As Graeme Dodd and his Cooper Monaco led the Stirling Moss Trophy field into the first corner from the rolling start of this 50-minute two-driver race early on the Sunday morning of the Silverstone Classic, it was sure to be a close affair. The fastest six cars in qualifying were split by less than two seconds and, sure enough, the lead was contested at almost every corner on the first lap. Halfway round, Alex Buncombe’s Lister Knobbly was in front of Roger Wills’ Lotus 15 by a few feet, with the pair of them hounded by Dodd, Bobby Verdon-Roe’s Ferrari 246S and the huge gaggle of pursuers.

At the end of lap one, with this furious dice in full swing, Buncombe was holding off Dodd, Wills, Oliver Bryant’s Lotus 15 and Verdon-Roe, with the Lotus 15 of Ewan McIntyre becoming a threatening presence on their heels. Sweeping into Brooklands at excessive speed on the second lap, Buncombe slid wide, surrendered the lead back to Dodd but held on to retain second place for a little longer.

Oil began to appear at several points on the circuit and Alan Minshaw’s Maserati T61 was the first of several cars to spin harmlessly. The oil obviously caused some problems for the leading bunch as most of them had occasional anxious moments on the unexpectedly slippery surface.

Dodd appeared secure at the front until the sixth lap when Wills emerged from the six-car dice for second place and rapidly closed the gap on the leader. Putting in the fastest lap so far, Wills was now right with Dodd and he slipped neatly in front at Brooklands on the next lap. Significantly, Ewan McIntyre immediately replied with an even faster lap.

As the mandatory pit stops came into play, Bobby Verdon-Roe seemed to be the last to blink. Once all the rest had stopped, with most of them changing drivers, Verdon-Roe still pressed on until he was leading the race by over a minute. An unfortunate misunderstanding with his pit signallers meant that BV-R missed the pit stop window, continuing until the penultimate lap. He emerged from the pit lane to complete the last lap in a close third place but to no avail: he was excluded from the results under the rules.

Meanwhile, Graeme Dodd had suddenly slowed dramatically at Becketts with gearbox trouble, losing the lead. His race was over. Roger Wills was the next to have a big spin, which dropped him well back but the race at the front was as hot as ever. Martin Stretton took over John Minshaw’s Lister and emerged from the pit stops in the lead, relentlessly chased by Ewan McIntyre who was clearly getting to grips with the new circuit. A series of record laps enabled McIntyre, driving on his own, to seize the lead at Brooklands with just two laps of the race to go. Minshaw and Stretton were a close second in this gripping race, while Philip Walker and Danny Wright’s Lotus 15 took the final podium place after Verdon-Roe’s mishap and subsequent disqualification.