Parts Department at Croft

A LONG TIME COMING....

A highlight of the Mallory meeting was Jock Sergison's first win in the 1800 class. This represents Jock's first win in 39 years of competition. To celebrate the end of the wait, there was a special presentation at the first Croft prizegiving. Long-time supporter and mechanic Phil was given an eggtimer.

In order to celebrate the achievement, here are a couple of photographs. On the left, Jock is making his debut in his homebuilt car at Mallory Park in 1972. We assume it would have been Highlander 1. The other picture shows his current Swift mount.

We can't resist a quick story from Ewan which illustrates his Dad's care with funds. Ewan was commenting on his father's parsimonious approach to car building and preparation in the era when he drove his Highlanders. On one occasion he lacked an end fitting for the engine end of his throttle cable. Jock realised that a 13 amp plug contained potentially useful wire clamping fittings, and pressed the earth leg into use as a cable end fitting. However, Jock was not about to ruin a perfectly good electrical plug, so did not remove the clamp from the prong.

At the next outing of the car at Snetterton, Jock put in some very fast laps, faster than he had ever gone before, before arriving at the pits with the brakes smoking heavily. The prong had caught in the air filter and the car was permanently on something near full throttle.

Ewan told this (apocryphal?) story at Mallory just before Jock took his first win, at the time he thought that something similar was needed if his dad was ever going to win a race.

Highlander 1 at Mallory, 1971. Nice moustache	Swift at Spa, 2010.

LOOKALIKES

We were shocked when Googling TinDirect, the Sun vendor company whose name appears on the RF89 driven by Nigel Davers, to see a picture of Nigel looking dapper, and – here's the surprise – NOT WEARING A WOOLLY HAT. We show it below as a matter of record. We also show other distinguished woolly hat wearers, once popular balladier Badly Drawn Boy, and style ikon Compo from Last of the Summer Wine.

Compo	Badly	Nigel	No idea

A SCANDAL UNREPORTED...

The editor was surprised by the events in the 2 litre race: Poleman Jeremy Timms stopped on the outlap with suspension problems. Russ Giles spun – Russ never spins. Steven Griffin lost a wheel. These events are strange and freakish, and for all to happen in one race there can surely be only one explanation – an outbreak of spread betting in Stroud. We await developments with interest, though we note that several cricketers are enquiring about running in Mono next year.

A SERIOUS NOTE ON WHICH TO END

Most of the stuff we put in these Parts Department reports are silliness or gossip. Unfortunately, there's some serious stuff too. However friendly the organising club and circuit staff, some pond life always sneaks in, and so it did at Croft last week when a member had his wallet stolen. It only goes to show that vigilance is always necessary.

Tony Cotton & Patrick Huston