may club night friday 9th may change of venue · park (always enjoying the f5000's) and 3nr....

The Club News Magazine Of The Darlington & District Motor Club

Kev Hutch

April 2014

May Club Night Friday 9th May

Change of Venue

With our race meeting being on the day after the monthly club night we have decided to hold this one at the circuit. There will be a choice of freshly cooked supper on offer and tickets are priced at just £5, sorry but just like normal club nights at the Copper Beech bringing your own drinks is not an option! Booking form enclosed numbers are limited so be quick.

Come along and enjoy a pre race get together.

See you on 9th

Me

Me

Me Wright On

AGM

The recent AGM was one of the best attended for a number of years with members traveling from far and wide to support the club I am sure we all hope that the new found enthusiasm will mean that they will attend the club social nights which could do with some extra support. Terry Wright stood down as Chairman and we hope that he will continue in the other roles that he currently carries out. Craig Hope handed over the Chain of Office after his year as President to Richard Matthews who takes up the mantel for the forthcoming year also appointed as President Elect was Gavin Lee who will take over in 2015 (best get to work on the speeches then). Lesley Starkey took over as Chairperson and Paul Griffin added social secretary to his workload the full list of elected officials are on the contacts list.

Well the end of an era, at least for me. For the first time in over 40 years I won’t be part of the decision making process of the Club. Over the years Yvonne and I between us have held most of the positions apart from Treasurer (not clever enough) and Motorcycle Secretary (no sense of balance). I think I felt that the time had finally come for new blood and a new drive to take the Club on. It’s not that we won’t be involved as it is too ingrained but I will try to keep my opinions to myself and support those taking on the tasks. I’m hoping that Ravensdale Road will still be a part of the organising team for Rallycross, Rally and Sprints and, of course, we will still be a presence at Race Meetings particularly when the NSSCC is racing. With Croft gaining an extra 50 days Monday to Friday DDMC were able to resurrect the Easter Sprint which is held on Easter MONDAY. Paul Parker of the SBD British Sprint Championship snapped my hand off when informed along with Porsche Speed, Westfield, TVR and Morgan. We also had a round of the Nottingham SCC and Midland championships. With a strong BSC entry and more than acceptable entries in the other championships 97 drivers signed on in under an hour. The cars got underway bang on 9.30 and the start crew kept them rolling. Because there were so few red flags during the day everyone got a third timed run. In fact the event ran at such a frantic rate that the timekeeper insisted on a 10 minute break before a puddle formed under his chair. FTD is awarded to the fastest BSC competitor in the top twelve run off. They get two runs of the circuit and the anticipation up in the Timekeepers office was quite high as the times tumbled. But it was Heather Calder who came out on top beating Terry Holmes by .21 secs and her father Colin, last year’s champion, by just .34 secs. Her time for a standing start round to just before the Hairpin was 67.49 seconds! Next year is already booked. April 6th 2015. One new development at Croft Circuit you all need to be aware of. There is now a cafeteria with breakfasts, hot lunches etc. The food is first class with somewhere warm and dry to sit. It is operated by Ian Pritchard who is determined to provide top quality fresh, or home made, catering. In fact arrangements have been made for the May club night, which just happens to coincide with our race meeting, to be at the circuit and Ian will be serving a Friday Night Fish Supper. Terry

