The Motor Racing Spectator

As the season is almost over I thought I'd do a best & worst list of 2012. Just a bit of fun in case lawyers are reading this.... The Best of 2012.... Meeting  Donington FIA Trucks, June 30/July1. Surprised myself when I thought about it. Motor Racing should be a spectacle and I have to say that the big rigs were fantastic over the weekend. All the support races were very good aswell. Race  Until 4.30 pm on Sunday 4th November I was going to say both Pick Up races on the Rockingham Oval on August 19th but I'm going with the Walter Hayes Final. A sense of drama rarely felt watching motor racing  these days. Circuit  Cadwell Park. I only went the once on May 27 for a 750MC meeting but wish it was 50 miles nearer to home. A fantastic track that retains some of the reasons for watching motor racing in the first place.Hardly any catch fencing and fantastic viewing. That it's owned by MSV is a bonus so it is in immaculate condition. Weather Cadwell Park May...

The first full weekend of Greenwich Mean Time can only mean one thing, it's time for the Walter Hayes Trophy! Always a highlight of the year this was the 12th running of the Trophy and the 10th with a weekend, multi-entry, knockout format. After what can only be described as a poor first year for the new generation Eco-Boost Formula Ford and a 13 car Duratec engined entry for the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch the weekend before, there were an outstanding 120 1600cc Kent engine cars in the Silverstone paddock over the weekend. Many fans still talk in awe of the Festivals at Brands Hatch in the 1980's and Formula Ford guru James Beckett's intention to recreate those festivals with the WHT has borne fruit. The Spectator's first Festival was in 1993, the first year of the new Zetec engine and I regret not being 5 to 10 years older so I could have witnessed some of those Festivals in the 80's! Saturday saw qualifying and racing for all 6 heats of the WHT along...

Frost on the car, the temperature gauge reading 0.5 degrees celsius, patchy fog drifting over the fields. Autumn has arrived and on a distinctly chilly morning it was off to Mallory Park for the circuit's final car action of the regular season with a meeting organised by the 750MC. 11 races were on the schedule with double headers for 750 Trophy, Formula Vee, Sport Specials, RGB, Toyota MR2 and a single race for the 750Formula Championship. All the other categories run by the club had their final races at Snetterton the weekend before so this was finals day part two for the club. There wasn't a cloud in the sky for qualifying in the morning and it was good to be trackside in some glorious sunshine, which cannot be said for most of this season! After 6 qualifying sessions there were 3 races before the lunch break, one of which, the first Sport Specials race was red-flagged after oil induced mayhem at the Esses. The usual story- car puts oil down, cars behind spin off in all di...

The final rounds of the British Formula 3 and British GT championships were the centre piece of this 2 day BRSCC organised meeting. A very late addition to the meeting were the final 2 rounds of the FIA GT championship and after what happened on Sunday, certainly an unwelcome addition as far as I was concerned! This is the longest I've left time wise to report on a meeting on the blog this season as I was left somewhat angered and annoyed by the events of the day. First of all the timetable was always going to be very ambitious with the addition of the FIA GT series but why oh why the 12 car field had to have a 30 minute "warm-up" is a mystery. Especially after the 26 car British GT field had just had a 10 minute warm up in the previous session.The last scheduled race was due to finish at 6.40pm and it's pretty dark at this time of year. So what the day didn't need was a big delay, so what did we get - 2 big delays..... The run off at Redgate corner is now one ...

The second day of a 2 day Classic Sports Car Club meeting at Donington was the latest outing for The Spectator. 8 races were scheduled but with the amalgamation of Special Saloons &  HVRA V8 series races the card had 7 races in the end. Swinging 60's Group 1 & Group 2,Future Classics, Jaguars, Sports/Saloon Challenge and a Lotus Elan 50th anniversary race completed the menu. Autumnal is how I'd describe the weather and as we head towards late September and October, what Summer we had is now a distant memory. It was cool and blustery all day and it's time to dig the bobble hat and gloves out of the drawer for the rest of the season!  This was a curate's egg of a day where some of the action was fantastic and some of it was poor. The first 2 sessions of qualifying in the morning (Swinging 60's Groups 1&2 + Future Classics) were probably the most entertaining sessions I've seen all year with lots of cars on track driven over enthusiastically in the m...

