1960 to 1969 Sprints - Hillclimbs at Castel Farm - Autocross - The Rally of the Vales

Sprints in the 1960s were not so well blessed as they are now on. In 1960 the club held a sprint at Llandow, then still a huge airbase, on a part of the site well away from the present race track. Amongst the competitors was Tony Boshier-Jones, who competed in the Austin 7 class. Tony was part of a motorsport family which included David Bosher-Jones who was British Hillcimb champion 4 times.
In 1961 sprints were held at Pembrey, the former Spitfire base was by then a chicken farm. Courses consisted of either a straight-line ¼ mile on one course or another short sprint with corners at the top of the airfield. On one occasion the club ran 2 sprints in one month. On the entry list for the September 11th sprint in 1961 was one H Strawford, a regular competitor in a Mini. The club ran sprints at Pembrey from '61 to '63. On 29/9/62 Peter Boshier-Jones driving at Lotus, set the FTD with a time of 30.60 seconds.

Castel Farm From the early 1960s to 1967 the club ran sprints at Castel Farm hillclimb, taking over the running of the venue from SWAC (South Wales Auto Club) when SWAC started to organise racing at the newly created Llandow race track. Castel Farm was situated at Llangynwyd near Maesteg. Based on a wartime tarmac track leading to a now de-commissioned gun emplacement, it was essentially a short straight uphill section.

A dog leg right was later added, but the track ended abruptly straight after the finish, the cars going direct from the tarmac on to the grass paddock!

To illustrate the short nature of the track, in 1965 at the Monday meeting on 7th June Brian Field set the FTD with a time of 25.73 seconds! Nonetheless the entry contained names like Jeff Churchill, John Hopkins and Nicky Porter, all famous in the rally world. Kart were included in sprints from 1964 to 1970.

Autocross In 1964 & 1966 The club held Autocross racing (racing on grass) at the Fairwood Horse Racing Course. The race course was on the site of what is now the Fairwood Golf Course and contemporary photos show a large crowd who were entertainted by such unusual entries as a Humber Super Snipe Hearse!

Run thoughout the 1960s The Rally of the Vales has its own section

Lynn Isaac has photos from Castel Farm on his excellent site http://www.sandspeedwales.co.uk