Postcard from the Pom

‘Eccentric. Stupid. Brilliant.’ So went historic racing veteran Patrick Blakeney-Edward’s impish summary of The Pomeroy Trophy, one of Britain’s most enduring motor events, which this weekend spectacularly reached its 70th edition, though it has long been the traditional curtain-raiser to the domestic racing season.

However appropriate, none of those words were going through my head as the ex-Herb Wetanson Ferrari 250 GT SWB lost control directly in front of me at 90mph, after overtaking up the inside at Copse. Instead, as I watched the Ferrari narrowly miss the Morgan ahead and smokily pirouette directly into my path, I only considered the probability of the SWB being a half million quid replica rather than a £10 million original. Because I’d got about a second and a half to avoid finding out. ‘First time here. I just want to go flat out everywhere and have fun,’ said its driver Kevin Jones to me earlier. He might just be discovering the flaw in that cunning plan.

This steward’s inquiry in the making is entirely the responsibility of a certain Lawrence Pomeroy Jr. (1906-1984), the son of a railway and automotive engineer of considerable repute. Pom Jr. decided not to follow in his father’s noble footsteps but instead (unwisely I’d suggest) become an automotive journalist. Fascinated by pre-war Grand Prix cars, he went on to become technical editor of The Motor magazine, finally publishing his magnum opus The Grand Prix Car 1906-1939 in 1949.