speed race reports 2024

2024 Speed Race Reports

Championship sponsored by Bill Rawles Classic Cars and Peter May Engineering

The 2024 championship comprises 15 rounds with 10 hill climbs and 5 sprints. Scroll on down to see the race reports shown in latest first order:

Round 15 Curborough 29 September 2024

(Report by LC Branch with photos by Jackie Baker)

For our last event of 2024 we headed to the purpose built sprint track at Curborough, just north of Lichfield, for a one day sprint that had been previously agreed would be run as a target time event.

The last 14 rounds had resulted in a near tie in both the Sprite and Big/Jensen Healey classes. With Garrow Shand and Paul Baker competing for the Sprite class and Ian Thomas and Michael Berry up for the Big/Jensen Healey class.

We had the five Sprites of Richard Salisbury, Rob Owen, Garrow Shand, Mike Mohr and Paul Baker competing as three drivers had needed to pull out, including Brett Dillon – due to a water leak at home and Max Shand and Lawrence Maudsley for health related reasons.

In the Big/Jensen Healey class, we had the 3000’s of Ian Thomas (his first time at Curborough), Peter Walton and Richard Mason and the 100’s of John Ducker, Michael Berry and Simon Warburton. Unfortunately, Mervyn Coxon and Murray Shand had to withdraw as did Nav Bhamra in the Libre class.

Curborough may not have the prestige of the Shelsley Walsh’s or Prescott’s, but its tight and twisty track in the figure of 8 format gives the driver a thorough test and also a reasonable time on track.

The weather forecast had not been good all week but come Sunday morning it was dry but cold with a brisk easterly breeze. The track at first was damp and as a result, did not offer much grip at all.

So the scene was set for our 2024 season to be decided.

As there was not an overly large attendance in the other classes and there was a threat of rain from mid-afternoon, it was clear that the organisers were keen to get the practice runs out of the way quickly so that the first timed runs could be undertaken before lunch. Leaving the final timed run after lunch plus any additional runs the drivers may wish to do.

Practice got underway and in the Sprite class it was Paul Baker out front with a best time from his two runs of 69.87, from Mike Mohr in 71.47, then Garrow Shand in 72.36, Rob Owen in 75.16 and Richard Salisbury in 95.12 after a couple of spins onto the wet grass.

In the Big/Jensen Healey class, it was Michael Berry (pictured right) leading in a fabulous time of 68.76 nearly two seconds quicker than the current 100 class record. He just has to repeat the feat in the timed runs to take the class record. Peter Walton was next with a best time of 70.25 just ahead of Richard Mason in 70.52, then Ian Thomas getting the hang of the track in 72.22, then John Ducker in 76.00 and Simon Warburton in 84.62.

Now down to the timed runs. The level of grip from the track was improving so the times should also improve – so what happened? In the Sprite class it was Paul Baker who continued to lead the class with a much improved time of 68.67 despite losing his clutch before the start of his last run! Mike Mohr was next with his best run time of 70.15 – way quicker than his personal best. Garrow Shand beat his previous best time at Curborough to finish with a new pb time of 71.21. However, it was Rob Owen (pictured right) who reduced his pb by nearly 2 secs to finish with an excellent 72.05. After his earlier pirouettes, Richard Salisbury finished in a much more reasonable 76.33.

Now for the Big/Jensen Healey class – quickest car in the class was the Healey 100 driven by Michael Berry, who lowered the 100 class record to a superb 68.64 – an almost 2 second reduction. Richard Mason was next, just a whisker behind in 68.66 a fraction over his pb and Peter Walton was a little further back with a 69.57. On his final run, Ian Thomas finished with a best time of 72.01 proving that even for someone who is usually very quick to master a new venue, Curborough can be tricky. Even he will need another trip to Curborough before he breaks the 70 second mark and no doubt, with more experience of the intricacies of the track , Ian’s times would tumble. John Ducker posted a 76.52 on his first timed run then went off on the first bend of his second run after finding the limit of adhesion in his 100. Simon Warburton steadily improved throughout the day to finish with an 84.06.

As this was a target time event, the spreadsheet was brought into action and when the driver’s actual times were compared with their targets, the following results were achieved:

Sprite class: 1^st Rob Owen (pictured right), 2^nd Garrow Shand, 3^rd Mike Mohr, 4^th Paul Baker and 5^th Richard Salisbury.

Big/Jensen Healey class: 1^st Michael Berry (pictured below right), 2^nd Richard Mason, 3^rd Peter Walton, 4^th John Ducker, 5^th Ian Thomas and 6^th Simon Warburton.

As this was also Peter Walton and Paul Baker’s birthday – cake and bubbly was on offer to all present to round off this 2024 season. The cake pictured below right is a superb Vicki Walton production with the red and green 3000's models on top depicting Peter and Paul's cars with orange jelly babies as marshals.

Overall, a great day’s sprinting, with the experience from Curborough showing that a well sorted and nimble Healey 100 driven well can beat a 3000 and a Sprite on this tight and twisty course – although it was exceedingly close with just 3 100^th’s of a second between the 100 of Michael Berry, the 3000 of Richard Mason and the Sprite of Paul Baker.

What we all did not know after the event, was how did this result effect the final placing's in the classes and the overall winner of the championship? Why, because the championship rulebook and a calculator was needed to work out who had won!

After checking and rechecking the numbers and calculating the results, less the dropped events (as it is based on a driver’s best nine events), the top three in each class were as follows:

Sprite class: = 1^st Paul Baker (81 points), = 1^st Garrow Shand (81 points) and 3^rd Steve Casson (77 points)

Big/Jensen Healey class: = 1^st Ian Thomas (83 points), = 1st Michael Berry (83 points) and 3^rd Richard Mason (78 points).

Libre class: 1^st Nav Bhamra (65 points).

Talk about close to the last round - this must be the first time that both our main classes had tied 1^st places. As a result, we had to resort to our championship “tied rule” which considers the number of podium finishes, subject to a minimum of four starters in each class. This latter point ruled Nav Bhamra out as he was the sole entrant in the Libre class.

So, once the podium places had been considered, the winners in each class were:

Sprite class: 1^st Paul Baker, 2^nd Garrow Shand and 3^rd Steve Casson.

Big/Jensen Healey class: 1^st Ian Thomas, 2^nd Michael Berry and 3^rd Richard Mason.

The overall winner of the Healeysport Championship 2024 was Ian Thomas. Well done Ian and what a season.

So well done to the winners and commiserations to Garrow and Michael who came as close as humanly possible without winning. However, as Garrow fittingly said, “there is always next year”.

Looking ahead to 2025, we have our Drivers Meeting at the British Motor Museum at Gaydon at 10.00 on Saturday 12 October to consider, amongst other things, which events we do next year.

We also have our Healeysport Awards Dinner at the Holt Hotel near Bicester on Saturday 23 November, to celebrate the 2024 season and issue the awards and have some fun. Tickets are still available, so contact Paul Baker on competitionsec@austinhealeyclub.com if you wish to attend.

Click on the links to see the full results from this and all events this season. To see all the pictures, in-car and outside videos go to our Gallery page. If you want to see the sprint and hill climb records for each class and venue, then go to the Big Healey and Jensen Healey records and the Sprite records pages.

Rounds 13/14 Shelsley Walsh 14/15 September 2024

(Report by LC Branch with photos by Jackie Baker)

We were at the world famous Shelsley Walsh hill climb track in deepest Worcestershire for their Harvest Festival final meeting of the year. We attended both days with a superb class of 19 cars on the Saturday and 20 cars on the Sunday. There were the ten Sprites of Rob Owen, Garrow Shand, Claire Giles, Phil Gardner, Mike Mohr, Lawrence Maudsley, Steve Casson, Richard Salisbury, Paul Baker and new for this year - Brett Dillon. We also had the four 3000's of Ian Thomas, Murray Shand, Richard Mason and Huw Edwards, plus the two 100's of Michael Berry and John Ducker. Unfortunately, Mervyn Coxon and his Healey 100 had to withdraw from the event due to health issues. We also had the two Jensen Healeys of Gerry Wilby and Dave Lane plus Nav Bhamra's sole Sprite in the Libre class. On Sunday we were joined by Pete Walton in his 3000. All the drivers are pictured right.

The weekend's weather was due to be dry, sunny and warm on Saturday with some possible rain on Sunday afternoon - and that was the way it turned out.

