We are a family friendly motor club and the only Autograss club in the Manchester area. If you are interested in joining us as a racer or a social member come along to our monthly meeting(very informal) at the White Lion in Heywood (OL10 4NS). These are normally held on the first Monday of the month. 

Please note that following earlier meeting cancellations, the Leewood meeting on 20th May will be run as a NWAA league qualifier, and as such, will only be open to drivers of the ARC, NW and LM clubs.

The track is looking great after much hard work and long hours from the committee and small group of dedicated members. Fingers crossed it's looking good for Sunday and some good racing. Lets make our first meeting of the season a success by helping out on the day with all the jobs needed (marshal/gate etc etc)  

 Information for club members:

At the EGM in November, 3 matters were voted on – (1) it was agreed to lower, for the 2017 season, the threshold of club points’ meetings attended to qualify for an end of season trophy.  (2) it was agreed to amend the wording of rule #61, to clarify the operation of the dropped score system.  (3) it was agreed that Leewood would vote at NWAA in favour of keeping league qualifier meetings closed.

The matter of the champion of champions races was discussed at the AGM in December.  After discussion, it was voted on and passed in favour of changing the constitution from the start of 2018, such that rule#59 now reads -  All meetings run at Leewood, within the championship season, will be points meetings with any extra dates added within the period being points meetings at the discretion of the Committee. The date of the Champ of Champs meeting will be notified before the racing season starts, and if the Champ of Champs races cannot be run on the notified date, then they will be run at the next available meeting – whether this be in the same season or the following season.  As part of the vote it was agreed that this would not apply retrospectively to the 2017 season, and so the 2017 champ of champs will not be run.  The 2018 Champ of Champs meeting will be held on 2nd September.

LEEWOOD supporting Charity Event at Barton Airport

As a   result of our attendance at Barton airport with the American car club we may well have future opportunities to promote Leewood  As some very good contacts were made.

On Monday 19 February Leewood went to Hopwood Hall College in Middleton to promote Autograss and more importantly Leewood the only autograss track in Greater Manchester. The students first year motor vehicle technology were educated into the art of autograss by Steve Le Carpentier, Roger Haynes and Steve Hayward,Roger complete with his new racer straight from the NEC autosport show.

Around 30 students and their technician/teachers were in attendance and they were given our promotional literature and watched a DVD of autograss. The star attraction, no surprises was the race car, many a jaw dropped as they had never seen anything like it before, lots of photos were taken and questions asked and answered.

Thanks to Hopwood Hall for allowing us to attend and it is possible we may be asked to talk to the more advanced fabrication and motor vehicle students at a future date.

Also a huge thanks to Steve and Roger for their valued support.

Just a reminder that the monthly meetings are back at the White Lion pub in Heywood. The more the merrier everyone welcome. Meeting starts at 8pm. 

 Ian Gilbertson.

Ian first raced in the formula 1 stock cars at tracks like Cadwell Park, Long Eaton, Hednesdford and Belle Vue in a Jaguar powered racer in the 1960's. An old picture on LMC's facebook recently showed one of Ian's grasser specials. His racer tended to be Volvo powered as he ran White Hart Motors a Volvo garage in Middleton.

Mentioning Belle Vue earlier reminded me of autograssers at the Vue in the mid 80's, where 30 plus cars raced on the original big Belle Vue oval where Ian had raced 20 years previously. On this occasion it was all 30 plus cars on track at the same time. Amongst the chaos and still remembered to this day was a SPECTULAR roll over on the home straight that made a real mess of the racer concerned, piloted by yes you guessed it Ian, which necessitated an overnight stay in hospital.

Moving on a long way Ian raced in a formula 1 stock car veterans race at Coventry and it was one of the last veterans races. He drove a 7 litre V8 and couldn't believe how much more power it had compared to the cars of the mid 1960's.

Nowadays it's a more sedate drive for Ian in one of Leewood's recovery trucks a job he really enjoys make it continue for a good while yet.

Ian has been supported along the way by wife Eileen, he  introduced son Adam to our juniors and specials and more recently daughter Sara and her daughter Katie to the Leewood family.

NASA will be working during 2017 to develop a new set of improved technical rule books for each of the classes.  In the meantime, the rule books published in 2015 remain in force, along with any updates released since they were published.  Please see the attached document for details of the additional rules applicable for each class. 

Please see the link below to the latest NASA members newsletter - it contains important information for all drivers; including rule changes for the 2017 season.

NASA - Newsletter Issue 05