1984 and 1985 were very busy years for us, we moved twice to different homes which meant a quiet time as far as my racing was concerned. By the end of 1985 we were living in Cosgrove, Northants where I'd got two ex Chris Pickup (50) BriSCA F1 stock cars parked in the driveway. I'd bought the former 425 Buick powered Allegro from Lionel Shaw (362) after realizing the Jaguar powered Spitfire wasn't up to the present day competitive racing.

Cosgrove is a small village just a short drive ( or bicycle ride a long the canal tow path ! ) from Wolverton in Milton Keynes where I worked. Once we'd settled in to our new home, 1986 turned out to be a very eventful year .

During the winter the Allegro was painted in my traditional colors of blue chassis, and the body work white with red and blue stripes. On March 1 , I took it along to Brafield for the pre-season practice day. There was a little bit of snow on the ground, but the track was only wet and still good to use. I was parked in the pits next to Bedford's Dick Smith (507) . During the day my battery died and it was Dick who helped me out with a push start. Later that week, he supplied me with a good replacement battery before the season opener. I raced at the first three Brafield meetings that year until the head gasket let go on April 20.

A new track for BriSCA F1's opened up at Easter ( Good Friday , March 28 ) but I had too many other things on the go and had to give it a miss . Cleethorpes, formerly a Spedeworth track had opened it's doors to the UK's oval racing elite. It was Frankie Wainman (212) who took the honors at the opener.

Our 'old faithful' Austin A60 Cambridge had come to the end of the road and was sold off to a local Banger driver. It went out in style at one of out local tracks. The Jaguar powered stock car was also sold, and I believe it was later used on the Spedeworth tracks. The F80's that Spedeworth  had introduced at the start of the decade, had faded and their big engine open wheeled stock cars were now called Formula One ( which made things confusing ! )

We needed to have two road cars, so the Austin Camebridge was replaced with a real classic. One of the guys I worked with, had an immaculate, low mileage 1970 Morris Minor Traveler ( Woody) for sale. The price was right, so we bought it. I loved that car and it was the only vehicle I've ever owned where I managed to sell for double the buying price. On April 26 we drove it down to Dover and and took it over on the ferry to Calais for a day trip to France.

As usual I attended every race meeting at the Coventry Stadium in the role of spectator. We traveled there each month with our friend Derek Manning in his Austin Maxi often accompanied by Keith Meekings. On a typical night, I'd be helping Ian Hall ( 381) in the pits during the races, followed by a good session in the bar afterwards to get rid of the dust ! Derek was a non drinker so it worked out well for me with him being our designated driver. The night would always end up with a late night supper at the Fish & Chip shop in the village of Wolston. When I wasn't racing my BriSCA F1 at Brafield , I'd still be helping out Ian Dominey with his tow trucks.

In the early part of May we took another 'Hi De Hi' family holiday, this time to the Spanish Island of Majorca. ( 'Hi De Hi' was a TV comedy series at the time, based  at a holiday camp. So that's the name we gave to package tour holidays) . While in Majorca we rented a little Renault to get about the Island and do the tourist things.

On June 1, it was the BriSCA F1 European Championship and instead of it being held at its usual venue of Brafield , it took place at Skegness.We traveled up for this one where Staffordshire's Bert Finnikin (55) took the checkers.

One week later on June 8 the Spedeworth Superstox had their World Final at the Wisbech Stadium in Camebridgeshire. I had to miss this one where local hero Neil Bee (482) of Downham Market, Norfolk claimed his fourth title. One of the overseas drivers at this event I must mention, was Irishman Rob Morrow.  I had the pleasure of meeting Rob many years later when he visited Canada for a vacation.

As I mentioned before, Cosgove has a big park that's popular with tourists and on Sunday July 6 it was hosting the RALLY of the GIANTS. This was a show and shine event for old American cars, so before going to Brafield that day, I walked down to take a look. While I was there I met, pioneer stock car driver and fellow VSCA member Pete Tucker (85) . Since he'd quit racing, his interest had turned to classic 'yank cars' as they're called in the UK.

Pete owned a beautiful 1934 Ford Coupe, the type made famous by top band of the time ZZ TOPS . I've always had a passion for old American cars and if my lottery numbers should ever come up, I'd be on the look out for a big black Hudson Hornet. My visit to Cosgrove Park that day was one of the catalysts that eventually pointed me in the direction of Canada.

In the years leading up to our emigration in 1994 , I got to know Pete quite well and I have to say that it was his book 'The Thrill Of The Century' that inspired me to write these RICK at the RACES RETRO reports. I found it to be compulsive reading and enjoyed the way he told of his life in the early days of UK stock car racing. All written in easy to understand every day language with no fancy adjectives or posh prose.

My busy life style at the time meant the head gasket repair to the stock car took a while to get done, but by July 27 it was ready. This was the date for the BriSCA F1 World Final semi-final at Brafield and on that day I was booked into the supporting program. This meeting turned out to be my last ever drive in a BriSCA F1 car.

