UK Slot Car Show

Well it had to happen eventually, being an avid slot car fan and missing previous shows due to clashes with rallies, I finally made it to the UK Slot Car Show 2012. It is only a short hop down to the National Heritage Centre at Gaydon and it also gave us the chance to take a look around the museum too. A break from the norm but I hope you enjoy…

Plains Rally

After the disappointment of not starting the Somerset Stages, it was do or die for Roger Chilman & Bryan Thomas (Impreza WRC) on the Plains. They took the lead on stage one from Dave Wright & Michael Wilkinson (Evo IX) by 2 seconds and built on that through the event to win by 12 seconds, in the end. Wright held on to 2nd place too with Euan Thorburn & Paul Beaton (Focus WRC) making the rare trip down South to pick up third, 5 seconds further back. On paper the rally looked routine but the battle had been intense all day and absorbing to watch. Hugh Hunter & Andy Marchbank (Focus WRC) retired mid event with gearbox issues whilst Charlie Payne & Craig Thorley (Focus WRC) effectively ended their championship chances with an excursion on the first stage, even though they did finish down in 20th overall.

Manx National Rally

After a year away we were back to the Isle of Man to witness Melvyn Evans & Aled Davies take back-to-back wins in their Impreza WRC. It was a close battle on the opening night which saw 8 of the 20 stages completed but through Saturday Evans eased ahead of Paul Bird & Kirsty Riddick (Focus WRC) to win by over a minute. Over 3 minutes back and limping through the final stage were Damien Cole & James Morgan (Focus WRC) happy just to get to the finish.

Donington Historic Festival

This was our first visit to Donington Park in many years as we took in the 2nd Donington Historic Festival. Our main focus and interest was around the 1 hour Group C race. The form book of the era would play no part in dictating how this race would go, with the Saubers and Jaguars expensive to run along with the older Lancias and Porsches. Instead the race was taken up by the Aston Martin and Spices, both of which were also rans in period. Along with this there were larger fields in the Jaguar E Type races and Classic Touring Saloons, which saw a grid approaching 50 cars. All in all a good day out.