| Great Race at Crystal Palace to End a Great Season | 12/09/05 |
| Vader Trophy season 4 has been one of the better seasons, with the championship being wide open until the very end, and also with the lower positions still being open until the final race. Then there’s the constructors championship, which was also up for grabs. With everything to be settled in the final race, you could possibly make quite a good argument for not holding it at Crystal Palace – but that’s where it was, so deal with it! Neil Stratton started the race on pole with Gavin Wilson just behind. Matthew Parry was looking good for the driver’s championship, starting third, with his rival Graham Bridgett back in sixth. When the flag dropped Neil and Gav left the grid, and Stuart Knibbs came from nowhere to be challenging for the lead, eventually passing Gav for second with a gutsy move into turn one. Neil was controlling the front, until an unforced error allowed Gav back into the lead. Driving a tactical race, Gav tried to back Neil into Stu so BBQ’d Snails stood a chance of beating CAR Racing to the constructor’s championship. Neil tried everything to get past, but at this track only managed to get alongside once, but was unable to pull the move off. The deciding factor on this battle would be Richard Dickson. As the two came to put him a lap down, Rich got crossed up and had a spin. With no runoff area to speak of, Gav wasn’t left with anywhere to go and the two collided, but Neil was able to get past without loosing too much time. With Rich driving for CAR Racing, this was quite a well timed spin if there is such a thing. Gav’s race wasn’t over though, as Neil had another spin in the same corner, letting him through. Battling with a number of backmarkers, the two found it hard to fight against each other, and did get separated for a while until the track cleared up, and the gap settled around a few seconds. That was, until they came to lap David Page. Loosing it through turn one, Gav yet again gets tangled up in somebody else’s innocent spin, and Neil does to some extent, but is first out of the carnage, and with quite a healthy lead. Knowing Gav was more than capable of closing the gap, Neil started to push, but Gav was still catching until he made a mistake himself. This put the gap up to around eleven seconds, which is would stay at until the final lap when Neil made another mistake. With his heart beating at twice the rate of what doctors would recommend, he got the Brabham back onto the track and took the win by just under seven seconds, completing his perfect weekend with the fastest lap of the race too. Graham Bridgett finishes third, but with Matthew Parry finishing fifth it wasn’t enough to stop Matt taking the drivers title, and with Richard Dickson winning the division two race, CAR Racing won constructors title with a maximum score. Looking at the final championship standings, Matthew Parry won the division one title by five points from Graham Bridgett, with Neil Stratton finishing in third, ahead of Gavin Wilson. Although they are equal on points, with Gav winning two races this season and Neil winning three, he takes the championship position. The division two title was wrapped up a few races ago by Simon Steele, but only just - the new division two driver, Richard Dickson, finished just four points behind. After scoring maximum points at Crystal Palace, CAR Racing won the constructors championship by a healthy twenty five points from BBQ’d Snails, who finished just six points ahead of Sacred Kart Racing. So, as one season comes to a close, the next is being prepared. If you are a Vader Trophy driver, keep your eyes peeled on the forums for signup information, rules, and all the details! During the preparation, this site will be updated with the remaining galleries, season awards, and an end of season review. We shall meet again for Vader Trophy season 5! |
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Posted by: Glyn |
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| Graham Bridgett Delivers the Goods at Silverstone | 03/09/05 |
| In order for Graham Bridgett to stand a chance of winning the drivers championship, he really needed to win at Silverstone – and that’s what he did, despite not having the outright raw pace. Neil Stratton got pole position, but didn’t have it his way when the flag dropped. Graham put up a good challenge and eventually got past, and Neil slowly fell down the order when the Coopers got past. After a few small errors, which cost lots of time on the track, he found himself battling with Jannis Koopmann in the last few laps, and after a good fight (which sadly did end on the grass), ended just slightly out of the points in seventh place. After getting fastest lap too, this was a bit disappointing, but the fact that every lap was enjoyable and the result didn’t matter is proof that Vader Trophy is more about the fun than anything else. The whole field was actually full of battles, especially between the Cooper drivers of Matthew Parry, Gavin Wilson and Kevin Williams. Matt was especially driving well, finishing not too far behind Graham’s Ferrari who had a much cleaner race away from most of the battles. Now we have just one race left in the championship, and with the drivers worst result from the second half of the season removed, the points battles make for quite interesting reading. The division two championship is over, with