VSCC Spring Start (2024)

The Richard Bell Memorial Trophy

VSCC, Spring Start, Silverstone National, 21st April, 2024

Preamble

The VSCC Spring Start meeting has been our first race of the season for many years. In recent times our members have raced for The Tom Cole Trophy, alongside the VSCC’s Hawthorn International Trophy, but last year, having won it 3 years in succession, we decided to allow Jonathan Abecassis to retain it in perpetuity. Naturally, we wished to continue with a trophy for this meeting and some debate ensued. The sad death of our founder member and Club Secretary Richard Bell last August obviated the need for further discussion and we were proud to announce that our members would be competing for the annual Richard Bell Memorial Trophy at the forthcoming 2024 version of this race.  

Some years ago the VSCC proposed merging our grid with that of the VSCC Hawthorn International Trophy for, if I recall correctly, two reasons – our own FISCAR grids at this meeting were in decline and, equally, the VSCC couldn’t muster sufficient 1950s cars amongst their members to justify a separate race. It all made sense and we wished emphatically to retain a slot at this meeting (and still do!). FISCAR members always represented the majority of the grid, even allowing for the fact that some of the cars from both clubs complied with the regs for both parts of the race, so there was a degree of overlap. The number of actual sports racing cars has been quite small in recent seasons but their presence does restrict the maximum grid size to 34 cars, whereas a FISCAR only grid would be allowed to run up to 40 cars. This has not been an issue until this year, when it seems likely that FISCAR could have run close to that number on our own. Apart from the obvious desire, amongst members, to enter the first race in memory of Richard, there seems to have been a resurgence of interest in FISCAR which started last year with new members and a number of invited suitable cars on our books to ensure a large enough pool of cars to generate decent sized grids.  Having said that, from personal observation, a 34 car grid on the Silverstone National Circuit seemed more than adequate! 

At one point, we had a full grid of 34 cars plus 4 reserves. We had to deflect a number of other potential entrants for that reason but, of course, it’s a balancing act because we know that there is potential for withdrawals both before the event and following practice.   Pre event withdrawals included Andrew Mitchell (Lotus Elite - engine), Rory Tollett (Austin Healey 100M – engine) and Martin Stowe (MGA). The beautiful Maserati 300S of Tania Pilkington failed to show on the day and Peter Mann had to withdraw the Cooper Bristol T24/25 which Alistair Pugh was down to drive  following its exploits at the Goodwood Members meeting the week before. All this meant that the remaining two reserves, Michael Berry (Austin Healey 100) and Brett Dillon (Sebring Sprite) were likely to get into the race. Although a 1959 car the Sebring was fitted with a 1330cc engine so an invitation car but Brett is a novice driver. Both cars were prepared by Paul Woolmer’s team.

There were 3 new cars to our ranks, the truly splendid 1946 L type Allard of Andrew Howe-Davies surely the oldest car ever to run with us and part of Allard’s first batch of 7 such cars introduced at the same time as the J1 Competition model. I had a long chat with Andrew but failed to get his contact details, so if anyone can point him in FISCAR’s direction, please do so. George Passey entered his lovely AC Aceca. This is an invitation car, since although the Aceca came out in the mid 50s, this was a car fitted with the post 1960 Ford 2.6 litre engine by Ruddspeed. We had always excluded these but I’d agreed some time ago that George could join us and this is very much a road going car and unlikely to match the best of our Bristol engined Aces.  Another new car was the Kellison of Dr Robin Tuluie, a very original car with drum brakes all round and likely to be some some way off the pace of Richard Tyzack’s version.

A number of members popped in to say hello and ‘chew the fat’. The recently race retired Alan House spent most of the day with us, Rory and Glenn Tollett were present, Glenn sporting a pair of crutches due to a skiing accident and Simon Jefferies appeared, representing the products of Feltham in spirit. Richard would have loved all this although may have rued the absence of any example of his favourite marque on the grid. Mark Campbell was also there; as fellow founder member of FISCAR with Richard, how could he not have been, and it saved Richard Culverhouse and I having to ponder over the Index of Performance calculations. Most importantly, Richard Bell was represented by his son, Charlie, Charlie’s wife Laura and their sons, Barnaby and Hamish.  

Professional photographer, Mick Walker has again furnished us with a substantial number of great photos. My own contribution is meagre since the fencing around Luffield has been raised further and I could not get shots over it even with a footstool, so attempted some from further down at the exit of Woodcote. There won’t be any pit stop shots this time either as we were spread too thinly!   

