Dan was going to meet Pete and I at Staples Towers for a 10 minute run up the road to the track. Our conveyance was emminently suitable, Pete's 4.2 straight six XJ6.
The long wheel base gave Lord Muck (Dan) plenty of space in the back to spread out. After a leisurely drive we greeted at the gate by Terry and waved through. The race meeting was a good deal smaller than the TOCA meet so we were able to use the VIP parking reserved for the suite, directly at the bottom of the steps :thumb:
Our timing was impeccable. The Classic saloons, not the full on modified leviathans that would be the highlilght of the day but the more standard touring and saloon cars of the day barked into life and formed the grid outside our suite.
The guys were suitably impressed with the air conditioned luxury, plasmas and commentary. Then Daniel, our personal assistant for the day, introduced himself and promptly brought through fresh Danish pastries and coffees all around. Top effort 
The man Booker lapped up the idea of hired help.Racing ensued and we all got misty eyed at a particularly fine XJS. She was sublime.
One of the luxuries afforded us were the previously mentioned plasma TV's. The beauty of this showed itself with the next race, the Caterham dodgems. A full grid of 36 cars simultaneously speed off at the start with varying degrees of traction. This domino affect meant that carnage was inevitable at Riches. Due to the plasmas, we never missed a thing.
The pile up was both exciting and awful at the same time. Suddenly our grid of 36 was reduced to 28 as 4 lowloaders and numerous staff cleared up the debris. Red Rocket were out in force. The other plasma was there to show live updates of lap times, race positions, laps remaining and you needed this to fully appreciate just how many times the lead was changing hands. The winner after 20 minutes crossed the line in a gaggle of 6 cars and he won by less than a second!
We decided on some fresh air (too many pastries and fresh coffee+ 3 blokes=wind) so the rarified air of the suite was swapped for a bustling paddock filled with the smell of oil, hot rubber and it was divine
Being of a certain vintage we all swerved for the classic cars rather than looking at the formula cars and luckily there was 70's metal everywhere.
This guy was using an old Cologne V6 (correct me if I'm wrong please :oops: ) and was struggling badly with the 'crappy Dunlops' using his words. As a race veteran of single handedly completing 300km events at the Ring, he didn't come across as someone to moan for the sake of it.
Anyone mocking Capris would have had to eat their words after seeing this lot stomp around the track.
I remember booking the tickets for this event and seeing the muscular silhouette of a '69 Camaro in one of the accompanying photos. It was this very car owned by a French competitor leading the championship by 46 points. Tres Bon :notworthy:
The car was a real treat for muscle car fans and we all pored over it for a good while, inspecting the engine, read diffs and interior. It may be a near 40 year old car but this was a supremely fit and lean example. Look at the diff on this! Built to handle real torque.
Look at the extent of the weight loss (Diachromic lights like you'd fit in your kitchen!!)
This car put in several laps in the 1'16" region and easily pulled away from a Ford Falcon with 600lb torque.
There were a couple of Firenzas there, one driven by the son of the late Gerry Marshall. Gregor certainly has some big shoes to fill but in any event it was great to see these old Vauxhalls strutting their stuff.
The depth of the dish on the rear wheels was good enough reason to drive a Vauxhall for me
This thundersaloon style Sapphire was a bit of an animal.
Mr Collar was lapping in the 1'18"s all afternoon and peddaled his 480bhp/480lb torque Sierra to great effect. Bought for 12k including spares a few years ago these guys proved that you don't have to have mega money to compete and their two podium finishes this weekend underlined the point.
Notice the relocated radiator ala D1, Time Attack and WRC
Another Camaro from the Classic touring car series, this one looked like an extra from the new Transformers movie.
One of my favourite cars of the day was Kevin Williams glorious 3 door.
In its Gulf colours, backed up with some well proven power and handling mods, he was amongst the favourites for honours later on.
Couldn't help but notice the brake bias controls and old school boost switch
Time for some lunch so back to our suite to see what Gary and the team had prepared for us.
A great spread including marinated chicken, kebabs, fresh sausage rolls and more sarnies than 20 of you could eat were amongst the platters that kept rolling out. After four or five plates, it was time for a cheeky request. I asked Daniel whether we would need to go over to the bar to get beers...............'Hold on one moment' He quipped.
Well, Dan and I thought it would have been rude to have passed up on the opportunity. Chink, chick
Before we all ground to a standstill I decided on more pitlane perving so once again we braved the elements and headed for a closer look at the Falcon I mentioned earlier. The car was so bloody big, I couldn't get any real decent external shots. The spanner guys quoted the nitty gritty. 6.2 litre Ford small block with 620bhp and near 600lb torque. They had lapped Snetterton before at 1'18" and were hoping just to get through the weekend in one piece. They had already emptied 15 litres of oil down the back straight once on Saturday! You can imagine how popular that made them.
The carbon on the car was strangely out of place. 60's Iron wrapped around an autoclaved heart. Bizarre. Nice but bizarre.
These guys actually managed to repeat the oil trick too, so more copious amounts of Castrol everywhere.
Before the race I spotted what looked like an original ducktail Porsche Carrera. It was so dainty and I felt quite lucky to see a proper one being used on the road.
The time had arrived for the modified classics to be wheeled out. The noise and sight of the large cars was great.
As they weaved their way around the track, desperately trying to get warmth into the tyres they looked like huge Great White sharks. I was buzzing, my nerves jangling and we hadn't even started the race yet. We had opted for a position near Russells and the decision paid off. We were able to see the cars snake under heavy braking (The guys with the Sapphire commented that they can achieve speeds of 125+ around Coram) The powerful rear wheel drive Camaro and Falcon looked like huge fun as they tried to force enormous amounts of torque through the tyres. I was in heaven
The Camaro was pulling away lap after lap, the Sapphire doing an admirable job in second. Third place was a real battle between the '60's Falcon and the '80's Cosworth. The lighter nimbler Cosworth looked to be quicker through the twisties but the sheer Earth spinning grunt of the Falcon reeled it back in. For 6 laps they fought tooth and nail. Then the Cosworth expired promptly followed by the Falcon, dumping its oil like the Exxon Valdez once again.
Back to the suite for afternoon tea and cakes, filled to bursting I think we knew that there was a thin line between sleep and going home early. I put the air con on a lower setting, raided the fridge for a cold bottled water and relaxed to watch the final few races.
It was a wonderful day in great company and definitely the best way to watch motorsports. I look forward to the next opportunity to enjoy the hospitality of the circuit. I'm pretty sure I'll know the first three names on the list
:)
