Moderator Curtis Jacobson Portland Oregon (4576 posts) Registered: 10/12/2007 02:16AM Main British Car: 71 MGBGT, Buick 215 |
Attending Car Races in England (MGCC at Snetterton)
My wife and I are planning a trip to England in early October, and we're looking forward to including a race weekend in our itinerary. Specifically:
MG Car Club Championships Snetterton 200: Saturday the 5th and Sunday the 6th of October, 2013 "This event will feature, MG Trophy Championship, Peter Best Insurance Challenge, MG Midget & AH Sprite Challenge, Thoroughbred Sports Car Championship, Drayton Manor Park MG Metro Cup, BCV8 Championship, MGCC ecurie GTS, Porsche Club Championship with Michelin and Aero Racing Morgan Challenge" This will be my first-ever car race in England, so I'm looking for any tips at all. What can I expect from a race weekend in UK? Is it true that most UK racers just show up for their sprint race and then go home? Or will racers and their cars stay in the paddock overnight? Will there be enough time for me to photograph multiple cars in detail, and do the sort of interview necessary for BritishRacecar.com-style profiles? What's the culture like? Will racers be willing to give me detailed information about how they've prepared their racecars? Will I find beer in the paddock on Saturday night, tires being kicked and lies being told... like I've come to expect at vintage races on this side of the pond? Can anyone recommend lodging in the greater Snetterton metropolitan area? Are any of you guys planning to be there? |
Phillip G Phillip Leonard Kansas City (395 posts) Registered: 02/03/2008 04:12PM Main British Car: 1992 MG RV8 Rover 3.5 |
Re: Attending Car Races in England (MGCC at Snetterton)
Curtis,
Your'e going to have the best vacation of your life ! I hope you get a lot of pictures of the V8 racers. And .... really looking forward to your photographs from Snetterton when you get back. keep them on the track, phillip g |
britcars Phil Ossinger New Brunswick, Canada (346 posts) Registered: 02/02/2009 07:58PM Main British Car: 1977 MGB Roadster, Rover 3.5 ADVENTURE BEFORE DEMENTIA! |
Re: Attending Car Races in England (MGCC at Snetterton)
Curtis, it sounds like a great trip with some fantastic experiences coming your way. Would you get more exposure in the v8 Pub Section?
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Moderator Curtis Jacobson Portland Oregon (4576 posts) Registered: 10/12/2007 02:16AM Main British Car: 71 MGBGT, Buick 215 |
Re: Attending Car Races in England (MGCC at Snetterton)
Good idea! I'll try moving it, and see what happens.
I'm really excited about the Snetterton part... plus Lisa and I are scheduled now for a tour of the Morgan works. |
Phillip G Phillip Leonard Kansas City (395 posts) Registered: 02/03/2008 04:12PM Main British Car: 1992 MG RV8 Rover 3.5 |
Re: Attending Car Races in England (MGCC at Snetterton)
Curtis,
Have you plans to post info and photos of the MG races at Snetterton? Sure hope so, keep them on the track, phillip g |
Moderator Curtis Jacobson Portland Oregon (4576 posts) Registered: 10/12/2007 02:16AM Main British Car: 71 MGBGT, Buick 215 |
Re: Attending Car Races in England (MGCC at Snetterton)
Certainly! We're traveling light, so I won't be able to download photos from my cameras until we get home (Thursday) - but I expect I'll have enough to feature three really great MGB V8s plus probably five or six other cars in detail. Today Lisa and I enjoyed a wonderful tour of Morgan. I took a LOT of photos, so if there's sufficient interest...
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Preform Resources Dave Craddock Redford,Michigan (359 posts) Registered: 12/20/2008 05:46PM Main British Car: 72 MGB V6 3.4 |
Re: Attending Car Races in England (MGCC at Snetterton)
It sounds like you're having a blast ! I reckon we're all looking forward to your pics and commentary.
