The Motor Racing Spectator

Sunday 8th September and the second day of the 750 Motor Club's 80th Anniversary meeting on the National circuit layout at Donington Park, the home of the 750MC. With a huge entry of 360 cars across the weekend this was a show of strength from a club that puts it's competitors first with sensible entry fees and affordable categories for the club racer to take part in. There were 16 races scheduled for Sunday following 4 qualifying sessions in the morning and racing kicked off with the 5Club Mazda MX5 Cup. A grand total of 35 of the little Mazdas were entered with quite a few BRSCC regulars getting track time. Michael Comber and Ben Short taking a win apiece. Formula 1000 (nee Jedi) has transferred to the 750MC this season and it's hard to believe the series for the hillclimb derived Jedi chassis with 1000cc screaming motorcycle engines is in it's 23rd season of action. Matthew Booth and Lee Morgan sharing the wins. The Clio 182 Championship raced just the once on ...

Apologies for the rather graphic picture of my left foot below but this explains why there is no July 2019 chapter for the blog! With a run of 4 meetings on the trot in June it was time for a rest so there was only one meeting planned for July and that was at Cadwell Park on July 21st for a good looking 750MC meeting. With a ticket costing £12 already bought in advance, I instead spent the morning of July 21st in my local drop-in clinic seeking advise as to why my left foot had apparently suffered a burn of some description whilst walking on my job as postman the day before! Driving to Cadwell was out of the question much to my disappointment and to this day I am none the wiser why it happened. Answers on a postcard please??!                                                           Sunday 11th August (and still far from 100% fit)...

Sunday June 2nd saw The Spectator at Donington's only "Grand Prix" sadly these days with the annual Superkart Grand Prix, organised by the British Automobile Racing Club (BARC) After just one qualifying session for the MG Owners Club at 9.00am it was straight into a full day of racing with 16 races on the card. Interestingly the meeting should have took place on the full 2.5 mile GP layout but was shifted to the smaller National circuit late in the days leading up to the event due to a lack of Marshals available to man the GP loop's extra posts. The Britcar Endurance championship that only races on the Saturday weren't too happy but I have to say that the racing on Sunday was improved by using the shorter configuration.  Shortage of Marshals has become another hot topic in 2019 and one which needs to be addressed for the sport to continue in it's present form. As an avid spectator for 30 years, there have been times when I've considered marshalling...

Mallory Park 5th May Silverstone 12th May Sunday May 5th saw The Spectator at Mallory Park for a 750 Motor Club meeting. The revived Mallory was looking in fantastic shape with new fencing and spectator banks in pristine condition. Real Motorsport Ltd have done a great job in turning the place around from the circuit's dark days of the recent past. Mallory Park looking in great condition 11 races were on the cards for the day and were highlighted by 3 frenetic Formula Vee encounters. The entry was split into 3 groups so each group raced twice across the days trio of races. The action was a little too fenetic in the first race with second placed James Harridge disqualified for forcing Graham Gant onto the grass down the Stebbe Straight. Gant did get some consolation later by winning Race 3 with Race 2 being won by Ben Miloudi's Storm. With 33 cars entered Formula Vee is still one of the most popular budget single-seater championships around and with over 50 years ...

Sunday 14th April finally saw The Spectator at a race meeting in 2019! Following the very wintry March/April of 2018, the early season fixture list this year seemed rather sparse with several clubs and circuits having later starts than normal in a bid to escape any bad weather. As is the way this year's Spring weather was distinctly more pleasant than last year.... Motor Sport Vision Racing (MSVR) were in charge at Donington with a 10 race each day schedule on the National circuit. On arrival at Donington I was greeted by the revamped entrance for spectators at the Paddock gates. MSV had certainly been busy over the winter with the area surrounding the Melbourne Hairpin being opened up and a concourse laid out with ticket booths. Alas the Melbourne Hairpin now has catch fencing around it's entire viewing area, which given the low speed nature of the corner is a shame and indicative of current safety thinking. On a very cold overcast day the first race of the new seaso...

Many apologies dear readers (reader?!) for my lack of updates during the 2018 season. A lack of time (one day we will discover a way to make days last 25 hours surely....) has led to letting my updating of the blog slip very badly. The irony is that I thoroughly enjoyed the 2018 season and would have liked to update more regularly so what I will do is post the remaining meetings I went to in 2018 in this post with programme covers and photos.  The 2019 season is around the corner and hopefully the blog will see more consistent updates. Motor Racing is still the greatest sport, yes enthusiasm may wane at times and things might not be what they once were, but we should be grateful it still exists in its many forms. The loss of Rockingham as a venue is a sign that nothing last forever and the sport will continue to change as we head ever further into the 21st century. So long as the anticipation and excitement is still there to make the sandwiches..to fill the flask...to make sure ...