VSCC Pomeroy Trophy 2011 – Report and Photo Gallery

The Vintage Sports Car Club’s (VSCC) Pomeroy Trophy 2011 was held 26 February at the Silverstone National Circuit.

The VSCC Pomeroy Trophy 2011 event is renowned in racing circles as a totally unique event because of the eclectic mix of vehicles that take part in the competition. Every competing car attempts the handling tests in the morning and full grids will compete in the 40-minute High-Speed Trial in the afternoon. The event is designed to reveal the best all-round grand touring car from any era by completion of tests against the clock modified for age, configuration and power by a complicated formula.

The Pomeroy Trophy was devised by Harry Bowler to see if the mathematical analysis of Pre-1939 racing cars made by Laurence Pomeroy Junior could be applied to predict the performance of road touring cars. The formula came from Chapter 31 of Pomeroy’s Thesis “The Grand Prix Car 1906-1939” and was derived from results for cars in the hands of maestros such as Nazzaro and Nuvolari.

The first event was due to be held in 1947 but thanks to petrol rationing it did not go ahead until 1952 and was won by legendary rallyist Peter Binns in a Vauxhall 30/98.

The entry list for the VSCC Pomeroy Trophy 2011 was as diverse and interesting as ever, from the Ford GT40 of Gavin Henderson to the Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Zagato of Roger Buxton or the Rochet-Shneider of Timothy Moore. Richard Pilkington’s pale blue pre-war Talbot T26 SS was found in the car park at Race Retro on Friday, and then competing in the rain at Silverstone on Saturday.

Frazer-Nash expert Patrick Blakeney-Edwards re-established his grip on the VSCC Pomeroy Trophy title, driving his 1928 Frazer Nash saloon ‘Owlet’ to his fourth victory in the event.

Having won in 2007 to 2009 in his Frazer Nash Super Sports, Blakeney-Edwards was pipped by Dudley Sterry driving an HRG last year whilst driving a post-war Frazer Nash Le Mans rep. This year he drove his Frazer-Nash saloon to victory and clocked up 23 laps in the 40 minute high-speed sprint. The new owner of the Frazer-Nash that earned the ’07, ’08 and ’09 victories for Blakeney-Edwards was driven by its new owner, Frederic Wakeman who missed out on the top spot by .2 penalty points but took the ‘Densham’ Trophy.

Patrick Blakeney-Edwards commented on his latest victory, “Winning the Pom in a vintage saloon was a good challenge. The key for me this year was absolute commitment in the Slalom. The 40 minute speed trial (or race) was entertaining. Whilst being respectful of the top heavy nature of the car, once in the groove, I was able to slide past much of the competition whilst staying dry and warm at the same time! Thank goodness the ambient temp was low – I’d have fried in the stupid thing! The Pom itself is one of the best, traditional, fantastic, bastion season starters one can enter. You can enter in almost anything – its great fun and extremely sociable.”

Jason Kennedy was the highest placed driver of a post-war car, topping the 1st class awards after a strong performance in a 1996 Fiat Coupe. The oldest driver in the event, octogenarian, Alistair Pugh claimed a 1st class award driving his 1939 Frazer Nash / BMW 328.

The Frazer-Nash mark dominated the awards with no less than seven cars placed in the awards, closely followed by BMW of which five cars featured.

Photographer Tim Scott of Fluid Images documented the VSCC Pomeroy Trophy 2011, offering the following 135 images that capture the diverse and eclectic event. To see more from Tim, visit fluidimages.co.uk.

VSCC Pomeroy Trophy 2011 – Photo Gallery (click image for larger photo and description)