Ash Cambell

The chair by the door

For years Ash Cambell set out a chair under the light by the ballroom door in Latchford. The first time, it was for a young couple who had arrived early. They stayed in their coats and whispered about where to stand. Ash gave them somewhere to sit and went to check on the piano. By the time he came back, they had hung up their coats. He put the chair in the same spot for the next rehearsal.

Ash is seventy now. He still fills in when the hall needs somebody to call the turns. He brushes his silver hair back and tucks a burgundy handkerchief into his dark coat. His daughter Leanne fixes the music stand when he comes in. She once asked him what he'd do with a Saturday to himself. He said he'd have to see who was on the rehearsal list. She held up the key to his car, which he'd left on the piano again.

Look along the surface

People turn to look when Ash brings his Lamborghini 1971 Miura into the paddock. He enjoys that. He usually parks nose out so he can see the car again as he walks back from signing in. At his first practice on a new section, he tried to take a familiar sort of bend in one smooth sweep. The front wheels crossed a rough join and the Miura moved wide. Ash kept turning. By then he could see that he'd left himself very little room for the next bend.

He asked Val Daniels and some of the younger drivers to walk the course with him. Val stopped and pointed at the join. Ash bent down until his eyes were level with the edge. One section sat a little higher than the next. Val waited while he looked back toward the bend and worked out when he'd first be able to see it from the car. Ash went back to the paddock and fetched his keys.

Henry hands over the tin

Henry Steele once brought a tin of washers to steady a practice platform. The repair held. Henry checked it again, then went back for a third look as the crew started calling drivers. Ash put out a hand for the tin. Henry gave it to him and went to get the Subaru SVX. Ash stayed by the platform until Henry came back.

Later Henry showed Ash where to stand to watch a car cross the join. From there Ash could see the front wheels move before the driver had finished the turn. He asked Henry to stand in that same spot during his next practice. Ash wanted to try two changes of direction in a row. He knew the first one well. He usually gave himself so much room for the first that the second was awkward. This time he planned to straighten the wheel a little sooner and look ahead.

Two at the café

After the practice, Ash and Henry stopped at the café. Ash held the back of a spare chair with both hands and turned it a little to the left, as if it were the wheel. Henry waited until Ash reached the second turn, then took a step toward the wall to show where the Miura had ended up. The waitress left a menu on the seat between them. Ash let go long enough to order tea for both of them, then asked Henry to show him that step again.