New Petition on the Prime Ministers website: 'We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to introduce a green paper proposing ways, that, where complaints have been instigated by resident(s) against a long standing activity (for example, church bells, sports facility, local airfield and similar), and where residence has been taken up since the start of that activity (providing there has been no significant increase in activity), a presumption should be made to protect the continuation of that activity and reject such complaint.' If you agree then you can sign up at http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/livewithit/. The petition is due to close 17th September.
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'One Hundred Motoring Milestones' by Adrian L’Estrange
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Photo Gen-IC Fun Run and BBQ August 17th. Adrian L'Estrange/Andy Greenland were 'first past the post' in this event but with Rob Brook's 50 point penalty for the most successful crew designed to award victory to the 'second place' crew, the laurels went to the crew of Tony/Val Phillips and Neil/June Whitehead. Full results when received. Thanks go to Rob who travelled down from Yorkshire for the weekend to setup this year's challenge.
Rally of Germany 15th-17th August: Sebastien Loeb has won his seventh straight Rally of Germany with team mate Daniel Sordo second (47.4secs) and Francois Duval third (1min 20 secs). More information on the Eurosport web site.
Classics on the Green 6th August . Following the success of previous years, the August 6th club night once again moved to Croxley Green, for the annual "Classics on the Green" meeting. Peter Nathan had organised the club stand where a number of members competition cars were on display.
Rally of Finland 1st-3rd August: Sebastien Loeb has taken his maiden victory on this event with Mikko Hirvonen second (9.00secs) and Chris Atkinson third (3mins 17.0secs).
Uxbridge Autoshow 20th July. Once again we were without a field for the Autotest again this year but we supported the event with a display of Club motor vehicles. More information when available.
With McLaren's Lewis Hamilton winning at Silverstone yesterday, the following link, submitted by Pete Farmer, will prove interesting reading for those who followed the McLaren Spygate saga last year - http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=35328. The argument raised casts doubt on pretty much any decision made in recent years by the FIA's World Motor Sport Council (WMSC), the body which decides on sporting disputes. According to the FIA's own Statutes, it would seem that certain members did not meet the requirements to sit and vote on the Council and, as a result, the Council was acting beyond it's powers (07.07.08).
We can confirm that Suzuki GB are to become title sponsor of the South of England Tempest Rally due to run on 8th November 2008. The event, to be known as the Suzuki Tempest South of England Rally, will be the final round of the Suzuki Swift Sport Cup and BRC Challenge rally series as well as being part of the English Rally Championship. The rally will continue with its unique two-wheel and four-wheel drive format which will be based at the Pegasus Village Service Area adjacent to the spectator stage at Rushmoor Arena area once again. Rally Manager Barry Guess said, ‘We’re delighted to have Suzuki on board. They’re putting a lot into our sport and should be commended for that. Their help will mean we can make the event bigger and better than ever this year.’ Read the fully press announcement here (20.06.08)
Rally of Turkey 13th-15th June. Mikko Hirvonen moves to the top of the WRC standings with victory in this years event. Ford team mate Jari-Matti Latvala was second (7.9secs) with Sebastien Loeb third (25.7secs).
Hants and Berks Tracker Sunday 8th June 2008: For the second year running, Pete Farmer and Andy Greenland have taken victory in this event. With 12 entries, they won the event with an impressive 970 points out of a maximum of 990.
Paul and 'Bertie'.
As usual, a number of MCAC
members were in attendance at the Abingdon Carnival over the weekend
of 7th/8thJune 2008. Saturday's Sprint saw the first appearance of
Paul Hopkinson and Bertie - a 1966 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT which was
originally brought into the country in 2004 from South Africa.
Originally Alfa Blue, she was restored by Simon Whiting at Gran Turismo
Engineering in Sussex, and sprayed Alfa Red. These cars are widely
known as "Bertie's" after their designer Bertone. In September, Paul
is hoping to enter the Historic Car Championship at Brands Hatch run by the
Historic Sports Car Club. In addition, Paul and Hazel have entered the
Norwich Union Classic in October
(09.06.08).
Rally of Greece 30th May-1st June. Sebastien Loeb moves to the top of the Championship tables with a victory in Greece. Petter Solberg was second (1min 09.50secs) and Mikko Hirvonen third (1min 56.1secs).
Rally Italy 16th-18th May. Sebastien Loeb has taken victory on this years event with Mikko Hirvonen second (+10.6secs) and Jari-Matti Latvala third (+15.3secs).
Jordan Rally 25th-27th April. Mikko Hirvonen took the spoils this weekend with Dani Sordo second (+1.15.7) and Chris Atkinson third (+4.59.5).
The MCAC Annual General Meeting took place on Wednesday 23rd April 2008. There were a higher number of changes taking place this year for various reasons. Top of the list was the news that Adrian L’Estrange had decided to stand down from the position of President and John Williams was duly elected in his place. Congratulations to John and our thanks to Adrian who retires having recently completed his long term aim of publishing the Club's history. Adrian was duly elected to the position of Vice President along with Tom Ryan who resigns from the Council as a result of this move. Ray Brooker and Paul Brown were then re-elected to the Council whilst Pete Cook, Kathleen Dawson, Kevin Dawson and Paul Hopkinson decided not to stand this year. Our congratulations go to all new appointees along with our thanks to those who have stood down.
