Messages

The 500 Owners Association, one of our Invited Clubs at the AC Owners' annual Sprint event, has invited ACOC members to join them at their Hillclimb event, below. If anyone wants to reach Xaxier directly, please contact me and I'll give you his email address and phone number.

At long last the entries for our 8th May Hillclimb are open, and as one of our invited clubs, I look forward to receiving your members entries very soon.
Because the event will be operating under Covid restrictions, all entries, signing on, vehicle and Covid declarations will be by using an online system that has been most generously provide by the Woolbridge MC.

Event regulations and access to the entry system can be gained by using this link to the dedicated page of our club website http://500race.org/500oa-wiscombe-park-hill-climb/

Should you or any of your members have any questions regarding  the event than please email or phone.
Kind Regards

Xavier Kingsland
Secretary of the Meeting
www.500race.org

Hi Chris, I've sent you Angela Yates' email address via PM.

A big thanks to all of our competitors and ACOC team for delivering another fantastically fun day out. Despite the weather forecast having promised us rain all day, the only rain we had fell during the lunch break, with sunny spells most of the rest of the time and competitors enjoying a mostly dry track during the first timed runs.

I'll write up a post event summary at some point, but in the interim I'd like to thank all of our ACOC team for another year of great support and event leadership.

Gary, thanks too for your help all day, much appreciated, I look forward to having you back at the timing wall again next year!

Cheers, Bruce

Hi all,

With just over 3 weeks to go until the deadline for entry to the Sprint closes, we have 4(!) ACOC members signed up for the Sprint in 3(!) AC's.  Hopefully everyone's just a little delayed in getting their entries across to me this year, hence if you're planning to join please get your forms across to me sooner than later.

On a more positive note, we have a nice selection of cars already signed up from BMW Historic Motor Club, VSCC, BARC and a number of first-time joiners from the newly invited 750 Motor Club.

If you've misplaced your entry form or have not participated before and hence are not on my mailing list, please get in touch with me.

Cheers, Bruce

The AC Owners' Club is once again pleased to invite you to join us at this year's AC Owners' Club Clubman's Sprint Meeting, to be held once again at Goodwood Motor Circuit on Saturday 10th November. The event will continue the format of previous years, with a number of different AC and non-AC classes competing under MSA Sprint rules and regulations.
   
We would love to ensure that we once again we have a full complement of AC members in AC cars competing in what promises to be another fun, exciting event. Of course, AC owners are also able to support the event in a non-AC car if they don't wish to dirty their pride and joy or if their beloved AC is currently off the road.
   
Entry forms have today been emailed out to all past competitors. To obtain an entry form and event information pack, please contact Bruce Claassen (Secretary of the Meeting) at bruce_claassen@hotmail.com or on 07958 570 718. Please note that entries close on Friday 2nd November, being 1 week ahead of the Sprint and that entries received after this date will not be considered.
   
For anyone interested in coming along to watch, please do join us! Spectator entry is free and you will have full access to the paddock and circuit and are free to look over the cars and chat with our competitors. People start gathering from around 8.30am onward and festivities tend to wrap up at around 3.30/4pm following the prize ceremony. You do not need to be a member to attend, hence please feel free to invite your friends and family too. Food and drinks are available at the circuit and in nearby country pubs - an ideal way to spend a day out.
   
As always, your support is very much appreciated and we look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at Goodwood!

A quick pic; I'm sure more will appear / be published in ACtion in due course.

[/url]

Thanks to the team for organising such an enjoyable event - totally relaxed, super location, picturesque layout and fabulous weather!

[If you are interested in joining, please contact Cheng Lim on (+44) 07836 699339, email cheng@thunderroadcars.com or visit www.spaonehour.com]

Hi all, please see below an invitation from Cheng Lim to all ACOC members & friends to participate in a race to be held during The Spa Summer Classic this year. Cheng is a member of the ACOC and one of our regular ACOC Goodwood Sprint participants.

"In memory of our dear friend Barry Sidery Smith, Organiser, Driver and Friend to many, the One Hour Barry Race is being held again at The Spa Summer Classic June 2018. During his life time, Barry provided the opportunity to race at Spa for (probably)
thousands of people, and instrumental in providing access & logistics to races beyond the reach of most, such as Chimay, Zolder & Nurburgring, as well top meetings at British circuits, always ensuring a warm welcome to His Drivers. The UK & European Historic
Racing Community definitely owes him a lot.

In 2018 to remember with fondness our dear friend and racing colleague Barry Sidery Smith the Sideways Club was formed. The Sideways Club is designed for drivers who have raced with Barry, joined the club racing fraternity because of him, or anyone who
knew and admired him. But it's not just Barry's Regulars that are invited to join the club, EVERYONE is welcome to join The Sideways Club and no registration fee is required.

Barry would have been pleased to have seen faces old and new! The annual race will start in 2018 at the Summer Classic event at Spa 22/23/24th June. It will give a chance for all those who have raced in the past at this event to still be involved. A BBQ or dinner/evening event will also be held at the meeting so everyone can get together to discuss the race and reminisce about the man himself.

If you are interested in joining, please contact Cheng Lim on (+44) 07836 699339, email cheng@thunderroadcars.com or visit www.spaonehour.com

Please pass on details of The Sideways Club to other drivers and friends who you know would be interested in the event, just in case they do not receive this message.

The formation of the Sideways Club has benefitted much by the help & advice of Pam MacCarthy of the MG Car Club's BCV8 Series originally founded by Barry Sidery Smith and for which he was Lifetime President.

We are looking forward to racing with you!"

Hi, I'm not sure if someone's already spotted this but the AC Aceca is the topic in an episode of Nat Geo's "Car SOS" on channel 268 on Virgin TV 6-7pm tonight.

or in B&W (with you looking on from the top of the stairs!)

tribute to the man who pulled it all together .....

Thanks Constant, and here is one of the photo's I'd just taken / was about to take when you snapped me ;)

[ACOC Sprint 2017]

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!

Youtube vid of the parade lap coming through the S's, giving you a chance to see most of the entrants. A little wet... but thankfully no more rain fell and the track began drying out.
   
   https://youtu.be/sq1FIsS71FA