Tag Archives: BPMC

All Ages And Abilities – BPMC Auto Solo / Auto Test Aust Services

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A couple of weeks after Le Jog visited Aust Services I went back to lend a hand with the timing for the Auto Test / Auto Solo event run by the Bristol Pegasus Motor Club that I would have entered myself, but I doubt my employers would have been amused seeing one of their marked SEAT Toledo TDi ambulances being thrown around with competitive abandon.

Ford Cortina, Gilmour, BPMC Auto Solo Auto Test. Aust Services

Among the 25 entries of all ages and levels of ability were Jayne & Andria Gilmour who were taking part in their very first motorsport event with their fabulously original 1980 2 litre / 122 cui Ford Cortina GL Mk V, while they had lot’s of fun they retired after a couple of runs for fear of damaging their pride and joy, but promised to come back with a more powerful Cortina they are building.

FIAT Panda, Thompson, BPMC Auto Solo Auto Test. Aust Services

Youngest competitor taking part was 14 year old Sam Thompson who again was on his first event and competing against his more experienced father Chris for class honours in his Mum’s Fiat Panda.

Toyota MR2, BPMC Auto Solo Auto Test. Aust Services

I’m not sure who was driving the Toyota MR2, the car made a lot of noise, but the driver was having too much fun doing donuts while trying to follow the route through the cones to be competitive.

Subaru Impreza, Benstock, BPMC Auto Solo Auto Test. Aust Services

Über rally marshal Mark Benstock used the opportunity to make a rare appearance behind the wheel of his 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX and promptly won the Autosolo Class C award, at the end of the event Mark kindly offered anyone interested the use of his car for a drive round the track, had I not been sodden in water proofs and wellies I might have been tempted to have had a go.

BMW 318 Ci SE, Payton, BPMC Auto Solo Auto Test. Aust Services

The 2002 BMW 318 Ci Se driven by the Payton’s provided much entertainment through out the afternoon, one wag commenting that the car needed wipers on the door window’s such was it’s side ways progress of the car with a noisy locked differential, Jack won class C of the Auto Test from Josh.

Mazda MX5, Welsh, BPMC Auto Solo Auto Test. Aust Services

The best times of the day were set by the Mazda MX5 driven by the Welsh brothers, with A Welsh being the quickest in the Auto Solo event.

Vauxhaul Viva, BPMC Auto Solo Auto Test. Aust Services

Finally I am not too sure who was driving this splendid farm find 1972 Vauxhall HC Viva, but the owner told me that since being put back on the road it has benefited from a boast in performance courtesy of a modern 2 litre / 122 cui 16 valve Vauxhall “Red Top” XE motor which in standard trim is good for 150hp nearly double the 77 hp available from the original HC Viva motor.

Thanks to everyone at the Bristol Pegasus Motor Club who made this a rainy day of affordable motorsport to remember, their next competitive event will be a 40th Anniversary Navigation exercise on Friday Feb 19th in Wales, see website linked above for details, or come along to the next club meeting at BAWA on Monday Feb 8th.

Thanks for joining me on this “All Ages And Abilities” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow, when I’ll be looking at another Daytona 24 hour challenger. Don’t forget to come back now !

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BPMC Bring Your Car Evening – Redhill Village Hall

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A couple of weeks ago the Bristol Pegasus Motor Club (BPMC) and a few friends met at Redhill Village Hall for a BBQ and autosolo on their football/soccer pitch.

Rolls Royce Phantom II, BPMC, Redhill Village Hall

Oldest of the vehicles present was this magnificent 1929 Rasberry and Cream Rolls Royce Phantom II which I believe served as a funeral directors vehicle before being restyled recently as a 2 seat coupé.

Sunbeam Tiger, BPMC, Redhill Village Hall

Parked up right next to me was this purposeful 1965 Sunbeam Tiger.

Chevrolet Corvette C3s, BPMC, Redhill Village Hall

A pair of ’80 & ’81 late C3 Chevrolet Corvette’s came along as did a single C6.

TVR Tuscan, BPMC, Redhill Village Hall

TVR kept making spartan lean machines right until the end of 2007, above a 2001 Tuscan with orifices in the wings that look like they should conceal weapons of mass destruction instead of headlights and indicators.

