Golden era

Simon Taylor’s Notebook article on non-championship F1 races brought back memories of my cycling to Snetterton in the early sixties for the Lombank Trophy F1 event. Stirling Moss, Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Jack Brabham, John Surtees, Dan Gurney, Innes Ireland etc, could all be seen at our local circuit; wonderful! Later, having acquired a car, we always attended the Daily Express Trophy at Silverstone, and later the Race of Champions at Brands Hatch. The real joy of these events was that the grand prix drivers drove in the supporting races as well; typically Jim Clark would drive a Lotus Elan, Cortina and Type 30 at many of these meetings. F2 events in that era also featured star drivers, who also drove in supporting races. Impossible to revive of course, but imagine Schumacher, Alonso and Räikkonen competing in saloons, sportscars and sports-racers at the same meeting… Exciting!

John Hostler, Norwich.