I can remember his (Earle) refusing the most historic racing Healey in the
world over a set of tires, one that was brought over from England to run in
the Team Healey Challenge in 1990. It had treaded Dunlops as required by FIA,
and the HSSC, but unfortunately not the ones Mr. Earle felt it should have.
The car was a works Healey that first ran at Sebring in 1960, then Le Mans,
one of the African races, and then sold to privateer John Chatham; who has
raced the car continuosly since 1964.
Steve received a bit of bad press over that in the English media, and many
letters of protest from members of the national and international Healey
clubs. He was not pleased at the response he got over that one.
One of the results of this fiasco is that a couple of Healey drivers who
tried to get the car into the historics have had all their entry applications
refused ever since. . .for any of their cars!.
You might ask his people how they treated Denise McCluggage when she was
there with her just published book on sports car racing. Now there's a ladie
with more historical precedent than Mr. Earle will ever achieve!
Don't look for the Healey to be the featured marque soon . . . or ever!
|