AMOC Speed Championship — 26 Sunday April. Mallory Park. Sprint. Round 3
An early start, even by sprint standards. AMOC had the first scrutineering slot, 07:30 to 08:00, and the morning was biting cold. The previous day had topped 20°C, so some of us had not dressed warm enough. Well, I hadn't.
Mallory Park is a medium-fast historic motorcycle circuit, sweeping, rewarding to the bold. When you're the only car on track, you can use every inch of it. The layout mixes long, fast corners with a couple of tight second-gear chicanes, and my V12 was in its element on the open sections, pulling hard where the circuit opens out and braking very hard for the closing 180° hairpin.
The day was run in two blocks of timed runs. One small drama: the first practice session wasn't timed due to a timing issue, so we were given an extra practice run to compensate. No complaints there. By the time the second run came around, the temperature had climbed and therefore the times reduced, a noticeable improvement across the board as cars and drivers found their rhythm.
A strong AMOC turnout, with a few familiar faces and one newcomer. Peter House brought his GT4 Vantage, fast and consistent as ever. Tom Whittaker was getting to grips with his new-to-him and stunning F1 Edition, a car that briefly threatened a track record of just 18 seconds (another timing error, as it turns out!). Nigel Grice and Peter Watts in their DB2/4s. Guy Staudt in his Vantage booked his first timing run for the championship points and then headed straight down to Goodwood for a track day practice (we were back there the following week, see the next report!). Harrison Smith was back in the nimble MX5, improving steadily.
David Shepherd made his sprint debut in a Porsche 911 Turbo S and made quite an impression. Quick out of the box, with the sort of lap times that suggested he'd taken to it immediately. One to watch.
We were also joined by the largest support crew I have seen at a sprint event. AMOC members who came along for the day, including one who arrived in a stunning late-1970s Vantage V8 that drew admiring glances in the paddock. And Anne, who organises the entire Speed Championship calendar and who, it turns out, used to race herself at Mallory.
Results — best times
# Driver Car Best time
21 Peter Watts DB2/4 Mk II 82.80
22 Nigel Grice DB2/4 Mk II 75.08
23 Guy Staudt Vantage 65.78
24 Peter House Vantage GT4 61.04
25 Tom Whittaker Vantage F1 Edition 66.04
26 Tim Price V12 Vantage S 61.90
27 Harrison Smith Mazda MX5 73.19
28 David Shepherd Porsche 911 Turbo S 62.75
Another great event thanks to all involved.
Report by Tim Price.
Visit the event Photo Album:
2026 Mallory Park Sprint
Photos by: Anne Reed, Martin Cushen and Tim Price.