Silverstone was the venue for The Spectator's latest meeting as I ventured to the Northamptonshire/Buckinghamshire border for the second day of a 2 day British Formula 3 and British GT meeting organised by the BRSCC. Glorious sunny weather at last in the UK made for a pleasant day watching even if the traditional Silverstone wind did cool it down a bit later in the day. 9 races in total with the centre piece of the day being a 3 hour race for the British GT championship. Double headers for British Formula 3, UK Formula Ford, Ginetta G5 and single races for the Volkswagen Cup and bizarrely the JK Asia Racing Series,which are rebranded Formula BMW cars. Yes we are living in strange times motor sport wise with an Asian based series having 3 rounds in Europe and the fact that there were only 8 cars on track for a 10 lap race on the 3.6 mile GP circuit begs the question-why? Indeed there were only 11 Formula Fords and 15 Formula 3 cars aswell and after seeing the same package at Rocki...

After a 5 week gap it was back to Donington for the second visit of the season by the 750MC. The club are now based  in offices at the circuit and are looking at closer ties with Donington in future years. The 2 day meeting was a self-styled "Summer" festival and the 750MC hierarchy must very good meteorologists as their early September meeting turned out to be far more Summery than their meeting in late June! The Spectator only ventured out on the Sunday which turned out to be a warm and pleasant day after early cloud. 14 races were run on the day after 4 qualifying sessions and the last race finished at 6.15pm so, in Donington terms, an early finish.....All of the clubs championships were on track and the only ones I missed on the Saturday were SAXMAX,BMW Compact Cup and Toyota MR2 Super GT. I have to say it was a thoroughly enjoyable days racing with the only poor races being the pair of Formula 4 single-seater races which had thin grids and unreliabilty. Highlight ...

The last time The Spectator watched a 6 hour race it made me question my own sanity, so only 6 weeks on from the Donington European Le Mans Series 13 car spectacular, it was the turn of the World Endurance Championship to visit Silverstone. Thankfully there were 35 cars for the 6 hours which is down on previous years but a healthy grid none the less. Support came from a double header for the Formula Renault 3.5 World Series and a single hour long race for the Classic Endurance Racing series. On Saturday there were heavy showers forecast and the only one that did deposit precipitation came at just the wrong time! (In all my years of spectating one guarantee is that it will rain just before a slick shod single seater race after being dry all day, causing mass panic and confusion...) At 1.00pm the F.Renault race started in sunshine then the rain started and watching at Club corner it was relatively light rain but it was very heavy at Luffield a quarter of a mile away which led to the sig...

The lure of Pickups racing on Rockingham's 1.5 mile oval was enough for The Spectator to travel slightly further afield and head East to the less than salubrious surrounds of Corby. Given the cost of travelling in the UK currently, it takes something special to make the cost of travelling worthwhile and I'm glad the trip turned out to be worth it. It takes a lot for me to get excited about racing nowadays but I have to say that the 2, 35 lap Pickup races were fantastic. The oval is one of the most under utilised pieces of racetrack in the UK and it is only the Pickup series that races on it currently. Several years ago all the trucks were converted from right-hand drive to left-hand drive so they were compatible with oval racing safety and 18 were on show at Rockingham. Both races featured multiple passing and both results were in doubt until the chequered flag with Nic Grindrod winning the 1st and Paul Poulter winning the 2nd. Backmarker Geoff Dixon crashed on the very last ...

After yet another weekend off ( it must be the mid season blues....) the Spectator went to Mallory Park last Sunday for a BARC organised 9 race meeting. After not going to Mallory at all in 2012 it was the second visit in 2 weeks and a good looking mixture of races. There were double headers for Toyota MR2's, Nippon Challenge, Gearbox Karts and Champion of Mallory FF1600 with only a single race for North West Sports/Saloons. There was some very good racing throughout, with highlights being the North West Sports/Saloons which provided a very good entry and an entertaining race. The award for most frightening races of the year is definitely awarded to the couple of BSA 125cc gearbox Kart races. The sheer cornering speed of some of the quicker Karts is a sight to behold and with some huge speed differentials between Karts there were plenty of hairy moments. Personally if you want to race a gearbox Kart on a long circuit then you must be as mad as a box of frogs! I think I'd rath...

