MIDDLESEX COUNTY AUTOMOBILE CLUB LTD

MIDDLESEX COUNTY AUTOMOBILE CLUB LTD THE CENTENARY MIDDLESEX MAGAZINE www.mcac.co.uk Volume: ?+4 Issue: 16 January/February 2005 CLUB NIGHT IS EVERY WEDNESDAY AT GERRARDS CROSS SPORTS CLUB 7 Dukes Lane, off Dukes Wood Avenue, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, SL9 7TZ (off the A40, between the pillar box and pedestrian subway opposite The Apple Tree) Map Reference: 176/000875½ Telephone: 01753 886610 ============================================================================ FORTHCOMING EVENTS 19th January Club Night 20.30 VIDEO NIGHT. Get right up to date with the small screen action from last year, before the start of this year‟s events. Including Barry Eaton‟s coverage of the Rockingham Stages. NATTER AND NOGGIN. CENTENARY DINNER AND PRESENTATION OF AWARDS, with guest speaker Stuart Turner, at the Royal Automobile Club, Pall Mall. Almost 150 members, friends and guests will be attending this special black-tie celebration evening. Note: the RAC operate a strict dress code and those booked to stay overnight at the Club MUST wear jacket and tie at all times whilst on the premises. PARTNER’S EVENING – HAVE YOU THE KEYS TO THE QUIZ? Another of Chris Keys popular wall quizzes to keep you amused tonight. PREPARATION FOR THE CENTENARY OAKINGTON STAGES. As usual, your help is needed to prepare the venue – contact Tom Ryan or Pete Farmer (see last page) to offer your services. CENTENARY OAKINGTON STAGES 2004. Back to Oakington for our first stage event of our Centenary year. We need some assistance with the organization - all offers of help gratefully accepted by Pete Farmer (see last page). NATTER AND NOGGIN. 26th January 29 January th Club Night Centenary Dinner 20.30 18.30 2nd February Partner‟s Club Night Preparation 20.30 5th February 09.30 6th February Rally 09.00 9th February Club Night 20.30 16th February Club Night 20.30 VIDEO NIGHT. The 2005 WRC is now underway, although with only a small entry on the Monte Carlo Rally. Catch up with the action. CENTENARY VALENTINE SCATTER. Andy Greenland is putting on something special for our Centenary event, starting from the usual car park at Pinkneys Green. Regulations will be available shortly or contact Andy for more details (see last page). NATTER AND NOGGIN. RALLYE SUNSEEKER. MCAC have been asked to supply a team of marshals for this National A event. If you can assist and want to be close to the action contact Rob Brook. CENTENARY PARTNER’S EVENING (MCAC was founded 100 years ago this month) – CHOCOLATE FROM AROUND THE WORLD. Can you guess where these chocolates are sold? Rob has persuaded Cadburys (also 100 years old!) that we should taste their chocolate and guess where in the world it is produced/sold. CENTENARY MARCH MADNESS 12-CAR RALLY. A busy time for Rob as he has agreed to organize another 12-Car. Regulations will be available shortly, or contact Rob for details (see last page). 19th February Night Trial 19.30 23rd February 26th February Club Night Rally 20.30 08.00 2nd March Partner‟s Club Night 20.30 4th March 12-Car Rally 9th March 16 March 20th March th Club Night Club Night Autotests 20.30 20.30 09.00 NATTER AND NOGGIN. VIDEO NIGHT. Keep up to date with the motorsport scene, including the Centenary Oakington Stages. CENTENARY BRAKEFAST AUTOTESTS. Our annual visit to Bovingdon for the sealed surface autotests, in conjunction with Harrow CC. Regulations will be available shortly at Club or contact Peter Cox (01488 72027) or Chris Keys (see last page) for details. NATTER AND NOGGIN. POOL COMPETITION. A chance to show your skill. PARTNER’S EVENING – Details to be confirmed later. 23rd March 30th March 6th April Club Night Club Night Partner‟s Club Night 20.30 20.30 20.30 SOCIAL SCENE Happy New „Centenary‟ Year. Tickets for the Centenary Celebration Dinner were dispatched over the Christmas period to all those that ordered them – if you haven‟t received yours please let me know. Also, some of you still owe some money please forward all outstanding amounts to me urgently. The scale of the disaster in Asia shocked everyone and a collection was held at the January Partner‟s Night. Rob has arranged for Cadburys to match our donation and, with the addition of „Gift Aid‟, the disaster appeal will benefit by about £450.00. Thanks to all those that parted with their cash and contributed to this total. Editor: Chris Keys. Published by MCAC Ltd. St. Joseph‟s, Heronsgate, Rickmansworth, Herts. WD3 5DF Printed by RPM Reprographics. Cover: Jon Ralfs. Distribution and Advertising: Tony Phillips MIDDLESEX COUNTY AUTOMOBILE CLUB Ltd. is a member of ACSMC, AEMC, LCAMC & WAMC WHAT'S ON? 2005 JANUARY 16th Amman & DMC 21/23rd AC de Monaco 29/30th Weston-Super-Mare MC FEBRUARY 6TH MIDDX COUNTY AC 6th 6th 11/13th 12th 19th 19/20th Sevenoaks & DMC 19/20TH MIDDX COUNTY AC 25/26th Southern / Croydon CCs 25/27th Intl Historic M'sport 25/27th 26th MARCH 4TH MIDDX COUNTY AC 5th 5/6th 6th 6th Bournemouth & DCC 11/13th 12th 12/13th Lindholme MC 13th 20th 20th Bexley /7Oaks &DMC 20TH MIDDX CAC/HarrowCC 27th APRIL 2nd 3rd 3rd Sutton & Cheam MC 8/10th 9th Vauxhall Motoring Group 9th 10th SCCON 17TH MIDDX COUNTY AC 17th 17th Sutton & Cheam MC 22/24th 23rd BurnhamMinehead MCs 24th 24th 29/1st 30/1st MAY 13TH MIDDX COUNTY AC Red Kite Stages Rally Monte Carlo Rally Regency Stages, Brean CENTENARY OAKINGTON STAGES Riponian Stages Rally, Lightwater Rali Cwm Gwendraeth Swedish Rally Wyedean Stages Rally North West Stages Kent Road Rally CENTENARY VALENTINE SCATTER Rallye Sunseeker Historic Motorsport Show, Stoneleigh Park Rally of New Zealand Telford Winter Rally (B) WAMC(H) (I) WRC/JWRC (B) R2005 (B) (B) (B) (I) (B) (B) (B) (E) (A) (-) (I) (B) R05/AE/LC/MX/Oak WAMC[CT] WRC/PROD BTRDA/WAMC WAMC(NT) ACSMC MIDDX MSA Gravel/ACSMC WRC WAMC(CF) CENTENARY MARCH MADNESS 12-CAR (C) MIDDX Malcolm Wilson Rally (B) BTRDA/Subaru Gremlin Road Rally (B) WAMC(H) Australian GP (I) WC 3 Counties Rally, Dorset & Somerset (B) R2005 Corona Rally Mexico (I) WRC/JWRC Tour of Cheshire Road Rally (B) WAMC(H) Robin Hood Forest Stages (B) BHC Tour of Epynt Stages (B) WAMC(NT/CT) Malaysian GP (I) WC Rally of Kent (B) ACSMC CENTENARY BRAKEFAST AUTOTESTS (B/C) MIDDX Tour of Caerwent Stages (B) WAMC(CT) North Humberside Stages Rally Bahrain GP Mini Tempest, Longcross Rally of New Zealand Astra Historic Stages BRC Live Spring Stages, Skulthorpe CENTENARY AUTOCROSS French GP Scorpion Sprint, Longcross International Rally of Wales Somerset Stages Rally Bisley Mount Stages San Marino GP Rally Italia Sardinia Welsh Historic Stages CENTENARY MAYHEM 12-CAR RALLY (B) (I) (B) (I) (B) (E) (B) (B) (I) (B) (I) (B) (B) (I) (I) (B) BTRDA WC R2005 WRC/PROD BHC/WAMC/Subaru BRC MIDDX WC ACSMC BRC/WAMC(NF) BTRDA/ACSMC WAMC(CT) WC WRC/JWRC BHC/WAMC(H/NT) (E) MIDDX Ed’s Bit… Welcome to the first magazine of our Centenary year. Although this is our first issue of the year, it‟s not the Centennial issue – you‟ve got to wait two months for that! Obviously our celebrations kick off at the end of this month at the RAC Club in Pall Mall, but we have a very full program planned for the year ahead. Apart from the mag, your best bet to keep up to date with goings on is the website (imagine trying to explain what a website is 100 years ago!). Malc Farmer has created a dedicated Centenary area, and it‟s already got plenty to view, with much to follow. There‟s even a copy of the September 1980 mag (our 75th year!), all hand typed and hand written by the then Ed, a „Tony Phillips‟, whoever he is…. In his editorial he complains ‘This issue is also a bit thinner than usual – where was YOUR article?’