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Sprint and Hill Climb Challenge |
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Race Reports:
HealeySport Sprint and Hill Climb Challenge 2009 - Sponsored by Denis
Welch Motorsport and The Frogeye Spares Company Round 14 - Curborough 1 lap - 4 October 2009 (words by LC Branch - pics by Jackie Baker) There was a very good turn out of cars in the Healey class for the last round of the season at Curborough. We had six Sprites and eight big un's. However, the season has taken its toll on these old cars and some of the drivers were out co-driving in other drivers cars. Richard Summers was co-driving with Andrew Taylor in his 100M to allow Mrs S unfettered access to her 100M. Aidie Ball lent John Tewson his quick 1380 Frog (pictured right) as John had broken the gearbox in the Tewson/Towers one litre Frogeye - should be interesting to see how John gets on with the extra power! Clare Towers had decided to drive out of class and co-drive in her dad's 100/6, Richard Mason's normal charger is still in dock so Mike Cockayne kindly let him co-drive his 3000. And finally, Richard's business partner Nigel Davis out in his Sebring Sprite for a bit of fun. Hope you're keeping up with the changes. Now with five Sprite drivers within four points vying for the class honours and Huw Edwards and Pat Cooper going head to head for the Big Healey class title the tension in the paddock could be cut with a knife. Who would hold their nerve and come home with the silverware? The weather was playing into the hands of those who needed to break a record to win as the sun came out and warmed up the track. In fact it was a superb autumnal day.
In second practice runs Robin Johnson went marginally faster but Stuart Bullas pulled up to within 0.3 second, followed by Neil Cameron who had switched places with Paul Baker, then Rafe Haywood and finally John Tewson still getting to grips with the 'Blue Ball Flyer'. In the Big Healey class, Pat Cooper trimmed his time a fraction but the order behind changed radically as Richard Summers knocked over 2 seconds off his first run time to record a 38.54 - some 2 seconds below his previous 100 record. Next was Andrew Taylor, Richard Mason, Pete Walton, Nick John, Huw Edwards (lower down the order due to a mistake going into Mole hill) and Lyndsay Summers.
The lunch break followed, where the cars go
cold and the drivers take on food, check tyre pressures, add some fuel chat
a bit and then fall asleep. Well maybe not quite in that order but as
is so often the case the first actual run after lunch is slower than 2nd
practice. In the Sprite class, Robin Johnson (always wishing to
disprove a rule) set a new class record with a fantastic 36.12. Although
Bullas, Cameron and Baker were slower, Haywood was a fraction quicker and
John Tewson executed a most spectacular spin at the fast first left hander,
pirouetting off the track quickly towards the crash barriers.
Fortunately, the car stopped before it hit anything to the huge relief of
Aidie Ball who saw the whole event and needed to have a lie down after to
recover!! In the Big Healey class, Pat Cooper trimmed over half a
second off his previous best to record a 36.95 some 0.40 slower than the
record. Richard Summers was slower but still set a new 100 record with
a 38.67 which allowed co-driver Taylor to get within 0.75 second. Huw
Edwards picked up some time and logged a 40.48, followed by Richard Mason
with a 40.60, Pete Walton with a 40.97, Nick John with a 42.07 and Lyndsay
Summers with a 44.05. So after 14 rounds in the championship there was just one run left to settle who was going to win what. In the Sprite class, Robin Johnson could not beat his first run record breaking time and posted a 36.69. Stuart Bullas saved his best till last with a 36.80. Paul Baker finally managed to put in a really quick lap together with a 37.04, pushing Neil Cameron back into 4th place with a 37.67 - his best time. Rafe Haywood could not beat his first run time of 38.10 with his second run 38.83 and John Tewson after his failed first run recorded a very creditable 39.57 in a car he was not used to. In the Big Healey class it was clear - Pat Cooper had to break the record to win and Huw Edwards had to raise his game and stay ahead of the improving Richard Mason (can't believe I wrote that! - not to worry, Richard will be back in the new and improved 'Beast' next year). So what happen - Pat Cooper could not improve on his first run time of 36.95 and logged a 37.74. Richard Summers also could not improve on his first run, record breaking time and posted a 39.15. Andrew Taylor was third just a tad behind with a 39.24. Huw Edwards (pictured right) put in a storming last run and took nearly a second off his previous best to record a 39.84. Richard Mason trimmed a further 0.50 to put in a 40.11. Pete Walton also improved his time to get a 40.70 - a pb I think! Nick John logged his best time of the day and also a pb with a 41.60 and finally, and I know she will hate me for saying this, but Lyndsay Summers brought up the rear and could not improve on her first run time of 44.05. So the race positions were: Sprites: 1st Robin Johnson, 2nd Stuart Bullas, 3rd Paul Baker, 4th Neil Cameron, 5th Rafe Haywood, 6th John Tewson.
Big Healeys: 1st Pat Cooper, So how did this effect the class positions, class winners and the overall championship winner: In the Sprite class: Robin Johnson became the 2009 Sprite Champion with Neil Cameron as runner up and Stuart Bullas in third place. In the Big Healey class: Huw Edwards is the 2009 Big Healey Champion with Pat Cooper in second place and Richard Mason in third place. After a count back on podium positions - Robin Johnson became the HealeySport Sprint and Hill Climb Champion for 2009. Well done Robin as he came with a late run in the championship to take the top spot. As October 4th was also Pete Walton's and Paul Baker's birthday, Vicky Walton had kindly made a large chocolate birthday cake which was greatly enjoyed by the amassed drivers, friends and family with liberal amounts of bubbly on hand to help wash it with other excellent cakes and drinks supplied by Nick John and Andrew/Sue Taylor. To see the full results from this event and from all events in 2009 (results and points awarded) click here. To see the pictures from this and all previous events click here. Record times - click here to check out the Hill and Sprint records for all the recent venues for the Sprites and Big Healeys Want to get involved in Sprinting and Hill Climbing? If you are interested and want to find out more, click on the link to check out the 'New Beginners Guide to Sprinting and Hill Climbing' or email Allan Cameron on allanclancam@hotmail.com Round 13 - Curborough 2 lap - 27 September 2009 (words by LC Branch - no pics) Twelve Healeys (Eight Sprites and four Big un's) met at the Curborough Sprint Track for round thirteen of the championship. This was an AMOC event and the last that Carolyn and Terry Snowdon were going to organise after 37 years. They will both be missed by the HealeySport gang as Carolyn must be the only sprint and hill climb organiser operating in the UK who always recognises the drivers at sign-on and calls them by their first names. Some feat given the number of drivers she must have seen over the years. We also had with us two guest drivers, namely Tom Walker in his 3000 (usually out with the Healey race boys) and Alan Joy - co-driving with Murray Wakeham. Anticipation was high that as the weather was good that the Sprite and Big Healey records for this not often done event (two laps) would fall. Especially as neither of the two record holders (Messrs Cameron Snr and Mason) were there to defend their honour. First practice was a slippery affair with most pleased to get round without mishap. For second practice the sun came out and the times tumbled dramatically. So on to the afternoon runs. Unfortunately the clouds came over and the track cooled so most could not beat their second practice times except of course those dual driving and getting into a car with nice warm tyres (I wonder if if could get Mrs B out next year?). The good news was that Robin Johnson broke the Sprite record by over a second with an excellent 65.34 and Pat Cooper took the big Healey record with a 67.08. The bad news was that John Tewson's Frogeye decided to blow its gearbox on the start line and had to be pushed to one side for later recovery. But we had the last run to go, but it's late September ( "... and I really should be back at school .." sorry showing my age here but couldn't resist it) the temperature was starting to drop fast and so only three went quicker than their first run times, namely Tom Walker who put in a very quick 66.06 (should have registered for the championship for it to count!), Paul Baker and Murray Wakeham who both went faster but like quite a few could not beat their second practice times. So the top three in each class were: Sprites: 1st Robin Johnson (65.34), 2nd Stuart Bullas (67.45) and 3rd Paul Baker (68.08). 