REVS - News Letter November 2015 News OMC Christmas party Dec 16th. at Aldridge Social Club, All welcome, see social section. Shackerstone Fesival. OMC member Derrick Wallbank takes prestigious award. OMC Classic tour attracts 22 entries see report. Many entrants praise organizers. Paul Moran - Downton Mini Cooper, ex Rubery Owen Company Car takes best in show at Mini Fest Uttoxeter. King/Bird take Mini Cup win on first half of Manx Rally. Follow car on Face Book (Clive King- the Road to Rally GB). Only Mini & the oldest car in the event.
Best Ford in Show, Derrick Wallbank with his Escort Harrier
Club News. Nice to see the final away night held at Miller & Carter in Sutton Parkwas well supported, makes it all worth while.
Anton Bird wins HRCR “Old Stager� Co Drivers Championship, a first HRCR Mini on Manx Rally [first half] secured the title. Clive King requires one more score to qualify, its going to be close in the drivers section, all hinges on the Cambrian. Should just be enough time to get car ready for Wales Rally GB National.
Classic News.OMC classic section attended the Shackerstone Festival in early September for the first time. What a great show it turned out to be, something for every one, along with numerous classic cars we were treated to traction engines, air displays, lawn mower racing which is mental, canal boat display, American civil war village and battle, fun fair, stunt motor cycle show and a sky diving display by the Red Devils. To top this the weather was stunning and the icing on the cake, OMC member Derrick Wallbank took Best Ford of the show and a handsome trophy to go with it, a very deserved award after such an unexpected and torturous restoration. Derrick do NOT modify this car !! (Ed)
w w w. o we n m o t o r i n g c l u b. c o. u k News Continues. Paul Kendrick takes points on Manx as Co Driver !!!!!!!! OMC 2015 awards night big changes, club to contribute towards your ticket. Date. 27 Feb 2016
THE BRIGHT SPARKS PCA AUTOTEST SUNDAY 18 OCTOBER 2015 – CURBOROUGH A good turnout of 32 entries but down on last year. The event has a really good reputation of providing fast, exciting and flowing tests. There were plenty of smiling faces all day long.
The quality line up included, “Maestro” Kevin Hardwick, who had won FTD for the previous 3 years. Loughborough ace Andy AGBO Rally attracts Lewin (Micra), Tom Bishop (Micra), James Nicholls (Nova) and prestigious HRCR Mark Brotherhood (BMW) Old Stager Championship, for 2016. OMC requested to attend HRCR open day at Gaydon Jan16. 2016 Curry night to become a new social feature. Skittles & fish supper night a success, 32 attend. Cambrian nightmare stages for King/Bird Mini. Anton Bird (OMC) takes HRCR Old Stager “Mini Cup” Co Drivers championship Title for 2015
Thankfully the weather was good and proceedings started at 10.15am. As usual there were 2 large tests each taking approximately 11/2 mins to complete.
Each test consisted of 3 runs with the worst score being dropped. A second car was started when the first was about ¾ way distance to reduce queuing time. This time I added a split to take cars twice around the roundabout near to the sprint start on the bottom test, and a “donut” on the top test. Lots of directional arrows made the tests look like rally stages. I was very impressed with the great car control of Mark Brotherhood. I have rarely seen a BMW being thrown around so much. Also of note was Steven Griffin in his Fiesta. This Streetly member has been coming to Owen events for some time and is improving with every visit. At the lunch break Kevin Hardwick was leading on 307 with Andy Lewin 309, Steven Griffin, Tom Bishop and James Nicholls, all on 313. After a few minor course alterations the afternoon went without too many incidents. Good to see some Owen members enjoying themselves. Bill Rushton had difficulty controlling the Cosworth Escort with all four wheels off in many places but what a brilliant drive by 15 year old Isobel Mansell in her dads Fiat!
The event finished in daylight by 4.15pm and the whole proceedings ran smoothly run by very efficient marshals. A special thanks goes to Clare Bird, Darren Kiernan, Barri Wilmot, Ruth Langford, Paul Langford, Dave Smith, Anton Bird, Melvyn Cox and Phil Lawson. Many thanks to Barri and Will Barnes for helping me set up on the Saturday and Will who acted as Chief Scrutineer. A big thank you to Simon and Lyn Whittick for looking after the secretarial duties and speedy results. Once again Clare Bird supplied home-made cakes to raise money for Air Ambulance. A great effort on her behalf to obtain monies for this essential charity.