This year, Saturday was the scratch event i.e. the quickest driver wins and Sunday was the target time event.

To spice things up a bit we included the Shelsley Cup Team event, where the drivers made up seven teams of three drivers with suitable names to match. The winning team would be the one that had the lowest aggregate score over the two days. The winners for the last two years have been the 100 Dragons comprising a team of the two 100 drivers of John Ducker and Michael Berry and the Welsh contingent of Rob Owen. Will be interesting to see how they do this year.

Richard Salisbury had real problems getting his Sprite to start for the practice runs and despite fresh plugs and a push start by half the drivers - see pic right - it still refused to start. A booster battery pack and some perseverance saw it start eventually so Richard could compete.

As Saturday practice got underway in the Sprite class, it was Steve Casson (pictured below) who led the way with a best time of 36.88 from Paul Baker in 37.20, Mike Mohr in 38.89, Rob Owen in 40.14, Richard Salisbury in 41.15 - so no problems with the car - then Brett Dillon in 41.07, Phil Gardner in 41.15, Garrow Shand in 41.83 and Lawrence Maudsley in 42.12.

In the Big/Jensen Healey class there were no surprises when local specialist Richard Mason posted a 36.75 but he was only just ahead of David Lane in his Jensen Healey with his new, more powerful 2.2ltr engine in a new personal best (pb) time of 36.98. The duo battling for the class championship were next with Michael Berry in his immaculate 100M setting a new 100 class hill record time of 37.49 but just ahead of Ian Thomas in his rally 3000 in a new pb time of 37.74. Then Murray Shand was next in 40.46 from John Ducker in 41.95, Huw Edwards in 44.28 and Gerald Wilby in his Jensen Healey in 46.35.

Nav Bhamra in his Libre Sprite posted a 40.65.

After lunch the timed runs got underway in the Sprite class and it was Steve Casson who took the win with his best time of 36.34. This really cheered Steve up as he has struggled all year with a mis-fire and other problems and the changes he had made clearly brought the car back to the level of performance he expects. Paul Baker was next in 37.00 - just off his pb from Mike Mohr in third with a 38.33. Brett Dillon broke the 40 second barrier at his first event (this often takes most drivers a little longer) and finished with an excellent time of 39.11, just ahead of Claire Giles in 39.20, Rob Owen in 39.71 and Phil Gardner in 39.83. Richard Salisbury's Sprite was clearly working well after a difficult start recording a new pb time of 40.35 to stay just ahead of Garrow Shand in 40.63 and Lawrence Maudsley in 40.67.

In the Big/Jensen Healey class, it was clear with a warm and dry track the times were going to tumble. Richard Mason held his lead with a best time of 35.99 but Ian Thomas (pictured right) leapt up to second place with a superb new pb time of 36.79, pushing David Lane into third place with a new pb time, a whisker away in 36.96 with Michael Berry (pictured below right) in fourth with an excellent 100 class record time of 37.22 - nearly two seconds faster than the record he set last year! Murray Shand posted his first time under 40 secs with a new pb time of 39.84 from John Ducker in 40.22, Huw Edwards in 41.33 and Gerald Wilby in 45.80 - also a new pb time.

Nav Bhamra finally got into the 39s on his last run to finish with a 39.52.

So the Saturday scratch results were as follows:

Sprite class: 1st Steve Casson, 2nd Paul Baker, 3rd Mike Mohr, 4th Brett Dillon, 5th Claire Giles, 6th Rob Owen, 7th Phil Gardner, 8th Richard Salisbury, 9th Garrow Shand and 10th Lawrence Maudsley.

Big/Jensen Healey class: 1st Richard Mason, 2nd Ian Thomas, 3rd David Lane, 4th Michael Berry, 5th Murray Shand, 6th John Ducker, 7th Huw Edwards and 8th Gerry Wilby.

Libre class: 1st Nav Bhamra.

As it was Jan Casson's birthday a selection of delicious cakes were on offer with a glass of bubbly, which was greatly appreciated by all the drivers and partners at the end of the day. This was followed by drinks at the Casson's lodge then dinner at the Baiting House restaurant - an excellent evening.

On Sunday morning the sun was out to start with but the forecast was for rain by lunchtime. Peter Walton joined the Big Healey class in his 3000.

Sunday practice in the Sprite class followed the Saturday results - Steve Casson was quickest with a best time of 36.61 from Paul Baker in 37.69 from Mike Mohr in 37.87 - then it all changed with Claire Giles popped in her quickest time of the weekend with a 38.98, then the next 6 cars in very close order - Rob Owen in 39.28, Lawrence Maudsley in 39.63 (his fastest time there), Phil Gardner in 40.04, Garrow Shand in 40.19, Brett Dillon in 40.63 and Richard Salisbury in 40.71 - close or what.

In the Big/Jensen Healey class, It was Richard Mason again setting the pace in his 3000 with a best time of 36.21. The next 4 cars were all within half a second with Michael Berry leading this pack in an excellent 37.30 from David Lane (pictured above right) in 37.38, Pete Walton in 37.45 and Ian Thomas in 37.68. Then it was Murray Shand in 40.41 from John Ducker in 40.49, Huw Edwards in 41.67 and Gerry Wilby in 44.86.

In the Libre class, Nav Bhamra posted a 40.74.

During lunch Paul Baker had to retire his Sprite due to a failing clutch master cylinder so he played no further part in the event.

After lunch the timed runs started but so did the rain. Now Shelsley Walsh is one of those tracks where the run off is non-existent so any mistake can be costly as the Armco and banks are right on the edge of the track. When it rains some of the track can be slippery and other parts under the trees are nearly dry. The problem for the driver is that you have to decide on track how fast you can go by what you can see and feel on track.

On to the timed runs in the Sprite class. Quickest on track was our newest driver - Brett Dillon in an excellent 41.89, from Steve Casson in 42.16, Garrow Shand in 43.66, Mike Mohr in 43.97, Rob Owen in 44.04, Phil Gardner in 46.03, Richard Salisbury in 47.11, Claire Giles in 47.22 and Lawrence Maudsley in 47.39.

In the Big/Jensen Healey class, the rain brought Ian Thomas's rally driving skills to the fore as he finished with a superb time of 40.33 from two drivers - Michael Berry and Pete Walton - who tied on the same time of 41.34. Next was Murray Shand in 42.86 from Richard Mason in 42.88, David Lane in 44.29, Huw Edwards in 46.07, John Ducker in 47.98 and Gerry Wilby in 50.63.

In the Libre class, Nav Bhamra managed a best time of 44.14

So, the Sunday target time results were as follows:

Sprite class: 1st Brett Dillon, 2nd Garrow Shand, 3rd Rob Owen, 4th Steve Casson, 5th Mike Mohr, 6th Richard Salisbury, 7th Phil Gardner, 8th Lawrence Maudsley, 9th Claire Giles and 10th Paul Baker

Big/Jensen Healey class: 1st Murray Shand, 2nd Ian Thomas, 3rd Pete Walton, 4th Michael Berry, 5th Gerry Wilby, 6th Huw Edwards, 7th David Lane, 8th Richard Mason and 9th John Ducker.

Libre class: 1st Nav Bhamra.

The result of the Shelsley Team Cup was as follows: First "United Colours of Healey" (Claire, Brett and Murray - pictured below) with a score of 5.96 and second "Team Vectis" (Ian, Gerry and Richard S) with a score 9.30. So Claire, Brett and Murray collected the Shelsley Cup and a box of three bottles of Prosecco. The runners up - Ian, Gerry and Richard S also collected a box of three bottles of Prosecco. The bottles were kindly donated by Richard Mason.

A great end to a super weekend of very competitive racing at such a challenging venue. What was amazing was that with 21 cars entered and wet conditions on the Sunday afternoon, we had no damage to the cars at a track which has a justifiable reputation for causing such problems.

So, on to our last event of 2024 at the Curborough sprint track near Lichfield on Sunday 29 September where all of the class and overall championship positions will be decided. So be there if you can.

Rounds 11/12 Loton Park 24/25 August 2024

(Report by LC Branch with photos by Jackie Baker)

This year we reverted to attending Loton Park near Shrewsbury at the end of August for their two day event with the hope of good weather. The forecast was for sunshine and showers. In practice it rained first thing Saturday morning and then fortunately it stayed dry for the rest of the weekend, if not a little cool and windy.