3000's: 1st Pat Cooper (67.08), 2nd Huw Edwards (71.85) and 3rd Nick John (75.22) There are no pictures for this event but there are three excellent videos of Pat, Stuart and Robin. So if you want to see how it should be done, particularly those planning to be at Curborough next week, go to the Gallery and click on the relevant video. It was also Stuart Bullas's birthday so the champagne flowed, which was a fitting end to an excellent days sprinting. It's the last race of the season next week and the points table could not be closer - especially in the Sprite class. So if you're not taking part, get on down to Curborough and support the boys and girls - there should also be some cake, nibbles and bubbly to see out the last race. To see the full results from this event and from all events in 2009 (results and points awarded) click here. To see the pictures from this and all previous events click here. Record times - click here to check out the Hill and Sprint records for all the recent venues for the Sprites and Big Healeys
Round 12 - Shelsley Walsh - 20 September 2009 (words by LC Branch and pics by Jackie Baker) Eighteen Healeys (ten Sprites and eight Big Healeys) met at Shelsley for round twelve of the championship. Newcomers to this event included Richard Pugh in his Sebring Sprite, John Tewson in his Frogeye and surprisingly - as he seems to have been around for ages but clearly not at Shelsley - Neil Cameron in the Arkley. In the Big Healeys, Lindsay Summers was new to the hill in her 100M and also for Tim Cooke (pictured right) in his 100/6 - in fact it was Tim's first event with the Healey hill climbers. Also joining us for the occasion was Mike Cockayne in his recently acquired ex Frank Forbes's 3000 which he was co-driving with Richard Mason - brave man. We hope to see more of Mike next year. Practice was again largely uneventful as most were reacquainting themselves with how to tackle this daunting and extremely steep hill. Richard Mason set the handicaps and the afternoon runs commenced. In the Sprite class, the top three on scratch were: Stuart Bullas with a storming 35.71 to beat his existing hill record. Robin Johnson beat his previous best time but was actually slower than his time in practice. Murray Wakeham was third with a 37.14. In the Big Healey class the top three on scratch were: Pat Cooper with a 37.31. Richard Mason was next with a 39.92 (about 5 secs slower than his ascent in his usual charger) with Mike Cockayne third. After delays due to some serious off's the final runs commenced. In the Sprite class: Although Robin Johnson went faster than Stuart Bullas, he did not beat Stuart's first run time so Stuart took the honours, with Robin second, Murray Wakeham was third with a time that equalled his previous best (bet he can't do that again! - not that he wants to). However, once the handicaps had been taken into account the top three were 1st Clare Towers, 2nd Rafe Haywood and 3rd Stuart Bullas. In the Big Healey class, the top three on scratch were: Pat Cooper went faster to be a fraction over his previous best. Next was Andrew Taylor with a much improved 39.66 and third was Richard Mason with slightly improved time of 39.77. Again, once the handicaps had been calculated the winner was Richard Summers with an excellent 41.07 in Mrs Summers 100M. 2nd was Richard Mason and 3rd was Mrs Summers aka Lindsay in her 100M. Guess the owner of the sock competition (pictured left) - answers on an email to yours truly if you think you know the owner with such sartorial elegance. To see the full results from this event and from all events in 2009 (results and points awarded) click here. To see the pictures from this and all previous events click here. Record times - click here to check out the Hill and Sprint records for all the recent venues for the Sprites and Big Healeys.
Round 11 - Gurston Down - 13 September 2009 (words by LC Branch and pics by John Tewson) With the relatively quite period of August over, we now enter the busy period of September with events every weekend until our last meeting on 4th October. There will not be a report for Wiscombe but the pictures (taken by John Tewson) from the event can be seen by going to the Gallery page. So a short report will now be given for each of the remaining events - starting with the Gurston Down hill climb, where 5 big Healeys and 9 Sprites did battle with this BARC run event for the second time this year - the difference being that this time its a handicap. Practice was largely uneventful as most were reacquainting themselves with how to tackle this tricky hill, apart from Richard Pugh who was taking it on for the first time in his 998cc Sebring bodied Sprite. Richard Mason set the handicaps remotely and the afternoon runs commenced. In the Sprite class, Robin Johnson led the pack with a 38.69, closely followed by Stuart Bullas with a 38.90, who was even more closely followed by local specialist - Murray Wakeham with a 38.92. Paul Baker spun in the Karousel complex which led to the following car of Colin Gale's to be red flagged - still, it gave him another shot at the start - assuming he had enough fuel this time! Neil Cameron was next up with a 40.56, then Colin Gale with a 41.13, John Tewson with a 45.42, co-driver Clare Towers with a 47.18 and finally, freshman, Richard Pugh (pictured right) with a very creditable 48.13. In the big Healey class, Pat Cooper led with a 39.21(just 0.07 secs off his pb), Huw Edwards second with a 43.03, then a reinvigorated Ed Giles with a 43.94, a much improved Nick John with a 46.34 and finally newcomer Claire Giles with a 49.98. There was a major delay before our final run got underway when the clouds came over and the track cooled. As a result only 7 drivers actually managed to improve on their times. In the Sprite Class, Robin Johnson took the scratch honours with a personal best of 38.17 (missing the hill record by 0.05 second) from co-driver Stuart Bullas with an improved but not good enough 38.47. Murray Wakeham could not improve his time but took third place from Neil Cameron in fourth. Paul Baker was fifth with a time slower than his practice times (bad day at the office!) Colin Gale took sixth with an improved 40.93. John Tewson put in an excellent 45.33 and Clare Towers recorded a much improved last run time of 46.15. Richard Pugh did not improve his time but thoroughly enjoyed the event. In the big Healey class only Ed Giles improved on his first run time by shaving over half a second to record a 43.33 a personal best. So the finishing scratch order was: 1st Pat Cooper, 2nd Huw Edwards, 3rd Ed Giles, 4th Nick John and 5th Claire Giles. Once the handicaps had been taken into account, the results were: Sprites: 1st Clare Towers, 2nd Murray Wakeham, 3rd John Tewson, 4th Robin Johnson, 5th Neil Cameron, 6th Stuart Bullas, 7th Colin Gale, 8th Richard Pugh and last - some guy in a green sprite. Big Healeys: 1st Ed Giles (pictured left with Nick John), 2nd Nick John, 3rd Pat Cooper, 4th Huw Edwards and 5th Claire Giles Next event is the two lap Curborough meet on Sunday 20th September. To see the full results from this event and from all events in 2009 (results and points awarded) click here. To see the pictures from this and all previous events click here. Record times - click here to check out the Hill and Sprint records for all the recent venues for the Sprites and Big Healeys.
