Sporting Directors Report

May 2024

Well the 2024 MG National Meeting at Tamworth was a great event & well done to MGCC Sydney for doing a great job running the event over the Easter weekend.

Great to see the biggest contingent from our club in quiet a few years attend & compete in all events & achieve great results.

Norman Richardson MG TC finished 1st in the Motorkhana, 1st Lap Dash , he also man-aged 3rd in the Concours. A quick look at our records by Steve Jones revealed that this was the 13th National meeting that Norman has represented the Hunter Region Club, well done Norman a great result.

Austin Blanch in his MGB GT finished 1st in MGB GT Mk1 & Mk11 in the Lap Dash event driving the wheels off the GT ( the only way Austin knows to go). Austin also managed 2nd place in the concours.

The adjacent (above) photograph has both Norm in his MGTC and Austin in his MGB GT out on the lap dash track.

From the left: Jason Edwards TD (South Australia), Norman Richard-son TC (Hunter), Peter & Delia Rayment TC (Qld), Matthew Magilton TF (Vic) Lap Dash competitors 2024 at Oakburn Park. Photo by Imogene Magilton.

Bev Jones in the MG Midget once again showed that the ladies can get out there and mix it with the guys placing 3rd in the Motorkhana, 3rd in the Lap Dash and with a 1st in the concours.

Well done Bev.

Steve Jones MG Midget Super Special placed third in the Motorkhana, 2nd in the Lap Dash, 2nd Concours & third outright in the Lap Dash.

Great to see Steve has got the race Midget sorted after being plagued by a few issues over the last couple of years.

I decided to take my “MGF” to the Nat meeting because I still haven’t got the “B” to where I want it. l must say I had a great trip over and back. I also appreciated having ABS brakes as well as power steering on the track so I definitely didn’t hold back & gave it heaps.

I decided not to compete in the Motorkhana (as did Austin Blanch ),after seeing the loose gravel on the airstrip and I didn’t regret my decision.

I finished up 2nd in the MGF class in the Lap Dash, 16th outright & 4th in concours.
I was pretty happy with my results & the way the car went considering it was a last minute decision to take the “F”.

Club members also performed well in the concours & touring ( Discovery Run )
Congratulations & well done.

Special mention must be made of Grant & Louise Leddie for their outright win in the Discovery Run, they must be happy with that.

I believe Andrew Gowans is doing a report on the concours & the discovery run.

Hunter Region MGCC finished 3rd in Nuffield Oceania Trophy & 6th in the Wratten Trophy out of 13 clubs.

Other results:

Concours :

Ray Tolcher MGTD 3rd,
Ian Carter MGTF 1st,
Leo Pinczewski MGA Roadster ( single cam ), & MGA Roadster ( twin cam ) 1st. After a big effort by Leo & Frans to get both cars there for the event, well done boys.
Andrew Gowans MGA Roadster ( single cam) 7th.
Grant Leddie MGB Mk 1 push button door handles 3rd.
Alan Wylie MGB Mk II 2nd.
Cindy Dedman MGB Mk II 6th.
Ian Ashton MGB GT BL 1st.
Ken Campbell MGC GT & Roadster 2nd.
Denny Bowden MG Magnette ZA to Mk 4 1st.
Elliot Burns MGY Saloon & Tourer 6th.

Discovery Run :

Pre MGA Elliot and Maryann Burns 7th,
Ray Tolcher & Scott Butler 11th
MGA/ Magnette Andrew Gowans & Anne Pettigrew 1st,
Denny & Kay Bowden 3rd .
MGB/GT/V8 Grant & Louise Leddie 1st, Alan Wylie & William Walsh 3rd.

Well done to all.

Rumour has it that Denny gave Andrew & Anne a couple of clues on the way round the run, moral of this story is don’t tell anyone any thing because they could finish up beating you.

I must say thanks to those who were sitting around at the motel drinking beer & giving advice to Jonesey and I while we were fitting the water pump to Bevs Midget. I think I might have questioned the sanity of the BL engineers on several occasions that night but it all finished well.

One thing about a Nat meeting is that if something fails or goes wrong with your car some-one will always be there to help. While I was helping Steve one of the Queensland guys was helping Cindy Dedman with a problem with her MGB. Also when Bev’s water pump went one of our Victorian friends towed it back to the motel.

Socially the Nat events are great to make new friends & renew old friendships.

At our last meeting I posed the question would it be possible to consider running the 2026 or 2027 Nat meeting, I envisage we would need a committee of 8 to 10 people to organise the event with others helping out when required.

I will do some research over the next couple of months and l was thinking of running it in the Port Stephens area.

I will be looking into Motorsport venues, concours area & also area for a Discovery Run. Any way have a think about it, it may be all too much but let’s have a look at it any way.

Steve Shelley owner & redeveloper of One Raceway track ( formally Wakefield Park) has very kindly offered a 1 hour guided track walk with the team from One Raceway and a sausage sizzle in the corporate garages at the circuit on Tuesday 30th April exclusively for “GEAR” Club members. This will be a great opportunity to check out the progress of the track so Austin Blanch and I will be attending, can’t wait to have a look.

 

Coming Events

Remember drive them don’t hide them enjoy your MG.

Yours in Motorsport,

Gary Piper