This time we were in the right place and were directed around the paddock by men in white high-vis jackets that we could not really see against the cars and people milling about. Eventually though we lined up with lots of cars, mainly Caterhams, but with a few Lotus models in the mix. All the cars were different colours and specifications as expected, in fact all day we did not see a car identical to ours - even though Green and Yellow is a common combination.
We checked the oil and it was low so we topped it up with the 2 pints I had, expecting to be able to buy more at the show. On the way we passed a French car with a badly damaged front end and I wondered if this was the crashed car I had heard about on Thursday, the driver would have been fine so I hoped so.
Next we wondered down to the slalom track the cars were starting to use, but it was a bit dull and we were too far away to see much We had a look at the cars parking up and decided to go into the main show area and look at the vendor stands.
There were only about 6 stands and one car dealer. The stands were mainly selling racing parts for modern cars although there was Softbits for Sevens where I had bought my hood and bag. There was no parts or spares suppliers, not even a stall selling washing equipment or polish. Certainly nowhere to buy a brake pressure switch, oil, nor any other parts to maintain an old cross-flow. A bit disappointed we mooched around the 'heritage' cars - where there was a nice group of old Lotus Seven models - including one with a Lotus Holbay engine.
We drifted to the tarmac lake where another speed event was taking place but again it was hard to get any feeling for the cars speed as everything was too far away as before.
We looked for the parts stall the club had spoken about and found one small table top with a few sad looking bits on it. Other than that they were selling club T-shirts etc. and had set up a game to see who could change a wheel the quickest - which looked both dull and hot work. We gave it all a miss.
It was getting on for 12:00 by then and we had exhausted the entertainment at the show, so we decided to go into the main circuit, get some food and watch some racing, taking advantage of the discounted ticket offer (£7.50 each) so £15 lighter we were exploring the pits and looking for the food.
The food was as you would expect - basic. I even shocked the staff by asking for my panini to be heated up. We grabbed two seats at a table with a couple of chaps in marshals uniforms. They did not really want to engage in conversation initially, although they warmed up later. It turned out that one was a full marshal and the other on an induction day. The marshal was an ex-minor who now sprayed cars for a living and the other was a keen racing fan who helped out one of the race teams in his spare time. They seemed to warm to Oli when they found out he worked in manufacturing and listened attentively to him talking about food safety and his hobbies.
We left to see some racing and sat in the stands for a Caterham race - the action was always somewhere else though. The highlight was a Lancaster bomber that flew overhead. We moved on and found some benches to sit at with a good view of the track. The noise of the cars changed noticeably when the top rank went out (the R400s) and there was some close racing - it was getting hotter. The racing kept us entertained but we were really just waiting for the parade lap preparation at 5:30 though.
About 5:00 we wondered back to the cars pausing to watch the start of the last full race at the first corner. A good choice because as the pack all funneled into the corner a Caterham clipped the back of another and after it's front wheel reached head height and bounced down, they both skidded off the track into the gravel in front of us.
Neither driver was hurt and it turned out that they were both from the sale team/sponsor. Their cars were towed out of the deep gravel and off the track, both were lightly damaged and started easily but they drove despondently back to the pits.
At just before 5:30 we joined the cars assembling informally in rows just outside the Tarmac Lake where we had been instructed that we needed to be. We had been told that if we were late that we would be unable to join in. The spontaneous organisation of the neat rows stumped the team who were going to organise us, as about 100 cars had lined up in the opposite direction to their plan, so they changed the entrance to match our formation and by about 6:00 they had started to line the cars up in groups of 30.
We were in the second group and got in position quickly. It took until about 7:30 for all the cars to be organised and people were getting hot and bothered. Our instructions were to go onto the track in the groups of 30, to drive 2/3 cars abreast (not to be in single file) and re-assemble in our group at the start finish line for the big photo. Above all we needed to keep the speed to 40 mph max.
During the wait more club photos were taken and we were instructed to be 'either "in" or "out" of the cars' which confused the native English speakers - so the continentals had no chance of understanding what was meant. A few angry repeats until we realised 'in the car' or 'out of shot' was what he wanted. 'Hot and bothered' was past and 'getting board' was approaching fast. At the back of the pack a Frenchman unfurled a French flag and was unceremoniously boo'ed.
