Loton Park 15th September - VSCC

The VSCC heralded the end to the Hill Climb season with their ever popular Loton Park event. Set within the confines of the Estate’s picturesque deer park, the 1475 yards course is a great challenge for car and machine. Competitors had two practice runs on Saturday and two timed runs towards competition on Sunday. The highlight for many was Saturday evening’s traditional Hog Roast organised by the loyal band of local members; with ale aplenty and onsite camping available, the event is truly one of the most social on the calendar. 

The forecast for the weekend was dry on Saturday, wet and windy on Sunday and the weather lived up to the forecast.

Five Morgan Three Wheelers were entered in three different classes:

  • Rob Pike: Class 2 Standard and Modified Sports Cars 751-1100cc Unsupercharged and up to 750cc Supercharged
  • Hannah Enticknap: Class 13 Pre 1941 Racing Cars up to 1100cc
  • Sue Darbyshire, Alistair Rew and Iain Stewart: Class 14 Pre 1941 Racing Cars 1101-1500cc
It’s thanks to these competitors that we have a video, some notes from Sue Darbyshire and the results via Alistair Rew
 
The Words:
 
Mainly from Sue Darbyshire:
 
On Sunday it rained at 7:00am for a couple of hours then stopped until lunchtime so the first run on Sunday was on a drying track benefitting the later runners and particularly the double drivers who ran last, but the second runs were all wet as it rained all afternoon.
 
The times were:
 
Rob Pike – Run 1: 95.65  Run 2: 91.38 – 1st modified vintage class 2.
Rob’s first run was hampered by a wayward front wing which detached itself early in the run.  As long as reasonable forward momentum was maintained, the wing stayed aloft. However, Rob completed the climb holding onto the wing which he grabbed whilst rounding Fallow bend.
 
Hannah Enticknap -Run 1: 88.84  Run 2: 95.75 – 2nd on handicap class 13 
Hannah had a problem with the air pump which affected her second run. The leather washer had dried up and was leaking on Saturday and dad Pete sent Hannah round the paddock looking for grease. She collected samples from grease nipples on various cars before finding a fellow competitor who actually had a tin of the stuff.
 
Alistair Rew – Run 1: 77.75  Run 2: 80.80
Alistair was very pleased with his second practice run on Saturday – a 68.44. Probably his best time at Loton. The Mog was going very well thanks to Alistair’s Dad, Robin’s, hard work during the year.

The Sunday runs reflect Alistair’s cautious approach in the wet……not wanting to bend it. “Happy to celebrate getting to the top in one piece and enjoying the excellent company.”

 
Iain Stewart – 89.06  74.83 – 2nd vintage class 14 
Iain’s first run  was slow because he spun at Museum. He ran on petrol for the first run but changed his carbs. to run methanol for the final run.
 
Sue Darbyshire – 72.52  73.61 – 1st vintage class 14 
Second run time was fastest overall for all second runs – shame it didn’t rain earlier!!
 

The Hill:

Here’s what the hill looks like (click on the map to enlarge):

Loton Park 15th September - VSCC

The Photos:

Our “Club Photographer”, Dennis Rushton, was away for the weekend so the photos are from Steve Uprichard. Steve was only at Loton on Saturday and the photos are from the practice runs. Apologies to Rob Pike who practised too early for Steve to get a photo. However, Rob made up for this by uploading two videos to YouTube:

 

There are also some excellent photos on Flickr. Our thanks to William Hearne for the link and New Zealander Alistair Robinson who took the photos. Please note, the photos are in reverse sequence so to watch the action, scroll backwards. To see the photos, click on the competitor’s name:

The videos:

Rob Pikes videos from YouTube:

Loton Park 15th September - VSCC Rob’s first run, complete with flapping front wing. Click the YouTube logo
Loton Park 15th September - VSCC Rob’s second run. Click the YouTube logo

 

The (Provisional) Results

Loton Park 15th September - VSCC