Philip and Rosemary Bayne-Powell organised a Table Top rally in July for us in conjunction with the Inter Register Club (IRC) to which the MG Car Club is affiliated.
As we are not able currently to take part in any form of competition, a Table Top rally helps keep us in the competition mode. The last time a Table Top rally was run in the SE Centre was back in February 2016, at a Fairmile natter evening.
This event attracted 32 entries with a wide range of virtual cars from our own MGs to Rileys, Humbers, Austins and Alvises etc from the IRC.
The entries were broken down into novices and Experts, who were anyone who had come in the top three in any previous rallies. We had 14 Experts, but the novices totalled 18, which was very satisfying to know that many newcomers wanted to try out a Table Top rally.
The clues were given out at 10am for the novices and 30 minutes later for the experts, with a finish time of 12.30, thus giving the novices half an hour more that the experts to produce the answers. These were e-mailed back to the organisers, with a one point penalty for being every minute late, just like a scatter rally. The novices also had slightly different instructions to help them get into the swing of things.
The 15 section instructions took competitors down roads, using spot heights, grid crossings (both numbered and compass directions). Coloured roads and road numbers were also used, as well as compass turnings at junctions. The later sections left the roads and followed the course of a river, cycle route and electrical power lines to add interest and to give the experts a challenge.
The scores covered a wide spectrum ranging from the winning 115 points down to single figures. The MG Car Club team did well to come second (out of 8 teams) to the Austins, largely helped by David de Saxe (MGA) and Jeremy Bayne-Powell (Midget).
Due to success of this rally, it is proposed to run another one on September 13th
Inter Register and MG Car Club SE
Table Top Rally Results
12th July 2020
EXPERTS
| Pos | Driver | Navigator | Virtual vehicle | Score | |
| 1st | Carl Rich | 1947 Riley 12hp | 115 | N | |
| 2nd= | Andy Ranson | Do Ranson | Austin 10/4 | 114 | N |
| 2nd= | Peter Christie | Richard Long | Austin 18/6 | 114 | N |
| 4th | David de Saxe | Anne de Saxe | MGA | 110 | N |
| 5th | John Buckley | Ford Model A | 107 | N | |
| 6th | Dick Patten | Christopher Patten | Fiat 508 | 102 | E |
| 7= | Peter Hanna | Adrian Ducker | Riley Gamecock | 101 | E |
| 7= | Hebbie Kay | Jacky Payne | 101 | E | |
| 9th | Trevor Edwards | Austin 10 | 98 | N | |
| 10th | Jeremy B-Powell | Toby Bayne—Powell | MG Midget | 97 | N |
| 11th | Philip Longhurst | Barbara Longhurst | Humber 9/20 | 90 | N |
| 12th | Colin Cooke | Chris Cooke | Austin 7 saloon | 89 | E |
| 13th | Bob Blackstock | MG M-type | 87 | E | |
| 14th | Stephen Kay | Austin 7 Ruby | 84 | N | |
| 15th | Joy Cooke | 83 | E | ||
| 16th= | Malcolm Haward | Jowett | 80 | E | |
| 16th= | Austin Banner | Alison Newlyn | MGRV8 | 80 | N |
| 18th | Chris Smith | Patsy Smith | Riley Adelphi | 78 | E |
| 19th | Mark Pacey | Rachel Pacey | Riley Falcon | 77 | E |
| 20th | Roger Wrapson | Judy Wrapson | Riley Lynx | 76 | N |
| 21st | Tony Gunton | Clive Wilson | Jowett Jupiter | 67 | N |
| 22nd | Janice Leigh | Chris Leigh | 1930 pedal Sociable | 65 | E |
| 23rd | Tony Westhall | Pat Westhall | Austin 12/6 Ascot | 61 | N |
| 24th | Ian Webb | Gill Webb | Humber 9/20 | 60 | E |
| 25th | Bruce Girvan | Jowett 7hp | 59 | E | |
| 26th | Lindsey Cooke | 57 | N | ||
| 27th | Richard Keil | Jowett 8 | 53 | E | |
| 28th | David Crouch | Renault KJ1 | 39 | N | |
| 29th | Liz Cooper | Keith Cooper | MG TF LE500 | 16 | N |
| 30th | Ian Russell | Paula Russell | 1958 MG Magnette | 5 | N |
| – | Nigel Coulter | Jane Coulter | Humber 12/25 | – | E |
| – | Karen Stubberfield | Richard Stubberfield | Alvis 12/50 | – | N |