. Now, where have I heard that before……. At least I had an excuse then – I was 11 years old, and wouldn‟t be a member for nearly another 10 years! Anyhow, as usual, I have more than enough articles this month. Anyone would think it‟s award presentation time…. Although we have a few articles in the pipeline for the Centennial issue, can I ask that anyone who intends to write something about the club‟s history, to do it now. I want the next issue to be a really good read, cover to cover, so come on, get writing! Rockingham has been and gone, and received glowing praise from competitors and specialist press alike - the latter seemed to have half the Motorsport News and Autosport staff taking part! Next year is already pencilled in with the team at Rockingham, so if you want to take part, get your entry in quick - last year‟s event had a full entry in two weeks, and more reserves that you could shake a stick at. You never know, the 205 might even be ready by then…. Finally a quick plug. Every time I see Andy Greenland, he hands me a great pile of advertising bumf sent to him (as club secretary) by companies asking for some free advertising in the mag. I normally ignore these as a) I don‟t believe in advertising businesses that are not helping the members via discounts etc. b) We even charge our members to advertise their businesses in the mag! However, the odd one is worthy of a mention. EBC brakes are offering a 50% discount to any driver who orders a full set of race pads direct from EBC and pays for them by credit card. They‟ll take your name and licence number (to stop multiple orders), but it does sound a bit of a good deal to me. The man to speak to is Bob Sketchley, on 01604-593403 or email technical@ebcbrakes.com, and tell him you‟re a member of MCAC. See you on the 29th! Important – PLEASE TAKE NOTE The editorial deadline for the next issue is the first Wednesday in March, and the next issue will be our Centennial Celebration. E-mail me at: chris-keys@fsmail.net MCAC Online Shop Don‟t forget the MCAC on online shop - www.buy.at/MCAC. This is a gateway shop, where members clicking on to this address will find a page of online vendors who will donate a commission for all subsequent sales made through the website. This commission will then be passed to the club‟s nominated charity, the Linda Jackson Centre at Mount Vernon Hospital. The list of participating leading retailers is growing rapidly. Chairmans Corner Happy motor-sporting New Year to all members – may it be a full and successful one! I am writing this piece in an aeroplane over the Atlantic on my way back to UK from a most enjoyable holiday in Mexico over the Christmas and New Year period. Agi and I spent about two weeks on the Pacific coast where temperatures were in the low 30‟s and the sun was glorious. The rest of the time we spent driving around the country on surprisingly good roads, winding through the numerous mountain ranges which decorate the map. It often felt like we were on some marathon rally with 50 mile-long road sections set at mental speeds – it was great fun, even if it made Agi‟s knuckles bleed as she clutched the handles in horror on the occasional fresh-air bend. Mr Alamo‟s Chevy (an Opel Corsa in GM disguise) was well up to the job but I think the 2600 km we put on it were probably the hardest of it‟s short life to date. A feature of Mexican roads is that, although there are numerous speed-limit signs all over the place, no-one seems either to abide by them or try to enforce them. After a couple of days of reasonably cautious driving, I also entered into the spirit of things and even took to passing police cars at 120 kph plus in 70 limits without apparent effect. However, though the country‟s live police may be a bit blasé about speed, it is the sleeping policemen which keep you honest. The place is littered with humps and bumps of all shapes and severities, some marked from about 500 metres in advance, others not at all! After hitting a few at something above walking pace I became very careful anywhere near houses, shacks or just people. You could be on a dead straight, empty road doing 100+ when suddenly there would be a two-horse hamlet and five speed humps of alpine proportions. It was certainly very effective in slowing traffic, probably saved lives and did not involve police, fines, points etc – which seems to me to be the objective of our road-safety measures. The humps had one other unexpected (beneficial) effect – they provided a way to overtake many of the smoking, ramshackle buses which traversed all parts of Mexico at life-threatening speeds By Tom Ryan and which were practically impossible to pass. Once you saw the warning sign for a „Reductor de Velocidad‟ as they were graphically named, you knew that the bus was going to slow pretty considerably. It was then a case of moving into the outside lane and passing the bus actually at the hump while on-coming traffic was still slowing for the hump and then out-accelerating the bus to get into the nearside lane and safety. This often necessitated taking the humps at somewhat more than a comfortable pace but it was a small price to pay to be out of the diesel fumes for the next 30 or 40 km until you caught up with the next bus. It resulted in the car going back at the end of the trip which something less than perfectly circular front wheels. The car-rental clerk gave the wheels a long, hard look at the post-event check-in but finally decided it wasn‟t worth the argument! Although we were often out of touch with civilization in the wilds of Mexico, from timeto-time I was able to connect to the Internet and collect my e-mails and find out what was going on at MCAC. Of course, we had heard about the tragic events in south-east Asia through CNN (mostly in Spanish) since practically every small Mexican hotel seemed to have cable TV of some form or other. I was really moved to hear that MCAC had immediately responded to the appeals to help the unfortunate victims by holding a fund-raiser at the Club at the very first opportunity. I don‟t yet know whose idea it was to hold the event but I know that special recognition must go to Rob Brook for organising it and for involving his employer, Cadbury-Schweppes, in a funds-matching scheme to raise such a large amount of money from one club-night. This issue to the Magazine marks the start of MCAC‟s Centenary Year and you will see the Centenary logo on the cover. We are very grateful to Jon Ralfs for the concept and for the master art-work for this very attractive visual symbol to represent the first 100 years of the life of MCAC. You will see it many times during the course of this year and I hope that you will participate fully in as many of our Centenary activities as you can. Pete’s Patch - The Championship Year (The Final Chapter) Thankfully, this is the last magazine article to qualify for a cup so there are enough articles to keep Chris quiet and I can make this a brief notelet. First of all I hope that you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I spent all of Christmas Day and Boxing Day either in bed or in the loo trying to throw up but that‟s another tale (of which I guess brother Malc will make light of in a mag article later in the year). My report this month is split into two parts, first the championship and second to report on equipment matters (I am assistant equipment secretary too for my sins). The Championship Year As this is reporting the winners of the pots, the list has been prepared and will be printed elsewhere in the mag. Well done to all of the winners, commiserations to those not so lucky (or determined). The 2005 Championship year has started and already has some entries thanks to Rockingham. I have prepared a list of all of the categories for which points may be claimed, what table they go in and how many points they are worth. I will publish this in the next issue so that you can check what you are getting for this year. A slight clarification of an amendment that we introduced in 2004. When we announced that marshal points would be accrued for each day marshalled, we did not realise that night trials and road rallies actually span two days (usually). These do not qualify for points on a per day basis. Before I finish the championship report, can I, once again, publish the list of events for which points will automatically be awarded. These are usually those organised solely by MCAC. The list