Battle of Britain

Issue—August 2017

In this Issue………….

20 Years of the Northern Saloon and Sports Car Championship &

50 Years of Formula Ford

BATTLE OF BRITAIN

New CollaboratioNs ◊ the Future ◊ a look baCk www.darlington-motor-club.org.uk Darlington & District Motor Club l August

50 Years of Rallycross 1967—2017

2 Newsletter l August

Chat From the Chair……...

APOLOGIES.. ….. I guess you have probably been thinking we had missed posting you a newsletter. Well here goes with the apology, the club has been having some problems getting the newsletter produced so we have put together a lighter version to bring you up to date. The printer has now been installed in its new home, so hopefully we will soon be back to every couple of months. Sorry that we have let you down, but I hope that you enjoy this offering. Thank you for your patience.

A GOOD CAUSE…...

Darlington & District Motor Club has always supported good causes and at the last NSSCC race at Croft we asked 2016 NSSCC champion Martin Whitehouse to present a cheque to these good causes.

Martin was delighted to help out with this task, especially when he found out that he would be handing out two cheques for £700 each.

The first cheque he presented was to George Morrison for the charity that is researching into the condition Glycogen storage Disease which he has to manage on a daily basis. Without corn flour several times a day, George could slip into a coma and die. His treatment is no longer available on prescription. We wish him well and look forward to seeing him at Croft in the future.

Martin then moved on to present the second cheque to Prostate Cancer UK. This money will help towards research into the causes and hopefully will help to find a cure for this terrible illness. As many of you will know, David Cox has had a battle with this illness as have other members of the club. Thankfully David and the other guys have recovered and wish to do what they can to support this charity. A representative from Prostate Cancer UK was able to attend the meeting and collect the cheque from Martin.

3 Darlington & District Motor Club l August

THANK YOU……

Thank you to everyone for your generosity, we will be holding raffles again this year to raise money for more good causes. If you would like to nominate a charity please get in touch, it will be considered by the committee.

COMING UP……

We are all busy getting ready for the Battle of Britain meeting, entries for NSSCC are coming along nicely with many drivers signing up for the Battle of Britain Trophy races.

So who is going to take custody of the BOB trophy for 2017 from Mike Cutt, the winner in 2016, we look forward to finding out.

The BBQ on Saturday night will see DDMC going back to basics with Steve Gibson, Craig Hope, John Travis and Mick Starkey taking to the BBQ to supply the steaks or chicken to meet your orders. We are limited to the numbers we can serve so if you haven’t sent your order in get it posted asap. We have organised the marquee, and a disco, you need to bring your own drinks and a good sense of fun. We are looking forward to a good weekend racing and a great evening celebrating DDMC and it’s great members.

Kindest regards Lesley

4 Newsletter l August

NSSCC Championship Standings

So as we approach Rounds 11 & 12 of the NSSCC championship we thought wed give you a little peek at how the 20 YEARS current standings are shaping up. Can our current championship leader Mark Leybourne hold on to first place ? with 4 rounds to go and Scott Hubel hot Can you believe that our championship on his heels anything can happen. has reached its 20th year. It is amazing to So Stay Tuned think that it started from a bit of a brain For a full breakdown of our current wave by Terry Wright. Terry and Mick had standings please visit the NSSCC section of the DDMC website. been sharing the Fiesta competing in the

XR2 challenge; to say it was unfriendly is Class No Name Points the understatement of the century. At A1 70 Eduardo De Sousa 172 that time Terry was the car sports secre- 41 Stuart Carr 130 tary for DDMC, so he decided that the 00 Andy Robinson 128 A2 12 Scott Hubel 216 club should organise a championship that 7 Alan McPherson 122 was going to be competitive but fun. 52 Jack Harper 46 However the MSA at that time would not B1 8 David Botterill 172 allow a championship to be formed until 19 Kirk Armitage 158 38 John McCullagh 124 you could prove that you could provide B2 31 Gary Bowers 183 decent grids. He gained the sponsorship of 30 Paul Lightburn 159 PDS Colour Print who sponsored the series 4 Paul Taylor 83 C 83 Lee Underwood 174 for the first two years from 1997. 25 Bob Claxton 80 72 Carl Chambers 46 D 55 Dan McKay 198 With the start explained come along to 85 Clive Cooksey 119 the Battle of Britain meeting to find out 11 Stephen Robinson 78 E1 5 Neil Finnigham 174 more, hopefully some of our former 75 Jordan Lowing 43 champions will come to the meeting. We 59 Damien McKay 21 are intending to give you the full history E2 77 Mark Leybourne 222 with pictures in the next newsletter so 22 Simon Mayne 155 63 Kyle Murchie 126 watch this space. H 29 Andy Wilson 21