Qualifying

35 cars headed out onto the track,, vying for 34 places but we always lose one or two by the end of practice and it was to be no different this time. George Fordy’s Elva Courier did 9 laps but ‘had a rear brake fire when qualifying was red flagged and unfortunately the seal that we had as a spare didn’t quite fit so would have leaked brake fluid, sadly, but not too much damage otherwise, so got off very lightly.’ Rick Willmott’s Gomm Jaguar qualified 7th after only 4 laps but withdrew with engine woes. Qualifying was red flagged when Brett Dillon pulled his Sebring Sprite off the track just beyond Copse and was very quickly followed by Chris Mann’s Alfa Romeo Disco Volante. I noted a rear wheel lock up or snatch as Chris was negotiating Copse and to be on the safe side he immediately pulled off. However, it turned out to be a one off moment and Chris was able to take the grid, as indeed did Brett after much work from the Woolmer crew!

On pole, not unexpectedly, Martin Hunt posted a 1.10.70 in his HWM Jaguar but Chris Keen in the Kurtis 500 only qualified 4th with a time of 1.13.81 – pretty slow for this car, but he had had struggled to find a clear track and would go much quicker in the race. Between Martin and Chris lay the Lotus Elite of David Alexander and the Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica of Theo Hunt. They were on identical times – 1.13.62, but David recorded this time first, and we shall return to that point a bit later! I should point out that the times were not especially quick and drivers commented on the strong winds that affected the cars to the extent that it was taking longer to hit peak revs.

Qualifying 5th was Scott Quattlebaum in the LECo, but he was not entirely happy with the rear axle ratio, which had been changed after Castle Combe where he had been running out of revs. Nevertheless, he had been very quick at Combe and the new ratios were probably too long for the Silverstone National circuit. Scott was on a 1.14.12 and he shared  the 3rd row with the very quick Mark Ellis in his MGA Twin Cam on 1.14.97. I have already mentioned the Gomm Special so qualifying 8th was Nick Taylor in Richard Tyzack’s Kellson J4R  ona 1.15.37. Brian Arculus was 9th on a 1.15.50 in his Lotus Elite and rounding out the top ten was Tim Child in his Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica on a 1.15.96.   

Mark Hoble qualified well on a 1.16.59 in his Morgan +4 and alongside in 12th, was Justin Beckett in the sole AC Ace on a 1.17.67. Christopher Mann had the Alfa Romeo Disco Volante performing well on a 1.18.20, qualifying 13th with Ed Shah, only a little slower, sharing the 7th row on 1.18.41. In 15th, Simon Evans had the Allard J2X Le Mans on a 1.18.94, gradually getting to grips with the big old V8 and newcomer, Dr Robin Tuluie was alongside in his Kellison Exp 001, just 4 one hundredths slower, so 16 cylinders on one row! Neil Burnside was next up in his MGA Twin Cam with a time of 1.19.59 sharing row 9 with Barry Dye’s Lotus Elite on a 1.1.19.88. George Fordy (Elva Courier) & Michael Scott (FNLMR} rounded out the top 20 on 1.20..27 and 1.20.41 respectively, but there was plenty more to come.

Onto row 11, and George Daniell had qualified his MGA Twin Cam on a 1.20.85, with the Mark Groves/Dougal Cawley alongside on a 1.21.51 in the Lotus Elite. The Elite was not going well mainly because a plug lead had fallen off! It would surely go better in the race. On the next row, qualifying on 1.21.71 was Reuben Jacob in his Morgan +4, a car that had been uprated over the winter and now promoted to Class 3. Newcomer, Mike Berry in his Austin Healey 100/4 had qualified in a time of 1.22.11 and there is no doubt that he will get quicker in that car. Andrew Cox qualified the Triumph TR3 Falcon on 1.22.71 and sharing the 13th row with him was Brett Dillon in the Sebring Sprite on a 1.23.17. Nicola Burnside was next up, in another MGA Twin Cam on 1.23.19 with Mark Shears alongside in the first of the splendid brace of Flat Rad Morgans on 1.23.42. Richard Frankel had the lovely Alfa Romeo Giulietta, 29th on 1.23.84, with Valerio Leone’s Elva Mk5 on 1.23.91. This Elva is potentially very quick but Valerio is learning his craft and it will, naturally, take time.

The second flat rad Morgan of Leigh Sebba and Peter Cole qualified 31st on 1.24.31 with Stuart Dean’s MG Dick Jacobs Special alongside on 1.24.90. 33rd was George Passey in the lovely AC Aceca on 1.28.75, with a big gap to Harry Naergar on 1.34.74, in the Jowett Jupiter and another big gap to the final qualifier, Andrew Howe-Davies in the L type Allard. It seemed likely that George and Andrew would find more time during the race. It was noticeable how close some of the times were further up the field so we could be hopeful of some close but gentlemanly racing. We also hoped that the weather would stay fine but that maybe the cold wind would drop a bit! Although 35 cars had qualified for the 34 slots, I have already alluded to the loss of a couple, so 33 cars went to the grid, almost perfect!

