Vintage Sports-Car Club crown 2016/17 Trials Season Champions

Vintage Sports-Car Club crown 2016/17 Trials Season Champions

Donald Skelton and Paul Jeavons have been confirmed as winners of the 2016/17 VSCC Annual Trials Championships, which concluded with the Club’s annual Scottish Trial in Biggar, Lanarkshire last month.

Following a Committee decision to realign the Club’s ever-popular Trials Season, the specially extended season ran from last year’s Exmoor Fringe Trial through to the recent Scottish, comprising 11 events in total with the best ten scores to count towards the final standings, with traditional bonus points accrued for participation in events ‘north of the border’.

Including long-standing events in Exmoor, Derbyshire, Herefordshire, Scotland, Wales, the Lake District and Cotswolds, it was another tightly fought contest across one of the VSCC’s most popular disciplines, with more than 100 entrants at almost every round.

As ever, the highly competitive machinery of the Modified & Special Short Wheelbase Class led for much of the way, as several front-running Austin 7 Specials battled with other more modified challengers from the likes of Ford, Frazer Nash, GN and Riley. Having triumphed on three occasions in the past seven years, Donald Skelton returned to the top of the standings once more to claim the Hagerty Trophy in his Austin 7.

The equivalent Long Wheelbase Class competition proved a two-horse race for much of the season, as the Vauxhall 30-98 of reigning champion, Paul Jeavons was pushed all the way by Jonathan Miller in his Chrysler 66 Sports. The pair traded several victories throughout the season with Jeavons’s ever-consistent performances rewarding him his third Frost Trophy victory.

TRIALS TROPHIES 2016/2017 – FINAL SCORES
The Hagerty Trophy			The Frost Trophy
1	Donald Skelton	3386	1	Paul Jeavons	2960
2	Ian Webb	3237	2	Jonathan Miller	2868
3	Peter Kite	3236	3	John Chilman	2825
4	David Golightly	3235	4	John Higgs	2336
5	Matthew Johnston	3230	5	Roger Tolson	2000
6	Simon Price	3213	6	Peter Garland	1755
7	Stewart Rich	3137	7	Richard White	1708
8	Phil Longhurst	3007	8	Richard Edmonds	1606
9	Peter Tierney	2996	9	Jeremy Brewster	1559
10	Kraig Mycock	2924	10	David Saxl	1552

There was similar excitement amongst the Standard cars this year with a host of more original machinery regularly taking part at each Trial. In the Short Wheelbase Class, David Rushton and Charles Gillet went head-to-head, with the former’s MG M Type coming out on top against the Bugatti Brescia. A regular amongst the Long Wheelbase line-up in his Ford Model A, Dennis Bingham led the way once more, his impressive season total enough to place in the Top 5 of the Modified standings.

STANDARD CLASSES 2016/2017 – FINAL SCORES
Class 1a – Short Wheelbase Cars			Class 2a – Long Wheelbase Cars
1	David Rushton	2432	1	Dennis Bingham	2206
2	Charles Gillett	2390	2	John Dobson	2075
3	Nicholas Beck	1298	3	Matthew Roberts	1437
4	Allan Bruce	1053	4	Rebecca Smith	1168
5	Mark Smith	1005	5	Andrew Staples	1076
6	Matthew Blake	890	6	Matthew Birkett	1046
7	David Johnson	856	7	Dougal Cawley	1027
8	James Emson	727	8	Christopher Batty	980
9	Michael Power	677	9	Roy Newton	916
10	Andy King	611	10	John Wiseman	838

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

The next VSCC Trials Season will begin in the Autumn with the Club’s historic Welsh Weekend in Presteigne on 7/8 October.