Ozanne shows real imagination

By Aaron Scoones

MARK ‘OZZY’ OZANNE has a problem. The sand-racing veteran can’t stop himself from buying racing cars.

At his St Peter’s home the 35-year-old carpenter has 10 of them.

And he has just added another to his collection - a second-hand Imagination racing car.

But he denied he has an addiction before Saturday’s last sand-racing event of the year.

‘I just like getting involved with cars,’ said Ozanne, who took up the sport at the age of 17.

‘It was built for hill climbs and sprints, but I’m converting it for sand racing.’

Built in 1996, the striking-looking Imagination has a 4l John Eales Rover V8 engine. Only 14 were made and it cost Ozanne £5,000 when he bought it over the internet from an enthusiast in Blackpool.

Amazingly, he took delivery of the vehicle on a Wednesday after having purchased it the day before. The seller had driven the road legal car from Lancashire to Poole harbour where a friend of Ozanne, who lives in the UK, took it onto the ferry for Guernsey before handing it over to the Sarnian.

Ozanne then spent two days preparing it for the penultimate sand meeting and the paddock were surprised as he turned up with yet another car.

‘I burnt the midnight oil on the Thursday and Friday working on it,’ he said, ‘although I did have a problem with water getting into the works as I didn’t have the time to transform it properly.

‘I need to build an engine cover to stop the water getting in.

‘Yet it handled really well and it was a pleasure to drive.’

Ozanne was undecided as to whether he would race his new car at the final meeting at Vazon.

Among the others that he owns are two Honda Preludes, two Jaguars and a Skyline sprint car. But there is a type of vehicle that is popular among Ozanne’s rivals that he will never use.

‘A lot of the boys have been racing motorbikes in little cars,’ he said.

‘That’s against my religion. I prefer the old-fashioned way with a car engine in a car engine.

‘Plus you can’t beat the sound of a V8 engine.’