Vintage Racing Club of BC

Setting up the VRCBC Display at the 2011 ABFM - VRCBC photo

The 2012 edition of the All British Field Meet (ABFM) is almost here! ‘The Greatest Show on British Wheels’ will be held this coming Saturday, May 19th at its beautiful venue – Vancouver’s Van Dusen Gardens. And back by popular demand, the VRCBC display will be headlining the show. Well, that might be a slight exaggeration (!), but the VRCBC booth will be in its usual location, right inside the main entrance, and we will have member’s racing cars respresenting each of this year’s featured marques; Lotus and MGB.

Scheduled to appear are Mark Brown’s two time REVS Champion Lotus Seven, Al Harvey’s MGB, Al Reid’s MGB and Ralph Zbarsky’s MGB GT. Ralph’s car has a particularly interesting history. It was originally a BMC factory car which raced (and later rolled!) at Sebring. You can read more about it in this earlier story (here) on this web site. Ivan Lessner’s Austin Healey will also be there. Ivan has driven his ‘Big Healey’ to the track at Mission Raceway Park, raced it and then driven it home almost continuously for eleven years now!

Look below for some photos of these cars in their real environment – on the race track. Be sure to drop by our booth and check out our cars, before you wander down Memory Lane, looking over all of the other fascinating British machinery and memorabilia.

Go directly to the ABFM web site (here) for more information on the event.

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Auburn Speedster Boattail - VRCBC photo

The VRCBC held its May meeting at the fabulous Johnson Collection in Aldergrove. The eclectic variety of vehicles on display is obvious from the following photographs.  Many thanks to our host, Terry Johnson.

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Some of the grid gets set for the first Session on Saturday- VRCBC photo

The weather was perfect for the Sports Car Club of BC (SCCBC)  ‘Mother’s Day Special’ Race Weekend on May 12th and 13th.  The VRCBC racers did their part to honour all mothers with their special ’Double – Double’ – holding two races on each of the Saturday and Sunday. Not all of the cars (or drivers!) managed to complete both days, but there was some excellent battles throughout the field in all four events. The results have been posted on the SCCBC web site (here – click on ‘Race Results’) or they can be viewed directly here.

Brent Martin has already posted his excellent photos here. You can check out all of his photo albums at his web site: http://www.martinsactionphotography.smugmug.com/

There are a few Paddock photos below. Some more action racing photos will be available soon.

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Kirkey Race Seat - Front View

……   trailer ramps, or a DKW-engined Formula Junior, or a Rawlson Can Am car, or a Mallock, or a Helmet and HANS Device, or if you have a Triumph GT6 or a Mk 1 Cortina for sale, or you are looking for a Spitfire gearset, or a Stewart Warner gauge set, or a premium campsite at the 2012 Monterey Motorsports Reunion at Laguna Seca, or a MGB GT, or a 1961 Lotus Formula Junior, or racing memorabilia, or driver-signed Jaguar racing prints by well-known motorsports artists, or a choice of other Vintage racing sports cars, or … whatever?

Check out the items in our Classifieds page under the Pit Shop menu by clicking here.

Editor in Chief Tom Johnston has just published the Spring 2012 edition of Vantage – the VRCBC Newsletter. This time, Robin Fairservice tells the story of the post war 500cc motorcycle-engined, Formula 3 which started the careers of so many subsequently famous drivers and constructors. Mike Tate has some more personal reflections on last year’s Goodwood Revival, and Tom Johnston tells the story of the circa mid-50′s Jones Lake Hill Climb. Check out the very ‘attractive’ spectator and entrant fees in the SCCBC Event Notice re-printed on page 15. Those were the good old days!  Tom also explains some of the background to the Snell and SPI certification bodies.

You can find this and all of the previous Vantages under the About VRCBC menu, or download it directly by clicking here.

Fine Italian Art - 2004 Ferrari F1 V-10 Crankshaft - VRCBC photo

The VRCBC’s April general meeting was actually a special visit to Ferrari Maserati of Vancouver (website). The Club members and guests who attended were too distracted by all of the beautiful new and pre-owned high performance cars on display to actually focus on any regular business agenda – so we didn’t even try!

The few photos below don’t do justice to these fabulous machines and the state of the art, multi-story facility on Burrard Street. It was a very enjoyable evening. A big thank you to General Manager Mark Edmonds and his team for hosting us.

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The first three in-car videos from the 2012 REVS season at Mission Raceway Park Road Course have arrived. You can find them in the right hand column of this web site.

