THE CLASSIC 30 – A ‘Triumphant’ success. Charles Graves and Ron Palmer win the HRCR Classic 30 Anniversary Rally in their TR4 The Classic 30 – the highlight to the Club’s 30th Anniversary celebrations – exceeded expectations with an outstanding weekend of competition, camaraderie and classic rally roads, to the delight of all who took part. A wonderful mix of 51 pre-1986 classic rally cars set out from rally HQ at the Holiday Inn, Corby, on this two day event format accompanied by the unseasonably warm and dry weather which remained with the rally from start to finish. Some of the top crews were entered in combinations that are not often seen together plus some very experienced rally organisers from both the sides of the Irish Sea! The route surprised competitors with just how scenic this part of the East Midlands is, with its open field roads, good views and attractive almost “Cotswold” coloured villages – made all the more enjoyable by the sunshine. A well thought out route and series of tests kept crews on their toes right from the start and all but one car made it to the finish trouble free. Saturday started with a regularity and then a coffee halt at Normanton Park Hotel overlooking Rutland Water, more regularity sections followed by lunch at Scalford Hall Hotel near Melton Mowbray. A further regularity out of lunch lead the crews to four special tests at Bruntingthorpe, Sulby and Foxton. Crews enjoyed delicious cake and refreshments at Langton Stone Cafe. Then a further final regularity section returned crews to rally HQ. Paddy Hopkirk was described as “on form” and provided a very entertaining after dinner presentation at the Saturday night dinner, which alone raised £740 for Paddy’s supported charity, ‘SKIDS’, through the auction of a selection of kindly donated items including mainly from Jean Chmura’s late husband, Warren’s garage. A marshal’s prize draw also took place, once again with donated items from ‘Classic & Sports Cars’ and ‘Classic Car’ subscriptions, Penrite Oil, Peter Lansdale & Castle Combe. After two days of tests and testing roads and navigation, the final result came down to just a handful of seconds that separated winners Charles Graves and Ron Palmer in their Triumph TR4 from Duncan Wild and Steve Skepper (Austin Cooper) in second place, and Mick Briggs and Matt Fowle (Riley Elf) in third. Betty and Peter Banham were popular winners of the ‘Spirit of the Rally’ award, donated by Castrol. Steve Farmer and John Gearing in the Jaguar XK150 collected both a First in their Class and Overall Best Novice on their first HRCR event. They commented that the HRCR Training Day must have been good as it resulted in two awards on their first HRCR event! All the awards were presented by Alec Poole at the rally finish which took place at the Sywell Classic “Pistons and Props” event amidst an array of classic planes, bikes and cars. Here everyone enjoyed the spectacle and atmosphere in the balmy afternoon sunshine on the lawn of the Cirrus Suite at the Aviator Hotel. The HRCR would like to thank everyone who supported the event, including Holiday Inn Corby and all the very welcoming rest halts and test venues. Also to David Alderson for arranging our inclusion in the Pistons & Props event and Michael Bletsoe-Brown for use of the test venues and very tasty lunch at the finish. From the competitors, to the sponsors – TON Hire and RPS (Rally Preparation Services) – and to all those that made it happen, with special thanks to Ali Green and Andy Gibson and especially Brian Thomas, Chief Marshal and his very efficient and smiling team of Test Commanders and marshals, not forgetting Tony Michaels and Bob Blows who provided very efficient results service, plus the rest of the organising team and a calm and very helpful Graham Carter who was Competitor Liaison Officer. Over £1700 has been raised for the region’s Air Ambulance, so a huge thank you to competitors and venues too, who donated to this worthy cause. The Classic 30 was conceived as a way to bring the club and its members together to celebrate 30 years of classic rallying, by physically enjoying the very sport that it created. The attitude of all who took part,made it a very special occasion indeed. The ‘full’ story of our anniversary event will be told in the next edition of Old Stager. Article put together by Graham Carter, Alan Turner and Ali Green. Photos courtesy of Kevin Baldwin: kpbphotography.co.uk
Posted on: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 20:57:13 +0000
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