Aston Martin Owners Club Sprint, Goodwood

My friend Rob has recently bought a 1935 Riley 12/4 TT sprite - which I have to say is about the oldest car I have ever seen outside of a museum. So we had to go race it!

The Aston Martin Owners club sprint day seemed an appropriate first outing for us to give it a run, after we have checked a few things over, added a couple of minor (mostly cosmetic) changes, and got to know pre-selector gearboxes. We started with the track day on the friday, to give ourselves a chance to see how it handled on a track before going up against a clock. The day went very well, no problems with the car except an occasional partial misfire in top gear at about 4500 rpm - and even this seemed to get better as the day wore on.

The day of the sprint, we each had 2 practice sessions - timed on a standing start and single lap. Myself and Rob both drove the Riley faster than any other pre-war car at this stage of the day, but when it came to the timed runs, we were ever so slightly outgunned by the 4.3 litre Alvis (the Riley is 1.5 litres). Rob beat me on his last run of the day (which is just as it should be as it is his car) so he came second, and I came third, with the Alvis taking the win. Great weekend though. Possibly more to come from this little Riley!