The first video is from inside Gunter Pichler’s 1964 Jaguar E-Type as he wins the first Vintage race on Sunday, April 15th. The second video is the view from the lower right front wishbone of Mark Brown’s 1969 Lotus Seven S-3 as he comes second in the same race. The third video is again from Mark’s Lotus as he wins the second race, after first Gunter and then Dennis Repel’s Camaro succumbed to tire issues – most noticeably in Turn #1 and Turn #9.

Look for the track improvements, particularly the much better sight line through Turn 6.

1958 Ray Ford Special

Regular visitors to this website will have noticed that the Ray Ford Special has recently disappeared from the Classifieds – For Sale section. That is because the car has just been purchased by Matt Flinn of Portland, Oregon. Matt has asked for our help in obtaining more information about this car’s early years.

The Ray Ford was one of the last and best-known of the ‘West Coast Specials’. This front-engined, aluminum-bodied sports racer was built in Port Moody by Peter Ray in 1958. It has a Ford (of England) Zephyr six cylinder with a Shadbolt cam, triple SU’s, an MG TD rear axle and close ratio gearbox. During the 1960′s, it was owned and raced by Gord Henderson, who renamed it the Ratel Mk 1, and may have entered it under that name. It was raced at Westwood, Seattle and Portland until 1969. At some point, the rear body section was modified from the original to accomodate larger wheels and tires.

Matt has already contacted those individuals who were known to have had personal experience or knowledge of the car, but is hoping that someone else may remember it and be able to provide some additional information that would help him re-create its competition history. Early photos of the car which showed the original rear body configuration would be particularly appreciated.

If you can provide any leads or suggestions, please contact Matt directly by email: mandmflinn “AT” gmail.com

2011 REVS Champion Mark Brown - Paul Bonner photo

By accumulating the most points during the past season, Mark Brown has repeated as the REVS (Rivers Edge Vintage Series) Champion. He joins Ivan Lessner as the only multiple winners of the VRCBC’s annual top award. REVS points are primarily earned by participation. Mark demonstrated this perfectly by entering all six events, being on the track in every session, competing hard in every race – winning three outright – and never having a DNF. An unbeatable record for sure. Congratulations Mark – well done!

The full REVS results are available here.

Screen Shot from Mazda Canada's online 'Zoom Zoom" magazine

Everyone who was at the Mission Raceway Park Road Course during the 2011 season remembers the very impressive Mazda Pace and Chase cars, which Mazda provided to the Sports Car Club of British Columbia. The current edition of Mazda Canada’s online ‘Zoom Zoom’ magazine has a pictorial on these cars. To view the magazine, just click here and then look under the ’Cars’ menu for ‘Pace and Chase’.

One of the photos (see the screen shot above) shows Pace Car driver (and VRCBC member) Fred Semple leading a Vintage field down the front straight. That’s Gunter Pichler (XKE) and Dennis Repel (Camaro) in the front row. Also visible are Phil Roney (orange TVR Vixen behind Dennis) and Terry Hollinger (Mustang GT-350). We suspect Fred would have liked to take the green flag and just go racin’ with the MazdaSpeed3, … but he didn’t.

Thanks again to Mazda Canada.

Al Reid and his MGB heading for Turn 3 at Mission - Paul Bonner photo

Al Reid sent us this report on his first season of Vintage racing. We have added a few photos but didn’t mention anything at all about him winning the Brass Nozzle Award (see the Annual Gala story). Thanks Al and we look forward to seeing you back on the track in 2012.

 My First Year

August/September 2010

I decided after many years of being a frustrated non-racer that it was high on my bucket list to get some racing in. I had some ideas of what would make sense both monetarily and mechanically. I knew Ralph Zbarsky was involved with vintage racing and was an MG guy. I called Ralph on several occasions and floated some ideas with him. When I told him that I wanted to go “gentleman racing”, he had a good laugh and said that was only true until they threw the green flag. He was most helpful and assisted in making up my mind that buying an already race-prepared car would suit us best.

As my chum Pierce Isaacs, who was going to join me in driving the car, is a Washington resident, we decided that a SOVREN-accepted car would make sense. In looking for the best ‘bang for the buck’ and also wanting to have fenders (I think those open wheel guys are a little nuts!) it seemed that an MGB would work well. I located an MGB in Washington that had previously been owned and driven by Joe Gordon. I purchased the car and waited for spring 2011. Ahhh!!, as warned on the VRCBC website, the money started to leave my hands as I found out that I needed new tires (both wet and dry), full driver safety gear (from head to toe) and current dated seat belts.

January 2011

I joined the Vintage Racing Club of British Columbia and started attending their meetings. Everyone interested in Vintage racing should join this club and get to know the members. They are good guys and have an amazing wealth of knowledge about all things racing.

February/March 2011

I applied for the Sports Car Club of BC’s Race Driver Training program for March and completed my medical. I waited impatiently for driver training and then finally I did the tech, classroom and two day on-track sessions.

