Expensive sandwich!!!!

In addition to the Healey race at Castle Coombe there was excellent racing in the Fifties Sportscar (Fiscar) series in which 4 or 5 Healey 100s competed, including a genuine 100S. Unfortunately one of the 100s finished in the middle of an expensive sandwich at the notoriously tricky Quarry corner. The Aston Martin DBR1 that was involved is an original ex-Le Mans car. Ouch!!!

[h=1]Austin Healeys star at Castle Combe[/h]By Paul Lawrence on 5 October 2015

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Glorious Austin Healey action was just one of the highlights of the excellent Autumn Classic at Castle Combe as David Grace saw off a fantastic field of 3000s to take a double win.
The annual classic event at the Wiltshire track had really established itself over the first three editions and the 2015 event (3 October) was the best yet as a very big crowd basked in autumn sunshine.
The racing was fast and furious and included lots of crowd pleasing action. Sadly, it was slightly tainted by an accident that inflicted considerable damage on the ex-Le Mans Aston Martin DBR1 of Adrian Beecroft. The four-car tangle at Quarry brought the FISCAR race to a premature halt, thankfully without harm to any drivers.



As a gaggle of Healey 3000s oversteered around, Grace managed to wriggle clear of the pack as Bill Rawles and Marc Campfield completed the podium. Marque expert John Chatham was celebrated by the pair of races and was on hand at his local track to support his sons Jack and Oliver, and their car led the chase of Grace in the second race at the end of the afternoon.
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/historic-racing/austin-healeys-star-at-castle-combe/

[h=1]Sir Stirling Moss's Aston Martin involved in bizarre classic car racing crash[/h][h=2]The Aston suffered serious front and rear end damage when it crashed on lap 10 during a supercars of the 1950s race[/h]

A "priceless" Aston Martin once driven by Sir Stirling Moss was involved in a bizarre racing crash - thought to be one of the most expensive smashes ever.

The Aston Martin DBR1 - worth at least £20million - a classic Jaguar XK 120 and an Austin Healey 100 piled into each other during supercars of 1950s race.

The classic Jaguar XK 120 after the crash Photo: SWNS

Hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of damage was caused after the Aston suffered serious damage when it crashed on lap 10 during the annual "Autumn Classic".

The Jaguar XK 120 is thought to be worth around £100,000 and the Austin Healey 100, between £50,000 and £60,000.

The former "works" car, once driven by Stirling Moss and finished 2nd at Le Mans in 1959, was ignominiously returned to the paddock at Castle Combe, Wiltshire, on the back of a recovery truck.
Now owned by venture capitalist Adrian Beecroft, who has invested in the likes of Wonga, the car featured on a pre-recorded programme on Aston Martins on Sunday night.
"The Aston was built to race and it would be just as much of a tragedy if it was locked away in a museum."
John Moon





The 30-minute race was called to a premature end on lap 12 following the incident at around 3.15pm on Saturday.
John Moon, media relations officer for the circuit, said: "Whilst the accident to the Aston was very unfortunate, to say the least, the fact owners like Adrian Beecroft are brave enough to race their famous and almost priceless cars and provide us with such entertainment, is wonderful.

The rear end of the classic Jaguar XK 120 Photo: SWNS
• Aston Martin unveils James Bond's Aston Martin
"The Aston was built to race and it would be just as much of a tragedy if it was locked away in a museum.
"Thankfully, almost any damage is repairable and no doubt the car will be returned to its original state very soon. The main thing is no-one was injured."

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uk...-Martin-involved-in-bizarre-racing-crash.html

Classic Healeys and Astons being bent and damaged ....... I'm suffering palpitations just looking at the pics .....

Is it a 100S? it has the regular 100 grill, and if you notices the valuation - doesn't seem like 100S money, I would have thought a 100s would be worth a lot more than 50-60 k pounds. Either way a very expensive crash, would sure hate to be the one who caused it.....

I think this may be the incident. Looks like an XK 120C spun and the other three cars had no where to go:

And for something more pleasant, the Healey Invitation Challenge Race:

The compilation video from the Healey race was filmed at Quarry Corner, the scene of the major smash. Lots of fans congregate there as it usually provides for some interesting moments. The cars approach the corner by cresting Avon Rise where the steering goes very light just before the fast, double apex corner.

The Healey that crashed was not the 100S. There was one 100S in the race and it is an original with lots of well known, period racing history.

Although the Aston is worth millions, the bodywork is only aluminium which can be beaten out and patched just the same as with a much less expensive car. The repairs are not going to cost 'hundreds of thousands of pounds', although it is still a very costly and unpleasant incident for all three drivers. My sympathies are with them.

Congratulations to 18 year old Jack Rawles, son of Healey racer/restore Bill, for his pole position and second place in his first ever Healey race. He received the Driver of the Day award.

I race pretty actively in Vintage events up and down the East Coast and in contrast to UK club racing it is a rare thing to see a Big Healey on the grid much less at or near the front of the pack. Rich Maloumian of the Philly area drives a very fast 100 and is a frequent Group 3 winner. I see Jon Einhorn less often but he usually does well.

It is great watching these vids of UK racing and in the case of the All-Healey events at least we know that a Healey will win!

Here is a video from inside Jack Rawles' car

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=aHtS-DMhdjo

...and some excellent race photos from AH Spares.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahspares/