DOWN THE PUB
WITH ALAN COOK
60 Essex Classic Clubmans racer
He had a chance introduction “Brian Hunter and his wife Trish, who race in Classic Clubmans, happened to keep their racing car near my office. This was five or six years ago and one afternoon he was out there polishing it. I said: ‘what the hell is that?’ He said it was a Mallock I’d never heard of it. I said: ‘it looks like a go-kart on steroids’.”
He went to his first race meeting “He said they were racing at Mallory Park that weekend and suggested I went for a look. My partner and I went to Mallory and it was chucking it down with rain and I was hooked. I’d not even driven a race car at that point and I’d done nothing at all before that other than a couple of corporate karting days.”
He started with a Mallock “I started by hiring a Mallock Mk23 from Richard Mallock. My first race was at Brands Hatch and I started from the back and spun all over the place. I got used to that and the opportunity for an ‘A’ class car came along, so I took it.”
Mark Charteris is his benchmark “I’ve improved over the five years I’ve been racing. People thought I was mad when I started racing at 55 but I love it. It is such a thrill and the Classic Clubmans are fantastic cars. Rob Manson, who comes across from America to race, and I are at the same sort of level and we have a good time together. We always say that if we are within five seconds of Mark Charteris, we’re doing okay.”
He loves his racing “I’m really enjoying my racing. My main business is in electrical components and when I’m not working or racing I do enjoy the occasional safari holiday. I got back from Namibia in May and raced at Silverstone the following day. But I was always thinking about the racing while I was out there!”
Richard Mallock is key “A friend of ours called Paul King, who is an ex-karter, sometimes drives the Mallock on a track day and he says it is well-balanced and just spot on. That’s down to Richard Mallock’s knowledge and his son Charlie as well. It is a wonderful car to drive and when you are on a dry track on slicks the confidence the car gives you is just phenomenal.”