RICK @ the RACES
UK TRIP 2010 ( June 30 to July 7)
This weeks report is a little different from normal and starts off on Wednesday 30 June when I left my home in Cornwall, Ontario on route to Ottawa’s McDonald-Cartier Airport. I parked my car near to the airport at Denise Aubin’s house ( daughter of my buddy Roger) where she drove me the last couple of miles. I arrived in plenty of time for my 10-30 pm overnight flight to London, England. I was on my way to attend a very important event. On Thursday July 1st my Mum and Dad were celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary and a big family party was planned for Saturday ( 3 July) .
I was met at Heathrow by my long time friend, Colin Herridge and after stopping at the Watling Street truck stop at Flamstead for lunch we were at my parents place in Totternhoe (near Dunstable) by mid afternoon. I’d managed to grab some sleep on the plane so I wasn’t too tired and able to stay awake for the rest of the day.
I was using my Mum’s Renault Clio during the stay, and was up early on Friday morning to make another visit to Heathrow. My daughter Carla and her boyfriend Alex were flying in from Miami, USA and I had to be there to pick them up.
They arrived at 7-00am and once through the customs procedures we were all heading for nearby Windsor. Alex is originally from Peru and this was his first visit to the UK, so the famous castle was a ‘must’ on the tourist list. After breakfast in Windsor we set off in the direction of Chichester , Sussex where I would be attending the first racing event of my trip. We arrived at the small village of Westbourne just before lunch where we met up with another of my long time friends, Lynn Longden and her husband Brian. After socializing in the local pub for a while we said our farewell’s and drove into Chichester.
I dropped off Carla and Alex in the city center while I went on to the races !
My destination was the world famous Goodwood Racing Circuit located just a few miles away. Regular racing ceased there many years ago and in recent times it has become noted for the Annual FESTIVAL OF SPEED .When I was a young kid back in the 1960’s, I can remember watching races on TV from this historic circuit. As I drove towards the track the AA direction sings were stating ‘Sold Out’ for this, the opening day of the weekend event. Luckily I had a media complimentary ticket. and was able to drive straight in and park close to the F1 car ‘pit area’.
All the top teams were represented in this grand festival of world auto racing.
No actual wheel to wheel competition takes place at this event, just timed sprints ‘up the hill’.
There were all sorts of historic racing cars taking part from years gone by in the packed grounds of Goodwood .
It was a gloriously sunny day which made the whole thing that much more pleasurable. I spent a couple of hours taking in the spectacle before making my way back to Chichester to pick up Carla and Alex.
Once reconnected ,we then drove back to Mum and Dads place.
Saturday was Mum and Dad’s ‘big day’ and the family celebration was being held in a large barn at my sister Anne’s place at Hockliffe. I really enjoyed reuniting with friends and relatives I hadn’t seen for many years .
As it was their 60th wedding anniversary Mum and Dad received a congratulations card from HM Queen Elizabeth. The ‘do’ started soon after lunch and went on to the early hours.
The family go together on stage to perform the Cliff Richards song , ‘The YOUNG ones’ . I think I crawled into bed about 3-00 am.
I was up early on Sunday morning for a trip to the Foxhall Stadium in Ipswich with Colin, to attend day two of their Annual SpedeWeekend. This event is the highlight of the Spedeworth racing calendar and features the World Final for National Hot Rods. I’ve never been a great fan of the Hot Rod formula so this was a first time visit for me.
Lucky for me Hot Rods were not the only formula on the program and the days agenda also included a couple of other divisions which were more to my liking.
The Spedeworth Superstox were there to contest their National Championship
as well as another crowd favorite, the Stock Saloons. I don’t normally get enthusiastic about Banger Racing , but on this occasion I have to admit, I was !
A special event was being staged for Jaguars ‘only’ and some beautiful old classics were out on the track. Back in my youth I regularly raced ‘Jag’ powered Stock cars and I’ve always had a soft spot for this marque .
To the shock of many purists, one guy was racing a rare 1957 XK.
