Donington Grand Prix Collection

Years ago I popped into the Donington Collection on the way back from holiday, it was a couple of very plain white rooms with loads of F1 cars lined neatly up along the sides. A little souless. Todays install went pear shaped very early on, the customer hadn't sorted out several things so by 11am we were at a loose end and with the race track and museum a few minutes away and on the way home we decided to pop in.



In the lobby a recent Redbull F1 car was displayed along with some military Volkswagens.



Stepping inside it was obvious that big changes had been made. The Wheatcroft Collection of World War Two vehicles was first up, tanks, jeeps, trucks and bikes were squeezed into the halls with loads of period photos on the walls.



Moving into the first hall of racing cars it was a breath taking sight. Still in neat lines, but with far more automobilia to look at. Cars from the 1930s through to the 1970s showed the evolution of the designs. Engines moved from front to back and aerodynamic aids sprouted forth.







The iconic Lotus 49, one of the first cars to make the engine, the mighty Ford Cosworth DFV, part of the cars structure.





Rizla+ and Penthouse with a busty woman on the front,  not the sort of livery you'd see now!





The March 2-4-0, a six wheeled F1 car with four driven wheels at the rear, it was tested in early 1977 but never actually raced. Outside the box thinking like this would soon fade away completely as the rules tightened.



The collection is home to halls of Williams and McLarens, from the earliest cars to the latest racers.





The museum is also home to full set of Vanwalls from the 1950s and this stunning Jordan 191, one of the finest looking cars of the modern era. Michael Schumacher drove this car on his debut and was snapped up by Benetton for the next race.



And that was it, a better camera than the one on my phone and more time to take it all in would have been nice. But it is one of the best museums around for racing fans. There are a few more photos here

Steve.

Classics on the green

I enjoy our yearly drive down the A4 to Thatcham. The Classic & Sportscar magazine hosts a great little free show on the green for a couple of hundred assorted cars. This year we opted for a two pronged attack and took both the Camper and Beetle. The first year I went I was the only VW there, this year almost a dozen turnout.



Soon after arriving, Kims friend Nette turned up and we headed over to fellow Dubbers, Alan and Ed who had lowered the tone with a cow and Ladybird duo.



We wandered into town for a coffee to allow the place to fill up before wandering round for some photo taking. My new 550D on its first outing. Some of the same cars were back again but there were also lots of new ones.









Lily got a copy of I Spy Classic Cars for her birthday and this was its second outing, it may be slightly cheating to take it to a car show (theres nothing in the rules saying you can't) but we racked up almost 600 points.





Following a lunch break we waved off more of Kims friends in their Land Rover and with Lily in the buggy for a nap we headed round to mop up the last of the cars, the sun still just about shining down.









I stood by the entrance for a while chewing the fat with The Bales and watching cars come and go. We decided that a double garage with a Mustang and this tiny Bond Minicar in would be a good laugh.







With a spit of rain in the air we decided to pack up and head home, as we got on the A4 the heavens opened and for the whole journey back it got wetter and wetter until it was hammering down with hail. As soon as we got home the sun was back out. The rest of the photos from one of the last shows of the year can be found here

Steve.

Caterham Finals @ Rockingham

I like last minutes trips. Midweek I had a text from my brother saying he had a pair of free tickets to some Caterham racing at Rockingham. The track is a couple of hours away and its not the most exciting place to spectate at due to the fact its an oval with just vast grandstands to watch the action from. It does have the pitlane roof area as well as a small area out the back of the paddock from which to watch so all is not lost. We travelled up in comfort by Aston and discovered we were almost the only ones there, the car park probably had 20 cars in, the marshals, racers and support crew out numbered paying punters! We headed under the tunnel and emerged in the paddock to be greeted by Caterhams  new R600



The garages were all open and we were free to wander where ever we wanted. There were a couple of non Seven races so theres a lot of Caterham photos coming up!











During the day there were qualifying sessions and races for several variants of the Caterham. To be honest they all look very similar so heres a few racing pictures from the roof of the pitlane. It gave a nice 360° viewing platform and we soon joined the "back'n'forwards gang" walking from side to side to get the best view of the action.







Next up we had another walk around the paddock, supercar and race car spotting before catching the Intermarque race for silhouette cars.









It was then lunch time, in the break we headed off to get a race program, they only sold them at the gate so we fired the Vantage up and collected one before I nabbed the drivers seat to pilot us back (at no more than 20mph!) Then it was time for more Seven racing.









The first lap was a bit tense, lots of cars and not much space resulted in some interlocking wheels and a near flip, luckily the driver landed back on four wheels before slewing off the track.









We headed back to the closest viewing point to the track on the last straight and watched the tintop and next Seven race.











The front mudguard flipped up on this Seven about six laps from the end. By the time he'd got to Park Ferme there was some serious damage to the tyre that the driver only noticed when we pointed it out!









With more races to come but a two hour plus drive home we did a final walk round before heading home.







While the cars were all very similar and the viewing was very limited, the weather was perfect and the company good. Roll on the 2013 race season, unless I can squeeze anymore meets in before then!

The rest of the photos can be found here

Steve.