FISCAR Inter-Marque

VSCC, Donington, 23 May, 2026

Preamble

It was good to return to the VSCC Donington meeting after an absence last year. For reasons that I have never entirely understood, we have not always provided big grids at this historic circuit, so it was a bit of a pleasant surprise to receive 29 entries, although withdrawals and mechanical issues rather reduced the numbers that finally lined up on the grid.

First to withdraw was Tim Stamper in the Aston DB2/4. I suspect that he had entered prior to his Spring Start retirement and the expensive realisation that a new engine block is required! Mark Ellis withdrew his MGA - reason unknown, Morgan Cleasby had to withdraw as the Lotus Elite required new seatbelts and Gareth Evans had still not recieved a pair of beefed up halfshafts for the Sunbeam Alpine following a second halfshaft failure at Spring Start. Mark Brett’s Delage still wasn’t ready much to Mark’s frustration and the Tolletts discovered on the way to the circuit that the repair that had been carried out to the radiator core had failed, so they turned around and went back home! Martin Stowe who had entered his own MGA Coupe had to withdraw his entry but, at he invitation of Neil Burnside was able to share Neil’s MGA Twin Cam. So, we were down to 22 for qualifying!

Qualifying

Conditions were almost ideal for qualifying, although those in the closed cars got a bit warm! The ever glorious Alfa Romeo Disco Volante of Christopher Mann annexed pole. I’m not sure whether to be surprised at that given that Chris has been pretty quick in that car over the last couple of seasons! His time was 1.31.529 with Dougal Cawley/Mark Groves alongside in Dougal’s Lotus Elite on a time of 1.31.937. Third on the grid was Adrian King in David Cottingham’s AC Ace Bristol, but, unfortunately having posted a 1.32.251, it’s qualifying was curtailed when Adrian lost third gear and then most of the rest - initially, and logically, this was thought to have been a gearbox issue but later it was suggested a half shaft failure so I can confirm neither at this stage! Whatever the cause, it was sadly out of the race. 4th in qualifying was definitely a bit of a surprise, but this is what happens when you put youngsters in cars especially those who race fairly frequently in more modern series. Yes, this time it was Josh Bromley, sharing with his Dad, Shaun, who posted a time of 1.32.849, putting the single cam MGA Coupe on the second row. I can’t remember the last time an MGA was so high up the grid. Josh’s comment was that it was great but could have done with a bit more power! Who knew?!

The third row was occupied by Andrew Mitchell and Mark Morgan in Andrew’s Lotus Elite and their performances of late have suggested that they have become a real force to be reckoned with in our races. Their time at 1.32.920 and alongside was Michael Scott in his Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica, and although his time was a good bit behind the frontrunners on 1.34.11, it was an excellent qualifying position. On row 4 was a brace of MGA Twin Cams, Neil Burnside/Martin Stowe on 1.34.181, Neil no doubt hoping to emulate his fine drive at Silverstone, and Mark Daniell/Marcus Black on 1.34.360. Completing the top 10 was George Daniel, also in an MGA Twin Cam on 1.35.204 and, continuing his giant killing act, another relative youngster, Johnny Shears, again driving solo whilst Dad, Mark recovers from medical issues, in a time of 1.35.425, in the Morgan +4 Flat Rad.

It was good to see Barry Dye back after his disappointment at not getting to Spring Start, the Lotus Elite looking resplendent in its white with green stripes livery. He qualified 11th on 1.35.518 and had another striped car alongside, Peter Baker’s lovely Aston Martin DB2 on 1.35.914. Chris Bates qualified Harry Naergar’s Jowett Jupiter 13th, higher than Harry thought it would be but less of surprise to most of us as we know what Chris is capable of! His time was 1.37.413 but it was all to no avail as on the slowing down lap Chris felt something let go and ‘on removing the rocker cover we discovered a broken rocker arm on the exhaust valve of number 2 cylinder with a bent push rod on the inlet valve of number 2. We feared that we may have lost a valve and or damaged a piston but having taken the cylinder head off that bank there was happily no signs of any further damage. We think therefore that the initial problem was the rocker arm breaking and the bit that came off temporarily getting stuck in the spring next door thus bending the push rod. We were using lightened rocker arms but we think that the process of lightening has weakened the arms so we are going to revert back to traditional rocker arms which will hopefully be more robust.’ It was all very disappointing and meant a further reduction to our grid!

