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Post by corsa61 on Jan 28, 2011 0:54:41 GMT 1
Any one got anything to say about this era  ? or ask ? |
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Post by youtubefiend on Jan 28, 2011 13:59:02 GMT 1
I vaguely remember the Midget Autoa Racing Club aka MARC at the start of the 1970s. Wasn't it a designated front engine car group? It got quite a lot of publicity then when it should have made the big UK breakthrough just faded away. Obviously there's a tale between its initial success and rather rapid departure from the car scene at the start of the 1970s. What did go wrong?
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Post by ovaltrack on Jan 29, 2011 9:37:26 GMT 1
From memory there was a Fireball Mk2 (Clive Carter) and Heldley Leyton's car but the rest of the MARC cars were fronts.
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Post by corsa61 on Feb 1, 2011 0:44:44 GMT 1
Sorry mate your wrong Clive Carter share a dastle mk 7 with terry neale and mick avery and the rear engined car your reffering to was a mamba driven by hedley leyton and later appeare driven by john graham and on a couple of occasions by dan hornby and then late in 72 was run by don bray who won a race at coventry in either his first or second race in a midget.
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Post by corsa61 on Feb 1, 2011 0:51:19 GMT 1
M A R C was not front engined at all the Kitchiner Renault powered chassis was rear engined and driven by Peter Stapleton as car 99
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Post by ovaltrack on Feb 2, 2011 14:42:49 GMT 1
Sorry mate your wrong Clive Carter share a dastle mk 7 with terry neale and mick avery and the rear engined car your reffering to was a mamba driven by hedley leyton and later appeare driven by john graham and on a couple of occasions by dan hornby and then late in 72 was run by don bray who won a race at coventry in either his first or second race in a midget. There was an MARC Mk2 Fireball - see this thread and pic which includes Clive Carter's incident at New Brighton - midgetcarpanorama.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=sniffy78&action=display&thread=287 |
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Post by corsa61 on Feb 17, 2011 23:58:09 GMT 1
will stand corrected fireball was driven by one of the smith brothers
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Post by corsa61 on Oct 7, 2012 20:57:45 GMT 1
M A R C disappeared when they joined forces with spedeworths midget,s in the mid seventies
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Post by administrator on Jan 5, 2016 10:54:49 GMT 1
The Link given in this message appears to be incompletre. Can any member reposrt it correctly please? Many thanks: Jan 29, 2011 at 8:37am QuoteEditPost by ovaltrack on Jan 29, 2011 at 8:37am From memory there was a Fireball Mk2 (Clive Carter) and Heldley Leyton's car but the rest of the MARC cars were fronts. www.ovaltrack.co.uk/gpmidgets/tome/1970s/1972/1972_marc.htm |
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Post by ovaltrack on Feb 17, 2016 11:41:23 GMT 1
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Post by danhornby on Mar 8, 2016 17:06:21 GMT 1
The MARC was never just for front engine cars. However the rules stated that the drivers head had to be within 12 inches of the rear wheel centre line,the body style had to have a traditional USA midget style tail and full bodywork. Drivers and teams were also encouraged to present their cars on track with a high standard of finish and attractive colour schemes, everything was designed to put on a good show for the paying public. All of this saw MARC attract many drivers a back ground in other forms of motorsport, like Peter Jopp, Cliff Davis, Paul Emery, Charlie Lucas and others.
When the MARC merged with the Speedworth midgets the composition of the technical committee changed. This lead to the gradual erosion of the strict regulations. Two changes that slipped through were removing the 12 inch rule on rear engine cars and the removal of the need for midget style bodywork. Most of the members did not appreciate the significance of these changes and just voted them through. However the proposers, on the technical committee, of these rule changes new exactly what they meant. Within a couple of seasons the fastest cars were now rear engine lightweight cars with minimal bodywork that looked more like big go-carts than midgets. The colourful spectacle and unique style had gone. In my opinion this is what caused the rapid decline in midget racing in the UK. Every attempt to bring the front engine cars back on par with the GO-CARTS was blocked by the technical committee.
Basil Craske (technical committee chairman) may have won more races than most but he for sure killed off the sport I loved.
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Post by administrator on Mar 15, 2016 8:49:02 GMT 1
I enjoyed reading Dan Hornby's comments. As I recall he was one of a small group in the early 1980s - others were Pete and John Smith, Dermot McGivern, Brian Spicer, Ian Fraser Kerr, Tony Stubbs, Joe Therstappen - who did try albeit in vain to establish a group that was only for front engine cars. I wonder what happened to these drivers?
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flyboy1
New Member
No date of birth 1955 you put four years on me
Posts: 10
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Post by flyboy1 on Apr 3, 2016 0:32:07 GMT 1
It was some of the best midget racing we have ever had in this country,and yes most of the cars were front engine,yes you had the Kitchener side mounted.The big mistake was joining up with speed worth.
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Post by corsa61 on Apr 24, 2016 20:43:43 GMT 1
Fly boy
my thoughts entirly , was a big mistake . It was a good era
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Post by corsa61 on Apr 24, 2016 20:53:52 GMT 1
what.s your knowledge flyboy for the M A R C
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