Graeme Smith wins prestigious Dave Simpson Trophy 02 Jun 22

Article Image

The Dave Simpson Memorial Trophy was presented to the North Western Centre by Margaret Simpson in honour of her husband Dave. It remembers a man who was a pioneering member of the North Western committee many years ago. Dave was our Chief Marshal and put a lot into his official activities as part of that bedrock of motor racing made of totally devoted, enthusiastic and skilled amateurs.

Dave used some of his business skills to improve the race official’s lot, being the first to use a photocopier for reproduction of paperwork and one of the group in the North West that were first to bring along a computer to deal with the organisation and administration of the meetings. He is therefore a significant figure in the history of the growth of the BARC. The presentation of the trophy was made, as is always the case, by his wife Margaret who has reflected his enthusiasm for many years in her role as our present Chief Marshal.

The trophy is fought out by all the class winners at a specific race meeting each year, usually a mid-season meeting at Oulton Park, this year was no exception as it was presented at the May 28th meeting. In the past the winner was the CNC Heads driver who won their class by the greatest time margin at the relevant meeting. However it was agreed last year that because of the problem when lapping occurs and there is difficulty in working out the actual winner the process would change. Now it is decided by the greatest difference in average speed between first and second in each class. The result is the same as with greatest distance but it is much easier to calculate!

This year with the effects of Covid and problems getting spare parts still haunting the championship and reducing the entry only three classes were large enough to be considered (three starters required in a class to qualify). With Classes B and E being hotly contested it meant that Graeme Smith in Class had the opportunity to take the trophy. With the fitting of slick tyres for the first time Graeme took full advantage of the opportunity to win the trophy that he narrowly missed last year.