THIS year’s Shell Oils Speed Festival, organised by the Classic and Vintage Motor Racing Club of Jersey, provided spectators with more than their fair share of thrills and one or two heart-lurching spills.
The traditional three day festival, held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, attracted drivers and riders from Jersey, Guernsey and the United Kingdom and for many entrants has become a firm favourite on the motoring calendar. 
The festival comprises a sprint along a deceptively curvy quarter mile of the Five Mile Road near La Pulente and two days’ hill-climbing along Le Mont de Ste Marie (better known as Grève de Lecq Hill).
Fastest man along the Five Mile Road was Barry Moignard in the much-modified 3.5 litre Skoda Coupé while on two wheels Lee Cartwright on a Triumph Daytona clocked up the fastest time of day for two wheels.  They might well drive over kerbs as a matter of course in Guernsey but visitors Jim Hill driving a 1974 1360 cc Mini and Steve Elliott in an OMS 2000M single seater both came to grief on their first run by hitting a St Brelade kerb barely 100 yards from the start. 
Amazingly, the former, considering the Mini almost looped the loop, worked long into the night on his battered car (and pride) and was ready to race the following day. 
The Saturday hill climbs were held in ideal conditions and it was Barry Moignard again who claimed FTD of 35.67 seconds for the three-quarter mile course after a titanic battle with a group of rally specification Mark I and II Ford Escorts led by Kevin Fossey.
His first run ended abruptly for Tobi Matthews who, in his just recently restored Alfa Romeo 2000GTV, discovered just how deceptive the notorious ‘Pig Bend’ could be.
The Sunday event started in driving rain and with a largely flooded course many drivers and riders forewent the morning practice runs and even the very experienced Barry Moignard managed an ‘off’ which ruled his Skoda out of contention.
The similarly experienced Steve Hewlett managed to roll his very quick Austin-Healey 100M emerging from Pig Bend. Neither driver was injured.
The battle was joined by the Escorts whose rally specifications seemed to shrug off the drying but still dicey road conditions but it was Dave Moyse in the fearsome Dutton Phaeton kit car with an improbable 4.5 litre V8 under its lumpy superstructure who stole the honours with a time of 36.11 seconds on an almost dry course but he still could not match Barry Moignard’s time of the previous day. 
On two wheels Marcus Bisson on his 1978 400 cc Honda Super Dream threw himself into the bends like a latter-day Barry Sheene and saw off challenges from Malcolm Gallichan on his 1973 900 cc Mantis Norton and Adrian Thérin on his 1978 1,000 cc Suzuki. Marcus’s time of 39.77 seconds was a triumph over the conditions.
The event attracted more than 70 entrants and was enjoyed by a large and enthusiastic crowd of spectators.

Pictured: Barry Moignard in his 3,500 cc Skoda