morewheelspin

After days of rain the sun shone magnificently for the second Brooklands Motorsport Day. At the inaugural event last year I entered the MG YB but, as the old girl is off the road waiting for the law on MOTs to change at the beginning of November, this year I entered The Beast, my MG SV.

The event itself gathers competition cars from all eras for morning demonstration laps on the Mercedes Benz World handling circuit and runs up the old test hill in the afternoon. Whilst The Beast has only limited competition history my entry was thankfully accepted and I secured a parking space just outside the clubhouse paddock.

The fine weather brought appreciative crowds and a great selection of cars including two Benetton F1 cars, various Lancia Delta rally cars, Ferraris, Lambos and some interesting pre war racers including the mighty Napier Railton.

I was looking forward to taking The Beast on the track as I had only driven her competitively a few times at Brighton – and that was in a straight line. The handling circuit is very tight but I managed to get her up to 80 on the straight and she proved very steady round the twisty bits with bags of grip and a nice crisp turn in. The test hill was perhaps less of a challenge with 350 hp under my right foot but nonetheless good fun. It’s always special to drive up the hill conscious of the fact people have been testing their cars in the same place in a similar way for over 100 years.

Fabulous Roesch Talbot racer

In addition to the action on track there was a good turnout of car clubs, especially from Italian marques (the organiser is also the proprietor of Autoitalia Magazine). So coupled with the fantastic collection of cars and aeroplanes at the birthplace of British Motorsport and aviation, there was lots for the paying public to see. This year was far busier than last and I am sure the event will continue to grow into something special and a fine season closer.

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