Vintage Racing Club of BC

The Spirit of Westwood Lives On!

March 30, 2012

Michael Zbarsky in the 1959 MGA Twin Cam - Zbarsky photo

Well known MG devotees (and long time VRCBC members) Ralph and Michael Zbarsky have just completed a great trip to Sebring. This year Sebring celebrated the 60th Anniversary of the famous 12 Hours endurance race. As part of this celebration, the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) support race honoured the 50th Anniversary of the last MGA participation in the 12 Hours. A total of 19 different MGAs participated in the 12 Hours over the 1956 to 1962 period. Ten of those cars are known to have survived and eight of them were at Sebring this year.

Michael raced their 1959 MGA Twin Cam roadster (#53) – maybe the last time a MGA Twin Cam will take the Green Flag / Chequered Flag combo at the Sebring track? And Ralph raced their 1967 MGB GT (#60). This former BMC Works Team car has some former ‘history’ at Sebring. (Check out this You Tube video of the 1970 race around the 2:20 mark!) Ralph must have retrieved that wheel because the car is beautifully restored now. See below.

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March 1, 2012

Martin Rudow, the Editor and Publisher of SOVREN’s excellent quarterly magazine, VINTAGE DRIFT has just released the February 2012 issue. It contains a preview of the upcoming season’s events (including our BCHMR in August – click here) as well as the second article in his very interesting, continuing series on the history of SOVREN.

Three of our VRCBC ‘heroes’ also get prominent mention. Gunter Pichler is on the cover (above) in acknowledgement of his 20(!) years of successfully racing the same E-Type. (You can ride with Gunter on a lap of Mission by watching the video on our home page. You can also watch and listen to his E-Type at our 2011 Dyno Day here.) Two other VRCBC stalwarts, Steve Clark (1960 Lola Mk1) and Gil Stuart (1958 Volvo PV444) are also profiled in this issue in recognition of their finishing first and second respectively in the 2011 SOVREN Division One – Vintage points chase. Congratulations guys!

You can get an annual subscription to VINTAGE DRIFT for only $20. Just contact Martin by phone at: (360) 678-7435 or by mail at: Vintage Drift Magazine, 2723 Van Dee Ave., Greenbank, WA 98253,  USA.

 

 

February 20, 2012

Rod Davison applies some finishing touches. - VRCBC photo

.. a lot got done during the SCCBC Work Party at the track on Saturday, February 18th. Check out the SCCBC Facebook page (here) for photos of the work done with tire bundles and on the Timing and Scoring building.

VRCBC Race Director Al Harvey led his team with ‘Penske-like’ efficiency (ruthlessness?) in the building of two new corner work stations. See more photos from Saturday below.

There is still a lot more work to be done before the season opens but the track improvements are looking really good already. The next work party has been called for Sunday March 4th. (Click here for info.) Please volunteer some time if you can.

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February 20, 2012

Very sad news; Robert Currie passed away on February 14, 2012. Robert was a long time Sports Car Club of British Columbia member, one of the original builders of the River’s Edge Road Course, a member of the Race Drivers Committee and a senior race official. The SCCBC has a memorial on its web site home page and is planning a special event in Robert’s honour during this year’s first race weekend on April 14-15.

Robert Currie was a very good friend of the VRCBC over the years and the Club offers it deepest condolences to all of his family and friends.

December 22, 2011

Breaking News from Laguna Seca!

Erstwhile VRCBC members Gayle Baird, Keith Robinson and Al Harvey teamed up with local Formula Vee impresario Bob Williams – who was designated an ‘honourary VRCBC Geezer’ for the day – to successfully finish the ChumpCar World Series ‘Corkscrew Christmas’ race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on Thursday, December 22nd. The still unofficial results show that their ‘No Borders Racing’ Team completed 182 laps and finished in 17th position – out of 36 starters – after 7.5 hours (!) of racing.

It’s not Vintage but it sure looked like a lot of fun nevertheless! Congratulations! We look forward to hearing your ‘enhanced’ stories at the next meeting!