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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.
Austin Healey Race Changes - by Phil (scoop)
Broster After a couple of seasons of poorly supported grids culminating in entries as low as eight, it became apparent that sustainability of any realistic race series, together with the MSA not likely to sanction a series with this sort of entry then the future survival of Healey racing, did not bode well. It was with this in mind and also the imminent ‘retirement’ of long time series coordinator Joe Cox that major changes had to take place. A decision was taken at the annual drivers meeting that the Austin Healey Club Championship would be ‘shelved’ for the near future. But what of the small band of racers who had loyally supported the series? Enter Championship sponsor Robin Lackford! Robin, of Lackford Engineering, had sponsored the Healey series and the MG Midget Challenge during the past couple of seasons and the idea to amalgamate the two series was mooted. After a lot of negotiation and planning, with Robin at the forefront supported by Joe, a viable series was decided upon. It would mean the introduction of two further classes in the already established Midget series, which would see the Sprites being able to race with no modification at all. The big Healeys of course could not be accommodated, but with the majority of these cars seeking races elsewhere this was not seen as an issue. The classes would be ‘D’ and ‘E’ running to the same rules as in the Healey series, i.e. limited modifications in class D and race modified with treaded tyres in class E. So as such, everyone is happy, the series is to be known as MGCC Lackford Engineering Midget and Sprite Challenge, the Championship is to be held over 9 rounds as follows :
Donington Park 8th April rounds 1
and 2 There are well over 30 entrants in the series including Tom Walker, who is swapping his Big Healey for a Sprite and returnee after many years, Richard Perry. Come along to any of the events and witness what promises to be an electrifying series with close racing throughout the field. Details of the championship can be found on www.mgmidgetchallenge.co.uk or by contacting Gil Duffy on 01886 880882 or gilduffy@supanet.com Click here to see the Midget and Sprite Challenge Race reports and Race Gallery.
For any driver new to motorsport who is considering circuit racing with their Sprite/Midget or big Healey, there is now a simple guide available from the BARC website called "Starting out in Motorsport". Click here to access this guide. As you will see, it aims to provide the basic information needed to get you underway. Good luck and look forward to seeing you out on the track.
From the
archives - do you recognise these drivers from 1999? The Old Milkman was delving into the family scrapbook and found these four pictures taken during the Sprint and Hill Climb series in 1999. He thought you might be interested to see them. Some of the faces you may recognise but some may be a surprise, yes, don't they look young! Picture One - this was taken in the paddock area at Prescott and the drivers are (left to right): David Lambourne, Rafe Haywood, Judy Green, Allan Cameron, John Passmore and Frank Forbes. You may also recognise the Arkley Sprite in the foreground as the one now campaigned by Neil Cameron but then was driven by Frank Forbes, which included a full windscreen, windscreen wipers, radio aerial and passenger seat - all long since gone. Do you also
notice that the green Frogeye they are all leaning on has the engine
capacity written on the side of the car. This was owned by John
Passmore the then championship sponsor. Picture Two - this was taken at Goodwood. This was the year the new covers were built over the paddock. I know we refer to this as 'Glorious Goodwood' but boy have those paddock covers come in useful over the years. The three drivers in the picture are none other than (left to right): The late Brian Chambers, Wayne Hurt and our very own Peter Walton (hang on a minute, don't I recognise those overalls?) Brian was driving the red 3000 shown in the picture behind him, which is now owned by his son, Robert. Wayne drove the ex Allan Cameron, Le Mans green, Healey 100 registration PNX 862 and Peter is still driving his Healey blue Mark 3 3000, but now I imagine a little quicker than in '99. Also pictured
