A glorious sun-drenched May day bank holiday greeted the twenty seven racers for the third round of the championship at the sponsors local circuit of Castle Combe near Chippenham in Wiltshire. Making their 1996 championship debuts were the Frogeye Sprites of Dave Grove (road going) and Richard Perry (modified) along with the modified 3000’s of Kevin Smith and all the way from Glasgow Tom Fitzsimmons. One of the biggest ‘welcomes’ went to Neil Hardy in his 100 who made his reappearance in the championship after a season’s break following his fathers devastating accident in 1994. The cars went out for practice which saw a surprisingly slippery track due to oil left from the previous practice session. For most of the practice the drivers suffered only minor problems with Joe Chatham and Tom Fitzsimmons both suffering at the hands of the noise scrutineers, but the luckless Neil Hardy lost oil pressure which was later traced to a broken oil pump.
It was the infamous Quarry bend that saw all the action and caused the downfall of Sandy Glen and Kevin Smith’s 3000’s. Both drivers left their braking too late which had drastic ramifications. Sandy lost control which resulted in a severely damaged front end which was further compounded as his road going 3000 swung its back end into the tyre wall for good measure. Kevin, out for his first ever race, had an equally nasty moment as his modified 3000 ended up in the marshal’s post which ended his day’s racing.
So after the practice it was a elated Bruce Montgomery in his Modified Big Healey who claimed his second pole position of the championship from a hard charging Joe Chatham who drove very maturely to take the second spot. Joining them on the front row was Mike Johns who again qualified well to lead the modified Sprites. Sitting on the second row much to everyone else’s stupefaction was the road going Sprite of Jim Mitchell who not only lead the class, but was also ahead of modified Sprites and Big Healeys - whatever Jim had had for breakfast he should have bottled it! 1995 champion Robert Mills lead the road going Big Healeys ahead of a storming Chris Riley in his 100/6.
Before the race Sandy Glen never had a moment’s rest as he set about completely renewing his steering and repairing all his dented bodywork. Peter Ford from John Chatham Cars Limited was kept very busy not only helping Sandy but also rushing back to the workshops to repack Tom Fitzsimmons and Joe Chatham’s silencers. Kevin Smith decided that he had had enough racing for the day and Neil Hardy could not fit a new oil pump, so it was twenty five cars that lined up for to take the start of the third round of the championship.
The first incident happened after the warming up lap when the star of practice (Jim Mitchell) lined up in the incorrect grid position that later proved to have drastic consequences as Jim collected a ten second penalty for his oversight. The lights went green and Trevor Seckel in his 3000 made one of his customary blistering starts from the fourth row unlike David Smithies whose dragging clutch saw him relegated down from the third row to twelfth place. Bruce Montgomery made a good start and led the race off the line from Joe Chatham as the racers made their rapid way towards Quarry. It was all action as the Healeys went three abreast round the infamous bend incredibly without anyone sustaining any damage.
By the end of the lap Montgomery had stamped his authority on the race with Chatham in a firm second. But behind them it was a thrilling race led by Simon Page in his modified Sprite with Trevor Seckel and Ian Cox’s 3000’s joined by Mike Johns and David Coplowe’s Sprites, and just for good measure Jim Mitchell’s road going Sprite - this group covered by less than two seconds as they crossed the line. There was also another gaggle of racers contesting the mid-field places just a moment behind them. Peter Korner was battling in his 100 with the road going Sprites of David Smithies and Roger Tidmarsh with Robert Mills (100), Eric Woolley (3000) and Sandy Glen (3000) all joining in with the contest. In the last group of action it was the magnificent Silverstone of Chris Berens who was in hot pursuit of Dave Grove’s Sprite with both having the better of Steve Poynter’s 3000 and Vanessa Woolley’s Frogeye Sprite.
The race was just non stop action and it did not matter where you were watching from as the places swapped several times on each lap. Whether it was Quarry, Tower or Camp the racing action was quite simply out of this world - the Big Healeys getting the advantage on the fastest parts of the circuit; the Sprites stealing back the gained ground in the corners - often two or three cars abreast - words are insufficient to describe the excitement. By the half way point it was still Montgomery who lead from Chatham and looked set to be the first to see the coveted chequered flag. Nick Winter had yet another unhappy race retiring with engine problems on the fifth lap, and the 1995 road going Sprite class winner Ian Permain also retired with similar engine difficulties - both drivers yet to finish a race in the championship.
The battles for the places were still raging with the pressure not letting up for a single moment. It was Ian Cox by the seventh lap leading the tussle of third making it a one/two/three for the Big Healeys. Snapping at his heels seemingly attached to his Bootlid was a thrilling contest for modified Sprite honours with Simon Page struggling to hold his advantage from David Coplowe and Mike Johns any one of the drivers could have taken the top spot. Amongst the road going Sprites Jim Mitchell continued to stamp his authority on the class leading the way on the track by breaking Roger Tidmarsh’s lap record but unaware of the startline penalty. Smithies held the narrowest of margins over Tidmarsh who was visibly closing the gap to the slimmest of margins. The road going Big Healeys were also mixed up in this combat with Chris Riley a hair’s breath ahead of Peter Korner with Eric Woolley’s 3000 just ahead of Robert Mills who was third in class - Sandy Glen having had another sideways moment at Quarry dropped back out of the foray .
So after ten laps of non stop action it was Bruce Montgomery who kept Joe Chatham six seconds behind. Third place honours and winner of the modified Sprites was a jubilant Simon Page who at the very last moment got ahead of David Coplowe to claim his first podium place of ’96 with a demonstrative display of pleasure punching the air with both hands as his black Frogeye took the chequered flag. Jim Mitchell crossed the line first of the road going Sprite’s seven seconds ahead of David Smithies who only just made the line ahead of Roger Tidmarsh who had got alongside David - ten yards further and Roger would have won the class (Jim was soon to be relegated to third in class rewarding Roger’s magnificent last ditch attempt for class honours).
For the first time in the history of the AHC’s racing the modified Big Healeys made it a one/two with Bruce Montgomery drifting his way spectacularly to his first win of the year from Joe Chatham who brought DD 300 home in second. An ecstatic Chris Riley chalked up his first victory in the road going Big Healeys making up for his disappointment in the previous race at Snetterton, and leading Peter Korner home by the preverbal fag packet. Jim Mitchell failed in his attempt to get the ten second penalty lifted which handed the class win to the lucky David Smithies. Simon Page built on his previous success at Snetterton to win for the first time the modified Sprite class after an excellent race long battle with David Coplowe and Mike Johns.
PRINT CLASS POINTS/POSITIONS
David Smithies keeps his lead of the championship after his slice of good fortune from Peter Korner’s road going 100 and Roger Tidmarsh’s road going Sprite who are locked together in second place. The stalking horse in the shape of Bruce Montgomery’s 3000 in fourth place is the one to keep an eye on, as he has done one less race and has yet to drop a single point leaving him in the strongest position.
It had been a tremendous day’s action which had lived up to its billing both on HTV television news and star race in the programme. Castle Combe had once again been the highlight of the championship year at this friendly and well organised circuit which is a credit to the B.R.S.C.C. The next race is at the end of the month (May) at Silverstone - the home of British Motor Racing - for the inaugural staging of the Paul Lorne Trophy - the stage is set once again for another great Healey race; the players are ready; the trophies await; so keep reading this space for all the news and action.
Charles Matthews - Championship Co-ordinator
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The opinions expressed in this piece are those of the author and not those of BMRC.
If you have any suggestions for improvement please e-mail Ken Clark at kenc@bmrc.co.uk.