comprises: Oakington Stages Rally, Valentine Scatter, March Madness 12 Car, Brakefast Autotest, MCAC Autocross, May Hem 12 Car, Uxbridge Autoshow Autotest, Fun Run, Chiltern 12 Car, Hunter‟s Night Trial, Rockingham Stages. The barrack room lawyers amongst you will point out that some of the above list are copromoted but they are small events that we have a greater proportion of control over. You will note that the South of England Tempest Stages is not on the list. This is because it is such a big event that it is impossible to keep track of who was there. Even if I see you there, you will still have to submit a claims form to get your points (the only exception to this is those who are actually marshalling with me as I will submit a joint claim form). Equipment Before I finish, a small announcement in my capacity as Assistant Equipment Secretary. Due to the hassle of administering it, Council has decided to waive all future equipment hire charges. Instead you will be encouraged to make a „voluntary‟ donation to club funds. It just remains for me to wish you success in whichever branch of motor sport you follow and I look forward to seeing you at the Centenary Dinner at the RAC Club later this month. Pete Farmer Championship Secretary (for now) Haynes Publishing Haynes Publishing offer a 12.5% discount to Motor Club members, obtained by telephoning 01963 442080, or by the website: www.haynes.co.uk and registering as a motorclub member with our “unique code” which is MIAD. Final Top Championship Positions – 2004 Overall Driver: Tom Ryan Peter Cox Graham Samuel John Roseblade Tony Phillips Road Rally Driver: Tony Phillips Tom Ryan Michael Vince David Johnson Stage Rally Driver: Graham Samuel Tom Ryan Tim Clark Guy Anderson Ian Gatt Night Trial Driver: Martin Sherlock Tony Phillips Peter Cox Mike Wooster Tom Ryan Off-Road Driver: Peter Cox John Roseblade Tom Ryan Chris Keys Chris Welch (10) (13) (7) (9) (4) 112 90 63 @ 54½ @ 40 Overall Navigator: Dave Taylor Tony Phillips Rob Brook John Roseblade Chris Keys (7) (9) (9) (3) (3) 124 ** 73 @ 63 34 28 (2) (2) (1) (1) 27 25 15 ** 10 ** Road Rally Navigator: Karen Vince (2) Chris Keys (2) Rob Brook (2) Val Phillips (1) Stage Rally Co-Driver: Dave Taylor (6) Tony Phillips (9) Rob Brook (6) John Roseblade (2) Ian Wilson (1) Night Trial Navigator: Gordon Phillips Andy Greenland Simon Cox Alan Armstrong John Wilson 27 24 24 € 15 ** (9) (6) (1) (3) (1) 73 42 39 ** 32 ** 29 ** 115 ** 79 € 43 30 ** 26 ** (2) (2) (2) (1) (1) 15 13 11 5 ** 2 (2) (1) (2) (1) (1) T T 13 13 € 11 ** 8 ** 5 ** (11)^^ (9) (3) (3) (2) 76 54½ 35 26 € 18 ** Clubman – Marshalling: Kevin Dawson (15) Rob Brook (20) Kathleen Dawson (14) Peter Cox (7) Brian Catt (6) Mike Cawthra (5) Clubman – Organizing: Tony Phillips (6) Brian Catt (4) Andy Greenland (3) Pete Farmer (3) Malc Farmer (2) Clubman – Servicing: Peter Cook (4) Gordon Phillips (2) Martin Sherlock (2) Dave Johnson (2) Martin Lush (2) T @ € ^^ & ** 54 51 48 18 16 15 Most Active Club Member: Rob Brook Peter Cox Tony Phillips Kevin Dawson John Roseblade T Kathleen Dawson T Most Frequent Competitor: Peter Cox Tony Phillips John Roseblade Dave Taylor Ladies: Karen Vince Hazel Hopkinson Val Phillips Sarah Wooster Christine Wooster 31 & 23 & 23 & 15 & 14 14 36 32 26 22 20 16 13 12 7 8 4 4 4 ** 4 ** (2) (2) (1) (2) (2) 27 & 18 17 ** 12 ** 12 ** Tied for award not eligible: only 1 category of event includes event as organizer only best 10 scores count not eligible: another award not eligible: no mag article &/or marshalling CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP - AWARD WINNERS 2004 Champion Driver Champion Navigator Middlesex Challenge Winner BELL TROPHY NAPSPEED TROPHY MIDDLESEX CHALLENGE SHIELD RUNNER-UP THIRD PLACE LADY CHAMPION Leading Off Road Driver Leading Road Rally Driver Leading Stage Rally Driver Leading Night Trial Driver Leading Road Rally Navigator Leading Stage Rally Co-Driver Leading Night Trial Navigator Leading Clubman – Organising Leading Clubman - Marshalling Leading Clubman – Servicing Most Active Club Member Best Lady Competitor Most Frequent Competitor FINCHLEY CUP CORONATION CUP LADIES CUP STEPHENS TROPHY ALEXANDER TROPHY KENSINGTON CUP OAKES CUP GAMAGE CUP SOUTHGATE CUP LAWSON CUP JUBILEE CUP Tom Ryan Rob Brook Tom Ryan Chris Keys Peter Cox Karen Vince Peter Cox Tony Phillips Graham Samuel Martin Sherlock Karen Vince Tony Phillips Gordon Phillips & Andy Greenland Tony Phillips Kevin Dawson Peter Cook John Roseblade & Kathleen Dawson Hazel Hopkinson NORMAN TIPPING MEMORIAL Peter Cox CUP ------ Best Newcomer Poxon Award Silliest Accident Most Contribution to the Club RIDDELL CUP MIDDLESEX COUNTY CUP BENGT ARMCO AWARD PRESIDENTS AWARD ? ? ? ? EVENT AWARDS 2004 8th February Best MCAC 21/22nd February Best MCAC/1st Semi-Exp 1st Novice 28th March 1st Class B2 28th March Best MCAC/2nd Class PB6 30/31st May Best MCAC 18th July 1st Class E 18th July FTD/Best MCAC 1st Class 2 2nd Class 2 3rd Class 2 1st Class 3 Best Novice 15th August Best MCAC/Winners 12th September Best MCAC 24th September Best MCAC Experts Best MCAC Beginners 17th October Best MCAC 5th November Best MCAC 13/14th November Best MCAC/Winners 1st Semi-Expert 25/27th November Best MCAC OAKINGTON STAGES (17 MCAC) Woodberry Cup VALENTINE SCATTER (5 MCAC) Sir Henry Bowles Cup Two Awards BRAKEFAST AUTOTESTS (Nat B) (3 MCAC) An Award BRAKEFAST AUTOTESTS (PCA) (6 MCAC) The Alfred Alexander Cup BARBADOS INT RALLY (4 MCAC) Church Trophy AUTOSHOW AUTOTESTS (NAT B)(1 MCAC) An Award AUTOSHOW AUTOTESTS (PCA) (13 MCAC) Autocar Cup An Award An Award An Award An Award An Award FOTO JEN I. C. FUN RUN & BBQ (13 MCAC) An Award THE BOMB-ALONG STAGES (11 MCAC) Phillips Trophy Tom Ryan / Rob Brook Peter Cox / Simon Cox Martin Sherlock/Alan Armstrong Rob Rolston Tom Ryan Graham Samuel / Tony Phillips Peter Cox Chris Welch Chris Keys Martin Moane Noel O‟Sullivan Martin Lush Jon Senior Tom Ryan / Rob Brook Garry Elswood / Andy Greenland CHILTERN 12-CAR RALLY (8 MCAC) The Woodhead Trophy Two Awards THE AUTUMN STAGES (4 MCAC) Middleton Trophy S of E TEMPEST RALLY (4 MCAC) Dr North Cup HUNTER'S NIGHT TRIAL (5 MCAC) Original Bell Cup Two Awards LOMBARD REVIVAL RALLY (1 MCAC) The Powysbrooke Trophy David Johnson / Keith Hounslow Tony Phillips / Karen Vince Tom Ryan / Rob Brook Polli Patti / Holly Bailey Martin Sherlock/Andy Greenland Tony Phillips / Gordon Phillips David Johnson / Keith Hounslow Don‟t forget that MCAC make an award on any event where there are 4 or more club crews competing – but we have to be told otherwise we will not know!!! We are sure there are other events that should qualify, but if you don‟t tell us, no pot! Bomb-Along Stages - September 2004 After the tale of woe on the Sombreffe Rally, the stripdown of the Saxo gearbox revealed a not un-expected state of affairs. The press-fit diff had become unpressed, breaking the circlip groove off the side in the process with the debris reducing the number of teeth on the low ratio pinion even further. While the diff went back to Quaife for them do some head scratching, Garry obtained a new mainshaft/crown wheel set through Citroen; at least the bits were now available through the main dealers saving a trip to the Competition dept outside Paris. Eventually the diff was returned (complete with some dowels as Citroen Comps dept seem to find necessary) and duly fitted back into the gearbox. By this time we had heard the shock news that Braine-le-Comte, along with many other Belgian events, had literally disappeared, so we set our sights on a local event to check the car out. Unfortunately 7 stages into the Mini Tempest, we had to retire with severe oil smoke in the car, and subsequent inspection revealed that the gearbox casing had split around the diff housing. Was this a new problem, or some latent defect from the previous self destruction? After another rebuild (Garry did this one on his own!), the Saxo was ready for a shake down, and the Bomb-Along fitted the bill, with the fast sweeping bends to test the diff. After a steady first