Compost

I’ll begin this month by making a correction to the date given last month for Chin’s 12car rally in November. It isn’t or wasn’t on the 9th but one week later on the 16th. Sorry about that. If this hits your doormats before then, the start for this will be in the car park/layby on the A20 just Northwest of J2a on the M26, map ref 188/626½586½. Usual start time of 8pm but arrive earlier. Following on from that event and staying with 12 cars, Croydon’s next one is on the 14th December, starting at Westerham Garage at 8pm. Contact Peter Turner on 01883 623465 for more info. The January 11th 12car is to be set out by Colin Billings, I don’t know yet where the start will be for this but call me or Colin nearer the time if it doesn’t appear in December’s ACORN.
Our end of October scatter will have happened by now and if Colin Billings gets the eight crews out that competed on the first scatter, then I think that he will be well pleased. That first event even had a couple of regulars missing. Andy and Vivien were busy, Viv would use a stronger description than that, with the Rally of Kent and the Crockers were elsewhere too. So double figures for a scatter is a real possibility. Graham Baker took up my suggestion that people who didn’t really know what a scatter was all about should come along and jump in the back seat with a regular crew. He bought along with him two of his ex students who had a great time sitting in the back with Doug Kingsley and Ben Greenfield of Boro 18 and were eventual winners. Graham fitted into the rear seat of the Travers’ Vectra, now sporting battle scars after an indiscretion with a lorry on the Rally of Kent. Good job Ralph was driving the lorry, but that stationary Vectra that just came out of nowhere…..well !!!!! Stefan Davis, I can spell your name right mate!, was also out with some of his mates, one of whom, John Bond was using a very nice sounding 1600 Nova. Watch for the potholes John! All in all, that event was a great success and I would encourage more of you to come along and see for yourself what it’s all about. There’s room in the back of most cars although it’s a bit tight in the Puma, but if you’re up for it, then be there, don’t be frightened, come and have a go. With that in mind, our next scatter will be on November 28th. Andy Elcomb is I/C for this one and it will start at The Red House, south of Maidstone near Chart Sutton, map ref 188/782½488½. January 9th‘s event has Ian Crocker running it, start TBA.
 The Rally of Kent has passed us by now, those heavily involved have breathed their sigh of relief. Well done to all, and thanks to all the members who turned out on either the Friday setting up day or the Saturday. It couldn’t be done without you. I’m sure that there will be a more detailed report elsewhere and since I don’t know a lot more about the event, I won’t try and bulls..t you! We know that some of the crews didn’t like the section through the woods at Lodge Hill and some felt the stage wasn’t arrowed correctly. But then if a racer makes a mistake, it’s never their fault is it??? I don’t blame my cold rear tyres when the arse of the Shovit gets a bit out of shape… oh no, I just give it too much welly, best way to do it! On advice of Andy, I didn’t attempt to drive through the woods in the morning before any crew had been through, but the rest of the stage was pukka, a real mixture of different surfaces and a test for a true driver. How would the modern breed of rally driver get on doing a five night, sod all sleep, no pace note rally as in days gone by?…..hmmm.
Only one type of surface at North Weald on the 21st October, a bloody wet one. The rain wasn’t actually that heavy, more persistent than anything. The drains were putting water onto the surface rather than taking it away so the run down to the banjo and back had to be cut out. Neville Moon and his team had a difficult call to make, whether to cancel the meeting completely. A deferred start practice run was made with 61 cars going out, no single seaters, and at the end of that and after more deliberation by Neville, a decision was taken to call it a day. As Nev said himself, that decision wasn’t going to please everyone, although no one to my knowledge protested. I was actually quite happy to carry on, in my mind, there was no more water on the main runway than there had been in previous meetings, but I respected the decision made as did everyone else. The Clerk of the Course has to look at a much wider picture than the view of just some competitors. It’s a sad thing to say, but just suppose that someone had done something silly and hurt themselves. OK, you might say, motorsport is dangerous, we all know that, but if that person was of a certain type, they might seek compensation from the organisers because they let an event run in ‘poor’ conditions. It’s a sorry state of affairs but personal injury compensation is big business. So the end to the speed year was a bit of a wash out, ha ha!, and once again Martyn Ellis has secured the overall victory to the 2001 Marketing Machine Speed League, top man. I don’t know what to say about Andy Webber …… déjà vu perhaps? Keep at it Andy, you’ll get there one day. I’m sure the Speed Sec or someone else will have more to say on the Championship, that’s the excuse I’m using for not writing any more.
Looking towards next year, our popular summer Autotest series which has been very well looked after by Alan Pearson for the last three years, will be in need of a new organiser. Alan wants to play. You might have to raise your final drive ratio for the autotests Al, you might end up going quicker around a field in Farningham than Lydden !!….. ooooh, that was below the belt. It’s not a difficult job, probably the most important thing is to be able to be at the venue early enough to get the cones out and generally be ready for competitors when they arrive. I think Alan said about 5:30pm is when he gets there. The ideal candidate will be residing not too far from Farningham, probably retired or finishes work early and be prepared to give it a go. I know next May is a long way off, but it helps to know early who’s gonna be doing what, so talk to me or Alan if you fancy it.
RECAP
Nov 16th 12car  - start at 188/ 626½ 586½, car park A20, NW of J2a M26.
Nov 28th scatter - start at The Red House, nr Chart Sutton, MR 188/ 782½ 488½.
Dec 14th 12-car - start at Westerham Garage,
MR 187/ 447½ 548½.

Mark Dawson
 

The Acorn : November Edition