CENTRAL DELAY
We join the RSOC for a grand day out at Santa Pod.
Driving into Santa Pod for Central Day, the car parks seemed pretty quiet. It looked like the iffy weather forecast may have put some off, but even so, there was still a decent turnout of Blue Oval fans.
With dark clouds circling overhead, there was the constant fear that a monsoon would kick off at any moment, so it was straight down to business on the strip. With no hanging around, the queue of drivers all eager to see what their cars could do, soon went down, and the crowds in the grandstand were treated to some cracking quarter-mile action.
As ever, there was a diverse mix of Fords, from stock road cars, to fully prepped drag weapons. Highlight for us was our mate Wenny, launching his savage Mk3 Escort up the strip – hitting late nines with no messing. The fastest cars of the day were the out-and- out drag racers, but as impressive as they were, we still prefer the fast-road cars.
The comedy award has to go to the JamSport crew, who, as well as bringing a large contingent of big-power Fords, also took their Range Rover up the strip, hitting 13s with 105mph terminals! From a 2700kg Rangey, that is impressive! But then the tuned 5-litre supercharged lump probably helps…
Away from the strip, Central Day had plenty to offer Ford fans. The Show and Shine area was filled with some unfeasibly clean cars and the concours guys blew people away with their better-than-factory finished Fords.
The club stands are the mainstay of shows like this and the easy-ups and barbecues were out in force
as everyone caught up for a face-to-face chat. As ever there was a wide mix of balls- out performance, nicely tuned fast road cars and some styled stuff, but the trend for unique wheels seemed stronger than ever. And fair play to the guy in the Mk2 Mondeo that was rocking an awesome BTCC-inspired ride height, OZ Ultraleggeras and AP Racing stoppers. The brakes alone must have been worth more than the car!
If you thought 2013 was the year of the lairy Focus RS Mk2 – then think again. There were legions of them – all aiming to out do each other with ‘out there’ wraps and dipped engine bays. Love them or hate them, you can’t deny these cars certainly liven up a show.
With plenty of traders showing off their latest products – many of them fitted to awesome demo cars – a lot of credit cards were hammered. We also saw a fair few fresh cars that will appear in FF soon. At £15 on the gate, Central Day offered a good day out. If you liked it, then check out National Day at Donington on 20 July.