Vintage Racing Club of BC

The Spirit of Westwood Lives On!

October 10, 2012

Updated: October 16, 2012

The Pacific Forest Rally is over for another year.

The final results are available on the Canadian Rally Championship web site (here).

It’s that time of year again. Those ‘Gravel Road Racers’ – otherwise known as the Special Stage Rallyists – were back in town. This year’s edition of the Pacific Forest Rally hit the roads around Merritt on October 12th and 13th for the fifth round of the 2012 Canadian Rally Championship. There is only one event left after the Pacific Forest, so all of the teams were pushing really hard, including our local hero, Pat Richard of Squamish who drives for the national Subaru team.

You can download the event program here and the post-event report on the Western Driver web site (here).

We know it’s hard to believe but some folks actually think special stage rallying is almost as exciting as Vintage racing!

 

October 9, 2012

Double Race Winner Geoff Tupholme takes the Chequer – Brent Martin photo

Updated: October 12, 2012

The VRCBC’s Finest were in Fantastic Form during the SCCBC’s Flying Feathers Weekend on Saturday, October 6th. There were lots of entertaining battles throughout the field in both of the races. The weather was perfect and it was a great way to celebrate Thanksgiving and to finish off another great season of Vintage road racing at Mission Raceway Park Road Course.

The final results are available on the SCCBC web site (www.sccbc.net ) or just click here.

Thanks again to Brent Martin for providing (most of) the photos below.

Update: All of Brent’s photographs are now posted on his web site (here). Look for the ‘Mission Raceway (Vintage Group) Oct.6, 2012’ album.

(more…)

October 4, 2012

Six Formula Fords enter Turn 2 during the 2012 BCHMR: Alan McColl (1977 Tiga), Dave McKay (1984 Lola T644), Charlie Lyford (1970 Caldwell D9b), Keith Robinson (1979 Van Diemen RF79), Chris Schoap (1970 Titan FF Mark VI) and Jim Johnson (1972 March 729) – Jim Moody photo

Updated: October 9, 2012

Have you been thinking about getting into Vintage racing but aren’t sure whether you want to go with a sedan or sports car (called Closed Wheel) or with a single seater (called Open Wheel or ‘formula cars’)? There are pros and cons to both choices but if you have never tried a formula car, don’t rule it out until you check it out. They are great fun to drive and race, and easy to maintain. (And you also get to brag to the Closed Wheel racers that you drive a ‘real’ racing car, not some modified street car!)

Formula Fords have been one of the most popular forms of single seater road racing around the world since the class was first created in the 1960’s and it is no different in BC. If you would like to find out more about racing a Formula Ford (either Vintage or modern), then check out the Formula Ford BC web site (here) for more info.

 

October 1, 2012

The ‘Bimmer Battle’ earlier this season: Leigh Anderson (1967 BMW 1600) leads Ian Thomas (1971 BMW 2002) – Brent Martin photo

The beautifully prepared ‘Battling Bimmers’ of Leigh Anderson and Ian Thomas are just two of the VRCBC racers already registered for the final Vintage races of the season at Mission Raceway Park Road Course on Saturday, October 6th. The Vintage races are part of the SCCBC’s season – ending ‘Flying Feathers’ Weekend. You can find the full race information and weekend schedule by clicking on ‘Driver Information’ on the SCCBC web site ( www.sccbc.net ) or just click here.

Note: The Vintage races are usually held on the Sunday but for this weekend only, they will be on the Saturday.

The Vintage races are on the Saturday because the SCCBC is bringing back the old Westwood tradition of ending the racing season with an Enduro on the Thanksgiving weekend. The last race on Sunday October 7th, will be the 4 Hour ‘Done Like Dinner’ Enduro (see the schedule for info) presented by Nixon Prosports Ltd.

Attention Vintage Racers: There will be prize money! Maybe you should enter the Enduro too, and show those modern cars how it’s done – and also take some money home!

 

September 28, 2012

Mark Brown ‘three-wheeling’ through Turn 9 on September 23rd – Mike Stanway photo

Thanks to some clever camera work by Mike Stanway, we now finally know why Mark Brown is so fast in that dang Lotus Seven of his – he only uses three wheels! The reduction in friction must be worth at least a couple of seconds per lap! Thanks Mike; we are all in your debt.

You can look for more of Mark’s secrets on his personal racing web site here. You can check Mike’s Facebook page here.