stage, Tom Ryan/Rob Brook were 3 second faster, so Martin Sherlock persuaded Garry to put on some new Michelins, at least on the front end, which gave a 30 second improvement for SS2, and in front of Tom. Due to a stage blockage (yes there is just one place at Oakington where a 3 wheel car can do it!), our next run was SS4. On the outfield, By Andy Greenland Garry let an Escort Cosworth past that came up at a rate of knots, but then we found that we could catch him slowly through the chicanes on the runway. Through the complex we caught him up, but couldn‟t get past, even we he was slowed by the Anglia we both caught. We weren‟t bothered then that we lost about 15 seconds, but later.... As usual on these events, I just checked out times as the Saxo is not ultra-competitive on single venues races rallies, we were in our usual placing and 6th in class. However, two steady but tidy runs and retirements on SS5 & 6 saw us up to 5th in class, and after SS7 to 4th in class, only 3 seconds off a class award. Time for drastic action. Martin started off with removing the spare wheel, so there‟s no point in carrying the jack and wheel brace either. Out came the spare wheel fixing, strimmer cord as well, my gloves I wasn‟t using, but I did manage to keep my pencil! Wing mirrors in to reduce drag and anything else that was not essential came out - even the old stage diagrams, and the change out of my pockets! We pushed really hard on that stage, kept it neat, but all to no avail as we dropped back to 6 seconds off 3rd in class. How we rued those seconds lost chasing the Cosworth, apparently it only had 3-wheel drive at the time - what luxury! However, when the results were final, we were all delighted to find that although we had just missed out on a class award, we were in fact Best MCAC on the event, an honour to be savoured more than the class award, especially when it will be presented at the Centenary Dinner. Many thanks to Martin and Sandra, and Terry for the servicing, Daryl for the photos, and Garry for the chauffeuring. For Sale 306 Gti6 Rally Car. Full tarmac group N spec. Custom built from unregistered bare shell with professional mods throughout. Full welded in cage from Custom cages (£2,000 worth). Superb condition, hardly used since built, only a few tarmac rallies, still in white with no signage. Usual GTi spec, 6 speed box etc. plus adjustable Bilstiens, new Quaiffe lsd, Icore fuel lines (no fuel smells), electric fire extinguisher, 6 point Sabelt belts and Recaro seats. Comes with spare set of alloys. Priced to sell at £6,499 Call Sav on 078111 94317 Hunters Night Trail 2004 Despite its earlier postponement and lack of entries, the Hunter Night Trail 2004 finally got under way on the evening of the 24th November. The weather was very cold but enthusiasm was high; a good night‟s competition lay ahead. I was looking forward to learning a lot this evening, up until now I had been a novice, NO really!!; my usual partner in crime was away on business and Andy G was at a loose end as the Pope mobile was else where. So we teamed, up with Daryl as our runner (thank goodness for younger legs). Eight o‟clock came and went; Andy got off to a good start with the navigation, skipping from map to map. The fifteen pointers were hard even Andy was struggling to plot them - but finally we were under way. Now normally we would have plotted everything we could, accurately, before we left the car park. However Andy whizzed round the map roughly plotting as he went. We left the car park with what I considered to be only a rough idea of where we were going, but slowly the route unfolded and we started to collect the chemical symbols (the answers on the code boards). We visited our first marshal point (its amazing the places you find Christine), with a lot of running, shouting and some cursing, we found the code board. The following marshal points By Martin Sherlock needed less physical work but a lot more mental work. Lots of counting was involved, but we only had thirty fingers, thumbs and toes between us and “no calculator” cried Daryl, (I don‟t think they teach mental arithmetic any more). Between the marshal points we continued to collect the usual run of code boards, until we finally were nearing the finish with only the final code board to go. Unfortunately due to small errors the final code board was not to be found - it turned out we were only one junction away, but that‟s another story. The finish came and went with cars arriving late, despite everyone knowing the penalties before we started. Thanks to Pete, John and all who marshalled. I think everyone enjoyed themselves despite the banter at the finish. There may have been some small navigation errors but it must be very hard to motivate yourselves when you know so few may enter. Where was everybody?? So for me, this year has seen me go from best novice (on the Valentine scatter) to expert with out even competing as a semi-expert. Martin Sherlock P.S. Thanks to Andy (I learnt a lot) and Daryl (for saving my legs). Fund Raising Thanks By John Brook The Charity Bike Ride Rob and his sister did in aid of the Kirkwood Hospice back in October raised over £1450, along with over £300 extra being collected through Gift Aid. A large amount of this was from the club, and from North Humberside Motor Club, which was fantastic. Secondly, last nights Video Games night, in aid of the Tsuanmi Appear raised £200. This, together with Gift-Aid and the Cadbury Cashmatch will result in over £450 going to the region. Again, this was fantastic. Please can you pass on our many thanks to all in the club for both these appeals Whilst on the subject of fund raising, the council would like to let you know that we raised (again with the help of Gift Aid) over £2,500 for the Linda Jackson Center in 2004 – let’s see if we can break the £3,000 barrier in our Centenary year! Ed. The Welsh Endurance Rally The Welsh Endurance Rally is something different. It blends together a variety of rallying into one major event. This is not a specialstage rally, although drivers will be excused for thinking it might be at times.... you get to drive through some of the most famous forests in British rallying, icons of recent Network Qs and RAC Rallies. It is not exactly a road-rally, but driving Abergwesyn Pass and up the Devil‟s Staircase is one of the most demanding roads in Britain. On top of that, there are two full sessions on the tarmac of Epynt. Vehicle Requirements:General The cars must be standard-production saloon cars, of unitary construction, and their estate or commercial derivatives, but not two-seater sports cars. Engines The engine size for petrol driven cars must not exceed 1400cc and for diesel driven cars must not exceed 1900cc. Turbocharged cars and cars fitted with rotary engines are not permitted. Engines must be completely standard and unmodified. The throttle-bodies (or carburettors) must not be altered, machined, or changed. All mechanical components must match the part numbers for the standard showroom production car of the model entered. Filters and filter trunking are free and can be modified or changed. Exhaust pipe is free and its routing and dimensions can be modified after the exit point of the manifold, which must be retained as standard and unmodified. Cars must comply with MSA noiserequirements. Safety Equipment All cars must be fitted with: A rollover-hoop, complying with drawing no. Q1 as a minimum requirement (single hoop and two backstays). Full harness belts. A hand-held fire extinguisher of 1.75 litres AFFF. Bodies, trim, glass, electronics, etc. Body shells may only be strengthened to support the roll cage installation, and the suspension areas. The fitting of a bolt-on strutbrace across the suspension turrets is By Jon Senior permitted. Rear seats and carpets to the rear of the front seats may be removed, the rear parcel shelf and back seats may be removed. Major items of trim including the dashboard and door-trims must be retained. The front seats and steering wheel may