Owen Special at the 2011 VSCC Pomeroy Trophy
The Pomeroy Trophy is a unique event – it’s the only Vintage Sports Car Club event where cars of any age are eligible and it routinely sees cars spanning a hundred years of manufacture. Based on a devious mathematical formula devised by Laurence Pomeroy, the event seeks to find the ideal touring car as per Pomeroy’s criteria
Calculating the winner is not easy and in past years it has taken some days to work out. The criteria favour certain cars – Frazer-Nashes, Triumph TRs and BMW 2002s have all been winners in the past but, as ever, the right car in the wrong hands will never succeed
Traditionally held at Silverstone in filthy February weather, the Pom attracts a diverse range of cars. The earliest car this year was the 1904 Rochet-Schneider of Timothy Moore and the newest a 2009 Audi RS6. The event starts with driving tests including a timed, standing-start quarter mile dash to a stop in a coned area and a wiggle-woggle through cones on the Silverstone start straight. Modern cars with ABS seems to struggle badly in the braking test – it’s common to see them sail straight through the box with the brake pedal nailed to the floor
The day ends with 40 minutes flat-out on the National Circuit. This is done in traffic with some serious speed differentials between cars but it’s good-natured and very exciting. The organisers handicap the cars with a target number of laps to achieve and this adds to the uncertainty of what is going on
You’ll see plenty of novice crosses on the cars during the Pom. It’s an ideal starter event for budding race drivers. My first event after my ARDS course was the Pom where I came 42nd out of 100 entrants. I was pleased with that – and very happy with 14th overall in the brake test in a 1962 Triumph TR4!
Photos courtesy of Steve Welsh from Racing Photos. Prints are available – please email cars@bolide.co.uk for details
You’ll find the 2011 Pomeroy Trophy results on the VSCC website here
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