By Philip Bayne Powell
On Sunday 8th November we ran our third Table Top rally for the MG Car Club and the Inter Register Club (IRC) to which we are affiliated, and who help to fill our Naviscats. Without them these events wouldn’t be viable.
Therefore during lockdown we have been running these Table Top rallies to keep members interested. This was the third TT rally that we have organised this year, and the turnout of 31 entrants was very gratifying, even if only 5 MGs were entered – in virtual mode. The rest of the entrants were from the IRC with Austins, Rileys, Humber and even two Jowetts.
The format was similar to the previous TT rally with 15 sections, of increasing difficulty, starting off with following spot heights, grid line crossings and road numbers. All sections ended up at a spot on the map where a simple question was to be answered to prove the entrants had arrived at the correct place (e.g. a house name or a local activity).
Entrants were divided into Novices and Experts, dependant or their past successes (or not). We had 20 experts, who were mainly returning competitors from previously, and 11 Novices, who had easier instructions, as well as half an hour longer to complete the rally. Experts had two hours to complete and all had a point deducted for every minute late at the end,
The winners were Andy and Do Ranson in an Austin 12/4, whilst the best MG was Howard Skelton with his MGA 1600 in 9th place, next MG was Liz and Keith Cooper in their MG TF LE500 in 18th place.
The team awards showed that the MGCC came 4th behind the Riley, Jowett and winning Austin teams, but beating the Humber team.
Two weeks later the last IRC event run by the Austin Ten drivers Club was their “Nightjar” rally, which this year had to be a virtual event with street Google needed to find the clues. Just two MGCC entries were among the 37 competitors.
However, the overall results of the IRC year showed that the MGCC had come 2nd in the team results – our best ever result. On top of that Rosemary and I managed to come 2nd in the individual results.
The Inter Register Club normally run treasure hunts and scatter rallies throughout the country, allowing the whole country to partake in these relatively easy competitions, which complement those run by our own SE Centre. All MGs up to 1963 are now eligible, as the dates have been opened out.
If anyone wants more information on the IRC events, please contact me on 01483 811428 or e-mail [email protected].