The final result was so close. Kevin Hardwick and Andy Lewin tied on 609. Kevin was pronounced the winner as he was the fastest on test 2. Final Top ten positions:Kevin Hardwick – 609 (FTD), Andy Lewin – 609 (1st Class B) Tom Bishop – 613 (1st Class A) Steve Griffin – 624 James Nicholls – 625 Mark Brotherhood – 642 (1st Class C/D/E) Craig Johnston – 643 David Bennett– 645 Stuart Holland – 647 Rachel Faulkner – 648 (Best Novice) Alexander Tait – 692 (Best Junior) Kevin Hardwick – 609 (Best Owen) BOB COTTERELL (Bright Sparks Photos courtesy Melvyn Cox)
Classics Shugborough Show, a great turn out of nine cars on the OMC club stand looked impressive, see pics in Gallery, well done Martin. The weather held out for us this year for a change. Some interesting cars at the show one in particular a Mini with a Lotus twin Cam engine !! What an amazing piece of engineering. See Pic below.
Shugborough, Mini with Lotus Twin Cam Engine, an amazing bit of engineering
This is what your Classic section coordinator Roger Tristram gets up to at shows, he said it was for the kids, correct !!!
Paul Moran takes best in show at Mini Fest Uttoxeter in September with his Downton Mini Cooper, It is possible you might see this car on the OMC stand at the NEC
IMPORTANT NOTICE.... Please return all club championship trophies to Ruth Langford, latest return date 16th December (Christmas party Night.) OMC Awards Night date set for Sat 27th Feb 2016 to be held at Great Barr Golf Club, in Chapel Lane near the old Post House Hotel. Subsidised Ticket price ÂŁ10 per head (2 tickets only per full Member at this price) includes three course meal, order from any committee member now.
O we n M o t o r i n g C l u b Gallery
Above: OMC @ Shugborough Show, great weather and quality line up. Left & Below left. OMC @ Shackerstone Festival A super day out for all, another great classic turn out for OMC. Think this could be on calendar for next year don't miss it !!
Above: Derrick Wallbank with his Escort Harrier, best Ford in show.
Classic Car Section 2015 Review The September Shackerstone Festival was the highlight of the year’s shows according to all the positive feedback that Roger and I have received. This was OMC’s final outdoor show of the year with a total of 7 cars on display; the icing on the cake was Derrick Wallbank picking up the trophy for Best Ford in show for his Escort Mk2 harrier. We shall be definitely appearing at this one again next year, maybe both days and camping overnight! {they have an interestingly large beer tent, should be entertaining I think.... Ed} We started our OMC classic car section’s first year with a stand at The Transport Show at Weston Park on Sunday 5th April, which was only a fortnight after the AGBO had run through there. Underfoot was slightly muddy with many cars having to be pushed in and out of positions. We had 7 cars on show with the centrepiece celebrating the 50th Birthday’s of 3 of the cars, my Imp, Barry’s Moggy and Anton’s Lotus Cortina. A photo and a small write up appeared in the following week’s Classic Car weekly which more than made up for the damp cold conditions. Fast forward to the end of the Month and Simon Whittick had organised 5 Owen members’ cars to be on show at The Practical Classics show at the NEC with most interest shared between his engine/gearbox less Mini and Brian Austin’s Ark Sprite. During May more work was done on the Owen Classic Run and Roger & I took part in the HRCR display Donington Park’s Historic Festival Weekend event. We contributed to the demonstration runs, in my Imp, on the Melbourne loop. The last Sunday in May also saw Roger and I take part in the HRCR Derby Dales Drive in his Dolomite Sprint along with Elaine and Di Littley in Elaine’s Sprite, Brian Cope and Kevin Robinson in a Beetle, Ian Hazel and his family in their E Type Jag and Avenger Tiger and Ricky and Julia Evans in their Lotus Cortina.
June soon came upon us and we had a stand at the 50th anniversary Graham Hill Sprint at Curborough with (I think) 9 cars on show along with demonstration runs on track from a BRM ex F1 car which was once driven by Niki Lauda in the 1973 season. I also did my 1st sprint in my smoking Imp which went without a hitch and was most enjoyable. We had a small cramped stand at Lichfield’s Cars in the Park at the start of July in which we managed to fit in 15 cars including Wayne’s large race Mustang, Gary’s “Ugly Betty” and Peter Smith debuted his lovely MG TC. The day was going well until middle of the afternoon the skies went black and we had what can only be described as a mini tornado which lifted tents, display hoardings and gazebo’s into the air and drenched everybody and everything else! This unfortunately brought the show to a premature end; we are unsure whether we will do this one next year so please let us know what you think.