Brakefast Autotests and Autosolo 6th April. After nearly being cancelled due to the unexpected snow fall, 27 competitors, split over 3 different events, took part in the 2008 Brakefast. In the National ‘B’ Autotest, Roger Dudley took Fastest Time of the Day (FTD) in his Mini Scamp. The Production Car Autotest saw Andrew Dudley achieving FTD. In the AutoSolo, Chris Keys was victorious. Follow the main link for Chris Keys full report with photos to follow shortly. Results now available.
Rally Argentina 27th-30th March. Sebastien Loeb has taken a dominant victory in the event with Chris Atkinson 2mins 33.2 secs behind. Dani Sordo was third (54mins 04.7 secs).
Organisers of the Dakar Rally say they hope to bring the event back to Africa by 2012. Amaury Sports Organization owner Patrice Clerc said that the race would return when security was not an issue. "We're totally dependent on the geopolitical situation," he said. "I don't know if it will be permissible for us to return by 2011 or 2012." (28.03.08).
'One Hundred Motoring Milestones', researched and written by MCAC President Adrian L'Estrange was released at Club on Wednesday 26th March accompanied by a short presentation by the author on the journey undertaken over the last three and a half years. Those present were also given a short insight into the research undertaken to achieve publication of the book - some considerable achievement on it's own (26.03.08).
Longcross is back! Sutton and Cheam have announce that negotiations have been completed to enable motorsport to returne to Longcross for the foreseeable future. See details on our Events page (08.03.08).
Rally Mexico 29th Feb-2nd Mar. Sebastien Loeb has taken an easy win finishing with a margin of 1 minute 06.1 seconds over Chris Atkinson with Jari-Matti Latvala third (1.39.7).
The 2009 Dakar Rally will take place in South America with the 9,000km loop course starting in Buenos Aires. After the 3rd January start, competitors will race south to Patagonia, into the Andes and then Chile's Atacama desert, before ending back in Buenos Aires on the 18th (12.02.08)
Swedish Rally 8th-10th February. Former Tempest winner, Jari-Matti Latvala today became the youngest winner of a WRC event by taking victory in Sweden with a margin of 58.3 seconds over team mate Mikko Hirvonen. Gigi Galli took third position (2 mins 23.2 seconds) completing a clean sweep for Ford.
Valentine Scatter 9th February. Our first competitive event of the year was won by Nat West's Ian Young/Rob Searby with Pete Farmer/Tony Phillips/Ray Bell second and Rob Brooks/John Wilson/Mike Wooster third. Results now available together with the Route Card for those who want to do it sitting by the fire! Thanks go to Andy and Garry for the organisation.
Dakar Rally organisers, the Amaury Sports Organisation, have announced that a replacement event will be held in Eastern Europe in April. The Central European Rally will be run under the "Dakar Series" banner as a pre-cursor to the series that will start in its full version next year. The Hungarian capital of Budapest will host the start on April 20, with competitors tackling a 3000 miles, half of which will be over special stages, passing through Romania, before finishing back in Hungary at Lake Balaton six days later. The ASO said that Dakar regulars BMW, Mitsubishi, Volkswagen and Schlesser, plus bike dominators KTM, are all hugely interested in competing in the event. The Dakar Rally, scheduled to run in January, was cancelled just 24 hours before its planned start after the French foreign office advised against travel into Mauritania, where four French tourists had been murdered on Christmas Eve. The ASO confirmed that they will be announcing plans for the 2009 Dakar Rally - which could take place in Chile - in the coming weeks (Information from Eurosport 04.02.08).
Hants & Berks MC 51st Pairs ‘Point to Point’ 27th January 2008: It was that morning after the night before event again! Full results now available.
Monte Carlo Rally 25th-27th January: World Champion Sebastien Loeb staked his intentions for the 2008 season by taking a strong win on this years event with a time of 3hr 39min 17.0sec. Mikko Hirvonen was second (+ 2min 34.4sec) and Chris Atkinson third (+ 2:58.6).
The Club's Annual Dinner-Dance and Presentation of Awards was held at Stockley Park on Saturday 26th January. As usual, this excellent event was organised by Peter and Sarah Nathan. Kevin Fowler was recipient of the President's Award - which was given out by Adrian L'Estrange himself - and Ann Kolter was the Best Newcomer.
The 2008 Dakar Rally has been cancelled because of safety concerns in Mauritania. Four French tourists were murdered in Mauritania in December and the French government has advised against any travel to the country. Eight out of the rally's fifteen stages were due to pass through Mauritania and the event's organisers say that there have been "direct threats against the race issued by terrorist groups". The event had been due to start in Lisbon on 5 January and finish in Dakar on 20 January. See the Dakar Rally website for further information (04.01.08).