The CHAS KEELING BSL FINALS –
10/11th December 2016

at Hambleton Village Hall, Church Lane, Hambleton, Poulton-Le-Fylde, Lancs. FY6 9BZ

A great turnout of racers came to Hambleton Village Hall to enjoy a weekend of fun racing in memory of Chas Keeling who was such a great supporter & part of the BSL from its inception 23 years ago.

This was a meeting were results really were not important but that everyone raced in the fun spirit Chas always promoted – a quest which I think all racers helped achieve.

So on this occasion there is not so much a race report but a few fond memories of Chas which were stirred in holding the Finals.

Chas’s shop was always a dependable feature of meetings. His friendly helpful service was appreciated by all & particularly those new to racing. With very grateful thanks to Muriel the SCD shop was in attendance again at the Finals & much appreciated again by racers.

Chas always loved to help out those with a problem so when a junior racer was stuck for a race body Muriel made a classic Chas gesture of taking a body off one of his cars to solve the problem – a great touch.

Chas always pushed the boat out for The Finals with many of us having a box covered in the Finals stickers from the many years he gave them away. For this special memorial meeting Muriel handed out ‘Chas Keeling BSL Finals’ cards to all. I hold a few spare if anyone missed them.

Pushing the boat out included dressing very differently at some Finals. Yes the jacket came off, one year to reveal a near punk style BSL emblazoned T shirt!  Another year he raced in I think the ‘Odd Bods’ enduro team & duly donned a cardboard box outfit – we all loved his sense of humour & fun.

On the track Chas loved to have a ‘dice’ & was famed for his car getting wider when you were in close vicinity! Numerous race incidents came to mind as reminders of Chas’s presence during the Finals & were commented on with a smile.

A very big thank you to all the racers who put in a big effort with the track & running the meeting. Congratulations to all the Finals & Series winners. I hope all enjoyed the racing.

Perhaps the highlight of the meeting was the very welcome appearance of Chas’s older brother John who presented the trophies as Chas had done for so many years. Thank you very much John. I think the fantastic round of applause given at the end of the presentation said it all.

Steve Sargent

 

BSL 2016  British Slotracing League

Thanks to  Glenn Atterton for this photo of everybody at the meeting.

See lots more of Glenn’s photos of the meeting on Facebook.

Website editor C.Frost

© Copyright  British Slotracing League 2016 photo coyright  G. Atterton All rights reserved