5 Darlington & District Motor Club l August

NSSCC Round Up

Terry Wright

BUSY BUSY BUSY….. Its no wonder the roads are busy at Easter - and they certainly were on Good Friday on the M6. Fortunately most of the traffic was heading North whilst we were heading South to Oulton Park for the opening rounds of the NSSCC. With the biggest grid of the weekend and supporting the British GT and F3 package it was an interesting weekend particularly with competitors in other races throwing themselves at the scenery. Both our races went well with only an unfortunate Green Flag accident marring the day. But DDMC wasn’t just at Oulton Park. Back home at Croft Circuit Craig, Kerry and team were busy with the DDMC organised British Sprint round whilst others were at Lydden Hill (British Rallycross) , Silverstone (WEC) and Donnington Park (BTCC). In fact we had all the major events of the Easter weekend covered. Not bad for a ‘small amateur’ Club!

CHECK THE WEBSITE….. Over the weekend I managed to get photos of all our NSSCC competitors that were entered and these are now on our website in the Picture Galleries (2017 NSSCC) and the rest will be added as they come out to play. Its worth checking the site reg- ularly as we endeavor to keep it up to date. For example, Marshals can find the availability form in their section whilst the dates and results appear in the Trials section. The NSSCC and British Sprint results appear in the relevant sections. If there is anything you cant find just Ask !!

6 Newsletter l August

BACK ON TRACK…..

Moving on to Croft and another excellent weekend (despite the attitude of the Cir- cuit Security) with a fine entry. There were a few concerns regarding the proposed new race end procedure but this was amicably resolved with the event organisers. The races had split grids i.e. A & E went off on the lights and B, C, D & H went 10 seconds later on the flag. Lots of close racing ensued as usual with one or two hitting problems.

There was a short break until Mallory Park where the guys continued to wow the spectators with close racing and a couple of whoopsies to keep them entertained. From there we continued on to Rockingham on the hottest day of the year. 33 degrees in the paddock and considerably higher in the cockpit. Not my favorite spectating circuit and certainly not the most pleasant that day with the high temperatures. The Travelling Road Show next hit Knockhill and in both directions! Not as many travelled North unfortunately but changeable conditions livened up the races.

And so we move back to Croft with our own meeting ‘The Battle of Britain’ complete with full blown hospitality marquee and an evening Bar- becue. Hope to see you all there. Terry

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RESCUE UNIT Steve Hill

WHAT HAVE WE BEEN UP TO ?.....

It’s been an interesting year so far for both of the Rescue Units and we managed to pick up a few extra dates along the way, including the bookings for the Hill climb at Harewood. We have also been as far afield as Curborough in Staffordshire, Dunoon in Scotland and various points in between covering rallies, race meetings and sprints. We have future bookings at Kames in Scotland for a sprint, Cadwell Park for a race meeting, four days on the RAC rally and of course DDMC Rallycross at Croft.

A BIG THANKYOU…..

We have confirmed bookings for 63 days covering 31 events and this is all thanks to a small, dedicated crew who have helped extensively throughout the year.

WELCOME…..

We are welcoming 2 trainees to the unit who I am sure will fit in providing they can put up with the bad jokes on the rescue unit !!

THE BAD NEWS……

Unfortunately this year the tour of Mull has been cancelled due to insurance problems – that is one that all the crew looks forward too and hopefully it will be back on the calendar for next year.

FANCY JOINGING US ?.....

We will be having a training day hopefully the second weekend of October, if anyone would like to come and join us or would like some more information about joining the crew please get in touch.

Many thanks to the DDMC committee who have fully backed us in our endeavour to make Motorsport safer for everyone.

Steve

8 Newsletter l August

Craig Hope BATTLE OF BRITAIN

REGIONAL CLUBS COME TOGETHER

WELCOME…..

