The weather conditions for the first Thursday were appalling, so the expendable emergency holographic scribe was dispatched again to report on the proceedings. Only a handful made it through the rain to the Bird in Hand; notably Andrew arrived with his aeroscreen on and little else. It was certainly an evening for revelations, since Andrew confessed that he often goes to bed in his flying helmet and goggles. Does this mean that mild mannered Andrew Jenkins true identity is DangerMog, only time will tell.
Conversely the Prescott hillclimb weekend was held in lovely sunny conditions. In the right spot it was quite warm (out of the wind). It should be noted now that David Stevens is no longer Roger's bitter rival from the competition scene. During the weekend Dave came over and helped Roger with a bit of fettling. So Dave is now Roger's top flight race mechanic, since as a result three seconds were saved on Roger's time. He even gave Julie babes a good thrashing. My next event is at Shelsley Walsh - see you there Dave.
The TVC expeditionary junket to France has returned just about in one piece. Mike Lawton had organised a group of classic sports cars to attend the 1997 Le Mans 24 hour race. The plan was to camp in the middle of the race circuit so that access to pits and track were within walking distance. Unfortunately on arrival to the camp site the weather conditions took a turn for the worse. The ground that the advanced party had found for us soon began to turn into a water meadow thanks to the non-stop rain. The conditions soon became quite grim. At one point the brave TVC members eat their humble meal while huddled together seating under umbrellas with the rain lashing down on them. It was then that Leo pronounced that the only way of surviving was to ensure that no one was sober. So quickly eight bottles of wine and two crates of French beer were purchased from the local hypermarket. Soon things didn't seem to be so bad. Gerry took this advice to heart and in the opinion of Roger he managed to drink the last bottle of wine all by himself. Roger also thought that consequently Gerry was the worse for drink. Later though Roger was forced to apologise for this accusation, since when Gerry decided to fall over knocking a tent completely down in the dark and rain, his chosen tent was Leo's and Alec's rather than the adjacent tent he was sleeping in. Clearly he was sober enough to make the distinction. As the conditions worsened Alec let slip that the last time he had been camping was thirty years ago in the New Forest and the weather had been just as bad. In fact Alec had gone home early because he had had enough. At the time we didn't think anymore of it - just what a bit of bad luck. On the way down to Le Mans Roger was almost thrown out of the party since he had turned up in a Mini Cooper. However, as Roger quite rightly pointed out the Mini was voted the number one classic car of all time and had more right to be there than all the other cars put together. Thankfully though Roger was given a reprieve since his car had room to carry the washing up bowl an essential item as it turned out. As the race day dawned the rain eased and a dry route had been established to the toilets. The loos were inadequate for the number of people and there were always queues. Mike had managed to get us front seat grandstand tickets directly over the pits. We had a good view of the famous people walking around the cars including the likes of Noel Edmunds, Tiff Needell, and Sharon Davies. (Of course the old editor hated name droppers!)A group of cheer girls were dancing in front of us during the warm up ceremony. The Hawallan Tropic babes were also in attendance. Roger had borrowed some binoculars to get a closer look, unfortunately they had some sort of fault since they were forever misting up. The start of the race was awe-inspiring. The sight of 48 cars thundering down the pit straight was unforgettable. We watched the race into the early hours. The heavy braking could be seen very clearly in the dark. During the second day of the race Alec and Leo decided to go home as they had seen enough and had had enough of the conditions. As they left Le Mans the sun came out and our water meadow began to dry out - things were looking up. Did Alec have the same influence thirty years ago? As the race finished we made our journey home quickly to avoid the queues. The locals lined the streets as the Brits left, waving us goodbye, which was a nice gesture.
Just before we left for Le Mans Marie and Andrew had some very sad family news that prevented Andrew from making the trip. Andrew however insisted that his cousin and nephew, Simon and Josh, still made the trip, and he lent them his nearly new Plus Eight. Simon and Josh were very grateful; they had such a good time they didn't want to go home.
We would all like to offer our condolences at this sad time to Marie, Andrew and family.
In spite of the weather our trip to Le Mans was a great success and we all had a great time. Thanks should go to Mike for organising the trip and can we come next year.
The future events listed below includes the Brighton Speed Trials. This is a fantastic venue and is well worth a visit. Wiscombe Park is also mentioned below, this event is near Sidmouth, Devon and is in a wonderful setting. I would welcome your support at both events.
If there were any problems with our web page last month the current address is given below after dates and things.
The TVC emergency holographic scribe will now turn its program off, see you all next month.
Dates and Things
1st Thursday - Bird in Hand, Knowle Hill
Saturday 9th August - Silverstone, Morgan Races. (BDC meeting normally involving several Morgan races - a fantastic day out).
Sunday 31st August - Queen's Oak, Finchampstead, near Finchampstead Church. (Fixed lunch time location, May to September, 12.00 onwards).
1st Thursday - Bird in Hand, Knowle Hill
Saturday 13th September - Brighton Speed Trials, Brighton Sea front. (The TVC emergency holographic scribe will be competing - hopefully).
Sunday 14th September - Cornbury Park, Morgan Sprint. (The TVC emergency holographic scribe will be competing also if he makes it from Brighton in time).
Saturday 20th September - Wiscombe Park, Morgan Hill Climb. (A group from TVC will hopefully be spend the weekend in Devon watching this event).
Sunday 28th September - Queen's Oak, Finchampstead, near Finchampstead Church. (Fixed lunch time location, May to September, 12.00 onwards).
Roger Bluff