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The latest historic motoring action along with previews of up-coming events that we will be covering.
SILVERSTONE
VSCC Spring Start Silverstone, April 11th 2026.
The vintage Sports-Car Club delivered an array of ancient and slightly more modern racing machinery with their season opener. Club tradition sees a 30-minute high-speed trail with target laps and a mandatory plug change begin the programme. Another capacity grid of pre-war sports cars from the Owner Driver Mechanic series raced for the Fox & Nicholl Trophy; early leader Rob Beebee in a Frazer Nash TT Rep. clinched the deal by 2 seconds with the menacing black Talbot Lago T23 looming in his mirrors in 2nd. The pace quickened with 1950s sports and sports racing cars with the inaugural Revolution 50s race; the 15-minute race was furious at the front end as the first 3 home lapped the field. Lister Jaguar man Gary Pearson kept just over a second in hand from Stuart Morley’s Chevrolet-powered version, while 4 seconds or so behind was the Cooper Monaco of Andrew Smith. Another view of ‘50s racing came with a big grid of production sports cars, specials and some sports racing cars representing that period-of-the-club scene. Last-lap drama saw the leading Healey 100M spin into Brooklands on its own oil while AC Ace Bristol racer Adrian King who had been in 2nd place swept past the rotated Healey to win. A pinnacle of VSCC single-seater racing are ERAs; the Itala G.P and Patrick Lindsey Trophies did not disappoint with 4 entries and the Parnell Challenger which is ERA-engined. The next generation of ERA drivers showed the future is in safe hands with Stephanie Wilton in R7B and James Topliss with R4A both making their race debuts. Mark Gillies took the win with ERA R3A, showing that ERA senior service still has a firm hand on the silverware! More monoposto action featured with the Rothchild and Robert Ashley Trophies for pre ’66 racing cars and a classic David and Goliath encounter. Ruediger Friedrichs got his 1500 cc Cooper T53 made a lightning start to be first into Copse Corner. Despite the capacity difference, Friedrichs built a convincing lead to win from Michael Gans’ later 2500 cc Cooper T79. Nick Fennel took 3rd with his lovely Lotus 25. Pre-war allcomers, scratch and handicap races were wrapped around the guest and trophy contests to make an all action race card to begin the UK historic race season for 2026.
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PRESCOTT BRITISH HILLCLIMB
British Hill climb Championship Prescott 25-26/5/26
Prescott hosted the opening 2 rounds of the 2026 British Hillclimb Championship supported by the Midland and New Barn Cars MOT championships. Also on the card was a range of historic and classic classes that delivered a rich and varied programme over 2 days of practice and competition.
Defending his number 1 status, Matthew Ryder had strong competition from both Will Hall and 4 time champ Wallace Menzis as soon as the lights went green, all three using Gould GR59s. Ryder nailed the first round with setting the target at 35.29; Hall sniffed the bait and took round 2 and BTD by just 100th of a second. Constructors David and Sean Gould entered their historic Gould 84G, the car that began the marque’s hillclimb attack back in 1984. Still producing respectable times more than 4 decades after conception, unfortunately Sean exited the action on Sunday with a collapsed rear hub that bounced the car into the air and the barrier in the Esses. New entrant for 2026 Antipodean champion Dean Tighe brought his Star-Wars-wrapped 1380cc Empire Wraith from Australia to a first-round Prescott run-off of 11th.
Historic single-seaters deliver a special kind of drama, Andy Tippetts’ 3.5-litre Brabham BT30X made all the right noises and produced the best climb in the pre ’71 racing class. The pre-1990 tin-top classes gave Simon Braithwaite a chance to run his delightful Ford Escort RS1600 that is a re-creation of the car Russell Brooks destroyed on the Daily Mail RAC in 1971. Not just a good-looking machine but also very effective as Braithwaite lowered his 2023 class record by 0.22. Porsche 911 man Rodney Eyles lowered the Road Cars Series Production class mark convincingly by over a second. The capacity entry shows the speed scene is in an exciting and vibrant place.
Below is an image selection from the British and Midland Hillclimb Championship rounds 1 and 2 at Prescott. Further images are available for publication and individual print. Please get in touch and for arranging future coverage.
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DIFFEY BROTHERS
VSCC Diffey Brothers Wessex Trial 26/4/26
While not part of the Vintage Sports-Car Club trials championship, the Somerset-based event offered plenty of challenges and the chance for early pre-war trials cars to join the 1920s/30s machinery. Almost 50 cars set off at minute intervals from Mendip Shooting Ground near the city of Wells to follow a zig-zag route across the county to Cheddar and Shipham and back to a group of sections south of Wells.
