VSCC Donington Park
)
A huge draw to the Club’s SeeRed Race Meeting was the Mephistopheles Trophy & Lanchester Trophy Race for Pre-1925 Racing Cars. A grid which was set to celebrate cars that were at least 100 years old; the race lineup had a dramatic lineup, and on track action added to the drama as both Hughie and Mark Walker were pushed off the grid before the start. Mark struggled with starting problems, but eventually got the Darraq going and joined the race from the pit lane well behind the pack. Thankfully Hughie also managed to get back on track, or rather he piloted the GN Thunderbug through the track, and after an epic race finished in fourth place. A track limits penalty demoted Chris Mann from first on track to second, meaning the programme’s Star Car, the Piccard-Pictet driven by youngster Archie Bullet took honours! The iconic Spider once again graced a VSCC track and finished in a solid third place. And if all this drama was not enough to have spectators on the edge of their seats, a race-long battle in midfield kept spectator attention primed.
Next up was the Bill Philips Trophy Race for Standard & Modified Pre-War Sports Cars, featuring the Club’s popular Owner Drive Mechanic (ODM) grid. The ODM’s reputation precedes itself, and as expected provided plenty of spectacle. Once again Chris Mann was first past the flag, this time in his 1931 Alfa Romeo 8C Monza, and kept his ‘on the track’ win here, although he was only narrowly ahead of Clive Fidgeon who drove a solid race for a very close second, finishing just 2 seconds behind. Another crowd favourite is the Specials Race, Sunday saw the grid walked by Theo Hunt (no surprise) securely in first, but a great battle for second between Piglet and Tony Seber’s Wolsley took place, with James Painter managing a spirited fourth.
The day’s timetable was absolutely packed with varied grids, cars, and race lengths: the Pre-War Le Mans Race was the first of the two driver races at Donington, Vijay Mallya and Patrick Blakeney-Edwards took a clear victory with Ewan Getley and Lewis Fox finishing just 15 seconds behind after a full 50-minute race, and despite a few mechanical gremlins with her three-wheeler Sue Darbyshire managed a creditable third place. The Front-Engined GP Cars saw a battle of Kurtis’ with Geraint Owen beating Fred Harper, and Rod Jolley’s Lister in third; and an added level of excitement came to the race with four ERAs entered, David Morris in R11B taking the top Pre-War honours. The Williams Trophy Race saw Chris Mann in his third race and he once again piloted his Alfa 8C to victory. The first Bugatti home was Jonathan Bailey in second place, with Bo Williams, also in a Bugatti, in third.
The penultimate race of the day was the Handicap Race, all eyes seemed to be on Wilf Cawley who started the grid at the back. Over the course of 8 laps Wilf had a lot of ground to cover, and he certainly did! Wilf worked his way through the grid and ended the race with Piglet in second just 3 seconds behind the lead, lapping 20 seconds quicker than eventual winner Ian Goddard in the MG PA-PB. There were plenty of close battles in the final lap with third place held onto by Peter Cundy in MG NA.
Now, onto the finale… The final race was the legendary Longstone Long Car Race, not the quickest race of the day but thoroughly enjoyed by all. Andy Newbound took a win in his Vauxhall, with Tim Wadsworth and the Lagonda in second, and a shared drive of Jeremy Brewster and Mark Groves in the Lea-Francis in third. Whilst they remain the ‘official’ winners, Longstone Tyres patron Dougal Cawley promptly disqualified them from the post-race awards ceremony for being too quick and awarded half-drunk bottles of champagne to the next three cars to finish. Special prizes were also given to the Longest Car (Bullets) and the Tallest Car (Chris Crook).
Whilst the Grand Prix at Silverstone had a wet, dry, wet, dry day Donington had a little drizzle but basked in sunshine especially for the final race, perhaps the weather gods prefer vintage racing too!