Simon Steele taking the win there, after some great consistent drives throughout the season, showing with a bit of time to practice he’s not only fast, but consistent too. The division one championship on the other hand is quite wide open. Graham is seven points behind Matt. This means that Graham has to win at Crystal Palace, and Matt finish forth of lower. If Matt finishes forth, they will be equal on points, but because Graham has had more wins this season he will be crowned champion. The other battles are between Gav and Neil for third place, with Kevin Williams who can challenge Neil for forth overall. Jannis Koopmann who’s in sixth can also challenge Kev for fifth overall. The constructors championship looks like it is going to fall CAR Racing’s way yet again, as they just need six points to win, but mathematically it is still possible for BBQ'd Snails and Sacred Kart Racing to win. So, who dares say Vader Trophy doesn’t produce good racing? Until next time at the frankly mad Crystal Palace track, happy racing! |
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Posted by: Glyn |
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| Two in a Row for Neil Stratton at Dijon-Prenois | 24/08/05 |
| Neil Stratton won his second race in a row at Dijon-Prenois, although it didn’t look like it after qualifying. Gavin Wilson set a stunning time to start from pole position, but before the race even started the cyber Gods took a dislike to him, and booted him from cyberspace. Matthew Parry effectively started on pole, with Neil Stratton second. Matt got a less than ideal start though and slipped back down to forth, while Neil built up a ten second lead which he would keep. Matt managed to get himself back into second on lap seven, and CAR Racing had claimed their first one two of the season – although many drivers, including Neil and Matt know the result would of probably been different had Gav not suffered terrible luck. Further down the pack, Richard Dickson managed forth in the Honda – a stunning effort, and proof that he will most probably be a division one driver next season. So, with just two races left, things are looking close in the championships. First off, a small apology, for when updating the stats at work, I got a bit confused and the point totals got a bit out of sync. After recompiling all the seasons points and stats, and checking them against Matt and Rich (thanks to them for taking the time to do it) we are 99.9% sure the stats are all correct. Matt is still leading the driver’s championship from Graham Bridgett by 14 points, although as things stand Matt does have to drop his worst result of the second half of the season before the final race, where Graham doesn’t. Although it is possible for Gav to win the championship, in reality Matt only needs a few points. Again, this is where getting disconnected really hurts. On the subject of getting disconnected, Neil Stratton is forth, just one point behind Gavin Wilson. If it hadn’t of got disconnected at Rouen and won the race, he would be right up there with Graham – but that’s a lot of “what ifs”, and what ifs don’t count unfortunately. In division two, Simon Steele has almost wrapped up the championship, needing just a couple of points, and that’s if Joe Broderick wins every race – something he might find tricky with Richard Dickson to beat. In the constructors, CAR Racing have benefited with a couple of good results lately, especially now they are scoring division two points, after only scoring their first division two points when Rich joined the team a few races ago. Although nothing is set in stone yet, because BBQ’d Snails are just three points behind, and their driver line-up isn’t exactly easy to beat. As you can see, with just two races remaining in the season, things are looking pretty interesting. Roll on Silverstone – because that usually produces good racing at the best of times. Until then, happy racing! |
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Posted by: Glyn |
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| Laguna Seca 1967 Gallery Online | 12/08/05 |
| In what seems like a recent gallery marathon, the Laguna Seca 1967 gallery is now online! Enjoy... |
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Posted by: Glyn |
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| Watkins Glen 1967 Gallery Online | 07/08/05 |
| Fingers crossed the gallery does this great race justice! Enjoy... |
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Posted by: Glyn |
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| Neil Stratton Takes First Win of the Season at Spa | 02/08/05 |
| After getting booted by the cyber Gods at Rouen, Neil Stratton finally took his first win of the season, at his usual bogy track, Spa. Neil spoilt Matt’s perfect weekend at Watkins Glen 1967 by stealing fastest lap, and Matt returned the favour this time by taking the perfect weekend from Neil by getting fastest lap – in the Cooper! In fact, Matt’s weekend was stunning from start to finish. It started off with a 3m19.015s in qualifying, in the Cooper! The race didn’t go entirely to plan when he got caught up in a mix up on the first lap, which could of cost him a very good result, if not a win. Come to think of it, there were quite a few stunning drives throughout the field. Stuart Knibbs put in his best every qualifying performance to start second, and would of probably finished on the podium if he didn’t suffer from the cyber Gods too. Simon Steele also had another stunning drive to finish fifth overall, and the fairly new driver, Richard Dickson brought his Honda home in seventh even after suffering an engine failure – something the Honda is good at it seems. The next race is at Dijon-Prenois, a new track to Vader Trophy, and we know what new tracks mean – crazy action throughout! Personally, I can’t wait. Until then, happy racing! |