Pat Cooper and John Richards came to see the Healey hill climbers compete and Pat supplied a picture taken in 1999 when he, Richard Mason and John Richards won the top three Healey class awards at a hill climb at Loton Park. Our photographer took the picture shown on the right, with the 1999 pictured superimposed to show that 25 years goes in a instance. Go to the gallery to see the full sized image.

We had our season's best entry of 21 drivers with 10 Sprites and 11 Big/Jensen Healeys. The Sprite drivers included, Richard Salisbury, Claire Giles, Phil Gardner, Rob Owen, John Tewson, Brett Dillon, Garrow Shand, Mike Mohr, Steve Casson and Paul Baker. In the Big/Jensen Healey class it was the first time that we have had five Healey 100's competing. They were driven by Will Richards, Simon Warburton, Mervyn Coxon, John Ducker and Michael Berry; the four 3000's of Huw Edwards, Murray Shand, Ian Thomas and Richard Mason; and the two Jensen Healeys of Gerry Wilby and David Lane. In fact it was also the first time we have had more 100's than 3000's competing!!

We had four drivers new to Loton Park - Brett Dillon, Gerry Wilby, Mervyn Coxon (pictured below) and Simon Warburton. Will Richards was using his Healey 100 at Loton for the first time.

Saturday was planned to be a scratch event, where the fastest driver wins and Sunday a Target Time event where the drivers that beats their target by the largest margin wins.

With an entry of only 85 cars at Loton Park, our class made up nearly 25% of the entry. This reduced total entry meant that the organisers decided to offer 3 practice runs and up to three timed runs per day. So we decided, as a championship, on the Saturday to take the three practice runs before lunch and the first two runs after lunch would count as our two timed runs. On the Sunday, the drivers decided to use the first two runs as practice and the second two as timed runs to count towards the championship.

The practice session on Saturday morning got underway and the drivers had to be careful as the track was wet to start with and took some time to dry fully. In the Sprite class, it was Paul Baker out front with a best time from the three runs of 65.36, from Steve Casson in 66.56, Mike Mohr in 68.33, Brett Dillon in 69.88, Rob Owen in 71.10, Phil Gardner in 71.62, Garrow Shand in 72.54, Richard Salisbury in 72.89, John Tewson in 73.24 and Claire Giles in 76.70. Claire lost the rear part of her exhaust on her second run - so her car had to be brought back to the paddock on the back of a low loader. Jon Giles donned the familiar brown coat to rectify the problem with parts supplied by other Sprite drivers.

Practice in the Big/Jensen Healey class had Richard Mason out front with a best time of 66.21 from Murray Shand in 67.44, Ian Thomas in 67.79, Will Richards in 68.99 on his second run before breaking the nose off his diff on his third run. This meant the 100 was put back on the trailer to play no further part. Next was Michael Berry in 69.28, then John Ducker in 72.69, David Lane in 74.72, Huw Edwards in 76.17, Gerry Wilby in 77.67, Mervyn Coxon in 78.63 and Simon Warburton in 82.43.

After lunch the sun came out and the track dried.

So on to the Saturday timed runs. In the Sprite class, it was Paul Baker who took the top slot with a new personal best (pb) time of 61.73 (just 0.17 secs off Steve Casson's record time). Steve Casson was second with a best time of 64.07 suggesting that there is a problem with the performance of his car that is yet to be found. Mike Mohr was third with a 64.81, from John Tewson who leapt up the field to finish with a new pb time of 66.07. Next was Garrow Shand who improved his pb with a 66.47 a whisker ahead of Brett Dillon in a superb 66.83 given it is the first time he has driven this track. Rob Owen also set a new pb with a 67.12 from Phil Gardner in 67.62, Claire Giles in 67.77 and Richard Salisbury finishing with a new pb time of 68.55 - over three seconds off his last pb.

In the Big/Jensen Healey class, it was Richard Mason who took the win with a best time of 62.89 from Ian Thomas in an excellent 64.95 to set a new pb. Michael Berry was so close to breaking the Healey 100 course record when he posted a 64.97, just 0.35 over the record and just 0.03 secs off taking second place from Ian Thomas. David Lane took fourth with a new pb time of 66.23 to stay a whisker ahead of Murray Shand who also broke his pb with a 66.51. John Ducker was next in 69.58 from Huw Edwards in 73.62, Gerry Wilby in 75.88, Mervyn Coxon in 78.30 and Simon Warburton (Pictured right) in 79.40 - an excellent finishing run - an 11 secs improvement on his first run.

So the Saturday scratch results were as follows:

Sprite class: 1st Paul Baker, 2nd Steve Casson, 3rd Mike Mohr, 4th John Tewson, 5th Garrow Shand, 6th Brett Dillon, 7th Rob Owen, 8th Phil Gardner, 9th Claire Giles (pictured below) and 10th Richard Salisbury.

Big/Jensen Healey class: 1st Richard Mason, 2nd Ian Thomas, 3rd Michael Berry, 4th David Lane, 5th Murray Shand, 6th John Ducker, 7th Huw Edwards, 8th Gerry Wilby, 9th Mervyn Coxon, 10th Simon Warburton and 11th Will Richards

After a swift beer and the organisers award presentation, most of the drivers and partners repaired to the Old Hand and Diamond pub for an excellent meal superbly organised by Claire Giles. Brett Dillon and Ian Thomas did a great job ferrying the motorhome fraternity to the pub and back - thank you so much.

Sunday dawned bright and sunny which was a good omen for the coming day. Will Richards and father John had been home in the meantime and exchanged one broken 100 for their working 3000 and returned to Loton. The 3000 was scrutineered and Will was back out on track albeit in a different car but in the same class.

As the drivers had at least 5 runs on Saturday, they agreed that practice on Sunday would be restricted to the first two runs with the next two being their timed runs - it would also aid a quick getaway at the end. This was also a target time event and the spreadsheet was updated with the Saturday personal best times recorded by the drivers.

So practice got underway in the Sprite class and it was Paul Baker leading the way with a best time of 62.80 from Steve Casson in 63.73, then Mike Mohr in 65.16, John Tewson in 65.63, Garrow Shand in 65.81, Rob Owen in 66.30, Brett Dillon in 66.49, Phil Gardner in 67.93, Claire Giles in 67.96 and Richard Salisbury in 68.50 - so all very close.

Practice in the Big/Jensen Healey class was as follows: Richard Mason led with a best time of 63.52 from Will Richards in 64.33 (just 0.03 slower than his pb for his 3000), then Michael Berry did a superb 64.43, which beats the Healey 100 record - a feat he will have to repeat in the timed runs for it to count. Next was Ian Thomas in 64.67, then Murray Shand in 66.52, David Lane in 66.56, John Ducker in 68.90, Gerry Wilby in 76.68, Mervyn Coxon in 77.19, Simon Warburton in 78.08 and lastly Huw Edwards who had doors coming open on both runs so posted a best time of 107.10 - way off his usual times.

On to the timed runs on Sunday in the Sprite class. Paul Baker recorded the fastest time of 61.99 from Mike Mohr with a 64.57, then Brett Dillon finished the weekend with an excellent 64.91 - nearly 12 seconds faster than his first run here on Saturday morning - great achievement. Garrow Shand was next with a new pb time of 65.52 from Steve Casson who was having performance issues with his car and finished with a best time of 65.74. John Tewson was next in a new pb time of 65.96, Phil Gardner also posted his best time of 66.61 and a pb. Rob Owen was a whisker behind in 66.88 - also a pb. Richard Salisbury pulled out all the stops and finished with a pb time of 68.05 over 4 seconds quicker than his old pb. Claire Giles ended the weekend with a best time of 68.06 just 0.01 secs behind Richard Salisbury.

To show how close the competition is in the Big/Jensen Healey class, all bar three of the drivers broke their personal best times. Richard Mason was quickest with a 62.17 but it was Michael Berry (pictured right) who took the second spot with a superb class record breaking time of 63.46 in his Healey 100. For info - the Healey 100 class record was last set by James Pugh-Lewis, all the way back in 2013 - well done Michael. Will Richards claimed a pb time of 63.90 as did Ian Thomas in 64.04 - a superb time. David Lane lowered his personal best time to a 64.52, as did Murray Shand in 65.83 and also John Ducker in 68.14. Huw Edwards finished the weekend with a 74.74, then came our two new 100 drivers with Mervyn Coxon finishing with an excellent 76.45 with Simon Warburton just behind him in 76.91. Gerry Wilby ended the weekend with a best time of 76.94.