Next month, in complete contrast weather wise, the excellent Shugborough Hall Classic car Show was bathed in sunshine. Nine cars were on our display with the second appearance of Paul Moran’s superb ex Rubery Owen Downton tuned Mini which rightly attracts a lot of attention. September’s Shackerstone Festival has already been mentioned at the start of this article and that only left the Classic Car run at the end of the Month. This as you probably know started at The Bass Museum of Brewing at Burton, had a comfort stop at Carsington water and then finished at The Tramway Museum at Crich. Bob Cotterell and Anton did a great job planning and documenting the route and we were hoping to attract about 40 cars but in the end just over 20 started. The start venue provided Anton with a good backdrop for photo’s and the weather improved as the day progressed after a rather foggy and damp start to the day. From the nice selection of e-mails we have received it seems that everyone enjoyed the day and this has spurred us on to start thinking about next year’s run. The Tramway Museum made a nice finish venue and it was great to see all our cars parked in the street amongst the trams etc. We have a smallish stand at the Classic Car Show at the NEC in November with limited tickets, we are hoping to fit in 6/7 cars including a BRM P48. If you would like to man the stand for one of the 3 days then please get in touch with us and we’ll see if we can juggle things around to accommodate your request. This is not just a freebie into the show we want the stand manned throughout the 3 days so a rota walkabout must be sorted amongst yourselves on the day so we don’t leave the stand empty. Finally it would be good for the club if attendees can wear OMC clothing please to identify themselves to the public. So that is our first year as show organisers over and how quickly it has all gone. We’ve had some laughs along the way and hope to continue with more varied shows next year along with some of the regulars. If you would like to go onto our Monthly Classic Car e-mail newsletter list then get in touch. We would also love to see more members attend shows either with their cars or just come along and say hello on the day and enjoy the friendly banter. Admission tickets can usually be sorted providing we have enough notice and if anyone has any suggestions as to which shows they think Owen should be represented then please get in touch with me, Roger or anyone on the committee. Thanks to everyone who has displayed their cars in this our first year as organisers, we couldn’t have put on such a varied display of cars without you. Thanks also to everyone who has helped out on the days of the shows and the classic run, and finally a special thanks to Barri Wilmot who has done such a good job transporting the club equipment to and from the container for each show; hope to see his Renault 5GT Turbo on display next year sometime. Martin Parkes & Roger Tristram....Classic Coordinators. (Congratulations to both, a fantastic job in their first full year of running the OMC
Classic section........ looking forward to 2016, please include Middleton Hall, what a great place for a classic meet with a tremendous selection of cars on show at their last meet of the year just a few weeks ago......Ed. Below are a selection of pictures from the OMC classic car run 2015.
Pictures from Bass Museum, our start venue and Critch Tramway museum our finish venue, join us for a run south on next years Classic outing. (Photo`s by Ed)
WRC Finland 2015 report & pictures by Anton Bird I have wanted to go forever and finally with a group of three others from OMC made the pilgrimage !! It did not disappoint. A two and half hour flight from a quiet Stanstead for a change, we land at Tempere in central Finland, pick up hire car and an hour later we are at our Himos ski resort chalet, our accommodation for the week. This is a huge ski complex from October through to April with a meter of snow !!. Obviously fairly empty in summer but still has all the exceptionally well equipped chalets for rent, very comfortable and it even had a sauna !!. Wasted on us. A week it had to be, Tuesday to Tuesday, the only way the cheaper flights were available. So with time on our hands on Wednesday we were able to recce the stages, surprisingly allowed. Much time was spent in the infamous Ouninpohja, 32km of bliss even in a road car, must be one hell of a ride in a WRC car - I wish, or do I ?. Fastest time on the event 15 min 8 sec, How? This stage has it all and it is as the drivers say awesome, twists, turns, crests, jumps, BIG jumps, VERY big jumps, turns on crests, it just goes on and on. Apparently Peter Solberg holds the record with a stage average of 132 kph, no I don't know either? Thursday, first stage in Jyvaskyla, 2.27km around town first car 7.30pm. Jyvaskyla is a 50km trek from our base at Himos, a journey we made several times during the week, it is also where the rally service area is based. So a day messing around in the service area, met up with Lewis Allen, OMC Member who works for M Sport. Lewis is chief engineer and team manager for the Kubica WRC Lotos Fiesta R5 this year and we got the close up inside story, with pictures. Thank you Lewis for a fascinating two hours. The town stage was packed, not unexpected!! a mixture of tarmac and gravel, a small taste of things to come. Friday, first real rally day, the Himos complex is used as a special stage twice, starting 6km away and culminating in a vast spectator area and very steep down hill section near the finish inside the ski complex, we only have a short walk after a leisurely breakfast to pick a spot. We have double action here as there is a re group and tyre change prior to the afternoons action. I managed to get into the press area and get some great close ups, rubbing shoulders with Marku Allen no less. Also some great close up pictures of the WRC drivers and co drivers changing tyres for the afternoon action, surprisingly no service was allowed, a tough ask with the mornings 80km`s to repeat. For the afternoon there only one choice, it has to be the spot we picked on our recce through Ouninpohja, it turned out we had chosen wisely, my pictures of cars some 10ft in the air [small jump this one] are proof of the spectacle, exactly what I had come to see and photograph but it was not easy !.. The nature of the location, a forest, is dark with cars travelling at warp factor and not being able to see the approach makes things even trickier. Fortunately with a few nationals running at the head of the field gives you chance to dial the camera in for the best of the WRC action, and what action it turned out to be, what I had made the trip for, it did not disappoint. Saturday we take in SS Surkee in the morning, a flat out 3km into a big 90 left, were on the 90 left, some amazingly fast sideways action here, then on to SS Horka in the afternoon. A great location this one, I have never seen so many spectators in one location anywhere or for that matter helicopters, dozens of them in and out constantly. The cars are visible here for a good half mile through a series of bends and crests and always at incredible speeds and with that awesome control the WRC drivers just seem to have. A spectacular feature of this section was the helicopter filming the event, I could say the flying was more spectacular than the rally, what a pilot. This location had all the catering you could ever wish for and a beer or two!!. Later we head into town to service then a feed, always a problem in Finland more later, then a long journey back to Himos.
Sunday, one stage run twice, second run is the power stage, with Himos being 100 miles away from this we decide against especially as we would have had to be on the road by 6am. Thats one of the draw backs with WRC Finalnd, all the stages are quality but are a considerable distance apart. We choose service and podium celebrations, and this turned out to be a winner as we discovered a nice quiet “out” time control at the back of the service area, only us and a few service crews around. so we joined in with Latvalas wining celebrations, we were that close just touching distance, as we were for all the finishers that came through. Conclusions, WRC Finland “The Thousand Lakes” as we still like to call it, an amazing rally, one Ill never forget, Finland a beautiful place, there's always a but, poor food and hard to find, loads of junk food if you like but not for me, poor beer expensive too as is Finland in general. The real eye opener is the level of drunks encountered in stages, not particularly there for the cars, just out for a day in the woods, settle in and stop for two runs, groups of very heavy drinkers that's beer, wine and Finish Vodka, some out of it and collapsed by mid day !!! Another eye opener is the strictness and confidence of all the stage marshals, but they do all have security teams behind them just a call away and response is instant, witnessed several times. Himos a great location to stay especially for day one, but not for day two and three, a touch too far for daily trips to service in Jyvaskyla. Jury is out on a return trip, to be brutal I prefer WRC Germany, based in Trier using a city centre hotel with city centre amenities and good ones at that, stages at easy reach on all days, viewing cars for long distances etc. But Finland is the fastest and most spectacular rally I have ever seen, if you are a rally fan you have to go once. Our week was finished off on the Monday with a visit to “The Finland Rally Hall of Fame” located in Kangasala some 90km away from Himos, a trip across country passing I think only two cars and a truck in the entire journey !! On the return journey we visit a disused down hill ski jump, decommissioned in 1994 as too dangerous !!! Yes it was a bit scary !! In all a great week.
Himos Chalet
VW Service
Kubica & Lewis Allen @ Himos
VW Hospitality
Gallery WRC Finland 2015
Citreon Service
M Sport Service
In A Galaxie Far, Far, Away. It’s very dark, very wet, I’m pulling 6000rpm in top (around 130mph)…….and I’ve just been blown into the weeds by a GT40, and another, and another! Welcome to the 2015 Spa Six Hours. The Spa Six Hours is for those in the game, one of THE historic racing events on the Calendar. The two (now three) Goodwood meetings and the Silverstone Classic maybe at the forefront of mainstream attention but the Spa meeting is for the enthusiasts. As well as the actual six hour race for GT and saloon cars, there’s also a full two days of racing for just about every other type of classic car.
I’d been asked to do it in 2014 but the car wasn’t ready and it wasn’t until July this year that I knew I would be taking part so it was all a bit last minute. American V8’s tend to feature quite a lot in this event with GT40’s at the pointy end of the grid with Cobras, Mustangs and Falcons throughout the rest of it. To be different our choice was a 1965 Ford Galaxie. Just under eighteen foot long, seven and a bit wide, around two tons and 500hp from its 427cu (that’s 7 litres to you). We shook the car down during a one hour race at Donington a fortnight prior and other than a few minor jobs nothing else was done before it was loaded up. Due to the lack of running time we expected quite a few teething problems so both the cars’ owner, Derek and I ensured we took as many spares as we could, both of us clearing workshop and garage respectively of anything that may be useful. Dad and I travelled over on the Wednesday arriving at the circuit around 5pm after checking into our accommodation down the road in Stavelot. Derek and Pat were already set up in our garage as they had travelled the previous day and Derek had even managed to get a few laps in during the afternoon though the wet weather didn’t really provide answers to suspension set up queries. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening moving vehicles backwards and forwards as more and more competitors arrived. Our garage was soon full – a Chevron sports racer, a Morgan SLR, two Shelby Mustangs and our Galaxie. Arriving early to this meeting is a must!
Thursday was a rest day for us, time to look around the paddock and take in the sights, of which there were plenty.
We took the opportunity to sign on and get scrutineered before the rush and other than me having to buy some new boots and gloves it all went smoothly. Our main problem so far was getting food as the paddock catering was yet to open and the shops were closed every time we drove through Stavelot. Eventually we gave in and used the F1 pitlane Brasserie which was not exactly cheap! Friday was qualifying day, though not until late afternoon so we had plenty of time to watch the cars in the other races. Our main aim for qually was to determine our fuel consumption and brake wear. Our first ‘hitch’ was that the 155 litre fuel tank turned out to be a 143 litre fuel tank! With the tank
brimmed, Derek went out for 5 laps. The weather was really pretty good at this point, most unlike Spa. As I jumped in on Derek’s return, he reported that the brakes were coming and going. We already knew that brakes were our main concern – they’re the same as Mustang ones and they struggle with that, the Galaxie weighed over half as much again! Sure enough the brakes lasted a few corners before they went weird. Because the car has a servo (which I’m not used to) it was impossible to get any feeling what was going on at first but after a few laps it was obvious that we were getting severe pad knock off due to the spindles flexing under the cornering stresses. We were also struggling with top speed which is a real shame as that should have been one of our few attributes. We needed a longer final drive as we were running out of revs, well, that’s not quite correct. We had a self imposed limit of 6500rpm as a nod to reliability but the engine was quite happy and willing to rev much higher. We had to remember that our only aim in this race was to finish. I did my five laps and then came in and we changed to a new set of tyres so I could bed them in. By now it was dusk and the atmosphere in the pitlane was fantastic, on track it was simply stunning. Flames from exhausts on the over-run, glowing discs and illuminated race numbers. As expected we qualified at the back of the grid but at least we qualified, many didn’t and many more were left broken around the track. One of the Mustangs in our garage was pushed into the wall by an E-Type and it took the team of mechanics a good few hours removing the wing and door to get it straight.
Saturday – Race day!! Again a long day till we got on track. We spent the morning fitting new brakes all round, sorting a wiring issue with the lamps and a good old spanner check. Suddenly our team of four was almost doubled by the addition of a couple of guys and a gal from the Mustang Owners Club of Great Britain. The guys were handy with a spanner and I gave the gal pit board 101. With fuel consumption confirmed after qually we could now work out our pit stop / driver stint strategy. We also knew we would need at least one pad change. Now refuelling in this race is a bit of a lottery as you cannot refuel in the pit lane, you have to use the fuel station in the paddock and the driver has to refuel the car himself. If you were lucky you could just drive in, re-
fuel and drive out but more than likely you would have to queue behind one, two, four, six……..who knows how many cars! Hence we wanted to keep refuelling stops to a minimum yet obviously not run out. After much calculation we worked out that Derek would do ‘X-teen’ laps (tis a secret!!!!) and then I would do 2 less than him then he’d jump in and refuel. With our brake issue we also decided that a wet race would suit us, putting less cornering strain on the spindles, lower speeds helping the brakes anyway and the cooler, damp air keeping temperatures disc and caliper temperatures down. 15:55 – Race start – 108 cars on the grid!! Wow. Rolling start, took over a minute for all the cars to pass by the green flag/lights, oh and it had started raining about 45 minutes beforehand. I have to say, this is a great event for spectators, there’s no restrictions on the pitlane and hence it is heaving what with marshals, mechanics, drivers, hangers on and just about every one else! Watching the timing screens on the pit wall we could see Derek making slow progress up the field. Not so much through speed sadly, more to do with others having problems. Plenty of cars were coming down the pit lane (we were in the F1 pits, the old pits were in use too but everyone had to enter the pit lane at the chicane exit, drive through the F1 pits and old pits and then exit at the top of Radillon after Eau Rouge). It had stopped raining not long after the start of the race but the track was still damp in places as I took over for my first stint. Derek had reported that the car was ok, the brakes were still weird and to look out for the halfshaft and wheel in the middle of the track – but didn’t know where. Great!! Keeping to a set rev limit is not easy in a race, especially when you can see just how much an impact it’s having on your speed and lap time but I just had to keep reminding myself that it was a six, that’s SIX, hour race! Never saw the halfshaft, did see a very bent Elan though and lots of other cars by the wayside. Yes, our brakes were still weird, the now drying conditions not helping. Getting overtaken left, right and centre, I was looking more in my mirrors than ahead. The GT40’s were simply stunning, drifting through high speed corners – I was impressed. Soon my stint was over and other than a slight crunch going into 4th and dropping out of 3rd occasionally ( a common issue with these boxes) the car was fine. Derek refuelled on his way out the pit lane and headed back into the fray. So far everything was going to plan.
In car into Au Rouge at Spa
A safety car period saw Derek stop early from his stint, luckily I was suited and booted so jumped straight in and was back out on track. They use two safety cars due to the length of the track but I never saw one despite doing two laps at near full speed under yellow, however, I must have made up a fair bit of track position on everyone else as when we finally went green it was ages before someone caught me. By now the track was bone dry and the brakes were really feeling the strain, the pedal getting longer and needing more and more pumping for every usage. I could tell the pads were just about shot and decided to pit early. I tried to warn the guys by flashing the lights and driving along the pit wall rather than my usual line on the far side of the track (apparently they got the message). However, it was still another lap before I could pit. It was a lap too far…..nearly! Coming into the chicane an Elan was alongside me and intending to outbrake me and then go round the outside of me and across me. Unfortunately when I went to brake there was none, zilch, sweet FA!!! Hmm, two ton plus of Galaxie T-boning a 700kg plastic car was going to be a big mess. This was not looking good. Handbrake is an umbrella jobbie under the dash so that was out and dropping gears wouldn’t do the trick either so I opted for flooring it! I never saw him but I guess the Elan driver had a massive shock as I must have passed by his nose within inches. OK, so I’d avoided the car now I had the tyre wall in front of me. I through the car to the right but the slow steering (lots lock to lock) and its sure footedness stopped it from spinning. Bugger. Lots of arm twirling to the left and somehow it turned again and the first tyre wall must have been a fag packet width from the right hand side. I caught a glimpse of marshals running and jumping as I careered towards them but I just kept piling on the left lock and somehow missed the second tyre wall as I did a massive U turn in the run off area and ended up facing the oncoming traffic……..and finally came to a stop………and breathe!!! Into the pits, ordered a pad change, yes they were shagged. The lads did good, pads changed and front ball joints tightened in a little over 10 minutes before we sent Derek back out via another refuel.
By now it was starting to get dark, the atmosphere in the pitlane was really great. I’m quite used to people taking photos of the car but having totally unknown people taking photos of me was quite different. Random spectators walking up to me in the garage, asking questions and taking photos whilst I sat swapping my helmet visor was surreal. Plenty of people taking videos, I did one ‘interview’ in English and then attempted another with a full blown camera
crew but they were Germans and my German isn’t up to much. I think I got by with a mix of German, French, possibly some Spanish and a touch of Italian, plus of course lots of slow English. No idea if or where these interviews will be shown – I guess they’ll just be shown the cutting room floor. And then it started to rain. By rain I mean monsoon. Shortly after the yellow lights and safety car signs were displayed. Apparently cars were off all over the place, including ‘La Source’ being blocked. The safety cars started leading all the race cars through the pitlane so the already busy pits were now chaotic. I readied myself in case Derek came in early again which he did. He couldn’t see through all the oil and muck on the screen and wanted to get out but I told him to get back in and we cleaned the screen up and sent him on his way.
