Item: Margaret Wicke-Fitzgerald

[michaeljf]

Name: Margaret Wicke-Fitzgerald
Category: Vehicles
Date Added: 2020-11-14
Submitter: michaeljf

Margaret Wicke-Fitzgerald

[michaeljf]

Hello,  The above picture ended up in the wrong place!!!! and I don't know how to shift/delete it. So I will add a couple more, I pit crew on the two single car photo's. The green one has 147 neddies at the wheels on su's and points. Regards, Michael.

[Nick Jones]

Great pics!!

That top one.....  2" of daylight under the front inner wheel   work those tyres!!

Big saloon in the lower pic looks very purposeful too.

[michaeljf]

Hello Nick, Yes he does work everything pretty well, on his way to another victory in the Stan Jones (Alans dad) Trophy. They are all "serious" gentlemen racers. The TR2 pilot comes from your part of the world. Regards, Michael.

[JohnD]

Michael,

With wedding ribbons on, and that name, the Hon.Lady Margaret clearly has a story to tell, apart from the sporting connection.  Please tell?

And where were those sporting pics taken?   The group looks like Oulton?  But I don't recognise the first, a big corner, clerly!

John

[michaeljf]

Hello John, The wedding ribbons were for the youngest son's wedding (on a cliff top overlooking the Pacific Ocean) 12 months ago. The "Hon.Lady Margaret" ? my wife's first husband (died from Motor Neurone Disease) was Wicke. I'm Fitzgerald. The track is Winton Raceway in North East Victoria, Turn 3. Hope that helps. Regards, Michael.  

[JohnD]

Glad to see Triumph racing alive and kicking in Oz!     

My compliments to your wife ( and your son's wife!).  They have a lovely competitor.

Bests,

John

[michaeljf]

Hello John,  My wife and her Late husband bought the wedding car in 1971 (was then green ) and my wife helped restore it after his demise to his desired colour! There are a good number of racing Triumphs in Australia. Regards, Michael.

[michaeljf]

Hello, This is the glovebox that I am fitting to the "wedding car".  The green car will be at "The Phillip Island Classic" racing this time next week! Regards, Michael.

[michaeljf]

Hello, Well the green 3A was back at Phillip Island for "The Classic" last weekend (10 th to 13 th inclusive) and we had a mixed weekend ! The car And driver going well and by Saturday had equelled their best time there.... then Saturday evening the driver tested positive to C-19 so that was the end of that! Regards, Michael. (condition of entry was that EVERYONE is triple vacd.)

[Hamish]

testing positive is a bu@@er hope the driver is feeling ok but to take you away from racing is a double whammy

 

[Escadrille Ecosse]

2 hours ago, Hamish said:

testing positive is a bu@@er hope the driver is feeling ok but to take you away from racing is a double whammy

 

Michael sorry to hear

[michaeljf]

Hello, Well the domino effect followed, another member of the "party" got  the bug on the following Wednesday followed by his partner the following day,then me on the eighth day then my wife yesterday. The other two members have recently recovered from it. And we are ALL triple vacd. The driver has been feeling pretty good, apart from the "trouble" he has caused and he is still testing with signs of it (eleven days after testing positive) Regards, Michael.

[Nick Jones]

Hmmm, has anyone actually been ill  with it?  Most of the folks I know in this position (including my 82 year old father and 87 year old MiL) have been symptomatic, but only slightly. “I’ve had worse colds” being the most common observation. Though one of SMS staff is still very broken 6 weeks in and unable to do stairs due to breathlessness….. she’s 36, previously fit, triple vacc’d….

[michaeljf]

Hello, One couple not travelling to well but everyone else is pretty good. The "driver" is now  neg. (12 days )so can now go back to work! Regards, Michael. 

[michaeljf]

Hello, I have just fitted the correct oil and temp gauges to Margarets TR3a. (hope I have posted the right one) Regards, Michael.

[michaeljf]

Hello, Well we are off to try our luck at the Winton Festival of Speed again on thursday, with the green TR3a. Regards, Michael. 

[PeteStupps]

Good luck Michael, let us know how you get on

[michaeljf]

Hello, Well that turned out to be a "fairly" large disaster. The green TR3a owner/driver and wife have two Range Rovers (Velar? and Sport), the Velar has just returned from a complete motor replacement (broken crankshaft) almost Three (3) month wait!.....and on his way to pick us up to go to Winton it went into limp mode...so we all went back to his place and transferred our gear (including the enclosed trailer/race car )to his wife's (which she insisted we take) Sport and off we go for about thirty five klms. and when climbing a VERY lange and long mountain the lack of coolant light came on and we definately did not stop anywhere soon enough! (slack pit crew not checking under the bonnet before we left?) but when we did there was steam..and smoke. After about a four hour wait a tilt tray with a duel cab ute on board arrived and the ute and Range Rover swapped places and we attached the trailer to duel cab and headed for home. Will report on what happened to the poor Range Rover! Sorry for the long winded story. Regards, Michael.  

[PeteStupps]

Oh dear! What a shame... you can't trust these modern cars eh??!

[michaeljf]

Hello, Sometimes it's the operator..... Regards, Michael.

[Nick Jones]

7 hours ago, PeteStupps said:

you can't trust these modern cars eh??!

Especially when it’s a Landrover product…. Pretty sure the Aussies often call them “one trippers” or even “half trippers”?

The V6 engine has long had a deserved reputation for fragility, with cam drive problems and bottom end problems including crank breakage.

The more recent 4 pot is also earning itself a bit of a reputation, though perhaps not through basic weakness. A LR tech friend was telling me they get a few through that have been run out of oil. Operator error you cry…. Well, maybe, but when you take an engine with fairly high oil consumption (apparently many are from new), no dipstick (WTaF?!) and an oil level measurement / warning system that doesn’t work properly, the poor operator doesn’t  stand much chance! Makes for acrimonious warranty discussions apparently!

Did you get there in the end Michael? And did things improve?

[michaeljf]

Hello Nick, No we didn't get there. The Sport has over 200,000 klms. to its credit. A fair bit of the time towing either a double horse float or an enclosed race car trailer and gear.  Yes things did improve.... we went home! Regards, Michael.

[Nick Jones]

9 hours ago, michaeljf said:

we went home! Regards, Michael.

Oh….

[michaeljf]

Hello, And he now owns two Range Rovers and a Land Rover!  Regards, Michael.