Letter from Noel Stanbury - from the Clubmans archive... 2015
Great letter from Clubmans megalith Noel Stanbury...
Good Morning Chris and Marcus, I trust you are all well.
Janet and I are making plans to visit for the Donington event at the start of June.
Last month we did a trip to Aus. First 8 days were with friends in Melbourne and for the GP weekend. Whilst a disappointing race, we were fortunate to have Paddock access thanks to Bernie and met many F1 friends from previous years. We did the Great Ocean Road trip from there to Adelaide where time with more friends from the time of the GP being there, including an afternoon tour in mate Ronnie's fabulously restored SS Jaguar. We took time out for a trip to Ayers Rock (Uluru) over 3 days. Awesome.
On our return to Adelaide we had time at the Sports Car Club of South Australia and researching their Library (I'm trying to write a book about Tobacco sponsorship in F1). It was here that I learnt much about Clubmans in Aus - somebody had checked out my history! I was told there are over 100 variants in Clubmans in the country, many used for Hill Climbs and Speed Trials. Amongst the Club Members present was Kym Ninnes, famous for having built his 'Clemente' Clubmans (very Lotus 7ish) with which, and with trailer attached, he journeyed round Australia over 4 months (and 28,000 Kms). (I can't imagine doing that in a Mallock!). Kym very kindly gave me a copy of his book recounting the adventure - 'Kym round Oz' - which I will bring to Donington to show you all.
Very best regards and look forward to hearing from you.
Re: Letter from Noel Stanbury - from the Clubmans archive... 2015
Noel went on to become a business partner with Barry "Catchpole" Foley organising GP racing (pre-Bernie), then latterly as Commercial Manager with Tyrell, and subsequently retired to warmer climes. He will be one of the many VIPs at our Donington 50th celebrations.