behind Peter is the much campaigned Old Dairy Classics Healey 100 UFM 580. Picture Three - this was also taken at Goodwood Now some of you may recognise the young fella playing about with a tyre pressure gauge and pump. Yes, he is the very same Pat Cooper, only with darker hair and lots of it. He was driving his 100/6, registration number 800 EAC, but it looks a tad different to the beast that frequents the tracks and hills these days. Clearly he ran it then with a hard top plus a proper steel or maybe ali boot lid rather than that lightweight fibreglass version he runs now. Also, he's running with 72 spoke wires rather than the lightweight alloys now seen on the car. Next to Pat
is Allan Cameron's ex-works car affectionately know as 'Red Don' for obvious
reasons. You will also note that the car has a cut down windscreen and
is sporting two front number plates, which was common in the day so that the
front bumpers could be removed, when it was allowed and the car still be
road legal. After a few years of little use, 'Red Don' was used in the
Rally of the Alps last year to commemorate 50 years since it was last there
and at the Castle Combe Sprint in March this year. Picture Four - this was taken in the car park of the hotel the guys were staying at when doing the Porlock hill climb. The two in the foreground are John Richards and his son Will, with Richard Mason just behind in the darker tee shirt. The car with the bonnet open is Richard's Mk1 3000 in one of it's earlier incarnations. It still had knock-off Minilites, triple Webers and an ali radiator but in '99 it would not have had the all steel engine it has today, so not the same power output. On the right is John Richard's 3000 which he still co-drives with his son Will as they were both out in it at Loton Park earlier this month. They also run a Renault Alpine (but we still talk to them!) The red 100/6 on the left is Pat Cooper's as described above and the red Frogeye was campaigned by Pat's daughter Kerry. Kerry stopped competing not long after this picture was taken but Kerry and the Frogeye have ventured back out onto the track at Curborough at our practice day earlier this year, so maybe we will see more of her. New
sponsor for 2012 Sprint and Hill Climb Challenge We are very pleased to announce that the Big Healey class in the 2012 Sprint and Hill Climb Challenge will be sponsored by Bill Rawles Classic Cars (BRCC). Bill Rawles has been involved with Classic cars for over 25 years, having founded the largest Austin Healey workshop in Southern England and established the name around the world. He sold this very successful business in 2007 to set up Bill Rawles Classic Cars LLP. This new venture caters for all makes of Classics and has Bill firmly at the helm with a wealth of experience, knowledge and skills. He has also been involved in Historic Motorsport for over 15 years and has campaigned his Austin Healey 3000 to many podium places and for many years was the title sponsor of HealeySport's UK race series. Welcome back Bill. 2012 Sprint and Hill Climb Challenge - Latest Results - After four rounds the leader board (top three in each class) looks like this: Class A Sprites - 1st Murray Wakeham 38pts, 2nd Paul Baker 28pts and 3rd Adie Ball 19pts Class B Big Healeys - 1st John Tewson 34pts, 2nd Mike Cockayne 24pts and 3rd Huw Edwards 23pts For the full results click here for the 2012 final results 2012 Sprint and Hill Climb Challenge The 2012 challenge is a 13 round series with a Big Healey class
sponsored by Bill Rawles Classic Cars (BRCC) and a Sprite class sponsored by
Frogeye
Spares Ltd. In addition to the class awards, Cape
International sponsor the award
for the overall
The 2012 series begins with a first time outing to Castle Combe for a two lap sprint followed by hill climbs at Prescott, Gurston Down, Loton Park, Harewood, Shelsley Walsh, and Wiscombe. In addition, there will be sprints at Curborough, MIRA, Goodwood plus a first visit to the Blyton Park sprint course near Gainsborough in Lincolnshire. 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; over half the races will have target times set for each driver, to take into account the different abilities of the driver and their cars, so everyone has an opportunity to win a race. Although highly competitive, there is also a strong sense of camaraderie amongst the thirty or so drivers who regularly compete and the social aspect of this sport is very important to them. To check out the latest - dates & venues new 2012 calendar and regulations 2012 regulations 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 'Beginners Guide to Sprinting and Hill Climbing' alternatively, you can email Allan Cameron on alcam27@gmail.com
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 Sprint and Hill Climb reports by clicking on SPRINT. 2011 Presentation Prize Giving and Dinner Dance
Report and pictures by Phil (scoop) Broster
