RUSTON & HAYLOCK TAKE SECOND CONSECUTIVE TOURING WIN
OVERALL TOUR BRITANNIA HONOURS TO WOOLEY/SMITHIES
SHELDON & STEVENS WIN THE PRIZED PRE-1965 CATEGORY
The final leg of the 2006 Tour Britannia provided thrilling action to the finish, with just seconds separating crews as they headed into the closing two competitive sections. In the Competition category, Bruce Stapleton and Alistair Cowin led each leg and maintained their advantage to the finish line, winning by just 13.4 seconds after four days of intense competition. Seasoned competitor John Ruston, navigated by Jeremy Haylock, claimed their second consecutive victory in Touring-Regularity, while the overall Tour Britannia Trophy, based on Index of Performance, was one of the closest fought battles of the week. Ultimately, Eric Wooley and David Smithies reigned supreme, but claimed the trophy by just one second.
Today’s closing miles of Tour Britannia opened with a reverse run at Arbury Hall before the final set of regularity tests and races at Mallory Park. In Competition, the Austin Healey crew of Eric Wooley and David Smithies won their race, while John Grant - in the Chevron B16 - won the second grid. However, the Morgan +8 crew of Stapleton and Cowin set the pace during the week and took victory over John Sheldon and Lesley Stevens by a slim 13.4 seconds. The Lotus Elan duo, however, won the prized trophy for pre-1965 cars. Third position in Competition went to Wooley and Smithies, while the top six was rounded off by the husband and wife teams of Nick and Mary Faure, and Arnold and Melanie Meier, and Roy Stephenson/Peter Robinson in fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.
The Touring-Regularity category was again won by John Ruston and Jeremy Haylock, the crew also winning the inaugural 2005 Tour Britannia. They claimed a one minute 30 second lead over Mark Berger/Robert Newton, while the Belgian AC Ace Bristol crew of Marc Vandendijk and An de Reymaeker finished third. Rookies Colin and Amelia Goodwin finished a fine fourth in a Porsche 911.
However, overall Tour Britannia honours went to Eric Wooley and David Smithies in an immaculate Austin Healey 3000 Sebring. Even so, they had to fight intensely for the win, as Bobby Bell and Oliver Harris were hot on their heels, just one second adrift in second overall. Third position went to the Meiers in the Ferrari Daytona Competition.
Commenting on the success of the 2006 Tour Britannia, Sporting Director Fred Gallagher said: “Both Alec (Poole) and I are delighted with the competitors’ reactions and it was great to see a fight to the finish, particularly for the Tour Britannia Trophy. We’ve made a great improvement on an already strong route and the social side was once again a very great feature of the event. It also helped that the sun shone virtually throughout!”
QUOTES FROM THE CREWS
#1 John Ruston/Jeremy Haylock (GB/GB) – Porsche 356 Carrera“One again it has been absolutely superb. Tour Britannia is now equal to all the top European events and many people are foolish to have missed it.”
#2 Marc Vandendijk/An De Reymaeker (B/B) – AC Ace Bristol“A very nice event, quite tough, but a very good road book and well organised. My husband liked it a lot; the circuits were good and we will try to find more friends to enter next year.”
#3 Mark Berger/Robert Newton (GB/GB) – Bristol 401“The whole event has been a wonderful release from the sad reality of daily drudge. Today was a nice and gentle end and it’s good to have that. Hopefully we can bring a friend next year. In a word; wonderful.”
#4 Anthony Moody/Justine Moody (GB/GB) – Aston Martin DB4 GT“I wasn’t easily convinced when John Ruston tried to persuade me to enter. I wasn’t sure it could provide the same attributes of lovely countryside and good circuits; but he was absolutely right.”
#7 Colin Goodwin/Amelia Goodwin (GB/GB) - Porsche 911S“We’ll be back next year, doing it property, having practised the road regularity sections. We realised we had concentrated on the wrong things. Next year we’ll also have a second stopwatch! We wanted to win and next year we will. It’s been great, with a lovely atmosphere and we’ve really enjoyed it. John Ruston also shared a lot of knowledge, which really helped. I don’t think we’ve ever enjoyed getting up at 05:30 hrs so much! Nor did we think Warwickshire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire had such beautiful scenery. It’s been fantastic, we’ve enjoyed it so much and it’s such accessible fun.”
