Round 7 of the Thursday Club Championship and Round 5 of the Morgan Three Wheeler Club Challenge Series were contested on Saturday 26th July at Darley Moor.
A beautiful hot sunny day. A welcome change to the normal Darley weather.
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Circuit: click
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Results: click
Words from Jonathan Garside:
There were fewer Morgans entered for this meeting due in part to a clash of events, one of which is Le Puy, but also to holidays this being the first weekend of the main school summer holidays. Nonetheless the turnout saw seven entries; three twins and four F types. The twins were those of Bill & Maggie Tuer, Hamish Bibby, driving Greg’s car and passengered by Danny, son of Martin Quirk, and finally Chas Reynolds with Steve Ash. The F types were those of Cathy Quinn and Tom Cowley, Dave Poplar with ballast, Danny Hodgson with Hon Sec Chris Harfield and Anthony and Verity Pearson. As a matter of interest Mrs Hon Sec Ann Harfield was passengering Dave Hodgson in the Buckland B3. Practice went off with seemingly no major problems.
Our racing commenced with race 4 on the programme for B2 cyclecars, sidecar based 3 wheelers and Morgans unlimited to 1972. This race counted towards the Thursday Club Championship. Hamish Bibby shot into the lead from a front row start whilst Bill Tuer starting at the back of the field pulled through to 2nd place by the end of the first lap. There was little jockeying for position with the noted exception of the two front runners who, whilst not changing position were never more than 1 second, and usually ½ second from each other and indeed finished 3 hundredths of a second apart. Another close fought battle ensued between Danny Hodgson and Anthony Pearson who had very similar lap times and were separated in Danny’s favour by only 1½ seconds. Chas Reynolds came in 3rd Morgan followed by Dave Poplar, Danny Hodgson, Anthony Pearson and Cathy Quinn.
Following the race a certain amount of fettling was necessary. Danny Hodgson fitted a new head gasket, to the engine that is, Chas Reynolds found the off side carburettor has dropped the needle so it was removed and he ran without. Hamish had the offside brake lining falling apart so new shoes were fitted and Bill Tuer removed the clutch release bearing and applied grease.
The second race, 14 on the programme, was the same makeup as the first but ended in a different manner, with Bill Tuer overtaking Hamish Bibby on the last lap and Anthony Pearson got the better of Danny Hodgson. Bill put up the fastest lap. After the race, he replaced a rear wheel with 3 broken spokes and Hamish replaced a broken flying wire.
Race 19 on the programme was the designated race for the Morgan Challenge Series round 5. The same contestants as in the previous race, which numerically was somewhat disappointing for a Challenge round. Bill Tuer again started from the back of the grid with Hamish Bibby on the front row. Chas Reynolds slotted into 3rd place which he held to the end. Hamish and Bill had another battle but this time Hamish got away and Bill only really began to catch in the last two laps of this 7 lap race and ended just 2 hundredths of a second behind whilst again putting up the fastest lap. The battle of the F types was won again by Dave Poplar. He was followed at a respectful distance by Anthony Pearson and Cathy Quinn, with Danny Hodgson being posted a non-finisher, but nevertheless he’d completed 5 laps.
Racing continued on the Sunday with three races as per Saturday, with only five entries as Dave Poplar had not entered and Cathy Quinn with Tom Cowley were sightseeing on the run round the racing circuit that never was. Suffice to say the Bill Tuer won twice, Hamish Bibby once, retiring in the other two races. Chas Reynolds, Tony Pearson and Danny Hodgson finished in that order, interspersed with sidecars. No rain and good weather again, is this a record?
The Circuit:
click on the map for a closer look
The Photos:
Apologies for the lack of photos. Our ace photographer Dennis Rushton was out of the country, sunning himself in France. Instead, you have a few snaps from Steve Uprichard. You’ll note there’s a leaning towards photos of F-Types. Truth is, the twins were too quick! Click on a photo to get started.
The Results:
click on the results for a closer look
For the full results from both days, click here.