Boness Results 110910

The 2010 Bo’ness Hill Climb Revival meeting was considered a great success by competitors and spectators alike. The weather was damp on the Saturday morning but dried out by the afternoon and was dry and sunny all day Sunday. The track was lengthened by a 120 yard extension to the top end which included a “Snake Bend” chicane and an awkward, bumpy, off-camber right hander just before the Finish line. The total track length was 708 yards. There were upwards of 6000 people packed into Kinneil Estate over the weekend and they all enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and beautiful surroundings. The Classic Car and Bike Show was a huge attraction with a great variety of over 120 cars and bikes on display. The Fly Past by the Avro Vulcan on the Sunday was a sight most of us will not forget.

Mark Riley on his way to FTD in the Creamer-Kieft. Photo John Crae

Practice on the Saturday consisted of three runs; competitors found the track very slippery in places and grip was at a premium in the damp conditions. Most drivers took their first runs very gently to get a feel for the new upper track layout and finishing point. The merits of chicane came in for a bit of discussion but by the Sunday morning everyone was in tune with this particular obstacle but the final bend was still being treated with great respect by most competitors. The off-camber corner had a bumpy approach plus it also had a fairly abrupt gradient change at the apex, resulting in quite a few different styles of cornering as drivers tried to make the most of this difficult bend.
The 500 cc Racing Cars had a fine turnout in Class 15. In a change to proceedings the 500’s were taken down to the bottom of the assembly area before their runs rather than push-starting the cars in the busy crowded paddock. The new arrangement seemed to work well. No less than eight cars were present and seven cars were entered for competition which must have been the biggest competitive gathering of 500’s in Scotland since the mid 1950’s. Mark Riley was the quickest in the Creamer all weekend and comfortably won the Class, closely followed by Alex Brown in the Martin and Richard Bishop-Miller in the Cooper Mk II. David Reid came all the way from Australia to drive the Squanderbug and struggled a bit as the car appeared undergeared for the track. Mike Combrinck was there with his JW500 and despite being the quickest off the line couldn’t match the pace of the Creamer, Martin or Cooper. There was also the fine sight of three Scottish built JP’s running at Bo’ness – Douglas Turner’s and Patrick Riley’s competing and Vernon Williamson demonstrating his newly rebuilt car.

The JP of Doug Turner. Photo John Crae

Patrick Riley's JP. Photo John Crae