'Raid sur Etretat' - 22/23 August 2009 (words by LC Branch and pics by Jackie Baker) The HealeySport boys and girls always like to take a break from the championship and how better than to spend a long weekend overseas with a bit of hill climbing thrown in. After a number of summer trips to Jersey a return to Etretat was on the cards especially as it is the reciprocal to the 'La Vie en Bleu' event held at Prescott in May. So with the old milkman, (aka Allan Cameron) on the case supported by the linguistic skills of mini-milk the show was on the road. The Detective Hotel was booked, snaffled from under the noses of the Wolseley bunch, to provide the town centre base for the 3 x 100M's of Wakeham, Taylor and Summers (all apparently standard!!), the 3 x Sprites of Tewson, Ingall and Cameron (an FIA spec'd Frogeye, a Sebring and a Speedwell) and a brace of 3000's driven by messrs Cooper and Baker who happen to be the only one's who had driven the track before - but not since 2004. Now, not all the cars are the usual mounts for the drivers, as being Brits we read the entry rules and three drivers decided to bring alternative cars so as not to fall foul of the French Scrutineer, especially as it had been made clear that any post '62 car without FIA spec'd seats and belts would not be accepted (not a requirement in the UK). More of that later. So, Murray Wakeham was driving his 100M instead of his Sprite, Neil Cameron was in the one litre Speedwell screamer instead of his Arkley and Paul Baker had recommissioned his 3000 after 3 years of sitting in the back of his workshop. The hotel Detective (pictured right) certainly lived up to its name. Every room was themed around famous detectives such as Clouseau, Poirot, Holmes and Charlie Angels (bit of a stretch on the term detective), with memorabilia and gadgets all over the place. They also provided garaging for the cars if needed. So the drivers and cars started to turn up from the Thursday evening with the balance arriving on Friday. Allan issued the 'Raid sur Etretat' logo'd team shirts in the bar before we left for the first event - dinner in a local Creperie. Yes, savoury crepes as well as the more familiar sweet variety. Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny and all the drivers were up early to go and collect their cars from the paddock and bring them down to the town square outside the Marie for sign on and scrutineering - and for the many tourists in the town to see the cars assembled. The usual organised chaos ensued with circa 90 cars to be checked over by one Scrutineer (he's the one in the dark blue shirt and straw hat - pictured left - not to be confused with Murray in the light blue shirt and hat!) in a little over two hours i.e. less than two minutes each! Especially as the Scrutineer did not speak English and had to ask questions through an interpreter. For some reason the main focus of his attention was to make sure that the ignition cut switch worked, so all cars with alternators had to be started, lights put on and the switch turned to switch off the engine - if it worked, the car passed. Seats, belts, overalls, helmets etc etc were not even looked at. So with scrutineering completed the cars were sent back up the hill to the paddock behind a pace car to stop anyone getting any additional practice at any where near race speed. Most times the pace car was not to be seen! The hill is actually the main road from Etretat to Benouville, so this was closed for public use at 1pm so that practice could be started at 3pm. The first run up the hill was a free practice run that was not timed, which was just as well as the drivers had not been told of the change of starting procedure. Most were expecting the usual traffic light system i.e. the lights change from red to green and the driver must leave the line within a specified period, usually five seconds in France. Not this time. The drivers were faced with a digital clock which started to count down from 15 in one second intervals and when it got down to 5 the light next to it changed from red to green, so most assumed that you leave between 5 and zero. Not so. Michel Deldon (Event Organiser) was on hand at the start line for the second practice run to explain to each driver that they must not leave the line until the clock reached zero and be gone within two seconds. Easier said than done - but most of the drivers were an experienced bunch so they got used to it. With practice over, the weary drivers and crew made their way back to the hotel for a quick freshen up before the next gastronomic challenge - a small local restaurant, which we had taken over, had put on a limited menu of either steak & frites or Seafood platter which had been pre-ordered. Simples I hear you say, well, the only problem was that the restaurant owner/chef wanted all the seafood platter eaters on one table and all the steak & frites eaters on the other regardless of the fact that most of the group were in couples who wanted to sit together but had chosen different dishes!! No problem when you have an Old Milkman on hand to sort it out, and sort it he did. A great meal made all the better when the right money was eventually extracted from the Cooperman wallet at the end of the meal before he realised what had happened. Now those familiar with staying in town centre hotels recognise that there is usually a short period of quiet in a town between the noise made by the late night revellers when they are ejected from the bars and before the dustmen turn up to empty the bins as loudly as they can at 6am. Unfortunately on this night one particular French Leeds Utd fan - yes there is one - decided to let rip all night even after the dustmen had been and gone. So some bleary eyed drivers turned up for coffee and croissant next morning hardly best prepared to do battle with the hill again. With the 59.99 target set by John Richards back in 2002 to beat, the first runs got underway. All the drivers, including those who'd been before were learning how to get the most out of the track - so times tumbled. One exception was Richard Summers, who, in his supposedly 'standard 100M' (isn't that an oxymoron given that an 'M' is the souped up version anyway!) was quick from the off and was pushing the 3000's of Baker and Cooper. However, most of the drivers were having the usual mix of problems - Pat Cooper had a misfire on the second run and was scouring the paddock for a new set of plugs, only to be offered old one's. Murray Wakeham was struggling with a gearbox that was getting decidedly hot and bothered and refusing to comply. Andrew Taylor had to make swift repairs to his fuel tank as it had decided to empty its contents into the boot via the overflow pipe. The passenger door on Paul Baker's 3000 refused to close so a quick repair had to be made between runs to get it to shut. As it was very hot (90+ degrees) on the Sunday some of the Sprites and 100's were suffering with overheating issues. So as is usually the case, it was all down to the last run. Pat Cooper put in a spectacular last run to record a 59.60 to take the honours to break the 60 second barrier for the first time and take hill record for a Healey. Paul Baker was 2nd and pleased with his 60.27, as the car had not been used for the last 3 years and being over a second quicker than his last outing here in 2004. Richard Summers took third place with a superb 61.38. Neil Cameron was 4th in the 998cc Speedwell with a 61.95. Andrew Taylor was 5th with a 62.54 in his 100M. Martin Ingall was 6th with a 63.57 in his Sebring Sprite. John Tewson was 7th with a very creditable 66.57 in his 998cc Frogeye. And 8th was Murray Wakeham with a 66.73 in his recalcitrant 100M. If we do this event again I suspect we may well see Murray bring his Sprite next time! So with the racing complete, all that was left was the prize giving planned for 6pm. Unfortunately the planned 6.00pm event turned into a 7.30pm event as there had been a protest by one of the drivers in the modern car section over a competitors engine displacement - hence the delay. No probs, the prize giving eventually got underway and the Healey bunch picked up the very nice presentation packs of local drink and delicacies and were back to the hotel for the last supper - or in this case, a BBQ at the Hotel Detective. The hotel did a fantastic job with course after course of excellent food and drink, topped off with bubbly, when mini milk was summoned yet again to use his very good language skills to thank hotel proprietors, Caroline and her husband, for such an superb evening. This he did with his usual aplomb and with rapturous applause from the ever so slightly inebriated group. On the Monday everyone packed up and left thinking about the warm hospitality shown by our French hosts, the memorable evenings in a variety of local hostelries, the unseen work put in by Allan and Neil to organise the event and the superb racing on this well known track. Will we be back there next year - who knows, but 2009 was certainly an event to savour. Now take a look at this video of Neil Cameron ascending the Etretat hill in his one litre Speedwell Sprite See Video. Click here to see the pictures taken at the event. Click here to see the hill records set at Etretat.
