The Motor Racing Spectator

The first full weekend after the clocks go back 1 hour can only mean one thing...The Walter Hayes Trophy for Kent engined Formula Ford 1600 cars! Eagerly anticipated each year, this meeting is always one of the first to go into the diary. It takes something special for me to venture out of Leicestershire for my Motor Racing these days and this was my first visit to Silverstone for 12 months. Indeed, The Spectator's enthusiasm level was set to 11 as I didn't sleep that well on Friday night, which is a sure sign my adrenaline level was high ready for the weekend ahead! The weather at this meeting has varied a lot over the years but it was a bright and sunny Saturday morning as qualifying got under way at 9.00am. The circuit itself was very wet after early morning rain but dried out steadily with the usual Silverstone stiff breeze to help the drying process. The WHT entry amassed a fantastic 112 cars which were split into 6 heats. Only 10 minutes were allocated for qualifying s...

After a week off it was back to Donington for The Spectator for the BRSCC Championship Finals Weekend. A very busy timetable saw 8 races on Saturday along with 13 on Sunday. I only attended on the Sunday and was eagerly anticipating a good days racing. The BRSCC are a club "on the up" again these days and it was good to see a very busy paddock on arrival on Sunday morning. 2 weeks on from watching a large grid of Mazda MX5's race with the 750MC, there were yet more large grids of the Japanese sportscar evident on Sunday. 50 cars were entered and were split into A and B groups following qualifying and then a relegation and promotion system put in place so there was always something to fight for in both races. The racing was probably a little less frenetic than the 750MC version but entertaining none the less. The Mk3 MX5 have their own SuperCup series and a healthy 22 cars took part in the championship finale and provided the best Mazda race on this day. Abbie Eaton man...

For the first time in 2014, The Spectator not only managed to go to both days of a weekend meeting, but this was my 4th week on the trot trackside. The impending end of season means that it's best to get out somewhere as come mid January you are desperate to go anywhere.... As you can see from the programme cover, the organisers at Donington this particular weekend were the 750 Motor Club. Now based at the circuit, this was the final round of the majority of the clubs championships and a very busy timetable saw 24 races scheduled across the 2 days. Saturday saw a rare event for 2014...Rain! For once the weather forecast was spot on as the morning qualifying + 3 races before the lunch break took place on a wet track before brightening up considerably in the afternoon. Usually a wet track leads to incidents aplenty and delays but thankfully the morning's activities ran fairly smoothly and with the sun out a good afternoon was in prospect...... However things started to unrav...

For the 3rd Sunday running, The Spectator found himself at Donington not for Cars this time but for Bikes. I don't watch too much bike racing but it's good to see something a little different now and again. I've always been fascinated by how different the two branches of circuit racing are. I like the fact that watching cars at a certain corner for overtaking and incident doesn't mean that it replicates for bikes and vice versa. Organisation is very different too as bike racing tends to have more races in a day as this day proved with 19 races in all. Thundersport GB have established themselves as the premier club racing organisers in the UK today as proved with a mammoth 35 races over the weekend at Donington. TGB are very proactive organisers too as every series they run was fully sponsored and, with the odd exception, had a capacity grid. One clever idea that they have implemented in recent years is trying to get a racing calendar where there is a race roughly ever...

The organising division of the mighty Motor Sports Vision empire (MSVR) rolled into Donington for a 2 day meeting on the GP circuit. The spectator went on Sunday which saw 12 races on the card after 3 qualifying sessions in the morning. After describing single seater racing in the UK as a "Mess" in my previous post, it's good to see one series bucking the trend. The BRDC Formula 4 championship was started in 2013 and was one of the success stories in the sport last year. 18 cars were at Donington forfor the weekend and in UK single seater terms that is a large grid! Unusually for winged single seaters the cars provide some very good racing with just the right amount of power and grip so overtaking is possible. 3 races over the weekend saw 3 different winners and  a very competitive fight for the title among several drivers will go down to the final round at Snetterton in October. Things got a little too competitive in the final race on Sunday with title protagonis...

Autumn for me is THE best time for spectating. I've always felt there's something a little bit special about being trackside at this time of year. Championships are usually at stake so racing has an extra "edge" to it with drivers eager to end their year on a positive note. The weather is a factor too with cooler temperatures helping spectators who burn easily in the Summer sun and you are less likely to fall asleep during boring races if it's cooler too..... My first meeting of September saw the final rounds of the British GT/F3 package arrive at Donington along with races for Ginetta GT5's, Volkswagen Cup, Ginetta Racing Drivers Club and Aston Martin GT4. The definite highlight of racing on Sunday was the 2 hour British GT finale. As mentioned on this blog before, GT racing is one of the success stories of recent years and a very healthy grid of 31 cars took the start. There was early drama when championship leader Marco Attard's BMW Z4 developed a g...

