Newsletter—February 2015 · 2018-05-15 · Newsletter—February 2015 Page 3 Northants and...

Northants and Bedfordshire Area

The MSA’s marshall ing mascot giving Richard Egger a hand with some car preparation

Area meetings are usually held on the last Monday of each month—at Towcester Mill Brewery, Chantry Lane, Towcester. Going south on the A5 Watling Street turn left into Chantry Lane

in the centre of Towcester. The nearest postcode for your sat nav is NN12 6AD. Map ref: 152/694488

NEXT MEETINGS8 pm Monday 23 rd February

8 pm Monday 30 th March

8 pm Monday 27 th April


Newsletter—February 2015

For further information on area meetings contact

HRCR N&B Area Co-ordinator, David Holmes

[email protected]

[email protected]

Newsletter—February 2015Page

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Our January meeting attracted 22 members and Ian Crammond, speaking about the Three Castles Welsh Classic Trial, was extremely entertaining. We were pleased to see Peter and Caroline Fieldhouse make it to the meeting from their new base in St Neots, and three new members: John Gearing, also from St Neots, David Lidbetter, and Adam Davis who has just moved to Stoke Bruerne—except our meetings have just moved away from there, but still he managed to find us!Unfortunately I have not, yet, been able to attract a speaker for our February meeting—the 23rd—although if I get an acceptance before then, I will be emailing everyone.

I have two visits in mind, for midyear May or June, and hopefully Andrew Bodman will put on a quiz on April 27th. I would like feedback on the timing of visits so I await your comments. The first is to Oselli Engineering in Milton Keynes. See www.oselli.com.

Sorry this is short—but there again it is the shortest month!Travel safe and enjoy whatever you do in your Classic.

Wel l , as we are now wel l into the second month of the year I have to wonder where the t ime is going!

Area Co-Ordinator’s Pace Notes…from David Holmes

Having been rather involved in the HRCR Annual Awards Dinner night—last Saturday as I am writing this—I can report this was a success and, even though numbers were down, was considered by some as the best Awards night we have had. I have to admit I have taken my eye off the Area matters and have just got home to Monica’s reminder that the newsletter deadline is nigh and not the 23rd as I had in mind!I was planning to write up a report on Race Retro at Stoneleigh this coming weekend, which I will now roll over to next month. I understand there may well be a crowd of us there.

I marshalled two weeks ago on a round of the Mercia 12 Car series, along with Monica and John. I continue to be impressed with • the high level of competition and • the organiser’s

presentation on marshalling instructions.

Tonight (11th Feb) is James and Derek Newbold’s event starting and finishing in Maidwell. I am hoping it won’t be as cold as it was two weeks ago!

Down Under

Our fami ly has just had some good news; and this means that Glad and I and our grandson Mitch wi l l be v is i t ing Europe in Apr i l /May. We hope to make i t to the May meet ing of HRCR N&B Area.

Mitch has just been announced as a member of the Australian National Under-19 Floorball team. He will be representing his country in the World Floorball Championships in Helsingborg, Sweden, from 29 April to 3 May.

As Glad and I will be accompanying him to Finland and Sweden and then the UK, it does rather scupper my plans to compete in rallies this year. I did predict this in last month’s Editorial!On the same weekend that Mitch’s selection was announced, he and I were locked in battle for the outright win in the latest Pakenham Auto Club motorkhana. Mitch hit two markers on the first two tests and then came back strongly to challenge me and

a couple of others. These others then managed a wrong direction each which left me with a comfortable margin until I started to go the wrong way and had to reverse to correct—once would have been OK, but then I did it again and Mitch took the win by a small margin. A good weekend all round for him! Then, on Wednesday, he was presented with the HRA’s Most Improved Navigator trophy for 2014.

This is brief as I have too much organising to do! We are running a round of the State Motorkhana Championship on 1 March, an autocross a week later, then rally at the end of March and packing and flying to Europe in mid-April!Thanks to all contributors for the articles and photos that make this a good read. Till next month, from Down Under—

EditorialW

R

I

G

H

T

I

N

G

S

From Nick Wright—Editor In Chief

Nick

David H

www.oselli.com


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The Ral ly Costa Brava Histor ic is a Regular i ty Histor ic Road Ral ly wi th the start and f in ish in Lloret de Mar. The format for th is year ’s event wi l l fo l low that of previous edi t ions. The route wi l l be approximately 1400km which is spl i t into four legs running

over three days.

