MISCellaneous NEWS Issue 6

The newsletter of the MGCC Moss International Speed Championship Northern

6th August 1999

Summertime.......

It seems like an age ago that my last missive went out, and with 7 weeks passed and 4 more event under our belts, it probably is. And a very busy 7 weeks they’ve been. Harewood very nearly made a full entry and fun was had by all, despite the rather inclement weather. Four runs provided good value, albeit in the rain. The next 2 meetings were a complete contrast with glorious sunshine, while the last, Curborough, was classic British Summer, scorching hot one minute, p***ing down the next. So what happened at these meetings and who’s leading what?

The rain at Harewood clearly suited the Fs, with Diggers and Panel Basher pushing the times into the mid 70 seconds to record 1st and 2nd fastest MGs on the day. Not far behind Allan Inwood’s Midget was the only other car to break 80 seconds while the more powerful and modified machinery was left struggling for grip. A good turn out of Standard MGBs provided the usual entertainment and left the marshals stunned in admiration for the enthusiasm of MG drivers. While almost all the other competitors gave up after 2 or 3 runs, the MG boys kept plugging on to take all 4 runs. Sorry I missed all the fun....not!

2 weeks late all was change with the whole country basking in the July heatwave, and the Anglesey sprint saw a moderate turn out. The Fs were again the largest contingent being swollen by the Abingdon Trophy drivers, this time PB (aka our boy Lloyd) was fastest hotly pursued by JT, returning to his native soil, and showing the 1.8is can mix it with the VVCs. Elsewhere Mark Green was showing his pace after his mechanical problems at Harewood, being the only man to set a new record, and Tezza and George Pawlyn where chasing the fastest MG title. This was resolved in George’s favour after the man Pigott had a couple of minor whoopsies.

Another fortnight later we returned to Yorkshire once again, but this time in glorious sunshine so markedly absent from Scammonden in the last 2 seasons. As a last minute replacement for the cancelled Barbon meeting, Scammonden attracted a good showing with MGs making up over a third of the total entry. With Standard cars a bit thin on the ground they all ran together for the event, and a late entry from Lloyd paid dividends with a class win and new MGF record to move him into the overall championship lead. In the road-going classes some interesting battles were enacted. The Pattinson family picked up a clean 1-2 in the MGBs with Colin just maintaining his edge, while the Hewetts were split by Helen Wolf in the Acequip class. This result seems to be habit forming as it was a repeat of the placings at both Harewood and Anglsey! In the Midgets Andrew Pearson drove a stormer to clinch the class win with a new record, while among the specials an interesting dice is developing between DC and the Piglet. A 3/10ths margin separated David and me, after chasing all day, I just couldn’t catch the man; anyway it sounded good in the pub, "just beaten David Coulthard".

A week later and we were all out again with an excellent turnout for the third North/South match. From a gloriously sunny start practice went smoothly with the promise of 3 time runs, but problems were brewing. The first runs were conducted in the blistering heat, with several drivers complaining of power loss due to the temperature, but not so much as to stop several records being broken. As the second runs started the cloud started to build and the humidity rose and just as the last class lined up, the MGFs, the heavens opened. Jammy as ever Diggers managed a dry run, with Lloyd just catching the start of the rain, but everyone else was rained out, putting a bit of a dampener on the class and curtailing the meeting. Most unlucky was Lloyd, who spun on his first run, and without a fully dry track was left struggling near the bottom of the class; after an excellent practice where he was fastest, he was left ruing that lapse on run 1.

So, where are placings now? From the table you will pick up the class leaders, and a new column now indicates the overall championship position for everyone. With 10 down and 6 to go, Lloyd currently leads overall with 81 points, 10 ahead of second placed Tony MacIntyre on 71 and Diggers on 68, although both men have an event in hand. Very few other drivers have 8 score up yet so the results can be misleading, but all in all almost every class has an interesting dice or two going on.

The Shirley Stafford Trophy

This has once again returned to being a Northern only award as there are 4 active lady competitors out this year. Currently the class is tied with both Pauline Dignan and Helen Wolf scoring 50 points, with Diane Hewett 3rd on 43 and Alison Pattinson 4th with 35, but an event in hand. Looks like this will be a close finish in the last 3rd of the season!

Event News

Everyone should now have had Regs for all but the last 2 meetings, L&DMC 3 Sisters and MGCC (NW) Baitings Dam. Both of these should be on their way shortly. If anyone has not had any of the sets of Regs please call immediately.

Class Amalgamations

Following a Stewards meeting last week, the amalgamations listed below have been ratified:

The Stewards were a little concerned amalgamating the Maestro into the MGBs and the T-Type into the Standard Midgets, as both are downward amalgamations, but in the absence of any dispute they will go ahead. The Championship table has been amended to reflect these changes and the event scores updated. A full adjudication will be sent with either this newsletter or the next.

Class Division

No feedback on the suggestion to split the MGF class. Are you all happy with the situation?. Please let me know.

Well that about wraps it up for now. Hope to see most of you at 3 Sisters on Sunday.