be changed, and the fitting of additional instruments is permitted. Sump and tank guards are permitted. Strengthening of engine and gearbox mountings are permitted. Brake and fuel lines are free and their positioning can be changed. Additional bonnet and boot locks are free. All glass areas must be retained as glass. Electronics are free. Brakes Fluids, pads and linings are free. Anti-lock braking systems may be disabled. All major mechanical components must be standard for the model entered, including discs and callipers, which must not be drilled, grooved or machined. Transmission No modifications or machining is permitted. No close-ratio gears even if an option is available from the manufacturer - all items must be unmodified, as supplied for the standard showroom production car. No limited-slip differentials, unless fitted to the standard showroom production model. Suspension Bushes may be changed for similar polymer material, but no all-metal rose-joints or similar and all mounting points must be identical to the standard showroom production car. Springs and shock absorbers may be changed for uprated versions, but must be attached to the original fixing system. Wheels and Tyres Wheels are free but must fit within a standard unmodified wheel arch Tyres must be legal for the public highway and the minimum profile for tyres is 65 (or 60 profile for 12-inch wheels). Tyres must not be marked for motor-sport use only or suitable for rallying, or racing, with the only exception being the Colway Road Plus with the Pirelli P7 pattern (this is a recommended tyre). Any number of spare wheels and tyres may be carried on the competing car but must be securely fastened. Tyres will be marked by the Scrutineer and competitors are limited to the tyres carried or fitted to the competing vehicle for the duration of the event. Tyres fitted to all four wheels must at all times be of identical size, type and pattern. Mud flaps must be fitted to all four wheel arches. 2003 This was the first competitive motor sport event I had entered. I had always wanted to have a go at rallying and this was the first real opportunity I had. With all of the technical regs in place it meant that this would be a relatively low cost affair. The other main appeal was that Driver and Co-driver could swap roles between stages. It is very easy to find a second driver and split the costs. In January 2003 I teamed up with John Upton and decided to purchase a low cost car. After trudging through the ads we found 2 low mileage Peugeot 205 Rallye‟s in Wales. With a pocket full of cash we trudged to Wales and returned with a 2 owner well maintained car and £1100 less in our pocket. The hard work then started, build a low cost rally car that met the regs above. As you will all know these things always take longer than planned and cost more than you think. After five months of weekends, help from friends, much swearing and another £1000 we had what seemed to be a finished article. Now the rally… The 450 mile long route started from Cardiff on Friday evening, July 11th, with several timed competitive-sections in Caerwent, then back to hotel.... a late-morning start then saw cars drive to Epynt, Walter's Arena and Sweet Lamb, with a supper stop at Llandridnod Wells. That was the intention anyway! We had damaged our exhaust at the manifold and had a major carb problem. What was supposed to be a two-hour rest was a mad carb and exhaust rebuild. Tired and exhausted we went back to Epynt at night via Elan Valley and Devil's Staircase, finishing in the early-hours of Sunday morning at Cardiff. At this point I wanted to crawl into the nearest ditch and die. This was the hardest thing mentally and physically I had ever done. We were both sick from the map reading and vowed never again. Out of 50 cars we finished 33rd overall and 14th in class. 2004 Six months is a long time to forget the bad points and remember all the good things about the previous rally. The format of the rally had changed. A lot less miles, and a lot less night work, Yippee! The event was now going to be held over 2 days and all competitive elements were going to be held within the MOD training area at Caerwent. The Car Our poor little Pug was not its best after 2003. It needed some TLC and modifications. Where to start? Suspension – I spoke to Demon Tweeks and they advised their 205 Challenge equipment. I then spoke to Trevor Humphrey at TH Motor who told me to buy the springs and rear shocks form DT and he would make something for the front. The front struts he delivered used Cosworth Group A inserts, modified to fit. What a difference, the car was transformed. Next, up rated pads, better tyres, sump guard, extra lights, footrest, air filter, rolling road set up and wash. We decided that it would be a good idea to trailer the car this year, and have a good rest beforehand. After scruitineering the rally started at 2pm. The first leg consisted of four laps of Caerwent, each lap containing several “Primes” through the maze of narrow roads. “They do seem very narrow at 80 mph with no crash helmet”. After a rest halt we started leg two at 10pm. This was a navigational road rally lasting about 2 hours. Then bed. The third leg, another three runs through Caerwent started at 9am on Sunday. We put our all, into the last few miles and finished happy this time, but still felt sick. Prize giving – This time it was different. 55 starters, we finished 15th Overall and second in class! 2005? Who Knows? Marshalling in 2005 By Rob Brook Over the next few months we have a very hectic schedule within the club, which will need assistance to make successful. We are finding it more difficult to get marshals to cover all our events, so it would be great to see some new faces, or maybe we can get some of the existing ones out as a crew for other club's events? Please contact Rob if you are available for any weekends, then we'll try to get a joint effort to support our sport. Over the next few months, our club's key events are: 6th Feb - Oakington Stages - Our usual requirement is needed, with setup crew needed on the Saturday and marshals needed for the Sunday. Key contact is the Chief Marshal - Pete Farmer. 19th / 20th Feb - Valentines Scatter - We probably need 3 or 4 crews to help Andy Greenland run the marshals points on this event. See Andy on a club night. 4th March - 12 car rally. I will probably need 4 marshal crews this time to help run the event. 20th March - Brakefast autotest, Bovingdon. We need a few volunteers to help run our first autotest of the centenary please. Besides our events, there are a number of other rallies going on around the region where we've been asked to assist. The key ones of these are: 1 - Rally Sunseeker 24/25th Feb. Contact is Rob or Kevin Dawson for this one. 2 - 3 Counties Stages, 6th of March. A multi-venue event so will need a great deal of assistance. 3 - Rally of Kent on the same day as the Brakefast autotest. (20th March) More details on any event available from Rob, or the contacts shown. It would be great if we can help out on one or more of these. PLEASE HELP BY PUTTING SOMETHING BACK INTO YOUR SPORT. Many thanks, Rob. Membership Matters By Brian Catt Welcome to numerous members enrolled (or re-joined) since the last magazine. We hope they have a long lasting membership of the club and, of course, association with Motorsport: Welcome to Pip Carrotte, Neil Burgess, Roger Jack and Simon Cornwall. The MCAC Membership Card gives access to events where entries are invited from members of the London Counties, Eastern, Central Southern and Welsh Associations, and all events thus entered are “points scorers” in the Club Championships. Only events organised, or co-organised, by MCAC count towards the Middlesex Challenge. Please note that you may be asked to produce your membership card at the start of any event, the excuse that you have moved and have not yet informed the Membership Sec of your new address will only work with a lot of pleading! Ask Andy Bull who has just thanked me for the e-mail news service, informed me of a new address, but has been deleted for several months! (Or ....`hang on lads I`ve got a great idea`....) Whilst sitting watching the original `The Italian Job` I started thinking what I might try to do motorsport wise in 2005.....Italian sports car has a fatal meeting with a Mafia bulldozer in a tunnel ..... Last year (2004) whilst looking after various rally cars (Proton Satria, VW Polo, Mk1 Escort etc) and also supporting a Caterham Academy car in a race, sprint and hillclimb series, I was maintaining and servicing a Ginetta G27R for a client, and a client of his as 2nd driver. This GRP and tubular steel space frame car has a 235 BHP Zetec engine and is used for sprinting and speed hill climbing, weighing in at about 700kgs (just over 335 bhp/tonne), it is fairly quick and regularly wins its class. ....Charlie Croker is released from prison straight into a car stolen from the Pakistani Embassy.... Part way through the year, a friend of the sister of the 2nd driver of the Ginetta needed to generate some garage space at his house, and I was asked if I wanted a Biota free of charge. „What the hell is a Biota?‟ was my first thought,...Mr Bridgers `toilet` is interrupted... after a bit of research I found out it is a Mini Cooper S powered special built about 1968. There were about 40 of the things produced from `68 through to about `72, ....I like `em (my women) big, BIG... I say `thing` because from the back it does not look to bad, but from the front, only its mother could love it. Basically it is a Mini engine/box, subframe and front suspension assembly with a tubular steel spaceframe and fiberglass 2 seater body attached, the rear suspension is mini rear arms swinging off the spaceframe with no subframe. ....Aston Martin and 2 E types meet the Mafia and their bulldozer on the mountain pass.... The under floor is absolutely flat from the front subframe backwards as the exhaust runs through the RH sill exiting just in front of the rear wheels, which are undamaged 10 x 5.5 inch Dunlop 8 spoke alloys. The car that I was being offered appeared from the advertising blurb with it, to be the factory development vehicle chassis No 1 ....Benny Hill and team break into the Turin Traffic Control (in reality the old DER building at Hanworth)... After speaking to the owner who needed the garage space, it transpired that this car had been used by the owners of the factory for speed hill climbing in the road going production modified class, and with it had won several championships. .... The 3 Mini Cooper `S`s are loaded with gold and the chase ensues through, over and under Turin... It was then purchased by the current owner and used as daily transport to and from his job with the DVLA!!! In about `82 the well tuned 1293 `S` engine, SC/CR `box and suspension underwent a rebuild, for some reason, now forgotten, the engine was never started and the car was left in the dry, well ventilated, garage for 22 years. With out much thought I said YES to the offer, initially I was only interested on the engine/box and brakes, and so I went down to Finchley to pick up this almost unique vehicle. After reinflating the tyres, the Biota was pushed easily onto the trailer without any problems (it weighs only 450kgs with approximately 100 bhp on tap (222 bhp/tonne!!!)) the brakes were not even seized, and the many boxes of BMC packaged new spares were put into the van.... 3 empty Mini Coopers exit the coach and over the cliff edge.... Since then it has sat at the back of my workshop awaiting some tender love and attention. Recently Fi and I received the MCAC calendar for 2005 and found an event listed as „??? Centenary Porlock Hillclimb‟ sometime in June. ... coach skids over cliff edge and gold slides to the back, Charlie Croker edges towards it, `Hang on lads, I`ve got a great idea`... Now where did I put my A/F and Whitworth spanners? What to do in 2005? Peter Cook Performance & Competition Developments - 07711 627616 Uxbridge Autoshow Autotests Sometimes for an event absolutely nothing goes wrong. This years Autoshow Autotests came very close to being one of those events. After a very late finish last year, when sunset almost coincided with the cones being packed away, organisers Chris Keys and Peter Cox decided on a maximum entry of 30 and a start at 10am. It worked! Closing date for entries was the Wednesday before the event and lo and behold there were 30 entries received and paid for plus 2 reserves. Some others tried to squeeze in afterwards but were only offered the reserve list – and I stayed at the bar all night getting thirstsy! Thursday night and the running order was set for the 15 pairs running the tandem test layout, a definite improvement on the 5 minutes before the start as in previous years. Unlike stage rallies, nobody complained about their pairing as it was still the individual times that counted. Peter Cox in the yellow peril Jalysarc special was the only MCAC entry in the Nat B part and was first off against the mini special of Steve Redsell. It was 2-0 to Peter for the 2 runs, but then it wasn‟t the score that mattered but the times themselves. There was also a disadvantage of running first on the green grass. Indeed, I think almost everybody improved on the second run when there wasn‟t so much slippery grass around and it was nearly always the second run which counted, for both events it was just the best time to count. A good entry of 18 in the PCA part had no less than 14 entries from MCAC in vehicles which had capacities from 599cc to 1600cc. Those of you up with modern day machinery will immediately recognise the 599cc as being the power unit for the Smart cars, this time is was the City Coupe version driven by Hazel Hopkinson. Hazel was paired with Jo Tappin in a Polo making it a good contest of brain and brawn (the cars, of course!). In the wet conditions the Smart was as quick as the Polo, Hazel using the good turning lock of the Smart to good effect. As the grass dried out Jo could get the power down and was back to the finish by a good few car lengths. The brain bit? Well, Hazel did comment on the brain of the Smart being a bit too clever when it didn‟t want to go into reverse quickly and was a bit upset By Peter Cox when it went sideways quickly. On the other hand, that could also be said about certain back street drivers! Jo & Hazel were in Class 1 along with a Nova and a Mini Cooper. Class 2 had the biggest entry of the day with no less than 13 vehicles 12ft – 14ft overall length with a mixture of Peugeot 205s, Vauxhall Corsa and Astra, Proton Satria and a Lotus Elise. Class 3 had just one entry but as they say, what an entry. Martin Lush propelled the rwd Toyota Corolla with great entertainment for the crowd and was a good 5th place overall. Back to Class 2 and the intense battles on the twin tests. It started with Chris Keys (Corsa)/ Martin Moane (Astra), then Jon Senior (205)/ Martin Eades (205), Chris Welch (205)/ Simon Cox (205 diesel), Noel O‟Sullivan (Corsa)/Martin Sherlock (Astra), Tom Ryan (Satria)/ Martin Lush (Corolla), Derek Looker (Dolphin MC,205)/ Sav Johal (Elise) and ended up with Gordon Phillips (205)/Alistair Barman (Dolphin MC,205). After the first the first 7 places were covered by just 3 secs, top shot being shared by the two Chris‟s, Keys & Welch. Another pair of all forwards tests followed before the one meant to sort the men from the boys with possible handbrake turns and reverse flicks. It was set up so you didn‟t have to do either if you went a little bit further. Who was quickest on these? Martin Sherlock & Tom Ryan! I will leave the others to give their reasons for not doing so well! The final pair of tests was a bit of a thrash round the field and the only one to suffer here was Noel O‟Sullivan who had the tyre pull of the rim on his second run and he slipped down 3 places. And the best? It was our new northern member Chris Welch who showed that good rally drivers can also be good autotest drivers – it is always true for the reverse! Chris