VSCC: First Silverstone

No, not the first time the Vintage Sports Car Club has been to this circuit, but so-called because, following the racing there on April 11 there will be a second such event on June 13. Mark you, depending on the time at which you watched, you might have thought you were at a post-vintage gathering, as Harper’s Jaguar won the 1950s sports/racing 10-lapper at 80 mph from Mason’s Maserati and Pearson’s Jaguar, with a Devin next home. More post-war cars competed in the third event, when Stretton’s Connaught vanquished Mayman’s pre-war ERA R4D, which was a trifle sick at the time, apparently, and was thus 2 mph down on the winners 83 mph average. Mason, Lindsay and Lodge formed a trio of Maseratis in the next three places, beating the Turtle Drill Special.

Tradition was restored when Julian Majub headed the 10-lap Vintage Racing Car scratch race at 75 mph from Nick Mason, both in Bugattis. Morley’s giant Napier-Bentley just held off Harper’s Morgan three-wheeler for third spot, as has happened before. Tradition was then firmly re-established as Mayman took R4D to victory in the 12-lap Pre-War Racing Car event, in a tight finish with Lindsay’s R5B and Ricketts in RIB. Indeed, six of the Bourne marque occupied the first six placings, R98, R6B and R14B leading Margulies’s Maserati in.

As usual, the day had begun with the High Speed Trial, seemingly easy, as only five failed to qualify — Owen in his Morris Special, Miss Ojegba in a Riley and Hall in an Alvis, the other two only because too many personnel helped at the compulsory pit stop. Mayman’s Maserati won the 10-lap race for pre-war sports cars, from Pilkington’s Talbot and Grist’s Alfa Romeo, with Burrell’s Bentley and Sparrowhawk’s Alvis having a close-fought battle behind, just 0.5s covering them at the line. The winners of the five-lap handicaps were Surnmerfield’s Riley, Spiers’s Alvis, and Dowle’s Bentley, and the only five-lap scratch race saw Stops’s Riley come through to take the chequered flag. The hectic Easter printing schedule prevented a report last month.

In the Motor Sport Brooklands Memorial Trophy Contest, AJ Mayman is already in the lead, with 36 points. The next round is at Silverstone again, at the afore mentioned June 13 meeting.