You can’t stop getting older, but you don’t have to mature. That is the motto that Pattaya’s flying doctor seems to live by.
At a recent race meeting at the local Bira Circuit, Dr. Iain Corness amazed the younger drivers in the field by lining up on the grid in the oldest car, a Mk1 Ford Escort 1973, and he himself the oldest driver competing.
On the Saturday qualifying, the combination showed they were going to be a force to be reckoned with, scoring the third grid slot for the Sunday in one class (C37).
Qualifying in the F6 classification the duo qualified in fifth, which was again a good result against some much faster competition.
Sunday and the C37 final was hotly contested. A difficult start saw Dr. Iain drop back to fourth, but by the second lap he had hauled himself up to second and was catching the leader. The two cars at the front of the field drew away from the rest of the entries and that is how they finished, with Dr. Iain in the Escort second on the track, but more importantly first in class.
The F6 final saw the Escort boxed in at the beginning of the race, losing several positions as well. This did not look good for the team, but some heroic passing maneuvers saw the Escort up to eight, and it was only later that Dr. Iain found he had come in second in class as well.
This gave the TR Motorsport team one win and two seconds with its 44 year old car and 75 year old driver.
Dr. Iain thanks his principal sponsors Riviera, the Avenue, Thomas Raldorf and B-Quik (supplier of new tyres for the car).
