Jayson Fong

the conditions quickly became more tricky. I am sure I heard someone say that people were skiing on the nearby Downs. The motorbikes assembled, but headed back to the paddock. The Salvadori Cup, for mid- to late-ʼ50s sports cars and sports-racers, saw Andy Prill out in a rare Pooper – a Cooper Bobtail with a 356 engine.

Next up, in qualifying for the two-driver Moss Trophy for early-ʼ60s GT and sports cars, were some 356s. Gareth Burnett – paired with some ballast in the form of Robert Barrie – set a strong pace in a silver Gt-spec B, with Tordoff and Sugden not far behind in a white-with-green pre-a. With the track seemingly covered in an oily slush, I was saving any unlikely heroics for the following dayʼs race.

However, in the morning, the talk in the paddock was that something had been put on the circuit overnight to stop the snow settling. We never found out what, if anything, was involved, but the uncertainty meant a few cars were pulled from the racing, including ours. A bit cautious perhaps, as the track was slowly drying, but understandable and rightly the owner ʼs call.

Meanwhile, the bikes stayed put again and some Formula 5000s shuffled round in another snow shower. At a loose end, I headed off to spend some time with the heater in the driversʼ changing room. I wasnʼt the only one. A former BTCC star and a current sports car driver were chatting about the vagaries of compound interest before a Le Mans veteran started on the relative merits of gin and vodka. Ah yes, that locker room banter!

For the record, the Moss Trophy saw some very good racing and a win for the Minshaw and Keen E-type roadster from the Meins and Huff E-type coupé and the wonderful Ferrari 250 Breadvan of Pirro and Halusa. It would have been great to have been part of it – hopefully next time the weather will behave itself!

Fastest race of the weekend was the Gurney Cup for midʼ60s sports racers and prototypes. The lovely 906s of Armin Zumtobel and Franck Trouillard – the latter one of the green ex-mike deʼudy cars and the similarly pretty 910 of Hans Schewe were outgunned by the bigger-engined cars.

The race was won by David Hartʼs GT40 with the Cobra Daytona coupés of Andrew Smith and Olivier Hart in second

and third respectively. The 906s and 910s effectively closed the period in which Porsche competed with two-litre engines.

In contrast, the Group 5 demonstrations, on Saturday and Sunday afternoon, jumped forward a few generations, and sets of regulations, to highlight the production special period cars from the mid-ʼ70s to the early-ʼ80s. Unlike the Revival, which closely reflects the grids – and much else – from the circuitʼs heyday, the wider remit of the Membersʼ Meeting means it also features more modern machinery.

Together with Hans Huber ʼs flame-throwing 934/5, there were a number of 935 variants in the demonstration, headed by Jochen Mass in the monstrous Moby Dick, as well as Richard Attwood in the slightly less overstated 924 GTP. Call me old-fashioned but, away from the iconic Martini stripes, I still struggle with some of the liveries from this period, though I do accept that the cars look bare without them. Savings banks and sun-tan oil anyone?

There was absolutely no call for the latter at the Membersʼ Meeting, but well done and many thanks to everyone who made it happen. CP