Formula Junior

Two Formula Junior cars at Redgate Corner during the Front-engined Formula Junior Racing Cars race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.

Leading is Peter St Barbe in his 1959 1,086cc Elva 100 closely followed by Gordon Russell in Pat Barford's 1959 1,098cc Gemini Mk II.

1950 Cooper Mk IV

I took this photograph at McLean's Corner during the Formula 3 (500cc) Racing Cars race at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.

The leading car here is the 1950 Cooper Mk IV of Frederick Harper followed closely by the 1952 Mackson F3 500 of Gordon Russell. 

After the Second World War motor racing in the UK was slow to re-start, partly because of petrol rationing and the cost of running a suitable car. Home-built ‘specials’ powered by 500cc motorcycle were created to provide a reasonably cheap way means of getting involved in the sport. John Cooper and Eric Brandon, with the assistance of John’s father Charles, decided in 1946 to build two cars, and in 1947 in the second post-war race meeting to be held Eric Brandon won the first race to feature 500cc cars. In 1950 this 500cc class of racing was adopted by the FIA as a new Formula 3, and John and Charles Cooper went on to build a series of these 500cc cars, eventually graduating to Formula 2, then Formula 1 culminating in Jack Brabham winning the World Drivers’ Championship in 1959 and 1960 in the 2½ litre Cooper Climax.

The Mackson was one of three cars that were built in 1951 and 1952 by Gordon Bedson and 'Mac' McGee.

1959 Gemini Mk II

I took this photograph at Redgate Corner during the Front-Engined Formula Junior Racing Cars race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2011.

Leading is Sir John Chisholm in his 1,071cc 1959 Gemini Mk2 and behind him is the 1,100cc 1960 Lola Mk2 of Simon Goodliff. Bringing up the rear are Peter St Barbe in his 1,086cc Elva 100 and Gordon Russell in P Barford's 1,098cc 1959 Gemini Mk2. Simon Goodliff's car has a 4-cylinder inline Ford Kent engine and the other three cars have 4-cylinder inline BMC A-series engines.

Scrutineering Bay

The first thing competitors have to do when they arrive at a circuit is to take their car to the scrutineering bay for it to be checked to ensure that it complies with all the relevant regulations and is in a safe condition to take part in the racing. I took this photograph at the scrutineering bay at Oulton Park at the Gold Cup meeting in August 2002.

Car number 28 (actually number 24 in the programme of the event) is the 1955 Jaguar XK140 of Trevor Groom, chassis number 804394. This car has the straight-6 DOHC 3,442cc XK6 engine whereas the car next to it, the 1951 Jaguar XK120 of Richard Hackett, has the larger 3,781cc version of that engine. The red car behind is the 1,995cc 1977 Lancia Beta Monte Carlo of Gordon Russell, and the car number 6 in the background waiting its turn to be checked is the 7,206cc Chrysler V8-engined 1970 Jensen Interceptor of John Gadbury.

Bentley 8 litre

This car competed in the Richard Seaman Memorial Vintage Trophy Race at the VSCC's meeting at Oulton Park in June 1982.

It's Gordon Russell's 1930 Bentley 8 litre and the programme of the event, talking about the Bentleys in this race, says: 'Gordon Russell's had a 4-litre single-seater chassis with an 8-litre engine and a single-seater body'.