The earliest cars were Robert Francom’s 1913 Talbot 25/50 and Rebecca Wiseman’s V twin GN special that straddled the Talbot’s timeline with some bits from 1910 and others from 1920! The entry had a good number of Austin 7s, Ulsters, Chummys, Gordon England and a Cambridge Special, all variations on the Longbridge theme joining a host of 7 trials specials. Predictably they scored well, the top 3 pre-war crews, two Austin’s and an MG M Type, tying on points in the short wheel base classes. Best of the Long Wheel Base cars was Jessica Scudamore, who drove a Ford Model A Phaeton with skill, determination and a rhythmical bouncing crew to go 9 points clear in her class. The Modified and Specials class went by a much closer margin to Joseph Stollery’s powerful Riley. The outright winner Jonathan Layzell claimed the Diffey Cup with his Dellow Mk1 despite tying on points with Eric Wall with a similar car, as the tie-break test swung the decision to the former.
Below is an image selection from the Vintage Sports-Car Club Diffey Brothers Wessex Trial. Further images are available for publication and individual print. Please also get in touch to arrange future coverage of this event in 2027.
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CURBOROUGH SPEED TRIAL
VSCC Speed Season Opens at Curborough
The Vintage Sports-Car Club loves a tradition or two, such as kicking off its Speed Championship of sprints and hillclimbs at the figure-of-eight course close to Litchfield.
A low key ‘clubby’ atmosphere that feels very pre-war, suiting the 100-or-so pre-1940 cars with an invitation class of post-war sports and racing machines very well. The track rewards a smooth approach working into quicker times; it resembles a flat hillclimb and as such is a less daunting venue than some to come! The racer to beat was Ian Baxter with the very fast if occasionally fragile Alta 61 IS. Forecasts were correct as Baxter set the BTD target with his first run at 36.32 seconds. Closest challenges came from Alta double driver Paul Richardson who used to share Donald Day’s ERA R14B, and Robin Harcourt Smith with the Frazer Nash Alvis Norris Special, both in the 38s. Theo Hunt slid the Frazer Nash TT rep. to 1st Vintage and BTD for Young Drivers under 30, while Winston Teague took the Vintage Crown with Jack Moor’s Shelsley Special WASP. This included some dramatic angles at the hairpin and much arm flailing to get the 1920s single-seater back on the straight if not narrow. Teague had enjoyed some birthday cake at lunch break so the win was definitely the icing and probably a candle or two on top! The less frantic sports-car classes were no less entertaining; William Marsh was some 8 seconds faster in his class that his class-mates and Simon Thorpe is beginning to regularly top the times with his pretty Riley Brooklands. This was the first event for the new VSCC president Paul Mullins, a regular competition in MGs especially, but also with ERA R7B in the past.
Below is an image selection from the Vintage Sports-Car Club Curborough Speed Trials. Further images are available for publication and individual print. Please also get in touch to arrange future coverage of this event in 2027.
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WISCOMBE PARK
VSCC Wiscombe Park Hillclimb 10/5/26
The Vintage Sports-Car Club Speed Championship enjoyed back-to-back weekend rounds at very different venues, from the open spaces of Curborough Sprint Course to the rolling parkland and wooded valley of Wiscombe park in Devon. Ian Baxter supplied the continuity by setting another BTD with the Alta 61 I.S despite a drift on to the dirt and a wheel-spinning scrabble over the finish line on his best run! Keeping in touch with the Alta’s times, Robin Harcourt Smith with the Frazer Nash Alvis Norris Special looked a likely challenger; a breathtaking but well-held sideways moment just before the line at Martini on his final run pushed him down the order.
Edwardian cars are a popular feature of VSCC events with a range of engineering solutions seen in the early days of motoring and competition including the use of aeroplane engines for ground level propulsion! To prove the point, Archie Bullett had a firm grasp of the 9-litre Piccard Pictet Sturtevant-Aero-engined special to win the class, while Duncan Cartwright had a more conventional automobile set up with his Sunbeam 12/16. Ian Seymour Smith’s dramatic lofty pencil-thin Mitchell Board Racer gave a flavour of the pre-World-War-2 racing scene on the other side of the pond where wooden ovals ran for most motorcycles but also cars along side venues such as Indianapolis Speedway. The longest time of the day also came from the Edwardian class and the oldest competing car, Tim Harrison’s De Dion Bouton Type DE Course from 1913.
The star of the meeting was Vijay Mallya’s Sunbeam Tiger with its 4-litre V12 engine. British racing hero Henry Seagrave used the Sunbeam 100 years ago on Southport Sands to set a land speed record at 155.33mph. Known in the period as ‘Ladybird’ due to the bright red colour, it is still the smallest-capacity engine to have set a land speed mark.
Below is an image selection from the Vintage Sports-Car Club Wiscombe Park Hillclimb. Further images are available for publication and individual print. Please also get in touch to arrange future coverage of this event in 2027.
