The very first Royal Automobile Club Woodcote Trophy race took place on Saturday 29th July 2006, at the Silverstone Classic. Organisers Motor Racing Legends were delighted to receive a huge number of entries, far more than could be accommodated in this first Woodcote Trophy race for pre-1956 sports cars, demonstrating the pent-up demand for a series of this calibre.
Saturday’s final grid of 43 pre-1956 sports cars included three Aston Martin DB3Ss; three Allards (J2, J2X and JR) and three Maserati 300Ss. Joining them were two Jaguar D-types, three Jaguar C-types (one of them driven by Michael Quinn, grandson of Jaguar founder Sir William Lyons) – not to mention Sir Stirling Moss piloting Tony Pickering’s OSCA MT4. Numerous other marques were represented in the stunning line-up, from Aston Martins to Austin-Healeys; from Frazer Nash to Porsche and Lotus.
On pole position was the Jaguar D-type of Nigel Webb and Gary Pearson, followed by the Maserati 300S of Mark Gillies and David Morris. Third on the grid was the Jaguar C-type to be started by Graham Dodd, and then taken over by Nigel Webb for the second stint. In the opening laps it was Mark Gillies who showed the most promise, overtaking everyone in the 1955 Maserati which was raced in the USA when new by such illustrious names as Carroll Shelby. The HWM Jaguar of Michael Steele and Nick Wigley climbed swiftly to second position, followed by the Dodd/Webb C-type, the Webb/Pearson D-type, and the Allard J2 of James Shead and Tony Dron.
The Maserati-Jaguar-Allard battle continued throughout the first half of the race, with first the 300S in front, then the HWM Jaguar taking the lead, and then the C-type. When the leading C-type came into the pits for the driver change, none other than Norman Dewis, the renowned Jaguar test development engineer (and Works driver) of the period was on hand, quickly checking the underneath of the car before Nigel Webb rejoined the race. By this time, Gary Pearson had taken over the wheel of Webb’s D-type (leaping from the cockpit of Ben Eastick’s D-type, which he was also sharing!), and began to work his way up the field from sixth place. The Shead-Dron Allard was out of contention after a 4-minute pit-stop for a loose exhaust, and Pearson soon picked off the other Jaguars, leaving just the Gillies/Morris Maserati to hunt down. On lap 24, he finally took the lead and stretched it to 14 seconds ahead of the second-placed Maserati at the end of the race. In third was the Dodd/Webb C-type, with the Steele/Wigley HWM Jaguar a close fourth.
Other class winners were the Hall/Parker Lotus Mk X, the Wood/Gauld Lister Bristol, and the HRG Le Mans of Chris Conoley and Simon Diffey.
Following this weekend’s inaugural race at the Silverstone Classic, the Royal Automobile Club Woodcote Trophy will be back at the Six-Hour meeting at Spa-Francorchamps (30 Sep–1 Oct).
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