the noise alone was well worth witnessing
Ford fans packed Donington Park circuit to take in the best RS action around at the annual RSOC National Day
ased at Donington Park circuit in Derbyshire the RSOC National Day is always a wellattended event, and being slap bang in the middle of the country means that it gets a wealth of top cars from all areas of the UK. For Ford fans, it was definitely the place to be as this year’s show was jam-packed with the best that the Blue Oval brand had to offer. Previous years’ shows had seen a slight decline, but with a new team of organisers bringing fresh ideas and a renewed vigour to the proceedings, it put the show right back on track as one of the best events on the calendar.
BFeaturing club stands from all over the country, there was plenty to keep even the most demanding of car fans happy with everything from Cortinas and Capris to every Cosworth variant you could wish for on display throughout the circuit.
For this year’s show however, a new feature was unveiled which was held on the circuit’s ‘Launch Pad’ area that had an ‘RS models through the ages’ theme. Immaculately presented RS models from Mk1 Escorts to the latest Focus RSs littered the outside area with an additional inside area which held some of the best presented cars in the country including ex-concours cars. Playing on screens within the air-conditioned building – which gave a welcome break from the humid heat of the day – were generations of Ford adverts which really added a nostalgic air to the feature which is sure to return again next year. Every visitor to the feature was asked to vote for their favourite RS model of all time and be entered into the chance to win a whiteknuckle ride with Elphyn Evans in the M-Sport R5 rally car – the winner of the people’s choice award for the best RS ever was the Escort Cosworth.
Speaking of immaculate motors, the Autoglym-sponsored concours and show ‘n’ shine areas were a sight to see with better than factory-fresh cars on display. One of the stars of the show was the Escort Cosworth of Mark Barber that went on to take the trophy for car of the day. Check out the car highlight to see why Mark’s car took the gong!
Other stars of the show were the icons on display in the RS500 Touring car and Rally areas that featured some of the best ex-race cars around including two RS200 rally cars, one of which was owned by serial race car collector Brian Betteridge who also unveiled his genuine original RS1700T
Group B prototype car which he has been restoring over the last four years. Needless to say, it was one of the highlights of the show.
But it’s one thing seeing these cars in a static display but quite another at full chat hooning around the track, and National Day featured two 20 minute sessions where some of the country’s best historic race and rally cars got let loose to do what they do best. Needless to say, the grandstands were packed when the ex-racers hit the circuit as the noise alone was well worth witnessing and it was good to see that the old guard can still very much cut it in the performance stakes. However it wasn’t just the classics that were hitting the track, as with 96 registered cars booked for the public track sessions there was always something to get excited about on the track.
So with the show wrapped up for another year, it has to be said it was a resounding success that with even more exciting plans afoot for the next show, should make the 2015 event the best yet! We know we’ll be there… will you?