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HealeySport
is the motor sport centre of the Austin Healey Club UK and coordinates the
classic racing, sprinting and hill climbing activities in the UK and
Internationally. This website holds race reports, events calendars,
results pages, regulations and picture galleries in support of these
activities.
Silverstone International - John
Gott Memorial Trophy Race - 10th, 11th & 12th July'Action 3000'
2009 is the 50th anniversary of the launch of the
Austin Healey 3000 - big celebrations are planned so click on
'Action 3000' to see
details
In liaison with the MG Car Club, Healey Driver International have organised a commemorative 1
hour race at Silverstone on the International circuit as part
of the MG Car Club's International weekend. Qualifying will be on
Friday 10th July with the race on Saturday 11th July. The race is open
to any Austin Healey 100, 100S, 3000 or Silverstone prepared to FIA
specification. We are expecting a field of circa 30 cars with the
top UK drivers competing against teams from France, Sweden and
Holland. To any Big Healey enthusiast - driver or spectator - this will
be a treat to behold to have so many famous cars taking part in this
celebratory race.
**Stop Press**
THE JEREMY WELCH BIG
HEALEY NOVICE SPONSORSHIP
Jeremy
Welch of Denis Welch MotorSport has generously agreed to sponsor the
entrance fee to the first race for any novice driver coming out in a Big
Healey in the Championship in 2009 up to a maximum of £250.

The cars
must comply with the standing AHC Regulations for this year and drivers
must meet all MSA requirements to race but they must be novices to Big
Healey circuit racing.
"I really
want to encourage new drivers to this championship in its revised
format" said Jeremy (pictured right at Thruxton). "it is a big step to
start one's racing career in a Big Healey but it is a very competitive
classic sports car that is welcome across the racing calendar. The Race
Championship is a very good proving ground and is an inexpensive way to
get started. I hope my offer will tip the balance for those drivers on
the brink of motorsport but hesitating about the commitment to a
championship".
"This
generous offer applies throughout the year and at all the meetings in
the Championship calendar. Eligible drivers may enter in our Invitation
Class in the first instance but will need to commit to full registration
if they wish to do more than one race" said Joe Cox, Austin Healey Club
Competition Secretary. "For full details as to how this offer
applies, drivers should contact me in the first instance to establish
their eligibility and I will help them to get on board"
Jeremy
has registered for the championship after an absence of some years while
he concentrated on European Historic endurance and long distance events.
" I am pleased to see that the Austin Healey Championship is one of the
first to take the significant step into longer 40 minute races. They
offer such good value and in times of economic strictures this is what
we want. The days of the 15 minute sprint race are numbered even at club
level, in my opinion" he said.
"I am
pleased to have Jeremy on board again" said Joe. "He is a significant
and accomplished World Class Big Healey driver at the top of his game.
This gesture to new drivers is typical of the spirit of our championship
and I am grateful to Jeremy for taking this initiative"
New Championship format for 2009
- HealeySport are pleased to announce
that they are the first one
marque race championship to break the
mould of club racing in the UK and move away from the 15 minute per race
format to offer improved value for money to their drivers.
The new 2009 Championship will comprise 7 rounds over 6 weekends of 30 or 40
minutes races including one double header event of two 20 minute races.
Compared to the previous years' Championships which have consisted of 9
rounds held over 8 weekends with 15 minutes racing at each event.
The benefits are clear in that the drivers will get more time on track with
less travel and weekends away. So, if you have a competition prepared
Big Healey or Sprite and are interested in taking part, download the
regulations and BARC/AMOC registration forms from the Regs page, contact Joe Cox on
joe.cox2@btinternet.com
and read on ...
2009 Race
Championship
We are also pleased to announce that
the new headline sponsor for the 2009 series is Robin Lackford Motor
Engineering. Robin Lackford is a keen competitor in the series
with his eye-catching, red, Class E Frogeye and runs his Classic Car
restoration and Race Preparation business from Cowfold in West Sussex (check
out his company website
www.robinlackford.co.uk). Class sponsors will be Fraser Macnamara
(The Classic Car Solicitors) for classes A, B, C & E. Class D sponsors
will be Harris Coaches.
