With all our UK rounds now complete, your Adams & Page Swinging 60s Group 2 representative, Ian Everett, takes a personal look back on the 2023 season.
Photos by Ian Everett
Well, 2023, what a year for Swinging 60’s ?!
Group 1 has been very popular this year with maximum grids and reserves at most meetings. The addition of the Lackford Midgets and Sprites to the CSCC fold next year boosts our numbers yet further and gives some of you a great opportunity for additional races, at half price.
Group 2 has been lower on attendance this year – if half those who have registered for the series came to race, there would also be reserves at each meeting. The cars are spectacular on full song I think back to listening on the pit wall this year, to Mark Campbell’s 6- cylinder TR5, Stephen Pickering’s V8 Tiger, Dean Halsey’s Datsun 240Z, & Mike McBride’s MGCGT. We have a plan for boosting numbers and keeping Group 2 drivers happy next year, more on this in the coming weeks.
Croft was the 20th anniversary celebration for the club and I thought it would be interesting to see what cars were racing in Swinging 60’s two decades ago: Lotus 7’s, E-types, Lotus Elans, Reliant, TR6’s, TVR and Aston Martin.
It's particularly interesting that we have a number of current club competitors that were at that meeting 20 years ago. John Muirhead who still has his Lotus 7 and intends to race it again with us next season, John Leslie still regularly competes in his Sabre 6 and Luke Wos was also competing 20 years ago in a Scimitar GTE, attending this year’s meeting in a Sabre 6.
At Croft we socially got together for tea and cakes – I have never seen so many people at the awards! Thank you for taking part and contributing to the cakes – some worthwhile toil had been in evidence across the country, as homemade delights arrived and were then consumed as rapidly as those driving on the track.
I will arrange Tea and Cakes again at some point next season, where we can involve friends and family. Talking of which, it's great that we have some team-mates and family members attending the awards, to cheer you and your fellow competitors on.
I think highlights for me this year, were the cheery atmosphere at the awards in Croft and the camaraderie at Anglesey at the 24hr meeting. It was great being involved with the 4 race format, thank you to Richard Merrell for sharing his Pizza oven, the glow of the race car lights across the mountain and the dusk and dawn light over the sea with Snowdonia in the background as a backdrop… just brilliant.
Winners and their teams at Anglesey 24hr meeting this year.
At Brands Hatch I thought the lunchtime pit walk on the grid was great, involving friends and family on the grid and the Morris Dancers turned some heads too.
Donington was miserable due to the wet weather but those that were competing made the most of it – I think I did 16,000 steps that day, dodging the rain mainly but it was still a good meeting. I missed our usual trip to SPA but I am looking forward to going back again next year.
The Dinner Dance is on the 18th of November at The Chesford Grange Hotel in Warwick, with current Touring Car driver Jake Hill as the guest speaker this year, and the AGM is the following day, at 10.30am.
Thank you all for the support you have given the club and each other, look out for exciting news over the coming weeks, nothing radical, don't worry.
Ian
Comments