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Posted by: Glyn |
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| Gavin Wilson Dominates At Laguna Seca 1967 | 18/07/05 |
| Despite quitting Vader Trophy after the Oulton Park race, Gavin Wilson has attended every race since, and after his Laguna Seca 1967 result, he just might continue to race at every event. Everyone knew that Graham Bridgett would be the man to beat during qualifying, and his pole time of 1m07.179s certainly confirmed that. In the race however, a small mistake gave Gav the lead, which he would keep for the rest of the race, being the only man other than Neil Stratton to win at Laguna Seca. Many people were going to tip Neil for the win, but he had brake pedal problems just two days before the race, forcing bodge repairs that resulted in him stuffing a sock underneath his brake pedal to create some feel in pedals he hasn’t used for over two years. Forth position then, even with loads of mistakes was a very good result. Graham would eventually finish fifth behind Neil Stratton after a series of mistakes cost him dearly. Matthew Parry finished another solid second, and Jannis Koopmann excelled to finish third. The new division two driver, Richard Dickson, drove a superb race in his Honda to win division two, and finish seventh overall. He could have finished higher, except he forgot to put enough fuel in his car to finish the race, so he was forced to stop every nine laps or so. A newbie mistake that I’m sure he will never make again! So, after this race, Matthew Parry is sitting at the top of the standings yet again, a full ten points ahead of Graham Bridgett, with Gav just a further four points behind. Can Matt win three championships in a row? It’s very tempting to say yes, but the next few tracks will suit Graham’s Ferrari more, but Matt is generally strong at most places so it will be close. The next race is at Spa-Franchorchamps – a long power track that will suit the Ferrari’s, so until then, happy racing! |
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Posted by: Glyn |
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| Oulton Park Gallery Online | 17/07/05 |
| All the highlights from the Oulton Park race can now be seen in the Oulton Park gallery. Enjoy! |
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Posted by: Glyn |
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| Matthew Parry Clean Sweeps at Watkins Glen 1967 | 03/07/05 |
| Most people would class a perfect race meeting as qualifying on pole, winning the race by a comfortable margin and getting fastest lap. Matthew Parry did all of those things, except getting fastest lap, which went to his team mate, Neil Stratton. It wasn’t just the fact that Matt did so well everywhere that got everyone going. It was his pole time of 1:04.985 in the Cooper that made people scratch their heads. That is a seriously impressive speed! When the race started, Matt took an early lead which grew quite quickly as Neil Stratton and Gavin Wilson were having one of the greatest battles of the season. Like most good things though, it would come to an end after a few laps when the two touched in the final corner. Gavin spun, but Neil continued, but later had a solo spin when his tyres started to melt. That spin would cost him a good second position as he wouldn’t be able to climb back any higher than fifth by the chequered flag. Further down the field, Jannis Koopmann and Kevin Williams were having quiet, but solid races to score good points. On the last lap however, Jannis started hearing spluttering sounds from his thirsty Ferrari and Kev would take second place. Very hard luck, but it’s a good lesson for those who try and cut their fuel fine! Further towards the back, Simon Steele had another great division two race by taking yet another win. Although there weren’t any other division two drivers left by the end of the race, Sim had the speed throughout, and deserved it yet again. For the next race we are staying in the USA and leading to Laguna Seca 1967. This track has yet to provide a boring race, and last seasons was especially good. Neil Stratton is currently undefeated there, but both Matt and Gav are really on form in the Coopers at these types of tracks. Neil is hoping Laguna Seca will be the start of a few good results. Until then, happy racing! |
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Posted by: Glyn |
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| Graham Bridgett Has a Perfect Race at Oulton Park | 25/06/05 |
