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Reporting from the Other Side of the Barriers by Graeme Cocks
Things started to go badly for me driving to scrutineering at Welshpool. Silverwings was
getting very hot — more than usual, anyway. The old girl needed a litre of coolant. No real
problem there, I thought. These things can happen when the thermostat sticks.
However, upon arrival in Albany for the 80th Anniversary Albany Classic, I took the car off
the trailer and it soon became obvious that something was seriously wrong: oil like grey
house paint, drops of red water coming out of the exhaust, and only about four plugs firing.
Head gasket fail. My fault, I should have pulled the plugs and checked the oil one more time.
Up at the hillclimb, I delivered the bad news to Ross Oxwell. My first trip to the Albany
Classic with the Chrysler was in 1998 and I
was looking forward to the annual trundle
around Albany. Ross was quick with the
comeback: “Bad luck. I am short of
volunteer officials. Can you help out?”
How could I say no to Ross? He’s been a
stalwart of the club for years, parking his
Riley Special while we are all having fun on
the track. So for the first time I
experienced the Albany Classic from the
other side of the barriers. My job was to be
the pointer to the pits, directing drivers up
GREAT SOUTHERN WEEKENDER
ALBANY CLASSIC 2016
Brad Peters saving tyre wear in his
Cortina GT
Rod Quinn three wheels the
Alfa Romeo GTV 2000