The Vintage Sports-Car Club’s annual visit to Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire is always a rather special event, but this year’s meeting will hold an even greater significance to me as it will mark the racing debut of my wife Debra.

The Maeers family will be out in force for the day (April 16) as we’ll be taking five vehicles to the event – the Parker-GN, our standard touring GN, a Frazer-Nash and my two historic grand prix cars, the Cooper Type 53 and 51 – and both myself and my son Ben will be out competing, and this time joined by Debra too, who only recently passed her ARDS and has decided to take the plunge with us.

Cadwell Park will host a special race for Frazer-Nash cars only, but, unlike the F-N race at the Goodwood Members’ Meeting the weekend before, the VSCC has mandated that only original cars will be eligible, rather than inviting the super-fast and highly modified cars you’ll see at Goodwood. And that’s a big part of the appeal for Debra.

She’s always been very enthusiastic around the cars and has done some sprints in the RIP Special before, but this will be her first ever circuit race and the idea of a lower-paced event for truly original F-Ns is a great way to start.

“I love getting newcomers involved with vintage racing and the VSCC”

Being a slightly slower race, it will no doubt make the racing that bit closer, but credit is due to the VSCC for creating the kind of racing atmosphere that has given her the confidence to get involved. Racing can be a stressful sport for any newcomer, but the welcoming paddock atmosphere and the fact that she knows the driving standards are essentially guaranteed to be good combine to make it very appealing.

Obviously, I’m going to play team manager for that race.

I have my own outing in the Parker-GN planned for a different race, but I’ll be dedicating myself to giving her some tips and tricks, helping get the car through scrutineering and making sure she’s nice and calm and ready in the collecting area before taking up my perch on the pitwall to cheer her on. And I couldn’t be prouder. There’ll be champagne at the end of the day regardless!

You’ll recall from my first column in Motor Sport [March] that I was keen to find a suitable young driver to take the wheel of my RIP Special for this year (and perhaps next), and I’m glad to say I’ve had three expressions of interest in the opportunity, two of which I’ll be meeting at Cadwell. I love getting newcomers involved with vintage racing and the VSCC, but it’s also important that you meet these applicants before committing yourself and them to anything.

Vintage cars are naturally that bit more risky to race. They don’t have all the safety equipment of modern cars, so the maturity of the driver comes into play a lot. You can’t have a karting mentality of throwing the cars into every gap, as that will only end badly. I’m excited to meeting these young guys, and with luck offering one of the applicants a foothold into vintage racing…

Next month: Reflecting on the VSCC’s visit to Cadwell Park