RACE TORQUE
W
hen this edition lands on your doormat, we should be just a few weeks away from our first race meeting of 2021, at Silverstone National on March 20. If so, we will be working hard to ensure that we deliver another COVID-secure event for all our Competitors, Officials and Volunteers. If not, we will continue to bring Motorsport back to our Members as soon as safely possible, so that we can all truly enjoy ‘Safety Fast’! On a positive note, I was delighted to report last month that Championship Registrations have been rolling in, so I would like to take this opportunity to highlight some of the new Competitors that we hope will be joining us in 2021. In the MG Metro Cup, which has seen many a Novice Driver testing their talent over the nearly 30 years that this Championship has been running, we have two new registrations in Robbie Kenning and Ben Young. Robbie will not have too far to travel to the first round from Surrey, whilst Ben will be heading from Lincolnshire and will also be able to enjoy half-price entry fees as he is under 25!
Another young driver that we hope to see racing in 2021, in the MG Midget and Sprite Challenge, is Ambrose Witherspoon, son of Mark. Mark has been racing his Sprite Mk I with us for some time now and Ambrose will be showing him how to do it. Sorry, that should read, Ambrose will be sharing the car with his father! Also registering for the first time in this Championship are Richard Reeve from the Bristol area and Bruce Burrowes from Kent. Another traditional place to start a racing career has been the MG Trophy Championship, with many young drivers moving on to paid racing seats from here. 2021 sees a total of SIX new drivers registering, including an International entrant as they are joined by French Competitor Erick LeFebvre, from a few kilometres southeast of Le Mans, close to the Loire River. Erick describes himself as a “crazy” MG enthusiast, owner of multiple MGs and racer of MGs too! He has previously competed at Brands Hatch, Silverstone and Donington Park and really enjoys racing in single type Championships, including MGF Trophée in France in 1996, 1997 and 1998, MG Metro Cup in 2008 in the UK (twice) and many
RACE TORQUE by Mark Baulch
Ben Young’s Metro being readied for the forthcoming season
races in France in Historic races every year (Mini, MG Metro, Lotus...) He is joined by Josh Bromley from Derbyshire, Andy Heitman and Keith Henley from West Sussex, James Moreton from Norfolk and Guy Tolley from Worcestershire. This would suggest some healthy grids once again in this Championship. MG Cup has also enjoyed healthy grids over the past year, so a new registration from Kevin Burke from Essex in his MG ZR 170 can only mean that we can hope to continue to see some great cross model racing. Which is also true of the MG Cockshoot Cup, which is joined by Gregory Elgood of Norfolk, Richard Johnson of Nottinghamshire and Max Pittock-Holdsworth of Leicestershire in their MGF sports cars as well as South Yorkshireman Tony Ryalls in his MGB GT and Leon Wignall from Lancashire in his MG ZR 160. I am sure that we will be introduced to these Competitors in more detail as the race season progresses, as well as looking forward to more great racing from our established ‘family’. For now, stay safe and well and we hope to see you at a race circuit soon.
Metro’s battle it out at Snetterton last year. Photo: Dickon Siddall
70 SAFETY FAST! MARCH 2021
www.mgcc.co.uk