As this was a target time event, the spreadsheet calculated the order of the drivers based on how close they got to their target times. There was however a problem with the allocation of the target time set for one of the Big/Jensen Healey drivers and so after the event the error was corrected, all the drivers affected were contacted and the spreadsheet reissued to all drivers with the revised calculation. The results shown below reflect those changes:

Sprite class: 1st Garrow Shand (pictured right), 2nd Richard Salisbury, 3rd Phil Gardner, 4th Rob Owen, 5th John Tewson, 6th Brett Dillon, 7th Paul Baker, 8th Mike Mohr, 9th Claire Giles and 10th Steve Casson.

Big/Jensen Healey class: 1st Murray Shand (pictured below right), 2nd Simon Warburton, 3rd Michael Berry, 4th David Lane, 5th Ian Thomas, 6th Will Richards, 7th John Ducker, 8th Mervyn Coxon, 9th Richard Mason, 10th Gerry Wilby and 11th Huw Edwards.

What a fabulous weekend's hill climbing at this technically challenging venue, with dry and sunny weather, one class record, numerous pb's and a great group of drivers/partners. As it was Ian Thomas's birthday, cake and bubbly was on offer which was exceedingly welcome. Not only that, but with most having a long way to travel home, we managed to leave by 3.30pm a rarity indeed.

Want to start Sprinting and Hill Climbing?

If you own a Healey or Jensen Healey and you like what you see on this website and want to find out more then click here to take a look at our Beginners Guide. If you want to get involved, then send an email to Paul Baker our Championship Organiser at competitionsec@austinhealeyclub.com New drivers are always made very welcome.

Round 10 Goodwood 3 August 2024

(Report by LC Branch with photos by Jackie Baker and Jacob Crees)

This year's trip to our most southerly venue coincided with the latest heat wave having receded so we were blessed with cooler conditions with sunshine and some cloud cover. The main thing was that the track was dry with little prospect of rain. So were we going to see some new records - read on.

We had 15 drivers booked to attend the meeting although Dave Lane had to pull out before the event due to poor health. So, we had the seven Sprites of Steve Casson, Richard Salisbury, Rob Owen, Brett Dillon, Max and Garrow Shand and Paul Baker. In the Big/Jensen Healey class we had the Jensen Healey of Gerry Wilby, the 100's of Michael Berry and John Ducker and the 3000's of Ian Thomas, Pete Walton, Trish C-P and out for the first time this year Monty Hinton in his now red/black 3000. Only Brett Dillon was new to Goodwood but he had recently done a track day there so he at least knew his way around the course.

This was a nominated target time event where the drivers are each given a target time based on their experience and past performance against which their actual times are compared and the one beating their target by the most wins.

For this event we classified the first two runs as practice runs with the second two runs as timed runs.

After practice in the Sprite class, Max Shand (pictured right at the chicane) was quickest with a superb time of 101.28 a quarter of a second outside the current course record for his class - set by Dave Abram in 2017 - so what will he do in the timed runs? Next was Steve Casson, complaining of a misfire but still managed a 106.37, then Brett Dillon did an excellent time of 107.48, from Paul Baker in 109.39, Garrow Shand in 116.16, Rob Owen in 116.74 and Richard Salisbury in 118.71.

In the Big/Jensen Healey class, it was all very close. Ian Thomas blitzed his previous best time here by over 7 seconds to record a super time of 102.59 - just over a second off the course record for a 3000. Next was Michael Berry (pictured right) in his 100M who was a whisker behind Ian in a best time of 102.84. Again Michael was nearly 7 seconds faster that his previous best time and smashed the 100 course record of 104.32 set by James Pugh-Lewis in 2013 by nearly 2 seconds. However, Michael would have to repeat this feat during the timed runs for it to count as a new record. Current 3000 course record holder Pete Walton was familiarising himself with the track and set a best time of 104.20. Next was Trish C-P in a new pb time of 117.74 from Gerry Wilby in 121.94, then Monty Hinton in 123.12 on his first run but his car cut out on his second practice run so after a short investigation with the fault not found, the car was put back on the trailer to play no further part. John Ducker also set a new pb time of 123.98 in his Healey 100.

After the lunch break the timed runs began. In the Sprite class Max Shand went faster still and on his last run finally broke the record and set a new fastest time of 100.46 - fantastic. Brett Dillon also beat all expectations by finishing with a superb 105.46 to jump ahead of Steve Casson in a 105.97 and Paul Baker in 107.20. Talking of large jumps - next was Garrow Shand who after a serious chat with son Max finished with an excellent time of 111.35 some 5 seconds faster than he had done before. Maybe Max ought to consider driver coaching given this result!! Rob Owen also ended with a fabulous time of 114.77 some 6 seconds faster than his pb and lastly Richard Salisbury did a 116.63 on his first run then his clutch went on his second run - but his first time was some 4 seconds quicker than his pb so an excellent result.

In the Big/Jensen Healey class only 0.30 sec covered the top three drivers - so who came out on top - course record holder Pete Walton managed an excellent 101.93 in his 3000 from Michael Berry in his 100M in a superb 101.94 - just 0.01 sec in it. As he had threatened, Michael set a new Healey 100 record some 2.38 seconds faster than the old record. Proving that a well sorted, lighter and more nimble Healey 100 can match a Healey 3000 around a fast circuit such has Goodwood. Ian Thomas finished with a excellent time of 102.23 some 8 seconds faster than his pb! Next up was Gerry Wilby in 118.76 - a huge improvement over his time here last year. Also, Trish C-P beat her pb with a 119.35 - some feat given she had to drive with one hand holding the gear lever as it was jumping out of 4th. John Ducker also knocked 6 seconds off his previous best time to finish with a 120.05 - well done John.

As this was a target time event, the drivers times were input to our spreadsheet and compared to their targets with the following results:

Sprite class: 1st Garrow Shand (pictured above right), 2nd Richard Salisbury, 3rd Brett Dillon, 4th Rob Owen, 5th Max Shand, 6th Steve Casson and 7th Paul Baker

Big/Jensen Healey class: 1st Gerry Wilby (pictured right), 2nd Michael Berry, 3rd Ian Thomas, 4th Trish C-P, 5th Pete Walton, 6th John Ducker and 7th Monty Hinton.

What a fabulous day's sprinting at this super venue with dry and sunny weather, two class records, numerous pb's and a great group of drivers/partners. As it was David Marshall's birthday, cake and bubbly was on offer which was gratefully received by all.

All the prizes were presented with the assistance of Theo Crees pictured above.

This day at Goodwood also marked the last event with our championship for Trish C-P (pictured right with Keith) as she is selling her car and hanging up her race boots. Trish's first race with us was at Prescott in 2009 and in the intervening 15 years she has been a big supporter of our championship and the BWRDA (British Women's Racing Drivers Club). We will hugely miss her and Keith who has supported her throughout, but hope to see them both at future events and at our Awards Dinner in November. Our best wishes go to both of you for the future.

Our next event will be the double header hill climb at Loton Park near Shrewsbury on Saturday and Sunday 24/25 August.

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Round 9 Lydden Hill 13 July 2024

(Report by LC Branch and photos by Jackie Baker)

Lydden Hill is our most South Easterly venue in the UK situated just south of Canterbury in the beautiful county of Kent. This circuit is the home of British Autocross with challenging off-road sections. Fortunately, we stick to the tarmac parts of the circuit which with all it's steep hills and fast down hill sections makes it a great track.

We had 12 drivers competing with 7 Sprites and 5 Big Healeys and Jensen Healeys. We also had three drivers new to this track - namely Max Shand and Brett Dillon in their Sprites and Ian Thomas in his 3000. We also had the regular Sprite drivers - Steve Casson, Paul Baker, Garrow Shand, Richard Salisbury and finally Lawrence Maudsley (pictured below right) back out with us for the first time this year following some serious medical problems - it was really great to see both Lawrence and Lorraine. Pete Walton in his 3000 (pictured above), Michael Berry in his 100M and the Jensen Healeys of David Lane and Gerry Wilby completed the lineup.

The weather was quite cool/cold for mid July and overcast so we were not sure at the start of the day how quick the times would be.

As this was a nominated Scratch round then the fastest driver would win. We decided at the outset, that we would treat the first two runs as practice runs and the second two as timed runs. If the drivers wished to do any additional runs that were offered they would not count towards the championship.

