Congratulations to our 2019 Race Retro competition winners

One thought on "Congratulations to our 2019 Race Retro competition winners"

• Mark Lee says:

  3 March 2019 at 11:27 PM

  Arriving at a heavily fog-enveloped Stoneleigh Park, we were quickly parked (thanks to the efficient marshalling) and into the main event. The weather had clearly kept a few under the duvets as the Sunday morning was thankfully free of the crush of more heavily promoted and longer running events, such as Goodwood. Collecting our tickets from a cheerful and welcoming Jayne Campbell in the Press Office and following a quick pit stop to fuel with caffeine and cookies, we decided to tour the halls in the morning – a plan that worked well as the fog lifted to an unseasonably mild and sunny February afternoon. The variety of stands across the halls were fascinating: everything from rare books and models to signed limited edition prints (the Le Mans winning Audi almost proved too tempting) and a range of bespoke watches kept us busy. The many mouth-watering cars on display – some of which were for sale – kept us busy, our chat quickly turning to what our choices would be for a Top 10 garage. Adding to my selection of Maserati Khamsin, Porsche 928 (Series 1 in pale blue with pascha trim, please!), Ferrari 412 and BBi, BMW M635 CSI and Mercedes 500 SL (in ‘Bobby Ewing red’ with MB-Tex biscuit trim) were, of course the iconic Audi Quattro (20V, in Tornado Red). Scot’s choices included a Ford RS 200, the Porsche 924 Turbo that he still regrets not buying just a few years ago when prices were still sensible and, of course, the star of all our bedroom posters – the Lamborghini Countach. Scot insisted that a family car was mandatory (not unreasonable, given that we both have kids) … but my choice of Ferrari FF – a sensible 4-seat, AWD with a hatchback and folding back seats (that just happens to have a stonking naturally aspirated V12!) was ruled non-compliant due to not having four doors. Spoilsport!
  Taking a lunch of artisan pie/pastie on the hoof (quite literally!), we headed out to enjoy the live action on the makeshift rally stage. A selection of historic karts soon gave way to a fine selection of rally cars from the 60s through to the modern era. It was fantastic and hear the iconic Ford Escort Mk 1 and 2 take to the stage in the hands of some enthusiastic drivers, followed by a wide range of Subarus and the iconic Opel Manta – many of which had been driven by top drivers during their initial competition career. Sadly missing from this demonstration were the aforementioned Quattro, though the 6R4s and a few rare classics kept us entranced. Whilst some dropped-clutch standing starts were the order of the day, some drivers sensibly decided to spare the clutches of the AWD charges by resorting to a rolling start. Thankfully, there were no ‘offs’ on the narrow tarmac track.
  Overall, we had a very enjoyable day out in an event which was clearly designed to appeal to the amateur enthusiast rather than corporate hospitality brigade. It had the feeling of an early Goodwood Festival of Speed – an authentic event designed for enthusiasts rather than as a mechanism to maximise the extraction of cash from punters. Areas for improvement? Perhaps an improved stage with loose gravel and wider variety of viewing areas … and some running a Formula One cars would be really nice to see and hear. As Scot noted, the name Race Retro would imply some race (not just rally) cars might be running, but these were limited to the indoor static displays.
  Our thanks to Will and his team at My Car Heaven for the tickets to an event that might otherwise have slipped below the radar but which turned out to be a really enjoyable day out.