Nicola Burnside qualified 14th in her MGA Twin Cam, whilst Row 8 was occupied by the Simon Evans/Andy Storer Allard J2X Le Mans on 1.38.102, which would surely go a bit quicker in the race and Jeremy Woods in the Triumph Italia on 1.39.902. On row 9, Andy Cox had returned with his Triumph TR3 Falcon on 1.40.140. Andy keeps a low profile but it’s difficult to avoid attention altogether in such a splendid and unique looking car. VSCC member, Stuart Sargeant was alongside in his Jaguar XK150 on 1.40.444. Jason and Louise Kennedy qualified the Lancia Aurelia B20GT in a time of 1.44.292. We don’t see enough of them but they do spend a lot of time gallivanting around Europe on various escapades and they also say they have too many racing cars! A nice problem to have! Alongside the Lancia was another rarity racing; the AC Aceca of George Passey on a time of 1.44.926.

On row 11 was Peter Bower returning to the fold in a very smart MGA Twin Cam Coupe. His time was 1.45.649 and I think that he will get quicker with more seat time and indeed he improved both his lap times and position during the course of the race. Alongside was Mark Campbell in his ex Le Mans privateer Aston Martin DB 2 to complete the grid. With the two mechanical failures, we were now down to 20 cars, 6 of which were the products of Abingdon, so brilliant job MGA racers!

Race

Although depleted this was still a great looking field of 20 cars that rolled out onto the circuit via the Melbourne Hairpin and lined up at Goddards ready for release onto the circuit. It was almost spot on 4.00pm when the cars were flagged away to line up on the grid and then set off on their green flag in splendid sunshine, headed by Chris Mann in his Alfa Romeo Disco Volante.

The cars came around and lined up in their allotted spots but were then held awhile which caught out Michael Scott in the Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica as he edged forward not one, but twice before the the race started. He gained no advantage and since this is not F1, he was not penalised on this occasion since the race started whilst he was backing off! The Alfa shot into the lead chased by the pack. Chris appeared in control whilst the others sorted themselves out and there was plenty of early action right down the field but particularly amongst the first 3 rows. The Alfa boomed over the line at the end of the first lap with a 1.3 second lead over Dougal Cawley in his Lotus Elite. Dougal was a similar amount ahead of Josh Bromley, in the MGA and Andrew Mitchell was 4th already almost 2 seconds behind Josh, in his Lotus Elite, so 4.3 seconds covered the first 4 cars but anyone thinking that the pattern had been set was to be delightfully mistaken!

Close behind Andrew was Michael Scott in the Frazer Nash, Jonny Shears in the Flat Rad Morgan, Neil Burnside in his MGA Twin Cam, Barry Dye, 8th in his Lotus Elite, Mark Daniell in his MGA Twin Cam and dropping away slightly, in 10th, Nicola Burnside in her MGA Twin Cam. Nicola was being closely tailed by Peter Baker’s Aston Martin DB2. A further second behind came George Daniell, also MGA Twin Cam mounted with a small gap to Andy Cox and Simon Evans in TR3 Falcon and Allard J2X LM respectively who were pretty much side by side as they completed the lap. Jeremy Woods was next up in the Triumph Italia, followed by Louise Kennedy in the Lancia Aurelia B20 GT, ahead of the dicing pair of Peter Bower (MGA Twin Cam) and Stuart Sargeant (Jaguar XK150) with another dicing duo behind in the form of Mark Campbell (DB2) and George Passey (AC Aceca).            

As the leaders completed lap 2, Chris still had the Alfa ahead but both Dougal and Josh had closed in and the 3 of them crossed the line separated by less than a second. Andrew Mitchell, in the second of the Elites was still over 2 seconds behind the MGA but had closed the gap to the leader so that now just over 3 seconds covered the first 4. Things were hotting up at the front.

Andrew had managed to draw away from the chasing pack and some gaps were beginning to open up down the field. However, Neil Burnside (MGA Twin Cam), Mark Shears (Morgan Flat Rad) and Barry Dye (Lotus Elite) were still in close formation squabbling over 6th, Nicola Burnside (MGA Twin Cam) was holding off Simon Evans (Allard J2X LM), and, further back, Louise Kennedy (Lancia Aurelia) and Stuart Sargeant (Jaguar XK150) were engaged in battle, whilst that between Mark Campbell and George Passey continued unabated.

Chris Mann had edged away very slightly from Dougal Cawley’s Lotus Elite but the first 4 cars completed lap 3 covered by just over 2 seconds as Andrew Mitchell, beginning to get up to speed in his Elite, homed in on the 3rd placed MGA of Josh Bromley. The leading group were now 3.5 seconds clear of 5th placed Michael Scott in the splendid Frazer Nash LMR. Behind Michael, Neil and Mark had edged away from Barry Dye’s Lotus Elite which was unchallenged by the MGA Twin Cam of Mark Daniell who was keeping a wary eye on Peter Baker’s Aston Martin DB2. Simon Evans had overcome Nicola’s MGA Twin Cam, the American V8 power of the Allard making the difference as he took 11th place and started to draw away. Nicola’s attention was now drawn to the sister MGA Twin Cam of George Daniell which was closing in. Andy Cox was 14th in the TR3 Falcon almost 7 seconds clear of Jeremy Woods in the Triumph Italia which was being caught by the Lancia. A further 8 seconds behind Peter Bower was getting used to his MGA Twin Cam ahead of the continuing dice between the Aston and the AC, Mark Campbell still just about holding off George Passey.  

