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Silverstone MG International Weekend

23 - 25 June 2006

by Andrew Coulson with additional photograph by Ted Gardner
Silverstone 2006 from A Y Perspective

 

As usual, the good planning for getting down to Silverstone for the MGCC weekend evaporated about two weeks before the date. We had planned to take the YT, newly overhauled engine, new laid brake pipes, and a brand new hood/side screens, etc.

 

So the inevitable happened two weeks before — a major shorting out of the wiring and resultant no lights and a well welded old loom fixed to the gear box housing! Plans were therefore changed to make the trip in the YA — so a few late evenings spent under and over everything and car loaded up the night before Silverstone.

 

Thanks to Mike Silk for speedy advice on what the options (electric) were, and then more thanks to our friendly local garage for sorting out the rear end of the loom and finishing it .... at 10:00 on the very day we were due to go down! So it was all change again and a latish departure in a non-clean but serviceable YT.

 

Friday was a 'select' gathering for the Y types ... with David Pelham still cornering the market in desirable parts! (Just how many filing cabinets does he have!!) and just a handful of Ys parked up. We successfully located the various grommets and blanks need for sundry holes left in the YT bulkhead after major work (is it just me or do some of these holes just appear — with no known function?).

 

Saturday, still in warm (for Silverstone) weather saw six Y's present - among them Peter Arnell, Neil Cairns, Paul Gresser, & Ted Gardner - , and a steady level of interest at the Register stand, although overall numbers and cars on the circuit seemed down on previous years. We managed to see a few of the races — even those were fewer, with only one T type race and one pre-war race (usually at least two of each). But the quality of the cars on the track was excellent, with XPAG specials holding their own!

 

As we had entered the YT for the POO [Pride of Ownership- Webmaster] on Sunday ("Fly the flag for Y's" said the Committee ... so we did) Saturday night and Sunday morning were spent in a last minute cleaning routine — that is until Marshall POO informed us that the Y Class was to be merged with the T-type POO. The only entry in the T class arrived, blinding all with the gleam from the chrome, and then put up his bonnet to blind even more of us with the extra chrome on view! A fair Second place and suitably smaller tankard came our way on Sunday afternoon, and having done our stint on the Register Stand (Andrew doing the selling / networking and Arlene bringing drinks to Ted & Andrew) we left around 4 p.m. to take full advantage of 'quieter' roads during England's encounter with Ecuador.

 

A safe run home completed the 410 mile weekend, with just a few jobs now to do: repair the Speedo and rev counter cables which broke again; finish the wiring; try and stop the ammeter from dancing around so wildly; try and sort out the intermittent working of the fuel gauge; defrost Andrew — who insisted on his return Sunday evening drive with roof down and only a T-shirt; etc.

 

In summary, a quieter event than usual, fewer Ys attending  - perhaps the lull before the onslaught next year for our 60th Anniversary??

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Saturday's line up

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Coulson YT and Arnell YB

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Maguire's Playford
MG (XPAG)

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Quattlebaum's Leco
MG (XPAG)

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Load of POO

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Arlene leaves for home

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Saturday's line up - from the other end,
by Ted Gardner

To enlarge the pictures, double click on them.