Saturday: A good entry and a good mix of cars to conquer the 2 and a bit kilometre Hawkswood course.  

It is a beautiful sunny morning and James Hunter has all the drivers listening intently to the drivers briefing, one or two not remembering everything.

It was good to see a few well known drivers having a go for the first time, Grant Silvester, The Chapman family - Deborah, Dennis and Dale. Have four Fiat X1/9s ever competed at the same event?

RUN ONE: First car away is Tony Coakley in the Fiat X1/9 but only makes it 100 metres to the first brow  and comes to a halt and rolls back to the start line. Jason Scammell is so overjoyed at the finish to have got there, and to practice his hand brake turns. Many others are doing the same, some quite good others making a pigs ear of it. Run one is done with no incidents, but three set their fastest time on the first run. It is Mark Higgins fastest followed by Stu Carter and Grant Silvester with only 0.58 sec between them.

RUN TWO: The day is warming up nicely, but a couple, Andrew Bailey and Justin McKay  have spins and don't do their times much good being much slower. Up front it is still Mark followed by Grant then Stu. The gap is now 2.15 seconds. Dale C moves up to fourth place with a 1:12.93 as his best time for the event and takes out the X1/9 battle. Are these cars all the same in setup and horsepower?

RUN THREE:  It has now got up to the high twenties, possibly 30 degrees. On this run Dale is going very slow at point four and requires a tow back to the pits. Mark and Grant are a wee bit slower but Stu is faster and puts himself into second place and makes that do for the day. Most set their fastest time on this run with many making that do for the day. The heat was taking its toll.

RUN FOUR:  Only eighteen cars did this run. Jason Scammell only made it to point two and Scott Johnson had a big sideways at point two doing his time no good. Nine drivers managed to set their fastest times on the last run in spite of the heat. All over by 3pm a quick pack up and off to the pub for prize giving. Thanks to all the helpers and marshalls especially those out in the sun.  

Sunday: Country Gents: 20th Anniversary of the Running of this Event. 

A fine day and a bit cooler than Saturday greeted all 38 competitors with a lovely mix of Classic and European cars. Good to see a few drivers from way back still competing.

RUN ONE:  A few drivers with little moments on the first run, Phil Redmond in the Porsche 944 is a bit loose at point two. Bert Govan's MK2 Jag did the with the boot open. Kevin Stevenson in the Shadetree Special has clutch issues. What is the story  behind the name of that car? Great to see the Morgan three wheeler out. How is it called Family as one person appeared to fill it? Also Kris Ward in Austin A35 Peanut going very well and being driven faster than it has been for a long time I think. Peter Leversedge is in the great sounding Stuart Special. Great to see Terry Cartwright's Triumph Herald out having a run. These were quite popular back in the day for racing. 

After run one it is James Hopman in the 993 Porsche with fastest time followed by Anton Evans, Ford Escort RS1800, then Mike Bushell in the Porsche 911SC.

RUN TWO:  Only one incident, well not really, Don Gerrard in the Mistral had a fuel flow problem. He ran out just after point two and required a tow to the finish. Apart from five who went slower on this run including James in the 993 but still managed to set the fastest time, followed by George Coates in the Porsche 924S 0.08 seconds slower, then Mike in the 911SC making it a Porsche 1,2,3. The Escort battle was shaping up with Dave Owen, Escort RS, just pipping Anton by 0.22 of a second. At the end of this run it was time for a leisurely lunch break, of a roll and a coffee followed by one of the best apple and cinnamon muffins from the Coffee Lady.

RUN THREE and FOUR:  On run three 18 set their fastest time and Anton just pipping David by 0.22 for the Escort battle. James goes a couple of seconds faster to win by 2.36 seconds, followed by the next five cars with only 0.41 between them.

A few little incidents, Giles Gill in the Morgan had the passenger door come open but being a compact little car was able to lean over and close it. David McKee in the superb Alfa 8C , what a lovely sound it makes, clipped the Start Beam, no damage done, Russell Stewart in the Matlock MK8 U2 had a spin at point one and Luke Richardson in the Alfa Junior stopping at the bridge and returning to the start.

Great to have these drivers turn up in their cars and drive them quite enthusiastically. It would be great to see cars from the (is it Pre 78?) class turn up for a spin.

Another great event to finish the year on, with lots of thanks to RATEC Motorsport for organising the day, especially Teresa Good for all the paperwork and timing and Dwight Parlane for most of the other jobs. See you all again next year. 

A huge thanks goes to our volunteers for their work in the lead up to the event and throughout the weekend. Without them giving up their weekends we would not be able to run these events.

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Article added: Saturday 22 November 2025