Keys came next, 4 secs down followed by Martin Moane another 3 secs down. Did I mention men and boys above? There was an additional contest covering both events which I reckon has not been done before – the best father & son team! There were no less than 5 teams with victory going to Paul & Martin Prescott followed by Colin & Michael Weeks 0.5secs behind, both teams in shared minis. Next came the Yapp‟s (Richard in Jalysarc special and son Jamie in a Nova) beating the Cox‟s (Simon driving his girlfriends Peugeot diesel) by the smallest possible margin of 0.1 secs with the Lane‟s (mini special) in last spot but only 14.5 secs behind the winners. All that over 16 test times showed what an enjoyable and close day of autotesting it had been. Plan ahead now for the 3rd weekend of July of 2005. Any car will do if you can drive it to the event. Results National B FTD Class A Class B Class E PCA FTD Class 1 1 3 4 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 11 12 1 Chris Welch Jamie Yapp Jo Tappin Hazel Hopkinson Chris Keys Martin Moane Noel O‟Sullivan Simon Cox Jon Senior Martin Sherlock Tom Ryan Gordon Phillips Martin Eades Sav Johal Martin Lush Peugeot 205 Nova Polo Smart Corsa Astra Corsa Peugeot 205 Peugeot 205 Astra Satria Peugeot 205 Peugeot 205 Elise Corolla 288 secs 292 secs 324 secs 371 secs 292 secs 295 secs 297 secs 298 secs 298 secs 298 secs 303 secs 305 secs 306 secs 312 secs 296 secs 1 1 1 Damian Bell Michael Weeks Grant Shoebridge Peter Cox 1275GT Mini Mini Peugeot 106 Jalysarc special 266.5 secs 267.1 secs 289.5 secs 275.7 secs Class 2 Class 3 For Sale BMW 528I SE Auto October 1996 „P‟, Oxford Green, 89,000 Miles, 2 Owners, Full BMWSH, 1 Year MOT Face Lift Lights, Clear Indicators, Lip Spoiler, 17” Alloys, Climate Control, Cruise Control, CAT 1 Alarm, Rain Sens Wiper, E/M, E/S/R, E/W, Black Leather, Tiptronic, 6 Disc CD, VGC, £6,250 ono - Jon Senior - 07976 – 964804 Hell For The Thermal Dynamicist By Rob Brook The following is supposedly an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry midterm. The answer by one student was so "profound" that the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well. Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)? Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant. One student, however, wrote the following: First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different Religions that exist in the world today. Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added. This gives two possibilities: 1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose. 2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over. So which is it? If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year that, "it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you,” and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number 2 must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct...leaving only Heaven thereby proving the existence of a divine being. Which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting "Oh my God." THIS STUDENT RECEIVED THE ONLY "A". Provisional MCAC Dates for 2005 29th Jan 6th Feb 19th Feb 4th Mar 20th Mar 17th Apr 20th Apr 13th May Centenary Dinner at RAC Club Centenary Oakington Stages Centenary Valentine Scatter Centenary March Madness 12-Car Centenary Brakefast Autotests Centenary Autocross Annual General Meeting at Club Centenary Mayhem 12-Car Rally ???? 17th Jul 7th Aug 11th Sep 23rd Sep 15th Oct 4/5th Nov 11th Dec Centenary Porlock Hill Climb Centenary Uxbridge Autotests Centenary Fun Run and BBQ Centenary Bomb-Along Stages Centenary September 12-Car Centenary Hunters Night Trial South of England Tempest Rally Centenary Rockingham Stages Although we have these dates „pencilled‟ into the calendar, we still need volunteers to organise many of the events. If you would like to help the Club celebrate it‟s Centenary and volunteer your services, please contact Tom Ryan, Dave Taylor or Tony Phillips as soon as possible. Competitors cannot exist without organisers! Oakington Challenge 2004 Each year MCAC runs the „Oakington Challenge‟, which includes all events held at Oakington Airfield. Last year, as usual, 5 events counted towards the championship – our 2 events plus events run by SCCON, CCC and WAC/GBMC. 23 drivers and 17 co-drivers contended the championship and the final winners were:Champion Driver: Champion Co-Driver: Other award winners were:1st Class A Driver: 1st Class A Co-Driver: 1st Class B Driver: 1st Class B Co-Driver: 2nd Class B Driver: 2nd Class B Co-Driver: 1st Class C Driver: 1st Class C Co-Driver: 2nd Class C Driver: 2nd Class C Co-Driver: 1st Class D Driver: 1st Class D Co-Driver: 1st Class E Driver: 1st Class E Co-Driver: 2nd Class E Driver: Duncan Gamage (TMC) James Walters (TMC) Steve Laver (WECC) ROB BROOK TOM RYAN Nicola Laver (WECC) Jim Wicks (WECC) IAN JACKSON Robert Cameron (CCC) IAN WILSON Ian Rix (SCCON) Stuart Parkins (TMC) STEPHEN SIMPSON MARK BOOTH Michael Gregory (TMC) ANDY CORNER JAMES GREENWOOD both from Thame Motorsport Club and regular competitors at our events. We congratulate all the award winners and hope they will be able to collect their awards at the Centenary Dinner. With Cambridge CC moving their event to the start of the season and SCCON moving to another venue, the provisional dates for events at Oakington that form the 2005 Oakington Challenge are: 8th Jan 6th Feb CCC MCAC Speedy Hire Cambridge Stages Centenary Oakington Stages Centenary Bomb-Along Stages Oakington Autumn Stages Winter Stages 11th Sep MCAC 16th Oct WAC/GBMC ? Nov ECMC/KLDMC Regulations for the 2005 Oakington Challenge and the Centenary Oakington Stages are available from Tony Phillips (see last page). RIP Sorry to have to announce that the Safety Camera on the downhill slope on the back road from Biggleswade to Cambridge that many of us use to get to Oakington, seems to have sustained a grievous injury recently. Probably be back up and running by the 6th February! – Ed. A Year Of Yellow Fever By Graham Samuel The story of the yellow Escort in 2004 actually began in the spring of 2003 when it finally became clear that the old Porsche was too heavy and underpowered for the sprint stages that make up the bulk of the HRCR championship rounds. It‟s just great for long distance marathons in comfort and with reliability but was being left for dead in the forests. Something quicker was required. Analysis of who was beating us indicated that the car of the moment was a 2 litre BDA Mark 1 Escort so if you cant beat em, well you know the rest. There were two immediate problems. Firstly the 2 litre twin cam class was and still is the most hotly contested and fiercely competitive class with the likes of Ray Bellm (ex Le Mans racer), David Stoakes (ex works driver from the 70s) and a few serious hot shots with loads of cash all running state of the art BDAs. Probably not the wisest class to compete in. Secondly don‟t let anyone tell you that historic rallying is cheap. I thought at the outset that it might be an economic option. I now know better and could have built a serious Group A Evo for the same as the Escort, however without the nostalgia. So we set out on the chosen path and unearthed a poor, sad grimy Mark 1 sitting in a field at Silverstone with a boot full of water and a lot of potential. Originally built by Clark Cars it was a well prepared shell with no rot and a magnificent cage. Everything else, bar the back axle and the cylinder block, was scrapped and we started again. The car went up to Pip Carrotte in Gainsborough and together we embarked on a steep learning process of what bits everybody was fitting and, hardest of all, where to find genuine Mark 1 parts that weren‟t knackered. The end result, complete with Holbay head and complete respray, first saw the light of day in September 2003 when Tony and I set about learning how to drive a 225bhp go cart that steers from the rear. The baptism of fire was the Trackrod in Yorkshire and we finished 1st in class and 3rd o/a post historic and