VMCC Banbury Run™

58th VMCC BANBURY RUN™  18th June 2006

    Yet again the sun shone on the Banbury Run – but, thankfully, it wasn’t as hot on the Sunday as it had been when the volunteers were working on the Saturday set-up.  This year over 565 members applied to ride their pre-1931 machines; whilst this clearly demonstrates the healthy state of the Club, it is sad to have to send back some of the entries.  It was good to see 130 veterans – machines!!

    This year we had rather more folk drop out before the day and we were able to offer a ride to all the Reserves – although we still find this a laborious process administratively as the majority cancel in the last few days before the event.

    This year the routes used northern Oxfordshire and Warwickshire lanes and were enjoyed by all except those who went slightly astray…….  Peter Corris was unlucky to have a loose dog run out in front of his Sunbeam when slowly passing another event and was taken to hospital for a precautionary check-up – thankfully, he is OK.

    There were 243 entrants in the Timed competition and, at the 4pm Prizegiving , 45 Gold awards and 35 Silvers were presented by the VMCC President David Davies.  The best scores had only a single minute time error at one of the time checks. 

    Sunrising Hill proved to be as much a challenge as ever and we were thankful to have some fit runners there to help push to the top.  There were many changes this year with new Marshals and helpers particularly at the Timechecks and Sunrising – and we thank them all. 

    This year the Banbury Run led the way with two new features:

-         the entire event was “Carbon Neutral” – we used some of our funds to sponsor trees to replace the carbon that was produced…..and there were 37 Scotts being ridden!

-         Chris Foxley brought two of his mobile starter trollies to assist anyone having engine problems and there were some grateful users including one machine that had neither a stand nor a clutch!!

    The full list of Trophy winners is shown below – they also received rather elegant Banbury Run clocks to keep as their permanent award.  It was good to see some new names amongst the winners, Chris Masters was the Youngest Gold award winner – and his first time at Banbury.  Also riding his first Banbury was Fabian Fresson whose 1922 Le Grimpeur Rapide(?!!) 170cc was judged to be of most technical interest.

    Huw Williams was again the rider of the oldest machine to complete the course – 1901 La Tortue and there was a cheer when Val Davies was awarded the Miniature Cup riding her 1924 Diamond – in the Club’s 60th anniversary year.

    The Team award was fought over by 32 teams – but not one team was able to get all three riders within the Gold or Silver award times.  There were 6 teams with only one failing rider and the final judgement went to the Essex Boys - Ian Johnstone, Terry Windsor and Eric Hodkinson - with two Gold awards.

    The route statistics were:

A Route – Veterans          - 34 miles      2 hours 16m        69 Timed, 60 Untimed Riders

B Route – Early Vintage   - 53.2 miles   2 hours 39½m     62 Timed, 82 Untimed Riders

C Route – Late Vintage    - 62.6 miles   2 hours 36½m    112 Timed, 115 Untimed Riders

Route Mileages:       Class A          Class B         Class C

                Start                    0                       0                      0

       1st Check                11.2                 19.7                19.7

       2nd Check               22.5                 39.5                48.8

      Finish Miles               34                    53.2                62.6

    The event was again filmed by CJB Photographic who are able to supply copies on DVD or Video. All classes were filmed during the day including arrivals, car park shots early starters and out on the roads of the Cotswolds. For further information they can be contacted on 01564 703215 or by email cjbphotographic@aol.com.

Dick Hodge – Secretary, VMCC Banbury Run

58^th VMCC Banbury Run™ - Sunday 18^th June 2006

PERFORMANCE & CONCOURS TROPHIES

58^th VMCC Banbury Run™ - Sunday 18^th June 2006

TEAM PERFORMANCE RESULTS

Gold Award = 4, Silver Award = 3, otherwise zero