MIDDLESEX COUNTY AUTOMOBILE CLUB LTD

THE

MIDDLESEX

MAGAZINE

www.mcac.co.uk

Number: 280 (Volume: 13; Issue: 11) / March / April 2008

CLUB NIGHT IS EVERY WEDNESDAY

AT

GERRARDS CROSS SPORTS CLUB

7 Dukes Lane, off Dukes Wood Avenue, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, SL9 7TZ

(off the A40, between the pillar box and pedestrian subway opposite The Apple Tree)

Map Reference: 176/000875½ Telephone: 01753 886610

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

19th March / Club Night / 20.30 / VIDEO/DVD NIGHT. What happened in Mexico? The latest WRC action.
26th March / Partner’s Club Night / 20.30 / PARTNER’S EVENING - ONE HUNDRED MOTORING MILESTONES. An insight into the various stories behind the writing of Adrian’s book on the history of MCAC. During his research, Adrian came across some interesting stories and he has promised to share some of them with us tonight. Also, your chance to purchase an early copy of the book – signed by the author.
2nd April / Club Night / 20.30 / NATTER AND NOGGIN.
6th April / Autotest / 09.30 / BRAKEFAST AUTOTESTS and AUTOSOLO. We return to the wide open spaces of Bovingdon Airfield for our sealed-surface autotests, co-promoted with Harrow Car Club. Again two events – the usual National ‘B’ event for the championship contenders and the Clubsport Autosolo, with more open all forward tests providing novices the chance to compete without the need for reversing. Regs are available at Club, on the website or from Peter Cox (01488 72027) or Chris Keys (01296 660464).
9th April / Club Night / 20.30 / VIDEO / DVD NIGHT. An update on the latest WRC action following the latest round in Argentina.
16th April / Club Night / 20.30 / NATTER AND NOGGIN.
23rd April / Club Night / 20.30 / ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING. Your chance to have a say in the running of the Club and, perhaps, volunteer to serve on the Council. If you feel like filling some of the vacant places on the Council, Andy needs to receive any new nominations by the 19th.
30th April / Club Night / 20.30 / NATTER AND NOGGIN.
7th May / Club Night / 20.30 / PARTNER’S EVENING – SPRING CROSSWORD QUIZ. Chris Keys is devising another of his popular quizzes to keep your brain cells working.
14th May / Club Night / 20.30 / NATTER AND NOGGIN.
21st May / Club Night / 20.30 / VIDEO / DVD NIGHT. Catch up with the latest action from the WRC.
28th May / Club Night / 20.30 / NATTER AND NOGGIN.
4th June / Partner’s Club Night / 20.30 / PARTNER’S EVENING – MIKE’S MEANDER. With the longer and, hopefully, warm summer evenings we venture outside in the search for the answers to some questions around the Clubhouse. Mike Cawthra is organizing this evening’s fun.
11th June / Club Night / 20.30 / NATTER AND NOGGIN.

ONE HUNDRED MOTORING MILESTONES

Adrian L’Estrange is pleased to announce that

ONE HUNDRED MOTORING MILESTONES

the history of the Middlesex County Automobile Club Limited from its foundation in 1905 to its

Centenary in 2005, has now been published and is available directly from the publisher at

or via orders placed with the Club Chairman.

The author will make a short, informal presentation and book-signing at the Club Night on

Wednesday 26th March 2008

462 pages (234x156mm) + 40 photo plates

Price: £20.00 (plus £2.45 p+p)

If you were a member prior to 2005 you are almost certain to be featured!

Editor: Pete Farmer. Published by MCAC Ltd. St. Joseph’s, Heronsgate, Rickmansworth, Herts. WD3 5DF

MIDDLESEX COUNTY AUTOMOBILE CLUB Ltd. is a member of ACSMC, AEMC, LCAMC & WAMC.
C h a i r m a n ‘ s C h a t

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Numbers at the Annual Dinner were disappointing but those that did attend had a very enjoyable evening. The food was again excellent and there was plenty of it, while the disco encouraged the energetic onto the dance floor. There were also some very good raffle prizes on offer and I think most tables won a selection of prizes – some more than others! A few awards were not given out on the evening and I have those, so if the recipients let me know when they will be at Club I will bring the awards along for them. Thanks to Peter Nathan for the organization of the evening. Next year’s dinner will be on Saturday 31st January 2009 – so make a note of it now and don’t double book the evening!

