1962 Ken Wharton Memorial Driving Tests

Report and pictures by FRANCIS PENN first appeared in Autosport Magazine 14 December 1962.

NI Team takes Trophy home again!

Each year the Hagley & District Light Car Club find a new venue for their now justly famous Ken Wharton Commemoration Team Driving Test Event. For 1962 it was Stourport-on-Severn where, by courtesy of the Directors of Steatite & Porcelain Products Ltd., a unique site was provided, and all was well — bar the weather, which was lousy!

As usual, the organisation, in the capable control of Ron Lowe, was superb, and showed an enormous amount of pre-preparation. Not a hitch occurred, the whole event running to split-second timing. But—and it’s a big but—it was too, too much a television spectacle for many of us, and tended to lose out as a premier motoring event, which, let’s face it, it is!

Please, please can’t we consider televising the same as a normal event, i.e. running all the cars through ail the classes to regain its origin as a team competition of the highest magnitude. Above all, can we bring back Mrs. Lowe’s famous scoreboard for next year? Then we can at least follow the progress, test by test! O.K. Having placed my head on the block, on with the story.

Teams competing were made up of one each, Special, Sports and Saloon cars, and were from:

• Midlands: (1) Malcolm Hazlewood (M.H. Special); (2) Dick Squire (Sprite): (3) H. Livingston (Mini Morris).
• North: (1) T. Gold (Sprite); (2) A. Whatmough (Sprite); (3) Len Gibson (Cooper Mini).
• Northern Ireland: (1) Ian Woodside (Sprite); (2) Paddy Hopkirk (M.G.); (3) Ronnie McCartney (Cooper Mini).
• South-West: (1) D. Holley (R.D.H. Special); (2) Lynton Rudge (Sprite): (3) D. Warren (Mini-Austin).
• Scotland: (1) J. Swore (Cooper-Mini); (2) F Inglis (M.G.); (3) J. McCaig (Mini-Morris),
• Wales: (1) D. Atkinson (T.M.S.2); (2) B. Field (Lotus Super 7); (3) B. Meredith (Mini-Austin).
• South: (1) Don Harris (D.M.F. Special); (2) Ian Mantle (M.G.); (3) B. Greaves (Cooper-Austin).

The competition comprised the following six tests.

No. 1 had five garages to be entered in any order and from any direction, at the end of which the score stood at North, 121.0: Scotland, 125.1: Wales, 125.6. .

No. 2 necessitated a spin turn in a very tight box, complete with forward and reverse manoeuvres in garages and over lines. Score: Northern Ireland, 282.8; Midlands, 289.2; Scotland, 291.0.

No. 3 was a memory teaser, involving just about everything in the driving test manual in which poor S.W.2 (Lynton Rudge) burst a tyre on his Sprite when contacting a kerb at speed and was out! Score: Midlands, 431.1; Scotland, 444.5; Northern Ireland, 447.8.

No. 4 was attempted by sports cars only, and again utilised a box. On this occasion, it had to be “spun” on entry and exit, once ahead and once astern. Again the lead showed: Midlands, 491.4; Scotland, 493.3; Northern Ireland, 496.2.

No. 5 was a scissors over two lines, then entry and exit into two garages placed back to back, with an offset baulk line to be crossed on the opposite side. Score: Midlands, 623.1; Scotland, 628.6; Northern Ireland, 629.2.

No. 6 was the last test, with the contest very open, was again tackled by sports cars only. A double forward and reverse into two boxes, together with a baulk line which could be taken ahead or astern, it was here that Paddy Hopkirk lived up to his reputation as a “great”. His M.G. made a faultless run in 45.6, which was too much for Midlands’ Dick Squire, whose A-H Sprite time of 53.7 meant the trophy crossing the water for the third time by reason of two little marks.

FINAL SCORES

1. N Ireland – 674.8
2. Midlands – 676.8
3. Scotland – 678.7
4. North – 702.2
5. S. West – 755.1
6. Wales – 781.6
7. South – 791.1