. We now started to rework our fuel strategy. Had we been green and in the dry we would have needed another top up but with the current conditions consumption would be less. I made the call that when I got in for the last stint I would if necessary, back right off and try to make it to the flag. It was a bit of an iffy decision but my thinking was that if we stopped again then we would definitely lose a load of time and places whereas, I could, if necessary limp around for a lap with a pretty dry tank – the last bit was pretty much a load of crap – but I didn’t want to make that splash and dash and lose places! With about 40 minutes of the race left Derek came back in and I jumped in for the last stint. The fuel guage showed three quarters of a tank which should have been enough but I knew better than to trust that. Driving down the illuminated pit lane was great, but once out onto the track it was dark, very dark, I mean pitch black can’t see a bloody thing dark!! Were the lights on? Well the gauges were lit so I assumed they were. Tried flicking the light switches, dash lights went off when lights turned off, hmm, maybe the spot weren’t on. Flicked that switched off…………..oh crap now its completely dark, quickly put them back on. So, I had spot lights only but despite what the picture looks like they were angled to the sides so I had no light on the track in front of me just spots of light on the edges of the track. To add to the pain the shift light was blinding when that came on, we should have thought about that and taped most of it up. Oh, and there was a crack in the speedo lens with a loose bulb behind it which was amazingly bright for a 5amp bulb! It was still raining but slowing down but with thoughts of impending electrical failures I decided to leave the wipers on in case they didn’t
work again if it started hammering down. I’d instructed the pit board girl to give me a time countdown till race end which she duly did from 20minutes. At fifteen I went into serious cruise mode, I was having to rely on cars overtaking me so I could follow their tail lights anyway as I just couldn’t see a thing when on my own. The leading pack of GT40’s passed me again just before the chicane with just about two minutes to go, bugger, that meant another lap! Really wanted that finish so the last lap was a crawl even though the fuel guage still showed plenty left. Never so happy to see the chequered flag!! Then I sort of missed out on the celebrations as when I returned to the pits after the slow down lap, one of the Mustang mechanics told me I needed to go to Parc Ferme which I did. But shouldn’t have done as we were not in line for a trophy. Now I was stuck, the car had to be left behind the fencing and the marshals wouldn’t let me touch it let alone move it. Eventually I slowly trudged back up the hill to our garage, stopping on the way to congratulate a mate who’d won our class and also for a bizarre photo to be taken by a hooray henry type who wanted a selfie with a ‘racing driver’!! A bottle of Champers arrived from somewhere and so Derek and I duly toasted the car and ourselves. A fantastic effort by everyone involved saw us place 55th overall out of 108 and 10th in class out of 19. So many cars didn’t see the chequered flag. The Mustang in our garage that had been patched up after its qually off had ended up in the wall between La Source and Eau Rouge during the monsoon and so didn’t finish – like a scene from ‘Days of Thunder’ we thought about kicking the only straight panel just to complete the job!! An absolutely incredible event. Definitely want to go back next year but in something that’s more on the pace. We’re going to develop the Galaxie but it may be sold as Derek now has his eyes on us doing Classic Le Mans…………in style!!! Wayne Langridge {Congrats Wayne what a brilliant article,.....Ed}
A couple of pictures I took (Ed...) in 2011 at Mallory Park of Wayne in his Mustang.
O we n M o t o r i n g C l u b Still require information re AGBO Rally. [Road & Stage] Anton Bird is attempting to write the history of this event from its inception in 1960 through to our present format as a stage rally at Weston Park. If any members have any information no matter how small or trivial you may think, please forward to antonbird@talktalk.net especially the following years, 1961,67,69,76,82,84 Up Date: Since my last request for information, Peter Robinson (“Memory Lanes” author), Ted Walker (Ferret Photography) and Brian Austin OMC member have all come up with some jems, more please, especially if you have any pictures. Our AGBO archive is starved of any pictures and we all know there were plenty but today hard to find. Club Members, remaining events for 2015: Barri Wilmot / Clare Bird. VAUXHALL NOVA, HOE championship: Donnington Stages, Rockingham Stages. Clive King (Wton)/Anton Bird (OMC) MK1 MINI COOPER S, HRCR Old stager championship: Cambrian, Wales Rally GB (Award from North Wales win) Paul Kendrick, MK1 ESCORT, no plans until car is completed, still in bits. James Nicholls NOVA or PEUGEOT 205. No Details except engine is out of 205, did Cambrian in borrowed car. Tom Bishop / Tony Bishop enter Tonys Mini at Curborough, its first event I think, since rebuild, Tony beats Tom by 1/10th sec. Require car spec/build details ( I a have picture) for report. If any OMC competitors in any discipline wish to be mentioned in this section in future publications please contact me with details. (REVS editor....... antonbird@talktalk.net) Social Scene up date. 18.Nov (Wednesday) Curry Night, new event to be held once a year, venue Voujon, Chester Rd. Stonnall (next to Shell Garage) 8.30pm , premises is licensed or bring your own. 16.Dec. (Wednesday) Club Christmas party. All members, friends and family, welcome at Aldridge Social Club home of OMC. Function room bar open. Bring back your cups night !!!!! Starts 9.00pm. All food provided by OMC committee. Contact Clare Bird for any of the above, you must pre book for both functions. Please support the Social Section, a lot of effort is at times wasted due to lack of membership interest.(Social Sec. Birdy_2212@hotmail.co.uk) AGBO STAGES RALLY 2016, This bit of news has to go into this edition as the next issue of REVS will see the date gone. We have been invited, and we have accepted, to host the first round of the HCRC “Old Stager” Rally Championship for 2016, this also includes the HRCR “MINI Cup” championship. This could see 12/14 of the best UK Minis battling through Weston park in March. We will also as usual, at the same event host a round of the AWMMC HOE Stage Rally Championship, round one or two, as yet not confirmed. Jan 16th, 2016 OMC are requested to attend the HRCR open day at Gaydon (bodies please) to promote and take entries for the AGBO Rally; Note: Regs will also release to OMC web site on this day. I also see this as a golden opportunity to promote our Classic section and the 2016 Classic car run, can all involved please prepare what is considered necessary.
