Vauxhall victory at Mallory

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One of the most exciting races of the year is the annual fight for the Dick Baddiley Trophy organised by the Vintage Sports-Car Club, which is open to Edwardian cars only. This year’s thrilling race was the highlight of a glorious day at Mallory Park in Leicestershire on Sunday, 21 August. The club organised ten races in total, with practice sessions in the morning followed by an afternoon of back to back racing.

The Edwardian Handicap Race always attracts a varied entry and this year was no exception, with some 14 cars each more than 100 years old of all different nationalities battling it out for victory. By the end of the practice session, Hughie Walker was leading in the 10-litre 1913 Theophile Schneider with his father Mark just behind in the 200hp Darracq. But in a typical day of drama and excitement, that would all change come the afternoon, and the race was eventually won by Rob Hubbard in the 1917 Vauxhall loaned to him by Tudor Roberts. With the fearlessness of youth, Hughie Walker achieved the fastest lap, recording a speed of 75.83mph (122.03km/h) in his penultimate lap. He was rewarded with the Edwardian Racing Trophy.

Other highlights of the day included the Allcomers Scratch Race for pre-war cars, which was won by Patrick Blakeney-Edwards in his very fast Frazer Nash. Three-wheeler Morgans are always exciting to watch and hear, and they put in some great performances, with Sue Darbyshire winning the Mallory Mug in hers and Sandford Andrews snatching the Mallory Park Trophy for VSCC Specials in his, seeing off competition from a very full grid of mostly four-wheeled cars. But undoubtedly the car that gave the most entertainment for viewers was the GN Thunderbug, which Hughie Walker was throwing around the circuit with astonishing skill and bravery, often sideways, in the Allcomers Scratch; later in the day Mark Walker put in a similarly entertaining performance in the car in Race Eight. The day at Mallory was the VSCC’s last race meeting of the year ― it was a thundering finale to a spectacular season of prewar sports cars being used as they were meant to be.

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