FASSI championship round 2

Round 2 of the Bugatti Owners Club / FASSI Classic Speed Championship took place at at the club’s home venue of Prescott Hillclimb on the 24th April.

There were 25 entrants across the three classes & the Italians were well represented with three Fiat Abarths & two Alfa Romeos. A big crowd turned out which was great to see after two years of Covid restrictions & certainly added some atmosphere to the day.

The most numerous class was once again Classic Saloon cars with a healthy field with great variety. The handicap win was taken by a returning Mark Maynard in his spectacularly driven Hillman Imp. Sideways everywhere, Mark finished 1.6 seconds under his previous best with a now properly sorted engine aiding the powerslides! Second on handicap was Peter Hall in the Fiat Abarth OT 850. Brian Ashley was third in the A35 , already looking like a solid contender across the season if he can keep up this early scoring rate. Fastest saloon car went to the Escort of Simon Braithwaite, not quite matching his second practice but still under the 50 second barrier.

Leigh Carter & Dave Fripp driving the FASSI Fiat Abarth 695 SS had a good day getting to within 0.11 & 0.25 seconds of their handicap times respectively for a 5th & 6th place finish.

​Sportscars was won on handicap by Charles Boulton in the MGB V8. Stephen Akers was second in his Lotus Elan from a returning Doug Chipperfield in the rapid orange MG Midget – Doug also claiming fastest time in the sportscar class.

Single seaters and sport racing cars was won on handicap by Jeremy Rivers-Fletcher in the Triumph special, second was Christopher Wigdor in his Ukrainian Humanitarian Appeal liveried Mallock , third was Local ace Martin Jones in the lovely Elva Mk7 twincam. Fastest in the class by a long way was Peter Thurston in the other early Mallock , storming to a fastest time across the whole classic entry by a comfortable margin.

Many thanks to Stuart Wing www.captureyourcarphotography.com & Steve Shelley www.ssshootphotography.co.uk for some great photographs.

GOLD for Michael

Alltruck Crane Repair & Sales’ Michael McGrotty has achieved the highest possible accolade through the FASSI Training Academy – GOLD certified engineer.

GOLD certified engineers are the master technicians of the FASSI service network. They are experienced practitioners in the diagnosis & repair of the FX500, FX900 & FSC systems.

Being experienced engineers they have qualified for, & attained, ALLMI Thorough Examiner & Load Test accreditation. Well done Michael.

Michael is also an accomplished fabricator / crane installer. Here he is receiving his GOLD engineer certificate in front of a bespoke tractor unit build he created for overhead powerline specialists PLPC Ltd.

The tractor unit is fitted with a FASSI F275A.2.24 & took pride of place on the Alltruck Group’s stand at the Scotplant show last week.

Also on show was one of four new mobile workshops for Alltruck Crane Repair & Sales, fully kitted out & ready to be filled with FASSI crane spares for same day repairs.

K & S Elephants

A lift they’ll never forget

Tewkesbury based K&S Transport Services is a family run business that prides itself on its ability to fulfil a range of transportation requirements across the South West and the UK.  The company says ‘If it can be lifted, we can move it.’  That statement was put to the test when this time last year the team arrived on-site at a farm in the Cotswolds to transport a herd of real-life wooden Elephant sculptures to Sudeley Castle, near Cheltenham.

The Elephant Family were part of a touring environmental art campaign by Co-Existence, which highlights the plight of animals in danger of extinction.  The installation’s aim was to illustrate how animals and humans can live together in society.

The company used their FASSI F420XP crane to lift and transport the elephants onto their lorry.  From the medium-duty range, the crane is a great companion for the job as it is extremely dynamic.  THE XP system can overcome complex situations without compromising the performance or safety of the crane.

Driving to Sudeley Castle took the team through the centre of Cheltenham.  K&S Transport’s Keith Hall said ‘I have never seen people get their phones out so quickly to get a picture; the way they looked and looked again with their mouths open. We had cars following us trying to get a photo.  It’s not every day that you get the chance to carry out a lift such as this, it was a real buzz.’

Just like an elephant, it is most definitely a lift Keith is not going to forget.

FASSI championship round 1

The inaugural round of the FASSI Classic Speed Championship took place at Loton Park Hill Climb on 3rd April

The FASSI Classic Speed Championship kicked off on a cold but thankfully dry early spring day at the wonderful Loton Park Hillclimb.

The Loton Park Speed Hill Climb course is 1475 yards (1349 metres) long & is extremely challenging for competitors with a wide variety of corners and a changing character as an ascent progresses.

There were 14 competitors with 12 cars across three classes including the FASSI Fiat Abarth 695SS running in the saloon car class.

The handicap winners of each class were:

Racing cars: Carole Nicholls – Nike Mark 4 – 67.86s

Saloon cars: Brian Ashley – Austin A35 – 69.53s

Sports cars: Ben Cross – MG Midget – 68.55

Scuderia FASSI were pleased to break the 80 second barrier with a great drive by Dave Fripp coming in at 79.35 seconds.

Click here to take a drive up the hill from inside our Fiat Abarth 695SS. 

Many thanks to Stuart Wing of www.captureyourcarphotography.com for some great photographs.