The Auto 66 Club
was formed in June 1966, hence the name. A group of enthusiasts
keen to see Cars and Motorcycles being catered for under the
same roof formed the club. In the first couple of years the
main events were small car rallies, treasure hunts and vintage
events for cars and motorcycles. The first major event was
at Sledmere House near Driffield.
In 1968 the club ran its first motorcycle grass track, which
was a tremendous success, the second event was run two months
later and the club asked the ACU to observe the event and
upgrade the club to National status, this was granted for
the following year, when the club ran a round of the British
Championships. After two years at National level the club
became the first club in Great Britain to run an International
Grass Track. This attracted all of the top names, Ivan Major,
Ole Olsen, Peter Collins and Don Godden.
In 1970 the club gained the use of RAF Elvington
near York, here the first Motorcycle Road Race was held, in
June 1970. The ACU were asked again to observe the September
meeting at Elvington and upgrade it to National status for
the following season. The local critics thought that we had
gone well over the top, but this was not so, the National
event attracted one of the largest entries ever seen in the
north with over 400 competitors, including up and coming stars,
Tony Jefferies, Mick Grant and Barry Sheene.
The club still run Motorcycle Road Race meetings
at Elvington 27 years later. Other events organised during
the 70' and 80' included Motorcycle and Car Sprints, and a
number of World Land Speed Record events.
By now the club was finding it very difficult
to find suitable land for Grass Track Meetings, so they approached
Filey Council with the idea of reviving Sand Racing on the
beach, this was very popular before the war and during the
50's. The club was welcomed with open arms by the people of
Filey and ran very successful meetings. The club had a rest
from Sand Racing during the 80's, but are now back at Filey
and have run very successful British Championship events for
a number of years.
The club are very proud of the many club members
who started their career with the club and then went on to
take British Championships, TT wins and World Championships.
To name a few Tony Jefferies, Steve Ward, Phil Mellor, Mick
Grant, Barry Sheene, Roger Marshall, Steve Henshaw, Barry
and Derek Brindley,Steve Webster, Ian Lougher, David Jefferies
and Chris Palmer. The club are also proud of the many TT Team
awards that they have won over the last 25 years
The ambition of the club is to own its own Road
Race Circuit. In the 70's the club successfully applied for
planning permission, and opened the Carnaby Raceway at Bridlington,
which was a 1.5 mile circuit. Once again against all of the
critics views the club made the venue a roaring success, with
a number of British Championship meetings. The BBC televised
the British Championship live for two days, the only event
other than a Grand Prix, in the UK ever to have two days live
coverage. The club also ran RAC British Car Sprint Championships
and Kart Championships at Carnaby, before the East Yorkshire
Borough Council decided that they wanted to develop the land
for industry.
With the closure of Carnaby Raceway the club
decided to put all of its resources into the famous Oliver's
Mount circuit at Scarborough. In the 70s the club bought a
third share of the newly formed Scarborough Racing Circuits
Ltd, since then the club have gone on to acquire all of the
shares, and have developed meetings to a very high standard.
In 1996 it was the 50th Anniversary of Motorcycle Road Racing
at Oliver's Mount and the meeting was one of the biggest successes
seen in Great Britain.
In 2000 Oliver’s Mount will be celebrating
the 50th running of the International Gold Cup in September,
where all the past winners will be invited. A definite starter
is the first winner of Gold Cup, Geoff Duke who will ride
a works Norton and the Gilera 4, also in the line-up will
be John Surtees, who will also ride a works Norton and also
one of the famous MV Agusta’s.
A Museum of Legends a multi-million pound development
is in the early stages of planning and it is hoped that this
will be built adjacent to the Competitors paddock at Oliver’s
Mount. The museum will house bikes and memorabilia from the
first meetings, which were won by Denis Parkinson and Syd
Barnett. There will also be a special feature built around
Barry Sheene’s many wins at the Scarborough circuit.
30 years on and the Club are still promoting club racing at
RAF Elvington. This has recently been sold to a private consortium
and renamed Elvington Park. The Club promote at least 6 Championship
meetings each season plus any special events that may come
along.
Over the years the Club have promoted a number
of Motocross events in the region and have recently revived
part of the old scramble course at Oliver’s Mount, Scarborough,
which has been up-dated for the modern machines. The Club
run three meetings a year at this venue. It is hoped to add
another track in East Yorkshire in the near future enabling
the Club to run its own in-house Championship for local competitors.
At the end of 2000 the Club started negotiations
to use part of the Army School of Driving Establishment at
Leconfield at Beverly East Yorkshire. Once permission had
been granted and the local authority were happy club members
set about designing a new road race and sprint circuit - this
was used for the first time in April 2001.
2001 was a very successful season. The club
organised a number of meetings at the new Carnaby-Two circuit
at Leconfield, when as well as road racing, the Club organised
a very successful Car Sprint. Sprints were also revived on
the Long Circuit at Elvington and Club members spent the early
part of the season repairing the surface. The sprint circuit
uses the majority of the original road race circuit at Elvington,
which was used in the late 70’s early 80’s. At
the end of the season a very successful road race was run
on the circuit, which brought back many memories of Barry
Sheene, Mick Grant, Steve Ward, Phil Mellor, the Padgett’s
and, of course, all the sidecar boys who learnt their trade
on the Elvington circuit, including World Champion Steve Webster.
