The Archie Scott Brown Trophy

VSCC, Snetterton

17th September, 2017

Preamble

A great deal of effort was put into producing a decent grid for this race which was done jointly with the VSCC and their 50s sports racing car members. It was to be an uphill task given the timing of this meeting. As I wrote in the programme notes ‘it is with some irony that we have to record the fact that the majority of potential entrants to this race will be at the at the 6 hour Meeting at Spa, the circuit where Archie, battling for the lead with Masten Gregory, both in Lister ‘Knobbly’ Jaguars, so tragically lost his life in May, 1958, just a few days after his 31st birthday’. In fact, I had suggested to the VSCC that given the number of entries, we may wish to cancel the race but they felt that we should go ahead.

I had also noted that 2017 was ‘the 60th Anniversary of the appearance of Colin Chapman’s masterpiece, the Lotus Elite, at the 1957 Earls Court Motor Show’ and I asked Brian Arculus, Historic Lotus Registrar, if he would like to celebrate this anniversary by adding a few of these fabulous little giant killers to the grid and that I would put up some suitable awards. Very fortunately, Brian agreed, and at fairly short notice managed to attract 4 of these splendid little cars to the grid, and they represented almost a third of the entry.

It was actually a bit of a miracle that we received 11 entries for this race but unfortunately the quickest one, the Lister Chevrolet Dean Van Lines of Roberto Giordanelli was withdrawn. I’m not sure whether it was because Roberto felt it inappropriate to race against the rest of this small car grid (it would have been literally, a walk in the park for him) or he was already thinking of selling the car, but I am grateful to him for supporting the race on two previous occasions in which he finished a very close 2nd in both ( Race reports appear on this site).

Qualifying

Following the withdrawal of the Lister Chevrolet, I thought that pole would be a fairly hard fought affair but in fact Rod Begbie put his Elva MkIV at the top of the lists by almost a clear 3 seconds ahead of Kelvin New in an Elva Mk3. I’d be interested to know when the last time two sports racing Elvas occupied the front row of a historic race. Rod’s time was 1.39.35 and Kelvin’s 1.42.10. Barring mishap of some kind the result looked like a foregone conclusion. Brian Arculus qualified the first of the Lotus Elites in 3rd, very close to Kelvin, in a time of 1.42.44. Alongside was Colin Elstrop in David Beattie’s Lotus Elite, a car which had raced in an Archie Scott Brown memorial race back in the early 1960s. Colin was some way behind Brian, on a time of 1.45.36. Sharing the 3rd row was Stuart Dean in the unique RGS Atalanta bodied Dick Jacobs Special and Chris Mann in the exotic Alfa Romeo Disco Volante, on very close times, 1.47.50 & 1.47.62 respectively. Hard on their heels on 1.47.76, qualifying 7th was Howard Maguire in the Playford MG, which shared the 4th row with the Lotus Elite of John Waterson on a 1.55.36. Dougal Cawley (Lotus Elite) and Craig McWilliam (Kieft Climax) occupied the last row on 1.57.38 & 1.58.72 respectively.

Race

10 cars left parc ferme but only 9 lined up on the grid. Sadly, Brian Arculus had to pull off in the quickest of the qualifying Elites; he reported that ‘on the green flag lap, I just lost all electrics, accompanied by a whiff of smoke from behind the ammeter’. This was pretty galling for Brian since it meant that he was denied a shot at victory or participating in the race commemorating the 60 years since the introduction of the Elite which he had been involved in organising. It did indeed turn out to be the ammeter, simple and cheap to fix but not a lot of consolation.

As this rather intriguing but depleted grid left the line, Chris Mann’s Alfa Romeo Disco Volante absolutely rocketed off the 3rd row to challenge poleman Rod Begbie heading towards Riches. Rod was clearly having trouble getting traction on a track rather damper and greasier than in qualifying, and the Alfa had the torque of the 3 litre and extra weight over the rear wheels which gave it an advantage off the line over the lightweights around it. Nevertheless it was a great start which took him passed Rod whilst fellow front row man, Kelvin New had got the jump on Rod and led into Riches with the Alfa on his tail. As they crossed the line at the end of the first lap Kelvin’s Elva Mk3 had a 2 second lead over the Disco Volante. The Alfa was 1.5 seconds ahead of Colin Elstrop in the Lotus Elite, poleman Rod Begbie having dropped to 4th in his Elva MkIV. A full 4 seconds behind Rod, was Stuart Dean in the MG Dick Jacobs Special clear of Dougal Cawley’s Lotus Elite which had gained a couple of places but had John Waterson’s Elite breathing down his neck. Howard Maguire had dropped behind these two but was clearly playing himself in whilst Craig McWilliam was already off the pace in the Kieft. Track conditions were to play quite a part in the outcome of this race.

