Healey Sport is the motor sport centre of the Austin Healey Club UK and co-ordinates the classic racing, sprinting and hill climbing activities in the UK and internationally. It holds regular race events throughout the UK and Europe, including a 14-round championship.
The 2013 championship series is packed with great locations, including Goodwood, Silverstone, Harewood, Brands Hatch, Wilscombe Park and, now, Jersey. The RUBiS Jersey International Motoring Festival takes place from 7 to 9 June and at least six Healeys will be taking part.
Austin-Healey was a British sports car maker, established through a joint venture arrangement set up in 1952 between Leonard Lord of the Austin division of the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and the Donald Healey Motor Company, a renowned automotive engineering and design firm.
The Big Healey was a much-loved car on the rally stages in the 1960s and enjoyed great success alongside its diminutive stable-mate, the Mini. The Big Healey ceased production in 1968 due to US regulation changes (the US was by far the largest market for the car), but the classic brand continued producing the Sprite until 1972, when the 20-year agreement between Healey and Austin came to an end.
Donald Healey left the company in 1968 when British Motor Holdings (BMC had merged with Jaguar Cars in 1966 to form BMH) was merged into British Leyland. Healey joined Jensen Motors, who had been making bodies for the Big Healeys since their inception in 1952, and became their chairman in 1972.
Robert Surcouf, the local organising club president, and himself a Healey competitor, said: ‘This is a fantastic opportunity to drive with these guys who race all over the UK. They have been to Jersey before and keep on coming back. We like to think it’s because of the hospitality and the close racing, and of course we know that they spread the word about Jersey and its motoring festival wherever they go.’
Steve Salmon, the event co-ordinator, said: ‘We look forward to seeing the Healey boys again this year – they are fast, exciting and these beautiful machines add an immeasurable amount to the ambience of the event.’
Nick Crolla, marketing and communications manager for JIMF sponsors RUBiS, said: ‘This is my first year overseeing our sponsorship of this event and I am looking forward to being introduced to classic and vintage car racing and meeting the many supporters and competitors.’
The JIMF was given a major plug in the March issue of Rev Counter, the official journal of the Austin-Healey Club, featuring on the front cover and with two further pages inside. The article stated that those taking their Healeys to Jersey ‘are always made especially welcome’. The moonlight sprints and the two hill climbs are also featured.
