Autotest Championships
Autotesting owes its roots to the halcyon days of Rallying, where endurance
events with long road sections were interspersed with driving tests. In the
late fifties and sixties, this side of the sport became an event in itself
and is now what competitors and enthusiasts collectively call Autotests.
Prior to this there was a very popular sport loosely termed ‘’driving
tests’’ which were carried out using no particular make or type of car, and
anywhere that would accommodate a couple of dozen traffic cones or similar.
Works car parks were a favourite venue, such as those used for ‘’our’’
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John Mead’s son Charles |
John Mead’s son Paul |
The MSA British Autotest Championship first came into existence in 1969 and
is now in its 39th season. Over this period there have been 22
winners.
The art of Autotesting is the ability to follow a defined route around a set
of markers, with stop astride lines and changes of direction, necessitating
the use of forward and reverse gears. All this is against the clock, so
maintaining the momentum to minimise time loss during the manoeuvres is
essential.
May I add here that in the Healey Championships reversing is avoided due to
lack of synchromesh.
Events usually have four tests to complete, and drivers each get two
attempts at each test. The overall winner of an event is the driver with the
lowest accumulative time.
Awards are also available for the fastest time in each class, so whatever you drive you have a good chance of doing well.
The classes are split into; under and over one litre Spridgets; Big Healeys;
and cars other than Healeys, with an award for quickest lady competitor
also.
The Austin Healey Club SW has been running driving tests / gymkhanas /
autotests for over twenty years, hosted in the main by John Mead at
Wroughton Airfield.
The Wroughton venue was lost to us two years before we sadly lost John.
Since that time we have struggled to keep enough interest in Autotesting at
our present venue, Kemble Airfield.
Despite this situation a diminishing number of us have enjoyed the
challenges provided by the annual series, the resulting times often proving
very close, despite the differences in engine size and type of Healey
employed.
We have set dates for five events during 2009, and will welcome anyone wanting to have some fun in their Healey (or whatever). The dates will be advertised in Rev Counter, and if anyone wishes to find out more and chat about the series, please contact – Mes Edwards ….Tel 01285 740529 / 0776 4429035 or e mail mes.edwards@tubelines.com