After the two practice runs it was clear that the cool weather was not going to affect the times achieved, in fact quite the opposite. In the Sprite class, it was Max Shand leading the class with a superb time of 87.07, nearly a second under the hill record set by Dave Abram. This time was quite surprising given that Max had not been to Lydden before - so what time was he going to achieve with a couple more runs experience? Next was Paul Baker in a personal best 89.30, followed by Steve Casson in 90.77, Brett Dillon managed a very good 91.98 as it was his first time at the track, then Garrow Shand in 93.68, Lawrence Maudsley in 95.26 - also a pb and Richard Salisbury in 96.05 - some four seconds faster than he had been there before.

In the Big/Jensen Healey class, it was Pete Walton out front with a personal best time of 88.63 from Michael Berry (pictured right) in 90.01 almost 3 seconds under his pb on his first run and exceeded track limits on his second run. Ian Thomas yet again proved he can learn a track quickly posting an excellent 90.49 to stay ahead of David Lane in 91.85 a whopping 6 secs faster than his pb - that new Martin Shirley 2.2 engine is certainly much quicker than his old 2 litre engine. Gerry Wilby recorded a best time of 105.39 again nearly 5 secs quicker than he had been there before.

After the Lunch break the timed runs got underway. In the Sprite class it was Max Shand (pictured below) who took the top slot with his first timed run - he posted a new class record time of 86.58. Unfortunately, Max could not stay for the final run, but it makes you wonder where the class record time would be if he had? A superb result from a driver who clearly loves circuits and learns how to get the best out of his Sprite very quickly indeed. Check out his in-car video footage of his class winning run. Second was Steve Casson who finished with an excellent time of 88.96 and a new pb by some way - that put a big smile on his face!! Third was Paul Baker in 89.83 also a pb, fourth was Brett Dillon in a superb time of 90.31, clearly a driver to watch for the future. Fifth place went to Garrow Shand in a pb time of 92.84, sixth went to Lawrence Maudsley on his final run of 94.41 - over a second off his pb and finally Richard Salisbury finished with a 97.20 - struggling with the hill climbers ailment of - "the harder I tried the slower I went".

In the Big/Jensen Healey class, Pete Walton took the win with a new 3000 class record in a superb time of 88.92. Michael Berry exceeded the track limits on his first timed run so did not get a time and then under some pressure managed his best time of the day on his final run of 89.60 to set a new Healey 100 class record. Third was David Lane (pictured right) who took over a second off his best practice time to set a new Jensen Healey class record in a fabulous time of 90.17. Ian Thomas was suffering with Richard Salisbury's ailment and went slower than his best practice time and finished with a best of 91.54 albeit an excellent time for someone new to this challenging track. Also, Gerry Wilby went slower on his timed runs than his best practice time and yet still finished with a new pb time of 106.20.

So the finishing order of this scratch event was:

Sprite class: 1st Max Shand, 2nd Steve Casson, 3rd Paul Baker, 4th Brett Dillon, 5th Garrow Shand, 6th Lawrence Maudsley and 7th Richard Salisbury.

Big/Jensen Healey class: 1st Pete Walton, 2nd Michael Berry, 3rd David Lane, 4th Ian Thomas and 5th Gerry Wilby

What an excellent day's sprinting at this super track and well run venue. Every driver either beat their pb or broke the class record - never seen that before.

As it was David Lane's birthday we were treated to cake and bubbly which went down well with all the drivers and partners. However, the highlight of the day was to see Lawrence and Lorraine back out with us enjoying some entertaining hours with like minded people who enjoy some competition in our old cars, junk food, banter and fun.

Our next event is Goodwood on Saturday 3 August so hope you can all make it there.

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Rounds 7/8 Gurston Down 15/16 June 2024

(Report by LC Branch and photos by Jackie Baker)

It couldn't last - our luck finally ran out at Gurston. We had been to three venues (Anglesey, Prescott and Harewood) where the weather was forecast to be wet but surprisingly it stayed dry. The weather was forecast to be wet at Gurston on the Saturday and dry on the Sunday - yet this time they got it right - unfortunately.

Saturday was planned to be a scratch event, where the fastest driver wins and Sunday a Target Time event where the drivers that beats their target by the largest margin wins.

So, we had 15 drivers taking part in this double header event at the fabulous BARC Gurston Down hill climb venue just south west of Salisbury in Wiltshire. Two of the drivers - Brett Dillon in his Sprite and Simon Warburton in his Healey 100 had not been there before - whereas, Gerald Wilby had been there but not in his Jensen Healey.

The rest of the drivers in the Sprite class were: Phil Gardner, Claire Giles, Richard Salisbury, Rob Owen, Steve Casson, Garrow Shand and Paul Baker. In the Big/Jensen Healey class we had the 3000's of Huw Edwards, Ian Thomas and Peter Walton, the 100 of Michael Berry and the Jensen Healey of David Lane.

Practice got underway in very damp and cold conditions. In the Sprite class it was Paul Baker quickest in a best time over the two runs of 45.82 from Steve Casson in 46.70, Garrow Shand in 47.23, Claire Giles in 49.95 and then the next four cars were within 0.3 secs of each other, with Phil Gardner on 51.35, Brett Dillon on 51.50, Rob Owen on 51.51 and Richard Salisbury on 51.63.

After practice in the Big/Jensen Healey class, it was Peter Walton leading with a best time over the two runs of 43.85, from Michael Berry in 46.41, Ian Thomas in 46.52, Huw Edwards (pictured right) in 50.91, David Lane in 53.80, Gerald Wilby in 55.37 and Simon Warburton in 57.22.

After Lunch the timed runs started. Our first run was just after a very heavy rain shower and the second run was when the track had nearly dried, so the times for the second run were much improved. In the Sprite class, it was Paul Baker quickest with a best time of 40.25 from Garrow Shand in 44.02 a whisker ahead of Brett Dillon in 44.07 - an excellent run by Brett given this was his first time at Gurston. Steve Casson (pictured below right) posted a time of 44.16 on his first run then disaster struck as his gearbox failed on his second run and he had to be towed back to the paddock. Next was Rob Owen who was still plagued with an electrical fault which caused him to stop on his first run yet he managed a 45.70 on his second. Richard Salisbury was next in 46.83, just ahead of Claire Giles in 46.95 and Phil Gardner in 47.88.

In the Big/Jensen Healey class, it was Ian Thomas who took his first championship win with a pb busting time of 41.50 to push Peter Walton into second place with a best time of 42.57. David Lane leapt up the the leader board with a 44.24 demoting Michael Berry to fourth after a spin in Karousel cancelled his second run leaving him with a 45.08 from his first run. Huw Edwards improved with a 46.64 from Gerry Wilby in 50.41 and Simon Warburton learning the hill in his almost standard Healey 100 in 55.94.

So the finishing order of this scratch event was:

Sprite class: 1st Paul Baker, 2nd Garrow Shand, 3rd Brett Dillon (pictured below right), 4th Steve Casson, 5th Rob Owen, 6th Richard Salisbury, 7th Claire Giles and 8th Phil Gardner.

Big/Jensen Healey class: 1st Ian Thomas, 2nd Peter Walton, 3rd David Lane, 4th Michael Berry, 5th Huw Edwards, 6th Gerry Wilby and 7th Simon Warburton.

A great day's hill climbing under difficult conditions due to the ever changing weather. As it was Claire Giles and Jools Gardner's birthday a selection of cake and bubbly was gratefully received by the drivers and partners to finish off a trying day. Most of the drivers had dinner at the Queens Head in Broad Chalke that evening which was clearly big enough to be used next year for our Saturday dinner for the whole group.

The weather on Sunday could not have been more different. We woke to clear blue skies with sunshine and light winds, so the omens were good for some pb's to be broken and maybe the chance of a class record.

As Steve Casson's Sprite was now loaded back on it's trailer, Garrow Shand had offered Steve a shared drive in his Sprite - well done Garrow. Steve's target time was suitably amended, as was Ian Thomas's for winning the previous day's event.

We also lost Peter Walton as he was only booked in for the Saturday but gained John Ducker in his Healey 100 who had only booked himself in for the Sunday event.