March to October 2011

I managed to complete the required three Saturday novice races without any misbehavior and earned my senior Vintage race license. I then went racing on the Sundays with the VRCBC members and had a ball. Along the way I ‘mowed a little grass’ (not too much though) but most importantly, I didn’t hit anything.

Al Reid doing 'a little mowing'! - J. Hobson photo

Each outing was a personal best and I had some terrific racing with other members. I was unable to drive in the last race of the year, so I asked Stanton Guy to drive the car. Was this a good idea or a bad one? His lap times showed me up a little and somehow the gearshift lever left the transmission. Anyway, we fixed it with some help and then Stan had a great time and I was very happy to see the car in the field.

What made the year very special for me was having a group of my friends come out to the races, help with the car and just generally hang around. We have been travelling to Vintage races for years and now we can enjoy them ‘from the inside’. Thanks Pierce, Doug, Jock, Peter, Ken, Rod and Steve.

Al Reid leads a 'strategy session' at the July race event. - VRCBC photo

The 2012 Season

I am really looking forward to next year and having Pierce co-drive the MGB with me.

And now for the most important part of this ‘annual report’.

Vintage Racing Club of British Columbia (VRCBC)

The VRCBC has about 125 members from all over BC, plus some in other parts of Canada and the US. As I stated previously, the Club membership has a wealth of knowledge, resources (and parts!) to share with the Vintage racing community. For anyone wanting to get into racing there are a number of excellent cars for sale, ready to go as well. Check the excellent and informative web site. Remember ‘Vintage’ doesn’t mean old guys (and gals), its means old cars.

Sports Car Club of British Columbia (SCCBC)

Let’s break this into two parts:

Race Driver Training – I can’t say enough about the Stecs and the Race Drivers Committee (the RDC)-the organizers-for the tremendous number of very knowledgeable instructors who attended and herded us novice rookies through the proper procedures of racing and track etiquette. And a personal thank you to Vic Nightscales for all of his help and patience with me.

Track Operations – A lot of people spend a lot of hours giving us racers a place to play. It is VERY much appreciated. All those who can attend work parties should do so; it is for our benefit and there is always a variety of tasks that need to be done.

Motorsport Emergency & Turnworkers Association (META)

I saved this comment for last as it was the part of my first year experience that impressed me most, not that I wasn’t impressed with everything and everybody. As part of race driver training we were asked to spend a day on the track with the turn workers. Wow, these folks are knowledgeable, trained and conscientious about keeping us safe and orderly on the track. I was so impressed that I went back and spent another day with them later in the year. Thanks to all the men and women who travel all over to do this most important job.

Well that’s year one, I can’t wait for year two. Thanks and Seasons Greetings to all.

Al Reid, MGB #80

Lotus Elan

Every Victoria Day Weekend, the Van Dusen Gardens become even more colourful than normal with the display of about 650 classic British cars. The All British Field Meet – The Greatest Show on British Wheels – is a Vancouver spring time tradition.

This year, the featured marques are Lotus Cars - honouring its 60th anniversary and also Norton Motorcycles, which is now 110 years old! You will see fascinating examples of not only Lotuses and Nortons, but many, many other classics as well. So, mark Saturday, May 19th on your calendar and plan on stopping by the VRCBC booth as well.

Check the Western Driver web site (here) for more information and regular updates on the 2012 All British Field Meet.

Two well known, local Formula Ford racers, Felim Power and Alan McColl,  have teamed up to launch a new website to encourage the growth of Formula Ford in British Columbia in all its forms, including Vintage. Check out their new website at www.FormulaFordBC.com . It is still a work in progress and both of them would appreciate any feedback and suggestions, either in person or through the Contact Us form on the web site.

Moving wall back from Turn 6 to 7 - Mission Raceway - February, 2012 - SCCBC photo

This photo may not look very exciting but it represents really great news for everybody involved in racing at the Mission Raceway Park Road Course. The Sports Car Club of BC (SCCBC) is currently finishing off a major ‘reno’ that will ’open up the feel’ of the track and improve the sight lines for drivers, as well as upgrade the overall appearance. You can follow the progress of all of these track improvements – and stay current on all of the other Club news – at the SCCBC’s new Face Book page. Just click here.

We can’t wait to get out there!

Very sad news; Robert Currie passed away on February 14, 2012. Robert was a long time Sports Car Club of British Columbia member, one of the original builders of the River’s Edge Road Course, a member of the Race Drivers Committee and a senior race official. The SCCBC has a memorial on its web site home page and is planning a special event in Robert’s honour during this year’s first race weekend on April 14-15.

Robert Currie was a very good friend of the VRCBC over the years and the Club offers it deepest condolences to all of his family and friends.