The exact length and timing of each leg has not yet been completely finalised but should be along the following lines. After scrutineering and signing-on during the morning and early afternoon the first leg will start late on the Thursday afternoon and finish in the early hours of Friday morning. The second leg will commence on the Friday morning and finish in the early hours of Saturday morning. The final two legs will commence on the Saturday afternoon and will finish on the Sunday morning with an Awards Ceremony later during the day.

It is hoped that there will be around 30 Regularity sections and 600 competitive kilometres. However, the road sections can be challenging as well and there is not a great opportunity to take a rest apart from the official rest halts.The surface is predominantly smooth tarmac. There will be off-road sections such as the Sils Kart Track where it can be difficult to maintain the regularity average, but these are great fun! It should be possible to complete the event without under body protection although care may have to be taken at one or two points.

Documentation for competitors and cars is kept to a minimum. Competitors will require a normal Driving Licence and most probably a Regularity Permit issued by FCA. The cost will be 20 euros. The only documentation required for the vehicle is to show that it is legal. Crews will have to produce the V5, current MOT Certificate and insurance cover for regularity events—all as required for UK events. Experience would suggest that there is no difficulty in arranging this cover as the rally is a normal regularity event.

There is no requirement for the car to be prepared in any particular way or to carry safety or other equipment other than that required under Spanish law. This relates to Hi-Vis jackets (2), spare glasses if you wear them, first aid kit, spare bulbs and you must carry all the vehicle’s documents in the car. Auxiliary lighting is completely free so you can enter the spirit of the rally with four or six additional spotlights! Equally there are no issues regarding the colours of the car, advertising, size of wheels and tyres. See below the regulations, or lack of, relating to navigation equipment.

At scrutineering a timing transponder will be fitted to the car. A 50 euro cash deposit is required for this.

After signing-on the tulip road book for the first two legs will be handed out.

The route is defined by a high quality tulip road book indicating distances in kilometres between points, regularity sections and average speeds, but not those

for the regularity sections. The route will be on Michelin maps 574 and 122 and because of the accuracy of the road book, the majority of navigators do not bother to put the route onto the maps. All the regularity start controls are ‘self-start’ with the intermediate time controls hidden. The regularity speed should be maintained for the entire regularity section. It is important to note that navigation aids are completely free so many local crews use Blunik computer trips.

However the organisers acknowledge that these are expensive units and not all UK crews will wish to go to the additional expense of obtaining and fitting them for just one or two events. Taking this into account there will be the ‘Gentleman’s Classic Trophy’, an additional Trophy for those competitors running under more traditional regulations for trips and auxiliary lights.

There are two options as far as Entry fees are concerned. If you make your own way to the event there is the normal entry fee (details to follow shortly) and then you have the additional costs of hotel accommodation and getting the car there. The alternative is that the organisers have a ‘Golden Pack’ for UK competitors.

The Golden Pack option includes transportation of the car from the Northampton area to Lloret de Mar and then back to Northampton after the rally. The entry fee and accommodation for the Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights are included, as are shuttles from Barcelona or Girona airport to Lloret and back. There is a service crew that will attend various service/rest halts as well as a breakdown recovery service should you be unfortunate enough to need it. The organisers hope to be able to keep the cost of the inclusive Golden Pack similar to that of the 2014 figure, which was 2000 euros. The final figure will be announced soon.The Golden Pack deal is on a first-come-first-served basis as there is obviously limited space on the transporter. It would be lovely to fill two transporters as we did a few years ago so for those interested in the Golden Pack, please contact me as soon as possible to book your place.

As yet there is no information on this year’s event on the organisers website but keep on eye on www.rallyyclassics.org In the meantime if you would like more information, note your interest or book a place contact me, Peter Collier at [email protected].

