Wet but wonderful Whizz-combe

The GSM Delta was the first that I've ever seen

When I arrived at Wiscombe Park I was amazed to see how cut up the the top field was. Under the trees it's sort of level but the ground was still waterlogged despite recent dry weather and ruts showed vehicles had got stuck and been towed out with difficulty. So we were all crammed into the top paddock and very cosy it was, too!

It wasn't always sunny, though

I met up with my old mate Pete Low who was on the first leg of his holiday to France. He was on his BMW Funduro and I was my Monster Mazda and we were both camping in tents. Friday was very windy and it rained hard. Neither of us got  much sleep. There were rumours around the paddock in the morning that the event might be cancelled but I'm delighted to say that it wasn't. The lower paddock was very muddy and inevitably the start line became covered with clods from competitors wheels. It rained intermittently all through the day but we had some sunny spells and the marshal worked hard to keep the track clean.

This Volvo was sliding all over the paddock at one point. Still looks clean though.

The good thing about the entry list for the Saturday is the variety. We had classic rally cars, old circuit racers, Formula 3 500s, motorbikes, sidecars and VSCC eligible cars that had come early to make a full weekend of it.

Pete and I were immediately attracted to Miss Bacfire. Note the cat.

Eating a squidgy full breakfast bap and getting egg all over yourself has come to be something of a tradition for me and Pete and this year was no exception.

How they keep this car so clean I will never know

On the Sunday even more VSSC cars arrived and the weather improved. The mud turned to dust and it was difficult to say if anyone had been put off by the prospect of bad weather.

 

Pete and I returned from a trip to Beer to find that we'd been boxed in by a motorhome towing a lovely Wolseley Hornet but if he was fine about us slamming car doors late at night then we were fine about him parking cosily. This is what I like about these types of events. You are all there for the same reason and get along as fellow enthusiasts ought to.

This baked earth had been mud the day before

We spent both mornings combing the paddock for Vintage Things and were not disappointed. There was so much to see and plenty or knowledgeable people around to ask if some mechanical contrivance wasn't clear in its function.

This Pic-Pic had an engine so big the exposed valve gear could be seen from the driver's seat 9almost)

This year's autojumble turned up a few superchargers. I was very tempted as Kermit originally had one. However, I need to research them more thoroughly and have some other projects to deal with first.

Charming Triumph

Pete is pondering a GN chassised thingy but to be VSCC eligible it would really need something like a JAP engine and they don't come cheap. Having built his own somewhat specialised trike, Pete is wary of buying anything too obscure or outlandish but the BAC engine in Miss Bacfire intrigued us greatly. Pete need something cheap, fast and eligible and we discussed this topic throughout the weekend without coming to any conclusions, apart from the obvious one.

Neither us really want to merely spectate. We want to have a go!