Thrills, very few spills and a new venue were the features of the three-day 2018 Speed Festival organised by the Classic, Vintage and Modern Racing Club of Jersey and sponsored by South Pier Marine on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend.
The new venue was Mont Pinel in St Ouen, a 700-metre continually uphill course along a stretch of the main road linking L’Etacq with ‘Hydrangea Avenue’ but with a very sharp turn into Mont des Corvées, itself a significant hairpin bend (so sharp that it is prohibited to everyday traffic), followed immediately by two more before finishing near the entrance to the one-time Battle of Flowers Museum car park.
The weekend attracted 50 competitors racing a very diverse range of motorcycles and cars – from pristine BSA Goldstars to six-cylinder Hondas, from a Vauxhall-engined Mallock hill-climbing special to a spectacular C-Type Jaguar replica.
The Classic Vintage and Modern Racing Club have recently changed their rules to allow newer vehicles to take part and this attracted no fewer than five Mazda MX-5 sports cars – the modern-day equivalent of the Austin Healey Sprite (although there was one of those too) – and all allegedly purchased for less than £1,000 to compete over the weekend.
What was more, every one of them proved to be surprisingly rapid, even though some of their drivers were themselves new to the course.
By design Mont Pinel was a ‘closed event’, with the only publicity being the regular radio announcements that the road was closed on the Friday for motor racing and, being something of an experiment as an entirely new course, no facilities for spectators or any running commentary.
Notwithstanding, the reaction of the riders and drivers was very enthusiastic and it is very likely that, with the generous assistance of the parochial authorities, Mont Pinel will feature again in the annual Speed Festival.
Hill-climbing is a form of motor racing where, although the participants are competing against each other, above all, they are competing against that most implacable of opponents – the clock. Monitoring that clock was in the capable hands of the JMC&LCC timing team, who very thoughtfully provide the commentary team of Peter Tabb and John Robert with a computer terminal giving an instant readout of times – including just how long it took each competitor to cover the first 60 feet!
The Saturday and Sunday events were, as usual, held along Mont de Ste Marie, aka Grève de Lecq Hill, almost a kilometre of sudden gradients, sharp curves, level stretches between low granite walls and a final tightening bend which was the site of the weekend’s only ‘off’ when a competitor found his approach to be too fast and hit the safety barriers, which fulfilled their role completely.
Apart from dented pride, the driver was quite unhurt. The car’s dents, while at first glance substantial, also proved to be less severe than originally thought – another tribute to the design of the safety barrier.
The Saturday hill climb was carried out in ideal weather conditions with a dry course and no wind. Fastest time of day went to Len Amy in his very sleek Vauxhall-powered Mallock with a time of 33.67 seconds, while Lee Le Feuvre achieved a closely contested 36.45 seconds on two wheels in the 351 cc to 500 cc class. In fact, while the Mallock held a clear lead over all other Saturday competitors, Lee fought a constant battle for the bikes’ FTD with Matthew Le Brun and Marcus Bisson. The day saw seven full runs.
The Sunday held the prospect of a day spoiled by inclement weather, with rain being forecast for the late morning and all afternoon. Consequently, the organisers made an earlier start than scheduled in order to maximise the still dry course. Despite the threat, early times matched those of the previous day, with, once again, Len Amy leading the four-wheeled pack and Lee Le Feuvre leading on two wheels.
However, on this day Len had some real opposition in the shape of two rallying Ford Escort Mk IIs driven by Ross Le Noa and Rob de St Paer and a rally-specification BMW driven by Wayne Le Bailly.
As intended, the Escorts provided spectacular competition to the Mallock, with Ross Le Noa consistently nibbling away at the Mallock’s lead. The course is very much like a ‘rally stage’ and the three rally cars added a stunning element to the day’s racing, particularly as the forecast precipitation never materialised and in all there were two practice sessions and seven officially timed runs.
Despite the ever-present threat of rain, Len Amy pulled his time back to 33.19 seconds to record overall fastest time of day, while Lee Le Feuvre again managed to beat off his own competition with an impressive 36.02 seconds.
While the Speed Festival might lack the sheer size and diversity of the Festival of Motoring in June, it has become a very well-established event in its own right and, with the prospect of an exciting new venue to be developed, is surely set for a secure future.
The Classic Vintage and Modern Racing Club pay tribute to their sponsors, South Pier Marine, the parishes of St Mary and St Ouen and the honorary police, the team of visiting experienced marshals, the JMC&LCC timing team, the Normandy rescue team and all those, including the many spectators, who helped make the event so successful.
