One incumbent of the paddock creating a lot of interest was the re-creation of the D50A Lancia/Ferrari which Jochen Mass was down to drive. Another welcome sight was the ex- Amschel Rochschild/Spencer Flack P25 BRM which Carol Flack had entered for Rob Hall to drive, back to pristine condition now. Julia de Baldanza has added another car to her growing collection, she was entered in Maserati A6GCM. She would appear to be pulling other family members in with her enthusiasm, Francisco de Baldanza was listed as the entrant for another car, the Alfa 1900S which Julia was driving in the Madgwick Cup.
It was great to see cars of the magnificent Bamford collection now being driven by son Joe. What an incentive to improve one's driving techniques, having such terrific cars waiting in the wings. I understand that an apprenticeship in Club racing has already been undertaken.
This meeting is always as interesting for the characters wandering around the paddock as for the rarely seen cars that appear. Among the familiar faces were; Phil Hill, the great American World Champion of 1961, one of the ablest sports car drivers ever as well as Grand Prix maestro. He was booked to drive the Alfa 3000CM in the Freddie March Memorial Trophy. Phil is of course a long time Alfa Romeo enthusiast and was a partner in Hill & Vaughn, one of the finest restoration shops in the world, which happened to specialise in Alfas over in California. Derek Bell, a regular at this event, impressed me greatly with his patient willingness to speak to the public, signing autographs for some considerable time. His unhurried attention to a young disabled man gave some indication of the quality of this great, great driver. Up and coming drivers please take note. Tom Wheatcroft, in his usual high spirits was ambling around the paddock, despite accidents and illnesses over the years he is seemingly indestructible and stays affable and optimistic. Richard Attwood commented that he was on his way to take a car out to practice that he had never even sat in let alone driven. Oh well, even the best can still learn something! Tim Parnell was his normal affable self, a great ambassador for the BRDC of which he is a Board Member his progress around the paddock is punctuated by stops every few yards to meet and greet.
The aircraft displays were superb with rarely seen aircraft giving demonstrations of close flying aerobatics. One interesting item was a Japanese Zero model another a Russian Lavochkin LA9. I cannot claim to be an expert on WW2 aircraft. The only ones that I could safely identify were a Spitfire, what I think was a Sea Fury and possibly a Mustang. No doubt we have readers who were present who can and will be able to give a much better account of the aerial content of the weekend.
There were the usual comical items around the paddock. An excellent duo impersonating Laurel & Hardy riding around the paddock in a Model T Ford with a Phonograph in the back belting out "On The Trail Of The Lonesome Pine" What fun.
Dad's Army were portrayed, again in excellent fashion with Capt., Mainwaring to the life directing them.
A rare collection of Brooklands racers was situated in the outer area behind the stands. This line up included The ex-Adrian Liddell Straker Squire in it's Brooklands humbug livery, the Williamson World land speed V12 Delage, The ex-Kaye Don Sunbeam "Tigress", 1908 Benz Russian Grand Prix winner, The ex-Birkin single seater blower Bentley, the ex-John Cobb/Patrick Lindsay Monza Alfa (Now owned by Hubert Fabri), the Bi-Motore Alfa of the Donington Collection. Possibly the most interesting exhibit from the point of view of it's unique history was Tom Delaney's Hyper Lea Francis. He raced this car at Brooklands before the war and is still racing that same car today, some achievement for car and man.
A poignant note underlined the meeting. Barry Sheene was always a great supporter of the event and was present last year to ride for the last time. A comprehensive range of his bikes were on display with some of the great names of Motor Cycling and the car world turning out honour the memory of this much loved and missed character of the sport. These included; Wayne Gardner, Damon Hill (Don't forget, he earned his living as a motor cycle courier in his struggling days),
Gerhard Berger, John Cooper and the great Giacomo Agostini. The Lennox Trophy race has been re-named the Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy to perpetuate his memory.
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