VSCC Mallory Park: An epic end to a fantastic Season

The Young Persons' Scratch Race was timetabled before lunch to whet the appetite of Spectators, and it certainly set the tone for the afternoon. The VSCC were delighted to have such a well-supported youth grid, especially given that nearly a third of the entries were from some of the Club's young female drivers! Becky Smith, who has long campaigned, supported and promoted the grid took a much deserved podium step after skillfully driving her Morris Mord to third place. Well known faces Wilf Cawley and Theo Hunt piloted Piglet and a Nash to second and first places, respectively. And in another win for the girls, India Walker won the sealed handicap too!

A youngster was in the spotlight for the second race of the day too, seeing Archie Collings in the mighty Mercedes 120 storming into first for the Edwardian Handicap. Making it a family affair, coming in second (and 23 seconds behind the lead) was father Ben Collings in the Zust Brixia. It was a close battle for the final podium step, just 0.89 seconds between Sandford Andrews' Ford Kulick and John Polson's Talbot 25 HP, but the Talbot edged ahead taking third. Sandford got his moment in the spotlight later in the day as he came second in the Boulogne Trophy Race, this time in his Morgan, flanked by a Riley either side, with Adam Moody in third, and Mike James just 1.37 seconds ahead in first place. This was Mike's second podium of the day, his first being for the Club's highly anticipated Specials grid where he narrowly missed out on first to Theo Hunt and his Nash.

Another highly anticipated grid is that of the Owner Driver Mechanic (ODM). This grid is a fantastic opportunity to see some of the Club's large cars pitted against some of their smaller counterparts and usually provides some exciting and close racing. Mallory was no different, Spectators being kept on the edge of their seats as the battle for first ensued all the way to the finish line, Chris Mann sneaking his Alfa 8C ahead beating Robert Beebee's Nash back into second by half a second. The close nature of this grid continued with little more than one second separating third to fifth places too.

Settling into mid-afternoon, the Bob Gerard Memorial and Robert Ashley Trophies Race for Pre-war and Pre-66 Racing Cars really added to the variety of cars on track, the top three on grid featuring a Cooper T35, A Kieft Formula Junior, and Kurtis Indy Roadster. A complete contrast of the race to follow, the Burghley Trophy Race, with a grid exclusively dominated by Austin.

Mallory showcased the 'dark art' of handicapping once again in Race 8, the Handicap Race for Pre-War Cars, although Rufus Flann and the Nash Super Sports clearly outfoxed the system finishing almost 15 second ahead of the pack. Although second and third was a much closer finish with Peter Cundy's MG NA, followed by Grant Crawley and a Riley Special.

Peter was in the following race so missed his podium as he was straight back out to re-grid. Not to worry, he returned for his prize and seemed to enjoy his moment with the podium all to himself! At this point the Triple M grid champions were awaiting their prizes and in a true show of camaraderie joined us to cheer Peter on too.

The meeting ended on a high with the Tidd and Ingham Trophy Scratch Race for Pre-War Cars, rather fittingly featuring yet another female driver on the podium. Richard Wiseman slid the Bugatti Type 35 into third, Joanne White flew the Riley Falcon Special into second, and Wilf Cawley, this time in a Frazer Nash Super Sports, took first in his second podium of the day. All winners received a bottle of wine courtesy of Club sponsors Louis Latour but Wilf was also greeted by an enthusiastic hug from fellow racer Ben Maeers.

And with that, we draw the curtains on this year’s race season. The VSCC organises a broad range of events, with several tours, hillclimbs, trials and driving tests still to come.