Even before the start, the pole-setting car was out of the race. In qualifying for the September 5th Woodcote Trophy race at Donington, Spencer Marsh’s Jaguar D-type would have taken pole position by one-hundredth of a second from Tony Dron in Ben Eastick’s D-type, were it not for an expensive mishap.
A third D-type—this one driven by Barrie “Whizzo” Williams—blew a core plug, spraying engine coolant across the Old Hairpin. The severity of the conditions caught out many of the following cars, including Marsh, who hit the slippery patch of track and spun off at high speed, colliding with Whizzo’s D-type as it sat in the gravel.
While Barrie Williams’s Jaguar (codriven by owner Dick Skipworth) was only lightly damaged, the Spencer Marsh car (codriven by Gavin Pickering) was rather badly broken. The incident meant that come the start of the race, Dron/Eastick were at the front of the grid, followed by Mark Gillies in his 300S Maserati and Carlos Monteverde in his Ferrari Testa Rossa. Then, thanks to some swift panel-beating help from fellow competitors, Whizzo’s D-type was sufficiently fettled to take the race start.
The opening stages of the race itself, however, were just as eventful. Gillies’s Maserati wrecked its transmission off the line and only managed 20 yards; Monteverde’s Testa Rossa went off at speed into the tire wall on the first lap; and Whizzo came into the pits after just one lap to retire. Ben Eastick was, therefore, left with a clear run and he settled down to give a fast, smooth, and highly professional performance, keeping up the pace but inviting no risks. However, starting from the back of the grid and more than a lap behind was the Kurtis 500S of Christopher Keen and Richard McAlpine—an outstandingly quick car accepted in the “invitation” class of the race. Lap after lap, the Kurtis kept up the pressure so that, by the time Eastick came into the pits to hand over to Tony Dron, the Kurtis was closing fast on the D-type.
Back out on the track, Dron followed Eastick’s philosophy of swift, smooth driving, with one eye on the mirror, ready to wring the last drop of performance from the D-type if the Kurtis should start to nibble at his heels. But, as the flag fell, the D-type had held its own and finished a comfortable 4.7 seconds ahead of the 2nd-placed car. Meanwhile, a splendid performance from Adrian Hall and Nick Adams saw the pairing bring their little Lotus X home in 3rd.
Other class winners in the Royal Automobile Club Woodcote Trophy race included Tony Pickering and Spencer Marsh in their Osca MT4; Stephen Bond and Keith Fell in their Lister Bristol; Richard and Andrew Frankel in their Ferrari 750 Monza; and Barry Wood and Barry Cannell in their RGS Atalanta.