The Spectator ventured to Leicestershire's other circuit on Sunday for a meeting organised by the Classic Touring Car Racing Club. This was my first visit to the self styled "Friendly Circuit" in 2012 as my last visit was on Boxing Day for the Plum Pudding meeting last December 26th funnily enough. For various reasons there aren't many car racing meetings at Mallory this year, indeed this was only their 3rd of the season. As to why, well Mallory has always been a bike circuit first and foremost but was always a good club venue for cars, but with BRSCC not even having one meeting this year it has to rely on the smaller one-off clubs to help fill the schedule. The CTCRC usually run their portfolio of championships within BARC meetings but once a year they run their own meeting at Mallory, The AUTOGLYM Classic Festival to give its official title. 12 races were run all of 15 minutes in length and after spectating at curfewless Donington for most of the year it was unusua...

As the Spectator was still in a state of shock & general mental confusion following his weekend spent at Donington for the European Le Mans Series, I couldn't bring myself to go to any motor sport on the 21/22 July weekend! With batteries almost fully recharged it was back for more punishment, sorry enjoyment, at Donington on Saturday for the visit of the Historic Racing Drivers Club. The HRDC is a new club this year that has been started by Julius Thurgood who, having formed the Masters series of Historic events, left and created another set of races for the very busy Historic motor racing scene. The grandly titled Coys International Trophy meeting consisted of 5 races with 3 being of 1 hour duration which were TC63/TC65 (for Pre'64 & Pre'66 Historic Group 2 Touring Cars), Touring Greats (for Pre '60 Touring Cars) and GTS65 (for over 1500cc Sports/GT cars) and 2 races of half hour length which were MGB50 (a series celebrating the 50th anniversary of the car) a...

6 Hours of Donington: 13 cars...... Perhaps a little harsh to publish a photo of grass growing but after a season of witnessing some very good racing at some very good meetings there had to be a weekend when my enthusiasm/sanity were tested to the full! All year I'd known that the newly conceived European Le Mans Series was on shaky ground as their first round at Paul Ricard attracted a 20 car field and the 2nd round at Zolder was cancelled altogether. However a couple of weeks ago the entry list stood at 21 for Donington so I thought what the hell, go for the weekend and as a big fan of Le Mans Prototype cars I reckoned it would be OK. As is usually the case when I buy tickets in advance I regret being so well organised as the entry started to dwindle from 21 to 18 to 15 and finally to 13 by the weekend. Donington showed no signs of cancelling the event, there was no sign of reducing the length and no sign of ticket price reduction so it was with a heavy heart I attended both d...

After the British Truck Grand Prix it was the other British Grand Prix for The Spectator with a visit to Friday Practice Day at Silverstone. At precisely 5.25am I set off from home in the knowledge that any arrival after 7/7.30ish would be too late and it turned out to be one of the best bits of planning I've ever made. The omens weren't good as the day before Silverstone were issuing warnings about the state of their campsites and with a terrible weather forecast for Friday it was no surprise that most of the car parks would be out of action too. I arrived at about 6.40 and made my way into the circuit -the question was though, would I get out in the evening! Track action for the day consisted of 2 x 90 minute sessions for Formula One, practice and qualifying for GP2 and single practice sessions for GP3, Porsche Supercup and Historic F1. The Becketts Grandstand was my choice for the morning for 2 reasons. 1-the view is tremendous and 2-it had a roof.....The first action at ...

And now for something completely different...Truck Racing. This weekend it was the turn of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship to visit Donington and after racing only the week before at Nogaro in the South of France, a healthy grid of 20 trucks took part over the 2 days. I hadn't seen trucks in action for many years and as a spectacle they were hugely impressive. Donington isn't the widest of circuits and the sight of 20 trucks hammering down the Craner Curves and into the Old Hairpin on the 1st lap of each race was quite a sight. Understandably passing was difficult but it did take place, especially in the 2nd race of each day where the top 8 finishers in the 1st race are reversed on the grid. Jochen Hahn and Antonio Albacete are clearly the quickest 2 rigs in the series and have done most of the winning in 2012 and each won a race this weekend. I liked the format used where each day is treated separately so there were 2 races on Saturday and 2 races on Sunday so fans ...

