Bentleys at Bo’ness, August 8th 2008
After a gap of nearly forty years a small hilly stretch of tarmac in the tiny village
of Bo’ness near Edinburgh shook to the sound of an eclectic mix
of classic cars on the 9th August. The short hillclimb has been revived due to the hard work of an eleven strong
committee chaired by Tom MacMillan and with the help of the local council (imagine that?).
In its heyday the
Bo’ness hillclimb attracted 10,000 spectators would show up to watch driving legends such as Stirling Moss, Jim Clark
and Jimmy Stewart . This year the cars ranged from single seaters including a magnificently hairy GN Spider through more modern
fast road Porsches and Lotus as well as six Bentleys.
Turning a wheel in
anger for the first time was Nita Ewart in her MkVI special with husband Fraser needing two extra cylinders and a turbo and
to go just four seconds quicker in his own MkVI. Mind you he does carry a bit more ‘ballast’…. Willie Robertson
also hammered up the hill with his MkVI special making a lovely noise from his sparingly silenced pipes!
Vintage honours went to Jock Mackinnon in his 3 litre beating
off stiff competition from Brian Hopkins in his 4.5 and Mike Smith in
his 3 Litre. Jock was also quicker than a lot of modern machinery including a hot Mk2 Escort and a several Lotus Elans. Unhappily
it seems that every time Sebastian Welch takes his 3 litre North of the border
it misbehaves and this weekend was no exception. A suspected cracked block meant his car didn’t make it to the start
line but he did thanks to the generosity of Fraser who lent him his rally prepared Humber Snipe.
Quickest Bentley
results by each driver were:
Fraser Ewart (MkVI Sp.) 23.76
Willie Robertson (MkVI
Sp.) 25.36
Jock Mackinnon (3) 26.71
Brian Hopkins
(4.5) 27.27
Nita Ewart (MkVI
Sp.) 27.30
Michael Smith (3) 29.35
FTD went to a tidy Chevron B16 with a time of 21.71 – but
that GN was only three tenths of a second behind!
Hopefully the event
will be bolstered by even more Bentley entrants next year. Hill climbing is a great way to taste some of the excitement of
circuit racing but for a lot less money (Yes I know I didn’t compete this year but that was due to a cock-up with an
expired competition license!) Next year my own ex.Wilton 3 litre –‘R’type saloon would have been back on
track after an absence of 30 years, I promise!
For a full list of
results click on to www.bonesshillclimb.org.uk