The 2009
championship will include 7 rounds between April and October
competed at the top UK motor sport venues of Brands Hatch, Mallory Park, Oulton
Park, Silverstone, Snetterton and Cadwell Park. This one make series is open
to any Healey driver who wants to take part in full circuit racing, be it with a
road standard or modified Big Healey or Sprite. Cars can be entered into one of
five classes, two for Big Healeys and three for Sprites, catering for the level
of modification applied to each car from standard road going spec to fully
modified. Points are awarded for practicing, achieving fastest lap times
in qualifying and during the race and for the drivers finishing position in
class. At the end of the season the driver with the most points in each
class is the winner of the class and the driver with the most points across all
classes becomes the Overall Series Champion. 2008 Overall Champion was
Paul Campfield (pictured left in his Class E Sprite). Class B (Modified
Big Healey) winner - David Smithies is pictured above.
This website holds the racing
calendar, results, rules/regulations and picture gallery for the UK Race Series. For
more information about the UK Race Championship click here
(or click on 'UK Racing' on the starting grid above).
The Sprint and Hill Climb Challenge
The 2009 challenge is a fourteen round series with a Big Healey class
sponsored by
Denis Welch Motorsport and a Sprite class sponsored by Frogeye
Spares Ltd. In addition to the class awards, Cape
International sponsor the award
for the overall Sprint and Hill Climb champion. Last year's overall
Championship winner was Paul Baker (pictured right at Gurston Down) in his
Sebring GT Sprite.
The 2009 series begins with a
return to Gurston Down and is followed by hill climbs at Shelsley Walsh,
Prescott, Loton Park, Harewood and Wiscombe Park. In addition there
will be sprints at Goodwood, Curborough, MIRA, Three Sisters, Anglesey
and Llandow.
Each venue provides a different
set of challenges to test the Healey
driver's skills and abilities to the full. This series is open to any
Healey driver with some or no motor sport experience and a car that can be
either road standard or modified; half the races are handicapped to take into
account the different abilities of the driver and their cars, so everyone
has an opportunity to win a race.
Although competitive, there is a strong sense of camaraderie amongst the
thirty or so drivers who regularly compete.
New Beginners Guide to Sprinting and
Hill Climbing
-
If you are interested in
taking part and want
to find out more, click on the link to check out the
'New Beginners Guide to Sprinting and
Hill Climbing'
alternatively, you can
email Allan Cameron on
allanclancam@hotmail.com
You may well have seen the BBC
Top Gear show's view of hill climbing with a challenge between a 1961 yellow Frogeye and a
fully modified Peugeot. If you haven't - check out this clip -
view
clip (helps to have broadband). If you fancy a go
against these old guys, who as the clip says '... like soil floating in
their beer ...' then contact Allan Cameron (he's the one with the
tweed jacket and handkerchief) on the contact details at the bottom of the page.
To see the Sprint and Hill Climb events
calendar, results and photo gallery click
here (or
click on 'Sprint and Hill Climb' on the starting grid above).
Check out the latest
race reports by clicking on
RACE
for the UK circuit race reports or
SPRINT
for the sprint and hill climb
reports.
HealeySport
Presentation Dinner
Dance and Award Presentation - 22nd November 2008
The weekend of 22nd/23rd
November saw the annual gathering of the Austin Healey Club competition
members
at the Hilton Hotel S windon
for the annual dinner dance and distribution of the championship, class and
discretionary awards for the 2008 racing and
sprint and hill climb season. Over 110 drivers and their partners enjoyed a
fabulous evening in the ballroom with four cars on show.
Allan Cameron presented the awards to the Sprint and Hill Climbers ably
assisted by Jayne Foster from the Frogeye Spares Company who sponsor the
Sprite Class and by Karen Norton from Cape International for the Big Healey
Class, which is sponsored by Denis Welch Motorsport. The group picture
was taken with Alan Haste's Healey Silverstone in the foreground.
The Race Series
awards
(sponsored by Rawles Motorsport) were presented by Joe Cox, assisted by
Deborah Cluett from Rawles Motorsport and the Austin Healey Club President,
Colin Stokes.
The Race Series prize winners are seen below gathered around Paul
Campfield's championship winning Frogeye Sprite.
