VSCC Donington "See Red" meeting September 2007 

Text, video and photos by John Sutton

VSCC DONINGTON  PARK "SEE RED"

15 - 16 SEPTEMBER 2007

Text, video and photos by John Sutton

The Donington Park race meeting has now become a regular fixture in the VSCC calender.  It is the one event where Historic racing cars are invited and there is a display of other exotic racing cars.  This year the fabulous Mercedes W 125 was demonstrated by Tony Dron.  In addition there are races for historic motorcyles and a 2 hour Team Relay.race for Pre-war sports cars.

	Mercedes-Benz	W 125 of 1937

This sensational racing car was developed from the W25 by Rudolf Uhlenhaut, who was only 30 years old, and the newly appointed technical director. It was a race winner from the start and the specification embodied the latest developments with unequal length wishbone front suspension, coil springs and telescopic dampers at the front.  The rear suspension was by de Dion tube, torion bar springs and telescopic dampers. The engine was a straight eight of 5660 cc giving a stupendous 580 bhp and was fuelled by a concoction of methanol, ethyl alcohol and benzine.  The braking was hydraulic with huge drums but even these struggled to retard such a powerful car.  Another problem was tyres which were only 5.25 X 17 at the front and 700 x 19 at the rear and they frequently shredded.  The other outstanding feature was the body style in aluminium over a tube frame. At a weight of 833 kg the power to weight ratio gave over 700 bhp per ton.  

Video of Races

 The first race on Saturday was over 5 laps for Pre-War MGs.  The outright winner was Anne Templeton in her 1500 cc supercharged MG KN Special lapping at 73 mph and comfortably ahead of second place runner Edward Mullins with the MG K Type which was also 1500 cc supercharged.  Mike Painter and John Dutton were very closely matched and finished 5th and 6th respectively.  7th place was taken by Tony Seber in the suprcharged PA.  Fred Boothby manageged 14th place in the little 847 cc Montlhery Midget.

Edward Mullins	Painter and Dutton	Tony Seber	Mike Painter	Fred Boothby

Tom Dark Q Type

Tom Dark was well up in the skittish Q Type but failed to finish as did Peter Haynes in a similar car.

Race 2 was for front engined Formula Junior cars over 10 laps.  It was divided into classes for Fiat or Lancia engined cars and the others built before the end of December 1960 with engines up to 1100 cc.  The popularity of Formula Junior continues to attract new entries and the value of them has risen accordingly, but it does provide an opportunity for drivers to enjoy single seater racing for a modest  budget.  This race was won by Robin Longdon in his Lola Mk 2 even after an early spin which we captured on the video.  He passed everyone including Stuart Roach in the Alexis Mk 2 who finished a close second.

Robin Longdon Lola	Stuart Roach Alexis	Paul Smeeth Elva	Geoff O'nion Elva	Roger Dexter Elva

Other less well known makes were represented by Tony Steele in the Taraschi, Jeremy Bouckley in the Smith F2 and Bill Grimshaw spinning his Moorland MK1.

Steele Taraschi	Bouckley Smith F2	Grimshaw Moorland

There followed a 5 lap scratch race for VSCC Pre-War cars.  The first three places were hotly contended by the ERAs of Paul Mullins R7B and Paddins Dowling R10B but Sean Danaher in the Maserati 6CM came between them to take second.  Others  we photographed were Justin Maeers in the lively Parker GN who finished 7th and Alex Pilkington in the Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 who was 20th.

First 3 runners	Dowling & Danaher	Sean Danaher	Justin Maeers GN	Alex Pilkington Alfa

Ashby Derby Bentley

Brian Ashby had a moment or two with the Derby Benltley Special but still managed to finish 14th.

The Donington meeting is host to the Lansdowne Classic Series for historic motorcycles and two 8 lap heats were run to determine the overall winner.  This postion was achieved by Vernon Glashier on his Manx Norton who won both races.  The other top runners were Mark Sharrock on the Matchless G50, Chris Swallow on another Manx Norton and Tim Jackson on a Matchless G50.

Glashier - Swallow	Sharrock - Russell	Russell on Norton	Chris Swallow	Peter Swallow

Amongst the oher riders were David Beckett, Grant Sellar sand Adam Lonsdale on Manx Nortons.  Alan Windsor was on an AJS 7R and Peter Crew on a 1948 Velocette KTT.

Sellars - Windsor	Beckett - Lonsdale	Crew - P. Swallow

Race 5 was for Group C/GTP Sports Cars, hardly vintage but they make quite a spectacle.  There were two races for these screamers the first on Saturday was run over 40 minutes and again on Sunday for 30 minutes.  They certainly got their money's worth.