After a rare weekend off, it was back to Donington on the weekend of June 23/24 for a very busy 2 day 750MC organised meeting. Very busy is something of an understatement with a hugely ambitious 28 race schedule in place with 12 races on Saturday and 16 on Sunday. The 750MC are organising less meetings in 2012 so it would appear that their doctrine is to cram as much as physically possible into each day.  We ended up losing the final race on Sunday, SportSpecials (nee KitCars) due to time constraints, so it was just the 15 races in total...... Dare one say it, but there was probably too much racing scheduled! Both days the length of races was reduced from 13 minutes + 1 Lap to 11 minutes + 1 lap (after 4 races on Saturday and 6 races on Sunday) All the 750MC formulae had double-headers over the weekend save the 750 Trophy which had just the 1 race. Such was the entry in the Locosts that they had 3 races. There was some very good racing throughout the weekend with only the Formula ...

This weekend it was the turn of  Rockingham to see a visit from The Spectator for the BRSCC organised British Formula 3/British GT package. There were 9 races on the Sunday, 2 of each for F3,UK Formula Ford, Volkswagen Cup & Ginetta GT5 Challenge plus a 2 hour British GT race. Rockingham, with it's 2 mile road course within the 1.5 mile oval, is an odd place to spectate at. Opened in 2001 the venue has struggled to find it's identity over the years with the visit of Indy/Champ Car in '01 & '02 a distant memory along with the much vaunted ASCAR/Days of Thunder. Indeed the Oval is barely used these days for racing with only the Pickup series using it on a few occasions throughout the season. The road course is a far less interesting version of the venue's early days, with the modern circuit not using the fast chicane on Turn 1 of the oval. I guess it couldn't last especially after Katherine Legge flipped her F3 car there in 2003. What the spectator is lef...

Thanks to a minor event event involving the Windsor family taking place this weekend, the Late May Bank Holiday became the Early June Bank Holiday this year and so it was to Donington on Monday for the annual Morgan Sports Car Club race meeting. Unsuprisingly the 8 races mainly featured Morgans but there was also a double header for the Ford XR championship and races for MGBCV8,Thoroughbred Sportscars,RAFMSA Challenge & a Sports/Saloon thrash at the end of the day. This was a very low key meeting with a very sparse crowd in attendance. Indeed there were far more contractors on site preparing for the forthcoming Download music festival at the circuit. The Old Hairpin area will apparently be the "Gold" campsite for the event as helpfully demonstrated by the decorating of the catch fencing with gold bunting and lightbulbs... At times one despairs watching motor racing in this country. Circuits have to decide if they want paying punters through the gate or don't bother...

No mistaking where I was on Sunday with a trip to Silverstone for Round 2 of the Blancpain Endurance Series which is a European based championship for GT3 cars with each race being 3 hours in length. This was a strange day with one of the worst timetables I've ever experienced along with some of the worst June weather I've ever experienced! First of all the timetable, with the meeting consisting of a 50 minute Lamborghini Super Trofeo race at 9.00am then a near 3 hour gap to the Blancpain race getting underway at 12.45 then the 2nd Lambo race starting at 4.10pm and that was that. Thankfully the main race of the day lived up to it's billing with a fantastic grid of 50 cars lining up, which made for a very entertaining race won by the 1st round winner, the Marc VDS BMW Z4 of Markus Palttala/Bas Leinders/Maxime Martin, pictured below taken in the Pit Lane walkabout on Sunday morning.... The weather was appalling for most of the day with the glorious sunny skies of the w...

There weren't many car meetings this weekend with the nearest on Sunday being Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire, so it was to Cadwell for the 750MC organised 14 race meeting. My last visit to the circuit had been in 2009 and since then the A46 road between Nottingham and Newark had been upgraded to dual-carriageway so I was looking forward to a quicker journey. Indeed it saved 20 minutes in the morning but the tortuous Lincolnshire roads cost me the 20 minutes on the way back in the evening! Cadwell is unique. The narrow ribbon of tarmac is quite a shock after spectating at Donington & Silverstone and the topography of the circuit is a refreshing change from the "airfield" UK tracks. As a spectator it's definitely the toughest to walk around..... Not much catch fencing exists at Cadwell and the Mountain/Hall Bends/Hairpin section is the closest you will get as a spectator in the country. As for the racing it was a very good day. It was the second day of the meeting ...