| A perfect race can often be described as starting on pole and winning the race, which is exactly what Graham Bridgett did. The only thing he didn’t achieve was fastest lap, which went to the Cooper driver of Gavin Wilson. Graham’s start however wasn’t something you would promote, as Matthew Parry and Neil Stratton lead the field round the first lap, with Neil passing Matt half way round with a bit of wheel banging. Not exactly brilliant team tactics, but they both continued without loosing any time. Neil would later spin, handing the lead back to Graham, with Matt challenging hard. Chris Kirk was also mixing in the action, and this was allowing Neil to catch them up. After dicing for several laps, Chris Kirk collided with Matt, sending them behind the leading pack. Neil was now in second place, trying to find a way past Graham, but another spin meant he had Stuart Knibbs right behind him. Stuart did pass Neil for second, but when Neil made it tricky for him a few corners later Stuart had one of those really slow spins that block the track. Stuart did manage to resume in forth, with Kevin Williams having another quiet drive to finish third, but Neil did come off worse and finished a disappointing fifth. Further down the pack, Simon Steele had another solid division two win which sees him sitting at the top of the standings. The other news from this race, which came as a shock to a number of people was Gavin Wilson has decided to call it a day, after having several races where lots of practice and good positions were thrown away with various incidents. But all is not lost, as he did say occasional returns might be possible in the second half of the season. Let’s hope he goes much better, and decides to make a full time return for season 5. So, after the Vader Trophy drivers visited the virtual track, half of them would visit the real life track just a few days later for the British Touring Car Championship. Those who visited might hope Gav doesn’t return, after a certain comment about how a few drops of rain would be more than welcome in the soaring heat turned to a thunderstorm in the afternoon! Until the next round at the always eventful Watkins Glen 1967, happy racing! |
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Posted by: Glyn |
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| Track Notes | 25/06/05 |
| After pestering Kevin Williams for what seems like ages, Watkins Glen 1948, Snetterton 1967 and Oulton Park 1967 now have track notes. I’ll pester him some more for the remaining tracks :) |
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Posted by: Glyn |
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| Rouen Gallery Online! | 19/06/05 |
| All the action from Rouen, brought to you in 85 picture and captions. Enjoy! |
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Posted by: Glyn |
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| Neil Stratton’s Race Is Rouened as Matt Parry Wins | 11/06/05 |
| From the very start it looked like Neil Stratton would win Rouen after setting a blistering pole time. Unfortunately for him, it was not to be. The first reason it wasn’t to be was Graham Bridgett. After a not so hot qualifying session, Graham was on the pace during the race and managed to catch, pass, and pull away from Neil. Although Neil was starting to catch Graham again with about ten laps left, an incident with a backmarker allowed Neil to retake the lead, which he was keeping a firm hold of for the duration of the race. With just four laps to go, the internet gods decided Neil’s race was no more, as he suffered a CTD handing the lead, and the win to his team mate Matthew Parry. Apart from being a blow to Neil from a race perspective, it was also a bit of a blow to his and the teams championship goals too. Further down the field there were some equally stunning drives. Simon Steele put in a superb effort during qualifying to start sixth, and raced his way up to third, before letting his team mate Graham Bridgett past so the team could score more points. For the next event, the field are heading back once again to the greatest Britain of them all, and to the terrific Oulton Park track. It’s advisable that you pack plenty of ice packs, as there is a high chance someone will wrap their car around a tree! Until then, happy racing! |
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Posted by: Glyn |
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| Snetterton Gallery Online | 09/06/05 |
| It was the first time the field has been to the greatest Britain of them all this season, and possibly one of the greatest races of them all too! See all the action in the gallery! Enjoy! |
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Posted by: Glyn |
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| June VT Monthly Out | 06/06/05 |
| Sim has been hard at work again typing out the June issue of VT Monthly. Enjoy! |
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Posted by: Glyn |
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| Gavin Wilson Takes Off At Snetterton | 23/05/05 |
