Castle Combe Classic Action Day - 6th June 2009
Report from Tony Tucker, Events Co-ordinator

Castle Combe is the one event where sunny summer weather can be guaranteed and this year that was even more certain after the blazing sunshine of 6 days earlier at TIPEC. Wrong!! Rain on the way there and a drizzly, cloudy day with a bitter wind made this the least memorable of the many great Castle Combes that the Club has attended.

Nonetheless, the heavy rain of the early morning had stopped by the time the event really started and, though cold, we remained more or less dry for most of the day. The wet track may have had something to do, however, with the early shunt experienced by an over-optimistic BMW driver, who paid for some speed laps and incurred rather more expense than he'd bargained for, to judge by what was left of the front end of his car! "Would drivers taking to the track please try and keep it on the black stuff" the PA system helpfully announced!

With 12 cars, plus Martin Burge in an MG (as his Speedster had experienced a problem), the Club was well represented, given the conditions, which were bound to put off a few of those coming from longer distances. The beautiful green Speedster built by Gary of the Speedster Clinic and paraded at Stoneleigh Park 18 months ago made an appearance, under new ownership and 9 of our cars took to the track for the parade laps, where all clubs are allowed to do 2 laps behind a safety car - no overtaking allowed, of course, though this did not stop Gary "Chief Fire Officer" Ambidge from whipping his Chesil past Terry "the Beck" Watson in front of the crowd at the end of the first lap!

With the ice-cream van doing less business than expected, we were glad of the shelter provided by our gazebo, which had been needed 6 days before at TIPEC to save us from excessive sun-burn. This and the new pennant have proved to be good investments and the Club can now be clearly seen at events, where Speedsters and Spyders are now very much a feature welcomed by all events organisers.

So now we look forward to the promised "hot summer" and some open-top driving conditions. There are one or two possible new events that we might attend in the next month or two, notably the Sherborne Classics at the Castle, before the Hampshire Pageant in August. Let's hope for sunshine next time out!

Tony Tucker - Contact details - 07899 654543 (m) 020 8643 2531 (h) or ajt@speedsters.co.uk)

PHOTO GALLERY - click on any image to enlarge

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