Lights Out and Away We Go!!.....2020

With the governing body of the sport, Motorsport UK granting permits to go racing again in July it was with some relief that, not only was Motor racing allowed to resume, but thankfully spectators were to be allowed to watch! Motor Sport Vision (MSV) were very keen to get fans back through the gates as restrictions were lifted but other circuits were either reluctant to re-open or in some cases, forbidden to resume activities.

The devolved Welsh government had differing standards regarding Covid control and both welsh circuits, Anglesey and Pembrey suffered greatly. Pembrey saw their entire fixture list cancelled and Anglesey only managed to run a single 750MC organised meeting in September that was used as a trial event to monitor how to police a large sporting gathering. The fact that there wasn't another meeting in Wales after this probably meant that the Welsh authorities didn't like what they saw at Anglesey!!

Silverstone did resume racing  and ran two Grands Prix in August behind closed doors. Closed doors though carried on until the end of the season, with even the most humblest of club meetings seeing no spectating allowed.

MSV thankfully though were very proactive in allowing fans back. Buying admission in advance was made compulsory and hygiene stations were positioned around Donington Park, my local track.

It was at Donington that the first meeting of the year for me happened.....on July 12th! Definitely the latest start ever and by the end of 2020 I managed to attend only 5 meetings in all. The lowest total ever but 5 more than I had envisaged early in 2020. Given the toll and suffering the wretched Covid-19 had (and continues to) cause, this was fine by me😊

The MG Car Club (MGCC) were in charge on July 11/12 and the Sunday saw a lengthy 12 race programme. The Morgan Challenge and 2 Equipe Classic Sprint races saw the only non-MG action with the MG side of things taken care of with double headers for MGCup/MGMetros, Midgets/Sprites/, Cockshoot Cup & TripleM Challenge. A bizarre occurence during both the 40 minute pitstop races for Equipe Classic was extra time being allowed to disinfect the cockpits of each car during the driver change-overs thanks to Covid-19! The new normal took some getting used to in 2020 that's for sure......

2 weeks later saw what turned out to be my only visit of the year to Mallory Park for a 750MC organised meeting on July 26th. Double headers for the clubs Historic 750 Formula, Hot Hatch and 750 Formula were joined by a triple header for the visiting Caterham Graduate series. This was a thoroughly enjoyable meeting with some cracking racing from start to finish. Standout were the pair of Historic 750 Formula races which saw good entries and plenty of low speed action!

It took a while to attend another meeting which was the visit of the British GT/BRDC British F3 package to Donington on Sunday September 20th. British GT had seen a post Covid drop in entries as their delayed season eventually got under way in August but there were still 24 cars on the grid for the 3 hour race. The RAM Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Sam De Haan/Patrick Kujala triumphing despite having spun off at Redgate on the first lap and being at the rear of the field early on. British F3 also had a healthy grid of 18 cars and its purpose as a feeder formula for future stars is assured. Young British driver Louis Foster winning the fully reversed grid race and Indian Kush Maini taking the second race of the day. The 6 other races were 2 each for the Ginetta G40 Cup, Ginetta GT5 Challenge and the new for 2020 Porsche Sprint Challenge GB. What was interesting to note was the size of the crowd....the banking at the Old Hairpin being well occupied. With Touring Cars being unable to have fans attend in 2020 it would seem the British GT package was a good alternative.

Into October now, and with Covid infections beginning to rise again around the UK, there was a gut feeling that it would be good to get to a few meetings sooner or later as you knew that life was about to change again! Sunday 18th October saw a very good BRSCC meeting at Donington. 11 races in all featuring the Fiesta Junior Championship, all the Caterham categories, BMW Compact Cup, Civic Cup and a combined grid for Touring Car Trophy/TCR UK/ VW Cup. The finale was a 45 minute race for the Clubsport Trophy which ended in the gloom won by Jessica Hawkins in her Ford Fiesta ST Turbo.

A week later I was back at Donington for a MSVR organised meeting that featured the penultimate rounds of the BRDC F3 Championship on Sunday 25th October. The previous day had seen monsoon conditions so the Saturday F3 race was held over until first thing on Sunday morning which was a bonus for Sunday spectators. 3 races in all for F3 along with 3 for the F3 Cup, 2 for the GT Cup and 2 for the Track Attack Race Club featuring a huge grid of various saloons. American driver Kaylen Frederick wining 2 out of the 3 BRDC F3 races cemented his position as championship leader and indeed he would go on to take the title at Silverstone in November.

Ultimately that was that for 2020...just over a week later another lockdown was introduced and all club meetings were postponed. A couple were rescheduled for December and took place but without any spectators allowed sadly. 

As I type it is early February and with the season due to start next month, let's hope that we can get to watch motorsport at some stage in the near future. It all pales into insignificance though given the events of a quite extraordinary period of our lives. Stay safe everyone!!