So after the two practice runs in the Sprite class it was Paul Baker again quickest with a best run of 40.97 from Brett Dillon with a superb 43.80 from Claire Giles in 44.20, Richard Salisbury a tad behind in 44.37, Rob Owen in 44.83, Phil Gardner in 45.03, Garrow Shand a surprisingly tardy 45.16 and Steve Casson in 46.93 as he had troubles finding the brake pedal coming into Karousel!!

In the Big/Jensen Healey class it was very close with the top three all within half a second. But it was Ian Thomas with his nose ahead in his 3000 with a 41.01 from David Lane in his Jensen Healey in 41.27, just ahead of Michael Berry (pictured above right) in his Healey 100 in 41.65. The Healey 100 of John Ducker was next in 46.28 from Huw Edwards in 47.17, Gerry Wilby in 48.78 and Simon Warburton in 55.54.

After a short lunch break it was on to the two timed runs. In the Sprite class, it was Paul Baker fastest with a time of 39.68. The next six Sprite drivers all fell within a one second of each other with Steve Casson next after he had worked out how to drive the Shand Sprite in 42.33, then the next three all broke their pb's - Claire Giles in 42.46, Garrow Shand (pictured right) in 42.63 and Brett Dillon in 42.81. Phil Gardner managed a 43.53, yet Richard Salisbury broke his pb with a 43.68 and Rob Owen finished with a 43.91.

Again in the Big/Jensen Healey class it was all very close at the top with the first three drivers within 2 tenths of a second. This time it was David Lane in his freshly re-engined 2.2 ltr Jensen Healey topping the time charts with a new pb time of 40.40 just ahead of Ian Thomas in a new pb time of 40.54 followed by Michael Berry in a fabulous time of 40.59 breaking the Healey 100 class record for this track that was set by James Pugh-Lewis way back in 2013. Well done Michael. John Ducker was next, also in a new pb time of 45.00 from Huw Edwards in a much improved time of 46.73 from Gerry Wilby in a new pb time of 48.83 and finally Simon Warburton in his fastest time of the weekend in 52.93.

As this was a target time event, the drivers times were input to our spreadsheet and compared to their targets with the following results:

Sprite class: 1st Garrow Shand, 2nd Richard Salisbury, 3rd Claire Giles, 4th Steve Casson, 5th Brett Dillon, 6th Paul Baker, 7th Phil Gardner and 8th Rob Owen.

Big/Jensen Healey class: 1st Ian Thomas (pictured right) 2nd David Lane, 3rd Michael Berry, 4th John Ducker, 5th Simon Warburton, 6th Gerry Wilby and 7th Huw Edwards.

What a change from the day before. A great day's hill climbing at this super venue with nine new pb's and one new class record and no more broken cars - an excellent day. Both Ian Thomas with two wins and Garrow Shand with a win and a second place this weekend have really changed the championship leader board - so check it out on our results page.

Our next event is at Lydden Hill near Canterbury in Kent on Saturday 13 July, so be there if you can.

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Rounds 5/6 Harewood 8/9 June 2024

(Report by LC Branch and photos by Jackie Baker and Claire Giles)

Our travelling band of Healey drivers headed to our most northerly event at Harewood (near Leeds) in Yorkshire for the longest hill climb in the UK. A fabulous venue atop an escarpment over looking a valley below. The paddock is at the top of the hill. The start line is half way down the hill and the course leads initially down hill then turns and gets steep in places until you end at the finishing line, then back in the paddock.

This is a popular venue, so those wishing to attend have to get their entries in quickly. Fortunately, our drivers were pre-warned to get their applications in on the day they opened. We therefore ended up with a great entry of 17 drivers including no fewer than 5 Healey 100's - I'm sure this is a first for Healeysport. We also had 5 drivers who had not attempted Harewood before in Mike Mohr (Sprite), Ian Thomas (3000), and the two new Healey 100 drivers: Mervyn Coxon who had only done one prior event with us and Simon Warburton (see Simon pictured right tackling the Esses's) where this was his first competitive event and Nav Bhamra in his Libre classed Sprite.

In addition, we had the regular Sprite drivers - Phil Gardner, Claire Giles, Garrow Shand, Rob Owen, Steve Casson and Paul Baker, plus the other three Healey 100 drivers - John Ducker, Will Richards and Michael Berry - the 3000's of Murray Shand and Richard Mason and the Jensen Healey of Dave Lane sporting a new 2.2 ltr engine.

We also had visiting past Healeysport champion David Abram and son Marius join us for a day's racing - great to see them both.

Saturday dawned damp, cold and windy with the threat of showers later. This was also a scratch event meaning the quickest driver wins. Attempts on records were going to be difficult in these cold conditions, but not impossible.

Practice in the Sprite class had Paul Baker out front with a best time of 70.57 followed by Steve Casson a whisker behind in 70.79, then Phil Gardner in 74.48, Claire Giles (pictured right) in 74.62, Garrow Shand in 74.80, Rob Owen in 75.23 and Mike Mohr still leaning the track in 77.47.

In the Big/Jensen Healey class it was Michael Berry who went off the track on his first run the posted a 71.30 to lead the class from Richard Mason in 71.74, Ian Thomas in 72.08, David Lane in 75.50, Murray Shand in 78.82 but went off on his second practice run, then Will Richards getting used to his 100 in 75.98, John Ducker in 79.78, Simon Warburton managed a best of 94.78 - an excellent effort for his first run on an open track. Lastly, all was going well for Mervyn Coxon until the solder failed on the SU carb pipe - which resulted in him being towed back into the paddock. Fortunately Mervyn had some friends who went and acquired a heat gun and solder and he effected a repair over the lunch break.

In the Libre class, Nav Bhamra in his Tango Sprite hit gearbox problems and had to retire the car as it was stuck in 3rd gear. Garrow Shand stepped forward and offered Nav a dual drive in his Sprite for the rest of the weekend - well done Garrow. See Nav pictured right in Garrow's red Sprite.

After lunch the weather got marginally warmer and more importantly, stayed dry. In the Sprite class the battle up front ended very close with Paul Baker winning with a 69.13 from Steve Casson in 69.70. Rob Owen jumped up the field to finish third with an excellent time of 71.91 then a second covered the next four drivers with Garrow Shand finishing in 72.36, Claire Giles in 73.11, Phil Gardner in 73.31 and Mike Mohr's ending with a rapidly improving time of 73.39.

In the Big/Jensen Healey class, it was Richard Mason who pulled out all the stops to finish with a best time of 69.73, just ahead of Michael Berry in a Healey 100 class winning time of 69.96 - well done Michael. Ian Thomas was next in his best time of the day - 71.09. David Lane smashed his pb to end with a 72.05 from Murray Shand in 73.42. Then we had the battle of the Healey 100's with Will Richards next in 74.23, John Ducker in 76.34, Mervyn Coxon in 81.09 and Simon Warburton in 89.97.

In the Libre Class - Nav Bhamra finished with a best time of 74.38 in Garrow Shand's Sprite.

So the finishing order of this scratch event was:

Sprite class: 1st Paul Baker, 2nd Steve Casson, 3rd Rob Owen, 4th Garrow Shand, 5th Claire Giles, 6th Phil Gardner and 7th Mike Mohr.

Big/Jensen Healey class: 1st Richard Mason, 2nd Michael Berry, 3rd Ian Thomas, 4th Dave Lane, 5th Murray Shand, 6th Will Richards, 7th John Ducker, 8th Mervyn Coxon and 9th Simon Warburton.

Libre class: 1st Nav Bhamra

With Saturday's racing complete, all the Healeysport drivers and partners retired to the Ducker's Cocktail bar for a well earned Harvey Wallbanger and something to eat - fabulous cheesy nibbles and olives. John and Cate Ducker surpassed themselves yet again this year with a stunning array of drinks and food, plus a collection of motoring memorabilia (some home made!!) A huge thank you from all the drivers and partners to John and Cate for putting in so much thought and effort into organising this event each year, as it is an absolute delight and ever so Healeysport - well done.

Cocktails were followed by dinner at the Harewood arms for most expertly organised by Helen Shand.

Sunday dawned dry and bright but still with that biting strong northerly wind.

All the drivers were the same with the exception of Mervyn Coxon who had only managed to be placed 20th on the reserve list so he headed on home.

This was a Target Time event where each driver must ideally beat their personal target to stand a chance of winning.

