"And They're Off...!" Motorsport at the Palace

As well as the superb Turkish Grand Prix last weekend, there was also a rather special event going on in South London at Crystal Palace - one of Badger's roving reporters went along to see what it was all about

“And they’re off ...”  The local mayor resplendent in his golden snow tyre chains waved a union jack flag to signal the start of the time trails for the return ‘Motorsport at the Palace'.

“I love the smell of freshly laid rubber in the morning” I declared to myself as it mingled with the hot dog van nearby. There were all manner of motors for petrol heads and alike to feast on; short ones, fat ones thin ones – at times it was akin to watching ‘Wacky races’ however I was slightly taken back when a ‘G’ Reg Windsor blue, four door Lexus saloon car rocked up at the start line.

I felt sure the driver had made a wrong turning from the car park! Other interesting entries included a cut down lowered 2CV (Deux Chevaux) which set off at a snail’s pace if you’ll excuse the pun!

A second star studded 2CV No. 50 (not 42) had a musical connection. It is co owned yet sadly not driven by Mike Lindup; the keyboard player of 80’s pop group Level 42 no less!

Best and ‘Bad boy’ of the show had to go to the throbbing ‘Golden Rod’ – a souped up all American muscle car; The Corvette “Chevy” left a thick heavy bloom of black smoke reminiscent of the mysterious one found in The Lost TV series...It proved a real handful as its driver, Ian Wright narrowly avoided careering off the circuit on the very first corner!

The ‘smooviest’ as well as ‘grooviest’ off the line was the Electric Telstar’s which confused many of the spectators as it sped off in complete silence as it scaled the hill in a ‘Scalextric’ stylee!

Next up in the Boy racer category, whoops I mean the 1970s-80 class (including various Ford Escorts – MK 2, México etc) was a rather heavily customised bright yellow RS200 complete with the largest T-tray (spoiler ) I have ever seen! It was the kind of getaway car that an unsuspecting superhero such as ‘Banana Man’ would have used.

The Children’s cartoon character – ‘Roary The Racing Car’ made a rare stationary appearance at the racetrack. As did the RBS sponsored Williams 2010 F1 car.

All the entries were available for closer inspection as well as a chance to talk to some of the drivers and owners in the wooded area of this picturesque South London park.

There were also various car clubs in attendance including the Gilbern one. They had a prototype of what could have been the first Welsh Supercar. I commented it looked visibly lower than the famous 1960’s Ford GT40. The owner proceeded to pull out a tape measure – 38’ he proudly declared!

All in all it was a fantastic family day out and we at F1 badger feverishly look forward to a repeat run of this event next year.  For more information see the website here.

About the Author: Ant Bradbury - aka Ant Hotwheels is fan of F1 Badger and motorsport in general as well as being a fine vinyl disc jockey and photographer.

He covered 'Motorsport at the Palace' for F1 Badger - if you fancy writing a report or an article for F1 Badger, get in touch here.

You can see the rest of his photos below: