December 2008 / January 2009 - The British Automobile Racing Club

VOLUME 21 No 6
DECEMBER 2008 / JANUARY 2009
STARTLINE
M A G A Z I N E
Merry Christmas everyone...
THE OFFICIAL BRITISH AUTOMOBILE RACING CLUB MEMBERS’ PUBLICATION
£3.00
(Free to BARC Members)
...Now go play with your new toy!

BRITISH AUTOMOBILE RACING CLUB
ANNUAL AWARDS
REMINDER
SATURDAY 14th FEBRUARY 2009
To ‘wine & dine’, celebrate with all our
champions and then dance the night away,
come to THE BIG NIGHT OUT
Copthorne Hotel and Resort, Effingham Park,
Copthorne, West Sussex RH10 3EU
It’s not too late to book.
Telephone 01264 882200 or visit www.barc.net
Cover Photos:
Jacob Ebrey
COPY DATE FOR FEB/MAR EDITION DUE
10TH FEBRUARY 2009
design: ross saunders
designprint@theromangroup.co.uk
printed by: the roman group
Bournemouth, Dorset 01202 424222
CONTENTS VOL 21 No 6
News 5
Trucks from Donington & Pembrey 6-7
On The Far Side 8-9
Andy Priaulx MBE Interview 10-12
Carrera Cup Scholarships 14-15
Tales of a Tyre Technician 16-18
Finale at Gurston Hillclimb 21
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december 08 / january 09
EDITORIAL
Having just returned from
Dubai to a very cold UK,
you will be pleased to
know that it is not only our
weather which is somewhat
unsettled at the moment.
Due to some very unsettled
weather, particularly an
overnight storm, the final
day of the Dubai Autodrome
racing weekend had to be
cancelled due to some flooding at various parts of the circuit. (See picture).
Fortunately the FIA GT3 championship was decided during the races on Friday, and
hopefully the local Speedcar championship and GP2 Asia races that were not able to run
on the Saturday will be rescheduled later in their respective championships.
The team of marshals and officials that travelled with us to the event were obviously
disappointed, but as you can see from the photograph, taken just before our return to the
UK, remained in good spirits, that despite not being able to partake of any alcohol from
the Saturday afternoon due to the Eid al-Adha festival.
Hamish Brown and his hard working staff now have a big job in getting the circuit
back into its normal pristine state for forthcoming events and we wish them well with
this task.
Very little remains now for me to do other than wish you and your
families a truly great festive season, thank you all for your input
into the club during 2008 and look forward to seeing you in 2009.
Dennis Carter
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
BARC offices closed from midday Wednesday 24th December 2008
BARC offices reopen Monday 5th January 2009
Big Night Out Saturday 14th February 2009
AGM Wednesday 20th May 2009
General Testing at Thruxton
Friday 20th February 2009
(see business section page 05 for details)
Higgins Makes History 22
Centre Reports 23-29
All our Yesterdays 30
Marshals Matter 32
Book Reviews 33
Caption Contest 34
Crossword 35

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december 08 / january 09
BARC MEMBERS WELCOME
Hayburn Wyke Guest House
72 Castle Road, Salisbury, Wilts, SP1 3RL
B+B, Competitive Rates, 1 / 2 mile City Centre,
12 miles Thruxton, 7 miles Gurston
Tel: 01722 412627
Email : hayburn.wyke@tinyonline.co.uk
Website: www.hayburnwykeguesthouse.co.uk
GENERAL TESTING
BARC (Pembrey) Ltd.
Pembrey Circuit,
Pembrey, Llanelli,
Carmarthenshire SA16 0HZ
Tel: 01554 891042
Fax: 01554 891387
Email: pembrey@barc.net
Website: www.barc.net
Call for details and bookings.
BARC
CENTRES
MIDLANDS
Chairman: Alan Ward
Secretary: Mrs Noreen Ward
101, Arnolds Crescent,
Newbold Verdon,
Leicester LE9 9LW
Tel: 01455 824494 (H)
noreenward@tiscali.co.uk
NORTH WESTERN
Chairman: Ray Sumner
Secretary: Peter Gorrie,
190 Blackpool Old Road,
Poulton-le-Fylde,
Lancashire,
FY6 7RL
Tel: 01253 884580 (H)
petergorrie@f2s.com
ONTARIO
President: Mike McDiamid
Secretary: Amy McCleary
BARC, Ontario Centre,
P.O. Box 1282,
Station K, Toronto,
Ontario M4P 3E5,
Canada
www.BARC-OC.com
GENERAL TESTING
EVERY WEDNESDAY
Cars: 9am – 12.30
£94 one car, one driver
£42 for extra driver
Motorcycles: 1:30pm – 5pm
Solo £47 Sidecar £47
01455 842931
www.mallorypark.co.uk
SOUTH EASTERN
Chairman: Rod Birley
Secretary: Howard Smith,
60 Algers Road, Loughton
Essex, IG10 4NG
Tel: 020 8508 1567
william.smith@ntlworld.com
SOUTH WESTERN
Chairman:
Simon Harratt
Secretary: Tim Pitfield
West End,
Higher Frome
Vauchurch,
Dorchester,
Dorset, DT2 0AU
Tel: 01300 320100 (H)
timpitfield@westend16.fsnet.co.uk
15% DISCOUNT
CLAIM 15% DISCOUNT WHEN YOU
JOIN, RENEW MEMBERSHIP AND
SWITCH FROM YOUR CURRENT
BREAKDOWN SERVICE TO RAC.
Contact:
0870 5 722 722 for more details
DRIVING CENTRE/
TESTING
Croft Circuit
Croft on Tees
North Yorkshire
DL2 2PN
Tel: (01325) 721815
Fax: (01325) 721819
www.croftcircuit.co.uk
BARC WALES
Chairman:
Alun Morgan
Secretary: Miss Jenny Butler,
7, Manor Road,
Rangeworthy,
Bristol, BS37 7LR
Tel: 01454 228384
YORKSHIRE
Chairman:
Tim Wilson
Secretary: John English
32 Farfield Avenue,
Knaresborough,
North Yorkshire,
HG5 8HB
Tel: 01423 865134 (H)
barcyorkshire@ntlworld.com
BRITISH AUTOMOBILE RACING CLUB Club Officials
OFFICERS Hon. Treasurer: P. F. Chubb Hon. Legal Adviser: G. M. Woodward
COUNCIL MEMBERS F. J. Bradley, J. D. Cawsey, J.R. Champkin, S. N. Clark, L. J. Felix, N. J. Frost, M. H. Groves (Chairman),
J. C. Hopkinson, M.P. Hunt, N. H. Pearce, D. L. Standley
THRUXTON (BARC) LTD. M. H. Groves (Chairman), D. I. Carter, W. Coombs, P. C. Walker
BARC (PEMBREY) LTD. M. H. Groves (Chairman), D. I. Carter, J. Champkin, P. Davies, L. J. Felix, N. Frost, R. Jenkins, F. Myerscough
CROFT PROMOSPORT LTD. J. M. Holroyd (Chairman), D. I. Carter, P. F. Chubb, M. H. Groves G. M. Woodward
MALLORY PARK (Motorsport) LTD. M. H. Groves (Chairman), P. F. Chubb, G. M. Woodward, D. I. Carter, D. A. Ward
THRUXTON MOTORSPORT CENTRE W. Coombs (Chairman), D. I. Carter, M. H. Groves, P. F. Chubb, D. W. Moulton
BARC(TOCA) LTD. D. I. Carter (Chairman), M.H. Groves, P.F. Chubb, G.M. Woodward, A.J. Gow
BRITISH AUTOMOBILE RACING CLUB TEL: 01264 882200. FAX: 01264 882233. Thruxton Circuit, Andover, Hampshire SP11 8PN
e-mail: info@barc.net website: www.barc.net
THRUXTON MOTORSPORT CENTRE TEL: 01264 882222. FAX: 01264 882201 E-mail: info@thruxtonracing.co.uk www.thruxtonracing.co.uk
LETTER OF THANKS
Dear Michael (Groves),
Having just read your interview (Startline October/November issue) I just
had to drop you a line to congratulate you on the wonderful job you have
done for so long at the BARC.
I have been a member for a long time although my latter years were and
are spent racing in Historics mostly with the HSCC.
Interestingly when I became Chairman of the HSCC (which I held for ten
years and was quite long enough as I was becoming ‘stale’), the Club was
in effect bankrupt and together with Grahame White and Derek Downing,
our Treasurer, we created a very viable Club – happily now in a very strong
position – I always thought our move to Silverstone helped enormously
courtesy, then, of John Fitzpatrick who was an absolute gentleman to
deal with.
May I just finish by saying you have done a wonderful job not just in the
BARC but for the whole of Motorsport and I, for one, am truly grateful, you
have served your members extremely well.
Thank you very much and with all the best for the future.
Yours sincerely,
Nicholas Overall
FORMULA RENAULT UK
CELEBRATES ANNIVERSARY
WITH BACK-TO-BACK
WORLD CHAMPIONS
Lewis Hamilton’s Formula One World Championship
victory makes history as not only the youngest ever F1
champion but, in succeeding Kimi Räikkönen, secures
back-to-back world titles for Formula Renault UK
champions. Since becoming a single-chassis formula in
2000, the single-seater series has produced two World
Champions and McLaren driver, Heikki Kovalainen, while
2008 F1 runner-up, Felipe Massa, was the 2000 Formula
Renault Italian champion.
In the current era of multiple one-make single-seater
championships, Formula Renault UK has an unmatched
pedigree among national level series. Sporting and technical
equity remains the foundation of the championship as it
prepares for its 20th anniversary season, enhancing the
competition to develop drivers’ skills to a very high level.
Räikkönen was the inaugural champion when the
Formula Renault 2.0 car was introduced in 2000 as the
sole car to be used in the UK series. Hamilton, after
making his car racing debut in the 2001 Formula Renault
UK Winter Series, finished third in 2002 before romping
to the title in 2003. Both drove for the Manor Motorsport
team which now competes under the name of Manor
Competition.
From the 2002 season, champion Danny Watts became
a successful and versatile racer, culminating in his recent
selection as A1GP Team Great Britain’s driver in 2008.
Meanwhile, Vice-Champion, Jamie Green won the McLaren
Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award. Green
was succeeded as the Young Driver award winner by Alex
Lloyd, Vice-Champion to Hamilton in 2003.
From 2004 and 2005, respective champions, Mike
Conway and Oliver Jarvis, both went on to win the
prestigious Macau F3 Grand Prix. Paul di Resta, third
overall in 2004, and Jarvis were chosen as Young Driver
Award winners, completing a remarkable run of four
consecutive winners of the prestigious prize to come
from Formula Renault UK. As a result of the McLaren F1
test element of the prize, di Resta has forged strong links
with the manufacturer with which he races in DTM.
In 2008, Formula Renault UK Champion, Adam
Christodoulou, Formula Renault UK Vice-Champion,
Alexander Sims, and Formula Renault UK Graduate Cup
Champion, Dean Stoneman received three of the five
nomination places for the McLaren Autosport Award.
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december 08 / january 09
OBITUARY
RICHARD WARD
Richard Ward, one of the most successful club racers
of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s died last week after an
illness. Best known for racing his highly modified Lotus
Elan at Oulton Park, Ward lost his battle with cancer at
the age of 65.
One of club racing’s true gentlemen, Ward raced
regularly in the North West Sports/Saloons and served for many years as a
drivers’ representative on the committee of the NW Centre of the BARC.
More recently, Richard and his wife Barbara lived in both Cyprus and Greece,
but his passion for the sport kept him competing in both races and rallies,
latterly with a historic specification Lotus Elan in which he tackled the Historic
Acropolis Rally.
Having returned to the UK for treatment, Richard had his last race at the
Oulton Park Gold Cup in August when Alan Minshaw offered him the chance to
race a Chevron B8.
The BARC sends condolences to Barbara and Richard’s many friends in the
sport, particularly those from the NW Sports/Saloon Championship.
Paul Lawrence
NEW LOOK FOR FORMULA RENAULT BARC
CHAMPIONSHIP IN 2009
Exciting changes are in store for the Formula Renault BARC Championship as it becomes a single-class
series in 2009. The low-cost single-seater series will be solely for Formula Renault 2.0 cars, which have
identical chassis to those used in the BTCC-supporting Formula Renault UK Championship. The successful
club-level series is now established as the ideal starting point for a single-seater career, while retaining its
club racing values.
The last four seasons have seen a sustained level of interest in the series, which offers the chance to race
modern carbon-fibre cars at club level. A mix of young and experienced racers, privateers and established
teams and manufacturer support make it currently the strongest single-seater championship in the UK.
Ten drivers who raced in Formula Renault UK in 2007 and 2008 have previously raced in Formula
Renault BARC, including new Formula Renault UK Graduate Cup champion Dean Stoneman. Meanwhile,
Hywel Lloyd made the step straight into Formula Three, demonstrating the superb opportunities for
progression.
Registrations have reached capacity in the last two seasons as the championship has gone from strength
to strength since coming under Renault Sport UK’s wing in 2005. In anticipation of an equally large grid the
points system is changing to reward the top 20 finishers.
The change reflects the system used in Formula Renault UK, meaning the race winner will receive 32
points with 28 and 25 for second and third. The bonus point for pole position is being dropped, replaced by
two points for the fastest lap of the race.
An increase in the per round prize fund sees the top six finishers receiving prize money, from £200 for
the race winner to £50 for sixth place. The total prize fund will now be £700 per round.
New for 2009 is the Privateer Cup, open to all competitors who register as driver entries. Privateer
drivers have made a major contribution to the development of the championship and the new award is
designed to reflect their valued participation. The champion Privateer will receive a trophy and a cheque
for £500 at the end of the season.
Commenting on the changes, Championship Manager Simon North said: “Formula Renault BARC is
a championship we’re very proud of in the way it has grown since Renault Sport UK became involved in
2005. With the switch to a single class, it’s an ideal time to make improvements such as rewarding a larger
percentage of the field with championship points.
“The Privateer Cup is very important because it ensures the series is not only for young drivers looking
to start a single-seater career, but also for those who want to experience club racing in state-of-the-art cars.
The fact that privateer racers can pit their skills against up and coming youngsters is a fascinating element of
the championship.”
LETTER OF THANKS
Dear Dennis (Carter),
I would just like to thank you for the lovely obituary in the previous ‘Startline’ which summed up Dennis
completely. Although I’m sure he would have said, “What a load of rubbish!” or words to that effect.
I have actually just got round to reading it properly as I couldn’t deal with it before.
I would like to say a big thank you from all those concerned for all the help and support I have received
from so many people.
It will be a while before normality returns, if it ever does, but I hope to see many of you sometime in the
New Year, maybe at some races.
Thank you once again for all your cards and messages.
Carroll (Mum!) Harris.

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december 08 / january 09
BY JONATHAN REEVES
ALL-ACTION AT PEMBREY AND BRANDS
The 2008 truck racing season concluded with two action-packed meetings at Pembrey and Brands Hatch.
The Autumn truck meeting down in South Wales
was blessed with some fine weather, a large crowd
and plenty of wheel-to-wheel heavyweight action.
In Class ‘A’ that man Stuart Oliver clinched the
Delphi British Championship (for a record eighth
time!) with a dominant performance on both days
at Pembrey. Stuart took three victories plus three
fastest laps – enough to ensure the title was secure
with one meeting to spare.
The threat from his main challenger, Chris
Levett, faded as the Bromsgove driver suffered
a puncture in one outing while a fuel primer unit
forced him to miss the third race of the weekend.
But when one MAN drops out there are plenty
of others to fill the podium: David Jenkins – after a
slow start due to poor set-up and brake troubles –
stepped up the pace and took a strong runner-up
spot in the final outing while Mat Summerfield had
to be content with a pair of third places.
Stuart Oliver driving towards his eighth championship win!
The Class ‘B’ battles were fast and furious, as
usual. At Pembrey it was Garry George who hit
top form, taking his Foden to one third place and
two victories.
But in championship terms there was no
catching Cees Zandbergen, who secured the Class
‘B’ crown with a win, a third and a second. The
man most likely to threaten the Dutchman, Elton
Boocock – had to settle for a pair of second places
and a third.
After the pleasant conditions at Pembrey the
prospects for Brands didn’t look bright – with heavy
rain blighting the Kent circuit on the Saturday.
The Class ‘B’ boys had to brave the partly
flooded circuit and
Jenkins (Sisu) and
Zandbergen
had a great
fight until
Dave spun off, recovering to take third behind
Cees and George.
Sunday was a lot better with very cool but
sunny conditions. Although the championship
titles had already been decided, the racing was
fast and furious with three red flags unfortunately
interrupting the action.
Stuart Oliver was again untouchable in Class ‘A’
with the runner-up spots falling to Jenkins (MAN)
and Richard Collett. Levett’s day didn’t start well
as he landed up parked on the barriers exiting
Druids on the opening lap of race one, avoiding
the spinning Jenkins. Some major repairs saw him
come back to take third (and fastest lap) in the final
outing. Steve Horne, who again had his energies
diverted in all directions as he organised a fabulous
trackside truck show as well as piloting his mighty
Merc, came through to gain a third and a fourth.
In Class ‘B’ it was Hone Junior (Ben) in the Volvo
White who claimed victory in the final outing of
the year. Zandbergen had been leading with Jenks
hard on his tail but the Dutchman got spun out and
Jenks got a black flag as his engine caught fire! So
Ben claimed his first race win followed home by
Garry George and ‘local lad’, Graham Powell, in
the ERF.
By JONATHAN REEVES
Stuart Oliver shows off his trophy
Class B trucks thunder into the first corner at Brands
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december 08 / january 09
Fraught racing at Pembrey!
Cees has a ‘small moment’ at Brands Fraught racing at Brands
The Class ‘B’ boys had to brave a partly flooded track at Brands Hatch
Very close racing at Pembrey!
PHOTOS: ©JONATHAN REEVES

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december 08 / january 09
ON THE FAR SIDE
Spider marshal has a day off from his day job with New York’s Daily Bugle. © Bruce Grant-Braham
It’s that time again for some seasonal frivolity at the expense of some of our best BARC friends…
Happy Christmas one and all and see you next season……
SEAT, Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr; Vauxhall, Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! © Bruce Grant-Braham
In credit crunch times ITV 4 camera crew play their title music live! © Bruce Grant-Braham
Cherie Lunghi puts her Strictly Come Dancing experience to good effect! © Bruce Grant-Braham
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december 08 / january 09
Its OK Anthony, I’ve arranged for a little trick on the Massa
family on the last lap in Brazil! © Bruce Grant-Braham
John Felix evaluates the Club’s new rapid response vehicle and its crew… © Bruce Grant-Braham
Sparklers were attached to the bike for added spectacle! © Paul Korkus Fly my kite! © Bruce Grant-Braham
The practice for the new 2012 Olympic discipline ‘Bike to Luge’ went very well… © Paul Korkus

startline 10
december 08 / january 09
We knew it was going to be tight but the
arrangement was to meet Andy in the Grosvenor
Hotel, Park Lane in London at 3.00pm on,
Sunday 7th December. He was staying as a guest
of BMW to attend the Autosport Awards in the
Ballroom that evening. So between a bit
of Christmas shopping in Oxford Street
with his wife Jo and their two children
and getting his DJ back from the
dry cleaners, he sat down with
Startline in the hotel reception
and we began our chat by
asking about his
interesting family
name: Priaulx.
AN INTERVIEW WITH
Andy Priaulx
ANDY PRIAULX: Obviously it’s a Guernsey name
with a little bit of a French sound to it coming from the
fact that we were connected to France many years ago
and in fact my previous generation and the generation
before that actually spoke a Guernsey Patois, a type of
French, which my father-in-law still speaks. Although
we show allegiance to the Queen and fly the Union Jack
Flag we are self governing. We are quite independent
people and have our own economy. A few years ago it
was tomatoes but now it’s more finance and tourism!
My father has actually traced our name through the
family tree back to William the Conqueror! Apparently
we were pirates or something like that!
STARTLINE: What was your trade before
going into Motorsport?
AP: We have always been hard working from a
working class background invovled mainly with farming
but very entrepreneurial. There is a Priaulx Library on
Guernsey and a lot of the land was given to the States
of Guernsey by the Priaulx family and I think it was my
Great Grandfather who was involved in banking on
Guernsey as well. But my direct family, especially my
by Trevor Swettenham
MBE
Father and my Grandfather, were in the motor trade.
Years and years in the motor trade and motorsport
which included sand racing and hillclimbing. This is
where I began as a mechanic but I have known racing
all my life. I was buying and selling cars plus whatever
it took to make money to go racing!
STARTLINE: Did you say you did powerboat
racing?
AP: Yes, I did a full season, but to be honest
anything with an engine and a throttle interested
me. My Father was a very successful powerboat
man, he used to race around the islands and the
UK. We used to own a ski boat; I’m really keen on
waterskiing. I said to Dad I would like to race this
thing and it was very cheap and a lot of fun. But my
racing background was motorbikes, karting and a
lot of hillclimbing before I made the switch to
circuit racing.
STARTLINE: Was a lot of this on Guernsey?
AP: There is a lot of motor racing in Guernsey and
indeed in the Channel Islands. There is motorbike
racing, a good kart track and as I mentioned before,
sand racing, motocross, hillclimbing and sprinting.
Of course it always was just going to be fun on the
islands but then you would break a few records and
this would make you think you could do something
more serious, so we tried to have a go in the UK
and I had a lot of success in my first season in
hillclimbing in an F1 hillclimb car. There’s no such
thing as a Formula 1 class, but this car was a single
seater powered by a 4ltr DFL V8 600+ bhp engine.
I won the championship and that sort of launched
me into the spotlight really. Then to make it from
‘grass roots’ sports to being a paid professional
racing driver is a whole new story – well. I’ve written
a book about it, that’s how tough it was!
STARTLINE: Andy Priaulx, my Autobiography.
AP: Hopefully an inspirational read – I’ve been told
it is – I sort of wanted the story more about how I
raised the money, the struggles and the fights plus the
good results and the bad! For example my wife Jo and
I living in a caravan at Silverstone for a year just so that
I could go racing!
STARTLINE: Was that in British Formula 3
with Alan Docking?
AP: Yes, well my second year was with Alan but my
first was with Promatecme and before that I won
the Renault Spyder Championship with 13 wins and
13 poles and 11 fastest laps which really annoys me,
2 fastest laps I missed there! After that I did two
years of Formula 3 which I am very proud about.
The results were good I was a regular podium visitor
and won some races in a very competitive year with
very little money! To get through Formula 3 is tough.
We didn’t have big family funding it was literally what
I could get. You know at one time I had 38 sponsors,
I was literally checking the colour of the mayonnaise
in the hospitality suite before I was getting into the
car! That was a tough, tough time and then I was
recognised having done well in that formula and at
the end of the season I got the one off chance with
Vauxhall in the British Touring Car Championship,
where I ‘poled’ it in both races and that was it really,
I never looked back.
STARTLINE: Was that really your turning
point?
AP: Yes, Vauxhall gave me the chance but BMW
was the turning point. I did sign up for two years with
Honda in BTCC but after one year they backed out
which left me high and dry. But while in the Bathurst
race in Australia I got a call from Peter Walker BMW
UK to say I was on his list. I flew back, did the deal with
them and never looked back.
STARTLINE: Probably a question continuously
put to you, but do you regret never getting into
Formula 1?
AP: Everyone aims for F1. It was really hard for me in
F3 seeing drivers go through to F1 who I had beaten on
the track but you knew it was purely money. I do feel
completely comfortable that I left no stone unturned
in my career and I am very proud to be one of the
few professional drivers and being able to win world
titles. I absolutely have no regrets at all, in other words
I don’t wake up in the morning and say I wish I was in
F1! I even go to F1 races as an ambassador for BMW,
I don’t feel any form of envy at all. I feel proud that
I am there and recognised by them for what I have
done and a lot of the F1 drivers do respect what I have
achieved. I think if you have recognition in your sport
at the highest level that’s all you can expect the rest is
about opportunity. I was still learning in F3 and it had
only been three years since hillclimbing so F1 passed
me by but I have driven an F1 to prove my speed and
that was enough and I was really happy, so no regrets.
STARTLINE: Any scary moments?
AP: Yes, quite a lot of times you get a bit scared. I
think my first race at Oulton Park when I had a guy
drive over the top of me; I thought I had killed him!
There was an accident, I lifted and he went up the
back of me and literally bounced end over end beside
me. This was the same year I rolled the Renault but
none of them set me back. They just remind you that
you are sometimes just a passenger! But I have spoken
to many people before, that when you are fully
committed, you don’t have fear. You have confidence,
you do have respect and when you are not committed
that’s when the fear comes in and that’s when you are
most likely to be dangerous so I always try to drive
with commitment and control. But to answer your
question I think the scariest moments of my career
was not knowing if I could find the money for the next
race!
STARTLINE: BARC Gold Medals…..
AP: Lovely, fantastic, very, very nice. To have
recognition from your own sport is the most
important thing. I suppose being a triple world
champion I expected more from the media but it
didn’t come because the championship has not a
high enough profile. To have the recognition in your
sport is very humbling and a great honour to have the
BARC Gold Medals and the BRDC Gold Star and now
the MBE.
STARTLINE: How did you find out you had
been given an MBE?
AP: It came in the post really; the States of Guernsey
had approached me and said they would like to put
my name forward. Not only for the world titles but
also the charity work within the Premature Baby
Foundation that we run. So after a couple of years
the Guernsey press were pushing for ‘Sir Andy’ and
I was a bit embarrassed about it. The government in
Guernsey were really proud of what I had achieved,
hence the two sets of stamps they’ve produced in
my name! Of course when the letter arrived from
Her Majesty I was away testing and Jo phoned me
saying a letter addressed to Andy Priaulx MBE had
arrived and it was asking me to go to Buckingham
Palace to collect the honour! I was able to take the
family and what a great day!
STARTLINE: If you hadn’t got into
motorsport what do you think you might be
doing now?
AP: The alternative is too ugly even to consider!
Probably doing something that is almost
unachievable, that has some sort of risk factor.
I mean when you commit so much to your route
there was no other option and there was no
alternative for me I was in so deep as well, financially,
that I couldn’t fail. No alternative really excites me,
that’s the problem. I tried to get excited about
how being an MBE, might open up other business
opportunities but at the moment my mind is
‘tunnel visioned’ with my motor racing.
STARTLINE: And for the future, what are
your plans?
AP: Well I will continue racing for as long as I can,
I’m 34 now but look at Tarquini still winning races
at 46! But perhaps at a later date I will put my
hand to helping young drivers or maybe potentially
manage a top team at the highest level. But as long
as I am fast I will stay racing. There is still a lot more
I want to achieve. I would love to drive at Le Mans,
I know from the testing I have done, that my style
suites endurance racing. As for the World Saloon
Car Championship, it is a championship that is
growing. It really is getting bigger and bigger every
year. I don’t like the rules. This year you have got
to say that Seat have done fantastically well and
Yvan (Muller) has done a brilliant job to win the
title, he is a great driver and so I have no problem
handing my trophy over to him but, you know,
BMW didn’t have a chance because of the rules and
so that needs to change. Hopefully equality within
the rules will mean that we can fight again for the
title. What I have learnt over the past four years is
that there is a least ten guys who can win races in
the championship and I have the up most respect
for them all, so I don’t think automatically I can
win but I do think I should have another go at the
championship!
STARTLINE: What was this quote that you
have ‘loaned’ the WTCC trophy to Yvan?
AP: That’s a bit of fun!! It sounds quite arrogant
but at the end of the day I am so motivated to win
it back. Jo said, “What does it feel like now that
you aren’t a world champion?” Well it doesn’t feel
any different because you are only world champion
for one night, like tonight (Autosport awards) and
then the new year begins and you start from zero
again. It takes a while for your confidence to deal
with that and you come in expecting respect and
in fact you get the opposite. You have a lack of
respect because the more successful you are the
more people, especially in Touring Cars, want your
glory. That means sometimes they will ‘fire you
off’, there is no respect for you as a champion. So
now I am pleased because somebody else has got

startline 12
december 08 / january 09
the pressure. I successfully defended that title for
1000 days in 88 races and now I can concentrate
on myself again. When you win a championship
your promotion doubles and that takes you away
from your driving. So now I can focus on my driving,
myself and my family again and get myself really fit, I
will be running the London Marathon. It is unloading
my mind, and I mean that with the greatest respect.
I’m not expecting to get the championship title back
I’m just focusing on getting it back. Expectation is a
dangerous thing in motor racing.
STARTLINE: A topical question: what are your
thoughts on Honda pulling out of Formula 1?
AP: I’m devastated, because I’m good friends
with Jenson (Button). Big manufacturers make
big decisions and it makes us all feel very exposed
when you see something like that. The economy
has had an impact. But my philosophy is that the
marketing value of Formula 1 is so high, so that
when things get hard maybe you should increase
the exposure of your brand. My Grandfather always
said if you want to sell a balloon – blow it up! It is a
shame but I am sure BAR will bounce back with Ross
Brawn. Next years car is supposed to be very good.
They have very strong expectations for the car doing
well. I hope their decision is not an over reaction but
the economy is so bad at the moment and I suppose
you have to make big, big decisions. Formula 1 is so
expensive! But I believe it does sell cars. You can’t
underestimate the power of the brand. BMW has
built its name in Touring Cars. BMW will always be in
Touring Cars as the ‘M sport’ brand has been built by
success in the Touring Car Championships. I feel that I
am with one of the most stable of manufacturers.
STARTLINE: Will you be receiving anything at
the Awards tonight?
AP: No, purely a guest of BMW. Last year was a bit of a
disappointment to me. I came here as world champion
and it wasn’t recognised. I have had good support
from Autosport over the years so I can’t complain.
Unfortunately last year was a bit of a mistake. They
did have a video link set up, but they missed their cue.
Those sorts of things do hurt you deep down. Because
you come to the event proudly, you have raced for
BMW UK, you are a British driver, and you have won
the world title not once but three times and they miss
the cue! But normally Autosport have been really
good. The media are the hardest. If its not football,
Formula 1 or Cricket they’re not interested! That’s the
thing for me that actually maybe helped me the most
because then you realise that you have to focus 100%
on yourself the world doesn’t become a different place
the next day, then you start to look within yourself
to get to enjoy what you do and that is what I have
managed to find. I’ve got real enjoyment and I don’t
rely on outward recognition, it’s just that I really love
my job, so maybe that is the right balance!
PHOTOS: ©BMW AG
TYRES SHAVED
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in buffing
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startline 14
december 08 / january 09
BRADSHAW AND HOPKINS WIN
CARRERA CUP GB SCHOLARSHIPS
Tom Bradshaw and Lewis Hopkins have been
announced as the winners of the Carrera Cup GB
Scholarship Programme for 2009 and will each receive
£50,000 towards racing in the Carrera Cup GB next season. Both will now race on the BARC-organised
BTCC support programme in what is sure to be the biggest year of their racing careers to date.
Nineteen year-olds, Bradshaw (Blackburn)
and Hopkins (Winchester), were
selected from six finalists after two days
of intensive evaluation at Silverstone
in the programme designed to find two drivers
to follow the path of Richard Westbrook to being
a professional sports car racer. In 2008 Bradshaw
raced in Formula Palmer Audi, while Hopkins raced
in Caterham Roadsports, and both had excellent
seasons in these very competitive championships.
“I still can’t believe it”, said Bradshaw after the
announcement. “It’s an amazing opportunity with
a huge manufacturer behind me and I can’t wait to
get started. I want a career in sports car racing and
this is a massive boost. It’s a great car and a great
championship. It will be a steep learning curve but
I’m confident I can be up at the front.”
“It feels amazing; I’ve never felt like this before,”
said Hopkins. “I wanted it but I wasn’t expecting
it. It means everything for my career and I can do
what I really want to do in 2009. This has been
a great experience and I’m really grateful for the
opportunity. The commitment of Porsche is amazing.”
While only two drivers could be selected for
the Scholarship, the other four finalists will all get a
chance to race in the Carrera Cup GB after learning
that they would each spend a weekend racing the
VIP car during the 2009 season. This additional
award will allow Aaron Steele (Chatham), Andrew
Herron (Co Down), Tom Sharp (Camberley) and
Richard Singleton (Conwy) to show their ability in
the 911GT3 Cup car.
“Initially, the Scholarship programme was a toein-the-water
exercise, but it has quickly become a
fundamental part of Carrera Cup GB and it feels like
such a right thing to do”, said Geoff Turral, Marketing
Director, Porsche Cars GB Limited. “The breadth
of the evaluation they have gone through has really
got under the skin of what these guys are all about
and that feels so naturally Porsche. I’m really pleased
with how the programme has worked and it’s given
us a lot to talk about on Carrera Cup. There’s a real
buzz about Carrera Cup for 2009”.
Westbrook was on hand throughout the
evaluation to work with the drivers and will act as a
mentor to Bradshaw and Hopkins over the coming
year. Westbrook, the 2004 Carrera Cup Champion,
went on to win the international Porsche Supercup
in both 2006 and 2007 and is now a Porsche factory
driver competing in a programme of international
GT racing. “Without learning my trade in the
Carrera Cup GB, I’d not be where I am now”,
said Westbrook. “The Scholarship Programme is a
massive opportunity for Tom and Lewis”.
Westbrook applauded Bradshaw and Hopkins,
and said that both drivers now have a fantastic
opportunity to prove themselves. “Tom was
excellent in the car and never put a foot wrong.
He was immediately quick and got quicker”, said
Westbrook. “His attitude was excellent, as were
his media skills and he’s got the desire to go into
sports car racing. Lewis hasn’t raced on slicks, yet he
was completely unfazed by the whole experience
of driving a car that is a monster compared to what
he is used to”, said Westbrook. “His pace was
superb and a big surprise. I saw raw natural ability”.
However, Westbrook says that all six finalists
were winners and he was hugely impressed with
the standard of the finalists, who included Andrew
Herron, Tom Sharp, Richard Singleton and Aaron
Steele. “I think there are six very lucky young drivers
out there,” said Westbrook. “It was tremendous
experience for them and I feel very proud to have
been part of it. I was able to witness first hand all
the emotions they went through over two days and
it was very nerve wracking,” said Westbrook of the
evaluation days at the Porsche Driving Experience
Centre at Silverstone. Westbrook took part in the
same rigorous fitness assessment and then tackled a
demanding assault course alongside the six finalists.
“I thought the final six were absolutely
phenomenal. There was a very hard fitness test and
the media training was very important. But the assault
course really tested their grit and determination.
Then came the most important bit, the driving. The
thing that I liked about them all was their immediate
comment when they first got out of the car. Driving
the 911GT3 Cup car blew them all away; they all
had huge smiles and thoroughly enjoyed driving it.
For young drivers, the Carrera Cup GB is an
extremely good move. There are a lot of young
drivers following the Formula 1 dream, just like I did
but sometimes you have to take stock and accept
that it’s not happening. It’s a hard decision to make.
Created and run by Porsche Cars GB, the
‘Carrera Cup GB Scholarship Programme’ provides
£50,000 to each of two drivers to use as a significant
element of their budget for the forthcoming Carrera
Cup GB season. From over 50 applicants, the
six finalists were selected for the evaluation
programme at the Porsche Driving Experience
Centre at Silverstone.
Paul Lawrence

startline 16
december 08 / january 09
TALES OF A TYRE TECHNICAN
XXIV GRAN PREMIO DI ROMA
It was often arranged, due to the competitive nature of Formula 2, that all the teams would test the week before a race
meeting and the Vallelunga Race was no exception. When the 14th Gran Premio di Roma, (the 7th round of the European
Formula 2 Championship), was to take place, a test day was organised. By Trevor Swettenham
For this meeting a small van was loaded with
tyres and fitting equipment and on this occasion
my fellow fitter, Bob Nesbitt, and I had to
wait for a few tyres to come off the factory
production line. This made us very late leaving
for our normal Portsmouth – Le Havre crossing
so this was cancelled and instead arrived at the
port of Dover at around 11.00pm. Happily we
were able to stay just outside the gates in a
B+B and in the morning took the Calais ferry at
6.00am without too much trouble. The journey
to Vallelunga normally takes two and a half days
with the first night stay at the Novotel Chamonix
in France, the second at Barberino near the
Mugello Circuit, north of Bologna, Italy, and the
final leg to Rome on the Tuesday morning.
Our main concern was to test as much as
we could with the ‘Hello Sweden’ sponsored
Bertram Schäfer Racing Maurer MM82 of
Tomas Kaiser. ‘Hello Sweden’ was formed by
Tomas to involve as many Swedish companies in
supporting ‘home grown’ racing drivers which,
of course, included himself.
When we arrived at the paddock in our
small van, we were confronted by a brand new
Bridgestone service vehicle and we knew then
that Bridgestone was about to start its serious
challenge into the racing tyre market, growing
Vallelunga Circuit
A sunrise at the Port of Dover 6.am!
stronger every year until its final goal - F1.
The 3 km Vallelunga Circuit, situated about
32 km north of Rome, was only a short drive
for the two technical guys, Roger Leworthy and
Malcolm Jones, who arrived from the airport to
run the test. Tomas Kaiser was a real down to
earth type of guy and wasn’t a bad driver too,
but I am sure he also enjoyed practical jokes.
VALLELUNGA 8TH MAY 1983
There was one thing which may or may not
have got in the way of Tomas’ racing career
and that was his love for chewing tobacco!
A habit designed for smokers who worked in
areas where cigarettes would have been a fire
hazard. Whenever Tomas finished his 10 or 15
test laps he would jump out of the car while
the mechanics did their stuff and our technical
Tomas Kaiser Testing The might of Bridgestone!
boys checked the pressures and temperatures
of the tyres, he produced the ‘baccy’ pouch
and another lump would be thrust between his
top lip and gum. I was fascinated by this. A few
moments later he would remove the ‘baccy’,
just like stubbing out a cigarette, get in the car
and do another 10–15 consistent laps. After
watching him for a couple of runs, I asked him
if it would be possible if I could try some of this
tobacco, which he had no problem with. Now
I know why he let me have some! I placed the
tobacco under my top lip just as he showed
me and told me to leave it there for a while. I
did this and with my face deformed similar to a
boxer wearing a gum shield, I continued to fit
his next set of test tyres. It was only after about
F2 Race Day Grid Vallelunga
5 minutes I realised that my head was beginning
to spin and I was finding it quite difficult to
keep my balance as the nicotine started to
pass directly into my blood stream! I began to
remove the tobacco, slowly at first trying not to
draw attention to myself, but as the feeling got
worse and in the ensuing panic I began clawing at
my mouth to try and get rid of every little bit but
it was too late! I had never had a head rush like
it! Much to the amusement of my boss and crew
and especially Tomas, who must have known
what would happen, I stumbled about trying to
find somewhere to fall down. I gave my excuses
and left, managing to roll along the side of the
van and climb into the cab where I promptly fell
across the seats. I was probably out cold for an
hour before I woke wondering where I was and
holding my head as if I had a massive hangover!
I thought at the time they can keep chewing
tobacco! Tomas did apologise and gave me one
of his sacred ‘Hello Sweden’ T-shirts, but it was
really my naivety that caught me out!
I had time to recover during the following
day, as there was a free day before qualifying
and with the brand new Fiat Uno hire car
- we hadn’t seen one of those before! - we did
the big sight seeing tour of Rome, including a visit
to The Vatican City to see the Pope’s version
of the Crown Jewels, the Colosseum and the
famous Fontana di Trevi.
The following day was the start of the
weekend’s events and after the busy un-timed

startline 18
december 08 / january 09
Pope John Paul II wasn’t in that day! St Peters Square, Vatican City. A part of Rome named after me – Fontana di Trevi!
and timed qualifying on Friday and Saturday,
Sunday saw the 20 starters begin the 65 lap race.
With only 14 finishers, Beppe Gabianni of Onyx
Racing won comfortably 10 seconds ahead of
the works Ralt of Jonathan Palmer. Tomas Kaiser
came 8th.
As for the journey home, the drive being
fairly uneventful, we took the night crossing
from Le Havre to Portsmouth. While waiting
on the docks, a huge tour bus with darkened
windows drove onto the ferry. Being curious,
I decided, during the crossing, to return to the
car decks (it seemed we could in those days!)
to take a look. I noticed that nobody had left
the coach and all the occupants stayed below.
While pretending to collect something from the
van, the door on the coach swished open and I
couldn’t believe it but standing looking straight
at me was Agnetha Fältskog the blonde singer
from Abba whom I had fancied ‘like mad’ in the
seventies! I continued to shuffle stuff around in
the van and was trying to think of an excuse to
talk to her and very quickly came up with an
As with all new models of hire cars they would have to be put through a ‘Top Gear’ style test!
idea and from my bag found the ‘Hello Sweden’
T-Shirt that Tomas had given me. When she
looked away again I quickly put it on! I locked
the van and walked nonchalantly towards her
thrusting out my chest, as if I was returning to
the passenger decks. She glanced down at my
chest, smiled and did say ‘hello’ but as I looked at
her and tried to reply, I became a gibbering wreck
and muttered some incoherant rubbish which was
meant to have just been a pleasant reply. At that
point she turned away and stepped back onto
the coach, the door closing behind her. I couldn’t
even try to imagine what was going through her
mind after being approached by this seemingly
simple, pigeon chested guy wearing a ‘Hello
Sweden’ T-shirt, but it was probably Jag måste
komma bort från den här dumbom (I must get
away from this ‘dumbom’!) Thoroughly deflated
and alone, I went back to the van, removed the
T-shirt and returned to the passenger deck. Later
that month it was revealed Agnetha had begun a
solo career and was beginning a tour of the UK
promoting her new single. Well, I did try!
The Roman Colosseum
Hello Sweden Test!
FORMULA
FACTS
After the demise of Formula 2 in 1984,
Bridgestone and Avon were much stronger
in the tyre market in 1985 and in that year,
the new F3000 grid was shared 50/50. To
reduce even further the costs of running a
F3000 car the tyre supply was put out to
tender, which Avon won and from 1986
became the sole supplier for a further
19 years until, in 2005, the championship
became GP2. ‘Hello Sweden Team’ is still
a going concern and although it began with
sponsoring motor racing, today it consists
of over 100 companies, which help sponsor
golf as their most dominant sport followed
by skiing, tennis, sailing and athletics.
Tomas is still the owner!
PHOTOS: ©TREVOR SWETTENHAM
DÉJÀ VU
All that time ago the BARC’s competition
calendar was inextricably linked with F2
which attracted the then current F1 drivers.
I would set off for weekends at Mallory Park,
Thruxton and Crystal Palace as a marshal to
see the equivalents of Hamilton and Massa in
my proverbial back yard.
Crystal Palace was always a favourite and I
seem to remember that practice and racing
took place either side of a Clubbie at Thruxton
so I would have a full weekend. At that time
I was a student and budget hotels hadn’t
been invented, even if I could have afforded
them, so I slept in a sleeping bag in my car – a
Triumph Vitesse which wasn’t exactly designed
for that purpose. I awoke at sunrise in a tennis
court converted into a car park in the centre of
Crystal Palace’s parkland circuit.
The South London track had a delightful
atmosphere and with manicured lawns, hedges
and the odd Christmas tree as background I
felt it was curiously similar to my Scalextric
set! It was narrow with unyielding railway
sleepers as barriers but the crowd could get
really close and it could be compared with
some of today’s street circuits. It certainly
had more space than parts of Macau or Pau.
The track had a long straight past the pits,
swept into darkness under the trees of the
Glades, plunged downhill past the ski slope
at Ramp and out into the sunshine at the back
passing the swimming pool and athletics track.
Soon the National Sports Centre would take
precedence and the circuit would be built over,
thereby consigning our National Sport – one at
which we do conspicuously well at – to history
in this location.
In 1972 the track held its last International race
meeting which was round 5 of the European F2
Crystal Palace circuit
startline 19
december 08 / january 09
In 2009 a new “F2” will appear and whilst eagerly anticipating this series my
mind immediately plunged back 36 years as memories of my early days with
the Club were triggered.
Graham Hill
Trophy. The paddock was entirely temporary
– no garages in those days – and round every
corner there seemed to be grand prix drivers.
There was Jo Siffert, Ronnie Peterson, and
Emerson Fittipaldi. Motul Rondel Racing run by
one Ron Dennis (whatever happened to him?)
had their graded driver (a driver ineligible for
championship points because of their pedigree)
Henri Pescarolo alongside Tim Schenken.
Nick Lauda – on his was to the John Player
British F2 title - was teamed up with Ronnie
Peterson in the works March team, and John
Coombs fielded Francois Cevert and Jean-
Pierre Jabouille in his Elf-sponsored March’s.
On raceday Cevert would share the fastest
lap – 102.96 mph – with overall winner Jody
Schekter in his McLaren. British hopes were
boosted by Graham Hill and also the Matchbox
Surtees cars of John Surtees himself and Mike
Hailwood. The latter seemed destined to
win the event but stub axle denied the everpopular
motorcyclist in the final with three laps
to go allowing Schekter to take the honours.
The 1972 F2 season was bedevilled by
engine problems as the new 2-litre regulations
spawned unreliable power plants but the
quality of the drivers was beyond criticism.
Great times and lets wish the new F2 success
- if it can replicate even half the atmosphere
provided back then it will be excellent.
by Bruce Grant-Braham
Francois Cevert
John Surtees
PHOTOS: ©BRUCE GRANT-BRAHAM

2008 CHAMPIONSHIP & AWARD WINNERS
SBD Motorsport Speed Championship
RICHARD HULBERT
2CV PARTS.com Championship
PHIL MYATT
Ibis Packaging Solutions Post Historic Touring
Car C’ship i.a.w. Dunlop
STEPHEN PRIMETT
Hammerite Racing Classic Group One Touring
Car C’ship i.a.w. Dunlop
JIM McLOUGHLIN
Track & Race Cars Pre ’93 Touring Car
Championship
ANDY DAVIES
Impressions Classic Modified Saloon
Championship
CHRIS LESTER
Lancaster Insurance MG Owners Club
Championship
LEE SULLIVAN
Legends Cars Championship
JOHN HIGGINS
Kumho BMW Championship
KARL CATLIFFE
Mini Challenge (Courtesy of 750MC)
MARTIN DEPPER
BARC / Dunlop Sport Maxx Cup
LEYTON CLARKE
Renault Clio Cup
BEN WINROW
SEAT Cupra Championship
JONATHAN ADAM
Pickup Truck Racing Championship
GAVIN SEAGER
Delphi British Truck Racing Association
Championship (Class B)
CEES ZANDBERGEN
Delphi British Truck Racing Association
Championship (Class A)
STUART OLIVER
Daily Telegraph Caterham
Academy Group One
TREVOR FOWELL
Daily Telegraph Caterham
Academy Group Two
MARK FULFORD
startline 20
december 08 / january 09
BookaTrack.com Caterham Graduate
Championship (Graduate Class)
GRAEME SMITH
BookaTrack.com Caterham Graduate
Championship (Super Graduate Class)
TREVOR NEWMAN
BookaTrack.com Caterham Graduate
Championship (Mega Graduate Class)
JAMIE ELLWOOD
MaX5 Championship
TOM ROCHE
Rawles Motorsport Austin Healey Club
Championship
PAUL CAMPFIELD
BARC Westfield Sportscar Championship
ANDREW SPENCER
Ginetta Junior Championship
DINO ZAMPARELLI
Texaco Havoline Ginetta Championship
SPENCER McCARTHY
Ginetta G50 Cup
NIGEL MOORE
Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain
(Pro – Am Class)
NIGEL RICE
Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain
(Professional Class)
TIM HARVEY
BARC Classic Clubmans Championship
(Class B) & the Tasman Cup
DAVE FACER
BARC Classic Clubmans Championship
(Class A) & the Clubmans Trophy
MARK CHARTERIS
BARC / Dunlop Clubmans Cup &
the Oceanair Trophy
DANIEL GIBSON
Radical Club Cup
JONATHAN WRIGHT
Radical UK Cup
DEREK JOHNSTON
Universal Racing Services Classic
Formula Ford 1600 Championship (Class B)
JONATHAN DAVIS
Universal Racing Services Classic
Formula Ford 1600 Championship (Class A)
STUART KESTENBAUM
Universal Racing Services Classic
Formula Ford 2000 Championship (Class B)
JEREMY MAIN
Universal Racing Services Classic Formula Ford
2000 C’ship (Overall Winner)
ANDY HUXTABLE
Formula Renault BARC Championship
Club Class
FRASER SMART
Formula Renault BARC Championship
FR2000 Class
OLI HANCOCK
Formula Renault UK Championship
ADAM CHRISTODOULU
Formula BMW Euro Series
ESTEBAN GUTIERREZ
Avon F3 Team Award
T - SPORT
Avon F3 Rookie Award
JAMIE ALGUERSUARI
British F3 Championship Team Award
CARLIN MOTORSPORT
British Formula 3 International Series
(National Class)
JAY BRIDGER
British Formula 3 International Series
(Overall Winner) & the Reg Parnell Trophy
JAMIE ALGUERSUARI
Hi Q MSA British Touring car Championship
FABRIZIO GIOVANARDI
ANNUAL AWARDS
To ‘wine & dine’, celebrate with all our champions
and then dance the night away, come to
THE BIG NIGHT OUT
Copthorne Hotel, London Gatwick
Saturday, 14th February, 2009.
T: 01264 882200 or www.barc.net
The predicted tense season finale went right down
to the final run of the year at the famous Wiltshire
speed venue on September 14th. Former double
champion, Steve Butts, running his familiar 1.9 Lotus
Elise was the first of the principal contenders in the
2008 Gates of Brockenhurst Gurston Down Hillclimb
Championship to take to the hill but spun out at high
speed in Hollow Bend on his first run. Long time
2008 championship leader Jim White’s first effort in
his 1.4 Austin Mini then added slightly his points tally.
However, having re-set the suspension alignment on
the back of his Elise, Butts pulled out a neat and tidy
run second time up to leapfrog White’s point total,
putting the Mini driver under pressure to deliver a
smooth run second time up. This White duly did but
he was nine hundredths of a second shy of the target
needed to overhaul Butts again. So 2004-5 Champion,
Butts, took his third Gurston title on 24.64 points
and White had to settle for the runner up spot with
24.56 points.
Meanwhile, in the BARC (SW) Top Ten Challenge,
three drivers were in with a shot at the title and first
to run, James Blackmore, driving his 1.6 OMS single
seater put in a storming first run time of 29.32 seconds
to pile the pressure on the other two contenders.
Dave Gardner was next to run in driving partner John
Forsyth’s 3.5 Pilbeam but he was 0.28 seconds shy of
Blackmore, while minutes later Forsyth could only
close to within 11 hundredths of the OMS! Blackmore
failed to improve on the second runs but unfortunately
for him the other contenders did, especially Gardner
who set a super smooth 28.81 seconds time to set
Best Time of the Day and take the maximum 10 points,
making his season’s total 28 points and taking the Top
Ten Challenge. Partner Forsyth responded well but
was 0.28 seconds slower than Gardner to take second
overall on the day and in the Challenge on 27 points.
CLASS ACTION
There was action aplenty throughout the entry,
especially in the invitation classes. Nick Stephens was
just two hundredths shy of the Ginetta class record in
his 2.0 G12 but both of the Austin Healey car classes
saw new records. Tom Walker set a new ‘Big Healey
and Warwick Cars’ record in his 3000 Mk 1 by nearly
one and a half seconds. And in the ‘Sprites’ division
perennial sparring partners, Stuart Bullas, and, Robin
Johnson, were at it again in their 1.4 Sprite, Bullas
getting under Johnson’s mark by just six hundredths.
startline 21
december 08 / january 09
GURSTON DOWN EVENT REPORT
EXCITING FINALE AT GURSTON DOWN
The GTD 40 and Invited Cars class saw some
fearsome machinery and the muscular 8 litre
supercharged V10 Viper of Nadine Geary won by
some margin. Onto the Reliant Scimitar and Sabre
class, the well-developed supercharged 3.0 Scimitar
GTE of Ben Gough took a couple of tenths off the class
record to win comfortably.
Gurston’s new Road Going Production Cars class
seems to have been well received and Andrew Thorp,
a graduate of the Gurston Hillclimb Drivers School,
took his 5.0 TVR Griffith to the win here and also
landed the Best Novice award.
The season long battle between Steve Holley (5.0
TVR Griffith) and Ben Stapley (3.1 Datsun 240Z) in
the over 2000cc Modprod Marque Sports Car class
saw Holley getting the verdict this time by just six
hundredths and taking the championship class. The
Up to 1400cc Modprod Saloon Car Class looked to be
going Steve White’s way after the first runs as he set his
best time of the year in the Mini he shares with father,
Jim. But Jim’s second storming effort edged his son out
by a tenth, though it was a father and son one - two on
the day and in the class championship, Steve finishing
sixth overall.
Anthony Orchard took his 1.4 Westfield Hayabusa
to his best time of the year on new dampers and
hauled himself up to fifth overall in the Gurston
Championship. In the Up to 2000cc Modprod Saloon
Car Class, Andy Bascombe was again frustratingly just a
few hundredths away from the record in his 2.0 Escort
RS. However, his score was enough to move him to
third overall in the Gurston championship. Meanwhile
Terry Luff was close to his season’s best to win the Up
to 2000cc Modprod Sports Car Class on the day and in
the championship.
Adrian Flagg went well again in the 2.0 Subaru
Impreza, doing enough to take the over 2000cc
Modprod Saloon Car Championship class. The 2007
Gurston Champion, Mike Rudge, knew he would
struggle to hang on to a ‘podium place’ in this year’s
championship, and with new front slicks but old rears
on his 2.3 Westfield his second best score of the
year was a valiant effort, Mike finishing fourth overall
this time.
Tony Steel had a lonely day out in the 1.7 Mallock
Mk 14 but took the Hillclimb Supersports class and
BARC (SW) committee member Geoff Hunt took his
customary win in the Historically Interesting class in his
1.6 Lotus 22.
In the up to 2000cc Sports Libre class Keith Diggle
did enough on his only run to take the class and it was
musical chairs in the over 2000cc Sports Libre class,
with Chris Cannell back sharing the 2.6 Force SR8 with
partner, Sue Hayes, and Rod Thorne taking Cannell’s
3.5 SPA Judd up the hill for the day. Cannell won the
class with a fleet looking second run while Thorne got
pretty close to Cannell’s times in the SPA.
A healthy turnout of Historic 500cc Racing Cars saw
Patrick Riley a popular winner in the Kieft Creamer.
Brothers Euan and Calum Kemp, battled it out in the
Up to 1100cc Racing Car class in their shared 1.1
OMS, Euan coming from behind to win by just nine
hundredths. In the Up to 1600cc Racing Car class,
nobody had an answer to James Blackmore in his 1.6
OMS CF04, his sub-30 second runs well clear of the
rest. In the Up to 2000cc Racing Car class, Roger Cock
was a popular winner in the 2.0 Pilbeam MP54, while
Dave Gardner’s BTD also won the over 2000c Racing
Car class.
RESULTS
BTD: Dave Gardner, 3.5 Pilbeam MP58, 28.81s
Steve Butts Dave Gardener
PHOTOS: ©SIMON MCBEATH / MAXIMAGE.CO.UK

startline 22
december 08 / january 09
LEGENDS
HIGGINS MAKES HISTORY
John ‘Jon’ Higgins has been crowned the 2008 Legends Cars UK Champion and, in
doing so, he becomes the first driver to win the title for a third time. Paul Hughes was
the first driver to win two titles, then Tick Steward followed that up with JJ becoming
the third after them. In addition to John’s record of Championship wins, he has had a
remarkable season passing the 100 UK career wins mark on his way to winning the
title with five races to spare.
Runner up in the championship, Dave
Newsham, effectively conceded the title after
an engine failure in the penultimate event of the
season at Pembrey. Dave then decided to miss
the first day of the double header at Brands
Hatch in favour of racing his new acquisition,
the Clio Cup car, in the Winter Championship
at Croft. No-one could fault the Inverness
man’s commitment to Legends, however, as
he still made the effort to drive down to Kent
following the Croft meeting to take his place on
the Legends grid for the last time. Incidentally
the Clio mileage seems to have paid off as he
took a race win in the second Renault Winter
race at Rockingham the following weekend.
Well done Dave – everyone in Legends wishes
you all the very best in the Clio Cup.
Newsham’s second place came under fire
in the closing stages of the season by Lee
Fitzpatrick. Now here’s a driver who has really
got to grips with Legends in the last couple of
seasons. He started off with us several seasons
back racing as part of John Mickel’s team. John
himself is a former Legends World and UK
Champion and it was nice to see him at Brands
keeping a keen eye on the racing. Lee took
third place in the championship whilst Lawrence
Davey took fourth. The young Sussex based
driver is another who has matured beyond his
years in recent seasons and it’s good to know
he will be flying out to Las Vegas as these words
are written to take his place on the grid for
this year’s World Championships. The top five
was rounded off by the old fox, Peter Morton.
You have to say that Peter’s season was doubly
successful as his second car was seen in some
superb results as the season went on. I refer to
the 85 car driven by Iain Holden. I would not
be at all surprised if Iain takes a first race win in
Legends next season.
First time race wins seem to have been a bit
thin on the ground for the last couple of seasons
but we had two of them in the last round at
Brands. Simon Belcher had already won a heat
out at the World Finals in the USA a couple of
years ago but a UK race win had eluded him.
He won an absolute belter of a race in the final
at Brands – coming from mid pack to claim the
lead and then lose it to Lawrence Davey. He
then came back to snatch victory on the line by
just thousandths of a second. The other first
time winner was Niki Meredith, the young
driver who is part of the operation setting up
Legends Cars racing in Ireland. Niki’s win was
significant as well because it was the first victory
for a car using a water cooled engine.
The first race of the day at that last meeting
at Brands was delayed as the fog closed in and
it gave me a chance to interview some of the
drivers on the grid. Amongst those were two
new drivers who were using the meeting to
familiarise themselves with their new machines.
The first of those is former Motocross sidecar
champion, Nick Brace, and Paul Mansell who has
some saloon car racing experience. This year’s
team cup was won by KÄRCHER 12, Stephen
Treherne, whilst the Rookie Championship was
won by Ross Marshall from Richard Pocklington.
Pocklington also won the annual John Nicol
Memorial Trophy at Anglesey earlier in the
year. Legends Cars racing has attracted a lot
of interest over the season and again resulted
in two very well received TV programmes,
the second of which, covering the meeting at
Brands Hatch, saw our return to Sky Sports.
A strong contingent is expecting to cross the
Atlantic to contest the World Championships
in Vegas. In addition to Lawrence Davey, the
European team will include Simon Belcher
who has done a deal to run with former World
Championship winning team, Austin Legends.
John Higgins and Lee Fitzpatrick are also hoping
to race. It’s not the Americans who pose the
biggest threat to the UK drivers any more, it’s
the Finnish drivers – two of the three categories
at the 2007 World Finals were won by Finns
– Rasku Jussi winning the Masters whilst Rori
Penttinen won the Pro Category. Hopefully we
will be able to report on a UK win in the next
edition of Startline!
Be sure to check out our internet site at
www.legendsracinguk.com
It’s nice to report that not only drivers make our
success stories. The RACEceiver facility has been a
big move forward for our formula – the concept is so
simple it’s a wonder it’s not been thought of before.
The drivers are all equipped with a radio receiver
which broadcasts information from the Clerk of
the Course. This means that the field can get an
instant warning of any incident on circuit. Clearly
this can save valuable seconds when any incident
takes place on circuit. It’s a mandatory safety
feature in Legends now, fully approved by the MSA
and the drivers have welcomed it. We are also
talking to other championships about the kit and
are happy to provide further details.
Richard Neil
startline 23
december 08 / january 09
yorkshirecentrereport
One season ends and work on another begins at Harewood!
Following a very successful 2008 season, the Harrogate
Audi Championship was won for the second year
running by Karl Jackson. Karl beat David Marshall
by just 0.09 points at the final meeting of the season.
This was a tight finish in what is always a hard fought
competition where the winners are rarely separated
by more than a couple of points after eight rounds.
Preparations are now underway for an equally
successful 2009 season.
The Wattle and Daub team have been busy taking
in the Recticel barriers, flags, banners, etc. Work will
continue over the winter each Wednesday to further
improve and maintain the site. One ‘small’ job is the
removal and disposal of some 1,500 tyres from the site!
In addition, the Quarry gravel trap is to be re-profiled
to better slow stray cars. Some of the Recticel barriers
will be recovered and permanent marking of the
paddock will be investigated. These are just a few of
the tasks lined up for this essential team of enthusiasts
who really do make a big difference to the venue.
The 2009 events calendar is:
29 March Practice Day (BARC Yorkshire
Centre members only)
12 April Spring National *
9 May May Open *
10 May May British Championship
(including British Hillclimb
Leaders Championship)
6 June Jim Thomson Trophy *
7 June Classic & Vintage Hillclimb
4/5 July British Championship
(including British Hillclimb
Leaders Championship)
1 August New Harewood
Championship round *
2 August Montague Burton Trophy
(including motorbikes) *
30 August Summer Championship *
19 September Greenwood Cup *
20 September Mike Wilson Memorial *
* denotes a round of the 2009 Harewood Speed
Hillclimb Championship
Entry Forms and Regulations will be available early
in the New Year and will also be available from the
website at www.harewoodhill.co.uk.
The highly acclaimed Harewood Driving School will
be run again in 2009. The school includes classroom
sessions with plenty of track time and uniquely includes
instructors accompanying you on selected runs. Video
reviews, refreshments, a great lunch, certificates and a
top driver award are also included in the price.
The school dates are:
1 April
30 April
25 June
23 July
13 August (see below)
This year there will be a special Ladies Driving School
to be held on 13 August, where all proceeds will go to
Marie Curie Cancer Care. The intention is that the
applicants will each register and pay a £25 deposit.
They will then receive a “donation“ pack and raise a
minimum £200 donation to get a place at the school.
All parties are giving their services free, including
Harewood Hill Limited, BARC Yorkshire Centre,
the Administrator, instructors and marshals. In other
words all income will go to Marie Curie.
If you would like to book a driving school day, please
contact Jackie Wilson on 01423 339062. Bookings
for the early dates will fill fast and as there are only
30 places at each school-please don’t delay securing
your place.
We were fortunate to receive a sizeable donation
in memory of Jonathan Medley, a keen supporter of
Harewood Hillclimb, competing in his Caterham and
via his input to the marketing team. We wanted to
invest this money in something that would be of
benefit to competitors and spectators. As a result
we have had four special cabinets manufactured and
installed to house the new digital timing displays.
These will protect the valuable equipment when not
in use and act as sun shades when open. We think
they form a fitting memorial that Jonathan would have
appreciated.
Work has started on an event entry system, where
competitors will be able to enter events and pay the
entry fee on-line. This will give competitors a quick
and efficient way to check availability of places and
make an entry. It is hoped that this will be available via
our website in 2009. If you don’t have internet access
don’t worry, you will still be able to enter by post.
Improved drainage in the car park has been approved
and following delays this year, it should be done before
the season starts.
The Annual Dinner Dance and Awards Ceremony
was held in November at the Holiday Inn at Brighouse,
where winners were presented with annual trophies,
championship trophies and prize money. David
Naylor who is now part of the timekeeping team
and the Parts Manager at the 2008 Championship
sponsor Harrogate Audi, assisted Tim Wilson with the
presentation of the Championship awards.
A new marketing team has been formed to take
forward the promotion of Harewood Hillclimb. The
new team have developed their 2009 marketing plan
and are now actively seeking sponsors and advertisers
plus securing a photographer and a caterer. Work
will also start on new literature, banners, road signs,
PR activity and a revamp of the Harewood website
over the coming weeks – that should keep them
busy! The new team are Chris Brooks, Leanne Fahy,
David Kirk, Craig Senior, John Simons, Andy Sherratt
and Richard Vaughan. If you have any thoughts
or can help in any way, please contact any of the
team members.
Finally, we are pleased to report that our former
Chairman and Yorkshire Centre Committee member,
Simon Clark, has been appointed Vice-Chairman of
BARC this year. Well done Simon and good luck!
We hope to see many of you again next year for what
promises to be another great season at Harewood.
Dale Cordingley
BARC Yorkshire
Championship winner for the second year running, Karl Jackson
l to r Dave Banner receives cheque and award for 1st in the FTD
Championship from David Naylor and Chairman Tim Wilson
PHOTOS: ©HEWARD.COM

startline 24
december 08 / january 09
northwestcentrereport
Now that the racing season is over, it is time
to reflect on the year and look forwards to a
winter of further training and generating new
ideas. What a cracking season it has been! A
record year for our Performance & Economy
Chip Tuning Sports Saloon Championship in
terms of new drivers, large grids and a new
title sponsor.
A few regular old faces reappeared but
many new drivers were welcomed and they
seriously spiced up the quality of the racing
and the paddock atmosphere. The least
we can do is thank everyone concerned,
including all the ‘behind the scenes’ officials.
We look forward to next season when we
will hopefully pick up where we left off. The
fact that new enquires are already being
received gives us much hope of that.
We would also like to thank our sponsors.
Their first season with us has added to the
excitement. Our title sponsor, Performance
& Economy Chip Tuning, is one of Ric
Wood’s companies. For that surely very
small number of people who do not know of
Ric, he has been preparing and racing saloon
cars for some time, partly making his name
by building very potent V6 and V8 engines
for Capris and such like.
He now races an ex DTM Opel Astra
which he has run in our championship
when he is not racing it in Europe. Ric
has extended his business to cover
electronic engine management and
his website is well worth a visit to see what
he can offer.
In fact, looking at the statistics I see that
there have only been three seasons in the
last 23 when Ric has not competed in our
championship.
Our supporting sponsor is Z Car Minis
who have contributed in no small part to the
increase in the size of the grids by running a
number of customers in the championship,
some of them racing for the first time.
Chris Allanson owns the company and has
been a championship leader on occasion
besides winning his class. These unusual and
fascinating cars are worth a look at on their
website to see the variety of power units.
Thanks guys, it’s good to know that you
will still be with us next season and we hope
you will be with us for a long time to come.
As you may know, Paul Dobson is our 2007
overall champion after also winning the 2006
championship. It is very rare for someone
to win the championship twice, never mind
in consecutive years. It has only happened
once before in the whole 25 years of our
championship. Paul has done an excellent
job as he built and prepares his Mazda RX7
himself, including building the rotary engines
and he is certainly no slouch on the track.
The winter also brings for us the Real Night
Out when we hold our very popular awards
dinner dance on the last weekend in January.
This will be a new and exciting experience
for those new drivers! As with the racing, the
emphasis is very much on having a good time
although some see it also as a competitive
event in terms of the consumption of
happiness creating drinks! Whatever your
motive, it is a great opportunity to catch
up with people we have not seen for some
time and try to discover what tweaks are
planned for the next season. It is also one
of the few occasions when drivers, marshals
and officials can spend a good bit of quality
social time together.
One of the smaller publicity activities
we carry out at our race meetings is a
photographic competition for children. It
always fascinates me that there is such a
variety of topics which they find interesting
and worth photographing, seldom bothering
with much on track action unless it is of
incidents. I promise that it is a complete
coincidence that one of the winners is one
of our sponsor running his crew around
the paddock!
There is still a bit of racing going on in the
winter but not in this country. Our Chief
Scrutineer, John Harland, and John Wood, a
regular post chief, will be making a trip to
Dubai for the FIA GT and GT2 Asia races.
BARC HQ have a big hand in running this
event of course. Lucky men will probably
come back with a tan, although the time
schedule looks a bit challenging to me!
I am writing this on the journeys to and from
the Centres’ Conference near Maidstone (no
I am not driving!). What’s that about letting
the train take the strain? Financial matters are
discussed on the Saturday and more general
matters on the Sunday. I enjoy this opportunity
to get to know the people running the other
centres and pool ideas and experiences of
running events. It is also good to hear from
the representatives of HQ and Council and
debate the issues which concern the BARC
and the business of running circuits and
race meetings in this very difficult financial
climate. Sincere thanks to the SE Centre for
organising a good weekend for us all.
It only remains for me to offer the best
wishes of the NW Centre for Christmas and
New Year to all of you. Let’s hope that we
can start a new year and season well, despite
the inevitable challenges which are looming
large.
Peter Gorrie
NW Centre Secretary
Photo taken by Josh Swift who won the up to 16 year old section Photo taken by Heather Walker who won the up to 12 year old section
startline 25
december 08 / january 09
midlandcentrereport
Well here we are again with another season virtually
over. At the time of writing we are heading for
the Centres’ Conference hosted this year by the
South East Centre. This is always a good weekend
with finance followed by the general conference.
As well as the formal business there is a lot of
inter-centre discussion.
That will be followed by our last meeting of the
year, the Plum Pudding Meeting at Mallory Park on
Boxing Day. There will be 2 races for Caterhams and
2 races for “Sports and Saloons” as well as 6 races
for our friends on 2 wheels organised by the New
Era Motorcycle Club. As I am writing this we have
almost a full grid for the Sports and Saloon races but
we still need more Caterhams.
Into the New Year and there is the Centre Dinner,
the “Small but Beautifully Marked Night Out”. This is
to be held on January 24th at The Alpine Restaurant,
The Grange Garden Centre, Melton Mowbray. The
cost for a 3 course meal with tea or coffee is £18.95
unless you are a Marshal with 6 days of marshalling
for BARC, when you have a free ticket to one of
the dinners.
Hot on the heels of the Dinner, we start our 2009
Marshalling with a Marshals Training Day at Mallory
Curborough
4th October 2008
Winner Daniel Burgess aged 10
Park on February 1st. There will be sessions for
all disciplines including absolute first timers. I have
again been promised a supply of extinguishers for
the practical fire session.
Of course there are also the MSA Seminars
taking place around this time and in 2009 they are
for Licensed Officials – Clerks and Stewards have to
attend these seminars to keep their gradings.
The other BARC Marshals Training Days are:-
Croft on February 8
Pembrey on February 22
Thruxton on March 7/8
Please attend one of these days if only to re-affirm
what you already know. Any Drivers who wish to
attend will be most welcome.
Don’t forget that the question you are too
frightened to ask is probably the same one a lot
of others are frightened to ask. Consequently
NOBODY gets the answer. There are no stupid
questions, we can all learn.
Of course by March the season will again
be underway but for karters it probably never
stopped.
Please don’t hang your overalls in a dark cupboard
over winter because it is a well known fact that it
causes them to shrink !!
The Centre is again organising 3 sprints at
Curborough in 2009. They are all on Saturdays,
May 2nd, August 8th - The John Clarke Sprint
where again we will have the Team Challenge and
October 3rd.
Unfortunately we will have to raise our Entry
Fees for 2009 but only by £5.00.
The Camera Kids Photo competition for under
14’s will be back in 2009 as well. The results
continue to amaze us. Below this report is the
winning photo from our October sprint, taken by 10
year old Daniel Burgess which will also be seen on
the BARC website. The overall winning photo from
each of our sprints will be judged at the Centre’s
Annual Dinner and this picture will also be seen on
the BARC website during 2009.
All that remains now is to wish you all a Merry Christmas
and Best Wishes for 2009.
Alan Ward
BARC Midland

