In brief, December 2009
The 2010 dates for the two Goodwood events have been announced. The 18th running of the Goodwood Festival of Speed will take place over the weekend of July 2-4, while the Goodwood Revival meeting is set for September 17-19.
Dessie Nutt and Geraldine McBride have won the Dunlop/Gambia MSA British Historic Rally Championship for the second time in five years. The Northern Irish crew, driving a Tuthill-tended Porsche 911 in category one for pre-68 cars, clinched the title with victory on the Trackrod Historic Cup. “It is a good feeling to do it again, but it’s also a relief,” said Nutt after a season that started badly and included rolling out of June’s Severn Valley Stages.
The Kenmare Historic Stages Rally, the December 6 event being organised by Killarney and District MC to replace the Killarney Historic Rally, will use some classic special stages, several of which have not been run since the Circuit of Ireland in the early ’80s. A full 150-car field is expected.
A new stage layout will improve the viewing for fans at the Rally Show at Chatsworth, which will run on June 5/6 next year. The new layout should speed up the running of the 1.2-mile stage as the event celebrates 30 years of the Audi Quattro.
Musician Neil Primrose has bought the ex-Jo Bonnier Scuderia Fillipinetti 1972 Lola T290, and will race it alongside his existing Lola T212. The latest acquisition for the Travis drummer was raced by David Gathercole in the Classic Endurance season finale at Silverstone.
Singer Alvin Stardust will take part in the 2009 London to Brighton Veteran Car Run as a passenger in a 1902 Westfield in aid of BBC’s Children in Need. Enthusiast Colin Ramsey bid £2000 for the third seat in the Westfield, joining Stardust and car owner Paul Noon on the annual run.
The Classic Rally Association will run a new event in 2010, called the Manx Classic Trial. The March 19-21 event will mix tests and regularity sections on some classic Isle of Man roads, such as Druidale and Tholt-y-Will. The event replaces Belgium’s Poppy Rally, which will return in 2011.