Printable View
Sad news. Dougal has passed away. Dougal was a HB Car Club member for many years and a MANZ/MNZ Steward for a long time-seem to remember he was presented with a long service award at the 2012 MNZ AGCM.
Dougal's funeral is in Hastings this Thursday (May 1st) at 1-30.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rf84
Very sad news.
Dougal was an exceptional Steward who helped event organisers selflessly. I know when I was a young fella and organising a Manawatu Car Club Hillclimb and he was the Steward on the day, he didn't sit in his car reading the paper and drinking from his thermos, he helped me when 7 different things were happening at once, and ended the day by replacing the starter as they had to go home to look after children. Fantastic!!
Stewards are getting harder to find, and ones such as Dougal are like Gold that the sport can ill-afford to lose...
Talking of Stewards, I spent a most interesting hour and a half with Alan Curry yesterday. Alan was the MANZ/MNZ Steward in the Waikato for many years but is now in a retirement home here in Havelock North. Alan's involvement in motor sport goes way back to his native Scotland where he worked as a mechanic (and had the occasional drive) for the Borders Reivers Team. Yesterday he talked about his experience working for Bruce Halford at the 1957 German GP and the circumstances behind Halford's disqualification whilst running in fourth place.
On a previous visit to Alan several years ago I was surprised to find Andrew and Linda Cowan sitting in his room! They were in Havelock North for a few weeks to attend a relative's wedding.
Alan raced a variety of cars-a DKW in the 1955 Scottish International Rally and in NZ a Cooper 500, several Mini Coopers and the Mac Triumph.
He is perhaps best remembered as the firm but fair MANZ Steward at the HRSCC Taupo race meetings whose trademark was to hand out lemons at the prizegiving to competitors/officials who had committed faux pas. One year when I was acting as Clerk of Course he sidled up to me and quietly told me he was going to have to give me a lemon as I had omitted to complete some paper work. Then he quickly added "and you will have to give me a lemon because I should have checked it". It was Alan's unique way of letting people know that they had "stuffed up" and his gentle way of remonstrating with them.
Like you say Crunch, people like this are "worth their weight in gold".
Think Alan also drove a works Sunbeam in the Monte Carlo Rally?Quote:
Originally Posted by rf84
Could well have. He is a Sunbeam/Rootes enthusiast. Think he shared an Imp with Bob Gibbons in the Wills Six Hour race in the '60s.
He drove a Sunbeam Tiger and Sunbeam Rapier in Historic events until he suffered a stroke about three years ago.
I am taking him to Dougal's funeral tomorrow so I will ask him about the Monte