| Snetterton, like Silverstone, is a converted airfield track, and it was Gavin Wilson who was first to take off, leaving the rest of the field behind him. After a superb qualifying session it was Gav who took pole with an unbelievable 1m24.322s in the Cooper. Even Graham Bridgett’s Ferrari was three tenths off Gav’s pace! When the race started, it was Gav who would be at the centre of attention again, this time for making others take off. Leaving the grid, Gav’s Cooper suddenly snapped, forcing Neil Stratton who was very close behind to ram his brakes on. The chain reaction was unavoidable, which left a number of cars damaged, but Gav did manage to carry on. As annoying as it was, you can’t really blame Gav, as these things happen, and happen very suddenly. The race developed into a battle at the front between Gavin Wilson and Graham Bridgett, but Graham just didn’t have to speed to keep Gav in touch. Further down, it was all about recovery drives. Neil Stratton battled his way up from last to fifth, despite two little moments with Chris Kirk and Will Wood which unfortunately down to frustration. Ian Woollam and the recently promoted Stuart Knibbs were also battling for the last podium spot, but it was Ian who took that after a gentlemanly gesture from Stuart gave him the advantage. After the delights that were racing around Snetterton, the field now move to the French countryside to the delightful Rouen track. Let’s hope Gavin gets away from the grid next time, or a lot of peoples races could be Rouened! Until then, happy racing! |
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Posted by: Glyn |
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| Nurburgring Gallery Online | 21/05/05 |
| Find out who died, and who took the glory. Enjoy! |
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Posted by: Glyn |
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| Kevin Williams Cheats Death At the Nurburgring | 05/05/05 |
| It’s a well known fact the Nurburgring is pant wetting scary, especially when the car you’re driving wants to leap off the road on the smoothest of tracks. Many drivers took up the challenge for round three of the championship, but it was Kevin Williams who got the biggest reward by winning in style. Qualifying was going to be a race between Matthew Parry, Gavin Wilson, and to some extent Kevin Williams. It was Matt who took the pole in the end with a stunning time of 8m06.642s in the Cooper! Gavin Wilson was second, just over three seconds off the pace. When the race started, Matt and Gav were heading into turn one side-by-side, and usually this ends in disaster, and unfortunately it did this time too. This allowed Neil Stratton to take the lead, with Kevin Williams behind, who later got passed by Chris Kirk. Neil was pulling out quite a lead until he hit “that tree”, in what would be one of many visits throughout the race. Chris Kirk eventually spun on lap two at Flugplatz, giving Kev the lead that he would keep for the entire race. During the race, Gav and Matt were making progress forwards, but there was only Gav who got close enough to pile some pressure on, but the odd spin meant he would finish second. So, after the power track that was Monza, and the two long death defying tracks that were Watkins Glen 1948 and the Nurburgring, many would say the season kicks off for proper at the wonderful Snetterton circuit. In the past this track has provided some great racing throughout the field, and we’ll finally get to see just how good the Cooper drivers really are. Until then, happy racing! |
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Posted by: Glyn |
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| May VT Monthly Out | 04/05/05 |
| As we leave April behind for another year, Sim has sat down and compressed a whole month of VT into an easy to read couple of pages. Enjoy... |
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Posted by: Glyn |
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| Watkins Glen 1948 Gallery Online | 03/05/05 |
| Little pictures and little captions are now on the site for the epic that was the Watkins Glen 1948 race. Enjoy... |
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Posted by: Glyn |
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| Welcome To Vader Trophy Season 4! | 25/04/05 |
| It’s that time again - time to start another tour of the greatest tracks in the world, testing out every safety feature on the way. Season 4 sees a number of new rule changes, the main one being the divisions. Drivers are now split into two divisions based on ability, with the chassis allocated to the drivers in a way that should make the racing as close as possible. The season got underway at the famous Monza track, a wonderful place to kick start the season. Graham Bridgett made good use of his Ferrari to take pole, and went on to take the win ahead of Morbid. The second round of the championship took place round Watkins Glen, but not the Glen most people know. This was the 1948 layout, which is frankly terrifying with some suicidal jumps! Graham Bridgett once again took pole position from the Cooper drivers of Gavin Wilson and Matthew Parry. Both the Coopers were going stronger than expected, and it was Matthew Parry who crossed the line first with Graham Bridgett just over a second behind. Going from one scary track to another, the next round is at the mighty Nurburgring! Don’t forget to fasten your seatbelts! |
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Posted by: Glyn |
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| Vader Trophy Season 4 Website Launched! | 25/04/05 |
| Welcome to the new Vader Trophy website! It may look very much like the old one, but there are a number of changes. These are:
Enjoy... |
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Posted by: Glyn |
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Copyright©: Website design, coding and database - Neil Stratton. Researchers - Neil Stratton, Simon Steele, Lasse Füssel, Chris Kirk and Kevin Williams. Galleries - Neil Stratton. VT Monthly - Simon Steele. Track maps are copyright by the respective owners.