OMC Championships (Results received up to 16.10.15) Stage Rally Driver 1 B.Wilmot [2] 32.8 2 P.Kendrick [1] 15.0 3 J.Nicholls [2] 13.6
Road Rally Driver 1 J.Nicholls
[3] 34.3 Q
Stage Rally Co Driver 1 T.Bishop [9] 95.2 Q 2 A.Bird [4] 76.6 Q 3 C.Bird [2] 42.8
Road Rally Nav. 1 D.Allman [4] 45.3 Q
Auto Test 1 T.Bishop [4] 89.7 Q 2 J.Nicholls [1] 28.5 3 S.Whittick [2] 19.0
Sprint 1 M.Parkes 2 D.Wallbank 3 T.Bishop = 3 B.Rushdon =
[2] [1] [2] [1]
23.3 22.2 20.0 20.0
Race 1 W.Langridge [3] 24.1 Q Marshals Points Championship 1 Paul Langford = 155 2 Ruth Langford = 155 3 Anton Bird 120 [3 Events in all categories to qualify Q - send your results to : Melvyn Coxmelvyn.cox@blueyonder.co.uk
Marshals Section Further details on any events please contact Chief Marshal Ruth Langford. 07855 487426 or.. owenmarshals@hotmail.co.uk A line picked up from the Autumn MSA magazine and how very true these words are, just think about this statement “We Don't pay our volunteers, not because we think they are worthless but because they are priceless” a perfect statement. Marshals required for Slithering Santa, Sunday 27th Dec. Day after Boxing Day at Curborugh [Organisers please forward dates of events should you wish them included in this section]
Results Barri Wilmot/Clare Bird, Carfax Stages, Throckmorton.... 3rd Class A, 19th o/all. Patriot Stages, Caerwent...... 2nd Class A, 27th o/all Clive King/Anton Bird Manx Rally, [First half] First o/all HRCR Old Stager Mini Cup. Event split into two rounds for “Old Stager”. [Second half] retired SS15 clutch release exploded. Cambrian, retired after SS3 with drive shaft failure (roughest event ever, story next time) [Competitors forward results if you want included in this section]
Next OMC REVS [Feb/March 2016] pre AGBO [Articles mid Feb latest] Manx Rally report and pictures , Cambrian Rally report, Rally Wales National report, Awards Dinner details, OMC @ The NEC Classic car show. We require your news, event reports, results good or bad, marshalling requirements, wants and sales, etc. Send to antonbird@talktalk.net
OMC welcome the following new members. Danny Smith, Acocks Green, Bham.— Thomas Deakin, Sutton in Ashfield. Howard Cottrell, Rugeley.
Regalia, Etc.
Base Ball Cap in stock £5 OMC Mug in stock £3
OMC 50th Anniversary pin badge £2.50 incl. Postage, contact editor.
New Deluxe club logos (see left) now available. Add £2.00 per garment to below
Polo Shirt Navy Blue Incl club Logo .....
£12.00
Pure Lamb’s Wool Jumper “V neck” .. Navy Blue, Incl club Logo.. £TBC Pure Lamb’s Wool Jumper “round neck” .. Navy Blue Incl.Club Logo.. £TBC Sweat shirt Navy Blue Incl club Logo .. £15.00 Round Neck “T” Shirt Navy Blue Incl club Logo ...£10.00 Soft-shell Fleece, Full length Zip front .... Navy Blue Incl club Logo... £32.00 All garments available S.M.L.XL.XXL and include the standard club logo embroidered in Yellow, other colours available on request. Baseball Cap Blue / Fawn insert in peak front, with club badge ....... £ 5.00 Club Logo (in required colour) embroidered to own garments...£7.50 Marshals Coats Day-Glo Orange, Short with club logo on rear £22.00 Marshals Coats Day-Glo Orange Long with Club logo on rear £20.00 All items are to order through Clare Bird ... Email .. [birdy_2212@hotmail.co.uk] NEW SUPPLIER NO DELIVERY/POSTAL CHARGE We have in Stock: Navy Blue with club logo embroidered. T Shirt L x 2 ....£5.00 each T Shirt S x 2 ....£5.00 each Sweatshirt L x 1 ...£10.00, Baseball Caps ....£5.00
O we n M o t o r i n g C l u b
Nov 13-15 Once again OMC have stand space at this prestigious NEC show, this will be our sixteenth consecutive year, the stand will comprise of The club have been allocated a limited number of passes for each day. Attendees for stand manning on Friday, Saturday or Sunday contact Martin Parkes, Robert Cotterell or Roger Tristram our show coordinators.