Roycroft Trophy 2013

[AMCO72]

Yeh, sorry O.F. Got me Leadfoots and Roycrofts mixed up. That notorious turn ONE. Don't talk to me about it. My green paint is adorning the concrete along with a lot of other colours. And that bit of re-sealing they did between the two weekends of Denny Hulme made it especially treacherous.
I'm sure Mr Lycoming has the technology to fix it.

[ERC]

Seems the Mini is in the wars this year...

Nice little piece in the Herald motoring section today from Peter Calder. Good pic of the Lagonda too.

Was there ever a better name for a car make?...

[Steve Holmes]

Wow, guys, stunning photos! Thanks so much for posting them.

[Powder]

Nigel if you have any pics of that little blue no 45 we would love to see them.

Sorry GeeBeeNZ but I don't have any shots of No. 45 this year.

Not quite up to Nigel's standard, but it's better than nothing.

[nigel watts]

Don't sell yourself short Powder - it's a perfectly fine image

[Powder]

Don't sell yourself short Powder - it's a perfectly fine image

Cheers Nigel. It's slightly 'over-panned', so the driver isn't sharp, and the colours are a bit flat compared to your photos.

[PhotoSmith]

Nigel if you have any pics of that little blue no 45 we would love to see them.

Sorry GeeBeeNZ but I don't have any shots of No. 45 this year.

[quote="Powder"]Not quite up to Nigel's standard, but it's better than nothing.


this one's from saturday........

[Malcolm McLeod]

And here is a photo of said driver at Leadfoot...read the message on the back of the overalls!

Where is the disrespect in that? Not only power to weight, probably skill too. Last week it was Anne Thompsons granddaughter driving down Millen Mountain.
FJs? They have excuses like SFOS having given them too much racing!!!!!!!

[PhotoSmith]

Another car it was good to see out was the RA Vanguard.............almost a mini Auto Union.

Certainly from this angle - Very Auto Union looking.

[nigel watts]

I didn't get to the circuit until Sunday and unfortunately by then it appeared that many cars had suffered problems and were no longer running.t6r55555555555555555rfeddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd [cat just stood on the keyboard!!]
I would have loved to see the Vanguard running.
Maybe next year

[GeebeeNZ]

Many thanks Martin and Powder for those great shots of my little blue 45
Graeme

[David McKinney]

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Is that the famous White Riley, and does it now reside in NZ?

[AMCO72]

Certainly from this angle - Very Auto Union looking.

Yes, and all you need is Tazio Nuvolari, in his leather helmet and goggles, and your there.......perhaps a few more stubbs!!!

[AMCO72]

Nigel, this is a problem with meetings that have delicate old cars. I have learnt to go on the first day when there is a reasonable chance of them all running. But not necessarily so. I think some owners pop the cars into a garage at the end of the meeting and twelve months later dig them out and expect them to go. There always seems to be a lot of fettling on that first morning.

Don't know whether this was the RA's first meeting, but he did very well with an unsorted car. He was having trouble with the oil feed to the supercharger at one stage. Don't know whether or not this was resolved.

[ERC]

Nuvolari - prewar Donington - one of dad's original images.

Agree with AMCO. I usually go on day 1, even if it is only practice. I want to grab a pic before things fall off or out.

[nigel watts]

Wow, love that shot of Nuvolari and the Auto Union. Must have been an awe inspiring moment to see these cars being driven to their absolute maximum.
I wonder if we asked nicely whether the current owners would send one out for the next Roycroft... and maybe a couple of same era Mercedes to fill the container. Yeah right - dream on

[ERC]

I think we'd even be happy with the recreations Nigel! That pic was taken I think, on a 4" x 3" glass negative.

It was dad's photos like this that really ignited my passion for motorsport. That and him teaching me every car on the road as he wheeled me along in my pushchair. Apparently my first word was "Rover" - and we didn't even have a dog... and I could recognise every car that passed by the time I was talking properly! I couldn't do that now to my grand children as sadly, too many look the same these days.

[Michael Clark]

By sheer coincidence I once happened to have dinner with Murray Walker in, of all places, Indianapolis - we were both 'lone diners' in that sad area restaurants reserve for people with no friends...

Amongst the many things we discussed over dinner was the Silver Arrows racing at Donington - I'm guessing Murray must have mentioned his father was commentating there. I made a comment similar to that of Nigel's and MW responded with something like 'The most boring racing I'd ever seen...'

When I quizzed him further on it he said that the M-Bs and AUs were so far in front of the rest, which I guess comprised the likes of ERAs, that it was absolutely no contest. In the book I did on Chris Amon for 'his' Festival in 2011, we made a list of the 10 cars he'd loved to have driven - a 1937 Type C Auto Union was his number 1.

[Steve Holmes]

Great point Michael. Manfred von Brauchitsch in his Mercedes-Benz demolished the existing Donington lap record by 15 seconds in 1937, giving an idea of how much faster the German cars were than the local contingent. And for an entrant to be classified a finisher, they had to finish within 15 minutes of the winner after the 3 hour duration, which none of the British teams managed. So maybe Murray has a point in that the race itself was somewhat boring, especially as several of the German cars failed. But from everything I've read, the sheer noise, speed and smell of the M-Bs and Auto-Unions made for such a spectacle, the actual racing itself played a secondary role.

[Nodiff]

Don't know whether this was the RA's first meeting, but he did very well with an unsorted car. He was having trouble with the oil feed to the supercharger at one stage. Don't know whether or not this was resolved.

Yes it was first time out. In fact the car was "Finished" (and I use the term reservedly) on the Thursday night, wheeled onto the trailer for the ride up to Hampton. The first time that it was driven, was from my pit area to the scrutineering bay, where the noise scared the bejeezuz out of the scrutineers. Oil feed sorted (disconnected) but some isues with the blower plumbing (only getting about 2 lbs boost instead of the 16 before the connections disconnected) and a rear wheel bearing issue which sidelined it on the Sunday..All will be remedied as I have promised Fred Courtney that I will give hime something to race against next year (Or at the HRSCC Taupo meet in December)