The Can-Am March of Ted Williams from the Atlantic Computers championship
Race Retro at Stoneleigh , and also exhibited at the Autosport Show . I got the job of ringing Richard Eyre and asking if we could borrow Janine Payne ’ s Leyton House Group C Porsche 962 .
It was in the February of 2006 that I entered the HSCC offices for the first time . The club was growing and they needed a third pair of hands . Unbeknown to me , my wife and a friend had spotted the job being advertised and put forward my CV . At the time I was working in a frozen food warehouse , doing 12 Hour night shifts . I met Grahame White and was interviewed by my two fellow workers , Martin Atack and Emma North ( now Jemmett ). It was the last day of Race Retro at Stoneleigh
Jonathan Palmer ’ F2 Ralt at Donington when Grahame came onto the stand and told me I had the job and asked when could I start ?
Always a private person , you had to tease information from Grahame , and you also never knew who would walk through the office door . Peter Gethin , Richard Lloyd , Dave Brodie , and David Leslie were among the many visitors . There were times when he would be recounting a tale and I realised I had probably been at the same event . Especially in his Group C years when he was managing the Canon Porsche 962 with Jonathan Palmer as his driver .
Martin left us I think in 2009 and I was no longer the junior and so became the Competitions Secretary . Good or bad , everything was learnt on the job . As the Club continued to grow the closed season got shorter , expanding to three and sometimes four exhibitions in the year . We experimented with running the BRDC Historic Sports Cars but could not develop the track time format for them in our club meetings and they moved to Motor Racing Legends to become the Stirling Moss Trophy . More successful , after a shaky start , was Historic Formula 2 .
Over the years I have met and worked with many wonderful people . The exhibitions were always hard work but fun and you never quite knew who you would meet . To me the exhibitions were the times I encountered the devotion and generosity of Club members . It was also the time when you got to know a little bit more about them . You also discovered the raconteurs . There are so many stories and so many people to thank , I could fill the magazine .
The problem is when you start to mention names , you always manage to unintentionally leave someone out . So I will simply say thank you to everyone who has guided , supported and put up with me through the years .
There have been many great events . I have got to meet many of my personal heroes and entered into a number of places many can only dream about . When you work as closely as we do with the circuits and with the events , you can forget and become blasé about what you do .
From where I sit , I think I have been very lucky and enjoyed the best of times with the Club . These coming years are going to be hard work with so much unforeseen . Unlike Grahame , Andy Dee Crowne the current CEO is very open . He has an interesting and colourful history , peppered with lots of stories , of both the sport and his previous working life . He entered the office anticipating a work pattern that would be easier than his previous career , in a setting that would allow him to expand his enjoyment of his hobby . With all that has occurred in this last three years , it has been something of a challenge . The club is evolving , he has a vision in place , and having weathered some very stormy years , he may yet get to the position he first envisioned .
Clubmans in 1980 from the Woodcote grandstand at Silverstone
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