Thousands raised for charity by rally race in memory of Wolverhampton-born British champion
A memorial race to commemorate the achievements of a Wolverhampton-born rally car driver has raised £10,000 for charity.
The John Bloxham Memorial Rally has taken place at Apley for two years, with funds raised divided between Wolverhampton-based Compton Care and Prostate Cancer UK.
The race remembers the well-known driver who won the much-coveted triple crown of RAC British Rally Championship, Motoring News Rally Championship and BTRDA Gold Star Rally Championship in 1969.
John died of prostate cancer in 2021 aged 78 and the event has been organised by his son Nick Bloxham, himself a regular rally competitor, in memory of his father.
Nick said: “There was a real buzz around the event this year. It was the final round of the HRCR (Historic Rally Car Register) Clubman’s rally championship – an eight-round championship of events all across the country. The overall championship results had not been finalised before our event, so there was still everything to play for. This helped to add to the excitement surrounding the event.
“We wanted to try to capture some of the spirit of those Golden Years of Road Rallying and put on a route that we wanted to be challenging, but enjoyable, for all – and it was!
“The route was approximately 200 miles long. We started in Bridgnorth at around 9am and finished at about 8pm so it was epic, a bit of a monster, a lot of people said it was tough but really enjoyed it too.
“We were trying to replicate some of the events Dad competed in back in the halcyon days of road rallying. We were fortunate to have permission from numerous farm owners to be able to use their property, and due to the time of year a significant proportion of the event was held in darkness, adding another dimension to the rally.
“We were fortunate to be able to arrange for one of my Father’s rally cars, his Fiat 131, to be at the start. This was a very well-known car in the early 1980s and it was a real coup to be able to have it there.
“We hope the memorial rally will become an annual event and would like to say a big thank you to Lord Hamilton for letting us use the Apley Estate. We held two driving tests there which were extremely received by the competitors and we really appreciated being permitted to use it.
“As well as all of the Landowners, we are very grateful to our event sponsors; Fogmaker UK, a leading provider of automatic fire extinguisher systems for trucks and buses, and Peter Posh Ltd, a well-known hirer and retailer of men’s formal wear.”
John’s rallying exploits took him to all corners of the globe, including competing in a three-man team in the 1970 London to Mexico Rally.
Although he retired from top-level road rallying competition in the early 1980s, his passion and enthusiasm for the sport never left him and he began marshalling for Nick and his brother, Jonty, when they competed week in, week out on events all across the country.
The memorial rally on November 30 included six regularity sections, nine special tests and one tough TC section.
Donations have now been counted and handed over to the charities. The inaugural event in 2023 raised £6,000 and last year’s event raised £4,000, bringing the total raised so far by the event to £10,000.
Part of the rally is held at the estate in Apley, on the A442 between Telford and Bridgnorth, which owner Lord Gavin Hamilton gave Nick permission to use in order to help raise funds for the charities.
Lord Hamilton said: “We have been delighted to be able to host the John Bloxham Memorial Rally for the last two years. It is a wonderful occasion in memory of a fantastic rally driver and very kind man, raising a huge sum for charity in the process.
“The track at Apley is there to be used and we are pleased to have been able to play a small part in commemorating John’s achievements.
“Nick and his small team do a fantastic job to put on such a great event and we hope this will get bigger and better each year.”
Pic: M&H Photography: https://www.mandhphotography.co.uk