On behalf of DDMC I am very pleased to extend a warm welcome to Auto 66 racing club who will be working collaboratively with us to deliver our August race program. Auto66 who's members have fond memories of the Battle of Britain commemorative races are excited to be taking part in such a unique event and DDMC are thrilled to have them on board.

So What Does This Mean Going Forward ?

Pending a successful meeting we are looking to confirm a 3 year arrangement between the two clubs securing the BoB race content until 2020, a very exciting pro- spect for DDMC. As many of you may be aware DDMC was faced with an almighty challenge this year following the departure of the North East Motorcycle Racing Club; this along with the alteration to usual bank holiday date made it particularly difficult to secure content. All be it we have faced this challenge head on and have secured this exiting new partnership with Auto 66, I would like to thank all those who helped along the way to ensure the memory of the BoB commemorative race is kept alive and rev- ving.

So What Do We Have In Store ?.....

We have 4 wheeled support from the NSSCC & the Petro-Canada Lubricants Por- sche Car Championship with Pirelli. 2 wheeled support from Auto 66 racing club and 3 wheeled support from the formula 2 sidecars. Sunday will host the Kelvic-bec Battle of Britain Trophy Race. We also have a BBMF icon taking to the sky on Saturday and an aerobatic display from Tom Cassels on the Sunday so not to be missed !!

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Entertainment…..

This year we will be hosting a disco in the marquee, what better way to unwind after a hard days work. It is a ticketed event for which we will be providing a meal and entertainment and all proceeds go towards supporting our NSSCC championship. If you haven't already done so please complete and return the form opposite to secure a ticket, we are limited to 200 so act fast. Marshalls signed on on the Sat- urday are entitled to a free ticket but still need to reserve. BATTLE of BRITAIN RACE MEETING A Look Back at some memories from 2016…...

Newsletter l August



PARTY IN PADDOCK BOOKING FORM

Steak or Chicken £10 a Ticket (includes disco)

7.30 to 11pm SATURDAY 19th August 2017

NAME:

ADDRESS:

POSTCODE:

Steak Ticket(s)

Chicken Ticket(s)

Childrens Sausage

Buns (£2.50)

Marshal Ticket (Free)

Total Tickets @ £10

Total Tickets @ £2.50

Total Amount £ Included

Please make cheques payable to DDMC LTD (all payments must be received with order)

Return to Lesley Starkey, 77 Elizabeth Way, Seaton Carew, Hartlepool. TS25 2AY

Please note we will not be selling any drinks, so please bring your own, but please act responsi- bly

Marshal’s who are signed on and working at the event are entitled to 1 free ticket

11 Darlington & District Motor Club l August

DON’T MISS OUT !!!

12 Newsletter l August

WHATS GOING ON ?

Last Month the committee reluctantly said goodbye to David Botterill who stepped down from the role of Treasurer, our heartfelt thanks go out to him for all of the hard work and support he has offered the club during his time in post.

And a Big hello to Kerry Dartnall who has joined the committee , taking on the role of treasurer following Davids De- parture on a temporary basis until the upcoming AGM.

Dates for the Diary

NSSCC Rounds 13 & 14 at Croft- 16th & 17th September

BTRDA Rallycross Final Round - 5th November

Jack Frost Rally 2018 - 21st January

DDMC Awards, Dinner Dance - 3rd February 2018

Get Involved….

We would very much like to bring you the news you want to hear, so for us to do this we would like to encourage any of our members to get in touch with a fun or interesting story (keep it clean) or submit articles for the newsletter, all we ask is that they relate to the fun and frolics of the DDMC past or present.

Please also remember to post your pictures and thoughts on our Facebook page and share our events as much as possible.

If you would like to get involved or offer assistance in anyway please get in touch and we will find you something to do!!!

A BIG BIG thank you to all of those who support and Follow DDMC.

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As some of you may know Mick Starkey started off his racing in the70’ s and was pretty successful in the North of England. Winning several champion- ships over the years in his trusty Merlyn MK20A Formula Ford. He was fortunate to have a dad (Harry) who was as keen on the sport as Mick, so Harry often dug deep into his pockets to help finance the racing.

