Non-VRCBC News & Events

04 Jul

Posted at 16:29h in Non-VRCBC News & Events, Racing Related, SOVREN by
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[caption id="attachment_7291" align="aligncenter" width="480"] 'The π Man' (aka Pierce Isaacs) leads Tim Pickstone. - Jim Moody photo[/caption]

Several of the VRCBC's racers attended SOVREN's Pacific Northwest Historics event at Pacific Raceways over the July long weekend. Thanks to Jim Moody, we have some photos of 'our heroes' taking maximum advantage of some additional on-track warm up time before the BC Historic Motor Races that will be held over the August 4th-5th weekend at Mission Raceway Park Road Course. You can find more info on the BCHMR here and you can check out Jim's photos below. (Thanks Jim.)

23 May

Posted at 10:08h in Knox Mountain Hill Climb by
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[caption id="attachment_7106" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Bruce Jamieson takes Turn 7 in Bernie Hamm's Fiat X1/9 - Jim Moody photo"][/caption] By Jim Moody with files from Geoff Tupholme The Victoria Day long weekend was a busy one for VRCBC members. While some were 'working' at the All British Field Meet in Vancouver, others were having a great time climbing Knox Mountain in Kelowna. The Knox Mountain Hillclimb is the longest annually running (This year was the 55th!) paved hillclimb in North America, and VRCBC members have been participating for many years. This year, it was Frank Winterlik, Geoff Tupholme, Keith Robinson, Evan Williams, Bernie Hamm and Bruce Jamieson carrying the Club's banner up the challenging 2.2 mile course. Frank had his 1973 Porsche 911 RSR both looking and running great during the two day event, posting a best time of 2:08.349. Right behind Frank was Geoff and his quick little 1973 Austin Mini (fighting a plug-fouling mystery) turning a best time of 2:08.416. Bernie Hamm with his 1974 Fiat X-1/9 enjoyed his weekend of competition and came through with a best time of 2:27.906. Evan Williams, no stranger to Knox Mountain, brought his 1963 Jaguar XKE to the hill this year. Evan’s best time of the weekend was 2:30.268. Bruce Jamieson was just getting familiar with Bernie's Fiat and turned a 2:35.034.  Keith Robinson was our only single seater representative this year, driving his 1980 Van Diemen RF 80 Formula Ford to a best time was 2:10.073. The final results are available here. Check below for more photos.

20 May

Posted at 11:59h in All British Field Meet by
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[caption id="attachment_7034" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Getting ready: the VRCBC Booth before the gates open - VRCBC photo"][/caption]

Updated: May 23, 2012

The 27th edition of the All British Field Meet (ABFM) - 'The Greatest Show on British Wheels' - was held on Saturday, May 19th at Vancouver's Van Dusen Gardens. The weather was perfect and all of the cars looked great. The VRCBC display was in its traditional location, right inside the main entrance, greeting the very large crowd of visitors as they entered Memory Lane.

The VRCBC was very well represented by Mark Brown's two time REVS Champion Lotus Seven, Al Harvey's MGB, Al Reid's MGB, Ralph Zbarsky's MGB GT, Nick Woodhouse's Austin Healey, Ivan Lessner's multiple REVS Champion Austin Healey, and John McCoy's Lotus Cortina. There was a great deal of interest in the cars and in Vintage racing at Mission Raceway Park Road Course.

Update: The winners of the many awards and prizes are now posted on the Western Driver / ABFM website (here) soon. Our congratulations to VRCBC racers, John McCoy and Nick Woodhouse who took first and third places respectively in the Race Cars category.

The following few photos give you some idea of what was a very enjoyable day.

08 Apr

Posted at 05:12h in Car Shows by
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[caption id="attachment_6524" align="aligncenter" width="450"] The traffic was heavy at the SCCBC - VRCBC stand. - VRCBC photo[/caption] This year's Vancouver International Auto Show has again proved to be very popular with car enthusiasts of all types. Many of them have visited the joint SCCBC - VRCBC stand to ask questions about our road racing at Mission Raceway. Most of the questions have been about spectating but there has also been a lot of interest in getting involved 'on-track'. Two good friends of the VRCBC, Intermeccanica Custom Coach Builders (here) and Classic and Collector Car Insurance specialists, Hagerty (here) also attracted big crowds. Check out some more photos below.

30 Mar

Posted at 15:08h in Sebring, Uncategorized by
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[caption id="attachment_6449" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="Michael Zbarsky in the 1959 MGA Twin Cam - Zbarsky photo"][/caption]

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.