A special added feature of Silverstone’s April 21-21 VSCC Spring Start meeting will be a recreation of the historic Commander Yorke Trophy races. This will take the form of a 25-minute race on Saturday and a 20-minute contest on Sunday, for which a field of at least 30 500-cc F3 cars is expected—several of which took part in the original 1949 Yorke Trophy race. Further, a number of cars that contested the race over its 11-year history will be among the entry. The 500 Owners Association is also organizing a display of period vehicles, photographs and other memorabilia to enhance the atmosphere of this highly anticipated weekend.
The idea for a 100-mile race for 500-cc racing cars originated with Royal Navy Commander Tony Yorke, who was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident just a few weeks before the event’s first running in July 1949. The new, small-capacity machines hadn’t been universally welcomed by officials who felt they could never be made to run long enough to provide proper racing. Yorke disagreed and worked tirelessly to promote circuit racing over longer distances for the 500s.
Forty-one entries were received for the inaugural race over 44-laps of the then 2.278-mile Silverstone Circuit. After three short preliminaries, 17 cars came to the grid for the gruelling 100-mile main event.
Although many cars dropped out over the extraordinary distance, a classic duel developed between Don Parker in his Parker Special and a 17-year-old Peter Collins. The young Collins, however, had a trick up his sleeve as his father, realizing that fuel would be crucial, mounted larger tanks to his new Cooper Mk III and had Charlie Smith prepare a special low-compression Manx Norton engine to run on petrol-benzole rather than the usual methanol “dope.”
Collins was able to stay with the more experienced driver on the track and when Parker came in to make a rather shambolic fuel stop, Collins swept past to claim victory at an average speed of 66.5 mph, firmly establishing his reputation. The success of the inaugural event proved the 500s to be serious racing cars and helped influence the FIA to introduce a 500-cc Formula Three for 1950.
