The VSCC's Pomeroy Trophy

“You have to think of it as conceptual art …” The oil-stained veteran quipped to me, having finally sparked life into a recalcitrant block. “It needs to be admired, not explained!”

I still don’t know if he was talking about his engine, or the handicapping calculations for the day’s event, but it finally made sense of something I’d been struggling to understand all week.

For those new to ‘the Pom’, it’s a day of on-track tests, held by the Vintage Sports Car Club and devised by Laurence Pomeroy to remember the work of his late father, the celebrated engineer (also called ‘Laurence’). Pomeroy snr had been instrumental in developing early key concepts of car design and engineering, particularly in the use of lightweight alloys. Later, when considering comparisons of generations of grand prix cars, he devised a formula that accounted for age, weight, power and type. Still relevant today, Pomeroy’s Index might often be cited in arguments as to which was the ‘greatest’, Moss’s Cooper? Stewart’s Tyrell? Mansell’s Williams? Or Hamilton’s Mercedes? Suggesting how a car of ‘then’ would perform now.

Here at Silverstone, competitors took part in a series of events; a timed slalom, straight-line acceleration, braking, and then a forty-minute session on the Grand Prix circuit, with drivers tasked to complete a set number of laps according to their car’s age and specification. It’s a challenge to find the best overall touring car, bringing together machinery that might not ordinarily have competed against each other.

It was a hugely entertaining day, free for the public to attend, and filled with a truly eclectic mix of machinery; from vintage pre-World War 1 racers to the mighty McLaren M1B, and from the beautiful 1954 Alfa Romeo Zagato Coupe to the equally dazzling Ford GT40 recreation. And then to add a little spice to the mix, a Vauxhall Zafira and the famous Jägermeister 1973 BMW CSL Group 2 vintage racer.

But for all their grace and grunt, when the results were finally calculated on Monday afternoon, it was John Felstead with his 2004 Subaru Impreza that was awarded the spoils, narrowly beating Short’s 2022 Yaris, and the 1913 Vauxhall of Tony Lees (feature image).

Here are twenty of our favourite images from the day. If you want to know more about the Vintage Sports Car Club, you can find them here.

All images by Steve Hindle