During the Consi, I was just starting to get used to all the extra power, when I made an unscheduled visit to one of the sturdy Brafield fence posts. Rob Scriven (117) and I had locked wheels and tangled. As we drove into the pit bend side by side and locked together we lost the ability to steer. As a result both both of us went straight on, Rob hit the wires, (which are a lot more forgiving) and I hit the post.

The Brafield fence posts were noted for being strong and I'm sure I'm not the only driver to come away with sore ribs after hitting them. It winded me and I was in in lot of pain, but managed to avoid a trip to the first aid room. My ribs were still aching when I got home and reluctantly decided to get them checked out at my local hospital. After some x rays it was a relief to find out that nothing was broken and the diagnosis was just bad bruising.

That was good news because our main family holiday to the Netherlands was just a week away.

For our summer vacation , we planned a camping trip with our caravan to the 'Long Track World Final' at Baarlo in the Netherlands . Earlier in the year I'd got in touch with Stock Car Monthly Magazine's Dutch correspondent Kees Hermans. He'd mentioned in his column about some race tracks in the north of the the country and I was interested in checking these out. Of course 1986 was in the days before internet , so information was hard to come by. Kees was able to furnish me with some race dates, and our plan was to visit a couple of new tracks the week before Baarlo.

We invited our teenage niece, Maggie Trevorrow from Somerset to join us for this vacation and on the second week in August the four of us set off in our Jaguar XJ6 with caravan in tow. Once across the Channel, and in Belgium our first port of call was the Meli Park at De Panne, close to the French border. This was a theme park based on honey bee's and the manufacture of honey.

From here we moved up into the Netherlands to a campsite at Urk, beside Lake Ijsselmeer. It's location was about half way between the two new tracks we were going to visit. 

Our first new track was at Blauwhuis, near to Sneek in Friesland. It was a Saturday afternoon event held in a field with a large ditch separating the race cars from the viewing public. There were probably about forty cars in attendance which varied from state of the art UK style cars to some 'old clunkers' .

One of the best looking cars was a Rien Rutjens built 440 cu in Chrysler that belonged to Willem Boschma (1) . Little did I know, that Willem from nearby Nijland would become a life long friend.

His young mechanic Bonnie Wiersma had spotted us 'Brits' walking around the pits and had taken more than a passing interest in Maggie ! We all got talking and by the end of the day we'd all become well acquainted.

Willem told us that he'd be racing the following weekend  at the Long Track World Final at Baarlo so we agreed to meet up again . We enjoyed our day at Blauwhuis and following the races we returned to the campsite at Urk.

The next day was Sunday, and our plans were to visit our second new track. This was the Midland Auto Speedway at Lelystad in Flevoland . It was paved, about 3/8 mile in length and very similar in appearance to a UK oval. 

While walking around the pits I met up with Dirk Ris (18) a driver I'd met at Baarlo a few years back and for a time, had exchanged letters. After the Lelystad races we returned once more to the campsite at Urk.

On Monday we made a trip to the tourist village of Geithoorn. I guess you could say this is the Netherlands answer to Venice. Instead of driving around the town by car you do it by boat. We rented one with an out board motor and went exploring.

On Tuesday we left the campsite at Urk and set off in the direction of Baarlo, but rather than going directly there, we made a detour in to Germany for an overnight stop at Kleve near the river Rhine.

We arrived in South Limburg on Wednesday and instead of heading for our usual base of Roermond we decided to try the Camping De Berckt, that was located right next door to the Baarlo Auto Speedway. I'd never stayed there before as I'd always had the impression it was a residential site and not one for tourists. This turned out to be a really good campsite that boasted a tropical swimming pool, tennis courts, laundermat, bar and restaurant. It would become our regular base in the years that followed.

As the weekend approached the race teams started to arrive and by late Friday evening we had met up with our new found friends Willem Boschma and Bonne Wiersma . We were soon introduced to Willem's wife Anne and the rest of the family which consisted of their three daughters, Elsje, Marie and Nelly. They were all camping in the centre of the track and we joined them for the Saturday night party and barbecue.

This years big race also included a New Zealand driver. Russell Joblin had come to Europe to compete in both The 'Long Track' and the BriSCA F1 World Finals. He was staying with a race team in the UK and during his visit, had built his own Kiwi style racer. Local favorite Friedhelm Welters was the 1986 Long Track World Final winner .

Willem had been invited to take part in the 1986 BriSCA F1 World Final which was taking place at Coventry in two weeks time, so we offered to be their hosts. Following Sunday afternoons races we said farewell and made the familiar drive back to the Ostende ferry  via Eindhoven , Antwerp and Gent.

