Coventry Motofest - 4-5th June
Proudly stealing an idea off Captain Chaos's daughter Emily, this write up is based on the letters that make up Coventry
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C is for Cars. Lots of them. And lots of different types. Obviously our TVRs, and Astons, Clio Cup cars, Junior Rally cars, Jaguars, Talbot, and the BRM gas turbine car on the track. And all sorts of motor clubs in the static display; mk2 Land Rovers, Citroens, triumph bikes, the Gay Classic Car Club. All sorts.
O is for Oink. Each participant got a free voucher for a bacon butty and a cup of coffee. Deeeelicious. Especially considering entrants didn't have to pay to drive.
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V is for Vulcan. Yes, an actual real in-the-flesh Aston Martin Vulcan. What a stunner. What a noise. And did the driver hang around? Not at all. He left most of the rubber on the start line, with the timekeeper emerging from a dense cloud of tyre smoke. Screamed through the tunnel. Chucked it around the track. Brrrrrrrrrrilliant.
E is Entertainment. The main aim of the event is to entertain the 10s of thousands of visitors. And have fun doing it. From the reverberations going through the tunnel at full tilt, to chucking it into the ridiculously tight chicanes, and the oh so entertaining hairpin at the end. Unbeatable smiles per mile.
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N is for Noise. Vulcan - check. Trucks - check. Talbot Sunbeam - CHECK (yes, it was that loud). Bikes - check. And TVRs popping, banging, growling, screaming - check.
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T is for Trucks. Big, fast, noisy trucks. 1200 horse powers. Water cooled brakes so they can stop. Welded up diffs so they can only get round corners by sliding. And did we mention how tight the chicanes are? On this occasion the barriers came off worse! Faaaaaaaantastic.
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R is for Ring Road. Which was closed to the public. In everyday, rush hour traffic, stop start guise, it can take 15 minutes to circulate Coventry Ring Road. In Motofest guise, it takes less than 2 to do half of it. You can't help but go flat out through the tunnel and you're encouraged to make as much noise as possible. What's not to like?
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Y is for Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Yes we will be back. And next time they may have a race permit so we can make it competitive. Yes!
Huge thanks to Darren and the team at Destination Nurburgring for organising the on track action. Huge thanks to our friends at BARC Midlands for the marshals and safety crews. Huge thanks to Ian H for lending me his car, I don't know who's the biggest lunatic? And huge thanks to Coventry for making it all possible. See you next year.
Shunter (photos: Sharon Kane, Shunter) |
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