phil_scoop@hotmail.co.uk The annual Dinner Dance and awards evening for the Healey Race and the Sprint and Hill Climb Championships took place on the 19th November at a new venue. This year we were at the De Vere Village Swindon and the change was favourably met by everyone. A good number of Race and Hill Climb competitors, families, friends and general ‘hangers on’ turned up for what will certainly be the last of this function in this format. As you can read elsewhere in Joe Cox’s report, the Healey race series is to be ‘moth balled’ for the foreseeable future, but fear not! Sprites will be seen in action in a new race series combining MG Midgets and of course, the ‘Big’ cars will still have races independently. But, no such fears for the Sprint and Hill climbers whose series goes from strength to strength. After an excellent meal, the awards took place and Joe Cox (pictured right with Allan Cameron - proving they should have got the engraving done in a larger font! ) commenced the proceedings by announcing the Race series awards which were presented by June Stokes, sponsored by Robin Lackford Engineering and went in the order of Class ’A’: Mark Pangborn who was absent. Class ‘B’ 1st place: Adrian Ball, 2nd place: Paul Campfield and 3rd place: Tom Walker. Next came Semi Modified Sprites with Winner: Neil Cameron, 2nd place: Brian Bedford and 3rd place: John Harris all trooping up to collect their spoils. Modified Sprites came next with series sponsor Robin Lackford taking the Winners award with 2nd: Pat Harris and 3rd: Drew Cameron after a good seasons racing.
Overall Champion after a solid
season was David Smithies and Dave took a moment to remind us all just what
efforts Joe Cox had put into the race series over the years. As a
special discretionary award, Richard and Lindsay Summers were presented with
the Peter Korner Trophy. After a change in M.C. it was the turn of Allan Cameron to announce the Sprint and Hill Climb results and the prizes were presented by Jayne Foster from the Frogeye Spares Company who sponsor the Sprite Class. Tom Walker had combined his efforts this season, taking his Sprite to the hills and he came away with the Class A Sprite award and also the overall Championship (sponsored by Cape International). 2nd was Murray Wakeham and 3rd Rafe Haywood. The Class B ‘Big Healey’ award (sponsored by Denis Welch Motorsport) went to 1st: Pat Cooper, 2nd: Lyn Wheadon and 3rd: Richard Mason. James Pugh-Lewis collected the award for best Healey 100 performance. Other awards went in the order of: Stuart Wiseman Memorial Trophy - Lyn Wheadon, Cornbury Cup – Andrew Taylor, Davis and Mason Freshman Shield – Joe Mackrell, Phil Meek A Series Memorial Trophy – Simon Leeming, Chris Tooley Memorial Prescott Cup – Tom Walker, Nancy Mitchell Rose Bowl – Claire Giles and the Piston Broke Trophy – Colin Gale. There was also special mention of Stuart Bullas who tragically lost his life in a garage accident this year. After the ceremonies came the fun, and the vast majority chose to throw their legs about on the dance floor to some cracking 60’s and 70’s music, nostalgia indeed!! The proceedings, venue and meal were deemed a complete success with one or two hangovers being sported at breakfast the next morning, before we all said our goodbyes and in the case of the racers, feelings or trepidation mixed with anticipation as to what next season will bring. Click here to view all the pictures from the 2011 and for a full list of the prize winners, click on the links - Race Series or Sprint and Hill Climb Series (in Word format)
2011 has been a dramatic year for the HealeySport centre with some fundamental changes planned for the coming year. The press release above outlines what has been organised for the racing Sprites but attached is a report from Joe Cox (pictured left) which he presented to the Austin Healey Club board as his 'End of Season Report'. This report gives the background and reasoning for the changes that have been made for the 2012 season. Click on this link to see Joe's report in full in Word format. End of Season Report by Joe Cox Sprint & Hill Climb Challenge For the avoidance of doubt, the HealeySport Sprint and Hill Climb challenge continues to go from strength to strength and a full programme of events is planned for 2012. Click on this link to see the 2012 Sprint & Hill Climb calendar.
2012 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 2012 featuring full colour action images from the 2011 Austin Healey Club (HealeySport) Challenge race series. The spiral bound calendar consists of 13 single sided, month to view pages, with cover. They are available for £14 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. or call him on 07912 537640. Payment can be made by cheque, Postal order or Pay Pal.