During the course of lap 2 the experienced Colin Elstrop found the tricky conditions to suit the Elite and he moved passed Chris Mann’s Disco Volante to take second place, completing the lap 4 seconds behind the flying Elva of Kelvin New. Rod Begbie, on the other hand, was not enjoying the conditions and was unable to convert his pole position performance to the race. He was still 4th but dropping back although well clear of Stuart Dean in the lovely Dick Jacobs Special Coupe. Dougal Cawley was still holding 6th albeit still with John Waterson giving him very close attention, both in Lotus Elites. Howard Maguire however, was just beginning to edge towards them in the Playford MG and within 2 seconds of joining them at the end of the lap whilst Craig McWilliam’s was still dropping back in the Kieft.

At the end of the third lap the gap between the two leaders was pretty much unchanged and Chris Mann was working hard to keep them in sight. Rod Begbie was still dropping back in the Elva MkIV and after spinning out of Murrays on lap 4 decided he had had enough and retired the car complaining of lack of grip and vibrating wing mirrors that prevented him seeing behind, although in truth he was many seconds ahead of 5th placed Stuart Dean. In the meantime, the battle between the two Elites of Dougal Cawley and John Waterson raged, less than a second covering them at the end of lap 4, but they were now joined by the Playford MG of Howard Maguire who had been gradually picking up his pace.

Colin Elstrop had picked up his pace further, so that by the end of lap 4 he had the Elite on the tail of Kelvin New’s Elva and he duly took the lead as they completed lap 5. Chris Mann was still a very strong 3rd, 11 seconds behind but almost half a minute ahead of an untroubled Stuart Dean in 4th. Some 13 seconds behind Stuart, John Waterson had finally got the better of Dougal Cawley, who had also fallen behind Howard Maguire in the Playford MG. It was now John’s turn to come under pressure as Howard closed in on the back of the Elite. Dougal’s Elite had already started to drop back but was 50 seconds ahead of Craig McWilliams little 1097cc Kieft Climax.

During the next couple of laps Colin Elstrop appeared to consolidate his lead over Kelvin New, leading by almost 4 seconds at the end of lap 6 but Kelvin upped his pace considerably on lap 7 and started to close back up the leader. The race wasn’t over yet by any stretch. Behind, Chris Mann was having a great race in the Disco Volante, surely on course for 3rd place. Howard Maguire had overcome John Waterson’s Elite, to take 6th place and had started to edge away, but appeared to be too far behind now to challenge Stuart Dean’s Dick Jacobs Special. Apart from the lead battle, positions seemed to be set.

Kelvin New continued to counter attack and by the end of lap 9, the Elva was just a second behind Colin Elstrop’s Lotus Elite and it looked as though we were going to have a great battle to the flag. However, this all came to nothing when a misleading black flag signal led Kelvin to enter the pits only to find that it was not for him and he was waved through. Chris Mann responded similarly, twice, only to find on both occasions it was not for him either. I note that around this time Craig McWilliam had a very long pit stop, so there may be a connection. In any event, this denied Chris his 3rd place and he was sufficiently miffed about it to raise it with the VSCC in an email subsequently (I don’t know the response!). Kelvin was also denied the opportunity to challenge for race victory although the two leaders were so far ahead, and with Chris’s misfortunes behind him, he, at least, did not lose position.

Now that he was no longer under pressure, Colin Elstrop backed off a little, but Kelvin New, no doubt spurred on by the unnecessary pit drive through, continued to lap quickly but the gap to Colin was still over 40 seconds at the flag. Once clear of the Elites of John Waterson and Dougal Cawley, Howard Maguire really went after Stuart Dean although with the gap at 14 seconds he couldn’t have been able to see him, and this was to remain the same for 3 laps, but then on lap 8, he took almost 4 seconds out of the DJS and a further 3 seconds on lap 9. On Lap 11, Howard took his Playford MG passed the DJS, and whilst Stuart upped his pace, so did Howard and he drew away to take a fine 3rd place. A rather disgruntled Chris Mann took 7 seconds out of the DJS, putting up, by far, his fastest lap on his last, but falling short by just under 4 seconds. 5th place seemed poor reward for his efforts. John Waterson and Dougal Cawley were 6th and 7th respectively, in their Lotus Elites, John having opened up a comfortable gap of 11 seconds over Dougal by the chequered flag. Craig McWilliams manfully finished the race after overcoming the difficult conditions and a very long pit stop. He was 3 laps down on the leaders but had also put his fastest laps in at the end. Conditions appeared to have improved as, with the exception of the two leaders, everyone had put their fastest laps in during the last third of the race.

This race was, for various reasons already touched upon, not an entirely satisfactory affair but I am very grateful to those who entered and their enthusiastic driving under tricky conditions. The make up of the grid was both interesting and unusual. A rather disparaging and inaccurate race report by the reporter for the VSCC magazine was unhelpful, to say the least. He hadn’t bothered to read either my programme notes or taken the trouble to come and see me - a very rare occasion in which I actually took the trouble to complain! - JT

Gallery

(Qualifying and Race - all photos by John Turner)

Tailpiece