Parish Cake Autumn 2017
Your slice of Cranbrook and Sissinghurst life - published by Cranbrook and Sissinghurst Parish Council
Your slice of Cranbrook and Sissinghurst life - published by Cranbrook and Sissinghurst Parish Council
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feature<br />
No Rivalry<br />
in this Team<br />
A life long passion for minis makes this couple a<br />
team to be reckoned with writes Trisha Fermor<br />
JOKES ABOUT women<br />
drivers would probably go<br />
down like a lead balloon<br />
in one Weald household.<br />
Pete Berry, 41, and his<br />
fiancée Zoe Atkins, 35, are<br />
two of the country’s top<br />
hot-rod racers, travelling<br />
the length and breadth of<br />
the UK to compete in their<br />
iconic Minis.<br />
Pete, who works at his<br />
father John’s garage,<br />
Cranbrook Cars,<br />
Sissinghurst, is suitably<br />
proud of Zoe who has left<br />
the ladies-only classes<br />
to join the men. She is<br />
currently lying in third<br />
place against 40 rivals.<br />
Her fiancé is the leading<br />
points champion of the<br />
6,000-member Invicta<br />
Kent club – the largest of<br />
its kind in the UK – based<br />
at Ivychurch, Romney<br />
Marsh.<br />
Their beloved Minis are<br />
Pete’s much-rebuilt green<br />
pick-up with a Cooper<br />
S 1071cc engine and<br />
Zoe’s white model with a<br />
1000cc engine.<br />
Surprisingly, using only<br />
first and second gear,<br />
Pete can achieve 89mph<br />
in second while Zoe can<br />
reach 70 plus in hers.<br />
The races are usually run<br />
clock-wise on an oval<br />
grass track and their<br />
cars’ tracking is altered,<br />
making them look<br />
lopsided when stationery.<br />
Mr Berry snr was one of<br />
the first people in the<br />
1970s to race on the<br />
stock-rod grass track in<br />
Frittenden and Pete said:<br />
“When I was in a pram I<br />
used to be taken to the<br />
track. I was two years old<br />
when I helped my Dad<br />
change the wheel nuts on<br />
a racer.<br />
“When I was 12 and tall<br />
for my age I was allowed<br />
to take part racing cars<br />
although the minimum<br />
age was 13. They said if<br />
“THEY<br />
SAID IF<br />
I COULD<br />
REACH<br />
THE<br />
PEDALS<br />
AND SEE<br />
OVER THE<br />
STEERING<br />
WHEEL I<br />
WAS OK.”<br />
I could reach the pedals<br />
and see over the steering<br />
wheel I was OK.”<br />
Pete is not alone in<br />
getting help from a<br />
parent. Zoe’s Mum,<br />
Glenys Atkins, who lives<br />
at Knoxbridge, raced<br />
Minis at Brands Hatch.<br />
Zoe said: “I did karting<br />
for six years before<br />
racing Minis. Pete was<br />
always going on at me to<br />
join him racing and one<br />
Christmas he bought me<br />
a Mini. I went on to be a<br />
ladies’ champion which is<br />
why I joined the men.”<br />
Although hot-rod racing<br />
is supposed to be a<br />
non-contact sport both<br />
their minis have suffered<br />
damage in collisions and<br />
both have rolled their<br />
cars – Pete reckoning to<br />
have somersaulted up to<br />
20 times in one incident.<br />
Fortunately they have<br />
avoided serious injuries.<br />
While Zoe’s car is<br />
trailered to events,<br />
Pete built his own lorry,<br />
complete with living<br />
quarters, to carry his<br />
Mini.<br />
He said: “We are like a<br />
travelling circus. We take<br />
our two dogs, a Staffie<br />
and a Staffie x Lab, with<br />
us wherever we go.”<br />
Speaking just before the<br />
National Championships<br />
in Herefordshire at the<br />
beginning of August, Pete<br />
said: “Zoe and I have a<br />
real partnership, we do<br />
everything together and<br />
are a great team.”<br />
24 <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Cake</strong> • <strong>Autumn</strong> <strong>2017</strong>