I was massively proud to be approved and presented with the Presidents regalia at the Annual General Meeting. Sue was really happy and pleased too with her recognition. Many of you will not know my background and will possibly wonder how I have been bestowed with this very prestigious position. My father Geoff Matthews was a stalwart of the Motor Club and my earliest memories were of him observing at the Scott Trial, helping at the Catterick Hill Climb and also Car Trials, Stock Car Racing at Aycliffe where dad was starter. He then started marshalling at Croft in 1963 at the start of racing at the track and not to forget organising and marshalling at Rallies. I often accompanied him to these events and was finally able to help by Marshalling at Croft for the first time in 1967 (approx. 2 years before our Guru Dave Lea appeared on the scene). My Dad was then made President in 1972 which was well deserved in my opinion. I like to think I have also deserved this position and I suppose my main support for the Motor Club has been my regular marshalling activities. From 1967 to 1980 (Croft Closure) Many meetings throughout the country including Cadwell Park, Donnington and Mallory Park (always enjoying the F5000's) and 3Nr. Brands GP's and 4Nr. Silverstone GP's. From 1996 (Croft Opening) through to present day. During this period I have marshalled only at Croft. I have also tried to support the Club Nights from the locations at Croft Spa Hotel, Darlington Football Club and currently at The Copper Beach. Whilst mentioning the Club nights I would like to congratulate Paul Griffin on his efforts to keep things interesting by organising so many different types of event. Clubs generally seem to have small enthusiastic groups of members who put their heart and soul into organising events and the Motor Club is no exception. I am hopeful the members appreciate all their efforts. I do not really want to single out anyone, but from what I have been told Graeme Sanderson who runs the Trials Bike Section comes in to the category of special effort as he single handed organises Trials. I can’t imagine how much work is involved. We all know of course about Lesley's' and Mick’s fantastic work as well. Terry and Yvonne for their tireless work. I am going to get in to trouble naming people as there are bound to be quite a few more people who deserve praise. Well done to all who have helped. Can I wish everyone who helps and competitors alike a successful season. Here’s to clean sport, with competitors helping each other and accepting when they have been beaten fair and square and with winners having to battle all the way. From my point of view competi-tors gain a lot more from a close contest but hopefully with no 'RED MIST' which leads to damage. It is too costly in this day and age and especially considering the time taken to construct and maintain vehicles whether cars or bikes. I hope this is a good year for everyone,

Presidents Ramblings

The club now has a twitter page, DDMC@DDMC99 where you will find any relevant tweets from the club that need transmission quickly to keep club members informed of what is happening within the club. So Join in and follow us for information.

Twitter

Marshals Awards

Right Dawn granger with the small but perfectly formed Yank Harrison trophy and the not quite so small and maybe not quite so perfectly formed Mr President. Below Right Colin Handley wrestles the ETS Services Trophy from DDMC Mr President just before it was presented to a much deserved recipient. Below A very shady looking character shows off a small but perfectly formed trophy before it was presented to Dawn. For those of you who wonder who Mr President is he is Richard Matthews the current holder of the office of D& DMC Ltd.

Rallycross Trust

How many of us were there all those years ago and whatever happened to the trophy.

The first two rounds of the championship have now been run at Oulton Park on Easter Monday. The MSV GT meeting was a very prestigious event, with an extremely busy paddock and very full grids. The NSSCC grid was almost full with 30 competitors entered. Both races were very quick, with battles throughout the field. Steve Craggs, sadly did not make the first race due to fuel injection issues, thankfully Gavin and Dave got to work on the car and Steve was able to capitalise on this by taking a class win in the second race. David Cox had issues resulting in his withdrawal from the event. Heather stepped up to the mark at the end of the meeting, presenting trophies to first and second in each class. Peter Cook’s company PRO PLUMB had agreed to sponsor the awards for this meeting; as you will be able to see from the photographs, the awards were really appreciated by the recipients. Paul Brydon made a return to the championship this year, following a year of absence from our grids. On the previous Monday it was looking very doubtful if he was going to be able to make the event. After many hours of hard work he succeeded in getting the BMW on top form taking wins in both races. Race one was a very close run thing with Andrew Wareing and Peter Cook keeping him on the defensive right to the flag. In race two, Paul made a blistering start from the grid and lead to the flag. The championship had several new competitors, with a variety of vehicles. I have received several emails from them thanking the championship competitors for making them feel very welcome. The next rounds will be held at Croft as part of the DDMC meeting, hopefully we will have enough entries to put out split grids. We will then be heading north of the border to Knockhill, running anti clockwise on the Saturday and clockwise on Sunday. This should present some interesting racing. Thank you to our marshals who came to Oulton Park, it was good to see so many familiar faces. I would also like to thank the competitors for the understanding they gave at Oulton. Unfortunately one of the VW races produced a start line incident, which required a competitor to be air lifted to hospital. I am pleased to report that he was released from hospital earlier this week. Our drivers kindly let the VW race move forward and we ran last race instead of 17.00. Thank you for your support and understanding. MSV have emailed me to pass on thanks to everyone, it helped them complete the meeting.