Dave |
Preform Resources Dave Craddock Redford,Michigan (359 posts) Registered: 12/20/2008 05:46PM Main British Car: 72 MGB V6 3.4 |
Re: Attending Car Races in England (MGCC at Snetterton)
Curtis,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,race report !!!
Dave |
Moderator Curtis Jacobson Portland Oregon (4576 posts) Registered: 10/12/2007 02:16AM Main British Car: 71 MGBGT, Buick 215 |
Re: Attending Car Races in England (MGCC at Snetterton)
It was an outstanding weekend! A very warm and welcoming atmosphere - plus we were blessed with great weather.
Snetterton is a very nice venue... remarkably comparable to V.I.R. in the features I could compare. I got a ride around the circuit with the race marshall, but of course that's not the same as driving it. It's an old WWII U.S. bomber airfield, so it's pretty flat. It has a lot of guardrails (like Watkins Glen) and some huge run-off areas. Fewer trees. ~20 garages. The event seemed extremely well managed. The number, quality, and variety of MGs was remarkable - even overwhelming. More special-bodied Spridgets than I'd ever imagined (e.g. Lenham). Some cool MG-powered cars (e.g. Elva Courier.) I wish I'd been a bit better organized because I didn't take nearly enough photos of the newer MG model racecars (Metro, Maestro, SV, SVR, etc., etc.). I've decided that including those models is extremely healthy for the club and the sport - more younger drivers plus some of those cars are apparently quite cheap to race. Metro racers in particular are quite aggressive... sort of the equivalent of Miata spec racers. In light of that, I was surprised that no MGF or RV8 cars were racing, but there were plenty of each in spectator parking areas. Two of the new Chinese MG models were on display in the paddock. The MGCC invited the Porsche club to share the track on Saturday (only) and the Morgan club to share the track both days. The number and variety of Morgans was impressive (maybe 30 of them?) but I didn't see any pre-war Morgans or three-wheelers. The BCV8 club changed its rules a while back to calm things down a bit. The top class of MGB GT V8s were getting so outrageous that the less-modified classes didn't want to be on track with them. The main rule change was apparently a restriction on how much fender flare they could run. Just narrowing the cars up apparently slowed them down - but it pushed some of those more radical cars out of racing. (Maybe they could be imported to USA if a faster SVRA class opens up to MGBGTV8 racing?) To me, one of the most interesting things was how much turnover there was between Saturday and Sunday. Quite a lot of racers decide to race just one day or the other. There was a four-hour relay race on Sunday afternoon that was worth sticking around for right to the end. I think most teams had four cars/drivers. That race apparently allowed some more radically prepared cars... but it was also the only race all weekend that included older MGs. (There was a handicap system, so a team of MG TC, TD and TFs was competitive on handicap.... although it must have been terrifying for those guys to be on track with the winning team of MGB V8s. The V8 guys would have won by a huge margin if they hadn't been plagued with some mechanical problems (brakes mostly, I think) but as it ended up, the V8 guys won the relay by less than ten seconds! I'll post some photos soon. |
74ls1tr6 Calvin Grannis Elk Grove,CA (1151 posts) Registered: 11/10/2007 10:05AM Main British Car: 74 TR6 / 71 MGB GT TR6/Ls1 71 MGB GT/Ls1 |
Re: Attending Car Races in England (MGCC at Snetterton)
Ah! I see one of those pesky Triumph's in the first photo as Carl would say ;)
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Moderator Curtis Jacobson Portland Oregon (4576 posts) Registered: 10/12/2007 02:16AM Main British Car: 71 MGBGT, Buick 215 |
Re: Attending Car Races in England (MGCC at Snetterton)
Shaun Holmes raced his MGC GT in the Peter Best Insurance Challenge.
Shaun has done a lot of recent development: EFI and electronic ignition! (Believe it or not, I think only one of the cars in the background here isn't an MG.) Shaun's car is featured here: MGC-GTS |