| REGENCY
RUN - MAY 11TH 2003
The 20th Regency Run, the MG equivalent of the London to Brighton old
crocks rally, started as usual at Brooklands. This time, however, the
paddock was not full of old MGs but contained the pinnacled tents of the
Renault Motor Company and a mass of Renault MPV's. It seems that Renault
had hi jacked this years Regency Run so we parked at the end of the
straight amongst the B's, Midgets and Meganes. This year's parking seemed
to be a bit freer than previous runs and there were mostly B's on the
banking itself and under the Members Bridge. A reduced entry of F's
slotted in wherever they could. Overall the amount of entries seemed well
down on last year with about 500 entries compared to nearly 700 in 2002.
Was this because of the increased price ? £28 is quite a bit for a map to
Brighton and certainly members of my own local MGOC thought this a bit
steep and went to Basingstoke Festival of Transport instead. Having said
that, it was possible to have your photo taken in front of the clubhouse
if you didn't mind huge Renault van/cars getting in the way (see first
picture). Most entrants didn't keep to their allotted times and seemed to
leave as they felt like it which made for a fairly split field on the
route down. As usual there were two routes winding across the North
and South Downs through pretty villages and scenic views and past tempting
pubs, unfortunately not open until noon by which time we were in Sussex
where the pubs on the "Odd" route were not quite so tempting
!.
Although the skies were overcast most people managed the trip
"topless" despite a few light showers on the way down. It seems
that the majority made a non stop trip to Brighton although there were a
few cars parked up in gateways and verges braving the showers for their
country picnics. It was not until we reached Brighton Racecourse that
heavier rain started to fall and we stopped by the track to put the hood
up for the last mile into the town. We managed to follow the tulip
diagrams fairly well and despite a couple of navigational errors managed
to get to Brighton without too much trouble. Despite the amount of cars on
the run there was not too much traveling in "Convoy" unless you
wished to with your MG Chums.
Bill Wallis was at the Finish again as we pulled in to Madeira Drive
pulling over some cars for a "quick Chat". Duncan Dorrell in his
modified F was just in front of us and was pulled in to explain himself !.
We collected our finisheing plaque and badges and drove between the massed
ranks of MG's to either side of the Drive parking up amongst the massed
ranks of B's (so we didn't have to jog too far the loos !). It's always a
splendid sight to see so many MG's in ranks along the sea front
although gaps soon started to appear as people seemed to leave early. May
be it was the lack of sun shine and the persistent showers that put them
off. We stolidly had our picnic underneath the wrought iron arches to keep
the worst of the rain out before setting off for a walk along the prom
under more grey skies to take a look at the recently fire ravaged West
pier - not too much left now.
It was all over by about 4pm really although a few stragglers were
still driving along the prom - a lot of people had already left by this
time as the Finish banner was taken down. We set off back to Brooklands
again taking the more direct route of the motorway this time encountering
heavy downpours, spray and traffic jams on the way.
I hope that next year the price is pegged or even reduced as the cost
of these big runs is getting pretty high now - on the face of it all
you get is a rally plate, two badges and a small plaque and a route book.
I realise that prices have to be paid for the use of Brooklands (not even
exclusive this year) and for parking at Madeira Drive but I still think
the fee is too high. Perhaps someone from one of the clubs could explain
the costings so we could all understand.
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