NEWS
The 2014 VSCC 80th Anniversary Race Season off to a flyer with the ‘Spring Start’ Race Meeting at Silverstone
Tuesday 15 April 2014
A wave of nostalgia and celebration spread through Silverstone’s National Circuit this past weekend as enthusiasts of Pre-war and Historic Motor Racing flocked to the home of British Motor Sport for the Vintage Sports-Car Club’s ‘Spring Start’ Race Meeting.
The traditional Historic Racing Season opener attracted good crowds over the two days to watch over 300 competitors taking part in the weekend’s 20-race programme, boasting some enviable line-ups in races for some of the most popular VSCC and Historic Race Series events on the world calendar.
There were many highlights on-track throughout the weekend; Saturday included a 9th Patrick Lindsay Memorial Trophy win for ERA pilot Mark Gillies in R3A; a thrilling victory for Jon Fairley in his Brabham BT11 in the HGPCA Race for Pre-1966 Grand Prix Cars (the first of a double-win over the weekend); another epic Standard & Modified Pre-war Sports-Car Race win for Fred Wakeman in his Frazer Nash Super Sports; Morgan Three-Wheeler driver Duncan Wood’s GP Itala Trophy victory as he followed home overall race winner Justin Maeers in the GN Parker Special; a stunning full grid of 1950s GT and production cars for the George Abecassis Trophy.
The following day saw the ERA marque take centre stage as their 80th Anniversary Trophy Race opened the afternoon’s racing activities – 10 of the revered voiturettes took to the track for the most spine-tingling and historic ten minutes of action, with Gillies again coming out on top in Dick Skipworth’s recently reacquired R3A, ahead of Nick Topliss in R4A and Duncan Ricketts in the E-Type GP1; Formula Junior commenced their 2014 Historic Front-engined Championship in style as the Lola Mk2 of Simon Goodliff led home the pack; Calum Lockie, in the Danaher Maserati 6CM, gave a racing master class as he dominated the VSCC’s Pre-1941 Racing Cars Race ahead of a battling pack of ERAs; the Lotus 15 of Peter Horsman triumphed in the ever-popular 1950s Sports Racing Cars event; Tony Wood scored an impressive double-win in the Maserati Tec Mec in the weekend’s two VSCC Pre-1961 Racing Car Races.
The weekend’s racing action was marred by two racing incidents; in Saturday’s GP Itala Trophy Race, Garry Whyte was involved in a rollover accident resulting in serious injuries. No other car or driver was involved. Garry was airlifted to hospital in Coventry where he is currently undergoing treatment; on Sunday, two cars tangled in the F3 (500) Race, resulting in moderate injuries to both drivers, who both continue to undergo medical treatment.
There proved plenty of attractions away from the track for Spectators too. The collection of both competing and exhibiting ERA cars on display to celebrate the 80th Anniversary was a real crowd-pleaser throughout the weekend; VSCC Principal Associate, Bonhams, brought a display of cars valuing several million pounds which will feature in their upcoming 2014 summer sales including the legendary ex-Gold Leaf Team F1 Lotus 49B raced by Graham Hill; Joy Rainey and her 1904 Oldsmobile were another real draw, as she recounted the story of her 2013 Pan-America journey in the veteran machine, as told in her recently published title ‘Joy Across America’.
This was another truly terrific ‘Spring Start’ event to kick start the VSCC’s Race and Speed Season; the Club offers its thanks to the many Marshals, Officials and other volunteers who helped make it happen and we look forward to a wonderful 80th Anniversary year ahead for the Club.
Visit the event page to download Race Results, complete with full list of award winners, and to view photos from the weekend (CLICK HERE); more photos will be uploaded to the gallery at the bottom of the event page as they are received.
You can also read a Peter Baker's 'Spring Start' report at the Retro-Speed website (CLICK HERE).
There were many highlights on-track throughout the weekend; Saturday included a 9th Patrick Lindsay Memorial Trophy win for ERA pilot Mark Gillies in R3A; a thrilling victory for Jon Fairley in his Brabham BT11 in the HGPCA Race for Pre-1966 Grand Prix Cars (the first of a double-win over the weekend); another epic Standard & Modified Pre-war Sports-Car Race win for Fred Wakeman in his Frazer Nash Super Sports; Morgan Three-Wheeler driver Duncan Wood’s GP Itala Trophy victory as he followed home overall race winner Justin Maeers in the GN Parker Special; a stunning full grid of 1950s GT and production cars for the George Abecassis Trophy.
The following day saw the ERA marque take centre stage as their 80th Anniversary Trophy Race opened the afternoon’s racing activities – 10 of the revered voiturettes took to the track for the most spine-tingling and historic ten minutes of action, with Gillies again coming out on top in Dick Skipworth’s recently reacquired R3A, ahead of Nick Topliss in R4A and Duncan Ricketts in the E-Type GP1; Formula Junior commenced their 2014 Historic Front-engined Championship in style as the Lola Mk2 of Simon Goodliff led home the pack; Calum Lockie, in the Danaher Maserati 6CM, gave a racing master class as he dominated the VSCC’s Pre-1941 Racing Cars Race ahead of a battling pack of ERAs; the Lotus 15 of Peter Horsman triumphed in the ever-popular 1950s Sports Racing Cars event; Tony Wood scored an impressive double-win in the Maserati Tec Mec in the weekend’s two VSCC Pre-1961 Racing Car Races.
The weekend’s racing action was marred by two racing incidents; in Saturday’s GP Itala Trophy Race, Garry Whyte was involved in a rollover accident resulting in serious injuries. No other car or driver was involved. Garry was airlifted to hospital in Coventry where he is currently undergoing treatment; on Sunday, two cars tangled in the F3 (500) Race, resulting in moderate injuries to both drivers, who both continue to undergo medical treatment.
There proved plenty of attractions away from the track for Spectators too. The collection of both competing and exhibiting ERA cars on display to celebrate the 80th Anniversary was a real crowd-pleaser throughout the weekend; VSCC Principal Associate, Bonhams, brought a display of cars valuing several million pounds which will feature in their upcoming 2014 summer sales including the legendary ex-Gold Leaf Team F1 Lotus 49B raced by Graham Hill; Joy Rainey and her 1904 Oldsmobile were another real draw, as she recounted the story of her 2013 Pan-America journey in the veteran machine, as told in her recently published title ‘Joy Across America’.
This was another truly terrific ‘Spring Start’ event to kick start the VSCC’s Race and Speed Season; the Club offers its thanks to the many Marshals, Officials and other volunteers who helped make it happen and we look forward to a wonderful 80th Anniversary year ahead for the Club.
Visit the event page to download Race Results, complete with full list of award winners, and to view photos from the weekend (CLICK HERE); more photos will be uploaded to the gallery at the bottom of the event page as they are received.
You can also read a Peter Baker's 'Spring Start' report at the Retro-Speed website (CLICK HERE).
