Southdown Stages 2006Goodwood Circuit, 4th February 2006 Report & Photographs by Alan Terry
Held on the famous Goodwood racing circuit in Sussex this was the second year of this event in it’s current form. The day dawned dull and chilly and remained so, the sun making only a brief but very welcome appearance in the afternoon. Thame Motorsport club teams accounted for 5 out of the 26 cars present at the start of the day. Local man Brian Farminer was present with his ex-Fiesta Championship winning car, co-driver was Amanda Terry, fresh from being elected as the Thame clubs secretary for 2006. They were seeded 17th.
Also present were Richard Upton and Paul Bareham (number 7) in their Sierra Cosworth, perhaps treating Goodwood as a warm up as they were also entered in the Oakington event the following day – keen or what!! Thame presence was completed by Paul Diamond and Steve Cox in their Escort MkII (number 8), Ian Hucklebridge and Dave West in their Escort (number 11), and Dave Keen and Matt Bateman in their Astra (number 18).
The first stage started well on time and Thame crews started a promising day. The only problem occurred when Ian and Dave missed a split and incurred a max as a result. Brian and Amanda completed the stage with the brakes on fire and had to persuade a marshal not to let loose with his extinguisher!
The day progressed well for all the Thame teams. There was some minor damage to Ian and Dave’s Escort following contact with a chicane marker (wooden pallets were used) while Richard seemed content to practise his precision driving by knocking his wing mirrors against the aforementioned pallets. Having retrieved his mirror once (it can be seen departing in the picture) your scribe was not willing to walk to the far side of the circuit to retrieve it when he tried the same trick again later!
Richard also noted that the chicanes were in some cases so tight that the power steering on his Cossie was locking up. Somewhat offputting no doubt but Richard took it in his stride. This didn’t bother Brian Farminer as he has no such luxury as power steering! His smaller car suffered at the chicanes due to lack of power and while Brian is an instructor at the circuit this was of little help! The final four stages are run in reverse round the circuit with some rearrangement of the chicanes. Unlike last year this did not result in problems with noise! At the conclusion of the event Thame had a class win for Richard and Paul (third overall), with a third in class for Paul and Steve (fourth overall). Brian and Amanda finished seventh in class and fourteenth overall, Dave and Matt third in class and sixteenth overall. Ian and Dave finished twentieth overall but were third in class nevertheless.
The event was won by Will Nichols and Nick Broom in their nicely prepared Escort RS MkII (also winning class C), while class B was won by Paul Edgerton in a rather quick Opel Corsa. It was also nice to see the Riley Elf of Ali Green and Ann Locks out again this year. There was only one retirement all day (a Nissan Sunny) and only relatively minor damage was noted on the cars – although the Impreza of Messrs Orchard and Tappin did appear to have mislaid it’s front bumper on the last stage. The event ran smoothly and was all over by 3.30pm (including a civilised break for lunch). A well attended award ceremony followed of course, so some more polishing for Thame drivers. Despite the relatively low turn out for the event (possibly affected by Oakington the following day) this was a good event. The venue is excellent, and although next year some changes in the course might provide some more variety there can be few complaints (and the organisers did ask for comments!) Home | News / Info | Calendar | Event Reports | Photo Gallery | Rally Teams | Contacts | Links - Updated Sunday, 24 February, 2008 |