Round Nine - 3 Sisters - 8th August 2009 (Words by 'The Car Kickers Fiancée' pics by Mike Welsby) As always in the North, a sunny day on Saturday 8th August saw 3 Sprite drivers at this 'Karting circuit'. None of them had driven the track before in these cars - did other championship competitors know something they didn't? Being in a class with three non-championship cars (2 MG's and the primrose yellow Sprite of Chris Wilson, son of Alan who was also competing in the only Big Healey) made the event more of a competition with a class of six. At 10.10 after a rather strict scrutineering and a convoy run, Colin Gale produced the now mandatory large scoreboard to record the events of the day and practice commenced. With a first practice spin (or two) by Robert MacGillivary in his red MG, the HealeySport team knew it was 'game on'. All the drivers found the track slippy and agreed a wet track would have been like driving on ice! Colin delivered the fastest practice of 87.34, a time he unfortunately couldn't better all day. Chris Wilson was having problems with his car and failed to produce a practice time but Colin came to the rescue over lunch and provided a spare coil that appeared to do the trick. The first race runs appeared to go well until Clare Towers, running last, due to dual driving with John Tewson, rounded the final 180. Having appeared to have a good run, she accelerated in 2nd and then slowed down, drifting over the finish line at a snails pace. As the car door flew open in the paddock, it was then slammed shut and the wheel kicked, all the surrounding racers knew something was seriously wrong. As the red mist cleared all were informed that the car was useless and that she was never driving it again until it had been fixed. (It must be John's secret weapon to try and beat her: After practice he hides 3rd gear for Clare's race runs where she can't find find it!). As the day got warmer and the track heated up, 2nd run times improved with John going first and knocking a couple of seconds off his first run, to get just below 90 seconds, with an 89.92. Colin followed and just failed to match his best practice time with an 87.53. Antony Lomas in his black MG put in the classes fastest run of the day at 86.92 - were the Avon cross-ply tyres he was using the answer for this track that is as slippy in the dry as others when wet? Chris improved on his first race run (which was his first complete practice as well) with a 98.48. Robert was the only driver not to better his first race run of 89.62. Clare completed the 2nd set of runs with a greatly improved 91.03 and didn't abuse the car in the paddock this time. Although a number of cars had trips off the black stuff, all the Healey's and MG's stayed on the slippy track. The organisers decided to squeeze in a 3rd run, but the track was cooling and although drivers felt they had driven the twisty circuit better, none managed to improve their times. Final results for the Championship were 1st: Colin (pictured right) , 2nd: John and 3rd: Clare Although this is obviously not a circuit for the big Healey's it is a great Sprite track, where the corners are so close together that getting one wrong often makes it impossible to get the line correct for the next. Hopefully more of the team will play here next season. To see the full results from this event and from all events in 2009 (results and points awarded) click here. To see the pictures from this and all previous events click here. Record times - click here to check out the Hill and Sprint records for all the recent venues for the Sprites and Big Healeys.
Round Eight - "... faster than a speeding Bullas ..." Harewood - 2nd August 2009 (Words by L C Branch pics by Jackie Baker) Off to the most northerly event on the calendar and the home of the 'pie' and cheap beer. For some though, it was six hours on the M1 after a mixture of accidents and heavy rain. The usual meet at the Harewood Arms was aborted due to a supposed wedding that wasn't. So the Healey drivers were spread about various hotels in Yorkshire with no pre-event dinner. The Big Healey class was reduced in numbers as Richard Mason's car was still under repair from its 'minor' off at Shelsley and Andrew Taylor was unable to make the trip. So Richard was going to dual drive in Pat Cooper's 100/6 with current Big Healey Championship leader, Huw Edwards (pictured right) in his 3000 and Richard Summers, new to Harewood, in his other half's 100. The Sprite class had seven entrants with the Old Dairy Classics Arkley duo of Allan and Neil Cameron (although Allan had decided not to drive), John Tewson and Clare Towers, both new to Harewood, in their one litre frog, Stuart Bullas and Robin Johnson in the Yellow frog, Rafe Haywood in the Cherry Red frog and Paul Baker in his Sebring GT Sprite - not a frog! The weather was not supposed to be a problem and it stayed mainly dry throughout the day, if not a little cold an breezy. Practice got underway at 09.00 prompt and the Healeys were in the first batch. All was going well until Richard Mason returned to the paddock after his first practice run with a very sick sounding 100/6 - which turned out to be a stripped third gear in the gearbox. Not wishing to see fellow drivers come all this way without a drive, there was a quick reshuffle and Pat Cooper was now co-driver with Huw Edwards in his 3000 and Richard Mason (pictured left) shared Richard Summer's 100. Generous these Healey types. After second practice it was clear that Stuart Bullas was going to break his hill record for Harewood at some point during the day as he was just a whisker off it in practice when the track was cold. So during lunch, Richard Mason (club handicapper) did his job and set the handicaps for the drivers and applied the new rule that anyone with an established and reasonable time will receive it as their handicap. Out for the first of the actual runs. Clare Towers came back fuming that a recurring gearbox selection problem had ruined her run as she posted an 81.45. Partner John fared much better with a 77.48. Paul Baker posted a disappointing for him, 70.86. Rafe Haywood got down to a 70.11. Robin Johnson must have had a problem as a recorded a slower than practice time of 69.08. But Stuart Bullas was really on the pace and in a class of his own as he broke the hill record by 0.36 to record an electric 66.37. In the Big Healey class Pat Cooper was trying to get used to Huw Edward's very neatly presented BJ8 and posted a 81.05. Likewise, Richard Mason was learning fast how to use the narrow torque band of the 100 compared to the seemingly endless torque of his usual 'Bromyard Beast', but still managed a 77.72. Richard Summers wanted to show that he could beat Richard Mason in the same car and recorded a 77.47 - very close. But leader of the pack was Huw Edwards (the only one in his own car!) with his quickest time at Harewood of 74.31. So on to the last run of the day. Clare Towers knocked a couple of seconds off her previous best to get a 79.51 - not bad for a first time at Harewood. John Tewson also managed to reduce his time by 2 secs to record a 75.10. Neil Cameron went slower than his first run to post a 71.37. Rafe Haywood also went slower and got a 70.49. Paul Baker at last broke the 70 second barrier and got a pb of 69.48. Robin Johnson recorded a 68.34 which was also slower than his second practice run. But hero of the day has to be Stuart Bullas (pictured right) who went even quicker to knock a further 3 hundredths of his previous best to set a new hill record of 66.34. In the Big Healey class Pat Cooper tried his best and got a creditable 80.00 dead. Richard Mason was next out and he managed to reduce his time to 77.48, one hundredth of a sec slower than co driver Richard Summer's first run time. But just to prove his dominance in a four banger, Richard S recorded his quickest time of 76.46. However, in the big Healey class there was to be yet another breakage. This time it was Huw Edwards who came back into the paddock with a cut hand and his knob hanging off (gear variety). Must have been painful!! - his hand that is. Now it maybe pure coincidence, but doesn't our old friend Mr Cooper have a history of breaking off gear knobs?? So with the last runs completed it was up to the handicapper to work out who was to win the cut glass trophies and for Cameron Snr to dish them out. In the Sprite class - scratch order was: 1st Stuart Bullas, 2nd Robin Johnson, 3rd Paul Baker, 4th Rafe Haywood, 5th Neil Cameron, 6th John Tewson and 7th Clare Towers. Handicap order was: 1st John Tewson, (pictured left) 2nd Neil Cameron, 3rd Paul Baker, 4th Stuart Bullas, 5th Robin Johnson, 6th Rafe Haywood, 7th Clare Towers. In the Big Healeys class scratch and handicap order was the same: 1st Huw Edwards, 2nd Richard Summers, 3rd Richard Mason, 4th Pat Cooper. This is a great hill climb course that really tests the driver / car combo and the organisation of the event is second to none - well worth the trip. Next event is a two lap sprint at Three Sisters near Wigan on Saturday 8th August. To see the full results from this event and from all events in 2009 (results and points awarded) click here. To see the pictures from this and all previous events click here. Record times - click here to check out the Hill and Sprint records for all the recent venues for the Sprites and Big Healeys.