Kindest regards Lesley

NSSCC

NSSCC Oulton Pictures

Clinton Ewen Class H Winner Rounds1 & 2

Paul Brydon Overall Race Winner Rounds 1 & 2

Andrew Morrison Class B Winner Round 1

Mike Cutt Class B Winner Round 2

Steven Craggs Class C Winner Round 2

Neil Finneghan Class E1 Winner Rounds 1& 2

Simon Mayne Class E2 Winner Rounds 1& 2

Paul Moss Class D Winner Rounds 1& 2

Flying Scotsman 2014 For those that believe that a rally is a ‘Tree huggers’ delight, think again. Every year, for the last four at least, a group of enthusiasts gather in the south of England and challenge themselves to drive their PRE WAR cars to Scotland. They initially called it the fling Scotsman after a train but the driver’s ideas of ‘London to Edinburgh’ has become a little exaggerated, so much so that this year’s route started near Coventry and finished at Gleneagles. It avoided the A1; it lasted a short three days, covered around 800 miles and included a series of regularities and tests, just to keep the car crews on their toes. The route sticks to tarmac roads although the surface of some of the test venues had difficulty complying with the definition of ‘sealed surface’ This year’s event clashed with the ‘Rally of North Wales’ ... the Bulldog... so my decision to assist was only made when the ‘Bulldog’ was cancelled. Because the Flying Scotsman is defined as a ‘linear’ event, there is little chance of assisting on more than one ‘stage’ or test per day so, having volunteered, my driver and I were given a passage control ( PC ) on Friday in Derbyshire, an observing role on a test at the Stanhope quarry office site on Saturday and a timing point (TP) outside Carstairs near Lanark on Sunday. Living in Leeds, the work load looked easy with a late morning PC 65 miles away, a mid-morning test to observe and an early morning TP 210 miles from home. The paperwork showed we had a splendid start with a PC ‘inside the George Inn’ in Tideswell Derbyshire. The weather was not exactly hot enough to crack the paving stones but we moved our control to outside the front door, in the edge of the car park and set up the mandatory boards. As with all good plans, the organisers had thought that the pub had a drive through car park so that the ‘navigator’ could jump out of the car once in the car park, register an attendance and jump back in the car and continue. No one checked the room for other customers in the car park nor did they check that the exit was usable. The second ‘entrance’ was via a broken fence barrier and across a deep drainage ditch. We ended up with cars littering the main street in the village, but there was no better sight than up to half a dozen 4.5 litre open top Bentleys causing the chaos! We were told that of the 102 entrants, only 98 had actually raised enough steam to cross the starting ramp. As this was a rally requiring serious Navigation skills and we were only a PC where the competitors had to register, time and direction penalty free, it was of no surprise that two competitors arrived from the wrong direction, checked that they could, booked in, turned round and re-joined the correct route once they had turned their road book up the correct way. The closing car confirmed that we should expect 94 competitors with two known to have ‘gone home to get a replacement car’ and two were ‘ running late and going straight to the lunch halt’ We retired back to Leeds in through the Friday afternoon rush hour round Sheffield. Saturday morning, overnight bags in the car and a steady drive to Stanhope village and the Durham visitor centre. All the competitors were expected for a lunch break and the car park was suitably cordoned off with a police car strategically placed in full view of the locals who wished to use the ‘closed area’. The restaurant was just the same, but how do you set aside tables for 98 crews and officials for lunch, where, with a 40 minutes break, there was going to be a need for at least 50 seats. Unfortunately there was no free lunch but the sight of the first cars arriving was a superb draw for the locals. Our liquid adjustment break over and off we went to the derelict Quarry site at Eastgate. A large test round the whole site had been laid out and is always the case on these rallies, a few official cars then the competitors on or just before due time. We had 95 of the 98 competitors, including a ‘13’ plate, top of the range SE Mercedes trying very hard to look like a 1924 Rolls ‘Boat Tail’. The attached pictures show a few of the competitors.