Martin Rudow, the Editor and Publisher of SOVREN’s excellent quarterly magazine, VINTAGE DRIFT has just released the February 2012 issue. It contains a preview of the upcoming season’s events (including our BCHMR in August – click here) as well as the second article in his very interesting, continuing series on the history of SOVREN.

Three of our VRCBC ‘heroes’ also get prominent mention. Gunter Pichler is on the cover (above) in acknowledgement of his 20(!) years of successfully racing the same E-Type. (You can ride with Gunter on a lap of Mission by watching the video on our home page. You can also watch and listen to his E-Type at our 2011 Dyno Day here.) Two other VRCBC stalwarts, Steve Clark (1960 Lola Mk1) and Gil Stuart (1958 Volvo PV444) are also profiled in this issue in recognition of their finishing first and second respectively in the 2011 SOVREN Division One – Vintage points chase. Congratulations guys!

You can get an annual subscription to VINTAGE DRIFT for only $20. Just contact Martin by phone at: (360) 678-7435 or by mail at: Vintage Drift Magazine, 2723 Van Dee Ave., Greenbank, WA 98253,  USA.

The event-specific web site for the 2012 BCHMR is growing quickly. This is a more convenient channel to provide the latest information to entrants, sponsors, the media, spectators and of course, VRCBC members. The latest addition is information on the special lodging deal at the Best Western and some great in-car videos from last year’s event.

Check the site out here.

Great news! Mazda Canada has just announced that they have renewed their agreement with the Sports Car Club of BC and that they will again be providing the official Pace and Chase Cars for Mission Raceway Park Road Course during 2012. The bright red (and very fast!) Mazdas looked great ‘bracketing’ the grids in 2011 (here) and we are really looking forward to seeing a repeat performance in 2012. Check the SCCBC home page (here) for more details and (very soon) some photos of this year’s cars in their new livery.

A big thank you from the VRCBC to Mazda Canada for their continued support of motor racing at our home track.

Michael Zbarsky in the 1959 MGA Twin Cam - Zbarsky photo

Well known MG devotees (and long time VRCBC members) Ralph and Michael Zbarsky have just completed a great trip to Sebring. This year Sebring celebrated the 60th Anniversary of the famous 12 Hours endurance race. As part of this celebration, the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) support race honoured the 50th Anniversary of the last MGA participation in the 12 Hours. A total of 19 different MGAs participated in the 12 Hours over the 1956 to 1962 period. Ten of those cars are known to have survived and eight of them were at Sebring this year.

Michael raced their 1959 MGA Twin Cam roadster (#53) – maybe the last time a MGA Twin Cam will take the Green Flag / Chequered Flag combo at the Sebring track? And Ralph raced their 1967 MGB GT (#60). This former BMC Works Team car has some former ‘history’ at Sebring. (Check out this You Tube video of the 1970 race around the 2:20 mark!) Ralph must have retrieved that wheel because the car is beautifully restored now. See below.

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Frank Winterlik and his 1971 Porsche 911 are already entered - are you? - Paul Bonner photo

The next VRCBC River’s Edge Vintage Series (REVS) races at Mission Raceway Park Road Course on May 12th and 13th will be a Vintage ‘Double – Double’. Usually, Vintage races are only held on the Sunday of the CACC-sanctioned weekends. However, with the much-appreciated assistance of the SCCBC, the schedule for their ‘Mother’s Day Special’ Weekend has been modified so that Vintage racers will have one (15 minute) qualifying session and two (15 minute) races on each of Saturday and Sunday. (Two races over two days; hence a ‘Double – Double’.)

This will be the biggest Vintage race weekend until the BC Historic Motor Races in August and we are expecting a great turnout of Club members.

UPDATED: The final version of the schedule is now available on the SCCBC website (www.sccbc.net – See the Driver Information link) or click here.

Frank Winterlik's beautiful 1971 Porsche 911. - VRCBC photo

Updated April 30, 2012: Thanks to Paul Bonner and Brent Martin for the additional photos.

The SCCBC hosted two full days of CACC-sanctioned racing at Mission Raceway Park Road Course on April 14th and 15th. The SCCBC named the weekend ‘Robert Remembered’ in memory of Robert Currie, who sadly passed away in February.

The first VRCBC REVS races of the 2012 season were held on the Sunday. It was great to see some new faces (see the photos below) and there was some excellent competition throughout the field in both afternoon races. The complete Vintage results are posted under the Race Results menu and are also available directly here.

The next REVS races will be during the May 12th – 13th ‘Mother’s Day Special’ weekend. This will be a special double for us, with a Vintage qualifying session and two races on each of the Saturday and the Sunday.

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