VSCC
Oulton Park
Hawthorn Memorial Trophies
28th May, 2005
Visitors to Oulton
Park for the first VSCC racing event at the Cheshire venue since 1998 were
greeted by high winds, which kept the rain away for the weekend but did cause
some casualties among the traders tents. It was, perhaps, fortunate that the
sun did not shine on the event as despite the weather so many of the public
came to see what turned out to be an exciting day's racing that programmes were
sold out by early afternoon - a shame, as the publication included some
nostalgic features including a reproduction of Gordon Horner’s “Autocar”
sketchbook from 1961, and Judy Portway’s memories of Seaman Trophy meetings of
the past, when she attended as a schoolgirl alongside father Kenneth Neve’s TT
Humber with its Rolls-Royce tow-car.
The organisers
estimated that 3000 paid on the gate, a splendid turnout for a VSCC event these
days, and a good figure for any club motor sport meeting in the UK, much effort
by local members having gone into promotion of the meeting in the region’s news
media and on TV, and it is to be hoped that this augurs well for a regular
return for vintage racing at Oulton Park, the present agreement extending to
2007.
Many competitors
had not visited Oulton since the last VSCC race day and were pleasantly
surprised by the improvements to the facilities under the new ownership; the
tarmac surface on the paddock, for example, was pronounced a great improvement,
although Trisha felt that some direction should have been given so that
competing cars were displayed alongside the walkways so that spectators
wouldn’t need to negotiate trailers and other tackle to get a better view of
the machinery. Circuit owner Jonathan Palmer circulated among the crowd during
the day and was, apparently, pleased by public response.
Friday's general
test day attracted only a very small attendance, Barry Cannell being one who
took advantage in order to have his first outing for a year with his Cooper
T53, following its engine rebuild after Zolder, and also acclimatising himself
with the Willment sports car. It was an opportunity to check out the Knicker
Brook chicane, revised since the last VSCC meeting. By Friday evening, a
mini-TOPS encampment had formed, with Graham Burrows, the Cannells, and Richard
and Trisha, who had brought Trisha’s Alfa 1750 for a change. At other ends of
the paddock, Bill Ainscough’s American mini-rig and Hubert Fabri’s luxurious
motor home were in evidence.
There was some
splendid racing to be enjoyed on Saturday, the 50s Sports Cars being worthy of
particular mention, with Barry Cannell performing miracles with the Willment to
lead the first couple of laps before circuit-specialist Alan Minshaw took over
with his Birdcage Maserati, only to find Barry making a late charge to hound
the Italian car to the flag, a mere ½ second adrift. Martin Walford
entertained, having his first outing in Dean Butler’s recently-acquired Sadler
Mk lll, one of Canadian Bill Sadler’s creations. A paucity of traction gave
Martin a lively ride on his way to 5th, while promising much potential. A
whistle-stop visit from Spike Milligan lasted only three laps before his HWM
headed into the pits and retirement and he headed off back to Kent.
Following his
heroic efforts at Pau with Irvine Laidlaw’s Porsche 904, James Diffey showed
his versatility by taking a well-judged victory in the Bill Phillips Trophy,
with Jon Ruston’s 1937 Alta sports, duelling with James Baxter in Bill
Ainscough’s Alfa Monza for the entire race distance, both drivers sporting in
their praise for each other’s racecraft and track manners. A splendid example
of pre-war sports car racing by two young “chargers”.
Closest race of
all came with the HGPCA Pre’66 Grand Prix Car race, which had attracted a
fairly representative entry in spite of a clash with Monza’s historic meeting,
with Alan Minshaw’s son Jason having his first race in dad’s ex-John Beasley
Brabham BT4. His main challenger proved to be another HGPCA debutant,
sometime-modern racer Danny Wright with Philip Walker’s BT11, the race turning
into something of a Brabham benefit, the pair outpacing John Harper (BT4) and
Dickie Attwood in David Pennell’s BT11. A slight misunderstanding with
backmarkers on the final lap allowed Wright to close up on the run to the line,
Minshaw just getting the verdict by 5/100ths of a second! Barry Cannell had a
lonely run to sixth, behind the similar Cooper of Mark Gillies.
Julian Majzub
completed a hat-trick of Boulogne Trophy victories with his Pacey-Hassan
Bentley, coming home well clear of Robin Baker’s Hispano-Delage, while Richard
completed the race with only 5/6ths of his cylinders in action, narrowly losing
out to Bruce Stops’ Bugatti 35. Mark Gillies had an easy win in Rodney Smith’s
ERA R3A in the poorly-supported Hawthorn Trophies race - pre- and post-war
combined due to lack of entries - with Stuart Harper the slightly surprised
recipient of the Spanish Trophy with his Kurtis Indycar, in spite of Charlie
Dean’s efforts to keep the oval-racer in sight with his Bugatti 51 which ended
with a broken layshaft leaving him with top gear.
There seemed to be
a general feeling of well-being amongst old Oulton habitués in having a fixture
back on the calendar and the overall impression was that it had been a
promising return to Oulton for the VSCC - although the HSCC has been running
the Historic Gold Cup meeting for the last couple of years - and the circuit
owners, Motor Sport Vision, seem to appreciate the potential of well-promoted
historic events and it is to be hoped that their support will continue. A.S.C.
TOPS TEAM
|
Roger Saul |
Alfa Romeo P3 |
Hubert Fabri |
Alfa Romeo Monza |
|
Bill Ainscough |
Frazer Nash Sebring |
Adrian vd Kroft |
Cooper ERSA 1955 |
|
Barry Cannell |
Willment 1956 |
Spike Milligan |
HWM Jaguar |
|
Hubert Fabri |
Aston Martin DB3S |
Tony Ditheridge |
Cooper T45 |
|
Michael Steele |
HWM Sports 1954 |
Simon Hope |
Pierce MG F2 |
|
Roger Sweet |
Franziss Special 1928 |
Julian Majzub |
Bentley Pacey-Hassan |
|
Richard Pilkington |
Alfa Romeo 1750 |
Graham Burrows |
Cooper Bristol Mk 2 |
|
Michael Parr |
Cooper Bristol T25 |
David White |
Cooper Bristol |
|
Adrian vd Kroft |
HWM |
Charles Dean |
Bugatti T 51 |
|
Mark Butterworth |
Lagonda V12 |
Bill Ainscough |
Alfa Romeo 8c Monza |
|
Richard Black |
Talbot Lago T23 |
Graham Burrows |
Cooper T43 |
|
Barry Cannell |
Cooper T53 |
Rod Jolley |
Cooper T45 |
|
Adrian vd Kroft |
Cooper T51 |
John V-Llewelyn |
Cooper T45 |