Back to Donington this weekend for the visit of "Superstars". No, not the famous BBC show of the 70's and 80's where top sportsmen of the day competed against each other in squat thrusts and Kevin Keegan falling off his bicycle... These Superstars are an Italian based championship for mighty V8 powered saloons, 18 of which were present. They made an impressive spectacle on a dry track as their first session on a damp Saturday morning made the cars look the unwieldy beasts they are. A star studded entry list with former British Grand Prix driver Johnny Herbert driving a Maserati Quattroporte, plus former GP drivers Gianni Morbidelli (Audi) & Vitantonio Liuzzi (Mercedes). Indeed Morbidelli was the star of the weekend as he won both races very easily in an Audi RS5 that was the class of the field. Fellow Audi driver, Johan Kristoffersson, (who started from the back in the first race due to competing in the Scandinavian Touring Car Champinship on Saturday) finished 2n...

This weekend it was my first visit to the "Home" of British motor racing this year as opposed to the "Heart" with MSVR in charge for what turned out to be 13 races on the day. As World Superbikes were at Donington, I decided to go to Silverstone to avoid the crowds and save some money! MSVR is the racing organisational arm of the mighty Motor Sport Vision empire and they have established themselves as one of the best organisers in the country. They have a strong portfolio of series, most of which were in action today. The self-styled Silverstone Shootout had races for F3Trophy, GT Cup, VAG Trophy, Production BMW's, Monopostos, VW Golf's & Trackday Trophy. The 13th extra race was a Monoposto race that started on Saturday but was red-flagged and accommodated on Sunday. Racing was on the National circuit which, while not the most challenging of circuits, always provides good racing with heavy braking into Becketts and Brooklands after long straights which ...

There was no meeting for me on Sunday April 29th as the wettest April in 100 years saved most of it's worst weather for that particular day! The MSVR organised meeting took place at Donington but having got ready to go in the morning, I backed out of going not wanting to spend all day out in the pouring rain....10 years ago I would have gone but the older you get the less you seem to fancy it! As for May 5/6 it was the 2nd ever Donington Historic Festival with 2 very busy days each with 6 races. Saturday was a very long day with the final race,a Pre'72 Sportscar race not finishing until 7.50pm and that had to be curtailed early. Sunday was a little more civilised with a 6.20pm finish. There was some excellent machinery on track with the highlight for me being the final race of the meeting, the U2TC series for 2 litre & under touring cars from the early 60's. Hoards of Lotus Cortinas, Alfas and Minis driven in spectacular style. There was a healthy crowd in attendanc...

Another weekend, another visit to Donington....This time for a BARC organised 12 race meeting which was, in effect, a mini Mini festival! There were 2 races each for Mini Miglia's and Mini Se7en's plus a single race each for Mighty Minis and Super Mighty Minis. Also mini in size were 2 races for Smart Cars and the programme was completed by double-headers for Intersteps (ex Formula BMW cars) and for the grandly titled Dunlop Production Touring Car Trophy. This was the second day of a 2 day meeting so most of qualifying had taken place on Saturday, so after only 3 qualifying sessions on Sunday morning it was straight into racing. As we head towards Summer it was another day of cool temperatures and at times some heavy showers. March's glorious weather is now but a distant memory! The best racing of the day took place before the lunch break when the track was dry. Indeed some of the action in all the forms of Mini races was superb with 3 abreast through the Craner Curves at ...

The first "big" meeting of 2012 for me took place last weekend with the arrival of the British Touring Car package to Donington Park.I hadn't seen the BTCC in the flesh since 2008 so was looking forward to seeing the new "New Generation Touring Car" cars. Along with 3 races for the BTCC, the meeting consisted of 3 Ginetta Supercup, 2 Ginetta Junior, 2 Porsche Cup & 2 Renault Clio races. Sadly there are no single seaters on the package this year with the cancellation of Formula Renault for 2012 due to lack of entries. 6 cars were entered and if the series ran on the F3/GT package for example, I'm sure they would have started the season and waited for things to pick up, but because of the demands of live television on ITV4, 6 cars were deemed unacceptable. Both days were dry but very cold. Indeed on Saturday morning there were quite a few spins in the Craner Curves/Old Hairpin due to cold tyres = no grip. Saturday was mainly free practice and qualifying s...

