Peterborough M.C. Meeting Silverstone (Sept. 11th)

Once again rain came to Silverstone when the Peterborough M.C. meeting took place on Saturday, September 11th; there were frequent heavy showers early in the day but the sun came out later. Members of the Northampton and Dist. C.C. were invited and the events of the day catered for 500-c.c. and sports-car class competitors.

On looking round the paddock before racing started one saw comparatively few signs of much-activity, most of the entrants had refrained from removing their gearboxes and back axles five minutes before the start of the racing. Lee’s potent-looking Austin Seven, however, was being attended to, the owner frantically “knitting up” the fabric transmission joint with split pins; what kind of stitches he used we know not but the car did perform quite satisfactorily in the races for which it was entered. The first event was the vintage-car five-lap handicap, in which the attractive Type 37 Bugatti, the ex-Malcolm Campbell car owned by J. H. Pratt, came in first, closely followed by McDonald’s 4 1/2-litre Bentley.

The following two races were for sports cars. J. W. Whitehouse driving an Austin and Marriot in a Mark V Buckler with Tojeiro-like body came in first and second, respectively, in the first race. The over-1,500-c.c. event went to Lord Ebury at an average speed of 60.15 m.p.h. in his 4 1/2-litre Invicta, followed by Nurse’s Empire Special, which is a supercharged 750-c.c. J4 M.G.

In the 500-c.c. 12-lap scratch race, Ivor Bueb in his Mark VIII Cooper put up a very creditable performance and was the ultimate winner, he also did well in what was originally the 10-lap handicap race for Jaguars but which turned into a Formule Libre event because of the dearth of X.Ks. In this event he had to take rapid evasive action when Baxter’s Jaguar, which he had been slipstreaming, braked suddenly; Taylor in a Mark IV Cooper and Blackman in a Jaguar retired. and Tony Crook in a Cooper-Bristol was second following Baxter’s victorious Jaguar.

Finally came the Motor Sport Trophy race, which was a five-lap event, entrants for which are drawn from previous qualifying races held throughout the season. The Austins of Harris and Taylor were involved in an exciting duel, and Crook’s Cooper-Bristol and Shale’s Austin-Healey seemed reluctant to stay on the track at Woodcote, but the same applied to many of the other cars which found this corner slippery due to the rain which began just before the race. J. Venn in a Healey Silverstone was the winner with a time of 8 min. 45 sec. and Taylor’s Austin was second, taking 8 min. 50 sec. – I. G.