For a full list of the
prize
winners, click on the links
-
Sprint and Hill Climb Series
or
Race Series (In PDF Format)
If you want to download the latest Adobe
Acrobat PDF reader click on the following link

Click
here
to view all the official pictures from the 2008 Dinner Dance and
Award Ceremony taken by John Tewson.
If you would like copies of any of the pictures
in the gallery contact Paul Baker on the email address at the foot of the
page.
2009 HealeySport
Race Series Calendar
Looking for a present for
someone keen on Racing Healeys - Phil Broster (Official HealeySport Race
Series
Photographer) has produced an outstanding calendar for 2009 featuring full
colour action images from the 2008 Austin Healey Club (HealeySport)
Challenge race series.
The spiral bound calendar consists of 12
single sided, A4, month to view pages, with front cover. They
are available for £12 each, plus postage and packing for UK
customers. Overseas orders are very welcome with postage and packing at
cost.
To buy your copy of this unique calendar
email
Phil Broster at:
phil_scoop@hotmail.co.uk. Payment can be made by cheque, Postal
order or Pay Pal.
The Le
Mans 24 Hour Classic - 2008
The Le Mans Classic
is held every two years with the last event held on 11-12-13 July 2008 at
the world famous 24-hours circuit of Le Mans, where 5,000 classics and
50,000 people came together.
Eleven Austin Healeys took part
in the 2008 Le Mans Classic, with five cars classified by age in Grid 2
(1949-1956) and six in Grid 3 (1957-1961). The top Healey in Grid 2 was the
100S (RWD132) of the British trio Peter Thornton, Jeremy Welch and David
Garrett who finished an excellent 8th overall which unfortunately became
30th once adjusted. They just beat the 100M driven by Mike Thorne and
John Todd by 40 seconds after racing for nearly two and a half hours.
However, once the times had been adjusted the Thorne/Todd car moved up to an
excellent sixth place overall, out of a total grid of 69 cars.
In Grid 3, the Dutch trio of
Rinus Sinke, Jaap Sinke and Hans Van de Kerkhof yet again brought their
yellow 3000 home first amongst the Healeys in a very creditable 7th place on
scratch (up from 13th place in 2006) and 21st once compensated. The
Perou/Duval/de Stoppani 3000 was 9th overall which was a great improvement
on their 2006 placing.
To find out
more - click here to see the full Healey
results on our International page or click here
to go to the Healey Meets Le Mans 2008 website. Also, check out the
report and results of the 2006 event by going to our
International Race homepage on this
site.
The Syd Segal Memorial Trophy Race -
Thruxton - 23/24 March 2008
To
celebrate forty years of motor car racing at the Thruxton Aerodrome and Race
Circuit, Healey Driver International was invited by the BARC to produce a
grid of racing Healeys (100/4, 100S, 100/6, 3000 and Silverstones) for this
most important and spectacular two day meeting. Our race was The Syd Segal Memorial Trophy Race and comprised a 45
minute scratch race on Monday 24 March (Easter Monday) in the headline slot
during the mid-afternoon session, with qualifying practice on Sunday 23
March. Twenty drivers came from overseas and around the UK to take
part in this spectacular event.
To read the report and see the pictures
from the event click here
Horneland Rally 7- 8
March 2008
In March
2008,
10 UK
crews picked up the gauntlet to take part in the Horneland Rally, a superb
route, mostly intended, all around the countryside and rally tolerant
villages of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.
To
read Mike Spindle's excellent report and see Jan-Peter Ambaum's pictures
click here.
Viking Marathon
Rally - Norway - September 2007
Hill
climber and Rally man Mike Spindle has taken time out from developing new
products to complete the Viking Marathon rally in his Healey 3000, ably
navigated by Andy Belcher. Click here
to read his humorous yet descriptive report into how to get a Big Healey
round this tough rally.
Goodwood Revival
Meeting - September 2007
Top Healey reporter, Phil
Broster, made his second visit to this world famous event and recorded it
for us to savour. Click here to
read his report and see his atmospheric photographic collection.
The site will be updated
continually during the year with details of the events, race results, points awarded
and pictures as soon as possible after each race.
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