startline 26
december 08 / january 09
southeastcentrereport
Written while attending the Centres’ Conference
in Maidstone, it is clear to us just how much effort
is put into running the Club and the Centres
during the year. With no racing in the immediate
future (other than the Plum Pudding Meeting on
the North West) and a few more social events,
including the very popular sold out South Eastern
Centre event, there is much planning focussing on
calendars for 2009.
Topics for discussion range widely and include
classes for Sprint Championships and possible
commonality between the Centres across the
country; how much the Centres ‘fly the flag’ of the
BARC brand and Championships.
For the South Eastern Centre there was a
successful end to the year with Richard Brent
securing the DNM Saloon Championship in front of
a large crowd gathered at Brands Hatch. They also
had the benefit of watching the final round of the
2008 truck championship, with the trucks creating
significant amounts of smoke in the paddock. The
event was also the day of ‘at Home with BARC’
where we entertain our sponsors and those who
contribute to the efforts of the Centre throughout
the season. A popular event, it was satisfying to
have the opportunity to say ‘thank you’ for the
contributions and continued support.
Between the final round at the beginning of
November and the conference, there was the Race
Car Live show – this year to be found at Brands
Hatch rather than Excel. This would have been
ideal were it not for the weather. Generally a well
attended, if somewhat cold, event found the Centre
with one of the larger stands lining up behind
the garages in the pit lane. Thankfully we had a
canopy for the wetter moments. Nevertheless, the
presence of a racing truck (always easy to see and
an attraction) together with a range of cars from a
budget ‘tin top’, silhouette and Class A saloon class
proved to be quite a draw. We were pleasantly
surprised at the number of drivers expressing an
interest in joining in our activities in 2009. We were
also pleasantly surprised by the number of new
drivers looking to join the sport, either in sprinting
or in racing, despite the current financial climate.
Moving forward as we look to Christmas and
the New Year, we are still having vast amounts of
fun with the calendar – fixed dates being moved,
new dates being made available and historic dates
‘disappearing’ altogether. How much simpler it
would all be if we could simply repeat the previous
year and how much less stressful it would be as
well. Having said that, the variety is what keeps
drivers coming back for more and, from an
organisational perspective, there is always added
interest in visiting a ‘new’ circuit to the Centre.
With this in mind were are pleased to be looking at
opportunities for a race or two at the home circuit,
Thruxton, at some point this year. Additionally, we
are pleased to confirm that all the major sponsors
are on board for the 2009 season and we look
forward to greeting them at events and to their
varied input to our racing.
A little closer to home, we are pleasantly
surprised to find our annual Centre Dinner to be a
sell out even in these harder times. A larger number
than in previous years was still not enough and an
Mark Hosken’s Audi TT on the BARC stand
additional twenty seats have been included in the
main room with a further twenty ‘plus’ dining in
the main restaurant and joining us for the awards
and fun after. No doubt there will be some images
for the post Christmas Startline and the Centre
web-site.
Best wishes for the festive season
Andy Ratcliffe
BARC SEC Vice-Chairman
Top team around Glen Rossiter’s Intermarque Citroen. From left: Mandy Bird, Howard Smith, Alan Rees and chairman, Rod Birley
PHOTOS: ©KERRY DUNLOP
startline 27
december 08 / january 09
ontariocentrereport
It’s been a busy end to our 49th year but very much
worth all of the effort. We brought back our Fun Rally in
late October with a resounding success. Funds raised are
going towards our 50th Anniversary celebrations in 2009.
Our thanks to Bryan, Marlene, Jonathan and Brandon
Rashleigh for organizing the event. Pat and Amy Harrison
won the rally channeling the talents of their favourites,
Colin McCrae and Nicky Grist. Fun was had by all and we
look forward to another great event next year.
Our AGM took place on November 4th and our Board
of Directors is as follows:
Mike McDiarmid – President (Re-elected)
Bryan Rashleigh – Vice-President
Greg Clement - Treasurer
Amy Harrison – Secretary (Re-elected)
Paul Einarson – Race Director
Pat McDiarmid – Membership
Jeff Owen – Ice Race (Re-elected)
Nan Einarson – Director (Elected)
We also have just had our Awards Night, our 2008 BARC
Big Bash and highlights included:
Mr. Bill Lobban, lifetime member, winning the Ray Lloyd
Memorial Trophy for exemplifying the spirit of BARC. Bill
can always be counted on to help the club in any way,
shape or form and to list the wonderful things he has
done would fill several volumes of Startline. We thank
him and look forward to the next volume.
Nick Majors, aka Darth Viper, took home several
pieces of hardware including the Gord Wakeling Award
for competitive spirit, the High Performance Tuning
Trophy for the highest scoring driver in the Race Ontario
Championship and a very special award: The ‘E’ does
not stand for ‘Enough’ Award earned by running out of
fuel in his R8 at a charity event at Mosport. Nick took it
all in his stride, but has learned to not let the tank run
dry. Nick is also the winner of the 2008 BARC Drivers
Championship.
Our consistent club worker award (the Rodgers-
Barker Award) went to David Bayley who is another
long-time member and can be counted on in any pinch.
Our President’s Award this year went to Greg
Clement. Greg has been our Treasurer for several years
but he doesn’t stop there. Greg handles registration at
BARC events as well as several events for other clubs
he works tirelessly behind the scenes and is involved in
every facet of BARC. Truly without him we would not
be at the level we are.
Arguably our most coveted award, the Most
Entertaining Driver Award (aka The Spinning Top)
was awarded this year to a driver who failed to
complete a lap at first practice, at the first race weekend
of the year, and managed to finish 12th in a race he did
not start. He did manage to retain his crowns as Open
Wheel and Formula Libre Champion though He is our
Bill Lobban Mario Urbano Nick Majors
Greg Clement © Sonia Tanney Pat and Amy Harrison with their Rally Trophy David Bayley
very own Mario Urbano.
Our best new driver award (the Bob Attrell Trophy)
went to Ryan Blanchet. Despite a couple of transmission
issues (father and member Frank will no doubt sort that
out over the winter) Ryan did very well placing on the
podium several times to finish 3rd in GTD class in his
Nissan Sentra. We look forward to many good things
coming from Ryan in the future.
Not to be missed, Wes Tanney was awarded with
several trophies at the regional banquet just a week
prior. Wes competes in both Autoslalom and Solosprint
and although he was not in his own car this season, due
to technical difficulties, Wes was able to win: First place
in G Stock Class and second overall in Autoslalom, as
well as second in Grand Touring 4 class in Solosprint and
top spot in the Toyo Tires Championship Awards for
Autoslalom.
Coming up for us is a brief break and then we launch
our 50th Anniversary celebrations. Our first event will be
our Ice Prix in Minden, Ontario late in February and then
the rollercoaster will keep going taking us through our
two regional events and assorted others.
We wish our friends a Happy Christmas and only the
best for the New Year!
Amy McCleary
BARC-OC Secretary

startline 28
december 08 / january 09
welshcentrereport
The Wales Centre had a very good year again
and has run a Sprint weekend at Pembrey
Circuit and a sprint at Llandow Circuit. Both
events were very well attended with over
100 competitors at each event. All these
events were rounds of the MSA British Sprint
Championship.
2009 promises to be a busy time for us.
We are going to run a Rally Sprint at Pembrey
Circuit on 22nd March 2009 and regs should be
ready by Christmas, or the New Year. There
may be another sprint at Pembrey in April/May
and the usual weekend in June plus a Sprint at
Llandow Circuit in July.
We have passed over the Welsh Sports and
Saloon Car Championship, which was run by
BARC Wales and WRDA, to Head Office. We
are still interested in the championship but will
have no imput into the running of it.
We wish them well in their new venture and
wish all BARC Wales members competing a
very good and safe 2009 Season.
Rhys Lloyd has won the 2008 Welsh Sports
and Saloon Car Championship and also the
LMA Championship. Rhys is the son of Will
Lloyd who was on the Council of BARC and a
member of BARC Wales.
CONDOLENCES.
2008 was a sad time for BARC Wales and
Pembrey and our condolences go to the families
and friends of the following
Dennis Harris who was a great help to BARC
Wales in the early days and also to the Marshals
at Pembrey.
John Pettifer a Marshal for a number of years at
Pembrey Circuit.
David Byers who was a competitor in the V.W
Fun Cup.
Richard Ward passed away a couple of weeks ago.
Richard was a member of the WSSCC but never
raced in the Championship this year due to his
poor health. He was a front runner and winner
at Castle Combe and Oulton Park. Our thoughts
are with Barbara his wife who was dedicated to
his racing, even to the point where she did most,
if not all, the bodywork repairs.
BARC Wales wish you all a Merry Christmas and a
Happy New Year.
Anita Williams
Well it is now the end of the season for us all
and the newly designed Welsh Sports and Saloon
Car Championship came to an end with three
good races to finish their season. Rhys Lloyd in
his Seat coming out overall winner by quite a few
points. Well done Rhys. In second spot was the
old boy, Alvin Powell, in his Mondeo followed
by Steve Humphreys in his Caterham. This
obviously means Steve wins Class A followed
by Adrian Chapman in his Striker and in third
place Russell Hagerty also in a Striker. Mark
Nicholson in his Honda won Class B followed
by the up and coming Jason Davies in his Escort
(what a drive) and Geraint Rees, in his Westfield
third. Class C winner was Rhys Lloyd, and the
one and only Andy Williams in his Sierra second
with Mike Wright being in third spot in his VW.
Class D with Alvin winning, Keith Butcher in
Rhys Lloyd won the WSSCC and the LMA Championships in his Seat Leon (running second in picture)
his Nissan second and also in a Nissan Nigel
Bowen was third. They will be receiving their
trophies in January. Glynn Jones turned out in
his Alfa 33 three times, winning his class once,
while Nick Jones in his Renault Clio also had a
good run the earlier part of the year. Another
big congratulation goes to Rhys Lloyd in winning
the LMA Championship, what a year he has
had. The sprints at Llandow and Pembrey went
down well this year thanks to BARC; they were
followed on with The Swansea Motor Club’s
hill climb at Llys y Fran making for some good
competition. The fastest man up the hill was Big
H, well done. So that’s the end of the season
out. Looking forward to 2009 and seeing you at
the Autosport Show and next year’s venues.
Tony Allen
startline 29
december 08 / january 09
southwestcentrereport
It’s that time of year when there’s not usually very
much to report and when I usually hand over to
SW Centre Hon Sec, Tim Pitfield, so he can try
and think of something to say! But with the change
in the end date of the financial year last year, which
saw the centre’s AGM shift to later in the year,
the Secretary’s Report will feature in a later issue
of Startline again. Thus, Muggins has to wrack his
brains to fill this column with something more
informative than the waffle you’ve had in this
paragraph so far…!
The SW Centre’s Dinner and Awards evening was
enjoyed by attendees on November 15th with an
apparently very tasty meal served by the staff at
The Grasmere House Hotel in Salisbury.
The SW Centre committee has decided to adopt
two more classes into the Gates of Brockenhurst
Gurston Down Hillclimb Championship for 2009.
As per the proposal mentioned in the last issue
of Startline, entrants in the new in 2008 Road
going Production Class (any capacity) and the long
running Historically Interesting Class will both be
eligible to score championship points in 2009. The
definition of the latter has also been amended to:
Cars built up to and including 1972. Tyres are free.
Wings are permitted where originally fitted. It is
intended that these two classes will be run at all
meetings including the May and August British
Championship events, though clearly Gurston
Championship points are not on offer at the BHC
Long serving SW Committee member Geoff Hunt holds the Historically Interesting class record in his 1.6 Lotus 22
Jules Freeman is the current Roadgoing Production Cars
class record holder in his Subaru Impreza WRX RA 2000t
events and National A licenses will be required to
enter those National A status meetings.
It will be interesting to see how this affects next
year’s Championship, given that the class record
holders in these two classes are both regular
Gurston competitors and, therefore, capable of
scoring well against, effectively, their own bogey
times. Also, having been run for just a year, has
the Roadgoing Production class record settled to
roughly where it ‘should be’, or will the entrants
in this class start going quicker and hence rack
up high championship scores? Time will tell but it
will surely bring yet more interest and some new
contenders into next year’s championship.
I’m running out of things to say now, so here are
next year’s event dates again, and we can also
now confirm the Gurston Hillclimb Drivers School
dates too.
The event dates for the 2009 season will be:
April 5th Test Day
April 19th SBD and HSA
Championships
April 20th Gurston Championship and
Top Ten Challenge
May 23/24th British Hillclimb
Championship + motorbikes
June 20th ASWMC Hillclimb
Championship
June 21st Gurston Championship and
Top Ten Challenge
July 19th Gurston Championship and
Top Ten Challenge
+ motorbikes
Aug 29/30th British Hillclimb
Championship
Sept 13th Gurston Championship and
Top Ten Challenge finale
Hillclimb Drivers School dates in 2009 will be:
Tuesday May 12th
Tuesday June 9th
Tuesday July 14th
Visit www.gurstondown.org for further news on
Gurston matters.
Meantime, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy
New Year.
Simon McBeath
PHOTOS: ©SIMON MCBEATH / MAXIMAGE.CO.UK

