British Columbia Historic Motor Races

September 16, 2018

Posted: September 16, 2018

Vintage Road & Racecar magazine – The International Authority on Classic, Historic and Vintage Racecars and Roadcars – has published a report on our favourite race by our favourite photojournalist, Brent Martin.

“The 31st running of the B.C. Historic Motor Races (BCHMR) once again took place at the Mission Raceway Park Road Course in Mission British Columbia, under hot and smoky conditions due to the over 500 forest fires burning all over British Columbia. 93 vintage and historic racers from B.C., Alberta, Washington and Montana all came together for the two-day event put on by the Vintage Racing Club of B.C. (VRCBC).

There were four race groups this year ………. ”

You can read the rest of Brent’s article here; thanks to Vintage Road & Racecar and (as always) thanks to Brent.

August 29, 2018

Michael Deilke (1969 BMW 2002) and Dennis Repel (1974 Camaro) leading this section of the Closed Wheel grid to the green flag for one of the starts at the 2018 BC Historic Motor Races. – Brent Martin photo

Updated: September 16, 2018

The latest edition of the BC Historic Motor Races was a great event. The weather cooperated – although there was a persistent haze due to forest fire smoke, there were many full grids with excellent racing throughout, many enthusiasts participated in the Field of Dreams car show and parade laps, and our ‘charity of choice’ the Mission Hospice Society raised a lot of funds to support their work with children.

Ann and Al Ores in the Pre-Grid at the 2018 BC Historic Motor Races – Brent Martin photo

One big highlight of the weekend was the celebration of 50(!) years of racing by Al Ores, BC’s most admired, respected and loved road racer. Formula Vee racers came from everywhere to participate in a race in his honour, and to have a lot of fun at his expense at the Saturday night dinner.

Ian Wood demonstrating Dann Boeschen’s 1966 Porsche 906 at the 2018 BC Historic Motor Races. – Brent Martin photo

We were also very pleased to have Dann Boeschen bring his beautifully restored 1966 Porsche 906 for paddock display and demonstration laps by local veteran Ian Wood and former Porsche factory racer Kees Nierop. This very car had raced at the legendary Westwood track in the sixties in the hands of Lew Florence.

Guest of Honour John Randall cuts the ‘racer tape’ in front of Dann Boeschen’s Porsche 906 to officially open the 2018 BC Historic Motor Races. Dann (L) and the VRCBC’s Tom Johnston (R), a member of the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame, assist. – Brent Martin photo

Our 2018 Guest of Honour, another Westwood legend, retired racer John Randall, was all smiles as he watched one of his favourite racing cars of all time in motion again.

The full weekend’s results are available on MyLaps Race Monitor (here).

Check out some of Brent Martin’s photos of the action below. There are even more on his web site for both Friday Practice Day / Saturday  (here) and Sunday (here).

Update: We have links to even more photos from three other guest photographers.

  • Ken Ballweg (simple registration required): here
  • Alwyn Slabbert: Closed Wheel (here), Open Wheel (here)
  • Stephen Frye: Closed Wheel Group A (here), Closed Wheel Group B (here)

Thanks guys; great photos – much appreciated!

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November 4, 2017

Posted: November 4, 2017

Probably the best story at the 2017 BCHMR was the reunion of local racing legend Laurie Craig with the Corvette Sting Ray in which he won the 1966 Player’s Pacific at Westwood. Laurie hadn’t seen or heard of the car since he sold it in 1967. David and Stephanie Lambdin had no idea of the history of this ‘Vette when they bought it – sight unseen – in Anchorage of all places!

The story of how David and Stephanie did all of the research, eventually tracked down Laurie and then were able to get the Corvette to Mission (just!) in time for the BCHMR is worthy of a Hollywood movie script! And you can read all about it here.

Laurie had a chance to do some demo laps in his favourite racing car with David in the passenger seat. It was a great experience for everybody and we were very pleased to be the ‘host’.

 

October 2, 2017

A proud(?) Tom Leeming poses shortly after being awarded the Battered Cup in recognition of his dismal luck at the 2017 BCHMR. The guilty party, Tom’s beautiful 1973 Alfa Romeo GTV is trying unsuccessfully to hide behind him. – Roger van der Marel photo

Posted: October 2, 2017

At every BC Historic Motor Races, the VRCBC awards (probably not the best word for it) The Battered Cup to ‘the driver, car or crew that has suffered the most battering or generally inhumane treatment from the evil spirits of motor racing‘. We have had some very deserving recipients in the past but our 2017 ‘winner’, Tom Leeming has probably set the threshold at a new height (or maybe it is depth?).

The 2017 BCHMR was to be Tom’s first time at the Mission Raceway Park Road Course and he thought it would be a good idea to enter the Friday Practice Day to learn the track before the racing started on the weekend. So he drove the 1,260 km from his home in Ennis, Montana to Mission and was ready to go first thing Friday morning. However, after only a few laps, his Alfa’s engine began overheating. A quick diagnosis identified a blown head gasket and possibly more serious issues that could not be fixed in time so Tom loaded up the trailer and headed back the 1,260 km to home, never even having had the chance to ‘turn a lap in anger’.

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