ARCHIVE - ARTICLES (MOSTLY) RE-PRINTED FROM SPEEDSCENE
BOOK REVIEW: TONY MARSH THE GREAT ALL-ROUNDER - In and out of motorsport
Published by: Parley Books 267pp £20
ISBN 978 0 9554826 0 1
Available at £22.50 inc. p&p direct from the publisher:
Parley Books
18 Heathlands Avenue
Ferndown
Dorset
BH22 8RP (Tel. 01202 573773)
Tony Marsh’s life reads like a dream come true for any sportsman. By his own admission, he was born into a wealthy family and embarked on a lifetime of sporting activities. This autobiography details Tony’s many sporting accomplishments which, apart from his well known speed event activities, not only covers racing to Grand Prix level, driving a Lotus Elite at Le Mans, trialling, and autotests, but also sailing, ski bobbing, shooting, flying and even hydroplane racing! Most speed event enthusiasts will be aware of Tony’s unmatched six British Hillclimb Championships, but how many realise that this man drove in Grands Prix alongside Fangio, Moss, Hawthorn and Collins? Tony must surely, with the exception of Stirling Moss, be the only Grand Prix driver from that era still driving competitively.
The joy of the book is in Tony’s recollections. He writes of carrying out welding repairs on behalf of John Cooper in the Grand Prix paddock at Aintree in 1957, then talks of building his own car at the Cooper works in Surbiton. Next time you attend the British Grand Prix, ask Jenson Button how his carbon fibre skills are coming on.
Tony recalls in detail his own motor racing alongside many famous drivers, but other privateers such as Jack Lewis, Leslie Marr, and Horace Gould are not forgotten; the ‘Book of Grand Prix Privateers’ is long overdue! Tony’s final three British Hillclimb titles were achieved in the Marsh Special, a car that can still be seen competing with its owner/driver/constructor on board. The pressures of maintaining his competitive spirit on four wheels had taken their toll by 1967 and Tony devoted the following years to sailing in the summer and ski bobbing in the winter before returning to speed events in the late 1980s, initially with a rejuvenated Marsh Special and then a succession of well known cars such as the Rovercraft, Toleman, Roman and more recently the two Goulds. It is moving to read of Tony’s respect for the Law brothers and, after Simon’s tragic accident at Brighton, pleasing to hear how the Rovercraft spirit lives on in Tony’s GTD 40.
Tony Marsh has a close affinity with Gurston Down, being involved with the design of what he regards as his local hill. Tony’s writings are almost a history of both Gurston and the British Sprint Championship during the 1990s, and there is much of interest here for latter-day spectators and competitors. The book is completed by a well-chosen set of photographs, a poignant shot of Mike Hawthorn attending the Ken Wharton Memorial driving tests in 1958 being among the highlights. Hillclimbing in grand style is also illustrated with a shot of the Marsh special, on its way to Bouley Bay, on board Tony’s father’s yacht as deck cargo.
Tony writes his story modestly and with gentle humour. The only criticism that can be made is that it would be nice to take the story right up to date and include Tony’s exploits with the Gould GR55 - perhaps for the second edition?
FORM GUIDE - REPRINTED FROM ISSUE 126
No, not who's going to win in 2004, but who will get an entry!
Increase your own chances with this simple guide.......
Life has many annoying features, despite modern technology supposedly
streamlining many of the more onerous tasks. Some of them, however
we can't escape. Form filling for example.
One of the more tiresome aspects of motor sport is that anyone who
wishes to enter an event must complete an entry form. Sadly, if we want to
go out and play with our toys in organised competition, this somewhat
tedious aspect of an otherwise exciting activity is a necessary evil.
So it's worth emphasizing that if we find it a nuisance to complete just one
entry form for an event, have pity on the poor Entries Secretary who has then
to deal with every single one of them. Before each event he, or she, is
confronted with a mammoth file of forms, every one of which
has to be minutely checked and collated. And then if, as so often happens
these days the event is oversubscribed, the difficult decision has to be made as to
who gets accepted and who doesn't.
One way to make the organiser's life easier - and thus to simplify
that particular decision, the most important one of all as far as
the competitior is concerned - is to make sure that you complete your entry form
carefully and accurately. Just follow this straight forward 8 - point set
of guidelines:
1. Write neatly in black ink and capitals. We can all read our own handwriting
(usually!) - but can everyone else?
2. Fill in every space, and always write YES or NO where applicable.
3. Don't leave anything blank. Mind reading is not part of the Entries
Secretary's job description.
4. Be sure to include signatires where required.
5. Enclose your cheque, completed correctly and not post-dated.
6. If requested, please include self-addressed lables.
7. When you've completed the entry form, read it through again to make sure you got
it all right the first time!
8. Last - but by no means least - make sure it's posted in time to meet
the closing date for entries.
All basic, simple stuff, of course. But if you were confronted with 150 entry
forms, many of them requiring a mind reader, hieroglyphics
expert or Secret Service codebreaker to decipher them, and you then had to
narrow them down to fill 100 places, it's not too difficult to guess which of
the forms would be first on the discard pile!
And for new competitors, if you have any doubts as to how to fill in your
entry forms don't hesitate to ask a friend (preferably one with a relatively
untarnished record of entry acceptance!) to complete the form for you.
Providing you sign the form personally this would be quite OK.
Yes, filling in entry form is a pretty boring aspect of motor sport. But
do it right and the best is yet to come!
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