CITY STREET SPLAY HOST TO MOTOR SPORT

First competitive event since 1990 super prix

Something old, something new – that seemed to sum up the British Automobile Racing Club’s weekend. While its home track of Thruxton was celebrating its 50th anniversary, over in Coventry the British Automobile Racing Club was heading up a new chapter of UK motorsport.

For the first time since the 1990 Birmingham Superprix, competitive motorsport was being staged back on city streets at the Coventry Motofest Festival. Following newly passed legislation that paved the way for April’s Tendring and Clacton Rally, the club was running a points-scoring round of its Sprint championship.

It was Olly Clark, son of World Rally Championship event winner Roger, who topped the times on the city ring road in his Subaru Impreza. But for many, the headline act was Andy Wallace – back driving the seven-litre V12 Jaguar XJR-9 with which he won Le Mans 30 years ago. No stranger to street circuits as winner of the ’86 Macau Grand Prix, in many respects he was coming full circle having raced Formula 3 at the ’87 Superprix.

“It’s nice to see these cars in a museum, but if it can actually run then it’s even better,” he said. “The city’s got a lot of motoring history with the car [Jaguar’s headquarters is based in Coventry] so it makes perfect sense to be here.

“The track is very, very tight. There’s a couple of chicanes where you’re on full lock and the XJR-9 has cold front tyres so if you head in with too much speed then you’re going into the barrier.”

While pre-weekend estimates of 130,000 spectators seemed ambitious given that crowds were rarely more than two deep, Motofest certainly struck the right chord with the competitors.

Chris Hall, chairman of the Midlands branch of BARC, said: “It’s been a lot of work, but I’m really pleased with how it’s gone. People have said that this is like an accessible version of the [Goodwood] Festival of Speed.

“If Motofest can crack that then it’s bang on. People have come and had a look round and so I think next year we’ll sell out [the 50 entries].”

Away from the sprint circuit, the Motor Sports Association and Loughborough Car Club offered free passenger rides around a makeshift autotest route. Part of an initiative to reduce anti-social behaviour in the 2021 UK city of culture, it showcased a legal and regulated way for people to skid round a carpark.

Due to safety restrictions based on the current road infrastructure and barrier set-up, single-seaters were the only notable absences. Otherwise, Motofest spanned the spectrum of motorsport. Historic sportscars, rally-spec Audi quattros and highly tuned sprint cars were out in force and demonstration runs extended to the current British Touring Car grid. With Power Maxed as the title sponsor of the event, Brands Hatch winner Senna Proctor was behind the wheel of the team’s Vauxhall Astra.

“There’s a lot of people here and it’s always a nice thing to come to,” he said of the Festival’s fifth running. “For me, it’s more chilled out than usual. But I’m enjoying it all.

“It’d be good to doing a few touring car races [on street circuits], but I’m not sure if we’d get round there or how many people would finish!”