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MARTIN WILLIAMS
This is something that I thought I’d never have to do and it’s not an
easy thing at any time but even more so at Christmas. Martin Williams is
a name that many of you will not have heard of. He was a relatively new
member to Sevenoaks & District Motor Club, having joined at the Crystal
Palace sprint in May 2000. He sadly lost his life in a car accident in
mid December which was reported in the Sevenoaks Chronicle. He was 26 years
old.
I don’t know that any one particular club member knew Martin more than
any other but my first recollection of him was seeing this quiet, unassuming
young man at a social night. He had come alone, not knowing anyone and
it soon became apparent to me that he was looking and listening in our
direction. I got up and approached him and sure enough he was one of us.
Naturally one of the first questions asked was ‘What car do you drive?’,
‘A GTiR’ was his reply, the car he loved and looked after and the one he
was tragically killed in. As time went by Martin became a regular at the
social nights and got talking to others such as Daren Hall and Stefan Davis,
both part of the Nissan Motorsport Europe Team that won John Milligan’s
quiz night. During the summer of 2001 he competed in his Nissan at the
grass autotests and I know thoroughly enjoyed them. More latterly, he and
I had talked about getting him out doing some scatter rallies and such
like and he wanted to come along in the back seat with myself and Daren
and see what it was all about. Sadly, we never got the opportunity to introduce
him to that aspect of the sport.
Martin was one of the genuine nice guys, always polite, willing to
help and the sort of person that anyone would be pleased to know. He will
be missed. My thoughts and those of everyone connected with Sevenoaks &
District Motor Club go out to his family and friends in their time of need.
Mark Dawson
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JACK KEMSLEY
Question 2 of the standard 7Oaks Self Interview has often made me think
about the exact moment I knew I would actually compete in motorsport rather
than just follow it. In my case it was not because of Jack Kemsley – but
it very nearly was. I had a life changing experience cycling home from
school and encountering the Gulf London International Rally (organised
by the first-named of the 2 current 7Oaks Vice Presidents and worth an
article itself because few people now seem aware there was once a “summer
RAC”).
By the time of the RAC Rally that year (which started near my then
home close to Heathrow) I knew how important Jack Kemsley was to the event.
Sadly, his passing coincides with the final year of the era when the RAC
was for private entrants and club teams, as well as works cars. I stood
just inside the door of a crowded room at the Airport Hotel and heard him
announce the cancellation of the 1967 event hours before the start due
to foot and mouth. A year later, school geography lessons that extended
to the basics of OS map reading found me recruited into an RAC Rally service
crew despite not knowing one end of a spanner from the other. When there
was a problem with a missing road book, we were told we would have to “see
Mr Kemsley” to sort it out. Sure enough, it took an encounter on the Hotel
stairs with “Mr RAC Rally” – and a friendly “Yes, of course, old boy” to
a very young, very scruffy “mechanic”.
In later years, when I was Service Crew, Chase Crew, Press Crew and
then Co-driver and Driver on the “RAC”, there was never quite the same
atmosphere or attitude from the organising side – and that was because
Jack Kemsley had retired. Would we ever have had club level stage rallying
as we know it and would we ever have had British World Rally Champions
if Jack Kemsley’s RAC Rally had not been taken into the forests in 1961?
Keith Lay |
