Golightly seals 2015 VSCC Trials Season Championship

Golightly seals 2015 VSCC Trials Season Championship

                                                                                                                                                  2 December 2015

Following confirmation of results from our Cotswold Trial, the traditional season closer, the standings have been finalised and we are delighted to announce the winners of the Club’s prestigious Annual Trials Trophies for 2015.

The silverware  for our Short Wheelbase cars (Class 1) – originally awarded across both classes – is traditionally supported by the Club’s current Insurance Associate, Hagerty whilst a second trophy for our Long Wheelbase (Class 2) was introduced ten years ago, donated by long-time discipline supporters, Frost Auto Restoration Techniques.

As is habitually a feature of the Club’s Trials, the short chassis, high-powered and more manoeuvrable cars of Class 1 are invariably the front-runners, particularly the Austin 7s, who have long supported the Club’s Trials in good numbers. Often mixing it with these for the spoils, you will also find the long wheelbase Frazer Nash and GN cars whose solid rear‐axle and chain‐driven transmissions offer a perceived inherent advantage. 

Other heavier and less nimble touring cars, with wheelbases exceeding an 8ft dividing line, go into Class 2 comprising the Long Wheelbase cars.  These may have an overall comparative disadvantage but competition is fierce, particularly amongst the ubiquitous Ford Model As, and sees them battle one another for their own honours, whilst one or two regulars every so often make a claim for the top spot.

The VSCC Trials season comprises seven events from February to November, located in Exmoor, Derbyshire, Herefordshire, Scottish Borders, Wales, Lake District and Cotswolds. Trophy Points from a maximum of six events are counted towards the Annual Trophies – the Club’s annual Welsh Trial has always been restricted to Vintage & Edwardian cars only (i.e. Pre-1931) and therefore would put those drivers of Post-Vintage Thoroughbred (PVT) cars at an immediate disadvantage.

Recent winners of the two Annual Trophies include:

PREVIOUS TRIALS TROPHY WINNERS
Year	Short Wheelbase Cars		Long Wheelbase Cars
2014	Matt Johnston	Austin	Paul Jeavons	Vauxhall
2013	Donald Skelton	Austin	Jonathan Miller	Chrysler
2012	Donald Skelton	Austin	Jeremy Brewster	Lea-Francis
2011	Mags Diffey	Bugatti	Stuart Cooke	Morris
2010	Donald Skelton	Austin	Gareth Graham	Bentley

The Short Wheelbase Class for the Hagerty Trophy proved an epic battle all season long between the Ford Model T of David Golightly and Donald Skelton, a 3-time Championship winner in his Austin 7. The first part of the year saw the pair share the victories, with Golightly holding the advantage at the season’s halfway stage, having triumphed at the Derbyshire, Herefordshire and Scottish events.

Victory at the Welsh Trial in October saw Skelton close the gap. However, challenging conditions at the Lakeland Trial delivered below par results for both our front-runners, ensuring it would come ‘down to the wire’ at the Cotswolds. Whilst neither could ‘hit the heights’ of the early season with another overall victory, David’s 1^st Class award was enough to beat his rival and claim his first VSCC Trials Championship crown.

The well-deserved success proved a satisfactory end to a well-spirited contest over the season, which also saw the pair swap cars for an event with our friends at the Preston & District Vintage Car Club, raising over £500 for the local Air Ambulance Charity.

Ahead of the final round, Paul Jeavons looked to have tied up the overall victory in the Frost Trophy standings for Long Wheelbase Class in his Vauxhall 30-98 for a second consecutive year. Following several consistent performances throughout the season, including Class victory at the Derbyshire Trial in March, he entered the Cotswolds trailing Robert Hodgkinson’s Ford Model A in the standings by less than a dozen points, having only competed in five events – thus his weekend’s score was still to count. Although just outside the awards on the day, his score was strong enough to deliver the expected season triumph.

TRIALS TROPHIES 2015 – FINAL SCORES
The Hagerty Trophy				The Frost Trophy
1	David Golightly	Ford	2059	1	Paul Jeavons	Vauxhall	1692
2	Donald Skelton	Austin	2022	2	John Chilman	Chrysler	1486
3	Richard Houlgate	Austin	1846	3	Robert Hodgkinson	Ford	1485
4	Phil Longhurst	Austin	1835	4	Dennis Bingham	Ford	1469
5	Peter Kite	Austin	1815	5	Richard White	Morris	1404
6	Kraig Mycock	Riley	1769	6	Tim Dutton	Ford	1378
7	Andrew Fox	Austin	1750	7	John Higgs	Morris	1169
8	Keith Hill	Singer	1713	8	Tim Kneller	Morris	1152
9	Matthew Johnston	Austin	1688	9	Steve White	Riley/Ford	1105
10	Alexandra Milne-Taylor	AJS	1679	10	James Bell	Chrysler	1045
11	Clive Press	Austin	1667	11	Ben Collings	Bentley	989
12	Stewart Rich	Austin	1638	12	Jeremy Flann	Ford	977
13	Nigel Glover	Austin	1611	13	Graham White	Lea-Francis	971
14	David Rolfe	MG	1585	14	Norman Lloyd	Bentley	936
15	Simon Price	Ford	1556	15	Peter Garland	Vauxhall	915

Amongst the ‘Standard’ cars, both Russell Hennessy (Morris Bullnose) and Dennis Bingham (Ford Model A) enjoyed a well-deserved ‘lap of honour’ in the Cotswolds following their strong and consistent performances throughout the season to dominate their respective standings, with Bingham’s total enough to place him fourth in the overall Long Wheelbase standings, amongst much more modified machinery.

TRIALS SCORES 2015 – STANDARD CLASSES
Standard Short Wheelbase				Standard Long Wheelbase
1	Russell Hennessy	Morris	1144	1	Dennis Bingham	Ford	1469
2	David Rushton	MG	743	2	Christopher Batty	Ford	830
3	David Johnson	Austin	672	3	John Wiseman	Ford	809
4	Mark Smith	MG	575	4	John Dobson	Ford	728
5	Will Odell	Riley	502	5	Roy Newton	Ford	686
6	Charles Gillett	Morris	498	6	Chris Williams	Ford	658

We thank Club Member and Trials Marshal, Peter Livesey for again collating scores on behalf of the Club in 2015 and all those who competed or marshalled across another successful VSCC Trials campaign.

-Ends-

David Golightly and passenger, Carla Smith put the 1927 Ford Model T through its paces at the VSCC Herefordshire Trial

earlier this year, on their way to claiming the Club’s 2015 Trials Championship.

Photo: Geoff Robinson