Mick started out at Motor Racing Stables at Brands Hatch, his instructors were Ray Allen, the first person ever to win a Formula Ford race, Sid Fox and Tony Lanfranchi. At that time Mick was foot loose and fancy free, living and working in Leeds as an Electrician. He was fortunate to have some sponsorship from the local ATS tyres depot to help him with the costs of the tyres. Mick got a bit of a reputation as a wet weather specialist , which was pretty fortunate living in the north. The northern campionships attracted many drivers from Scotland , inlcuding David Leslie, Bernard Hunter, Stuart Lawson, Norman Dickson etc. Many other drivers dipped in and out of the northern scene on the way up in there carears including some on their way to Formula one, including Derek Daly,Eddie Cheever and Eddie Jordan . Formula Ford was a very successful formula with most meetings hosting two qualification races and then a final, with around 70 entries at each meeting ( and sometimes even more ). The formula also encourage friendships to be forged, and Mick made many friends, some of whom he still sees on a very regular basis

As a former champion, Mick was invited to Brands Hatch in July to take part in the celebrations of 50 sucessful years. The invitation started with an -E mail addressed to the chairman of DDMC from CSSC asking if I knew how to get in touch with Mick Starkey. I replied that as I had been married to Mick for 39 years, then I might be able to contact him. The former champions joined the grid on the Saturday, and much to Mick’s horror he was interviewed for TV. On the Saturday evening, everyone headed for the Stirling suite for a fantastic dinner. Marcus Pye was on hand to interview some of the former construct- ers, teams , engine builders and drivers.

Looking at the grids of the weekend, it is obvious that historic FF is certainly going from strength to strength and looking forward to it’s next 50 years.

Lesley & Mick Starkey 14 Newsletter l August

#THANKSMARSHAL

A CHANGE IS AS GOOD AS A REST

Or is it……… In recent months there have been a number of changes to the way in which Mar- shalls have been supported at our local circuit. Unfortunately not all for the better, is this because we have been complacent in the past or is it purely due to the lack of justification for the changes ? Either way we need to make the most of what we have.

DDMC are fully aware of the changes in circumstance effecting marshalls which devastatingly has lead to the loss of some of our most dedicated team members. DDMC value each and every volunteer that gives up their time to allow us to organise and run our race meetings and we do not want to lose anyoneWE CAN- NOT DO THIS WITHOUT YOU. Unfortunately there is nothing we can do to influ- ence the running of the circuit but we will support you in any way we can, all we ask is that you support us in return YOUR CLUB.

Another big change to hit us this season is the lack of communications regarding final instructions. -In keeping with current economic restraints many clubs are now choosing to go paper free which means you will no longer receive instructions via post, these communications are out there so please don’t feel despondent you are not being ignored. We encourage you to check the website of the organising club for future instructions or if in doubt ask, drop us a Facebook post or an email and we will help out where we can.

PARTY IN THE PADDOCK

We very much look forward to celebrating our 20 year anniversary of the NSSCC championship with all of you that can make it to the Battle of Britain event this month, be sure to reserve your ticket, thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for the outstanding work and effort you put into making all our events the very best they can be.

Please let your hair down and celebrate with us in style

SEE YOU THERE !!!

15 CONTACT US…..

Name Role Contact Tel Email

H: 01429869407 Lesley Starkey Chairperson [email protected] M: 07950248105

Sue Dalton Secretary [email protected]

Kerry Dartnall Treasurer M: 07949095469 [email protected]

Craig Hope Car Sports Secretary M: 07814492134 [email protected]

Carolyn Doyle Newsletter Editor [email protected]

Steve Hill Rescue Coordinator M: 07710131130 [email protected]

H: 01132691997 Bob Wright Marshals Secretary [email protected] M: 07860866935

Graham Sanderson Motorcycle Sports Secretary H: 01740652391 [email protected]

Steve Kell Motorcycle Committee Member [email protected]

Cally Gent Motorcycle Committee Member [email protected]

Car Sports Committee John Travis H: 01642890154 [email protected] Member

Car Sports Committee Mick Starkey H: 01429869407 [email protected] Member

Car Sports Committee Steve Hill M: 07710131130 [email protected] Member

Car Sports Committee Steven Craggs [email protected] Member

Marshals Committee H: 01748830854 Dave Lea [email protected] Member M: 07814592922

Marshals Committee Dave Busby [email protected] Member

Marshals Committee Craig Hope M: 07814492134 [email protected] Member

Marshals Committee Keith Liddle M: 07790693820 [email protected] Member

If you wish to contact any of the above please do so at socially acceptable times