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[Varche]

Had some enforced indoors time today.

Car Racing Got thinking about the first saloon car race I went to. Easy one. It was at Rufforth(old war aerodrome near York with a long long straight) maybe 66 or 67. There was a 28 litre(or thereabouts) open cockpit pre war car that sounded great but was slow round the corners. An ex works Mk1 Lotus Cortina driven by my namesake, Chris Ventnor in an Anglia or an Escort more probably. A Mini crashed near where we were standing. As a family we got off the roof of our car(Ford Anglia) and ran to the scene. They were lifting the body out on a blood filled tarpaulin. We ran away.

Rallying Our house was in the middle of the North Yorks Moors rally stages. Used to watch cars at competetive speeds outside the house at a very young age. Gulf London? Anyone remember that before the days of the RAC Rally watered down with hotels stops!! Got loads of good memories of those days. That got me started rallying burning bank notes.

Rallycross. I remember getting hooked on TV rallycross. 1967 ? on. My mate was a BMC man. I was Ford through and through. We built our own 3D hardboard rallycross cct for our "modified " Scalextric cars. We spent a lot of time re glueing the foil contacts . We went to Croft in 1969 and probably Roger Clark won ( His brother Stan ran the other 4WD Capri). I was really chuffed. It was such a muddy day. The highlight(much to the disgust of my mate) though was a Mini losing BOTH front wheels simultaneously. We watched them tear off ahead of the slowing car and hit an earth bank. They then went say 100 feet straight up in the air before landing and bouncing everywhere.

Anyone else have any fond first motorsports memories? 

[redelitev6]

  Tony Dean in a formula 5000 chevron at Croft about 1975 , as a 15 yr old I had never seen (or heard ! ) anything like it . Sandro Munari in a Lancia Stratos on the RAC rally a few years earlier , the sound and sight of it was like something out of another world  . A few years later the MG 6R4s , what a noise ! happy days   

[Varche]

Just you and I with memories then!

Another one was hillclimbing. You used to be able to stand very near the cars on the startline. My favourite was David Hepworth in a 4 wheel drive single seater The Guyson Sandblast FF special? That would have been the late sixties.