So, practice got underway in the Sprite class and Paul Baker and Steve Casson finished really close with 69.54 and 69.61 respectively from a much improved Mike Mohr in 72.43, then Garrow Shand in 73.38, Rob Owen (pictured above right) in 74.34, Phil Gardner in 77.37 and lastly Claire Giles with a sick sounding engine. Husband Jon quickly donned his trademark brown store man's coat to rectify a poor earth on the electronic ignition and the Sprite was soon fine to compete again.

In the Big/Jensen Healey class, it was Michael Berry back out in the lead with a commendable 70.09 from Ian Thomas in 71.35 from Richard Mason in 71.47 who was still recovering from his night out at a Thai restaurant. David Lane finished practice with a 72.01 beating his pb (pictured right locking a front). Murray Shand was next in 74.40, then Will Richards in 75.50, John Ducker in 77.08 and Simon Warburton in 89.15.

In the Libre class, Nav Bhamra had a best time of 74.00.

After lunch the Sprite class headed off for their timed runs and both Paul Baker and Steve Casson both improved their times with 68.80 and 69.20 respectively. Garrow Shand moved up to third with a 71.66, from Rob Owen a whisker behind in 71.76. Phil Gardner posted his best time of the weekend with a 72.68. Mike Mohr could not replicate his quick time in the morning and finished with a best time of 73.87 and Claire Giles ended with a 74.80.

In the Big/Jensen Healey class, Richard Mason finally stirred his stumps and finished with a traditional over the line sideways time of 69.43. Michael Berry spun on his first timed run and managed a marginally slower time of 70.14. Ian Thomas finished with an excellent time of 70.56 - our quickest time from someone who was tackling Harewood for the first time - but what do you expect from our quick learning rally driver! David Lane finished with a 72.05 - bang on his target time and repeating his best time from Saturday. Murray Shand ended with a 72.97 and a new pb to boot. Will Richards also reset his pb with an excellent 73.93. John Ducker posted an improved time of 76.24 as did Simon Warburton who finished with an 88.01 - his fastest time of the weekend.

In the Libre class, Nav Bhamra ended with a 73.33 - his fastest time of the weekend.

So once the Casson spreadsheet was fired up, the finishing order of this Target Time event was:

Sprite class: 1st Phil Gardner (pictured above right), 2nd Rob Owen, 3rd Paul Baker, 4th Garrow Shand, 5th Steve Casson, 6th Claire Giles and 7th Mike Mohr.

Big/Jensen Healey class: 1st Will Richards (pictured right), 2nd Murray Shand, 3rd David Lane, 4th Ian Thomas, 5th Michael Berry, 6th Richard Mason, 7th John Ducker and 8th Simon Warburton.

Libre class: 1st Nav Bhamra

All the awards were graciously presented by Angela Gardner, Phil's daughter in law.

Well what a weekend, the weather was cold and windy but apart from a few very light showers it was dry and occasionally sunny. We had a great turnout of 17 cars including two new drivers and a Healeysport first of 5 Healey 100's. Most importantly, we only had one car that could not be fixed, the racing was close with one new class record for Michael Berry in his100. The Ducker's Cocktail bar was a super treat as ever and the evening meal was great fun - so, well done all.

Next weekend we are at Gurston (near Salisbury) for our first double header event at this venue. So if you want to see the Healeys competing, come and see us.

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Rounds 3/4 Prescott 25/26 May 2024

(Report by Synchro Cruncher and photos by Charlotte Berry and Colin Gale)

For the third year running the Bugatti owners club invited us to attend their Historique event. This May event usually provides better weather than our previous “season finale” in October. The forecast was fine for Saturday but maybe wet on Sunday. Our entry fee also included free “dinner tickets”. We had a good entry of 10 Sprites and 9 Big/Jensen Healeys. Brett Dillon in his Sprite and Mervyn Coxon in his Healey 100 were new to the track and it was Mervyn's first event with us. Returning Sprites were those of Garrow and Max Shand, Claire Giles, Steve Casson, Phil Gardner, Rob Owen, Richard Salisbury, Mike Mohr and Nav Bhamra (pictured right) in his Libre class tango special Sprite. The Big/Jensen Healeys were Ian Thomas, John Ducker, Trish Cecile-Pritchard, Richard Mason, Huw Edwards, Michael Berry, Peter Walton and Gerald Wilby was here with the lone Jensen Healey. We had 3 Healey 100’s together for maybe the first time in a long time.

Supporting our Healeysport hill climb we had the BRM V16, McLaren F1 car, ERA’s, Jaguar D type etc. and postman Pat's van. Saturday weather soon warmed up to produce some good practice times for this scratch event. Nav had a steamy start in the Libre Sprite but the problem was soon sorted. After first practice our free dinner tickets were put to good use for breakfast in the excellent BOC clubhouse.

After 2 practice runs the Sprites were headed by Steve Casson in 53.16 followed by Mike Mohr 54.97, Claire Giles in 55.95, Richard Salisbury in 56.28 closely followed by Garrow Shand 56.37 and Rob Owen in 56.92. Brett Dillon 57.51, Phil Gardner in 58.93. Nav in the Libre Sprite scored a 57.62.

The Big/Jensen Healeys provided Michael Berry in the lead with a very quick time of 52.87, Richard Mason 53.57, Ian Thomas 54.24, Trish C-P 58.64, John Ducker 59.40, Huw Edwards 60.10, Mervyn Coxon 62.87 and Gerald Wilby in 66.23.

After the lunch break and demonstration runs our timed event started. The good driving conditions produced no less than 9 PB’s. In the Sprites Steve Casson won with a 52.92 followed by Mike Mohr PB 53.62, Claire Giles PB 54.89, Brett Dillon 55.41, Garrow Shand PB 55.47, Richard Salisbury PB 55.73, Phil Gardner PB 56.10, Rob Owen 56.77 and Nav Bhamra in the Libre Sprite in 55.79.

The Big/Jensen Healeys put the power down to result in: First Richard Mason 52.89, Michael Berry PB 53.21, Ian Thomas PB 54.10, Trish C-P PB 56.81, John Ducker PB 57.50, Huw Edwards 58.78, Mervyn Coxon 61.91 (pictured below) and Gerald Wilby in 64.30.

The finishing order of this scratch event was:

Sprite class: 1st Steve Casson, 2nd Mike Mohr, 3rd Claire Giles, 4th Brett Dillon, 5th Garrow Shand, 6th Richard Salisbury, 7th Phil Gardner and 8th Rob Owen.

Big/Jensen Healey class: 1st Richard Mason, 2nd Michael Berry, 3rd Ian Thomas, 4th Trish C-P, 5th John Ducker, 6th Huw Edwards. 7th Mervyn Coxon and 8th Gerald Wilby.

Libre class: 1st Nav Bhamra

On Sunday, the target time event commenced in damp conditions but the track improved steadily throughout the morning. Sprite practice had Max Shand in front with 52.72, Steve Casson on 53.85 followed by Brett Dillon 57.03, Garrow Shand 57.98, Mike Mohr 58.03, Richard Salisbury 58.28, Rob Owen 58.29, Claire Giles 59.04, Phil Gardner 59.39 and Nav Bhamra in the Libre Sprite in 58.04.

The Big/Jensen Healeys had Richard Mason top with 54.88, Ian Thomas 55.07, then Pete Walton 55.46, Michael Berry 55.47, Trish C-P 58.54, John Ducker 59.21, Huw Edwards 60.86, Mervyn Coxon 64.61 and Gerald Wilby in 65.55.

Now with all to play for, we lined up for the timed event. After the first runs drizzle tried to dampen our spirits but dried quickly to encourage us all in the need for speed. Timed run 2 produced 4 more PB’s. The Sprite times were Max Shand 52.02, Steve Casson 52.37, Mike Mohr 54.40, Brett Dillon PB 54.81, Garrow Shand 55.39, Rob Owen 55.79, Claire Giles 56.57, Richard Salisbury 57.18, Phil Gardner 59.38 and Nav Bhamra in the Libre Sprite in 57.50.

Big/ Jensen Healeys scored as follows: Michael Berry 52.80, Richard Mason 52.93, Pete Walton 53.01, Ian Thomas PB 53.66, John Ducker PB 56.63, Trish C-P 57.37 Huw Edwards 59.26, Mervyn Coxon PB 61.51 and Gerald Wilby 65.20.