My first meeting of April was at Donington on Easter Sunday for a 9 race MG Car Club meeting. After the warmth of March, April began in usual fashion with snow mid-week and, as is usual for the Easter weekend, freezing temperatures! The track was damp to begin with but by 11am had dried out and apart from the occasional very light shower the afternoon stayed relatively dry. The MGCC had a large entry for each of their races-indeed they amalgamated classes to provide full grids in a couple of races-something which certain other clubs should try now and again.....Qualifying on a damp track was very entertaining with plenty of spins down at the Old Hairpin. The first 2 races were run before the lunch break and both had a safety car period. Another pet hate of mine are needless safety cars instead of local yellows. Safety cars have crept into the sport over the last 10 years or so from the top downwards and are purely to spice up the action for televised series in my opinion. At club leve...

The final day of the 3rd warmest March on record saw,somewhat ironically, a cool & overcast day at Donington for a BARC organised Motors TV "Live" raceday. For a couple of years now Motors TV have broadcast the occasional club meeting in its entirety live. It's an opportunity for the club driver to gain some valuable air time for sponsors and show their skills to a wider audience. Sadly (as is usual at Donington) there wasn't much of a wider audience trackside with a very small crowd in attendance, the majority of whom I know personally..... The meeting had 10 races with double-headers for Kumho BMW's,Vintage Sports & Formula Junior plus the 4 classes of Caterham Graduates each had 2 races each. Despite the threat of fuel shortages and a perceived economic downturn there were a staggering amount of entries,especially for BMW's and Caterhams. Best races were the Classic/Mega Caterham races with both classes providing frantic racing. The only downside ...

My first motorcycle race meeting of the season was at Donington on March 25th with the second day of a 2 day Thundersport GB meeting. I'll look back on this meeting in years to come and remember it by being one of the most glorious March days ever. After a slightly chilly start the temperatures started to climb and by the end of the meeting at 5.45 it was a relief to find a bit of respite from the sun! If this is March I dread to think what it will be like in Summer....The Thundersport club is now firmly established in my opinion as the best bike racing club in the country and can be viewed as the next level down from the BSB package.18 races were efficiently run and provided some very good racing. Highlights for me were Aprilia Superteens and Aprilia 450's. Both classes provided excellent racing throughout the field. Thundersport ran 9 classes twice for all kinds of machinery which provides the spectator with something different. I don't mind the occasional bike meeting bu...

On Mothers Day there was no better place to spend time away from Mother than Donington! My first circuit racing of the season and a 6 race card with the Historic Sports Car Club the organisers. This was the second day of a 2 day meeting and races were for Historic Touring Cars (x2)-Guards Trophy Sports-Guards Trophy GT-Classic F3/Derek Bell Trophy-Historic Formula Ford2000. Sunday dawned wet and miserable with a hint of sleet-typical early season weather!! Thankfully by around 11.00am it started to brighten up and racing in the afternoon took place on a dry track. Good news of the day was finding out about the Donington Supporters Club £5 concession for the year on entry for the vast majority of meetings. In 2012 I will be mostly going to Donington.....Admission was £15 with the Programme £3

As I enjoyed the National Hot Rods so much at Northampton the previous weekend, I ventured to the heart of the nation's second city for a trip to Birmingham Wheels Raceway. My last visit to the track was on New Year's Day 2010 and was impressed by the new (for me) collecting area at the bottom of the pits. I was quite a regular at the raceway 10 years ago but stopped going regularly on a Saturday night due to very slow turnaround between races which was usually caused by chaos at the pit gate so I was very pleased to see this had been addressed. The other reason I stopped going were the presence of "Cruisers" on Landor Street which made getting out quite hairy at times but again I'm pleased to report that Landor Street was very quiet at 10.15pm as I left. 12 races were on the program with National Hot Rods, Brisca Formula Two & Legends. F2 are noted for being very good at Wheels and didn't disappoint with some excellent racing. I felt the nationals weren...