Brooklands Society - Vintage Sports Car
The Brooklands Society has announced that it will again be running its MSA Handicap Championship in 2011 – based on the year’s Vintage Sports Car Club sprint, hill climb and race meetings – for cars which also competed at Brooklands in period.
As in 2010 there will be two historic trophies up for grabs. The Society’s new Speed Trophy, the cup originally presented to Doreen Evans at the JCC International Trophy Race at Brooklands in 1935, will be awarded for best performance against handicap by qualifying cars at the 2011 VSCC sprint and hill climb meetings. The Race Trophy, first won by Harry Rose in the ex-Whitney Straight (and later, Prince Bira) Maserati ‘3011’ at the 1936 Brooklands International Trophy Race, will go for best aggregate performance in the ‘Short Handicap’ races at this year’s VSCC race meetings
Last year, Oxfordshire’s Andrew Dixey took the Speed Trophy, in the ex-Dan Higgins 1928 Lea-Francis Hyper, after a late surge in which he just beat early front-runner Ian Baxter in the ex-Evans’ family MG ‘Bellevue’ single seat racer. The Race Trophy was won in 2010 by Londoner Mark Brett in his 1937 Ballamy Ford V8, a car campaigned at Brooklands in 1938 by Harold Symmonds and owned by Mark for many years.
Announcing confirmation of its MSA permit for the 2011 Championship, the Brooklands Society Competition Co-ordinator Mike Hopper said: ‘Last year – the first for running our new Championship – showed how many cars with a real Brooklands pedigree are still actively competing today, and produced very close final points lists. Supercharged 1500cc Lea-Francis cars made a particularly good showing – Geoffrey Delaney’s 1930 Hyper was also a big early contender – and I’m sure they are likely to challenge strongly again this year’.
The Society will also be repeating its individual awards again, for best handicap performance by a Brooklands car at the main vintage events at Pre war venues – which this year are the VSCC race meeting at Donington on 21/22 May, the VSCC Sprint at Brooklands (18 June) and vintage Shelsley and Prescott on 3rd July and 6/7 August respectively. 2010 individual winners were Mark Brett at a very wet Donington, Subaru UK Managing Director Paul Tunnicliffe (in the ex-Chetwynd and Maclachlan 1929 Lea-Francis Hyper) at the Brooklands Speed Trials in June, Neil ‘Biggles’ Bennet at the MAC’s July vintage Shelsley Walsh in his Batten Special (built in 1935 by Jim Batten for racing at Brooklands and Donington and also campaigned by Steadall in period), and for her VSCC Prescott result in August Mrs Jane Metcalfe became the Society’s first lady motor sport award winner in the 1935 Rapier Special raced at Brooklands on at least 25 occasions by Roy Eccles between 1935 and 1938.
The Brooklands Society, not connected with the Brooklands Museum, was formed in 1967 by Bill Boddy MBE. It is dedicated to preserving and promoting the history and heritage of the Brooklands track and it publishes a widely-acclaimed quarterly magazine on Brooklands history, the Brooklands Society Gazette. The Society’s website is at www.brooklands-society.co.uk.
Speak Your Mind