A very surprised and worthy winner of the PRESIDENTS AWARD on the night was Kevin Fowler, in recognition of all the help and encouragement he gives to other members as well as promoting the Club at every opportunity. The RIDDELL CUP for the Best Newcomer was awarded to Ann Kolter, while the BENGT ARMCO AWARD was not presented this year as we could not find a suitable recipient to embarrass! If you hear of anyone having an ‘at fault’ non-competitive motoring accident during the coming year, please let any Council member know so that we can consider them for the award next year.

On the subject of awards, apologies to David Axten for spelling his name wrong in the listing of award winners and on the dinner menus! Also, apologies to Richard Upton / Paul Bareham for omitting to include them on the list of Event Award winners in the last issue! They win the MIDDLETON TROPHY for finishing Best MCAC (and 2nd overall) on the Malcolm Watson Stages, organized by SCCON at Sculthorpe last April.

While mentioning Paul Bareham, we extend our congratulations to him and Jaz Bojko who became engaged at Rockingham last December, having met there the previous year. Jaz was running the arrival control and Paul proposed as they arrived at the first stage. However, Jaz, ever the professional, made him wait until after the stage was finished for her reply!

A special thanks to Christine, with some help from Joe, for organizing “The old bag’s old bag quiz” (Christine’s words – not mine), after I published the information in the last magazine but forgot to mention it to her before it appeared in print! Congratulations to Dave Taylor/Martin Mansell who managed to identify the most items and win some chocolate.

On the competition front, Pete Farmer dragged me out for the ‘Pairs Scatter’ the day after the Club dinner and, with John Wilson / Paul Brown, we managed to finish third. Don’t ask Andy and Rob how they got on!

I teamed up with Pete again for our own Valentine Scatter, ably organized by Andy Greenland and Garry Elswood, a couple of weeks later and we managed one better – 2nd overall and Best MCAC. What chance on the next event, Pete?

Graham and I started our competitive year in the yellow Mk I, with the Robin Hood Forest Stages in Sherwood Forest in early March. A steady run resulted in 12th overall and 7th in Class. Not quite as good as hoped, but the competition is much stiffer this year – first and second in class were former World Champions, Bjorn Waldegard and Stig Blomqvist! Historic rallying seems to be gaining in popularity with 13 in our class this time out, compared with only about 7 or 8 last year.

For our next event, in early April, it is a long trip down through France and into Italy for the first round of the FIA European Historic Sporting Rally Championship (what a long title!) – the Sanremo Rally Storico - with the white Mark II.

Later in April it is your chance to have a say in the running of the Club. The AGM is on the 23rd and we are currently short on Council members, so what about volunteering your services and giving something back to the Club? In accordance with the Club Rules, Andy needs any nominations by the 19th April. We hope to hear from you!

Safe motoring and I hope to see you at the AGM.

Tony Phillips

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W H A T ‘ S O N ?

