FORDFEST 2018
Storming season-closer at the strip.
The UK Ford outdoor show season went out on a high for the year with FordFest at the end of September. Thousands of enthusiasts descended on Santa Pod and they were treated to a feast of Blue Oval-related goodness, with hundreds of the UK’s biggest Ford clubs putting their best feet forward to create incredible displays.
As always, there were a wide range of awards up for grabs, from best Club Display stand to best Classic Club, and there was a diverse range of cars from a bunch of different communities. From Facebook groups to owners’ clubs, family clubs to forums, there was something for everyone and it left the judges with the difficult task of picking the award winners.
Headline sponsors EBC Brakes, who gave all showgoers 20 per cent off all of their products on the day, were tasked with choosing the Best Club Display and after an arduous process of deliberation they plumped for Simply Mustangs UK. The club brought over 50 spotless Mustangs with them after growing their club from just five cars in 2015 and they also took home the best One-Model Display trophy to round off what has been a great year for them.
Other winners included Kejja Motorsport for Best Classic Club, while Bedfordshire RS Owners’ Club took home the award for Best Regional Club Display.
It wouldn’t be FordFest without the hotly anticipated Show & Shine competition and this year’s sponsors Roar Polishing spent the morning running the rule over the 20 stunning cars vying for the title. The competition was fierce and the team at Roar spent hours trying to separate the best cars, but in the end it was Lewis Taylor and his Focus ST that took the victory and the coveted Show & Shine trophy, as well as a bag of detailing goodies from Roar.
The Retail Village was jam-packed throughout the day with show-goers taking advantage of a whole range of exclusive discounts and offers. AET Motorsport, sponsors of the Drag Strip, were on hand to give tuning advice while Photography UK were able to give visitors a souvenir of their day with their official entrance photos.
There was plenty of interest in the Nankang Tyres Tyre Challenge, which saw competitors tasked with changing a front wheel in the quickest time possible, and the victory went to David Datoo in an impressive time of 20.81 seconds.
If David had a good day then Stephen Tudor had an even better one. Stephen was one of hundreds of people who paid £1 to enter the prize draw to win a Mk1 Mondeo – and he left the show with a smile from ear to ear as the proud owner of a car that recently completed the famous Two-Ball Rally without a single issue.
FordFest returns in 2019 – dates and details will be revealed soon.