Round Seven - "... anyone got a spare rocker shaft ..." - Llandow - 18th July 2009 (Words by L C Branch pics by Jackie Baker) Last year was HealeySport's first trip to this venue near Bridgend in South Wales, where the sun shone and the guys liked the track. So this year, ten drivers made up the Healey class of 3 big un's and 7 Sprites but only 3 of them had been to Llandow before, namely local expert Huw Edwards plus Colin Gale and Richard Pugh. So the newbie's to the track were: John Tewson, Clare Towers, Paul Baker and Murray Wakeham in Sprites and Nick John and Pat Cooper in 3000's. Alan Joy was a guest driver in our class and was co driving with Murray Wakeham in his Sprite. Alan had previously raced at Llandow, albeit many years ago, in an F2 race - so a man to watch!! The weather was forecast to be overcast in the morning with showers in the afternoon. As it turned out, it was mainly overcast and a bit cool and windy but, most importantly, it stayed dry all day. A pleasant relief after the monsoon weather at Goodwood last weekend. For those new to Llandow, a walk around the track was advised as there are a couple of features, such as the chicane and the bus-stop that could catch out the unsuspecting. The organisation of the event was excellent and first practice got off on time. Most action, or should I say 'driver errors' seemed to take place at the bus stop which is right next to the paddock, so for those not driving there was always something interesting to watch whilst waiting for your next run. The Healey class was the last class in the field, which in a way was a good thing as it gave the Healey drivers new to the track time to see how others tackled the bus stop feature in particular. The track had very little grip but most got around with no problems - there was however one notable exception - Murray Wakeham (pictured above) came barrelling into the bus stop complex way too fast, could not stop in time to make the first left hander and had to take to the grass to avoid greater embarrassment. Four wheels off the track meant that no time would be given for the run - no probs, as that's what practice is all about. Top three Sprite drivers in first practice were Alan Joy (96.89) followed by Colin Gale (99.48) with Paul Baker (99.71) not far behind. Of the 3000's, Huw Edwards (101.17) led Pat Cooper (101.48) and Nick John (108.89). Into second practice, all was going well until disaster struck the Wakeham/Joy Sprite with a loud tapping noise coming from the top end of the engine. Valve cover off revealed a broken rocker shaft. A quick check along the paddock to see if anyone had a spare but to no avail as a rocker shaft is not a normal spare to bring to an event - so nothing more could be done apart from put the car up on the trailer and watch the rest of the event from the gallery. The rest of the drivers all improved their times - in the Sprites, Paul Baker took over 4 secs off his first run time to lead with a 95.06, Colin Gale posted a 98.34, John Tewson dropped over 14 secs to record a 101.98, Richard Pugh removed 2 secs to get a 108.79 and Clare Towers was struggling with her gears to record a 112.05. In the 3000's, Huw Edwards held the lead with over a second off to record a 99.47, Pat Cooper also reduced his time by 1 sec to post a 100.44 and Nick John took a full 3 secs off his first run time to record a 105.48. The organisers were concerned that rain was going to disrupt the afternoon runs, so instead of stopping for lunch after practice and have both timed runs effected by rain they started the first timed runs before a delayed lunch - a great idea as it would ensure that at least one timed run would be held in the dry. So on to the first timed runs of the day and all the drivers stayed on the track and all significantly reduced their times again. In the Sprites, Paul Baker knocked off a further second to post a 94.17, Colin Gale took off 2 secs to get a 96.05, John Tewson was really getting the most out of the Tewson/Towers one litre Frogeye with a further 2 secs off to get a 99.52, Clare Towers was getting to grips with the gearbox and the chicane to knock a massive 7 secs off her previous best to record a 105.79 and Richard Pugh, also in a one litre Sprite but on standard road tyres, recorded 106.64. In the 3000's, Pat Cooper summoned up all his courage and experience to knock over 3 secs off his previous best to take the lead with a 97.24 from local man Huw Edwards who was a whisker behind with a 97.95. Nick John put in a much improved 104.55. So the racing stopped for a late lunch as planned and it was quite a while before the Healey class finally took to the track for their last run. This sort of delay always seems to have the same but bemusing affect - namely, most of the drivers came back after their last run thinking they had put in a far better time only to find out that they were slower than their previous run!! What causes that? Too much to eat at lunch, track cooling off, or is that old boys just need a kip before taking to the track again. Well, the only people to improve were 'young' Clare Towers (well all things are relative, but she was yawning all day) and 'young' Colin Gale who was not seen eating lunch - hmmmm! So the final positions for this scratch event were: Sprites: 1st Paul Baker, 2nd Colin Gale, 3rd John Tewson, 4th Clare Towers, 5th Richard Pugh & 6th Murray Wakeham (retired) Big Healey's: 1st Pat Cooper, 2nd Huw Edwards & 3rd Nick John Apart from poor old Murray and Alan, everyone had a great day and they all really liked the Llandow track and the way the organisers ran the day to give the drivers a super event. One to add to next year's calendar. To see the full results from this event and from all events in 2009 (results and points awarded) click here. To see the pictures from this and all previous events click here. Record times - click here to check out the Hill and Sprint records for all the recent venues for the Sprites and Big Healeys. Round Five - '... Like a duck to water ...' - Goodwood - 11th July 2009 (Words by L C Branch pics by Jackie Baker) Was it only last week we were basking in 30 degree heat? Well, as in politics - what a difference a week makes. The weather forecast was for cloud with sunny intervals with rain later in the day. Not sure why we bother listening to weather forecasts, as the usually lovely trip down to this glorious Sussex venue was dogged by low cloud with misty rain which did not clear, as it usually does, when onto the coastal plain with the South Downs behind! Goodwood is a great, fast track but best tackled in dry conditions and preferably on a sunny day. Oh well, the assembled Healey class of three Sprites and three big un's soon realised they were two short. Lyn Wheadon had broken down on his way from Somerset, which was a double shame as it would have been good to have seen his gleaming 100/4 take to the track again but he also had the prizes for the day!! Richard Pugh was also a no-show in the Sprite class. After getting through scrutineering the next challenge, namely the noise test, always seems to be a complete lottery at Goodwood, added to which the Goodwood noise test marshals this year seem to have had a complete 'sense of humour bypass'. The first two cars up for testing achieved a 109 and 108db respectively and their drivers were told to go away and come back when their cars had been warmed up properly. Which, given that Pete Walton (pictured right - yes, it is his car!) had just driven down from Aylesbury seemed to mean that his car was not going to pass, but a few minutes later, with no changes, it did with a 105db! When I took my car up for testing I was asked where my red line was on my tachometer (yes, he actually meant a red marker line on the face of the dial) as this was, he stated, a requirement set out in the blue book! That was a new one on me and even after checking my Blue tome later could not find any reference to it. Regardless, my car passed to my surprise with a reading of 100db - the lowest I have had with this car in three years!! As did eventually, all the others in the class. Practice at Goodwood comprises of one convoy run for familiarisation purposes and a standing start lap followed by a flying lap. Well, the Healey class were virtually the last cars to run in the field and we finished our practice run by 10.30. This was primarily due to the low turn out, especially in the Aston Martin classes where only about a dozen cars were entered - the credit crunch taking its toll perhaps? So we duly waited along with everyone else nearly three hours until 1.30pm when our first timed run started after lunch. No chance of a second practice run as it was not stated as such in the SR's - so the reason was given! It was a shame really as many drivers, particularly Simon Price - pictured left (who did a neat 360 at St Mary's) would have liked the opportunity to get to know the track better in these difficult conditions. So with some time to waste it was off to the NAAFI wagon where some rather smart enamel mugs with the Goodwood logo were on sale for a little over £6. Too much money? Well maybe, but the offer included free refills of tea or coffee all day. This was too much of a bargain for our Buckinghamshire farmer to miss. So, throughout the day numerous refills were had - most could see the downside to this plan and sure enough PW had to make as many trips to the loo's to relieve himself. Still we reckoned he broke even on the deal. So with lunch out of the way the racing started in earnest. However, by now the rain was coming down really hard and the track had standing water strategically placed, it seemed, at the turn in and exit points of each bend. First out was Paul Baker in Sebring GT bodied Sprite who set what he thought was a careful 134.33 lap, some ten seconds slower than his practice run and twenty four seconds off his handicap. Peter Walton was next up with a 138.29, Simon Price did a 142.93, Colin Gale achieved a 144.55, Local expert Nick John did a 143.83 and last in the class was Martin Ingall in his recently repaired but still very pretty Sebring Sprite in a time of 156.76. But this was a handicap event and Richard Mason's (club handicapper) influence was felt even though he was not there. So on adjusted times - in the Sprite class Paul Baker was leading, 2nd Colin Gale and 3rd Martin Ingall. In the big Healey class, Nick John had the edge on Peter Walton with Simon Price third. So after a short break and yet another comfort break for PW, the cars were out again with the weather just as bad. All the drivers improved their times over their first timed run. The biggest improvements came from Martin Ingall, who knocked over 16 secs off his first run time to record a 140.83 and Colin Gale who lopped a massive 13 secs off his previous best to get a 131.90. So how did this effect the adjusted handicap positions (times shown are scratch): Sprites 1st Paul Baker (129.25), 2nd Colin Gale (131.90) and 3rd Martin Ingall (140.83) Big Healeys 1st Nick John (139.22), 2nd Peter Walton (132.67) and 3rd Simon Price (135.39) Nick John (pictured right) was not surprisingly over the moon, as this was his first class win in a HealeySport event - just a shame the cut glass trophy was not on hand to take home. The rest went home, particularly the open car drivers, to dry out. To see the full results from this event and from all events in 2009 (results and points awarded) click here. To see the pictures from this and all previous events click here. Record times - click here to check out the Hill and Sprint records for all the recent venues for the Sprites and Big Healeys.
Round Four - 'Rare Breeds Run Rampant on the Island' - Anglesey - 13th June 2009 (Words by I M Duff and pics by John Bowman) After monsoon conditions last year saw rain stop play, it was possibly a surprise that any of the H&S Healeyists dared venture North-West again to contest the Chester Motor Club’s 2009 Anglesey Sprint meeting. Nevertheless, united by the sense that the law of averages would prevent a repeat of such meteorological madness, a pact to abstain from any sheep-related jokes at the locals’ expense, not to mention the shear [sic] spirit of automotive adventure, five hardy souls traversed The Menai Straits to sample the delights of the much lauded, revised circuit on the island. Whilst they must have been tempted to bring Noah’s Ark in-tow, Noddy’s Arkley had to suffice instead, devoid of any creatures, save for two cattle-fettling folk, namely Allan and Neil Cameron, for the Friesian Racing stable. Kermit The Frog was also in attendance in the form of Colin Gale’s resplendent green ‘Fridget’ (a rare Frogeye / Spridget cross-breed), with the Cherry red Frogeye of seasoned campaigner Rafe “Surely one hand‘s not safe” Haywood completing the trio of tiddlers jostling for Sprite spoils. It was left to local man (just the three hour commute for this one!) Huw “Croeso y Cymru” Edwards to defend the honour of the big beasts, the sole Big Healey contender on this occasion, but presented with 1400cc+ class prey in the shape of a Lotus Elan to attempt to maul. Certainly the jungle that represented today’s habitat rewarded these intrepid voyagers, what with the full 2.1 mile International configuration of the circuit being deployed, one lap per run. At this remote venue where the old adage of “keeping it on the island” is totally apt (else risk some impromptu fishing in the Irish Sea), it soon became apparent that the wide ribbon of tarmac and generous run-off areas would allow for some keen exploration of the grip boundaries and would accentuate the importance of seeking out the apexes for maximal speeds on some invitingly long straights. The morning’s practice runs saw Messrs. Haywood and Gale evenly matched, both nesting in the 115 seconds bracket. The tenacious Edwards would’ve made his namesake Eddie The Eagle proud with a gutsy run of 114.52, just a second adrift of that fleet footed Elan. It was the bovine boys setting the pace early on, as the terrier-like Arkley carried Allan to a time of 110 seconds and ‘The Boy Chunder’ Neil to a best 108 seconds, surely the benefit of father having kindly warmed the brakes and tyres up for son. A minimum of incidents for the organisers to have to mop up meant that, happily, time would permit for each driver to have three competitive runs in the afternoon, further recompense for those who’d trekked to Anglesey in vain last year and all in all considerable bang for one‘s buck. That trend was disrupted however on the first run as Colin ‘Blowing A’ Gale [blame it on the previous night’s curry - if you will forgive a whiff of toilet humour] was left with a face as red as his Sprite is green. In his eagerness to note down everybody’s times, our Colin had neglected to refuel Kermit and consequently ended up spluttering to a sobering halt about two thirds of the way around the course. When quizzed about the gaff, CG gamely retorted that he’d simply tried to take a leaf out of Friesian Racing’s book and had actually stopped off voluntarily at one of the Marshall's posts to deliver six eggs and a four-pinter of semi-skimmed. The rumour mill suggests though that Miss Piggy wasn’t buying this and that she was heard to mutter obscenities, something about Gonzo Gale, swine flu evidently the last thing on her mind. At milkfloat-esque speed, The Green Machine was deposited back in the