Sumpter Porsche

Sumpter Porsche	DeVries Intrepid	Mercer Spice	Whight & Rini	Clarke Spice	Pearman & Purdy

Compared with the vintage cars on display these Group C Sports cars are very complicated.

Porsche engine bay

The last event on Saturday was the 2 hour White House Memorial Relay Race for Pre-War Teams.  The winners were the "Dirty Dogs" fielding a four car team of Frazer Nashs led by Jonathan Cobb with Charles Gillett, Tom Walker and Brian White. 

Gillett Frazer Nash	White Frazer Nash

The "10 Minute Wonders" were second with a mixed team captained by John Ruston whose 2 litre supercharged Alta was driven by Gareth Burnett.  The other members of the team were Simon Hope of H & H Auctions in P S Neumark's Alfa Romeo Monza, P S Neumark in his other Monza and Julian Bronson in the Riley Blue Streak.

Hope Monza Alfa

Third were the Team HRG's captained by William Mahany (see our video interview ith Him in our Cars and Drivers section) backed up by Andrew Mitchell in P C Mitchell's HRG 1.5 litre and Dudley Sterry with Barry Clarkes HRS Sports.

HRG Team	Sterry  HRS Sports

Fourth was the "Top Nob Racing with Pace " team also captained by John Rushton.  He must have had a busy afternoon as he was also driving for the "10 Minute Wonders" team.   His team was all Talbot 105's and were driven by Adrian Van der Kroft, Phil Stainton No. 12, M Stravalde and John Polson. 

Top Nob Talbots

Other teams featured below were "Team George Formby" with Jane Varley driving Richard Lake's Aston Martin 15/98 Speed.  "The Talboteers" included Nicholas Pellett in a Talbot Tourer and the "MG no 3" team with Mark Piercy in an MG C Type.  The "Austin Powers" were not so powerful and were 21st overall and included Amanda Fane de Salis in her splendid Austin 7 Salamanda.

Jane Varley Aston	Nicholas Pellett	Piercy MG C Type	Amanda Fane de Salis

Not so fortunate was Edward Mullins in the MG K Type which ran into the tyre wall opposite the pits.  Such a shame after he had finished second in the first race of the day.

Mullins MG K Type

Sunday was another sunny day in Leicestershire with gusty winds which made it rather difficult for your reporter when taking track side shots.  The first race was the second heat of the Lansdowne Classic Series.  Race 2 was the ever popular VSCC Edwardian event for cars up to 1918.  It was won by Charles Gillett driving Hildyard's 9.9 litre Theophile Schneider Aero Special closely followed into second place by David Baker in the 9 litre Piccard-Pictet Special with only 2.42 seconds between them.   Engine size clearly makes a difference and the trend for these cars is the fitting of early aero engines, although the 3rd place went to Robin Tuluie driving Julian Mazub's Indianapolis Sunbeam which was only 4.9 litres.  Fourth was Mark Walker in the 12.8 litre Panhard-Levassor followed by Willam Way in the 8.2 litre Mors Le Sanglier.  Michael Crehan has acquired the 11.8 litre Vauxhall Viper from David Biggins and made 6th place. The Tourist Trophy Sunbeam of 1914 was 7th driven by Nicholas Pellett followed by Mike Holt on the 11.8 litre Hispano Suiza engined Brazier.  James Gunn was airing Alastair Lockhart's Vauxhall A type with 4 litre D type engine.

Gillet Schneider	Baker Piccard-Pict.	Tuluie Sunbeam	Walker Panhard	Crehan Vauxhall

Pellett Sunbeam TT	Holt Brazier	Gunn Vauxhall A-D

Vauxhall & Sunbeam

The next race was the Ron Flockhart Memorial Trophy for Grand Prix cars up to 1960.  This trophy commemorates Ron winning the 1959 Lady Wigram Trophy in New Zealand with the BRM P25 beating Jack Brabham and Bruce McLaren.  This years winner was Philip Walker in the Lotus 16 who finished 5.44 seconds ahead of Chris Bullimore in the Cooper T45.  Stuart Harper has now mastered the 4.2 litre1957 Kurtis Indy-Roadster and took third place 17.68 seconds behind the leader.  Fourth was Nick Wigley in the Connaught B Type follwed by Anthony Ditheridge in another Cooper T45.  The first Cooper Bristol home was Paul Grant in a Mk 1 then Scotty Taylor Cooper T45 and Patrick Walker Cooper Bristol.  The 1954 Kieft GP of Gregory Snape owned by Bill Morris, was 9th, an interesting car on account of the fact that it never ran in period.  Also worth watching was the 2 litre supercharged ERA R7B driven by Paul Mullins .  Bearing in mind that it was 20 years older than any of the other runners it was lapping at 75.57 mph to take 11th place.  Hubert Fabri was airing his Aston Martin DBR4 and so was David Wenman in a similar car who was last but one ahead of Alex Boswell in the 1952 Ferrari 625A.