I was back at work on Tuesday for just a few days before taking Friday off to start my next racing excursion. Gordon McDougal who had been running BriSCA F2's at the Newtongrange Stadium in Scotland had scheduled a special event on August 30, The Scottish Championship for BriSCA F1's. This would be the first time the UK's premier stock car division had raced north of the border since Stevenston in the 1960's. I wanted to be there and joined Derek Manning and Keith Meekings for the road trip.

We left the Milton Keynes area on Friday morning for the long haul north and arrived at our Bed and Breakfast place in the Pimlico district of Edinburgh about supper time. We'd booked in for two nights so that prior to the Saturday nights races we could take in the tourist sites of Holyrood Palace (the famous Edinburgh Castle)  and Princes Street.

Newtongrange is mining town just outside Edinburgh and I recall visiting a coal mining museum in the afternoon. There were about 38 BriSCA F1's booked in which included long distance travelers Bobby Burns (471) and my friend Ian Hall (381) and his team from Essex and Hampshire in Southern England. Winner of the Scottish Championship was Lancashire's John Lund (53).

I also recall there was a very good bar at the Newtongrange track and remember grabbing a pint or two between races. While I was drinking I remember chatting to one of the up and coming new drivers by the name of  Peter Falding (33) who was there watching that night. Little did I know that one week later the youngster would be making stock car history ! Peter is the son of Rod Falding (36)

The next morning we left our Bed and Breakfast accommodation for the long journey south. We had no intention of driving straight home as there was racing taking place at the Aycliffe Stadium in the North East of England that afternoon. We stopped by for the BriSCA F1 races and saw John Lund get his second win in two days. This would be the last time I'd see racing at the Aycliffe track, because like so many others, it's days were numbered. Soon the developers would be moving in and it would be demolished. 

I was back to work again on Monday for a full week before the BriSCA F1 World Final at Coventry on Saturday September 6. Around mid morning Willem, Anne and Bonne arrived at our house in Cosgrove with the stock car on the back of their Mercedes truck. As he pulled into the driveway one of the stock cars mirrors smashed against a tree. The mirror had originally come from a SCANIA truck so I had nothing suitable he could use. Not long after their arrival I was taking Willem and Bonne to SCANTRUCKS in Milton Keynes in the Morris Minor. They had the replacement we needed and we were soon back at Cosgrove fitting it on.

In the middle of the afternoon Derek Manning came round to pick up me, Pat and Carla. Willem then followed us up to Coventry. We arrived nice and early and were able to meet up with the rest of his crew from Friesland.

 In the big race he got involved in a big push that many visiting drivers often suffer. He hit the fence and dislodged the front axle. At the end of the 25 lap World Final , twenty year old Peter Falding of Rotherham Yorkshire became the sports youngest winner.

Before loading the car up at the end of the night, Willem and the crew had already repaired the damage. After a few beers in the main bar we all moved down the road to the Wolston 'chippy' for our late night supper.

Our Dutch friends were staying with us in Cosgrove and their intentions were to race at the next days races at Skegness. I was quite tired and hadn't intended going, but was persuaded to, at the last minute. Our friends the local father and son team of Keith (105) and Pete Palmer (101) were racing there and offered to give me a ride with them. Willem, Anne and Bonne then followed in the Mercedes.

After the races, when it was time to go home, they continued to follow us back until we got to Eaton Socun on the A1. This is where we said our goodbye's as they headed for the ferry at Dover while went back to Milton Keynes.  Bobby Burns won the final  that day.

The following week on Sunday 14 September it was the BriSCA F2 World Final at the Hartlepool Stadium. I needed a break, so missed this one. It was a shame really , because I'd  liked to have seen it. The winner was the long time budget racing red top, Gary Hooper (686) from Exmouth in Devon.

The remainder of the racing season saw me at Coventry (Oct 4/Nov 1), Brafield (Sept 28/Oct 19/ Nov 2) , Long Eaton ( Oct 11)  and Sheffield ( Sept 29/Oct 27). The Monday night Sheffield meetings came about as a result of good logistics regarding my job. I was still working for BEJAM and was now driving a nice new SCANIA with a good sized sleeper cab. My dispatcher had kindly given  me the Yorkshire run on those dates and I was able to park the truck up for the night at the races.

There was one other special  event I attended on Sunday December 7. Stuart Smith (391) who had dominated the sport for many years had decided to retire and a tribute meeting had been arranged in his honor at Belle Vue, Manchester. One of the attractions was a celebrity race in loaned cars that included champions of the past and present. They included Fred Mitchell , Gary Hooper and Spedeworths's Roy Eaton to name a few.

As the year came to an end my 425 cu in Buick powered BriSCA F1 was up for sale as I began to lose interest in competing.

FOR MORE PHOTOS FROM MY 1986 TRIPS TO BLAUWHUIS,  LELYSTAD AND BAARLO CLICK THE LINKS BELOW

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/stockcar67/Lelystad17Aug1986#

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/stockcar67/BaarloLongTrack1986#

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/stockcar67/BlauwhuisNL16Aug86#