startline 30
Yesterdays
1918
No Activities
due to WWI
december 08 / january 09
1928 1938
1948
In response to many requests brief details of two proposed holiday
rallies, which members are invited to join, are now available from Mr.
G. C. Carlisle, organizer of successful J.C.C. events to France and
Switzerland in 1947 and 1948.
Two tours are planned, the first a “Southern” Tour and the second a
“Western” Tour, with the object of giving interested members a choice
of holiday on the Continent. In the next GAZETTE, final itineraries
and approximate costs will be published. Meanwhile, Switzerland
figures principally in each tour, with generous stops at attractive touring
centres, such as St. Moritz and Locarno on the Southern Tour and
Montreux and Interlaken on the Western Tour.
First-class hotel accommodation has been reserved throughout and
daylight Channel crossings are being arranged, to be followed by easy
stages of travel through France.
1958
EXCERPT FROM THE BARC GAZETTE
“AS I SEE IT…” BY S.C.H. DAVIS
“Well, here we are at the end of the season and a
darned good season it has been, despite the blamed
weather”.
“Vanwall’s performance has been magnificent, the
delightfully autocratic, you-do-what-you’re-told method
of the owner absolutely justified. Best results are
always obtained if personnel are rather scared of the
patron – and that goes for drivers too, particularly at
Le Mans”.
1968
GRAHAM’S GOLD
The BARC have awarded their Gold Medal
– the Club’s highest honour – to Graham
Hill who has just become world champion
driver for 1968.
Graham Hill, who is the Club’s most famous
driver, has been a member of the BARC
since 1957.
The award is made for a major contribution
to motor racing by a British Subject. This is
Graham Hill’s second Gold Medal, his first
was awarded in 1962 when he first won
the championship at the wheel of a BRM.
Graham who first became a regular driver
for Lotus in 1957 also won Indianapolis
in 1966. To date he has competed in 103
World Championship Grands Prix.
1978
1988
THRUXTON 25TH
SEPTEMBER
John Watson thrilled an enthusiastic
crowd, who braved the weather to
see his spectacular demonstration of a
Honda Powered F1 McLaren.
1998

startline 32
december 08 / january 09
MARSHALS MATTER
Well, here we are again, at the end of another
busy season. We have just had a group of
Marshals traveling to Dubai for a race meeting
during the first weekend in December and
the Plum Pudding meeting to come at Mallory
Park on Boxing Day if you are still looking for
your motorsport fix but for the majority of us,
the 2008 season has finished. What a season it
has been, from the novices of the Caterham
Academy to the professional drivers of the
BTCC there has been some great racing and
some equally impressive Marshalling. The club
is, as always, very grateful to our Marshals, as
are our racing members; we mustn’t rest on
our laurels though which brings me on to the
first topic for this month.
MARSHALS TRAINING
As I mentioned last month, training days are the
next time a lot of us will get together and for
many they can’t come soon enough! Here again
are the dates for next year’s BARC Marshals
Training days:
1st February - Mallory Park
A single day which will contain sessions for all
grades of Marshals including Trainees.
8th February - Croft
A single day which will contain sessions for all
grades of Marshals including Trainees.
22nd February - Pembrey
A single day which will contain sessions for all
grades of Marshals including Trainees.
7th and 8th March - Thruxton
The Saturday training day is intended for
Trainee Marshals, and Incident (Course and
Fire) Marshals.
The Sunday training day is to help the
development of Flag Marshals, Post Chiefs,
Specialist Marshals and Senior Officials.
All of our 2009 training days will include
information about new rules and procedures
which may be introduced during the forthcoming
season, however they also offer the chance to
refresh and enhance your skills in areas such as
basic first-aid, incident management and team
work, with the focus of all training days being
“Safe Marshalling”.
All existing marshals and officials on the BARC
database will receive invitations to these
training days early in the New Year. Please try
to make it along to one of them, as we like
to think that the BARC training days are very
well organised and we try to make them better
every year. Your feedback is reviewed straight
after the days and fed into the next year’s
planning to make sure that we provide relevant
and appropriate training. When you are asked
to fill in a feedback sheet then please do as
we need the information in order to improve.
The planning for the 2009 training days is well
under way and I’m confident that the trainers
will deliver excellent sessions. If you would like
anything to be included then please email me
at rescue@barc.net. I can’t promise that it will
make it into the 2009 sessions but if nobody
tells us then we will never know if we are
missing anything!
ANNUAL DRAW
As I’m sure you are all aware, the BARC runs
an annual draw for the Marshals with a range
of excellent prizes (and I speak as a former
winner of a trip to the Belgian Grand Prix at
Spa, the year it was cancelled!), unfortunately
the results of the draw and final list of prizes
were not available at the time that I wrote this
column but I will list the winners and their loot
in the next Startline.
REGALIA
With Christmas approaching you might like to let
Santa know about the range of BARC branded
items available from HQ. From overnight bags
to Overalls, there is bound to be something
that catches the eye. The club subsidise the
cost of Marshals overalls to ensure that the
cost is reasonable and affordable. The winter
months are the ideal time to check your kit and
buy some new overalls if, like me, yours shrink
in the wardrobe during the close season!
APOLOGY
I’m sorry about the photograph of me that
accompanied this column last month, it was
taken during a lull in activities at the Goodwood
Revival and is not representative of Rescue
activities, this month’s picture is much more
appropriate!
THRUXTON WINTER WORKS
When you next visit Thruxton you will find that
Armco now stretches from the hanger to the
chicane, Posts 18 and 19 have been relocated
slightly and banking will eventually run all the
way down to the hanger. Tom Jones assures
me that there will be more space behind the
Armco for Marshals than was left when similar
work was carried out at post 10.
2009 VOLUNTEERING
As usual, Becci will send out volunteering forms
to all of the Marshals on the BARC Marshals
database as soon as the motorsport calendar
is finalised for next year. You can then post
back your completed forms or you can use
the online volunteering system at www.barc.
Martin Hunt
net. This system is currently being upgraded
and should be ready in conjunction with the
forms being sent out so, save some time and
money on stamps, try the online system it’s
very straightforward and will offer some new
features when available.
MARSHALLING GUIDE
The ‘Marshalling with the BARC’ guide is now
available online from the BARC website. If
you don’t have a copy then you can read it at
www.barc.net. The guide covers all roles
from Senior Officials to Trainees and Specialist
Marshals and provides a really useful insight
into everybody involved in the running of an
event.
ANNUAL SOCIAL EVENTS
Please remember that all Marshals who attend
6 or more days marshalling for the BARC in a
season qualify for a free ticket to either one of
the regional events or the HQ ‘Big Night Out’.
Please don’t forget to make the most of this
offer and contact the organiser of the event that
you would like to attend. If you have missed
the regional event then please consider going
along to the ‘Big Night Out’ and celebrate all of
our champions as well as the BARC ‘Marshal of
the Year’ which is announced on the night.
If anybody wants to contribute or even just
suggest something for me to write about then
please email me at rescue@barc.net.
All that remains is for me to wish you all a
very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
and to thank you all on behalf of the BARC for
your support and help throughout 2008, I look
forward to seeing you next year, hopefully not
in a professional capacity though!
Martin Hunt.
Author: Richard John Neil
Pub: Veloce ISBN: 978 1 84584 167 6
HOT ROD & STOCK CAR RACING
IN BRITAIN IN THE 1980s
Short oval racing (Hot Rod & Stock Car Racing) was, and remains, one of the best
supported forms of motor racing in Britain, in terms of both competitors and
spectators.
Hot Rod and Stock Car Racing had seen packed terraces throughout the sixties and
seventies, as the public went to regional circuits each week to cheer on local heroes
(and, of course, see the crash and bash). The sport developed strongly throughout
these two decades, and arrived in the eighties slick and professional-looking, boasting
national rather than local heroes.
Complete with 100 nostalgic, mainly colour pictures of racing throughout the decade
and a comprehensive listing of major championship dates, venues and winners.
THE COMPLETE BOOK OF
FORMULA ONE
Author: Simon Arron and Mark Hughes
Pub: Motorbooks ISBN: 978 0 7603 3456 0
As the title implies, The Complete Book of Formula One is exactly that. Never before has
there been such a thorough chronicling of Formula One history.
From the inaugural season of 1950 through the 2008 season, every detail of every race is
organised in a reference book that is both easy to use and exciting to read. The careers of
every driver, the results of every race and the champions of every season are all here, with
over 4,000 colour and archival black-and-white photos.
With season overviews, narratives, and analysis introducing each chapter, gain insight into
the drama and rivalry that defines Formula One racing.
PORSCHE RACING CARS
1953 TO 1975
Author: Brian Long
Pub: Veloce ISBN: 978 1 904788 44 7
startline 33
december 08 / january 09
The words ‘Porsche’ and ‘racing’ go hand in hand.
This book follows Porsche’s year-by-year exploits in top flight motor racing, and looks
in detail at the pure competition cars that brought the German marque such immense
success in motorsport, and, with it,worldwide acclaim.
This volume begins with the story of the giant-killing 550 Spyders of 1953 vintage, and
takes the reader through a series of racing models, including the glorious 917, up to
1975 via contemporary photography and deeply researched, extremely readable text
from an acknowledged Porsche authority.
A second volume covers 1976 onwards.

startline 34
december 08 / january 09
Caption Contest
Last Month’s Winner
CAPTION:
“I only took up marshalling to meet the birds!”
WINNER: Frank Barnard, Peasmarsh, E. Sussex
Close seconds
“With all those wings and he still can’t fly like me!”
A. Allen
Special mention to Roderick Hall.
(Please don’t give up! ...Ed)
“Having come second in the last three issues I shall not
bother entering this one – but I won’t crow about it!”
FINAL ENTRIES FOR THIS ISSUE’S
CAPTION CONTEST IS
10TH FEBRUARY 2009
Can you think of a funny or apt caption for the photograph below. The best entry in
the judges opinion will win a copy of the BTCC 2008 Official DVD Review.
BTCC 2008 OFFICIAL
DVD REVIEW
This is the official and comprehensive
review of another enthralling season of
the best tin top racing around.
The action-packed 2-disc package brings
you drama from every single race, with
all the vital passes and shocking smashes,
plus informed commentary and interviews
with the stars.
As always, the official review features
the best footage, including plenty from
on-board the cars, and the most
comprehensive coverage possible.
Once again, the title battle went right
down to the very last day as Seat’s Jason
Plato and Vauxhall’s Fabrizio Giovanardi
went head-to-head again.
As well as the absorbing title battle, the
review brings you the full story of amazing
wins for the likes of Tom Chilton, Mat
Jackson, Colin Turkington and more plus
the panel-denting smashes.
RRP: £19.56
Product code: 3934
©TACO JONKMAN
Win a copy of Lola T70 as reviewed in
last month’s Startline
After completing the crossword, the letters (when read in order) from the shaded squares will spell
out the prize word – A TYPE OF MOTORSPORT.
Clues Across
1 Jenson Button’s home town (5)
4 Foot to the floor - no lift (4)
10 _ Sport Cadena, GT3 class British GT champions of 2006 (5)
11 Car in which Bernard Unett won three BTCC titles in the 1970s (7)
12 The Derek who spent three seasons with Arrows in the late 1980s (7)
13 The car in which Jackie Stewart won the 1969 F1 title (5)
14 He took an A1GP win for Team Ireland at Chengdu in November (4,7)
19 Which engine powered the Pacific Formula 1 team in 1994? (5)
21 Which circuit hosted the inaugural GP Masters race back in 2005? (7)
23 Former TVR British GT race car (6,1)
24 Minardi’s Argentine racer in 1998 (5)
25 Adam, Team Pakistan driver in A1GP (4)
26 Pinkey’s Alfa team-mate in the 2007 BTCC (5)
Clues Down
2 What David Coulthard did at the
end of the 2008 F1 season (7)
3 2007 Seat Cupra Championship
runner-up who switched to
British GT for 2008 (5)
5 A fuel load that maximizes
overtaking chances (5)
6 Famous Zandvoort corner at
the end of the pit straight (6)
7 Like a punctured tyre or
expired engine (5)
8 They’re the first cars to be lapped
in a race (11)
9 The Mark who drove in the 2001
BTCC Production Class (6)
15 Guillaume _ , he quit the World
Series by Renault back in July (6)
16 Front-runners (7)
17 David Brabham’s Formula 1 team
in 1994 (6)
18 Mr Leith, winner of the 2007
Britcar crown along with Steve
Bell (5)
20 He almost snatched the title from
Hamilton in a thrilling season-finale
in Brazil (5)
22 Vauxhall _ Sport Hatch, Martyn
Bell’s race car during the 2008
BTCC season (5)
The winner of the October/
November Veloce Book
crossword is: Mr J.Simons,
Nr.Yorkshire who correctly
found the answer, WILSON
startline 35
december 08 / january 09
PLEASE NOTE YOU MUST BE A BARC MEMBER TO ENTER COMPETITIONS.
SEND YOUR ENTRIES INCLUDING YOUR NAME, ADDRESS AND MEMBERSHIP NO.
TO BARC HEADQUARTERS BY 10TH FEBRUARY 2009

