Pomeroy Trophy – Banks Peninsula Branch

THE YEAR OF THE SUITCASES

The website of that venerable institution, the Vintage Sports Car Club of Great Britain (VSCC), tells us “The car that wins the Pomeroy Trophy is always a true all rounder driven by a great driver” And so it came to pass that 30 aspirants to that description gathered at Ruapuna in mid January to contest the Pomeroy Trophy, one of the most irritating and fascinating events on the Banks Peninsula motoring calendar. As many are aware, The Pom is about driving skill, knowing the limits of both you and your car, and crucially, accepting the distinctly quirky rules that Mr Pomeroy decided to impose.

Andrew Roxborough (Citroen Light 12) powering on to the main strait.

Photo John McDonald

Craig Pidgeon (Avenger Alpine) with Lyn Scott (Sierra Sapphire 4x4) in his mirrors.

Photo John McDonald

Jared Dacombe (DeLorean) driving into the future but ignoring the present.

Photo John McDonald

Gordon Dacome (Jaguar E Type) a welcome entrant from Nelson.

Photo John McDonald

One of the oddest is about suitcases. Dear old Laurence P thought that an ideal touring car would be touring, with the occupants staying somewhere overnight, so naturally they would need luggage. And he decided in his wisdom that two suitcases would be needed, and would measure 60x40x20mm. For many years, the Banks Peninsula Branch had two such suitcases, specially made to the exact measurements, but they came to a sad end at the bottom of the Fazzaz building in the February 2011 earthquake, and subsequent Poms have been decidedly slack about whether a car could fit the two cases. This year a zealous committee member decided to uphold Proper Standards, and two suitcases of a correct size and vintage were found.

When it came to scrutineering, and the zealous committee member politely asked the competitors to show him that their car could stow the suitcases either in the boot or safely fastened on a secure luggage rack, reactions were, to say the least, varied. You lose twenty points per case if it can’t be stowed, which can make a big difference at the end of the day. You’ll be interested to know that an E type can only store one, but a 1938 Citroën L12 can store two, which means of course, that the E type owner would have a lonely trip round Europe, while the Citroën owner would have the delightful company of a companion. Shades of Brexit really…

After the 2020 Pom was cancelled, for obvious reasons, there were lots of new entrants this year and many of them were young. There was a trio of Mazda MX5s, Lyn Scott, a previous winner, was in a rare and very fast Sierra Sapphire 4x4, and Craig Pidgeon came in a very original low mileage Hillman Avenger Alpine. Craig is a very serious competitor, and the minute he removed the hubcaps and wheel trims, you could tell he meant business. There was a Mistral that hadn’t been seen for years, Steve Aldersley in the first track outing for his Bruin C type replica, Gordon Dacombe in his lovely Series 1 E type roadster, and the Yates clan in the left hand drive MGB with three wipers, a very hot Mazda MX5, and Dallas in the VW Karman Ghia. Kelvin Brown was there with his very historic Buckler, which has a significant racing history. Craig Keenan gave his Jaguar XJ a run, and Fraser Kear was in a multi coloured VW 1600 auto fastback. Giles Gill was in his four wheeled Morgan, the Barretts were in a Lotus Elan and Lotus 7 and first time entrant Mark Cumming was in his Mazda MX5. The most interesting car for many was a DeLorean, driven down from Nelson by Jared Dacombe. Fascinating to see one, especially one that actually went. John Crequer, the previous winner, was in his ominous Porsche 944 Turbo, and seemed quietly confident

The on-track activity started with the usual standing and flying quarter mile sprints, and George Kear in the Kato Special flew through the standing quarter in 15.94 sec, followed by the Dacombe DeLorean in 16.78 and the C type in 16.84. In the flying, the C type proved the cubic inches theory with 9.90, the Kato second and the Porsche third. So far, so predictable, as it’s hard to make a mistake in a straight line.

But it’s quite easy to make one in the slalom/wiggle woggle, especially if it tightens up considerably towards the end, and quite a few of the faster cars hit a cone or two thus losing ten points a cone. Suddenly the tortoises were getting better scores than the hares. The same could be said of the braking test, often the graveyard of expectation for the fast cars, but with the exception of Rick Jones in his hot MGA, who laid down a smokescreen that had the local fire brigade worried, most people managed to stop correctly.

The 20 minute reliability trial, run in two separate sections, the Kato, the C type, the De Lorean, the Sierra and the Porsche were looking dominant, but the formula can be cruel, and although quite a few got close to their allocated lap scores, and a select few did achieve them, the suitcases could not be ignored. But everyone finished, with no mechanical mishaps, and drove to a Prebbleton hostelry to nervously await the results.

And so what is the ultimate touring car? Alas we cannot reveal all here - purchase our April/May issue to find out our fared the best in the battle of the tourists.