We’ve resisted using Stobs for this event in view of its exposed location and the time of year, but this time we were forced to use it because the chosen venue in Hawick became unavailable at the last minute. And the weather was OK for January, so it proved to be a good day.

George Rettie designed a selection of tests on four different parts of the site. It was unusual, but proved to be successful, despite a couple of little ‘Offs’ on one test. There is potential to run more events of a similar character later in the year, if there is enough demand – and if we can get a few more marshals to make it run more smoothly, with a flow from one test to the next along a kind of ‘production line’.

Nine people had a good day’s fun, with 18 tests on offer – 6, run 3 times each, with the best 2 of each trio to count.

As we predicted, Archie Simmonds (MG Midget) was fastest overall. But he didn’t have it all his own way. Tom Wilson, an autotest novice in his wife’s Citroen C2 GT, was actually leading for a short time after Archie struggled for traction on one test. And the C2 seemed to lap it up, and even the handbrake was better than Tom’s prediction, probably because Stobs is always very slippy when it gets damp. And let’s face it, it’s never going to be anything other than damp in January!

Father and son pairing of Alistair and Ross McAulay showed promise in their Vauxhall Corsa. Alistair has done some competing many years ago, and Ross is a newcomer, having done only one event prior to this – I think that’s what he told me. Look at the results below to see how close it was between these two and Tom in the FWD class.

There were two others in this class; Barry Hogg and Billie Cochrane sharing a Nova, but they suffered a mechanical problem and retired. I suspect it was a slipped timing belt, but I never found out, as they disappeared after run 5.

Graeme Galloway was spectacular, as usual, in the Anglia.

Another novice, Barry Siddle, turned up in a Mazda MX5. I don’t think he intended to compete, but we twisted his arm. He expected to be last, and he was not disappointed. Well, somebody has to take the wooden spoon! One wee piece of advice, Barry, if you intend to compete again. I noticed you were lifting off very early before cones rather than braking. It’s much better to keep the throttle open longer and use the brakes to slow you down.

Last (in the report), but not least, new member Scott Clements had his daughter Amy’s Singer Chamois Coupé. He has other Imps, but I think this one was considered to be more flexible for an autotest. Amy was sitting with him, taking lessons in how NOT to do it, no doubt! No, actually, his technique was OK, although it needs a bit of polish. I noticed he was doing an awful lot of overcooked handbrake turns. He wasn’t alone, and it wasn’t too surprising in the conditions. Scott was a keen competitor many years ago, and decided recently to get back into motor sport. Welcome to HBCC, Scott; and Amy.

Results –

FWD Ross McAulay      638.1    Tom Wilson         639.2
         Alistair McAulay   639.7
RWD Archie Simmonds 610.8    Graeme Galloway 632.4
         Scott Clements    675.8     Barry Siddle        741.0


 

Updated 9 January 2007
Webmaster - Jim Paterson