Mallory Park Sunday 21st July 2013

A rare opportunity these days to witness a car meeting at Mallory Park saw The Spectator head to deepest Leicestershire last Sunday. The Vintage Sports Car Club were the organiser's with 11 short-sharp races on the card. After 2 weeks of glorious weather it was a bit of a shock to have a little drizzle during the morning's practice sessions, but thankfully it stayed dry for the rest of the day, albeit overcast.
Watching at the exit of Gerards during practice (with a greasy surface) I couldn't help marvel at how most drivers were manhandling, there is no better word for it, their cars. Total commitment was on show by virtually all drivers during the day. The sight of Tony Lees sitting atop his Vauxhall Viper Special, so high up his head in the mist....,hurtling into Gerards, will linger long in the memory!
The headline race of the day was for the Bob Gerard Memorial Trophy catering for Pre '61 racing cars and was won by William Nuthall's 1953 Cooper-Bristol with Fred Harper's fantastic Kurtis Indy Roadster in 2nd having started from the back following a fuel line problem in practice. Indeed there were a few "modern" races on the programme with a race for Formula Junior and 500cc Formula 3 too. The tiny F3's put on a great race and had a grid of 23 cars. I'm no expert on these cars but the race was won by a 1100cc Cooper Mk4 driven by Simon Brown as the only entrant in the Invitation class......
At the other end of the age scale the annual Edwardian race was held and 10 cars (built between 1909-1918) contested it. Another great spectacle.
Along with various Handicap and Scratch races the meeting was rattled through without delay and was finished at 4.30pm. As a Donington regular we'd normally be starting race 3 at 4.30 so this was a shock to finish so early...A large crowd was in attendance, with the majority being VSCC members, all parked in marque order at various points around the circuit, no doubt enthusiasts discussing mechanical minutiae.
All in all a spiffing days motorsport old chap! That's 2 excellent meetings on the trot for me so await the next one with interest. Admission on the day was £15 and a very good programme £3

 
Mallory Park has been in the news of late with noise problems. Whatever the outcome of the discussions taking place, what is evident at the circuit is a worrying level of decay.  It's always been a bit tatty around the edges (from a spectator's point of view) but it was always a pleasant place to watch racing from. It now reminds me of how Donington was in the late 00's before the current regime took over. Some big decisions need to be made at the circuit in the near future.