Reposted... not sure what happened to my original post... Happy Christmas everyone!
ACOC Sprint 2017 (As printed in December ACtion)
A big thank you to all of our competitors, marshals, officials and spectators for another fabulous event. Once again everyone had a fantastic time, with the usual mix of interesting vehicles and even more interesting individuals.
This year’s event was held on Saturday 4th November, with another return to Goodwood’s historic motor circuit. For a short while we were unsure as to whether or not we’d be returning to the circuit this year but some persistent behind the scenes negotiations secured our a spot for 2017 and 2018. Times are changing and Goodwood’s ability to push for higher prices is having a knock-on impact on smaller organisations and clubs.
For those not familiar with the Sprint format, the event comprises two back to back practice laps which are timed in order to help seed cars as they line up for the first of their two official times runs. The fastest time of the two timed laps the counts towards determining your position within your competition class. Classes for ACOC members are determined by the model of AC being competed in, with an additional class for “AC Owners not driving an AC”. We also invite a number of other car clubs, with their members competing within their respective club-class irrespective of vehicle driven. We were once again joined by the Aston Martin Owners Club, VSCC, BMW Historic Motor Club, 500 Owners Association, Frazer Nash Car Club, BARC and Jaguar Enthusiasts’ Club.
As has become tradition, a small group of core club officials meet up the evening before the Sprint for a steak & wine dinner at a little pub about a mile away from the track. It’s always a relaxed evening, catching up on the events of the last year and ensuring that our paperwork and plans for the next day are all aligned.
We awoke to less than ideal conditions, with light rain and light wind confirming that we’d be greeted by a wet track after 3 weeks of no rain... how frustrating! We were nonetheless all glad to be back at Goodwood when we arrived at around 8am, with a number of familiar faces greeting us as we arrived - a mix of early competitors and the resident Goodwood trackside team. Mike Smith (Steward of the Course) headed off to begin organising the track side teams, Nathan & Mike Berrisford (Chief Paddock Marshall) headed into the paddock with clipboards in hand, and I set myself up with all of the sign-on paperwork in the Jackie Stewart pavilion.
The next hour passes fairly quickly as drivers sign on, vehicles pass through scrutineering (led by Bertie Gilbart Smith, our new Chief Scrutineer) and pit and track crews deliver the pre-sprint briefing – all warmed by tea, coffee and friendly faces. By 9.30am we were pretty much ready to go, with just the traditional parade lap behind Mike Smith's AC Buckland to complete - a personal highlight for me as I always enjoy my ‘hot-laps’ passenger ride around the course with Mike, taking turns to wave thanks to the trackside marshals and photograph the train of cars chasing after us.
Practice runs began soon thereafter with a paddock full of warming engines, chatting drivers, busy pit crews and meandering spectators. Practice laps finished at around 11.45, a little earlier than normal and enabling us to break for an early lunch. Notable this year was the fantastic lunch laid on by Goodwood for the drivers and key officials up in the Jackie Steward Pavilion. Following the recent price hike they agreed to soften the blow somewhat by offering a complementary hot buffet, served in a nicely decorated room overlooking the track and paddock. The food was superb and the room warm – what more could you want! Being the first time that we’ve brought everyone back together mid-event, it gave both drivers and officials alike the opportunity to relax, socialise and share stories of the morning before heading back out to the track feeling a little warmer (and a little heavier!) for the second half.
On point worth noting is that we run the event on a first-come-first-served basis and not in class order. This is a lot easier from a paddock marshalling perspective, with the added benefit being that each and every starting line has a mix of different vehicles – adding to the visual spectacle of the event. The only exception to this is the 500 Owners Association who run single-seater methanol-powered cars that are not suited to waiting in queues. We therefore shoal them onto the start in close formation which makes for a lovely spectacle as they each in turn light up their rear tyres and disappear into the distance in a squealing puff of smoke!
The fastest AC of the day was Andy Shepherd in his MKIV Lightweight who crossed the line in 109.20 seconds. Only 0.68sec behind him was Murray Shepherd in their AC Ace Bristol, with Ted Shepherd a mere 0.23sec further back... that’s less than a second separating the three of them in damp conditions. Another entertaining AC to watch was new Sprint competitor Andrew Williams in his beautiful and recently acquired AC Cobra 289, who entertained us with some ‘sideways + more’ chicane-exiting action on more than one occasion (where’s a camera when you need it?!).
Ace’s appeared to be the AC of choice this year, with 4 Ace Bristols (Shepherd’s + Mark Aldridge + Keith Lessiter) and Bill Holgate’s Ace 2.6 filling the largest AC class of the day, complemented by Melanie Hutton’s lovely Aceca Bristol. Regular attendees Bryan Moseley (3000ME) and David Goose (Brooklands Ace) completed the AC-car line-up, with a further 12 ACOC members participating in non-AC cars.
Overall fastest time of the day went to Glyn Sketchey in his Force PT with a time of 90.21. Damp track conditions appear to have little impact on Glyn and his winged steed... I can’t wait to see what time he posts next year when he plans to run with the turbo at full boost!
The prize giving at the end of the day was a very jovial affair with lots of happy faces and more than a few interesting stories. The paddock then clears fairly quickly as the light starts to fade. There are a number of competitors with fairly long homeward journeys (either in the car in which they’d just competed or on a trailer behind them) but the person with perhaps the longest journey ahead of him was Constant Wagner who’d come across from Luxembourg to spectator – it was a lovely surprise to see him.
Overall, the 2017 Sprint was another resounding success and I’m please to be able to confirm that the 2018 Sprint will once again be returning to Goodwood with 10th November now confirmed as the date. I trust you all have a good festive break and look forward to seeing you all again next year!