Factory Five 65 Coupé, BPMC, Redhill Village Hall

BPMC Social Secretary Nick Woods looks like he has just won the lottery behind the wheel of a friends ’08 Factory Five 65 Coupé, the bad news was the autosolo in which he was about to compete mandated drivers wear a black sack over their heads and were to be guided by their sighted passengers. Nick was navigated round the autosolo bollards by yours truely it took us nearly 30 seconds just to get off the start line such was the noise of the Roush V8 in front of us.

Toyota Hilux, BPMC, Redhill Village Hall

Though the Factory Five was wholly unsuited to the purpose of driving round the bollards, the event was won by a slightly smaller and considerably less powerful Saab, the most unsuited vehicle but most entertaining vehicle in the event was the ’95 Toyota Hilux Monster truck with 36 inch wide tyres driven by Scott Grey and his partner.

It turns out that Redhill Village Hall has Classic Gatherings most months on the third Thurday of the month, the next is on July 17th see their Classic Car Evening Gatherings page on facebook for further details.

Thanks for joining me on this “BPMC Bring Your Car Evening” edition of “Gettin a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be revisiting a Maserati I recently wrote about. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Test 7 Gordano – Le Jog

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On Saturday afternoon I gathered with a couple of friends from the Bristol Pegasus Motor Club and a few more from the Bristol Motor Club to marshal Test 7 of the 20th Le Jog classic car rally from Lands End to John O’Groats.

Ford Escort TC, Gordano Services, Le Jog

First competitor to arrive at the start area were David Bryan and Ian Humperson in this Escort Twin Cam built up as a replica of a car in which Roger Clark competed in the 1968 RAC Rally. Unfortunately David and Ian declined to take Test 7 as they had a problem with the rear suspension. However they completed the event and won blue ribands in the Touring Trial.

Hennipman/Hennipman, Peugeot 403, Test 7, Gordano, Le Jog

Yellow head lights were from 1939 to 1993 as much a part of French motoring life as Disque Bleu were to the French Café life, so when we saw the car coming above we could be pretty sure it was French and it turned out to be 1960 Peugeot 403 being crewed by Dutchman Pieter and Thijs Hennipman.

Botterill/Marshall, Rover P5B Coupé, Test 7, Gordano, Le Jog

Competitors chose some unlikely if comfortable steeds for this four day event, run in the spirit of pre special stage rallying with plenty of regularity runs, navigation exercises and auto tests as run in the car park at Gordano Services. Above Nigel Botterill and Julian Marshall had one of the more comfortable vehicles in the event in the form of a 1967 Rover P5B Coupé.

Helmbold/Helmbold, Mercedes Benz 280 TE, Test 7, Gordano, Le Jog

The Botterill / Marshall may have been equaled for comfort by the Mercedes Benz 280 T, but Helga and Selina Helmbold had far more space in the boot / trunk than the pair in the Rover. Seeing this vehicle compete complete with roof rails made me wonder if I might be able to use my own car in this event at some point in the not too distant future. Helga and Selina beat a Porsche 944 to finish fourth in class G2 for vehicles built post January 1975.

Baker/Baker, Porsche 911 SC, Test 7, Gordano, Le Jog

The 1978 Martini striped Porsche 911 SC crewed by Micheal and Simon Baker was probably the outright fastest vehicle in the event so it was no surprise to find them winning class G2.

Harris/Joseph, VW Golf GTi, Test 7, Gordano, Le Jog

Simon Harris and Russel Joseph won the G1 class for under 2 litre cars built post January 1975 in their 1983 Volkswagen Golf GTi Mk 1 seen above.

Buzzard/Lyne, ALFA Romeo GTV, Test 7, Gordano, Le Jog

Overall winners of the event were Andrew Buzzard and Rob Lyne seen above in their 1967 ALFA Romeo Giulia Sprint GTV.

Schulze/Krey, Talbot Tagora GLS, Gordano Services, Le Jog

Peter Schulze and Micheal Krey probably had the least likely car on the event, it turns out Talbot Togara’s were used in the French Super Tourisieme series back in the early 1980’s. Peter and Krey won an absolute beginners award for their efforts, if you speak German you can read about their adventure on their Alte Franzosen blog.