Race

Martin Hunt charged the HWM into Copse already with a 3 cars length lead but Chris Keen thundered the Kurtis through from the second row to take second and give chase, just ahead of Theo Hunt in the Frazer Nash. Other good starts came from Mark Ellis, in the MGA Twin Cam, Scott Quattlebaum in the LECo and Nick Taylor in Richard Tyzack’s Kellison. In contrast, David Alexander had a poor start, the Elite dropping to 7th with Brian Arculus just behind in his Elite. The whole field had got away well and streamed through Copse in pursuit of the leaders, and the process of sorting themselves out began. They jostled and diced down through Maggots and Aintree onto the Wellington Straight and under the road bridge and as they came into sight heading into Brooklands for the first time, Martin Hunt led by a few car lengths from Chris Keen, the HWM and the Kurtis by far the quickest cars in the race, already edging away from the pack. After them came a whole gaggle of cars and Brooklands, Luffield and Woodcote looked incredibly busy on that first lap. What a sight!    

The HWM crossed the line at the end of the first lap with a 2 second lead over the Kurtis, in turn 3 seconds ahead of the Frazer Nash, but Theo Hunt had Scott Quattlebaum for very close company and a whole bunch of cars completed the lap line astern with David Alexander already into recovery mode, up to 5th.  They kept coming until all 33 had crossed the line, covered by 35 seconds. Last through was Valerio Leone in the Elva Mk5 but I did not expect him to stay there for long.

During Lap 2, Martin Hunt extended his lead over Chris Keen to almost 3 seconds but they were both still pulling away from third placed Frazer Nash of Theo Hunt who headed a tightly bunched group of cars consisting of the LECo (Scott Quattlebaum), Lotus Elite (David Alexander) and the Kellison of Nick Taylor who had powered his way up to 6th. Brian Arculus had also improved a place, up to 7th having passed the MGA Twin Cam of Mark Ellis. Tim Child still had the second of the Frazer Nashes in 9th, closely followed by Mark Hoble’s Morgan and the second Kellison of Robin Tuluie. Behind Robin, the Groves/Cawley Lotus Elite had moved into 12th at the expense of Simon Evans in the Allard J2X Le Mans. In 14th, Justin Beckett(AC Ace) led an unchanged group of cars down to 20th, in the order Chris Mann (Alfa DV), Neil Burnside (MGA Twin Cam), Michael Scott (FNLMR), Barry Dye (Lotus Elite), Andrew Cox (TR3 Falcon) and Nicola Burnside (MGA Twin Cam). Ed Shah had dropped back a couple of places to 23rd losing out to both Michael Berry’s Austin Healey 100 and Reuben Jacob’s Morgan. In fact Reuben had gained two places as he had also overtaken George Daniell’s MGA Twin Cam which was now 24th. Mark Shears (Flat Rad Morgan), Richard Frankel (Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint) and Brett Dillon in his Sebring Sprite were all keeping in close order, hard on the heels of George.

Stuart Dean had the delightful DJS Coupe in 28th, albeit a further 5 seconds back but only just ahead of the Sebba/Cole Flat rad Morgan. George Passey was next up in the Aceca but 4 seconds ahead of the Elva of Valerio Leone who, not unexpectedly, had moved passed both Andrew Howe-Davies and Harry Naergar in Allard and Jowett respectively, enjoying their own battle, of which there was plenty going on throughout the field. As they swept onto lap 3, a minute separated the leader from Harry.

At the end of lap 3, Chris Keen had stabilised the gap to Martin Hunt’s HWM but they were in a race of their own for the Hawthorn International Trophy, now almost 10 seconds clear. There was plenty of close racing behind for although Theo Hunt had pulled out a second and a half on Scott Quattlebaum, Scott had one eye on his mirrors with both David Alexander’s Lotus Elite and Nick Taylor in the Kellison breathing down his neck. As they crossed the line to complete lap 3 just two tenths of a second covered the 3 of them so I imagine they were overlapping each other!

Brian Arculus was a couple of second behind the dicing trio, 7th in his Lotus Elite but had pulled a second and a half out of Mark Ellis in the quickest of the MGA Twin Cams. Mark still had Tim Child’s Frazer Nash LMR for close company with Mark Hoble a further 2 seconds back, holding  10th place with his Morgan. Mark was 2 seconds ahead of Robin Tuluie in his Kellison, going extremely well but having to fight to stay ahead of the Cawley/Groves Elite. They were both 4 seconds clear of Simon Evans in the big Allard J2X Le Mans in 13th, but Simon had Justin Beckett’s Ac Ace running him close. Such contrasts in these cars, the power of the V8s holding sway on the straights but struggling  with the nibbler better handling cars in the corners. It was all great fun to watch. Not far behind in 15th, Chris Mann had the glorious Alfa Romeo Disco Volante absolutely singing, a couple of seconds ahead of Neil Burnside’s MGA Twin Cam, and just another two seconds behind was Michael Scott’s Frazer Nash LMR. Two second gaps seemed almost to be the norm at this point as Barry Dye’s Lotus Elite in 18th was a similar amount behind Michael. However, Barry unlike many was able to concentrate ahead as he had pulled out a 4 second gap on Andy Cox’s TR3 Falcon.  Nicola Burnside still held 20th, the MGA Twin Cam just over 2 seconds behind Andy.