paddock in need of a swift drink to quench the thirst. Kermit would have to hope for a rich dose of Gold Top goodness in his tank if he was going to give the fast improving Haywood a run for his money, the venerable red Frog posting a very respectable 112.89 seconds, this in spite of a lethargic brake pedal and the pilot even taking time to wave at certain members of the appreciative audience in a manner almost akin to one D. Welch Esq. Next up recording a tenacious 113.54 seconds, that man Edwards continued to nibble at the heels of his Norfolk nemesis, yet the nimble Elan was proving to be no turkey. Meanwhile Clan Cameron continued their duel, with Allan nailing a low 109 second run, only for Neil to then do the stonk with an impudent 107.32 second blast setting the pace. Round two didn’t witness a great deal to write home about, aside from Gale crossing the line in the mid 115’s so as to keep RH sweating. Whilst Edwards and Cameron A. displayed impressive consistency with their second times essentially duplicating their first ones, Haywood and Cameron N. both contrived to negotiate the asphalt a tad slower this time around. So, with a risk of spilt milk usurping champagne, it was do or cry time as the final third runs soon came about. The lithe, blue 3000 carried Huw to a silky best of 113.22, continuing his admirable trend for improvement on every run. Alas, on the day this wasn’t quite enough to pip that gazelle of an Elan, but nevertheless constituted a good day’s sport for the Tom Jones of the Healey H&S scene. Kermit curried some favour with that pouting porker, biting off more than 2.5 seconds by recording a heady lap of 112.93. That just failed to oust Rafe from third spot and to underline this, RH descended yet further with a satisfying best of 111.45. It just remained to be seen as to whether dad could put lad to bed. In the end the little tyke wasn’t to be denied his Rusks. Allan mustered a far from shoddy 108.33, a personal improvement of nearly a second, but still shy of Mini Milk’s earlier time. Game over, Neil then put the proverbial empties out on the doorstep by even having the cheek to improve marginally on his final run, popping in a 107.24 to seal a class victory. With the dizzying heights of an extended championship lead almost inducing a nosebleed for Noddy, the Healey heroes retired to the clubhouse to reflect on the day’s shenanigans over a well earned shandy (“Just the one, Officer“). Contemplating the long homeward hike, all agreed the lengthy expedition to this rocky outcrop had definitely warranted the effort. Such a shame that geography will probably deny this Anglesey circuit the true scale of petrol-headed attention it genuinely merits. On the other hand, to those in the know, there is something all the more appealing about a well kept secret. To see the full results from this event and from all events in 2009 (results and points awarded) click here. To see the pictures from this and all previous events click here. Record times - click here to check out the Hill and Sprint records for all the recent venues for the Sprites and Big Healeys.
Round Three - 'The French Feast at Prescott' - 23rd May 2009 - (Words by LS Diff - pictures by Moira Walker, Martin Ingall and Andrew Lundie) For their third French festival in a row, the Bugatti Owners Club produced yet another dazzling weekend to celebrate l’autos de France. Unlike their two previous efforts, which were practically overwhelmed by heavy rain: boss-man Ian Patton had cleverly imported hot sunny Riviera weather. Greeting visitors was an eye-popping display of iconic moteurs – from a Bus that in the forties and fifties ferried Parisiennes between Gare Montparnasse and Place de la Concorde; right up to a multi-million Euro convoi exceptionnel of Bugatti Veyrons squirting up the famous hill at haut vitesse. For those of limited attention span, tres jolie Can-Can dancers, watched over by stern Gendarmes, provided a delightful distraction, while all the time an accordion played! This was a fabulous weekend that delighted the thousands of spectators that turned up expecting ‘just another hill climb’. But, riveting as the ground show was, for half an hour or so the proceedings were completely eclipsed as attention was drawn skyward by the rhythmic throbbing of six Merlin engines when Lancaster, Hurricane and Spitfire of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight performed a poignant and evocative display. What a showstopper! Somewhere amid this fab festival, a speed hill climb was taking place and Healey hill racers were here in force for the third round of the HealeySport Sprint and Hill Climb Championship. Prescott is a magnetic hill and today’s Classic meeting has attracted many marques. Healeys of all sorts and sizes are represented in our class, snorting highly modified types, mildly ’tweaked’ fast roadsters and pristine touring cars. AND, as a handicapped event, Championship points are more easily attainable by drivers of unmodified cars or those with little experience. There were three newcomers to this track – all ladies – each competing with others for points towards the Nancy Mitchell Rosebowl: a prestigious trophy exclusively for lady drivers. Track conditions are spot on and hopes were high among the top seeded or Alpha drivers that records would be broken, maybe even a break through the fifty second barrier; it would be magic for a three litre car to break through on its fiftieth birthday would it not? First practice passed without incident, Simon Price and Pete Walton, both of whom in previous years had suffered very bent wallets in the ESSES, returned to the paddock wearing relieved grins. The interval between practice runs was employed to nervously fettle the cars, play with tyre pressure gauges or simply wander through the paddock enjoying the spectacle. Second practice as times showed was taken much more seriously by the bulk of drivers. Lindsay Summers, as one might expect from a first outing, improved by three seconds. Stuart Bullas, who usually pleases the crowd with a spectacular departure from the black stuff at most meetings once again did not disappoint with a precision spin within the narrow confines of the Armco barriers at the Esses. Colin Gale registered his best time here of 52.52 thereby promoting himself to the Sprite Elite and Paul Baker followed suit with his personal best just under a tenth slower. These improved times assisted handicapper Richard Mason in the difficult task to assess targets for those cars that were either fresh to Prescott, had made mechanical enhancements, or whose drivers were reported drinking Red Bull. Murray Wakeham (pictured left), running with a much higher diff than usual, posted a cracking time of 51.13 – fastest run of any Healey so far today. Martin Ingall, following an argument with the banking exiting the ESSES at Shelsley Action 3000, had to withdraw his damaged once pretty Sprinzel Sprite from the action today; Richard Pugh’s delightful 948cc Sebring, which clocked 66.25, took his place. John Tewson in the other small engined car, improved on his practice by two and a half seconds to get well into the fifties in 58.59, while his co driver Clare Towers topped one and a half seconds slower. Judy Green, with one of her best times here of 66 dead in practice one, inexplicably slowed by 2.72 seconds, while Ed Giles in his three-litre road car dropped nearly half a second. Everyone else, to a man or woman, improved. As the temperature rose, the track got grippier (grippier-?) and first run times were set to fall. Er no! John Tewson set the ball rolling but bogged down badly at the start and took four seconds to cover the first 64 feet. A slip up