Era at last in VSCC Hawthorn Trophies

After years of blood, sweat and tears, Duncan Ricketts finally cajoled the 1939 ERA E-type (GP1) to its first-ever race victory in the Mike Hawthorn Spanish Trophy, for Pre-1952 cars, at the Vintage Sports Car Club’s wet Silverstone finale on August 26. So often thwarted by mechanical problems in the past, a jubilant Ricketts came home almost two seconds clear of Swiss driver Jost Wildbolz in ERA R4A, after early challenger Julian Bronson’s ERA `AJM1′ retired. Tony Bianchi’s growling Talbot L,ago was a distant third.

The Hawthorn Memorial Trophy, for Pre-’61 racing cars, fell to Kenneth White who powered his Cooper-Bristol deftly round the outside of Wildbolz’s ERA at the long right-handed Luffield corner to win. Barrie Williams was second in David Wenman’s Connaught A4. There were feature victories too for the spectacular Bronson’s Riley Blue Streak and Charles Dean (Bugatti T51), while Nick Linney (Lister-Jaguar) won the 1950s Sportscar thrash. The Lagondas of Mark Butterworth, Mark Gray and Nick Hine won the annual Gregor Fisken Team Trophy Handicap. MP