Walker Lotus 16	Bullimore Cooper	Harper Kurtis-Indy	Ditheridge Cooper	Grant Cooper Bristol

Taylor Cooper T45	Patrick Walker	Mullins ERA R7B

Snape Kieft	Fabri Aston Martin	Boswell Ferrari 625	Last men home

The 12 lap Vintage Seaman Trophy race was not as well supported as usual, possibly because a number of eligable Bugattis were scheduled to race in the next but one event.  The winner was Jonathan Cobb with the Frazer Nash Super Sports followed by Robert Carr in the AC/GN Special.  Third was Brandon Smith-Hilliard in a Bugatti Type 35B and fourth Tom Walker in another GN Special.  Here are some of the competitors.

Smith-Hilliard	Leston Lovell Elkhart	Maers Parker GN	Emmerling Riley

We missed the Williams Trophy race but it was a very close finish with Charles Dean in the Type 51 Bugatti only 1.47 seconds ahead of Duncan Ricketts in Julian Majzub's Riley Dixon.  Andy Johnson was third in his Alfa Romeo Monza 8C.

The Historic Seaman Trophy race was a dominated by the ERA's of Mark Gillies R3A and David Morris R11B, both with 2 litre engines.  The photos show how close they were with Mark winning by a mere 4.48 seconds.  Duncan Ricketts was out again this time in his E Type ERA, over which he seems to gained control, to finish 3rd.  It was also nostalgic for your reporter to see his old 1500 cc ERA R6B finish 7th in the capable hands of Ian Landy.  The little MG Q Type with only 850 cc was as lively as ever in the hands of Tom Dark.

Gillies & Morris	Morris & Gillies	Ricketts ERA E Type	Ian Landy ERA R6B	Tom Dark MG QType

Race 8 0n Sunday was the Historic Grand Prix Cars Association (HGPCA) 12 lapper in four classes.  Class 9 was for rear-engined Formula 1/ Formula 2 pre 1959 cars of no more than 2 litres.  Class 10 for Formula 1 pre 1966 1.5 litre 4 cylinder rear-engine cars.  Class 11 for Formula 1 pre 1966 with 1.5 itre muli-cylinder rear engined cars.  Class 12 for Tasman and Intercontinental cars pre 1966.  Outright winner was Nick Wigley in a Cooper T51, class 12, from Rod Jolley in his Cooper T45/51, both with 2.5 litre engines, by a margin of 6.98 seconds at an average speed of 85.68 mph.  3rd overall was Sidney Hoole, and first in class 11, in a Cooper T66 of 1.5 litres followed by Alan Baillie in a Cooper T71/73 of 1.5 litres who was first in class 10 .  Class 9 was won by Chris Bullimore who was 6th overall.  All a bit confusing but important to the drivers.  Richard Attwood was having some handling problems with the BRM P261, as seen on our video, and retired after 2 laps.

Jolley Cooper T45	Biallie Cooper T71	Wareing BRM P261	Ashby Emeryson	Clarke Cooper T51

Attwood BRM P261	Richard Attwood

The last race of the meeting was for 1950's Sports Cars over 12 laps.  The winner was Stephen Gibson in a Lister "Knobbly" at an average sped of 83.69 mph closely followed by John Harper in his Cooper Monaco Sports.  Third was Philip Walker in a Lotus 15 and fourth Tim Llewellyn with the Tojeiro Jaguar.  It was a closely contested race with only 29.93 seconds seperating the first 5 cars and 5th place man Jamie McIntyre in the Lister Corvette only 0.02 of a second behind Tim Llewellyn.  Other interesting cars were driven by Ben Eastick, Jaguar XKD, Michel Steele, HWM, and Alan Minshaw, of Demon Tweaks, in his Maserati Tipo 61 "Birdcage".

Gibson Lister	Harper Cooper	Walker Lotus 15	Llewellyn Tojeiro

Eastick Jaguar D	Steele HWM Jaguar	Minshaw Maserati

To finish this lengthy report we add a cautionary tale.  In the Edwardian race Cartwright lost a wheel, fortunately without any other serious damage to the car or driver, but just look at the detail of the front stub axle.  It highlights the need for crack testing of this component on all cars, but particularly on ones dating back to 1913.

1913 Sunbeam	Sheared stub axle

 

The End