that pushed his finish time to 60.75. Lindsay Summers growing in confidence clipped off a second and a quarter and Stuart Bullas remained on the tarmac and got within four tenths of his target. Judy Green took her Sprite to probably her best time here of 65.79 and Colin Gale was just over a quarter second away from his handicap time of 52.25. Peter Hall a fugitive from the MG brigade made an excellent stab at his target of 55 secs in his shiny black Sprite Mk 1 – just point 31 adrift. Rally driver Trish Cecile-Pritchard (pictured right) a newcomer to the series, sliced off almost two and a half seconds from her first practice, still a second and more from her target time. Lyn Wheadon’s bright alloy 100 (pictured above) with a handicap time of 58.75 was a second and a half adrift. Claire Giles managed to dip under seventy seconds in her 3 litre Mk3 road car while Simon Price made steady progress toward his target of 58.25 just point 21 off. Devizes man Ed Giles in what is more or less a bread and butter car had a great run of 56.89. Pat Cooper and Richard Mason shared an identical time of 52.26 – not the first time this has happened with this pair - while Richard Summers, sharing his wife’s nice 100 slipped tidily under his handicap of 57.25 by 0.09secs. Robin Johnson became the fastest Healey so far with a dashing run of 50.70 secs – five hundredths short of his target. Like the day, the competition was heating up. There was plenty of time for a crepe or croissant, or even watching some of the great cars racing here today – Ferraris, Allards, Austin Sevens – all manner of collectable cars, and much to see in the static displays; a Bugatti Type 59, a Lotus T98 grand prix car. Soon we were back to the serious business of the day and time for the Healeys to perform. Who would better their performance, which driver would snatch the points, which break a record: who knows? John Tewson immediately answered the first question with an excellent run of 58.03 secs. under his handicap by 0.22 of a second. Stuart Bullas improved a smidgen but fell short of his existing record by .40. Neil Cameron ‘the quiet man’ of Friesian Racing coolly carved well over a second off his target to take first handicap spot. Richard Pugh nailed third handicap place with 64.39. Both Peter Hall and Paul Baker each made their personal best times at this event and coincidentally each missed their target by a mere 0.12. Murray Wakeham went no quicker, but his personal best first run time of 51.22 made third fastest Healey today. Clare Towers had a better start on this run and made the summit in 58.31 to get below her target by 0.69 secs to claim second place on handicap. Robin Johnson (pictured below) with the last gasp of a chance to break the Sprite record could not better his first run time and finished only five hundredths of a second slower than his co driver Stuart Bullas to take second scratch spot – just ahead of Murray Wakeham by half a second. In the big Healey section Lindsay Summers knocked 1.3 seconds off her first run time to finish in 67.13secs just + 0.67 off target, before handing the car over to husband Richard who failed to improve on his first effort - though not by much. Trish Cecile-Pritchard gained a quarter second and under shot her target by 0.85. Lyn Wheadon broke into the fifty-nines but remained off handicap by over a second. Nick John too just managed to squeak in to the fifty-nines, a commendable effort for a heavy road car. Simon Price made a decent fist of his run, bearing in mind his past history in the ESSES, and topped in 58.11 squeezing under his target by 0.14 to nail third big Healey handicap place, while Peter Walton, with ghosts of his own haunting him in the same place made a cracking run in 56.51, nearly a quarter second inside his goal to cement second handicap spot. Ed Giles bettered his time a wee bit while Huw Edwards improved on his first effort by exactly a quarter of a second to under cut his target time by 0.56 to take big Healey class on handicap. Pat Cooper in an effort to put open air between himself and Mason locked up big time at ETTORES and paid the price at the finish, one hundredth of a second slower at 52.27 – 0.85 secs off his target and PB. This left the door open for Mason to keep his cool and finish in 51.64 just 0.14 seconds off his handicap and previous best. And so it was up to the bar for a ‘swifty’, then presentation of our handicap glassware. What a great day; and the feast continues – only Frencher. RESULTS Sprites - Scratch: 1st S Bullas, 2nd R Johnson & 3rd M Wakeham Sprites - Handicap: 1st N Cameron, 2nd C Towers & 3rd R Pugh Big Healeys - Scratch: 1st R Mason, 2nd P Cooper & 3rd H Edwards Big Healeys - Handicap: 1st H Edwards, 2nd P Walton & 3rd S Price
To see the full results from this event and from all events in 2009 (results and points awarded) click here. To see the pictures from this and all previous events click here. Record times - click here to check out the Hill and Sprint records for all the recent venues for the Sprites and Big Healeys. New Rules and Regulations - to download a complete set of Sprint and Hill Climb rules in .PDF format click here.
If you want to download the latest Adobe
Acrobat PDF reader click on the following link
Don't forget, If you own a Healey, like what you see on these web pages and would like to find out more about this sport, email Allan Cameron on the contact details shown at the bottom of the page or come along to the next event and have a chat with any of the drivers. New drivers are always welcome.
Kop Hill - Hill Climb - 26/27th September 2009Kop Hill near Risborough in Oxfordshire is not a name known to many, but 80 years ago this was a hill climb to compete with the likes of Shelsley Walsh or Prescott. To commemorate nearly 100 years since the first runs up the hill, the local action committee have organised an event in September this year and are expecting to attract around 250 cars and motorcycles as well as 2000 spectators. Pre war motorcycles, veteran cars (up to 1918), vintage and post-vintage (1918-1939) and classic cars (1940-1973) can all enter the climb, which will not be timed. Entry costs are £20 for one day or £25 for both. To enter, call Bob Woodman on 01442 823077 or go to their website Kophillclimb.org Entries must be in by 5th September but a discount is offered for those in by 30th June. Healey hill climbers interested in taking part should contact Pete Walton for more information. Some interesting facts: The tarmac course will be 903 yards long and rise over 304 feet. At its steepest the gradient will be 1:4. The fastest time for a car was recorded in 1922 when Count Zborowski's GP Ballot achieved 26.8 seconds. Any profits from this event will be donated to local charities. |
Into first practice and in the Sprite class
Robin Johnson (pictured left) was showing that his win the previous week was no fluke by
breaking the previous class record (36.99) with a 36.71. Half a second
behind was his co driver Stuart Bullas, followed by Baker, Cameron, Haywood
and Tewson. In the Big Healey class, Pat Cooper, in his now highly
developed 100/6 was over 3 seconds ahead of his nearest rival with a 37.63
but he had to break the class record of 36.54 to be sure of taking the
title. Closest to him was Andrew Taylor who had broken the previous record
for a 100 with his time of 40.35, followed by his co-driver Richard Summers,
Huw Edwards, Richard Mason (don't think I've ever seen Richard in the 41 sec
area!!), Pete Walton, Nick John and Lyndsay Summers.
2nd Richard
Summers, 3rd Andrew Taylor, 4th Huw Edwards, 5th Richard Mason, 6th Pete
Walton, 7th Nick John and 8th the petite lady in the lovely green and white 100M.