MARCH
24th / Sutton & Cheam MC / Easter Sprint, Longcross / (B)
28/30th / Rally Argentina / (I) / WRC
29th / North Humberside MC / North Humberside Stages / (B) / Eng/1st
30th / Brands Hatch - Indy Circuit / (I) / BTCC
30th / Forresters MC / Tour of Caerwent / (B) / WAMC
APRIL
5th / Camel Vale MC / Tour of Cornwall / (B) / BTRDA
5th / Port Talbot MC / Pro Art Signs Red Dragon Stages / (B) / WAMC
5th / Border Counties Rally / (A) / MSA/ANCRO
6TH / MIDDX CAC/Harrow CC / BRAKEFAST AUTOTESTS / (B/C) / MIDDX/ACSMC
6th / Bahrain Grand Prix, Sakhir / (I) / WC
6th / Trackrod MC / Lookout Stages, Melbourne / (B)
12th / D'Isis Stages, MIRA / (B)
13th / Rockingham / (I) / BTCC
13th / De Lacy MC / Driffield Stages / (B)
13th / Sporting CCoN / Spring Stages, Sculthorpe / (B) / AEMC
18/19th / Cumberland SCC / Pirelli International Rally / (I/B) / BRC/BHRC
19th / Castle Coombe Circuit / Performance Car Action Day / (-)
19/20th / Silverstone SuperCar Weekend / (I) / FIA GT3
20th / Mid Derbyshire MC / Twyford Wood Stages Rally / (B)
20th / Ecurie Royal Oak MC / Oak Leaf Stages, Wilbarston / (B)
20th / Sutton & Cheam MC / Mini Tempest Stages, Longcross / (B) / AEMC/ACSMC
20th / Pembrokeshire MC / Talbenny Stages / (B) / WAMC
24/27th / Jordan Rally WRC / (I) / WRC
25TH / MIDDX COUNTY AC / MAY-BE 12-CAR RALLY / (C) / MIDDX
25/27th / Rally Argentina / (I) / WRC
26th / Minehead/Burnham MCs / Somerset Stages / (B) / Eng/1st
27th / Green Belt MC / TAMs Packaging Sprint, North Weald / (B)
27th / Spanish GP, Barcelona / (I) / WC
MAY
3rd / RDP Welsh Rally / (B) / HRCR/WAMC
3/4th / Monteberg Rallysprint / (I)
4th / Brands Hatch / (I) / A1GP
4th / South Wales/Forresters MCs / Welsh National Rally / (A) / WAMC/HRCR/Pug
4th / Donington Park / (I) / BTCC
9/10th / Isle of Man Rally Ltd / RBS International Manx Rally / (A) / MSA/ANCRO/Evo
9/10th / Portugese Rally / (I) / IRC
11th / Herts County AAC / Debden Spring Sprint / (B)
11th / North Humberside MC / John Overend Memorial Stages / (B)
11th / Turkish Grand Prix, Istanbul / (I) / WC
16/18th / Rallye d'Italia-Sardegna / (I) / WRC
18th / Thruxton / (I) / BTCC
18th / Craven MC / Rally, Longcross / (B) / ACSMC
23/25th / Berwick DMC / Jim Clark International Rally / (I/A) / BRC/MSA
25th / AC de Monaco / Monaco Grand Prix / (I) / WC
25th / Barbados Rally Club / Barbados Rallysprint / (I)
26th / West Essex CC / Chris Rees Millbrook National Rally / (B) / BTRDA/HRCR
29/1st / BP Ultimate Acropolis Rally / (I) / WRC
31st / Midland Manor MC / Severn Valley National Rally / (A/B) / BHRC/MSA/WAMC
31/1st / Barbados Rally Club / Barbados International Rally / (I)

Pete’s Patch

Ramblings from the editor’s chair

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Once again, I have to resurrect the ‘Oops, I messed that up’ column again. Thanks to Tony Phillips, though, it is not as big as it may have been. He noticed that the pagination was wrong in a couple of places and managed to get things changed before the printer went to work. Things were fine until after I had sent the mag to the printers when I noticed that the last line of the oil advert had flipped to the next page and looked like contact details should you wish to buy the strange looking car in the photo submitted by Tom Ryan!

By the time you read this, some of us will have made the annual pilgrimage to the south to arrange the start on a stage on the Sunseeker. With the lack of venue, we will have missed our season opener rally (last known as ‘The Oakington Stages’). The loss of our venue at Oakington continues to have a serious effect on the finances of the club. So now is the time to keep ferreting around hedges and the like to find us a new venue before the bank balance becomes seriously depleted. Any suggestions should be sent, initially, to Rob Brook or Peter Nathan, email addresses to be found at the rear of the magazine.

Congratulations to Kevin Fowler who was the recipient of the President’s Award this year for his services to the club. Kevin is one of our unsung members. You will not find his name on the list of council members, nor will you find him on the list of event organisers. However he is an enthusiastic member, usually found at the club on a Wednesday evening, if he is not competing in his Pug 205, he can be found servicing for other members while they are out rallying. Back to the club, should any prospective members show up, Kevin will take them under his wing and talk to them all night extolling the virtues of being a member of the best motor club in the land. A deserved winner, Congratulation Kev!

Unfortunately, the council decided that no-one was deserved of winning either the Poxon Award or The Bengt Armco Award, although there were a couple of close calls for this one. The identities of the prospective winners will remain a close secret to avoid their embarrassment. The offer of a pint on a Wednesday evening may loosen tongues. If you feel that you may be one of the pair, a couple of pints will guarantee silence for that week.