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The British Empire Vintage and Historic Race Weekend -
8-9 June, 2002
The vintage Sports-Car Club is organising a vintage and historic
race weekend at Donington Park using the theme of British Empire
as an inspiration.
The Press news release at the International Autosports Show laid
on by the V.S.C.C. in January outlined the content of this very
ambitious weekend of Vintage/Historic weekend. Two years ago McLaren
and Mercedes brought along their machinery for demonstrations
to complement the programme and such drivers as John Surtees driving
the W154 and John Watson in the Penske Le Mans car thrilled the
crowds. The previous year's McLaren F1 car was driven by Nick
Heidfeld who was at the time a test driver for Mercedes. He is
of course now a fully fledged Formula One driver. Last year Audi
used the meeting as a showcase for their forthcoming Le Mans entry
and brought along their museum Auto Unions to demonstrate. All
very heady stuff for your average Austin Seven types, but very
good for broadening the appeal of the meetings.
The initial press release was followed up by a Press Day at Donington
Park on March 26th which turned out to be a bright sunny early
spring day to put everyone in a good frame of mind. There were
many familiar faces wandering around including Lola founder Eric
Broadley, Le Man driver Andy Wallace and of course circuit owner
Tom Wheatcroft in great form, who has a more than passing interest
in this meeting since it will coincide with a grand 80th Birthday
Party being given that weekend for him.
This year promises to be every bit as good as the previous two.
The Vintage Sports Car Club have brought on board Lola Heritage,
the newly set up division of Lola intended to foster the interest
and use of their early competition cars, Bentley Motors, and the
Historic Grand Prix Drivers' Association. A stage of the Gentleman
Drivers' Series will be held on the weekend too, this event was
very popular last year with its driver changing and compulsory
pit stops.
Two other notables making an appearance over the weekend will
be Sir Stirling Moss who will be reuniting with a 'C' Type Jaguar
for the 1950;s Drum Braked Sports Car race, Paddy Hopkirk demonstrating
the new Mini Cooper 'S' on what will be it's first official day
on the roads of the U.K.
This event does promise to be one of the highlights of the season
and considering that Donnington one of the two most central circuits
(Mallory being the other) in the U.K., then it should be well
supported.
| 1 |
A Seven Lap Scratch
Race for Vintage and Post Vintage Thoroughbred Cars |
| 2 |
Round One of the
Pre-War Sports Car Team Race, to be held over 8 lapsThis should
include marques such as Alfa Romeo, Bugatti, Bentley, Lagonda
etc |
| 3 |
Round One of the
1980s Group C Race, to be held over 27 laps A real power spectacle
this promises to be. Ex- Le Man cars will be competing and
a thrilling race is guaranteed. |
| 4 |
A Twelve Lap Historic
Grand Prix Cars Association Race, for Invited Pre-1966 Rear-Engined
Grand Prix Cars. Always great to watch these races. Lotus,
Coopers and the likely to do some hard battling for supremacy. |
| 5 |
A Five Lap Handicap
Race for Vintage and Post Vintage Thoroughbred Cars. A V.S.C.C.
line up for this race where such makes as Lagonda, Bentley
etc battle it out. |
| 6 |
The Twelve Lap
Vintage Seaman Trophy Race for Pre-1931 Racing Cars. This
is always a good race with some of the best racing in the
V.S.C.C., calendar for this prestigious trophy |
| 7 |
The Two Hour Endurance
Race for The Historic Motoring News Gentleman Driver Series
for Pre-1966 GT Cars and Pre-1963 Sports Cars. Immensely popular
last yearwhen this series was introduced to the meeting, the
pit activity and hard driving make a great combination for
spectators. |
| 8 |
A varied demonstration
programme from Bentley Motors, Lola Cars International and
the Morgan Motor Company |
Sunday will comprise of the following elements:
| 1 |
An Eight Lap Race
for 1950s Drum Braked Sports Cars, run under the auspices
of the Historic Grand Prix Cars Association. Watch for Sir
Stirling in the 'C' Type Jaguar. |
| 2 |
A Ten Lap Race
for Invited Lola Cars from the period between 1963 and 1979.