During lap 4 Andrew Mitchell had finally hauled himself up to the back of the leading trio to make it a flying foursome! Josh Bromley had snatched 2nd from Dougal Cawley and as they flashed across the line – Alfa, MGA, Lotus, Lotus, 9 tenths covered them all – fantastic stuff. The Alfa always had the edge on acceleration but the pair of Lotus Elites were better on braking and cornering, and well, Josh was Josh and had youth on his side, so all 3 were all over the Italian icon like the proverbial cheap suit as they charged into Redgate and this process was repeated all around the circuit.

The next 4 places were beginning to spread out but in 9th, Mark Daniell continued hold Peter Baker’s DB2 at bay but they were about to be caught by the big Allard of Simon Evans which had pulled well ahead of Nicola Burnside who was now engaged in an all Twin Cam battle with George Daniell. Andy Cox was on his own, 14th in the TR3 Falcon, but behind him Stuart Sargeant had worked his XK150 ahead of Jeremy Woods Triumph Italia. Behind Louise Kennedy and Peter Brewer were also having lonely races whilst behind them the DB2/Aceca battle remained close, Mark Campbell continuing to hold a very slender advantage over George Passey.

During lap 5, Chris Mann had managed to open up a very small advantage, his lap time in the high 1.33s whereas his 3 pursuers, probably falling over each other in their attempts to unseat the Alfa were in the 1.34s. Still only 1.6 seconds covered them all as their battle continued to draw them away from the rest of the field which was still headed by Michael Scott driving the Frazer Nash beautifully to maintain a 2 second gap over Neil Burnside who was enjoying another good drive in his Twin Cam. Mark Shears continued to keep the Flat Rad Morgan in an outstanding 7th place, although Barry Dye was edging up on him in the third of the Lotus Elites. Simon Evans, still charging, had displaced Peter Baker, the mirror of Mark Daniell’s MGA Twin Cam now full of Allard rather than Aston. At the back George Passey had finally squeezed his AC ahead of Mark Campbell’s DB2. We were now into the pit window but so far no-one had taken their mandatory stop.   

By the end of lap 6, it was again Dougal Cawley challenging the Chris Mann Alfa, with Josh Bromley having dropped to the back of the quartet behind Andrew Mitchell. I suspect that Josh had made a play for the lead which failed and slowed him sufficiently to allow the others by and he completed the lap just over 2  seconds down on the leader. There was still plenty of action behind as Simon Evans gained another place in the Allard, up to 9th at the expense of Mark Daniell’s MGA Twin Cam, and Mark Campbell had repassed George Passey who’d had a slow lap. Stuart Sargeant was the first to take his mandatory pit in his XK150.

Chris Mann retained the lead at the end of lap 7 but it was all change behind, as Dougal overcooked it in one of the braking areas and the red Elite slipped to the back of the group and now had the best part of 5 seconds to make up. It was Andrew Mitchell’s turn to challenge the Disco Volante for the lead whilst Josh Bromley had also made up a bit of ground. It was still all action at the front, but unfortunately, Johnny Shears fine run came to an abrupt end when the throttle cable on the Morgan snapped. Louise Kennedy pitted the Lancia Aurelia to hand over the Jason.

At the end of lap 8, Chris Mann headed the Alfa to the pits which enabled Andrew Mitchell with a clear track ahead of him to get his head down, whilst Josh Bromley held what was at that stage a relatively comfortable 2nd from Dougal Cawley who was still making up ground following his earlier mistake. Although no longer in close line astern formation, only 3.4 seconds covered the first 3 with those behind beginning to string out further, particularly since two more, Simon Evans and Mark Daniell pitted to hand over to Andy Storer and Marcus Black in Allard and MGA Twin Cam respectively.

Andrew, now flying in his Lotus Elite, had stretched the lead to 5.5 seconds during the course of lap 9, doing his best lap yet of 1.32.075, but also assisted by Josh Bromley in the MGA who did a slow 1.36.156 suggesting that he had briefly tripped up somewhere. However, Dougal Cawley did not capitalise as he took to the pits to hand the red Elite over to Mark Groves. He was followed in by Peter Bower (MGA Twin Cam) and George Passey (AC Aceca), both a lap down, and Neil Burnside who handed his MGA Twin Cam to Martin Stowe. Jeremy Woods also pitted the Triumph Italia.  

