1969 UAC September Autocross

White Pips Lawther in Autumn Autocross.

This report, with words and pictures by Esler Crawford, first appeared in MotorWeek 4th October 1969.

After a bright start the Ulster Autocross season seems to be dying away with little more than a whimper. Last Saturday the U.A.C. event attracted only 28 entries to do battle on a beautifully sunny afternoon. The reason for the diminishing number of entries may well be due to the amount of damage caused by rough courses during the season but this criticism could certainly not be levelled at the very smooth 700 yard course laid out on UAC Committee man Roy Ferguson’s farm at Greengraves near Newtownards.

In usual UAC fashion the practice session sorted out the running order with heats of four fast alternating with four slow ones. Driving a very fast 1293 Cooper S Tom Lawther was in fine form and created quite a surprise by beating Ronnie White’s 1310 model by a fifth of a second. Thus the pair came together in the first heat but it was White who squeezed that little bit extra out of his car to turn the tables by exactly the same amount with a time of 1 min. 45.8 sec.

Next fastest was David Stewart in the ex-McCartney Scoop with 1-49.2 although naturally enough he did not show the same fire as the original owner. In the next fastest heat Jackie Murray’s VW-Porsche did not sound as if it was being hurried yet, it shared fourth fastest time with Ronnie Mullen’s screaming 999 Cooper in 1-51.2.

Other good times on the first run included Hill Scott’s 1-51.6 after his Escort Twin Cam had seemingly destroyed every marker flag in practice, and the brothers Maurice and Dermot Boyd, sharing a Cooper S, with times of 1-51.8 and 1-52.4 respectively although the latter also had a five second marker penalty.

Isobel Thompson threw her Cooper round in fine style to record a very good 1-53.4: Then she created quite a sensation by clouting C. Fulton’s 848 Mini resoundingly on her “cooling down” lap! However, both cars reappeared with their respective flanks slightly out of shape.

At the start of the second runs White and Lawther again shared the front row of the “grid”. For two laps the pair maintained station just about neck and neck but on the third round Lawther did an enormous “wheelie” and although the car returned safely to terra firma, he was understandably slightly detuned and White’s improved time of 1-43.4 on a much faster track now that all the grass had been rubbed off put the issue beyond all reasonable doubt.

Lawther was 0.6 slower than on his first run so his second place and class win were conceivably in danger. However, he needn’t have worried. The next fastest was Maurice Boyd with 1-47.4 with Ronnie Wilson fourth in 1-47.8 – this pair taking second and third in the class behind Lawther.

Next best was Mullen with 1-48.4, easily a Winning time in the small production car class, and Hill Scott was second in the big class with 1-49.4 to Murray’s 1-49.8. Then When nearly everyone had finished, out came Comber’s own darling boy, Dennis McKeag, looking less than his usual vigorous self after a bout of flu. Although he arrived too late to compete officially, the club sportingly let him have a go and after a couple of practice rounds he got his Twin Cam down to 1-49.8 — 0.4 slower than Scott’s similar car.

F.T.D. – R. White (1310 BMC Cooper S) 1 min. 43.4 sec.

Class 1

1. R. Mullen (999 BMC Cooper) 1-48.4;
2. D. McCullough (875 Sunbeam Imp) 1-54.0;
3. R. J. Kyle (998 BMC Mini) 1-55.4.9.

Class 2

1. T. J. Lawther (1293 BMC Cooper S) 1-45.8;
2. M. Boyd (1275 BMC Cooper S) 1-47.4;
3. R. Wilson (1275 BMC Cooper S) 1-47.8.

Class 3

1. R. White (1310 BMC Cooper S) 1-43.4;
2. W. H. Scott (1558 Escort Twin Cam} 1-49.4;
3. J. Murray (1600 VW-Porsche) 1-49.8.

Class 4

1. D. Stewart (1293 Mini Sports Special) 1-49.2 (only finisher).