This should be exciting to watch, the cars are both powerful
and beautiful in design. |
| 3 |
Round Two of the
Pre-War Sports Car Team Race, to be held over eight laps.
There should be some healthy inter-team rivalry in this race
with lots of mini-battles taking place right through the field. |
| 4 |
Round Two of the
1980s Group C Race, to be held over twenty six laps. Another
chance to see the big bangers in action. |
| 5 |
The Ten Lap Historic
Seaman Trophy Race for Pre-1941 Racing Cars This is the race
for the later cars and is equally prestigious as the Pre-War
Seaman Trophy. There is always a good entry for this race. |
| 6 |
A Ten Lap Race
for 1950s Sports/Racing Cars, This is a chance to see such
cars as the 'D' Type Jaguars and 300s Maseratis in action. |
| 7 |
The Twelve Lap
Flockhart Memorial Trophy Race for Pre-1961 Front-engined
and up to Two Litre Rear-engined Racing Cars (two classes,
pre-1955 and 1955-1960) There should be a great line up for
this race. Look for the 250F Maseratis etc., fighting it out
with the later Coopers and Lotus's etc. |
| 8 |
A Twelve Lap Race
for Pre-War Bentley Motor Cars. A chance for the legendary
Bentley Boys to shine. The epitome of the vintage sports car,
the enormous Le Mans Van den Plas Bodied 41/2 s and 3 litre
cars and hopefully the odd 8 litre will be vying to take the
honours. |
| 9 |
The
Twelve lap Brooklands and Goddard Trophies Scratch Race for
Large Capacity Brooklands Cars. Watch for such machines as
the Napier Bentley, whose huge arrow-head formation Napier
Lion engine will drown the sound of nearby aircraft. |
| 10 |
An Eight Lap Scratch
Race divided into capacity classes |
| 11 |
A varied demonstration
programme from Bentley Motors, Lola Cars International and
the Morgan Motor Company |
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History of British Empire Trophy Race
The Trophy, that was commissioned by the British Racing Drivers'
Club (BRDC) in 1932, was run at a variety of British tracks.
Before the Second Word War at Brooklands and Donington, after
the war at Douglas in the Isle of Man - in 1947 moved to Oulton
Park. The trophy was not contested between 1961 and 1970. Since
then, it has been awarded sporadically at historic race events
at different venues.
A race was run for the British Empire Trophy in 2001 at the
Silvestone Historic Festival and was contested by Group C cars.
In the 1930s the trophy race was run for three consecutive
years at Donington. Richard Seaman, the celebrated Mercedes-Benz
GP driver, won it in 1936 in a 2700cc supercharged Maserati
8CM.
 In
1937, the winner was Raymond Mays in ERA (English Racing Automobile)
'R4C' or 'R4D' as it's currently known as. The picture on the
left is showing Mac Hulbert driving the 1935
'R4D'.
The last British Empire Trophy Race to be held at Donington
was in 1938. The trophy was won by Tony Rolt in a 1500cc ERA
- 'R5B'. The support for the race weekend has been secured from Bentley
Motors, Lola Cars International, Morgan Motor Company and MINI.
Bentley Motors plan to use the event to re-tell the
"Bentley Boys" story and all Bentley team cars have
been invited to attend.
Lola Cars International Limited are launching their
Lola Heritage division. Eric Broadley, found of Lola, raced
the first ever racing car he built
Eric
Broadley, Lola Mk1 prototype and B2K/40B SR2
Lola F5000 T330
Lola T70
Lola Mk6 GT
Morgan Motor Company will be supporting the British
Empire Weekend, paying tribute to their varied competition history,
from the early three-wheeler to their latest Aero 8.
AON and Royal & SunAlliance Announce Sponshorship Plans
AON and Royal & SunAlliance will be sponsoring elements
of the Vintage Sports-Car Club's British Empire Vintage and
Historic Race Weekend. The event will act as a platform for
the two companies to underline their business relationship and
their commitment to vintage and classic motorsits.
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