As this was a Target Time event the Casson Calculator was fired up to produce:

Sprite class: 1st Max Shand (pictured above right), 2nd Brett Dillon, 3rd Steve Casson, 4th Garrow Shand, 5th Rob Owen, 6th Mike Mohr, 7th Richard Salisbury, 8th Claire Giles and 9th Phil Gardner.

Big/Jensen Healeys, first John Ducker (pictured right), 2nd Ian Thomas, 3rd Michael Berry, 4th Mervyn Coxon, 5th Trish C-P, 6th Pete Walton, 7th Richard Mason, 8th Gerald Wilby and 9th Huw Edwards.

Libre class: Nav Bhamra won the Libre class to make it a hat trick.

We celebrated 3 birthdays in the usual cake and bubbly manner, Trish, Keith and Garrow. A tasty end to some superb hill climbing sport and everyone agreed that we all had a great Healeysport weekend - now on to Harewood.

Rounds 1/2 Anglesey 4/5 May 2024

(Report by LC Branch and photos by Jackie Baker)

Our annual trip to this oasis on the Island of Anglesey on the north-west corner of Wales proved a huge success as usual. The major concern is always the weather, as although this place has it’s own micro climate, it can be superb one day and horizontal rain the next. When most of the drivers arrived on the Friday it was cold but dry. Overnight Friday the heavens opened and soaked the place. But by Saturday morning the wind pushed the rain away and the track dried out in time for practice and it did not rain again all weekend. Some result.

We had a great entry of 18 drivers, with 9 Sprites, 8 Big Healeys and 1 Libre entrant. The MG Car Club, who run the event, really appreciate the number of cars we bring.

There were 3 Sprite drivers new to Anglesey – Brett Dillon in his ex-Kevin Rowe acquired Sebring Sprite (pictured below) – it was also Brett’s first run out with us, plus experienced Healeysport driver Max Shand was also new to the track. In the Big Healey class, Ian Thomas was learning the track for the first time.

As this was the first event of the year a number of cars have had upgrades – Michael Berry’s 100 and Ian Thomas’s 3000 (pictured above right) now have all steel engines, Nav’s Sprite engine has been refreshed – so no smoke – a blessing to everyone else in the paddock! Paul Baker is back out in his refreshed Sebring GT bodied Sprite – last seen in 2018 and Murray Shand’s 3000 is now sporting new door and boot handles (as per the regs) - and John Richards was out in his new 100 for the first time.

We took two whole garages to ensure that all the cars could be stored indoors for security overnight but also in the event of rain.

Saturday’s event comprised one - two lap practice of the National course followed by two - two lap timed runs – with more runs offered if there was time. This event was a target time event where the driver who does best against their target wins.

Practice got underway and in the Sprite class it was Max Shand who was quickest in the damp conditions with a 144.57, with Steve Casson next in 149.72 then Garrow Shand in 155.57 and Paul Baker learning how a Sprite drives in 157.09. Brett Dillon did a very respectable 159.65, followed by Richard Salisbury in 160.86, Rob Owen in 166.43, Mike Mohr in 169.67 and following a spin – John Tewson in 171.51 showing that the track was not completely dry following the heavy rain overnight.

In the Big Healey class- Richard Mason was quickest in 145.32 from Michael Berry in 148.86, then local man Will Richards in 147.15, Pete Walton in 151.68, Ian Thomas in 165.04, Trish C-P in 167.50 and John Richards 178.60 also following a spin.

In the Libre class, Nav Bhamra posted a 148.09 to show his investment over the winter had paid off.

By the time the timed runs started the track was virtually dry and the times started to tumble.

In the Sprite class – Max Shand (pictured above) was quickest with an opening 137.33 then finished with a new class record time of 132.62. Steve Casson who opened with a very quick 134.40 which he then lowered to a 133.25. Next was Paul Baker who finished with a best time of 135.78, followed by Garrow Shand who finished with a best of 137.95 (new pb), John Tewson was next with a best of 138.54, then Mike Mohr in 139.72 (new pb), Brett Dillon in a very respectable 141.47, Richard Salisbury in a new pb time of 143.12 and Rob Owen in a new pb time of 150.30.

In the Big Healey class - the first three cars were 3000's with Pete Walton setting a new class record time of 132.66, Richard Mason set a new pb of 136.04 from Ian Thomas shows he's a quick learner posting an excellent 135.35. Michael Berry in his 100M set a new class record time of 136.50 from Will Richards in his 3000 of 136.60, then there was Murray Shand in his 3000 with a 141.05 from Trish C-P posted a fabulous 144.19 - some 8 secs faster than her previous pb and John Richards out is his new 100 for the first time in 154.35.

In the Libre class - Nav Bhamra posted a best time of 141.39.

As this was a target time event, the spreadsheet was brought into action and the results were as follows:

Sprite class: 1st Mike Mohr (pictured above right receiving his award from Vicki Walton), 2nd Max Shand, 3rd Richard Salisbury, 4th Garrow Shand, 5th Steve Casson, 6th Rob Owen, 7th Brett Dillon, 8th John Tewson and 9th Paul Baker

Big Healey class: 1st Trish C-P (pictured right), 2nd Ian Thomas, 3rd Will Richards, 4th Pete Walton, 5th Michael Berry, 6th Richard Mason, 7th Murray Shand and 8th John Richards.

Libre class: 1st Nav Bhamra.

On Saturday night we all dined at the Oyster Catcher restaurant - many thanks to Helen Shand for organising this - as they did a job - even though our table's bill seemed to have the drinks bill from Brett and Richard S's table!!

Sunday dawned cool and dry and it stayed that way all day. We were on the International circuit where we had two practice runs of one lap followed by two timed runs of one lap. This event was to be on scratch, so the fastest driver wins.

Practice got underway and in the Sprite class it was Max Shand who was quickest with a best time of 106.35 - just off the current class record. Next was Steve Casson in 107.28 then Paul Baker in 107.47, John Tewson in 112.26 with Brett Dillon just behind in 112.47, then Garrow Shand in 113.90, Richard Salisbury in 116.92 and Rob Owen with electrical problems in 158.92 - so much so that the car went back on the trailer to play no further part.

In the Big Healey class it was Pete Walton out front with a best time of 108.00 - just 800ths of a sec slower than the class record with Richard Mason just behind him in 108.73, followed by Michael Berry in 109.56, Ian Thomas in 111.88, Murray Shand in 112.90, Will Richards (pictured right)switched from his 3000 into his father's 100M to record a best time of 114.01 and Trish C-P in 121.43.

In the Libre class, Nav Bhamra posted a best time of 113.99 also 800th's of his record.

After lunch the timed runs got underway. In the Sprite class it was Paul Baker who finally remembered how to drive the Sprite and equaled the class record time of 106.05 on his second run - so Dave Abram's record lasts another year. Next was Max Shand in a superb 106.93 given this was his first time on this course. Steve Casson was next with a new pb of 107.33, then John Tewson in 110.15, Brett Dillon also in a excellent time of 110.73 since it was his first time to this track, the next three drivers all broke their pb's - Garrow Shand in 110.78, Michael Mohr in 114.02 and Richard Salisbury in 115.48.

In the Big Healey class, the next three drivers all beat their times from last year by over 2 seconds - Pete Walton (pictured right) continued his good form with a new class record time of 106.87. Richard Mason posted a new pb time of 107.99 and Michael Berry reduced his Healey 100 record time down to 108.59. Murray Shand broke his pb with an excellent 110.38 to stay just ahead of Ian Thomas in 110.50. Will Richards got the 100M down to 112.52 and Trish C-P recorded yet another pb time of 119.83.

In the Libre class, Nav Bhamra lowered his own record time down to 112.18.

So the finishing order of this scratch event was:

Sprite class: 1st Paul Baker (pictured below), 2nd Max Shand, 3rd Steve Casson, 4th John Tewson, 5th Brett Dillon, 6th Garrow Shand, 7th Mike Mohr, 8th Richard Salisbury and 9th Rob Owen.

Big Healey class: 1st Pete Walton, 2nd Richard Mason, 3rd Michael Berry, 4th Murray Shand, 5th Ian Thomas, 6th Will Richards and 7th Trish C-P.

Libre class: 1st Nav Bhamra.

What a great weekend's sprinting at this fabulous circuit on the top corner of Wales. The weather was fortunately on our side and apart from Rob Owen's electrical gremlins the rest of the cars behaved themselves. The MG Car club were over the moon to have 18 Healeys fill their grid, so no problem getting an entry if they run it next year!!