with huge grins on our faces. After this first shake down event we were happy with the engine and gearbox but concerned that the one main component unchanged from the original car was the diff. Sure enough, we set out on the Tempest in October and at the end of the second stage the diff cried enough. So to the year of 2004 and the HRCR Post Historic Championship. Round 1 The Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest. Slowed by a fractured alternator casing and scared of the dark we weren‟t on the pace and finished 2nd in class and 7th o/a Round 2 The Astra Stages in Mid Wales. Going well to start with, got over confident and fell off in Clocaenog breaking the oil pump. First non finish. Round 3 The International Welsh on Epynt tarmac. Ran the wrong diff and lacked top speed. Learned a lot about Dunlop‟s different compounds. Finished 2nd in class and 6th o/a. Time out. Barbados in the Porsche seemed positively pedestrian. Lost first gear on day 1 and finished 2nd historic behind a 3 litre Porsche RSR. Round 4 The Mutiny in the forests of Epynt. Seriously underestimated first corner of stage 3 and rolled comprehensively down hillside. Put it back up, changed puncture and drove out but OTL. Second non finish. Round 5 Mid Wales Stages. Starting to get on the pace but stalled twice and finished 2nd in class and 8th o/a. Stage times are within seconds of each other and 20 seconds lost by a spin or a stall usually costs 2 or 3 places. Round 6 The Manx. Almost the most fun you can have with your trousers on. Thick fog on first night and as we pressed on slowly to our amazement we caught and passed two cars and gained several places. Changed a sticky gearbox overnight and finished 1st in class and 4th o/a. Round 7 Flanders. Just as much fun as the Manx, with the added complication of very narrow roads and lots of ditches. Fell in one ditch on day one and another on day two for a total loss of 10 minutes. Couldn‟t recover such a time loss and finished 4th in class and 29th o/a (including the moderns) Round 8 The Trackrod in Yorkshire. Stupid schoolboy error on first stage spent 20 seconds in front of large crowd trying to extricate car from plastic barrier. Never really recovered from embarrassment and was off the pace all day. Finished 4th in class and 9th o/a (a lot of others fell off as well) Round 9 The Bulldog in Mid Wales. Finally on the pace for 6 of the 7 stages but puncture in the middle of longest stage cost a stage maximum and ruined the result. Finished 7th in class and 29th o/a. So at the end of the season we‟ve had two non- finishes, both as a result of driver error, and mechanically the car hasn‟t missed a beat, a tribute to Pip‟s loving care and attention. By the time this is published we will have been to, and hopefully completed, Killarney after which an engine top and tail is on the agenda. We finished 3rd in class in the Championship and have learned an enormous amount about driving such a responsive and powerful car, tyre compounds and wear rates, diff ratios and gear clusters. It has been an education to watch the driving styles of our main competitors and wonder how, when we have just completed a seemingly quick and error free stage, we‟ve dropped 30 seconds on the leader. We started the season off the pace and running very much in the second division but as the year progressed we started to press on where previously we would have lifted and by the end we were on the leaders pace (sometimes). Thanks to Tony for showing no fear (he clearly has no idea of the risk he‟s taking). Can‟t wait for next year. London to Brighton Veteran Car Run - 7th November 2004 As we have for several years now, my son Joseph and a friend and I manned a checkpoint on this event. The RAC Motor Sports Association/International Motorsport have handed the running of this historic run to a company called Motion Works U.K. Ltd., but the usual organisers of the various aspects were asked to act as usual. We wondered if the details would change much, but, in fact, lots of things were better. Scouts covered the route selling programmes which were much more comprehensive than in the past, with a picture and potted history of every entrant. An RAC man, with his van, was on duty at our point all day, and was in fact busy all the time. A top man (name unknown) from the new management came to every point at the end ofthe day and asked for any comments and if everything had been O.K. We do this under the wing of the All Wheel Drive Club, originally through Mike Hurst. They marshal quite a large section of the route, at Redhill, Hammer Hill, Clayton Hill, offering towes, rescues, help up hills and By Christine Poxon monitoring - plus our checkpoint at Cuckfield and one at Burgess Hill, which was manned by friends of mine from the M.G. Car Club. We were listed as from the M.C.A.C. We arrived at 8.30 a.m. at our point where there is a Golf Club and an animal food store and plenty of parking. A group of people raising money for their local hospital, where their daughter had died, set up a B.B.Q. and cooker and urn and sold hot drinks and superb combinations of sausages, bacon and egg rolls all day long. With notices out on the approach roads they did a roaring trade, and therefore there was plenty of activity. Competitors coming in for help, water, change of passengers, or just a coffee etc. Spectators came in for a snack too. It was really quite lively, and quite a traffic jam at times! Main Control have given up on fax machines as they always broke down, so we used a designated mobile „phone. Once we had made contact, the headquarters phoned us about every half hour. We kept records of the numbers of each car as it passed and read them off each time they called. It was not always easy to see the numbers as they were in all sorts of places on the vehicles and often there was overtaking in progress, lots of ordinary traffic about and constant entering and exiting of our site. These beautiful old vehicles are truly a joy to see, and some of them really bomb along! Many entrants dress up to match their cars, and they all, without fail, wave and honk their horns at us and every group along the route. Some old bicycles join in too - a couple of Penny Farthings for example. And the „show-offs‟ are often interesting, American cars, Austin Sevens, M.Gs, GT40s, Morgans, Jowetts, carefully restored examples of all sorts of cars. They all join in and travel amongst the Run, looking for admiration! We finished around 3.30 - 4p.m., when the so-called “Course closing cars” came along and collected our paperwork. The entrants had to be in Brighton by 4p.m. in order to collect a Finishers Award. We really enjoy this day every year (in spite of shocking weather sometimes!) and the opportunity to see these treasures in action. The star of the show was a steam driven Salveson, belching clouds of black smoke from its chimney and with a black faced stoker in the back, shovelling in the coal to fuel it. We were told that a major hold-up near the start was because the George Hotel at Crawley had forgotten to heat the water for the main coffee halt of the event! but later found out that was a joke, and the problem was a power failure in the area. How they resolved it, we do not know! We have always thought it a shame that there is not more coverage of this day in the media and on the box, but this year for the first time to my knowledge, the run has been extensively recorded and televised, with some cameras mounted on cars and some hand-held, and there will be a 50 minute coverage on the satellite channel “Motors TV” on Saturday, December 18th. The have also released a 75 minute DVD or Video VHS copy of the whole weekend‟s activities, at a price of £15 plus £2 p&p. I have the „phone, fax and e-mail numbers if anyone is interested. This must be due to the new management too. We look forward to next year and hope the weather is as good as it was this year. Picture - The Haynes-Apperson (1900) of Richard Beddall, President of the AWDC, running at No.67.