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EXMOOR TRIAL
VSCC Exmoor Trial February 21st 2026
Any competitor who got at least 1 point on their scorecard was a winner on the Vintage Sports-Car Club’s West Country mud plugging event based at Exford. Weather trials and tribulations on the day added more H2O to that accumulated in the weeks preceding delivering sections that looked worse than a wet Glastonbury! Ever popular with competitors, the100 plus entry included shoals (given the amount of liquification!) of Austin 7’s joined by a couple of AJSs and MGs. They battled elements and sticky topography against the long wheel base classes of thundering of Vauxhall 30/98s, Chryslers, Ford Model As and a 3-4.5 Bentley; you would be hard pressed to find a better selection of pre war cars in action in the wild! Given conditions from the get-go it looked likely that victory would fall to one of 6 Ford Model T/A specials that have evolved into devastatingly efficient trials cars over the last few years, so much so that there is now a class to support them. A welcome change from the norm came with a 1910 De Dion Bouton that despite its Veteran leanings to fragility and not much power was very effective cleaning sections that proved stoppers to many. A relief from all the power climbs came with steady pop-pop of Theo Hunt’s Trojan Utility enjoying a change from chains to belts after the Pomeroy Trophy earlier in February.
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POMEROY TROPHY
VSCC Pomeroy Trophy Silverstone February 14th 2026
Time to dust off the FIA Le Mans spec. luggage again as the VSCC launches its track season at a chilly but bright February Silverstone with the 70th running of the Pomeroy Trophy. This competition of agility tests and speed trials established to determine the most effective touring car used to be a ‘well-known secret’ among historic racers but now attracts a top line entry and good spectator support. The Pom. entertains the widest possible selection of road-going machinery from a 1907 Mercedes 120 to a 2021 Toyota GR Yaris. More than a 100 years of sports and saloon cars tackle not just the track challenges but the Pomeroy Formula that negates out and out performance to identify the effectiveness of a car for the purpose of touring. The 2026 event saw one of the biggest entries ever with almost 150 cars running around the Silverstone GP circuit on driving tests in the morning and in three target-lapped 40-minute high-speed trials in the afternoon. The entry quantity and quality opened the potential result; however, the Trophy’s history suggested the most successful marque Frazer Nash could be in the frame again. To prove the stats a dominant performance by Andrew Smith with a Super Sports took the overall Pom. win, while fellow chain ganger Theodore Hunt was 2nd with his Frazer Nash TT Rep. securing the Densham Trophy to add more lustre to the Nash crown. The Edwardian Trophy went to Andrew Howe-Davies with his 1913 Straker-Squire. Two more pots from the VSCC trophy cupboard, the Pom. Voiturette and Gordon Spice Cup, went to the MGPA of Richard Stott and the BMW CSL driven by Patrick Blakeney Edwards respectively.
Below is an image selection from the Pomeroy Trophy 2026. Further images are available for publication and individual print, so please get in touch, and to commission coverage for 2027.
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BROOKLANDS EVENT
Vintage Sports-Car Club – Brooklands Spring Driving Tests 8/2/26
Although it was officially the Club’s 2nd event of 2026 following the Measham rally in January, the re-titled Spring Driving Tests saw unusually warm weather for a day of vintage vehicular conundrums around Brooklands that attracted members and public in good numbers to watch the goings-on. A run up the historic test hill and along the banking to a batch of challenges on or nearby the start/finish straight made viewing action easy, with the paddock and clubhouse adjacent enabling that special VSCC Brooklands atmosphere. Light cars such as Austin 7s, Singers, Lea Francis and Frazer Nashs and other true Brit. Marques giving plenty of excitement. Standout machines such as Duncan Cartwright’s racy-looking 1913 Sunbeam 12/16 4-seat tourer, the only Edwardian out to play, and Mark Gillies’ Riley Gamecock Alpine Trial car from 1934 attracted much interest. The car has been in the Gillies family since the early ‘50s when acquired by Gillies father Barry. One of 3 Gamecocks modified with the company’s 6-cylinder engine especially for long-distance events. William Marsh made the lowest score skilfully powering his Austin 7 Ulster around the cones for a 1st class award followed by Harry College in an Austin Chummy and Martin MGTA.
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EXETER TRIAL
Motor Cycling Club Exeter Trial January 9th/10th
It may appear that there is much in the way of motoring action so soon after the festive season. Since 1910 the Motorcycling Club have set about any winter lethargy with the Exeter Trial. Some 250 motorcycles and cars explored the West Country green lanes and tracks on the coldest few days of the winter so far adding to the mechanical, physical and cerebral challenge of 12 off road sections, special tests and time controls. The event makes the dead of winter come alive for owners of road going machinery from the 1920s up to the 2000s.
Below is an image selection from 2026; we have work from the car classes from the early 1990s to date. Editors remember there are not many UK classic events at this time of year for your sports pages, so please get in touch if you require coverage or to commission for 2027.
