Special Friends

Christine Francis
Malton Motor Club lost a valued member and close friend in February 2004, when Christine Francis was tragically taken from us on the Kallkwik Rally.  Christine was a regular face in the forests of Yorkshire and was a well respected co-driver and club supporter, but most of all you could always rely on her to brighten your day.
During the months after Christine's death, her family were astounded by the kind and thoughtful messages that were passed to them by the rallying world, and also by its generosity, to date over £3600 has been raised in tribute to Christine through Malton Motor Club.  The money raised through the Motor Club, Rugby Club and from the funeral has been distributed between Pennine Rally Rescue, Malton & Norton Rugby Club and Malton Motor Club.
Malton Motor Club used some of this money to purchase a memorial plate in memory of Christine, which is to be awarded as a perpetual award on the Malton Forest Rally.  The award is for the highest placed Malton Motor Club co-driver on the day.  A replica of the award is presented, and is sponsored by TVC Electrical of Malton.
The Celtic Style of the plate stands for Christine's love of Irish Tarmac Rallying, and for the love of the Isle of Mull.  The plate was commissioned through Salen Silver on the Isle of Mull.
Many events simply won't be the same without Christine's infectious laugh and the smile that lit up her whole face.  The Motorsport world is lucky, and honoured to have known her and we at Malton Motor Club are indebted to Chris for what she has given us.  Christine you have many more finish lines to cross, as you will be carried with us all in our hearts.

Liz Young
Liz was the Club's Chief Marshal for as long as most of us can remember, and was highly regarded in the world Marshalling. Liz gave up much of her own time to organise all kinds of events from treasure hunts and quizzes to the Dalby Gravel Sprint. She also organised First Aid and Marshal Training days on behalf of the MSA, as well as Fire Safety Days!
Liz died suddenly during August 2001, and left a huge void in the club. It was shortly after that Richard Ashton from Calder Rescue came up with the idea of naming Calder's new rescue unit after our 'Chief Get On And Sort-It'. Liz had been involved in the Charity Auction run by the Club to raise the money Calder Rescue badly needed to buy the new unit, so this idea seemed very fitting.

For more information on Calder Rescue visit their website. www.calderrescue.co.uk

Edwin Ward
Ed, as he was more often known, was one of the first members of the club as we know it today, and was one of the last members of the club before it’s MSA affiliation back in the 60’s.  Dave Wakeley (ex MMC Chairman) sent a note telling me “Ed competed in 12 Car & Road Events for as long as I can remember, and we have locked horns many times, with Ed beating me more times than I beat him!”  I understand Ed started driving in 1969 in a Cortina GT, after watching the RAC, and becoming hooked.  He then moved onto a ‘Daytona Yellow’ MKI Mexico in 1975 (JUA538L) and never looked back.   In fact, I believe Ed still had that very same car in his garage the day he died!  Ed was the unassuming type, quiet and laid back, but incredibly competitive once the seat belts were fastened!

Remembered by Nick Skaife

I first met Edwin when I joined MMC in 1997 to start competing in road rallies, which was in the final year of the targa timing type events, before the move to schedule timing in 1998. Edwin was part of the Kirkbymoorside gang of Anton Clarke, Trevor Shields and Paul Cossins and a club night was always ended with a stop at Peasey Hill chip shop for more rally talk, over fish and chips, before we went home.  Edwin had been doing road events and the old MMC 12 cars for years and had a vast knowledge of navigating as well as knowing the Yorkshire roads like the back of his hand. His MK1 Mexico, whilst being nearly totally standard, was driven very quickly and extremely neatly: we never once had a crash or failed to finish an event we started together.

I started to navigate for Edwin when Anton, his regular navigator, retired from the sport and my brother sold his road rally car to buy a house. This was in the late eighties and saw us finish in the top five on a couple of events and competing in most of the local road events, most of which no longer run. One incident I will always remember was the night we had to go through Caydale Mill on an event and radiator got holed by a branch in the water. We only discovered the problem when the car started pinking on the way into Helmsley and the temp gauge was in the red. Edwin said he had another radiator a home, but it leaked a little. So we set to his house in Kirkbymoorside by a mixture of driving and pushing the car when it got too hot to drive. We calculated that we could do the repair and still rejoin the route in time to complete the rally. This we did this with the help of many containers of water and various stops to refill them along the way!  As I started to compete on events again with my brother, I stopped navigating for Edwin, though he did continue competing for a while after.  Edwin was always patient and helpful, even when we got lost, and a pleasure to compete with in the days when MMC had several crews taking part on every local road rally. Happy days indeed.