguing the ranks of cars eligible for this event, and as is the case with these leviathans, repairs are all costly and take an enormous amount of time. To keep the show on the road, the Austin 7 ‘Burghley Trophy’ racers joined in the party with a handful of Pre-war entrants. The crowd had to concentrate hard to follow the progress of the front runners creeping up through the field having started from the back following the Handicap Race model, however they could not have failed to enjoy this David and Goliath demonstration as the huge a capacity Edwardians and tiny 750cc engine Austins respected each other’s turf in admirable fashion. The field was honoured to welcome Julian Majzub’s iconic 1916 Indianapolis Sunbeam, and Ben Collings’s 1904 Mercedes 80HP which both starred at last weekend’s Goodwood Festival of Speed spectacular, the former winning its class. Hot favourite for the win was Leicestershire’s Tony Lees, returning to the track in his Vauxhall Viper after toiling for three years to rebuild the car’s Hispano-Suiza engine which gave way in 2010. He powered through the field to catch Majzub on the last lap and therefore the Dick Baddiley Trophy for Edwardian cars. Greg Thruston was the first Austin 7 home finishing in second place, he won the Burghley Trophy for his exploits. Michael New won the Handicap race overall in his Riley 12/4 Special.
Simon Brown could not stop smiling with his victory in the Formula 3 (500) race. He spent countless hours last week preparing Fred Harper’s Cooper Mk4, and was rewarded with success after a hectic start which saw the front runners four abreast on the start finish straight on the first lap. Second (George Shackleton, Cooper Mk X1), third (Roy Hunt, Martin 500) and fourth (Mike Fowler, Cooper Mk V) placed men were split by a second each at the flag having enjoyed an exceptionally close fight throughout.
Greg Lerigo won the earlier Handicap Race of the day in his Riley Special ahead of Simon Blakeney-Edwards who had made a gallant return to Mallory Park after a nasty accident there last year.
Leicester based Riley man, Richard Iliffe won the final Scratch race of the day at his home track concluding a fine day’s racing that passed without incident which is a great tribute to our competitors. Mallory Park is a very special event in the VSCC’s year thanks to its wonderful ‘Club’ atmosphere, we do hope that we will be able to continue to race there for many years to come.
The Club’s next public event is the famous Prescott Speed Hill Climb on 3-4 August and the next race meeting is at Pembrey in South Wales for a two day Sprint and Race meeting on 17-18 August.
Results from the meeting are available to download the photograph Gallery is available to view (link to previous news item).
The GN Special racers in the Vintage Racing car race tried their hardest to steal the limelight of the day however, by putting on an unforgettable demonstration in ‘friendly racing’ racing side by side swapping places on ever lap over the 10 lap duration. Justin Maeers’s Cirrus aero-engined ‘Parker GN’ trailed Robert Carr’s AC engine car by a marginal 1.9 tenths of a second in practice so all fingers were pointing to a very close race between the duo. Off the line they headed into Gerards side-by-side and this opening lap set the tone for a thriller where on every lap they exited the fast ‘Devil’s Elbow’ corner in tandem, playing chicken as to who relented for the long and narrow ‘Gerards’ corner...this thrilling battle ensued for several laps, until unbelievably, neither of them was willing to give up the fight and they committed to the corner like two figure skaters, perfectly skimming the right hander and drifting upside on another and so onto the charge for the ‘Esses’ and ‘Shaws’ with nothing but victory in their sights. Fellow ‘GN’er’, Dougal Cawley had kept close to the pair in third, whilst fighting off his Uncle Chris Hudson’s Bugatti charge in 4th until he spun off and lost a chain, as they same ‘lack of chain, stops play’. By the last lap it was still too close to call and Carr willed every ounce of his GN’s straight-line speed to nudge ahead of Maeers by one of the closest margins in the VSCC racing history, a mere 5 hundredths of a second! The crowd were in raptures and the pair were full of jubilation at the post-race podium.
