Focus on – Terry Wright

Terry Wright Croft April 2010

It’s been a few years since I met Terry wright for the first time. It was a cold November up at Croft Circuit and I’d been sent there to take some pictures of the Winter Series event because basically Motorsport News couldn’t persuade anyone else to go.

I’d never been to Croft Circuit previously and got that strange feeling it was in Scotland, and hence a million miles from anywhere. It turned out I was completely wrong as the circuit is near Scotch Corner, not Scotland and hence only around 70 miles from Leeds. So I set off early the morning of the race meeting, got completely lost coming off the A1 and had an argument firstly with a rabbit and then a pheasant.

Not a good start for my first visit to a circuit I’d never been to before. On arriving at the circuit I parked up and cased the joint. I met Tracey, the Croft Circuit manager for the the first time and also go talking with a very friendly and knowledgeable person who told me his name which I promptly forgot (more on this in a minute). The race meeting was great with the NSSCC boys having a race, along with the Renault Clios and Formula Renaults amongst others. I found some great places to take pictures and Motorsport News seemed happy with the results.

Croft then became my home circuit with me being sent there most weekends and I kept meeting up with the chap I’d met the first time I visited the circuit. It wasn’t until I was asked to take some extra feature pictures for Motorsport News that I actually found out the guy I’d been talking at all the various Croft Circuit events was actually Terry Wright. Motorsport News were doing a focus feature on Terry and I didn’t have a clue what he looked like and what part he played in the success of both the DDMC and Croft Circuit. As daft as it may sound, I actually approached Terry and asked if he knew what Terry Wright looked like as I needed to get some pictures.

Terry played dumb for a while but finally let on making me feel rather stupid. I’d watched him race his little old yellow Rover around Croft, battling with much more powerful cars, never realising that I’d actually struck a good friendship with the very person I needed some pictures of. At all the Croft events I’d attended over the years Terry and his wife Yvonne had been very visible helping with driver sign on at one event and then competing in the next.

During the latest event at Croft circuit in April 2010, Terry unveiled his grand new colour scheme for his trusty old Rover. He’d decided the time was right to go back to his rallycross roots and adopt the blue and yellow paint job he once ran whilst competing in that series. After the first race of the weekend with his new colour scheme, he joked with me that the reason he was a couple of seconds off his usual pace was due to the cheap lead based paint he’d had his Rover painted with (i.e his car weighed much much more due to the paint). He argued that he’d heard somewhere that and extra 10KG in weight would make each lap 0.1 second slower. With Terry being involved in the Croft Supporters Club, I’m guessing the new stickers he’s having made up to show his support for the club will add even more weight to his car.

So really to summarise, every time I’ve been to Croft, Terry and his wife Yvonne have also been at Croft helping in some way, shape or form. I’ve been to Croft Circuit many times over the years only missing a couple of the car meetings which took place during the last couple of years. There’s always a loyal group of other people at Croft Circuit events helping Terry, or Terry is helping them.

Watch out for more ‘Focus On’ features over the coming months. Please feel free to let me know your suggestions or even have a go at writing your own piece. I can’t guarantee to include everyone due to time constraints but I’ll do my best to help.