James Baxter (Riley-ERA) claimed the main prize at the Vintage Sports-Car Club’s annual Prescott showpiece in August, a 40.36sec climb putting him more than a second clear of closest rival Nick Topliss (ERA R4D).

His success earned him the coveted Mays-Berthon Trophy and capped a successful weekend for the VSCC, which drew its customary large crowd and attracted an entry of more than 270 cars for the only event that still takes place on Prescott’s 880-yard ‘short’ course (for which Baxter still holds the record, a 39.68sec run at the wheel of ERA R4A in 2015).

One of the closest battles was fought in the class for pre-1941 racing cars of 1150-1500cc. Father and son Terry and James Crabb shared the wheel of ERA R12C and the former proved incredibly consistent, his four runs over the weekend separated by just 0.48sec, but James eventually managed a quicker ascent to take victory by 0.09sec. Crabb Jr also came away with the award for fastest young driver.

The VSCC returns to Prescott on September 28, when drivers will tackle the full, 1127-yard hill.