#33 Bobby Bell/Oliver Harris (GB/GB) – Austin Healey 3000 MkII“It’s been absolutely tremendous with impeccable organisation and no traffic agro. Excellent food throughout and a very social event; super and beautiful countryside.”
#34 Michael O’Shea/Colin Bowler (GB/GB) Fiat Dino Spyder“The Dino only just made it through, it was losing oil pressure, gears and sounding horrid. It’s been thoroughly enjoyable though with a good mix of stages and circuits. A very well organised event and my co-driver particularly enjoyed the food!”
#39 Eric Wooley/David Smithies (GB/GB) – Austin Healey 3000 Sebring“We had a real drama going over the cattle grid at Arbury Hall; it took the exhaust clean off. It was all a bit manic, but we managed to fix it in service. It’s been really good though; we’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. We expected to finish somewhere in the top 10, so this result is fantastic for us; we had the important second! It’s a great event; we’ll definitely be back again.”
#40 Robi Bernberg/Steve Winter (GB/GB) – Porsche 911“As I said last year; motor racing as it should be.”
#41 Charles Reynolds/John Day (GB/GB) – Alpine Renault A110“It was a fantastic, great fun race and we’ve loved it.”
#47 Diego Meier/Sarah Meier (CH/CH) – Ferrari 275 GTB/C“We’ve had a great time and the weather’s been perfect. Apart from the damage to the car on the first day, all has been very good, the organisation has been excellent and everyone so helpful.”
#50 Steve Tandy/Ian Tandy (GB/GB) – Ferrari 275 GTB“It’s been an excellent event, we’ve enjoyed it and it’s been fabulous. The car jumped out of first gear at the start of the race, but it didn’t affect the overall result.”
#51 Bruce Stapleton/Alistair Cowin (GB/GB) – Morgan +8“The event’s been fantastic. I’ve done the Tour Auto, Tour España and Cento Ore and Tour Britannia had a lot to live up to. But, for only its second running, it’s really pretty amazing. People would tell you it’s impossible to run something like this in England, but it’s been fantastic. How we managed to get round Coventry at 5pm without any problems… the route has been perfect. We’ll certainly be telling everyone about the event.”
#63 Doug Allen/Richard Lugg (USA/GB) – Ford Mustang 289Following their accident yesterday, Doug Allen joined the crews at the prize-giving and Richard Lugg, having broken two ribs, has been discharged from hospital and returned home.
#64 Simon Hope/Monty Mountford (GB/GB) – Ford Mustang“We didn’t finish the race, the same problems as yesterday where the car just dumps the water out after a certain number of laps. But the event has been very good and there are a lot of things to commend.”
#65 Roy Stephenson/Peter Robinson (GB/GB) – Ford Mustang“We were looking for a stable finish so with sixth we’re really chuffed. It’s been a great week and we’re now looking forward to a beer!”
#67 Richard Lloyd/Alan Rivers (GB/GB) – Chevrolet CamaroThe car failed to start for the last race.
#71 Nick Faure/Mary Faure (GB/GB) – Porsche 3.0 RSR“It’s a wonderful event, 5 stars. The route has been excellent and the company even better. The whole thing has been lovely and another improvement over last year. All the boxes get ticked for us and it would be lovely to have another 20 cars.”
#76 John Sheldon/Lesley Stevens (GB/GB) – Lotus Elan“Mallory was very enjoyable; it’s lovely to be back here – 30 more laps though please! It’s been a great week, we’ve really enjoyed it.”
#78 Howard Redhouse/Mike Haigh (IRL/GB) - Shelby GT350“Another fantastic event and another step forward from last year. Very enjoyable and a lovely family feel.”
#80 John Grant/Nick Reynolds (GB/GB) – Chevron B16“I’m so pleased I came and it’s been a useful development exercise to see about doing it next year.”