Nicola was leading quite a gaggle of cars in line astern – Michael Berry’s Austin Healey 100, Reuben Jacob’s Morgan +4, Ed Shah’s Elva Courier, George Daniell’s MGA Twin Cam, Richard Frankel’s Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint and Mark Shear’s Morgan +4 Flat Rad, all 7 cars covered by 3.5 seconds! Brett Dillon’s Sebring Sprite, in 27th was within a second of the Flat Rad. This was a great watch and no doubt, even better for those involved in the action! Stuart Dean was a few seconds back but had the Sebba/Cole Flat Rad for company, whilst in 30th placed Valerio Leone had moved passed George Passey’s AC Aceca  and started to pull clear.

By the time the battling duo of Andrew Howe-Davies  and Harry Naergar completed lap 3, they had been lapped by the pair of leaders. Chris Guest had the Kurtis wound up now and had reduced the deficit to the HWM to under 3 seconds as they headed onto lap 5. Theo Hunt was 11 seconds behind the leaders but going really quickly in the Frazer Nash, but after him, there had been a change as Nick Taylor had the booming Kellison J4R up to 4th having passed both Scott Quattlebaum and David Alexander, who had followed Nick through, the Elite demoting the LECo to 6th, and Brian Arculus was still 7th and within striking range of the LECo, so the little Elites were giving a good account of themselves.  Mark Ellis had closed a bit on Brian in his MGA Twin Cam and Tim Child in 9th had not completely lost touch either. Mark Hoble was a further 3 seconds down in a bit of a no-man’s land since he was over 3 seconds clear of the Groves/Cawley Lotus Elite which was heavily engaged in battle with Robin Tuluie’s Kellison Exp 001; a touch of David and Goliath! Simon Evans had edged the big Allard Clear of Justin Beckett’s AC Ace and Chris Mann’s Alfa in 15th place. There was some change as Reuben Jacob had made further progress moving up 2 places in the Morgan +4 and was now 20th ahead of a stream of cars – 8 cars still covered by just 4 seconds. Michael Berry and George Daniell had slipped down the order and so close were the laps times that recovery was going to be difficult. A little further back Valerio’s Elva was closing in on the Sebba/Cole Morgan.

The lead that Martin Hunt’s HWM had over the Kurtis 500S fluctuated a little but Chris Keen kept the pressure on and by the end of lap 6 had got the gap down to just under 2 seconds. By this time, having lapped George Passey’s AC Aceca on lap 5, both had also lapped Valerio Leone, Stuart Dean and the Sebba/Cole Morgan and were 15 seconds clear of Nick Taylor who was going great guns in the Kellison and had moved ahead of Theo Hunt’s Frazer Nash, into 3rd place. Theo was 4 seconds clear of David Alexander’s Lotus Elite and there were now 2 second gaps between David and Scott Quattlebaum’s LECo, Scott and the Mark Ellis MGA Twin Cam, and Mark and Brian Arculus, but in the latter case only because Brian had headed for the mandatory pit stop in his Lotus Elite. As usual Brian was the first to pit, although later on the same lap Reuben Jacob also pitted in his Morgan.    

As Brian brought the Elite to a standstill, Tim Child flashed across the line in 9th place to be followed a few seconds later by Mark Hoble’s Morgan and the Cawley/Groves Lotus Elite.  12th was Robin Tuluie’s Kellison, in clear air both ahead and behind him as Simon Evans was 6 seconds back, the Allard yet to shake off the attentions of Justin Beckett’s AC Ace in 14th. Just off the back of Justin, Chris Mann still had the Disco Volante in play. Chris was now 10 seconds clear of Neil Burnside’s MGA Twin Cam, not helped by the fact that Neil had put in a sequence of what were to be his 3 slowest  laps of the race, all in the 1.20s, whereas later on in the race he actually got under 1.17 on one lap.  A couple of seconds behind the MG, Michael Scott was holding down 17th in the third of the Frazer Nash LMRs but he had Barry Dye’s Lotus Elite almost alongside as they completed the lap. Everyone else had now been lapped or were about to be lapped as quite a few only reappear in the lap charts on the next lap!  

To be continued!