Rally Costa Brava HistoricThursday 1st October to Sunday 4th October 2015

Bulletin No. 1

from Peter Collier

Peter00 33 (0)4 68 24 72 13 00 33 (0)7 81 36 84 52 www.facebook.com/Rallycostabravahistoric

www.rallyyclassics.org

mailto://[email protected]

www.facebook.com/Rallycostabravahistoric


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Invitations & DatesRally Marshals Training Day—Telford, 8 March 2015

The Br i t ish Ral ly Marshals Club are k indly putt ing on a Ral ly Marshals Training Day based in Tel ford on the 8 th March.

The training is open to marshals of any level of experience as the day’s events will be geared to accommodate everyone. It will also include marshalling aspects for those who may wish to work on the Wales Rally GB and the training will be carried out by MSA licensed Instructors.

The day will be held at the Telford Innovation Campus Telford Innovation Campus, Shifnal Road, Priorslee, Telford, Shropshire. TF2 9NT

This looks to be an excellent training day and an ideal opportunity for those just starting in marshalling or to top up their marshalling knowledge and we would ask you to bring it to the attention of your Club members.

More information on the day and to book places on the course please go to the BRMC website, www.brmc.org.uk/Telford_training.htm, or if you need to speak to anyone for more information please contact the BRMC National Secretary John Jones at Email: [email protected] or Tel: 07766 723066.

The Engineering ColumnTyre Pressures

When was the last t ime you saw someone checking their tyre pressures on their dai ly dr iver?

Tyre pressure monitoring systems, which are being fitted to an increasing number of new cars, seem to be a necessity given that most people view their cars in the same way that they view their smartphone or laptop computer. So often they think of their cars as commodity items, which they just expect to work, and keep on working, with no input from them other than to put fuel in the tank. Tyre pressure monitoring systems are amazing pieces of technology given that they sit inside the tyre in a very hostile environment. And they have to generate their own electricity and transmit pressure and, in some cases, temperature information wirelessly to a receiver in the body of the car.

But to those of us with a vintage or classic car, it is back to measuring tyre pressure with a pressure gauge. A few months ago I was checking the tyre pressures on our daily drivers and, as one of them was at that time fairly new and still on its factory fitted tyres, I was surprised to see that all the tyres had lost several pounds in pressure. A check on other cars showed them all to be low by similar amounts so I began to suspect the pressure gauge I was using.

It is a reasonable quality liquid filled gauge that I used to recalibrate regularly—although that has not been done recently since I lost access to the calibration facility. So, it was off to next door to borrow a

pressure gauge from Tony who, since he’s a racer, I thought must have a calibrated reliable tyre pressure gauge. He offered me a choice of three gauges, all expensive ones according to the Demon Tweeks catalogue, but said they all gave different results so he had gone back to using an old Dunlop expanding stick type of gauge.

from John Dowson

Engineering Tech Note—Water

Temperature Take Off

Hose jo iners incorporat ing a mount ing for a temperature sensor are a useful , i f not very elegant, way of f i t t ing an

addit ional sensor into the cool ing system.

Some of them come complete with sensor and fan

controller as a complete unit whereas others are

just the machined component. I recently invested

in a hose joiner without a sensor for fitting into the radiator top hose to measure coolant temperature.

As well as the threaded hole for the sensor, an

M3 threaded hole is provided so that an earth

bonding wire can be attached to the joiner body.

continued on page 5

continued on page 5

www.brmc.org.uk/Telford_training.htm

[email protected]


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John

I borrowed all of his gauges and found that, as he said, they all gave different results compared to my own gauge, in some cases by up to 10psi. So, back to my own Dunlop expanding stick gauge, which I was able to roughly check on a tyre I knew did not deflate much over several months and had been inflated to its correct pressure not too long ago. Taking that as a baseline, all the other gauges showed errors of at least 5psi except for a cheap ebay electronic gauge which seemed to be in agreement to about 1psi.

The question was then raised about what accuracy is needed in a tyre pressure gauge for road use? Well, a bit of web research suggested that a resolution of 0.25psi was more than adequate for all applications including racing and 1psi was good enough for the road. More web research showed that an analogue readout gauge of reasonable size with 1psi resolution and a calibration certificate was quite a

lot of money but that industrial pressure transducers with very good accuracy, resolution and t e m p e r a t u r e c o m p e n s a t i o n were quite cheap. A quick back-o f - t he -enve lope design using a microcontroller … and there I had a pressure gauge with dual display in psi and bar for a lot less than the cost of an analogue gauge. All I need to do now is put it in a box.