Morgan racer, Sue Darbyshire successfully completed her own heroic challenge having diced for the duration of the second race for Standard and Modified Pre-war Sports-Cars in similar fashion against HRG man Andrew Mitchell whose 1937 1 1/2 litre model machine was on-song to take victory. Whilst Sue celebrated her second place finish, her dedicated husband and chief mechanic, George Darbyshire had her methanol fuelled racing car ready in the assembly area ready for her to leap into in the consecutive event, Sue hardly had time to stop for breath, as she powered from fifth position to take third behind the GN pair.
Sam Wilson netted a third victory in the John Taylor Memorial Trophy race for Formula Juniors Cars, his 1961 Lotus 20/22, three of four rear engined cars in the well supported race dominated from start to finish. By the twelfth and final lap he had 43.86 seconds in hand to Ian Ashley’s Lola Mk2 and Richard Ellingworth’s Gemini Mk11.
Justin Maeers managed to get his hands on a winner’s laurel later in the afternoon in the Mallory Park Trophy for Special Pre-war Sports-Cars. The Parker GN, now equipped with wings and lights enjoyed another tussle with Dougal Cawley’s GN until he came to grief again, this time with more serious engine problems, his retirement opened the door for Guy Plante to close down on the leader in his Alvis Speed 25 Special but the lightning fast 4 litre car could not catch Maeers who took the victory 15.3 seconds ahead. Ewan Getley took a gallant third in his versatile Bentley3/4 ½ litre which also performs well on the off-road trials hills. With the bit between his teeth Maeers also won the final Handicap race of the day, the first time he had entered this format of race and proclaimed afterwards that he loved the thrill of overtaking the entire field (the fastest qualified starts at the back, the slowest at the front).
The Dick Baddiley Edwardian Cars Race struggled for entries this year, mainly due to many serious mechanical incidents plaguing the ranks of cars eligible for this event, and as is the case with these leviathans, repairs are all costly and take an enormous amount of time. To keep the show on the road, the Austin 7 ‘Burghley Trophy’ racers joined in the party with a handful of Pre-war entrants. The crowd had to concentrate hard to follow the progress of the front runners creeping up through the field having started from the back following the Handicap Race model, however they could not have failed to enjoy this David and Goliath demonstration as the huge a capacity Edwardians and tiny 750cc engine Austins respected each other’s turf in admirable fashion. The field was honoured to welcome Julian Majzub’s iconic 1916 Indianapolis Sunbeam, and Ben Collings’s 1904 Mercedes 80HP which both starred at last weekend’s Goodwood Festival of Speed spectacular, the former winning its class. Hot favourite for the win was Leicestershire’s Tony Lees, returning to the track in his Vauxhall Viper after toiling for three years to rebuild the car’s Hispano-Suiza engine which gave way in 2010. He powered through the field to catch Majzub on the last lap and therefore the Dick Baddiley Trophy for Edwardian cars. Greg Thruston was the first Austin 7 home finishing in second place, he won the Burghley Trophy for his exploits. Michael New won the Handicap race overall in his Riley 12/4 Special.
Simon Brown could not stop smiling with his victory in the Formula 3 (500) race. He spent countless hours last week preparing Fred Harper’s Cooper Mk4, and was rewarded with success after a hectic start which saw the front runners four abreast on the start finish straight on the first lap. Second (George Shackleton, Cooper Mk X1), third (Roy Hunt, Martin 500) and fourth (Mike Fowler, Cooper Mk V) placed men were split by a second each at the flag having enjoyed an exceptionally close fight throughout.
Greg Lerigo won the earlier Handicap Race of the day in his Riley Special ahead of Simon Blakeney-Edwards who had made a gallant return to Mallory Park after a nasty accident there last year.
Leicester based Riley man, Richard Iliffe won the final Scratch race of the day at his home track concluding a fine day’s racing that passed without incident which is a great tribute to our competitors. Mallory Park is a very special event in the VSCC’s year thanks to its wonderful ‘Club’ atmosphere, we do hope that we will be able to continue to race there for many years to come.
The Club’s next public event is the famous Prescott Speed Hill Climb on 3-4 August and the next race meeting is at Pembrey in South Wales for a two day Sprint and Race meeting on 17-18 August.
Results from the meeting are available to download the photograph Gallery is available to view (link to previous news item).