Lap 10 and Andrew Mitchell pumped in a 1.31.417 lap which took him even further ahead of Josh Bromley in the MGA. It was the Elite’s fastest lap of the race and took the lead up to 6.8 seconds. 21 seconds behind the leader, Michael Scott was still going well, 3rd in the Fazer Nash and there was now a very substantial gap between the top 3 and the rest of the field but all 3, amongst others, had yet to stop. Barry Dye (Lotus Elite), George Daniell (MGA Twin Cam) and Andrew Cox (TR3 Falcon) all pitted at this time.

Josh Bromley had a poorish lap on lap 11 so that the Elite’s lead was now over 10 seconds. 3rd placed Michael Scott took the Le Mans Replica into the pits, and he was followed in by Mark Campbell’s  Aston DB2. The Aston had been smoking a bit and the pitlane marshals, whilst not intending to prevent him returning to the track, took the opportunity to engage Mark in conversation about it which added about 15 seconds to Mark’s stop time! Peter Baker in the other DB2 pitted at the same time.

3 cars remained yet to pit; the two leaders and Nicola Burnside in her MGA Twin Cam and they were all to pit on lap 12. Andrew handed the Elite over to Mark Morgan and the car, surprisingly so far ahead of most of the field that it emerge still in the lead. Josh Bromley handed the MGA over to his Dad, Shaun.  Now that all stops had now been completed, the true race positions would reveal themselves over the next couple of laps.  

The changeover between Andrew Mitchell and Mark Morgan was a good one. It was 3 seconds quicker than that between Dougal Cawley and Mark Groves and 6 seconds quicker than that between Josh and Shaun Bromley, so that by the end of lap 13, Mark Morgan had 10.5 second lead over Mark Groves and 16.7 seconds over Shaun. Of the 3 drivers, the expectation, on previous form,  was that Groves in the red Elite would be the quickest and likely to catch Morgan in the white sister car, towards the end. Shaun in the MGA, dare I say an inherently slower car than the Lotus, was not expecting to be as quick as Josh anyway, was more intent on just getting his head down and trying to stay clear of a charging Chris Mann in the Disco Volante which was just 3 seconds down on the MG. Chris was only 3 seconds ahead of Michael Scott’s Frazer Nash but pulling away. Although he had a reasonably good pit stop, Chris’s out lap was pretty slow which was why he was no longer in contention for the lead, but now intent on making up ground.

In 6th place Martin Stowe had taken over Neil Burnside’s MGA Twin Cam but with no seat time in this car was not expecting to match Neil’s times but he gave it a real go. Behind him Barry Dye’s Lotus Elite was holding off Peter Baker’s Aston DB2 and this fine battle would go to the flag. In 9th place, George Daniell’s MGA Twin Cam was pressing on, a few seconds ahead of Nicola Burnside who was trying to fend off Marcus Black, both also in MGA Twin Cams. Last car on the lead lap was the TR3 Falcon of Andy Cox.

Mark Groves cut the lead to 8.4 seconds by the end of lap 14 but the following lap saw Mark Morgan stabilise that gap, with his best lap by far in a 1.32.995. Shaun Bromley, a further 8 seconds behind had actually extended his lead over the 4th placed Alfa, but looking at Chris Mann’s lap time suggests that he had perhaps overcooked it somewhere, so that battle wasn’t over, whilst Michael Scott continued to circulate in an excellent but rather lonely 5th place. The Barry Dye/Peter Baker dice was gradually taking them closer to Martin Stowe but they appeared to be running out of laps to catch him. Marcus Black had overtaken Nicola Burnside and was now beginning to home in on George Daniell so there was loads of midfield action from the MGA Twin Cams.   

The following lap Mark Groves put in 1.32.8 lap compared to Mark Morgan’s 1.37.8, so he had slashed the lead to 3.5 seconds but the following lap the leader snatched almost a second back so that by the end of lap 17, he had taken the lead back out to 4.4 seconds. Which of the Elites would take the flag first? The outcome was still in doubt with only 2 laps to go. Meanwhile, behind, Chris Mann had taken his Alfa up to the tail of Shaun Bromley’s MGA but still had to get the job done if he was to finish in the top 3. Mike Scott still lay 5th in no–man’s land but Martin Stowe was still be hauled in by the great dice between Barry Dye’s Lotus Elite and Peter Baker’s DB2. Three other cars were still on the lead lap, all MGA Twin Cams, in the hands of Marcus Black, George Daniell and Nicola Burnside. Andy Cox had just gone a lap down in his TR3 Falcon but was ahead of Andy Storer (Allard), Jeremy Woods (Triumph Italia), Stuart Sargeant (XK150), and Jason Kennedy (Lancia Aurelia). 2 laps down, Mark Campbell (DB2) had got the better of George Passey’s AC Aceca Coupe.               

To be continued