First of all can I apologise to all my loyal followers of this blog for the distinct lack of updates in 2014. A combination of factors meant that I simply haven't had the enthusiasm for, 1- actually going to many race meetings and 2- to bring myself to write about the few that I have attended....... After pretty much going to Motor Racing week in week out for the last 20+ years, there comes a time when the enthusiasm runs out and 2014 is/was that time. However, there is still an interest in the sport that I love, and like anything you truly love, you can't seem to forget about it. As you can see from the programmes above, I've managed to drag myself to 6 car meetings since I last posted in March. They are; April 27 - Donington MSVR : June 1 - Donington BARC : July 13 - Donington BRSCC : July 20 - Mallory Park CSCC : August 3 - Donington MGCC : August 23 - Donington BARC After an operation in late March which put me out of action for a few weeks, my...

For the first time since 2011, The Spectator has been to watch Speedway. Once upon a time I watched an enormous amount of Speedway with frequent visits to Wolverhampton, Coventry, Stoke and Peterborough over the years. My interest dwindled though but as a sporting spectacle there is nothing quite like a good Speedway meeting. Rules in Speedway are constantly tinkered with year after year but why it still appeals as a sport is simple- 4 riders, 4 laps. Television simply doesn't do the sport justice and there is a raw brutality to a Speedway race. Injuries are common in a sport where riders travel hundreds and sometimes thousands of miles for only 3/4/5 races. As you can see I've been to Wolverhampton a couple of times. In 2005 I had a season ticket at Monmore Green stadium and I can't believe how keen (mad??) I was back then.... May 19 saw a delayed start to the Wolves v Coventry match due to an unforecast thunderstorm in the hour before start time. I know it was unforeca...

The first visit to Donington Park for The Specator in 2014 for the first day of a 2 day BARC meeting. I could only make the Saturday but at least there were to be 7 races in the afternoon along with various qualifying sessions during the day. Donington's gradual return to its former self was in evidence as the Infield is now the home to several enormous earth mounds with a lot of work being carried out in the winter months to landscape the area. Not only will these provide more viewing spots but I'd imagine they will help with engine noise from the circuit too. On a cool, grey March day the 7 races were provided by 3 from the Caterham Graduate classes, 3 from the Classic Touring Car Racing Club portfolio and Class A of the Kumho BMW championship. I saw qualifying for the Mazda Max 5 series and MG Owners Club too so the only series I missed on Sunday was Classic FF1600. Sunday races were televised live by Motors TV, an initiative that has been a big success, as the club dri...

On a gloriously sunny Sunday morning it was the dawn of an a new era at Mallory Park that tempted The Spectator to a rare Motor Cycle race meeting. The recent history of Mallory Park hasn't been great to say the least, with not only noise problems affecting the circuit but leaseholders the B.A.R.C. pulling out from running the circuit in 2013. My last visit was in August last year and it was sad to see the old place in a run-down state with toilets not working and litter bins not emptied. After a period of uncertainty it was good to hear that a new lease was secured by Real Motorsport Ltd. in the winter and racing at the circuit could continue. Due to the late in the day nature of the deal most clubs had calendars already sorted so while dates at Mallory may be a little thin on the ground for 2014, let's hope that 2015 sees the circuit back on its feet. Bike racing has always been the main provider of action at the track so local club, the East Midlands Racing Association (...

After a very wet Winter it was time for The Spectator to emerge from hibernation and get his backside trackside again in 2014. I hadn't visited Birmingham Wheels for 2 years but on a clear cool Saturday night a good looking meeting on paper tempted me to head into the heart of the country's second biggest city. 11 races were scheduled with 4 for National Hot Rods, 4 for V8 Hot Stox and 3 for Ministox with a start time of 6.30pm. For the first time visitor to Birmingham Wheels Raceway they must wonder where they are going as the raceway is located down one of the less salubrious roads in Birmingham and barely a mile or two from the city centre. Once inside though the oval is a great place to watch racing from with steep terracing around three sides of the track providing a good view of the action. National Hot Rods are one of my favourite formulas on the short ovals and always provide hard but relatively clean racing. The "Nationals" had 3 heats with a 2/3rds form...