The Syd Segal Memorial Trophy - Silverstone 5th June 2010
Words and pics : Phil (scoop) Broster
phil_scoop@hotmail.co.uk Silverstone provided the venue for the 2010 Syd Segal Memorial Trophy - a 50 minute, two driver race for Big Healeys on the full Historic Silverstone circuit. The first was run in 1991 the year after the tragic loss of Syd Segal. So this being the twentieth anniversary it provided a fitting backdrop for this classic Big Healey event, the last of which was held at Thruxton in 2008 and was won by Bruce Montgomery who seems to be the perennial holder of this trophy. The MG Car Club supported MG live meeting gave us a race in conjunction with Historic British Sports cars, so we would have a race within a race, and 15 Big Healeys would mix it with Jaguars, Astons, MG's et al! An exciting prospect. The entry had regular Healey Championship contenders David Grace, Dave Smithies, Chris Clarkson, Eric Woolley, Peter Grant/Drew Cameron, Tom Walker teamed with Allan Cameron in their 3000’s. Paul Campfield was in his 3000, likewise Richard and Mike Knight. Mike Thorne and Mark Pangborn were in 100M’s. Bruce Montgomery was having a rare outing and of special note were the original Sebring car 54 FAC (pictured right), which has been in storage for years and is now campaigned by Jetze Visser who brought the car over from Holland, and of course SID 1 (originally owned by Syd Segal), in the hands of Anders Lotsengard and Mats Svanberg from Sweden. Another overseas visitor was Nils-Fredrick Nybleus in his 3000. Finally, Aston racers Tony Worthington and Nick King were in another 3000. Worth a mention is our own Harvey Woods whose Healey was poorly so he entered his Ashley Midget! But he played in the Paddock with us. Click here to read the rest of the report, results and pictures from this fantastic event. The Le Mans 24 Hour Classic - 9-11 July 2010
A total of 16 Healeys raced at the Classic Le Mans meeting during 9-11 July 2010, with nine cars in plateau 2 (for cars built between 1949 and 1956) which in Healey terms incorporates the Healey 100M or 100S and seven in plateau 3 (for cars built between 1957 and 1961) which this year included a lone '61Sprite amongst the 3000's and Tim Roger's famous 100/6. The top Healey in plateau 2 was the 100S of the Peter Thornton led team of three which finished up an excellent 6th on scratch out of the 75 cars in the plateau, two place better than in 2008 but 24th when the performance index was applied. The top finisher by compensated times was the Beaumartin/Rochat 100M, who came in 7th. In plateau 3, the Dutch Healey title champion team of Rinus and Jaap Sinke in their world-renowned primrose yellow Healey with green stripes took the top Healey honours finishing 6th on scratch out of the 77 cars in the plateau, one place better than in 2008 and 13th once compensated. They were also the top Healey in plateau 3 when all the times had been compensated, so yet again, an excellent result for them. Also racing in plateau 3 was the world famous DD300, the ex John Chatham car now owned and driven by Christiaen van Lanschot and Karsten Le Blanc which finished 13th on scratch and 19th when compensated. Jetze Visser and Hans Van De Kerkhof drove the ex-works ’63 Sebring car 54 FAC (pictured below) to 17th place on scratch and came 46th once their result had been compensated. For the first time a 1961 Sprite raced in this plateau, driven by the Marty/Legeleux/Cazalot team and they finished a creditable 56th out of the 77 starters but were placed 33rd once times had been adjusted.
To find out more - click here to see the full Healey results and some superb pictures on our International page or click here to go to the Healey Meets Le Mans 2010 website. Also, check out the report and results of the 2008 event by going to our International Race homepage on this site. |
Sprint and Hill Climb champion. Last year's overall
Championship winner was Tom Walker (pictured left at Pardon Bend - Prescott,
in his new, for 2011, Frogeye Sprite) 
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 at the prestigious Prescott hill climb track. If you haven't - check out this clip -
2011
- End of Season report by Joe Cox
(Austin Healey Club Competitions Secretary)