The Club’s motorcycle Sprint and Hill
Climb section also expanded in 2001. The club were very successful
in negotiating the use of Brough, nr Hull, famous for its
road racing in the 50’s when Geoff Duke, John Surtees,
Cyril Smith, Eric Oliver and the likes were the top runners
of the day. Another young man who started his career at Brough
in the 500cc car class was Stirling Moss. The season was rounded
off with a very successful but wet Hill Climb in Dalby Forest,
where the club managed to negotiate a very picturesque three-quarter
mile tarmac area. This venue was voted one of the best by
the majority of competitors.
Super Moto racing was added to the Club’s
events in 2002. The Club was one of the first to run Super
Moto way back in 1989, when a very successful Euro Challenge
event was run at Langbaurgh on Teesside. Unfortunately, Super
Moto in the UK did not catch on at the time, so the event
was put on the back burner until such times as it became more
popular. It was felt that 2002 was the time to get involved
again and events will now be included in the calendar for
many years to come.
Another record was set in 2002 when Ian Lougher
became the first rider to win 50 races at Oliver’s Mount,
a record that will be hard to beat.
The Yorkshire Speed Hill Climb and Sprint Championship
for both cars and bikes was introduced by the Club in 2002,
which was very well supported and has become established as
the highlight of future Hill Climb and Sprint seasons.
2003 saw the Club organising the ACU Centenary
celebrations, which were part of the Scarborough International
Bike Week in September. As well as the celebrations, the week
included the Vintage Motor Cycle Club's Festival of 1,000
Bikes and a Harley Davidson Rally. The week started with a
Super Moto event at Oliver's Mount on the Saturday and Sunday
saw the Super Prix Beach Race on the South Bay beach. For
the first time the Scarborough Borough Council allowed the
promenade to be totally closed to traffic to allow the Vintage
and Harley Davidson rallies. It was estimated over 30,000
visited the South Bay on that day. The International Gold
Cup rounded off the week when the Patron of the ACU, His Royal
Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, presented the awards and also
unveiled the Barry Sheene Memorial Plaque.
2003 also saw an action packed programme at
Carnaby Two which included a round of the National Car Sprint
Championship.
2004 produced some really good racing particularly at Carnaby
Two and Cadwell Park. The club hosted an invitation Sprint
Meeting for the Vintage Car Club at Elvington Park, this attracted
a huge entry of very special vehicles from Austin Sevens to
ERA's and Napier Realtons. Bike Week moved back to the summer
months with it's usual parade of bikes, Breakfast Runs plus
the Hill Climbs in Dalby Forest and at Olivers Mount. The
week once again was rounded off with a superb Road Race meeting,
The Cock of the North.
2005 saw an extended road races programme with 4 days of
racing at Cadwell Park and for the first time in October a
car and bike sprint which attracted the best competitors in
the country. A new trophy was presented to the club in remembrance
of Ian Watson who started racing with the club in 1986 and
supported most of the events throughout his racing career,
Ian was also a member of the winning club team at the senior
TT in 2004, unfortunately Ian lost his life in a road accident
close to home. The club decided to not only accept the trophy
but to name the Spring National in memory of him.
The club celebrated it's 40th Anniversary in 2006 along with
the 10th Anniversary of International Bike Week and the 60th
Anniversary of racing on the famous Olivers Mount Circuit,
an action packed calendar of over 50 event days was enjoyed
by fans from all over Europe. The 40th Anniversary kicked
off at the Spring National where members from past and present
were invited to come along and enjoy the Hill Climb and Racing.
The main celebration came at Olivers Mount in September for
the 56th running of the International Gold Cup which celebrated
the 60th year of racing on the famous track. The 50th Anniversary
was celebrated by riders from the 40's and 50's, including
the parades with Giacomo Agostini, Andy McGladdery,Robert
Dunlop, Allan McDonald, Austin Hockley, Dean Ashton, John
Cronshaw, Jim Moodie, Phillip McCallen, Mick Grant, Charlie
Williams, Terry Groetfeld, Gary Long, Les Trotter, Derek Chatterton,
David Bedlington and James Whitam. A superb meeting and one
to build on for the next celebration the 60th running of The
Gold Cup in 2010.
The big disappointment in 2006 was the non availability of
tracks to run the Supermoto fixtures on this has not deterred
the club as they will continue to work on finding suitable
venues, one of the highlights of the year was the 5th round
of the National BYMX British Junior Moto X Championship at
Olivers Mount on 1st & 2nd July the start of Bike Week,
members worked round the clock for 2 days prior to the meeting
soaking the trackl with water in an attempt to keep down the
dust, they managed to succeed but it was an all night exercise
on the Friday. This was a very memorable meeting and was the
last Moto X to be run at Olivers Mount as the club agreed
to turn it into a 4 wheel drive practice area.
After the success of the Barry Sheene Trophy races at the
previous two years Cock of the North events the club decided
to run a meeting dedicated purely to classic racing and the
Sheene Trophy, this event was the opener for International
Bike Week, a good entry was received including Ian Lougher,
John Cronshaw, Mick Grant, Guy Martin, Chris Palmer, Vernon
Glashier and Bill Swallow, originally this was to be a one
day affair but after demands from riders and the public, permission
was granted from the local council to extend the racing an
extra day this proved to be a success as the club attracted
many visitors from all parts of Europe
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