As for the big Hot Rod event, it was won by Colin Haird after defending champion Carl Boardley had to retire around mid way. For what it’s worth , my verdict after witnessing this race for the first time is as follows. After watching BriSCA F1 and F2 stock cars for many years, and more recently DIRT Modifieds, I found it a bit tame , with not enough action . I guess, I’m yet to be converted ! . ( Hot Rods were at their best in the early 1970’s when the likes of George Polley and Barry Lee would fight it out on the Wimbledon shale) . I have no complaints about the other formulas as I quite enjoyed them.
While I was there I met up with fellow SHORT CIRCUIT MAGAZINE contributors Dave ‘Smiffyman’ Smith and Peggyann Lilley . It was the first time I’d met Peggyann and I enjoyed our little chat. I have to thank my buddy ‘Smiffyman’ who made an old man very happy by arranging a photo shoot with the Spedeworth Trophy girls . One of them, Sophie is the girlfriend of Ryan Eaton, Grandson of Les Eaton the founder of Spedeworth.
I also met up with BriSCA F1 driver Tim Warwick who was there watching as well as former driver Mo Smith . Mo used to race BriSCA F1 in ‘my day’ and was there with his son Nick who was racing a Superstox.
After the races were over Colin took me back to Totternhoe for a few hours sleep before the next event on my schedule.
On Monday Carla, Alex and myself set off with Colin for a multi purpose tour.
We departed mid morning for a sight seeing trip to Stonehenge in Wiltshire, then continued down the A303 to Yeovil in Somerset . Carla has relatives ( on her Mothers side) that live in the town , so we dropped her and Alex off for a few hours with them while Colin and I went to the races.
Our destination was another 45 minutes away at ‘Autospeeds’ Smeatharpe Stadium between Honiton and Taunton. It was Colin’s first ever visit and only my third. On both my previous visits it had poured with rain, but like each day of this UK tour, it was warm and sunny. The reason for this special Monday night event was a staging of the BriSCA F2 stock car World Final qualifier. 
All the top guys were there including long distance travelers Gordon Moody from Scotland and current World Champion Micky Brennan from Nelson, Lancashire.
The first person I met was Autospeed boss Crispen Rosevear, a real good guy who gave me credentials to shoot photos from the middle.
While on the middle I chatted to the tracks Tech inspector who just happens to be ex F2 World Champion , Colin Higman from Cornwall. It was interesting to hear his stories of the two occasions that he’s visited Canada . Another ex World Champion and friend from the 1970’s I said hello to was Bill Batten who was there with his racing son Rob .
I also bumped into Mick Black (who had been my mechanic and crew man while I was racing)
as well as Paul and Joan Jenkins from the VSCA ( Veteran Stock Car Association ).
The racing was first class with Todd Jones of Farnham Surrey taking the checkers in the Feature Final. We were out of the gate as soon as the last stock car event was over and soon heading back to Yeovil. After picking up Carla and Alex at around 11-00 pm we were soon on our way back to Bedfordshire. We arrived back in Totternhoe around 2-15 am .
During my stay, I kept passing this sign that was put up near to Totternhoe advertizing an event, my nephew , William was involved in !
Tuesday , the final full day of my tour was spent relaxing and spending time with Mum and Dad. On Wednesday I caught my usual bus from Hemel Hempstead to Heathrow for my 1-00 pm flight. I landed back in Ottawa at 3-40 pm and not long after , I was picking up my car from Denise’s place . I had contemplated visiting the Wednsday night races at the Capital City Speedway , but quite frankly , I was too tired. I now had to remember to drive on the right hand side of the road for the final leg of my trip on my way back to Cornwall. I returned to work on Thursday. Phew !
R.I.P MITCH JOCK
While I was away , I was saddened to hear the news that Mitch Jock , one of my race driver friends from the Cornwall Motor Speedway and Mohawk International Raceway had passed away. Mitch was a good racer and real nice guy that I had the pleasure of knowing for the past six years. My deepest sympathies go out to his family and friends