Monday May 16, 2011 at 10:06pm
Graves takes the win at Wiscombe
Launceston’s Terry Graves, in his immaculate Gould GR37, took Fastest Time of the Day on Saturday at Wiscombe Park with an electrifying first run of 37.72 seconds, a victory which compensated for his narrow defeat at the hands of Newton Abbot’s Tony Wiltshire at last year’s event. And, just like Wiltshire in 2010, his first run was never beaten, despite the best efforts of fellow-class runners John Forsyth/Andrew Forsyth, and Rodney Thorne/Colin Pook, both sharing 3.5 litre Pilbeam MP58 machines. The real threat to Graves, however, came from the winner of the up-to-1600cc class, Saltash resident Mike Lee, who also had a stunning first run to stop the clock on 37.94 seconds, only just over 2/10ths adrift of the eventual winner. Despite giving away almost 2 litres in engine capacity, Lee’s first time was over a tenth faster than Graves’ second run but as both were slower at the second time of asking the winner was settled by mid-afternoon. In the 1100cc racing car category, Honiton’s Dave Gardner propelled his 998 cc Empire 001 to a time of 40.31 and then bettered that with a sub-40 second run in 39.68 seconds to take the class win.
Sponsored by the local partnership of The Tipton Garage and Alansway Body Repairs, Torbay Motor Club’s Wiscombe event was again held in dry, bright and mostly sunny conditions, although cooler conditions later in the afternoon contributed to no fewer than nine classes being decided by the first timed runs.
Other Torbay Motor Club members to take home class awards were Westward Ho! resident Andy Cawsey (2nd in B3), Ian Yeo from Willand (2nd in C4) and Whimple’s Ben Stephenson (2nd in E1).
12 contenders in the TVR Sports Car Club speed championship battled hard all day, the winner’s spoils eventually going to Frome’s Mark Everett (TVR Chimaera) on handicap with a time of 47.51.
In the lunch interval there was a demonstration run by Team Lucy, a Greenpower series electric car built by technology students from Newton Abbot College. The car was on display in the paddock and many competitors took time to give the students advice and engineering tips to help them in their bid to reach the national finals at Goodwood in October for the second time.
Class Winners:
A1 Steve Harris (Cranbourne) Vauxhall Nova 51.12
A2 Hugh Trotman (Chippenham) Lotus Else 160 46.41
A3 Anthony Wright (Wellington) Audi A3 45.69
A4 Antony Bulpitt (Romsey) Ford RS Cosworth 44.00
B1/B2 Keith Hazell (Old Basing) Sylva Stryker 47.40
B3 Mike Williams (Warminster) Westfield SEiW 44.33
C1 Vince Stone (Gillingham) Austin Mini 45.21
C2 Martyn Pike (Feniton) Ford Escort Mk1 43.71
C3 Phillip Lillington (Chard) Vauxhall Astra 44.53
C4 Den Conibear (Crediton) Nissan Pulsar GTiR 43.99
D1/D2 Simon Marsh (Andover) Mallock Mk18 BW 43.35
E1 Dave Gardner (Honiton) Empire 001 39.68
E2/3 Mike Lee (Saltash) OMS 2000M 37.94
E4 Andrew Forsyth (Blandford) Pilbeam MP58 39.23
F2 Mark Everett (Frome) TVR Chimaera 47.51
Motor Bikes:
FTD Martin Robbins (Worcester) KTM-KBR 41.84
Z-3 Jon & Alex Warren (Bridgwater) Suzuki Trike 46.63
Z-Side Patrick & Paul Keates (Wellington) Baker F1 46.06
Best Torbay Motor Club Member (not to win another award) – Stuart Browne (Chard) - OMS SF2 – 40.57
Most Entertaining Driver (Marshal’s Award) - Martyn Pike (Feniton) - Ford Escort Mk1
The event was a round of:
The Association of South Western Motor Clubs Bridge Tyres and Wheels 2011 Hill Climb Championship,
The Association of Central Southern Motor Clubs Hamilton Classic 2011 Speed Hillclimb Championship,
The Welsh Association of Motor Clubs Trident Engineering 2011 Welsh Sprint and Hillclimb Championship,
The Bridge Tyres and Wheels 2011 Wiscombe Hill Climb Championship, and
The 2011 Torbay Motor Club Speed Championship.
The TVR Car Club 2011 Speed Championship.
The NHCA Hill-Climb Championship.
The event supported the Devon Air Ambulance Trust. Web-link: www.daat.org
For further information, visit www.wiscombepark.co.uk, www.thetiptongarage.co.uk and Torbay Motor Club’s web-site at www.torbay-mc.co.uk, or contact:
Rupert Barker,
Press and Public Relations
Torbay Motor Club Ltd