Six competitors in five Morgan cars arrived this year on Saturday, at the historic venue of Shelsley Walsh. The meeting is run by the Midland Automobile Club (MAC) over two days. We were competing on the first day:

Michele Bailey Plus 4      Class 6

Alan Foster       Plus 8                9

James Andrews    4/4                 1

James Walter        Plus 4            6

Chris Bailey             Plus 4          6

George Proudfoot  4/4 Series 1     1

Early arrivals drove through thick mist which soon cleared as the sun shone. We were all allocated sheds, so we were well protected from the elements in case the micro-climate of Shelsley should turn moist.

The drivers briefing was brief.  Two points were made. The track has been completely resurfaced and the tarmac is still maturing, so could be slippy.

At the apex of the first of the “Esses” some small marker posts have been added.  If you touch one, no problem, but if you dislodge it then you receive a one second penalty.

First practice runs were carefully, if not gingerly, driven to explore the limits.  Times were pretty good. The new surface seemed not to be slippy at all and all agreed we could do better.

Sure enough, on the second practice run all the times were quicker.  Chris, who was recording the times for the handicap spreadsheet, decided that we should now declare that this was the first timed run for the Championship. This was in accordance with the rule decided at the annual Drivers Meeting last autumn. The purpose of this is to record a time in the dry before conditions may deteriorate and times become slower. This has often occurred at various venues, including Shelsley in the past.  Today the weather held good and dry, nevertheless Alan and James A had just recorded their best times for the day.

The Morgans were in Batch 1 and 2 of six batches.  After us there were a majority of full on racing cars, and they did seem to attract more than their fair share of red flags and taking a long time to clear. Probably because of this, Batch 1 and 2 were given their third run before lunch, skipping the other batches.

More improvement for most of us, with Chris and George very close on handicap.  Michele and James W were also pretty close.

After lunch it was all down to the last run.  James W, Chris and George improved and recorded their best times. We all agreed that the new surface was much better and all had enjoyed a good day of sport.

On handicap Chris had just pipped George by 0.58%

Michele beat James W on time, but James W was ahead on handicap.

So the final results were:

1          Chris

2          George

3          Alan

The MAC awarded splendid cut glass cups for the first two positions.

As we packed up and drove away, a few drops of rain began to descend … good timing!