Of course, the bottom line has to be: Never assume that your pressure gauge is giving the correct result unless it has been calibrated recently or cross checked with a known good gauge, which, after all, is just good practice for all measuring instruments.

If you have any comments or feedback on any Engineering Column topics then please e-mail me at [email protected] where I shall be delighted to hear from you.

Electronic Prototype with Dunlop Expanding Stick

The Engineering ColumnTyre Pressures

As the joiner sits in between two electrically

insulating pieces of hose without the earth bond the sensor will not work. The hose joiner is finished in black anodising which is a very effective electrical

insulator and the threads in both the sensor and

M3 holes were anodised so well that I could not

get an electrical connection to either. Rather than

hope that the fitting of the sensor and screw would remove some anodising and provide electrical

continuity, I thought it better to be on the safe side

and run a tap down both holes to properly clean up

the threads. Maybe it was overkill but it is attention

to detail that is a big factor in keeping reliability.

If you have any comments or feedback on any

Engineering Column topics then please e-mail me

at [email protected] where I shall be

delighted to hear from you.

Engineering Tech Note—Water Temperature Take Off

John

continued from page 4

continued from page 4




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Retromobile

LITTLE LIVES APPEAL CHARITY NUMBER 1048297

Dear Supporter,

ENTER NOW! DON’T DELAY - ENTRIES ARE NOW OPEN!

First of all a big Thank You for supporting us in 2014. The monies raised haveresulted in the neo-natal unit at MK Hospital making part of the new facilities a MK CLASSIC TOUR ROOM – a place for mothers to feed and spend time withtheir new offspring – we are very proud to be involved.

NOW FOR 2015 – the 9th running of our event. You will again start from FROSTS GARDEN CENTRE Woburn Sands, where breakfast/tea/coffee will beavailable before the off.

The first stop will be at MILLBROOK where you will be able to drive two circuits ofthe Alpine Run then using the easy to use road book the route will take youthrough Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire on many roads and lanes we havenot used before. There will be a coffee/comfort stop at A COUNTRY HOTEL en routeto Silverstone.

The final section will finish at the newly opened and enlarged PORSCHE EXPERIENCESILVERSTONE where you will be able to test your driving skills if you wish on someof the circuit facilities. There will be a lunch available in the Porsche Restaurantdetails of which will be sent out later.

RegardsAlison & Michael01525 [email protected]

SUNDAY 26TH APRIL 2015

9 thYEAR!

Managed to get to Retromobi le on Fr iday, but unfortunately taken i l l and spent Saturday in hospi ta l . Here are a few

of my photos.

Citroën DS Décapotable—He was on his way to the Retromobile parking area.

Panhard et Levassor Dynamique—Eu15000—the auction must have been exciting.

The Baillon Collection—The cars were displayed as found, complete with cobwebs and straw. The only light in the hall was discreet lamps placed inside the cars giving this ghostly appearance.

This Panhard was one of the better condition cars. I’ve never seen so many French “Grande Marques” from the golden era. These cars will be keeping restorers busy for many years.

This must be the greatest ‘find’ since the discovery of the Schlumpf Collection of Bugattis.

I must thank Rogerio for getting me a pass to be able to view.

1950 Skoda 966 Supersport race car—The world’s only surviving example of a ŠKODA 966 Supersport has been restored to its former glory. ŠKODA specialists have been working with great care on the renovation of this vehicle for the past year, and now visitors to the ŠKODA museum can admire the automotive gem as it was originally presented in the 1950s.

Paris—6th February 2015 from Robert Grounds

Robert

Panhard et Levassor Dynamique

Skoda 966 Supersport

Rogerio—

Captain of CMG South America section

Citroën DS Décapotable

This tyre didn’t go for an inflated price!


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Elford Porschefrom Robin Shackleton

The Goodwood Members Meet ing has a t reat for the Porsche fans amongst you. On Sunday March 22 nd 2015 the John Aldington Trophy race is exclusively for Porsche 911s. There wi l l be 32 cars in the race. My fr iend

Rob Russel l has an entry for probably the most famous Porsche 911 in the wor ld.

