Strange goings on at Mallory Park. Guy Staudt, in his V8 Vantage, was given a right ticking off from the chap on the gate. Probably SMERSH. Mistaken identity possibly. You see, to save time at the circuit (we had to be at the scrutineering dead early), Guy was already displaying his competition numbers, but not crossed out enough, apparently, which is seen in some quarters as A Bad Thing. But hold hard – I think some explanation is necessary.
On Saturday 26th April, I headed up in my DB2/4 from The Smoke to Mallory Park Motor Circuit in Leicestershire, just off M1 Junction 21m, where the AMOC were guests of the Bentley Drivers Club for their annual sprint.
Mallory is one of the shorter circuits in the UK at 1.35 miles, and it sits in a bowl, a bit like the club circuit at Brands Hatch, with most of the track visible for spectators. The track has two very memorable features: just after the pits (from which we start our sprints) is a wide, sweeping 180 degree bend called Gerards, and at the other end of the circuit is the Mother of All Hairpins, Shaws. In between these bookends are the Stebbe straight, followed by the snicker-snack of the John Cooper Esses with lots of lovely camber to help you out. (It also has a really great cafe with a choice of various remarkably good home made lunches – no death-burger van here – but I digress.)
In its usual format, it is fast sweeping circuit, but the BDC had, in their wisdom, brought into use three chicanes to slow us down a bit and to make it more likely that we would fall off: one two-thirds through Gerards, one halfway down the Stebbe Straight, and another just after the hairpin, and before The Devil's Elbow (who thinks up these names?!) and the finishing line.
We had seven Astons! Three DB2/4s (Tim Stamper, Nigel Grice, Peter Watts), a DB11 (Peter House – his V8 Vantage Rally still bust), a V12 Vantage (Tim Price) and Staudt and Whittaker in a road going and racing V8 Vantages respectively. A very interesting and mixed bag.
We were first to go out, so we had numbers 1 to 7. But of course, being Astons, we amused ourselves by numbering our cars 001,2, 3, etc. You get the drift. The Ever Smooth Guy Staudt had clearly managed to find the right person to bribe, because his car was 007...and the man on the gate clearly knew he was coming.
Although some of us had been to Mallory before, none of us had driven it with the chicanes, so it was very much a learning curve for us over the first couple of practice runs. And of course HQ (Anne Reed) had no previous relevant data to go on in order to set our target times. With great devotion to the cause, she took time out from her holiday to log on to the live timing website, looked at our practice times, and set us our targets there and then.
We each had two bites at the cherry during our timed runs, and although the weather was a bit overcast, the rain held off, so the conditions were reasonable if not ideal for us all to set some decent times.
Tim in his DB2/4 (yes, the one that looks even more second-hand than mine) was absolutely blistering given that it is the thick end of 70 years old, with me and Peter Watts trailing in his wake, but satisfied nevertheless to have beaten our target times, though in my case, only just. In the case of the moderns, they were all so close – only a smidge over two seconds between them, with Tom Whittaker in his race prepared V8 Vantage taking first-past-the-post.
The Bentley Drivers Club managed the day most effectively and got through a fabulous entry of around 150 cars, with only one or two brief stoppages to collect cars that had fallen off or ground to a halt. Lots of interesting machinery, including V8-powered Allards, ridiculously quick Frazer Nashes and a GN, and clatter of Austin Healeys, Porsches, Triumphs, Lotuses, MGs, Morgans, and load of moderns, not to mention some fabulous Bentleys of all ages from a 1924 Three Litre Speed model, right up to a 2008 Arnage – Blenheim Palace on wheels, as someone well known once described it.
People were endlessly curious about our cars, and so delighted to see them out and us all giving it some stick.
Finally, a special mention goes to Tim Price and Peter Watts, both doing their second ever competitive events in an Aston – looks like they have both been bitten by the bug.
Nigel Grice
Photographs from the day can be seen in the
2025 Mallory Park Sprint Photo Album.
Two video's are available on YouTube:
Compilation Video and
Individual Runs Video.