Botterill/Marshall, Gordano Services, Le Jog

Not only did Nigel Botterill, left and Julian Marshall, right drive an extremely comfortable car but they cut a fine dash by competing in the finest top and tails as if on their way to a wedding. Nigel and Julian kindly left me their unused meal vouchers which went along way to helping Tim and I thaw out from out marshaling duties.

Sandra Wukovich, Gordano Services, Le Jog

Above Sandra Wukovich catches up with some map reading for the camera’s,

Edelhoff/Wukovich, VW Iltis, Gordano Services, Le Jog

Sandra and Stefanie Edelhoff were competing in this 1979 Volkswagen Iltis a factory classic collection replica of a vehicle used in the Paris Dakar Rally the drive train of which formed the basis of for Audi’s adventure into four wheel drive competition in the early 1980’s.

12 Jaguar XK 120 IMG_5349sc

Once the crew’s had completed their navigation, for the next leg of the event in Wales, they headed off into the rain from whence they came. Above Philip Haslam and Peter Fletcher depart for Wales in their Jaguar XK 120.

Thanks for joining me on this “Test 7 Gordano” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a road going Ford GT40. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Giving Up Is Hard To Do – Cross Trophy

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Last Wednesday, after a break of some 20 years, I became a car owner again. Thanks to my folks purchasing a new Golf TSI, I found myself taking on their 12 year old Golf Estate.

Volkswagen Golf, Bristol Classic Car Show

My first adventure in it was on Saturday to the Bristol Classic Car Show at Shepton Mallet, see above, and on Sunday I drove my new pride and joy to Duncan’s farm just outside Bristol in Dundry and attempted to retain the Cross Trophy which I won at last years Bristol Pegasus Motor Club‘s production car trial meeting.

Cross Trophy, Dundry

Arriving promptly at mid day the first problem, thanks to the wettest drought on record, was to get all the competitors on to that part of the field where the competition was scheduled to take place. Pete, one of the marshals, thoughtfully brought his Land Rover with him so that Andy, in the Citroen Saxo above and I could, with the aid of a tow, at least make it to the start line of the first test.

Volkswagen Beetle, Cross Trophy

My next problem was to find a passenger, fortunately Zoë from the Bristol Motor Club, who had come along to help with the marshaling and watch her 15 year old daughter Clare make her production car trial debut with her father Mark in the 1967 Beetle above, kindly volunteered to forgo standing in the rain and agreed to be my passenger.

Marlin, Cross Trophy

After a short drivers briefing with event organiser Mal we dispersed to the four competitive sections of the event. Laura my passenger last year is seen above in her Dad’s Marlin Roadster.

Suzuki X-90, Cross Trophy

Alan who has recovered from inverting his Parsons on the recent Exeter Trial was sharing his newly acquired Suzuki X-90 named ‘Barbie’ with Pat who is seen at the wheel above with Pete observing on the first section.

Citroen AX, Cross Trophy

Winner of the National Class B event was Chris in his Citroen AX seen here trying to clear the second section which like all the sections got progressively more difficult through the afternoon as the rain came and went and then came back again.

Volkswagen Golf, Cross Trophy

Despite competing in the lower Clubsport event Paul in the Golf II above just managed to pip National Class B winner Chris to win the overall event. I managed to come 3rd in class the front wheel drive Clubsport class and 7th overall in the Clubsport event and 12th overall in the two combined events.

Volkswagen Golf, Cross Trophy

Afterwards I was joined at the nearest garage by Chris who had driven his Nissan Micra 145 miles from Gravesend for a long engagement with the steam cleaner.

My thanks to Mal, Pete and everyone involved in the organisation and marshaling of this veritable mud bath of an event, to Tim for the results, and Zoë my passenger who did her bit to dispel the myth that the Bristol Motor Club is ‘the enemy’ of the Bristol Pegasus Motor Club.

Giving up the Cross Trophy at the end of the year will be hard to do even though Paul took a well deserved victory, I look forward to attempting to win it back again next year !

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Giving Up Is Hard To Do’ edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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