Photos by Jayson Fong
West Sussex, 17 October 2016: The Benjafield’s Racing Club gathered at club member Jonathan Turner’s home at Bowcliffe Hall in glorious sunshine on Saturday for the one-off Yorkshire Buccaneer event. Local enthusiasts and car owners enjoyed a day of Yorkshire-themed action at the unique MSA-approved rally, attended by a total of 41 rare historic cars.
Every year the club hosts a special event based in the home county of a randomly chosen member. Jonathan was selected this year and he welcomed fellow club members to his home for a day of pre-war motoring with a strong Yorkshire theme running throughout day, from the Yorkshire tea served at the start line to the Yorkshire Pudding served at the evening banquet.
The Benjafield’s Yorkshire Buccaneer event was attended by 41 pre-war cars from around the world and, as you might expect from a club whose sole ethos is to emulate the spirit of the famous Bentley Boys, 25 of the 40 cars taking part were vintage Bentleys including Jonathan Turner’s own 1925 3-litre ‘Number 10’ factory team car, fresh from its recent return from racing at the 2016 Classic Le Mans event.
William Medcalf also competed in his Bentley 4 ½ litre, the first of 18 produced by Bentley Motors, but it wasn’t all about Bentleys however, with other notable cars, including an extremely rare Alfa Romeo 8C pushing the total value of cars driving around the Yorkshire countryside to in excess of £35million.
Starting at Bowcliffe Hall, the drivers headed to Bramham Park for a special gravel stage before heading to RAF Churchfenton where special permission was granted to close the runway for some high speed runs along the tarmac normally reserved for aircraft. Ahead of lunch was a spot of karting and skid pan fun at Tockwith Motor Sports. Working off lunch was taken care of with more gravel stages ahead of an afternoon of hillclimbing at Harewood before heading back to Bowcliffe Hall for a black tie dinner.
The lighthearted approach of the club was summed up in the awards presentations for the winners, where one took home a copy of the Yorkshire Post as their prize.
Winners of the event were:
Overall Winners: Olaf and Marjot Pothoven in a 1934 Bentley
Second Place: Jeremy and Sian Brewster in a Le Francis
Fastest Hillclimb: Robert and Jane Abrey in a Bentley 61/2
Jonathan Turner said of the event: “What a pleasure it was to enjoy Yorkshire with like-minded people, and to see 41 rare and valuable cars being used as they should be. I’m proud of my home county and it was an honour to show Benjafield’s members from as far afield as Slovenia and Spain what we have to offer.”
Benjafield’s Competitions Captain William Medcalf said: “The Yorkshire Buccaneer was a fantastic day, for those taking part and those who came to watch. There was plenty of spirited driving, but all the cars made it through the day without incident. We’re grateful to all who came and brought the huge array of historic cars and really used them with gusto, and look forward meeting up again next year.”
