Once again Martyn Lucas arranged a cars and coffee meet up, but this time it coincided with the final round of the MG Car Club Speed Championship at Castle Combe, in Wiltshire.
The event was hosted by The Bristol Pegasus Motor Club and advertised as ‘The Bristol Pegasus Motor Club Halloween Sprint’. The MG Car Club was just one of several invited clubs and there was a full entry.
The day started out damp and misty as Simon and I set off on the 30-minute drive to the circuit in my MGF, where we were the second MG in the allocated parking spot after Martyn Lucas.
We had a wander down the paddock and found the MG Speed Championship cars parked in the allocated section of the paddock and would be running in Group F. There would be one practise run and three timed runs over the course of the day. The first practise run was held for over an hour after a Lotus Elise had gone off at Quarry (said to be the most challenging corner in any race track in the UK!), and partly destroyed the tyre barrier at the corner. The barrier had to be repaired before the practise runs could continue.
Simon and I, along with Jeremy Hawke (who arrived on his motorcycle) went to the Café Bar H for some breakfast (very good it was too! We had been warned that the quality of the food could be a bit hit and miss, but we all enjoyed what we had ordered).
We then wandered back to the MG dedicated parking area to find a lot more MGs had arrived. By lunchtime, I counted 21 MGs, plus some members arrived in their daily drives. All in all, a very satisfying turn out.
Simon and I then went to the spectator view of the start line and took photos of the MGs as they left the line for their first timed run. By that time it was midday and time to leave, to get back home for lunch. A very enjoyable morning chatting with friends old and new and catching up on all things MG.
Photos that I took of the MGs attending and the competitors are show below
Jim Lott
Chairman MGCCSW Centre