It is the Vic Elford race car from 1967 which was the first UK competition Porsche 911. Rob’s father bought the car over 30 years ago and it has been in his family and regularly used ever since. Rob has refettled it to its original specification for the race after taking part in the November Sun Run in France last autumn. Fraser Nash supported the car when Elford drove it as they were the Porsche Concessionaires for Great Britain. It will be in the paddock at Goodwood on the 21st and 22nd of March and is well worth a look.

Robin


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Last month, we heard f rom Phi l Swain that h is entry on the Monte Car lo Histor ique had been accepted. Unfortunately, wi th a knee replacement operat ion due soon, he is a bi t short of t ime and unable to send us an art ic le for th is newslet ter.

So we look forward to hear ing the ful l story f rom him, hopeful ly, in March.

However, I followed his progress on Live Results and watched him moving up and down the order, but mostly up, until … he went missing! Then I found:

Etape Commune 2ème Partie: Valence - Monaco

227 SWAIN Philip/GREEN David

Ford Escort MkI Mécanique après ZR10

Phil says: “We were quite pleased with ourselves until the half shaft went.”

He has sent a couple of photos, and so until March when we hear more about the Monte, we wish Phil a speedy recovery from his knee job! And in the meantime, there is an absolutely excellent video summary of the rally at:

http://acm.mc/en/bilan-du-rallye-monte-carlo-historique-2015/

Watch it on full screen with the sound on!

Monte Carlo Historique28 January – 4 February 2015 from Monica Dowson

Monica

http://acm.mc/en/bilan-du-rallye-monte-carlo-historique-2015/


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When? What? Where? Who? How?compiled by

Monica Dowson

To make sure you appear in this list, please email me on [email protected]

continued on page 10

January Wed 28 Hangover 12-car Rally www.coalvillecc.org.uk James Barnard & Chris Valentine 3rd o/a John & Monica Dowson & David Holmes marshalling Wed 28 - Wed 4 Feb Monte Carlo Historique http://acm.mc/en/rallye-monte-carlo-historique/ Philip Swain & David Green Ford Escort Mk 1 RS2000 DNF half shaft ST9 February Wed 11 James & Derek’s Excellent Adventure 12-car Rally www.coalvillecc.org.uk Start/finish at The Stags Head, Maidwell, NN6 9JA David Holmes marshalling Tue 17 QED Quest 12-Car Rally www.loughboroughcarclub.co.uk Start/finish at The Griffin, Swithland, LE12 8TJ. Map 129 Richard Egger & Andrew Duerden Fri 20 - Sun 22 Race Retro, Stoneleigh Park www.raceretro.com Mon 23rd Feb N&B Meeting 7.30pm – 10pm at Towcester Mill Brewery, Chantry Lane, Towcester, NN12 6AD March Sun 1 Mallory Park Circuit Open Day www.malloryparkcircuit.com 10.30am – 3pm Browse motor sport related displays. Free entry Sat 7 Tour of Cheshire Classic Road Rally www.tourofcheshire.co.uk John Ball & Andrew Duerden Citroen DS2 Jonathan Hancox & Richard Lambley Triumph 2.5 PI John Larkin & Steve Skepper Mini Cooper S Peter & Helen Morris Porsche 911 Carrera Howard Warren & Cath Woodman Porsche 911 Coupe Chris Valentine & Colin Valentine Porsche 924 Lux (Reserves) Sun 8 British Rally Marshals Training Day www.brmc.org.uk/Telford_training.htm Sat 14 CRT – Training Event at Leighton Buzzard www.classicrallytours.com Adam Davis & Estelle Tarry John & Dinah Pilkington Daniel & Barbara Wiedemann Chris & Carol Fieldhouse John Gearing & Doug Carmichael John & Monica Dowson Marshalling Tue 17 Great Northern 12-Car Rally www.loughboroughcarclub.co.uk Start/finish at Flying Childers, Kirby Bellars, LE14 2DU. Maps 129, 130, 141 Richard Egger & Andrew Duerden Fri 20 - Sun 22 HERO Poppy Regularity Rally www.heroevents.eu Stephen Johnson & Andrew Duerden Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint Jonathan Hancox & Richard Lambley Triumph 2.5 PI Peter & Helen Morris Porsche 911 Carrera Sat 28 Rally North Wales - Gravel Stages - Dolgellau www.hrcr.co.uk Round 1 of ‘old Stager’ Clubman’s Stage Rally Championship Mon 30th March N&B Meeting 7.30pm – 10pm at Towcester Mill Brewery, Chantry Lane, Towcester, NN12 6AD April Tue 7 Wheely Brown 12-Car Rally www.loughboroughcarclub.co.uk Fri 24 - Thu 30 Grand Tour Cape to Cape email: [email protected] Cap de la Hargue to Cap d’Antibes David Alderson & Willy Cave Triumph TR4A - ‘Lucy’ Sun 26 MK Classic Car Tour email: [email protected] Proceeds to Little Lives Unit, MK Hospital or tel: 01525 290117 Mon 27 - Fri 1 May Principality Classic Trial & Traditional Tour www.principality-automobile-club.co.uk Cardiff – Aberystwyth - Llandudno – Llandrindod Wells – Cardiff Mike Cornwell & Tony Davies MGB GT



