Sunday rest? Never! Sunday RACE! The turbo mini and the Carterham 7 at Avon Park.
Sunday morning jumped out of bed, fed the cat, jumped into the cars and roared off for Shakespeare County Raceway, at Stratford upon Avon, about 35 miles away. R drove his turbo mini and I drove the Vauxhall Astra. You know those early Sunday mornings when there’s no one about and you can hoon down the country lanes at 90m/h instead of 50m/h? Yeah…one of those lovely mornings. Met up with Jason in his Carterham 7 half way, somewhere around Chipping Norton, and then all bets were off.
The Astra has a turbo and loads of power, but nothing compared to two lightweight racing cars with something like 500bhp! I had a hard time keeping them in my sight and the only way I could take photos of them is if they got slowed down by a transit van. They raced and chased and overtook everyone in sight, including each other.
Finally at the track I found my friend Dave Derry and signed my life away for a media pass and high visibility vest. The mini and Carterham had to go thru their scrutinising before they could race.
Stylin’ the high visability vest!
Finally in the line. These cars are so easy to push.
The banter about who’s going to get who.
I’m officially media and can go where I please!
Don’t mess with me…I’ve got a high visability media jacket!
The line got a bit backed up after a battery exploded and the track had to be cleaned up.
So I got inventive with the photos. I love the way the mini grill is reflecting in the Carterham.
Also love this little guy’s keep calm and jr. drag race sticker.
Finally, end of the day, packed away the crash helmets…
And hooned home.
I’ll put more photos on my Facebook page. If you’re not my friend yet…why not? Come be friends. 🙂
E.B.Pike
OMG –these are the cutest!! Looks like so much fun. 🙂
Veronica
Oh Erin, it was. Can’t wait for another day of racing.
anne
My very first car was a Mini Cooper “After eight”. A green one. Very smart. Very english !
Veronica
Oh Anne, I wish I could afford one of the vintage mini coopers. That’s Robert’s turbo mini in the photos. Mine is a 1959 Austin Seven mini which R and I restored. One time I was shopping and when I walked back to the carpark there were 4 Japanese tourists taking photos of it from every angle! I have terrific fun driving it but it lives in England. Wish I could fly it to Vancouver with me and then back again. (There are some photos of my mini here but best bet is on flickr) I’d love to see a photo of yours.