Eventually we started to move off and immediately the plan broke down. The gate could only take one car at a time as could the entrance to the track. The leader of our group shot off when he got onto the track (doing more that 40 mph we were sure) leaving the cars behind trying to catch up and following him at whatever speed they liked. At this point we were still trying to get through the first gate. We were the last of the cars to get onto the track so we drove alone and tried to catch up. We probably hit 60 mph at one point, but it's a twisty track so we just pottered along. When we got to the finishing line the cars were all jumbled up and it took the organisers a long time to get them back into neat rows. Cars stretched out in front and behind us.
In the end we were all assembled and more photographs were taken - although we were not allowed out of the cars. After a frustratingly long time we got off the track and parked up back in the paddock again. It was just after 8:00 and we heard that the last cars did not make it off the track until about 8:30 almost three hours since they had started out.
Next we looked for food - there were no obvious signs but asking people revealed that they thought it was a short walk down the hill past the campsite. It was, and we were soon sitting down with our hog roast and a pint of shandy each. The food was generally quite good - although the potatoes were so hard they were inedible - and the portions generous.
The tables were arranged in rows with benches, like a French country meal, so everyone sat with everyone else. We tried to engage a German couple that sat next to us but although she spoke good English, he did not - so they ignored us.
We ate up and decided to head to home early again as we were both tired from being in the sun all day.
Neither driver was hurt and it turned out that they were both from the sale team/sponsor. Their cars were towed out of the deep gravel and off the track, both were lightly damaged and started easily but they drove despondently back to the pits.
At just before 5:30 we joined the cars assembling informally in rows just outside the Tarmac Lake where we had been instructed that we needed to be. We had been told that if we were late that we would be unable to join in. The spontaneous organisation of the neat rows stumped the team who were going to organise us, as about 100 cars had lined up in the opposite direction to their plan, so they changed the entrance to match our formation and by about 6:00 they had started to line the cars up in groups of 30.
We were in the second group and got in position quickly. It took until about 7:30 for all the cars to be organised and people were getting hot and bothered. Our instructions were to go onto the track in the groups of 30, to drive 2/3 cars abreast (not to be in single file) and re-assemble in our group at the start finish line for the big photo. Above all we needed to keep the speed to 40 mph max.
During the wait more club photos were taken and we were instructed to be 'either "in" or "out" of the cars' which confused the native English speakers - so the continentals had no chance of understanding what was meant. A few angry repeats until we realised 'in the car' or 'out of shot' was what he wanted. 'Hot and bothered' was past and 'getting board' was approaching fast. At the back of the pack a Frenchman unfurled a French flag and was unceremoniously boo'ed.
Eventually we started to move off and immediately the plan broke down. The gate could only take one car at a time as could the entrance to the track. The leader of our group shot off when he got onto the track (doing more that 40 mph we were sure) leaving the cars behind trying to catch up and following him at whatever speed they liked. At this point we were still trying to get through the first gate. We were the last of the cars to get onto the track so we drove alone and tried to catch up. We probably hit 60 mph at one point, but it's a twisty track so we just pottered along. When we got to the finishing line the cars were all jumbled up and it took the organisers a long time to get them back into neat rows. Cars stretched out in front and behind us.
In the end we were all assembled and more photographs were taken - although we were not allowed out of the cars. After a frustratingly long time we got off the track and parked up back in the paddock again. It was just after 8:00 and we heard that the last cars did not make it off the track until about 8:30 almost three hours since they had started out.
Next we looked for food - there were no obvious signs but asking people revealed that they thought it was a short walk down the hill past the campsite. It was, and we were soon sitting down with our hog roast and a pint of shandy each. The food was generally quite good - although the potatoes were so hard they were inedible - and the portions generous.
The tables were arranged in rows with benches, like a French country meal, so everyone sat with everyone else. We tried to engage a German couple that sat next to us but although she spoke good English, he did not - so they ignored us.
We ate up and decided to head to home early again as we were both tired from being in the sun all day.
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