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May Sun 17 Metric Services Easylarity Rally www.loughboroughcarclub.co.uk Fri 22 - Sun 24 HERO Summer Trial www.heroevents.eu Based at Woodland Grange Hotel near Leamington Sat 30 - Sun 1 Jun CRT – Honfleur Classic Rally Tour www.classicrallytours.com Mark Gearing & John Gearing MGB Roadster Val & Graham Gilmore MGB Daniel & Barbara Wiedemann Porsche 911 Sun 31 May Derbyshire Dales Drive www.derbyshiredalesdrive.co.uk Organised by HRCR Midlands Region June Wed 3 - Sat 6 Three Castles Welsh Classic Trial www.three-castles.co.uk Alan Sayer & Willy Cave MGB GT V8 Doug Carmichael & John Gearing MGB Mark & Sue Godfrey TBA John & Dinah Pilkington Ford Model A Roadster Anthony Garside & David Holmes MGB Sat 13 Kyneton Day/Night Autocross www.kynetoncarclub.com.au Nick Wright Peugeot 505GTi Sun 14 - Sat 20 Classic Marathon 2015 www.heroevents.eu Mark & Sue Godfrey MGB Stephen Johnson & Andrew Duerden Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint July Mon 13 - Sat 18 1000 Mile Trial 2015 www.heroevents.eu Sat 18 Goldfields Introductory Trial http://cerberuscarclub.com.au Nick Wright & Mitch Garrad Peugeot 505GTi August Sun 16 Welland Valley Wander Scenic Tour www.wellandvalleywander.co.uk Sat 29 - Fri 4 Sep CRT – Italian Lakes Classic www.classicrallytours.com Terry & Pip Secker MGC GT Doug Carmichael & John Gearing MGB Roadster Val & Graham Gilmore MGB Mike & Karen Spindle AC Cobra Daniel & Barbara Wiedemann Porsche 911 Alan Sayer & Willy Cave MGB GT V8 Terry & Janet Powell MGB GT Mark & Sue Godfrey TBC Peter & Helen Morris Porsche 911 September Sat 5 Moonlight Meander Rally http://mmsc.net.au Nick Wright & Mitch Garrad Peugeot 505GTi Sat 26 Ivan’s Folly Trial www.pccv.org Nick Wright & Mitch Garrad Peugeot 505GTi Mon 28 - Sat 3 Oct Rallye des Iles - Sierra Nevada Classic www.seasunrally.com Malaga – Sierra Nevada - Almeria – Motril - Malaga Mark & Sue Godfrey MGB October Sat 10 Tunbridge Trial www.blcc.net.au Nick Wright & Mitch Garrad Peugeot 505GTi Sat 17 - Mon 19 CRT – Champagne Classic Rally Tour www.classicrallytours.com

November Thu 5 - Sun 8 Rally of the Tests – Newcastle - Blackpool www.craevents.eu John Abel & Andrew Duerden Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint Jonathan Hancox & Richard Lambley Triumph TR4 David Alderson & TBA VW Beetle 1300 Peter & Helen Morris Porsche 911 Carrera Sat 21 - Mon 23 CRT – Beaujolais Classic Rally Tour www.classicrallytours.com

When? What? Where? Who? How?continued from page 9

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