Silverstone sprint series, early 1970's. These used to be run by 5 different clubs on five consecutive weekends around November. They consisted of 2 laps of the old club circuit - once the fog had lifted... No details of date or driver as yet.
At the Donington reopening in May 1977, there was a legal challenge from the local ramblers claiming they had access to Starkey's bridge or similar and across the track, which meant that there could not be any racing, however, the NSCC managed to get a legal judgement at the 11th hour to say that it could be run as a 'Trial', meaning that no single-seaters could run. The Frazer Nash's managed to get around this somehow and did run.
The damage was done and what should have been a huge meeting with a load of spectators, fizzled through a lack of spectators who had been put off due to the advance publicity. The sponsors, Else of Codnor, Lotus agents took a huge hit.
Den's Maestro Turbo...
More early shots from the Donington Collection.
Note the Cosworth 4WD behind the Ferguson - which has now been returned to the Rolt family. I wonder if the Donington collection will ever be boosted by more loan cars and back to its former glory, as it is a pale shadow of what it once was. Many unique cars were sold off and loan cars removed when the track nearly fell over as Kevin Wheatcroft struggled to get the track back to its former glory.
It was those unique older cars that made the museum so special, as two halls of McLarens and Williams never really appealed to me. I'm not sure how many of those have gone back to Williams and McLaren either, as both have their own historic collections.
If anyone has been within the last 18 months, for the first time, I'd be very interested to hear their impressions.