startline business 04
december 08 / january 09
MALLORY NEWS
SUCCESSFUL 2008 FOR MALLORY PARK
WITH MORE TO COME IN 2009
Mallory Park had a hugely successful 2008 and 2009 is already looking like it will be bigger
and better with more big events on the calendar.
The motorcycling season will get an early
kick off in 2009 with the Spring Cup Race
of the Year starting the racing action on the
14th-15th March. The aim is to bring in as
many high-level British Superbike and British
Supersport teams to the Leicestershire venue
to really start the season with a bang.
Following the success of the inaugural World
Motocross round at Mallory Park in 2008 the
event will once again return on the 30th-31st
May 2009. With 41,000 fans attending as well
as the racing being broadcast world wide, it
certainly put Mallory Park and Leicestershire
firmly on the motorcycling map.
The Festival of 1000 bikes is back on the
11th-12th July which is another very popular
meeting. You will need to book early if you
want to get your classic machine out on track
along side numerous other vintage bikes.
It is an ideal family weekend with plenty of
entertainment and, of course, bikes. Mallory
Park has just had a caravan park approved on
site so that will be ideal for this meeting.
British Superbikes will be back on the 17th-
19th July bringing all the excitement the best
domestic championship in the world can
muster. A bumper crowd attended in 2008
and next year it is expected to be bigger and
better once again.
Although the race season is over but that
doesn’t mean that Mallory Park won’t be kept
busy. General maintenance on the venue will be
the priority now to improve facilities for both
the public who visit and for local residents.
The landscaping has been completed and
work has started on a new embankment to
improve on noise insulation.
A new drainage system has been put in
place to stop flooding which is essential with
the British weather. Modifications to the
Scrutineering bay will also be carried out as
well as changes to the start/finish straight
which will benefit spectators and competitors
alike.
There is one more race meeting this year
and that is the 35th Plum Pudding Handicap
Yuletide Races, held on Friday 26th December,
Boxing Day. A test day will be held on Friday,
19th December in preparation for the event.
To book tickets for the Plum Pudding races
in advance, simply visit www.mallorypark.
co.uk or call on 01455 842931. Tickets cost
£10 in advance or £12 on the gate. Children
under 16 are free and access to the paddock
and parking is at no extra cost.
Mallory Park is situated in the heart
of the midlands in Leicestershire just off
the A47 between Leicester and Hinckley
and easily accessible from the M1, M69
or M6. For further directions, please visit
www.mallorypark.co.uk.
CROFT NEWS
FERRY CLOSURE
DOESN’T STOP THE ACTION!
The Rallycross Superprix weekend was held on 25th & 26th October, and once again over 100 entries
took part. Sadly due to the closure of the Norwegian DFDS ferry route to Newcastle there were less
entries from Europe than in previous years, but that did not detract from an excellent weekend of racing.
The weather was reasonable and so was the crowd. Irishman, Christopher Evans claimed the title just
ahead of local driver Kevin Procter.
On the following Saturday, the circuit played host to the first round of the Renault Winter Series.
The content was Formula Renaults, Clios and a good entry of Sports & Saloons. Including the two days of
testing prior to the meeting, our recovery trucks and barrier crews were kept very busy but the racing
from all classes was good in the end.
We are now well under way with preparations for 2009, and so far enquiries for activity days are good,
lets hope it remains that way.
All of our event days would
not be possible without the
help of those who give up their
free time to carry out medical
and marshalling duties. Here at
Croft we have a very devoted
team, and our thanks go to
them for their hard work and
dedication. With Best Wishes
to all for a Merry Christmas
and Happy New Year from all
at Croft Circuit.
THRUXTON NEWS
ON THE HOME STRAIGHT!!
The continuing safety improvements at Thruxton Circuit moved a step further to completion
last month with the erection of more Armco Barrier from Brooklands to half way up Woodham
Hill towards the Club Chicane. Early next year work will begin on the first of the earth ‘bunds’
which will be placed behind the Armco for future improved spectator viewing. “This section,
being the quickest part of the UK’ s fastest circuit, will be fantastic as we will be able to see
the cars approaching the chicane flat out!”, said Circuit Manager, Tom Jones “It will give the
spectator a real impression of the speed racing cars can reach on this particular part of the
track!”
PEMBREY NEWS
FINISHING
TOUCHES
Following on from our news in the last issue
of Startline, where it was reported that the
Welsh Saloon & Sportscar Championship
and BRSCC South Western Centre each
contributed £800 towards new Marshals’
Huts, the finishing touches have been made
to them to keep them as weather proof as
possible - our picture shows circuit staff
commissioning a new Officials’ hut in the
assembly area. Other important work
completed this autumn was the revised
Hatchet Hairpin with an improved drainage
system. “The better the drainage the better
the safety”, said Circuit Director Phil Davies.
“Improving any drainage has got to be a good
thing as standing water is always a problem
for racing drivers on the limit!”
startline business 05
december 08 / january 09
THRUXTON NEWS
OF LAND, SEA & SKY
My name is Malcolm Snook and I raced with
the BARC in the 1980’s and with Formula
Ford during 1974-78. I knew the Offerds and
John Wickham plus others at the Club in
the 1970’s as I was the Chief Instructor at
Thruxton’s Parachute Club.
I’ve just written a book entitled ‘Of Land, Sea
and Sky’ which has much about Thruxton and
several chapters on my car racing efforts!
I hope the book will be of interest to
your members. The book can be found at
www.trafford.com
Regards
Malcolm Snook
THRUXTON TESTING
General Testing will be held at Thruxton
on Friday, 20th February 2009.
Four 55 minute sessions each for
both Saloon and Single Seater cars.
£150 per session
£160 per session for non BARC members
Please call Paula Brown on
01264 882200 for bookings and further
information or visit www.barc.net

startline business 02
december 08 / january 09
BTCC NEWS
STAGGERING GROWTH FOR THE HIQ MSA BRITISH
TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP
Latest figures have revealed another year of staggering growth for the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship with a further
rise in the number of people watching trackside and levels of live television coverage previously unheard of in UK motor sport.
In total, some 325,000 people crammed through
the gates in 2008 – that was 21 per cent more than
in 2007 and despite the fact that a fair chunk of the
season was held in unfavourable weather. It also
marked the fifth successive year that crowd levels
had risen, bringing them in line with many major
Premier League football matches.
Nowhere better was the surge in popularity
demonstrated than at Oulton Park in July when the
BTCC attracted its biggest trackside audience – of
35,000 – to the Cheshire circuit this decade.*
And for those not trackside this season gone,
there was no excuse to miss the action as
broadcaster ITV transmitted an incredible 86
hours of BTCC coverage to the nation – 50 of
those hours were live on its ITV4 channel. Hourlong
highlights on the same channel, plus ITV1 and
Men & Motors made for 52 programmes in total
during the season.
In all, just shy of 12 million people watched
the BTCC on ITV in 2008 and with that TV
arrangement firmly in place through to the end of
2010 there is every reason for new drivers, teams
and sponsors to join Britain’s most exhilarating
motor sport arena.
As BTCC Series Director Alan Gow commented:
“The BTCC’s continual rise in popularity is
something of which I am immensely proud –
particularly given the increasing number of other
options on which the public can choose to spend
both its leisure time and its disposable income.
“The BTCC remains by far the largest
championship in UK motor racing – in fact, one
of the biggest in British sport generally – and it
is a constant draw for millions right across the
country, both trackside and watching on television.
For many people, the BTCC really is ‘the great
escape’...”
He also added: “The 2008 season was
undoubtedly a landmark. The championship’s
illustrious history was enriched further by its
50th birthday celebrations and dynamic new title
sponsor, HiQ, plus it enjoyed increased television
coverage from ITV.
“In its first season, HiQ instantly grasped
the essence of the BTCC and set about
interacting with the fans via a number of great
initiatives. With ITV, the BTCC enjoyed a simply
staggering TV commitment that is unprecedented
in UK motor racing and one which the
championship will continue to enjoy through to
2011, at least.”
*Already, eager to build on that success,
circuit owner MotorSport Vision has confirmed its
pricing policy to its four BTCC race
days in 2009 at Brands Hatch (5 April), Oulton Park
(31 May), Snetterton (2 August) and Brands Hatch
(4 October). Adults can book tickets for just £23.00
while entry for children aged 12 and under will
again be free – always one of the BTCC’s big selling
points for families who make up a large proportion
of the audience.
For all the latest BTCC news visit the
championship’s official website www.btcc.net
where fans can register to receive newsletters and
details of how to enter many exciting competitions
as well as join the lively discussion forum and put
questions to Series Director Alan Gow.
STOP PRESS:
The Ford name will return to the BTCC in 2009
after Arena International Motorsport announced it
would privateer team of Ford Focuses, one to be
driven by Tom Chilton. More at btcc.net.
Joe Gillis
startline business 03
december 08 / january 09
THRUXTON MOTORSPORT NEWS
A VERY SUCCESSFUL 2008. 2009 ALREADY
PRANCING IN QUICKLY WITH OUR NEW TOY!
When Pat Blakeney last wrote for an edition of Startline, we were half way through the year. Now, in seemingly the blink of an eye,
we have had our last Racing School day of the year and are well into another Christmas sales campaign.
I think it fair to say that 2008 has been one of our
busiest years, certainly since the end of the 1980`s
and we are confident of a good financial result. We
have operated 59 Racing School Days at Thruxton,
assisted on 14 Croft Racing School Days, 40 plus Track
Events for different manufactures around the country,
38 days launching 3 new BMW models to dealer staff
across the UK and numerous individual events at
Thruxton. Not forgetting of course, hundreds of event
days at the Kart Centre.
Mark Barrett, a member of our longstanding
workshop team keeps a record of many aspects of our
racing school days but here are two interesting figures
- one impressive and the other expensive. In 2008
the Formula Renault and Sports 2000 racing cars did
7,775 five lap drives – so 90,967 miles, 15,865 more
than in 2007. We also managed to use 13,4115 litres
of fuel!
Ace mechanic and tyre man, Spud, also changed
336 Pirelli tyres on the saloon/sport and supercars
[not racing cars].
Overall a very good year bearing in mind the
economic downturn, or recession as people are
now unfortunately starting to call it. It has really only
been since the beginning of November that we have
noticed a slow down but our sales, as I write this,
are still solid. Who knows what 2009 will bring and
it certainly will not be easy; we are after all selling
a non-essential commodity but we should start the
new year from a good position.
Our track fleet will remain pretty much the same
for 2009, the differences being a new Ferrari 430
Scuderia in March/April and the final incarnation of
the Lamborghini Murcielago, that we understand will
be called the SV, arriving sometime in the summer.
The Scuderia is basically a much more highly
developed F430. It is lighter, more powerful, tuned
and setup to be as home on the track as the road.
Apparently Michael Schumacher had a hand in the
chassis development and the car laps the Ferrari
Fiorano test track faster than the legendary
limited production run 6.0 ltr Ferrari Enzo,
which itself is only a few years old.
The Lamborghini Murcielago SV is the final and,
as you would expect from Lamborghini, most
extreme version of this amazing car. Details of the
changes are still secret at the moment but we will
have one of the first cars into the UK sometime this
summer.
It goes without saying that both of the above will be
unique to Thruxton, helping us maintain our position
as the premier quality driving experience venue in
the country – along with Croft, of course! Now you
would expect me to say that, and I am sure operators
of other driving experience companies think they are
the best too but there are three elements that I think
differentiate us from the others.
Firstly, the fleet of cars and the quality. Yes, other
operators do have an impressive list of cars as
well but many of the newer models are well used
examples – and look it! We operate on a proper
racetrack, not a disused airfield, and that does make
a big difference. How we look after our customers
on the days and the fact that we are not trying to
process the 400–700 people per day that other
companies are. At a capacity of approx 200, we have
struck the right balance between efficient use of
staff and cars with customer service. The feedback
that we get on the day, emails / letters and personal
recommendations, are testament to that. Not that
we are resting on our laurels - we are are always
looking for ways to improve the experience.
On the racing front, Bill Coombs our MD, driving
an Argo, came second in the Classic Formula 3
Championship missing out on the title by 8 points
– the winner was Ben Simms. Bill also recently
tested an ex-Didier Pironi F1Tyrrell at Donington
and set competitive times, despite the car jumping
out of third gear. Lucky man! Our internet guru, Ben
Norton, had the pleasure of winning the last round
of the Castle Combe FF1600 Championship.
Don’t forget, as BARC members, you are
entitled to a 10% discount off our experiences
so, if you are looking to purchase a present or buy
something for yourself have a look on our
website www.thruxtonracing.co.uk.

BARC BUSINESS
To
all our
Readers
Have a...
THE OFFICIAL BRITISH AUTOMOBILE RACING CLUB MEMBERS’ PUBLICATION