A relaxing Rally:

Finished and cleared up by half past three, we had a steady drive to Carstairs and a reputed ‘quaint’ country pub. Not the case! Room was OK, food almost ran out, beer … all electric and gassy, locals were typically Scottish and a little on the noisy side, but all very hospitable. A nice calm atmosphere on Sunday morning, breakfast at seven thirty and off to our TP. We were a touch late as our Sat Nav. was a little out of date. We had to detour due to a bridge collapse three days before. We set up our post, a ‘Stop’ sign and a white line across the road … which induced a couple of early morning ‘non competitors’ to halt and enquire. We had 94 at roughly minute intervals, all trying very hard to obtain the optimum time to reach our location (5 minutes 39 seconds at an average of 27.5 mph from the previous TP). Being about one hundred metres ‘round the corner at a ‘T’ junction and having to use my glasses for close paperwork, I’m not sure how many, if any? Approached the junction from the wrong direction, but they all approached our TP from the correct direction. A steady drive home, once we agreed numbers of competitors with the ‘tail-end Charlie’ closing car, just in time for the Hamilton GP. A great, relaxing weekend, which saw 94 of the 98 starters reach the Sunday evening prize giving and banquet in the Gleneagles Hotel. What pleasure to see so many pre-war cars being driven rather than just standing with layers of polish and wax in some quiet garage or show room Roll on 2015.

Committee Contacts

Chairperson Lesley Starkey

[email protected] P: 01429869407 M: 07950248105

Secretary Paul Griffin

[email protected] M: 07882340567

Treasurer Phil Lee

[email protected] P: 01429267047 M:07969549332

Car Sports Secretary Position Vacant

Rescue Coordinator Chris Gibson

[email protected] P: 01642644201 M:07990594915

Marshals Secretary Bob Wright


Motorcycle Sports Secretary Graham Sanderson

[email protected] P: 01740652391

Social Secretary Paul Griffin

[email protected] M: 07882340567

Car Sports Committee

John Travis


Mick Starkey


Gavin Lee


Steve Hill

[email protected] M:07710-131130

Marshals Committee

Dave Lea

[email protected] [email protected] P: 01748830854 M: 07814592922

Tom Alden

[email protected]

Craig Hope


Keith Liddle

[email protected] P:07790693820

If you wish to contact any of the above please do so at sociably acceptable times.

Newsletter Editor Steve Gibson

[email protected] P:01642644201 M:07787514650

Easter Sprint

After a long day of competition the Winner of the British Sprint championship was Heather Calder in her Gould GR53 3500 who stopped the clocks in the second round of the Top 12 run off at 67.49 seconds The picture shows Heather receiving her FTD Award from Club President Richard Matthews. Below are a few of the comments received from competitors, roll on Easter Monday 2015 Hi Terry. just wanted to thank you and Yvonne for making the sprint a great success! the weather obviously always helps but everyone I talked to enjoyed the day immensely, lots surprised to get the third run as well, I know there is a lot of work involved and a fair bit of hassle for the pair of you and having have been doing it a long time! I can assure you its much appreciated by a lot of people. Best regards Colin Hi Terry, What a great day for everyone. All my Westfield competitors really enjoyed the day and there is some really good feedback on our forum. With people from down the country looking forward to coming up next year. So please thank everyone involved for a great day from the WSCC. Luke and I had some problems with the car, but Tom Watson & C of C Steve were very helpful in ensuring we got a run when it was fixed. Best regards Nick Algar Hi Terry, I thoroughly enjoyed yesterday. Driving up I was asking myself why I was travelling so far for a sprint, but the weather was wonderful and the extra timed run all contributed to make the 500 mile round trip worthwhile. Everybody was very friendly and every one I spoke to agreed it was a great day. Many thanks to you and your team.

may club night friday 9th may change of venue · park (always enjoying the f5000's) and 3nr....

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