The fourth running of the Scottish Ford Live event welcomed an eclectic mix of Fords, young and old, to Knockhill Racing Circuit today (Sunday 18th May). Over 200 Ford owners ventured, in some cases, in excess of 450 miles to show their cars at Knockhill today; with a number of these owners also joining the action on track, with Ford only sessions accompanying our regular Hot Hatch sessions.
Indeed, upwards of 140 drivers took to the Circuit today, to test-their-metal against the tight and twisty Championship track. Alongside the aforementioned Ford models, we also saw a wide variety of cars on track from Citroen, Renault, Subaru, BMW and Honda.
Elsewhere, 2012 British Touring Car Champion, Gordon Shedden also joined the track activity behind the wheel of his Lotus Exige; accompanied by some very generous individuals who donated money to Cash for Kids, in return for a couple of extremely-quick laps alongside the BTCC ace. It is safe to say that Gordon was pretty flat-out, both in terms of driving and indeed, coping with the demand. Gordon was more than happy to oblige, especially, as all the cash generated goes to such a great cause.
One individual commented, “That was mental, amazing. I’d definitely do that again,” following her trip around Knockhill with Gordon.
Today belonged to the Ford brand, as owners and Club members from up and down the country converged at Knockhill to celebrate their favourite marque. Ford models including RS Escorts, Escort Cosworths, Sierra s, XR2s, Mondeos and the more recent, Fiesta ST and Focus RS models lined up row upon row throughout the venue. It would be hard to put a figure on the value of all the machinery on site today, but we’d estimate it would be worth millions. Conversely, it would be as equally difficult to estimate the number of man-hours which have been spent tinkering, polishing and prepping these vehicles for today’s show.
One Durham RSOC club member commented:
“We’ve travelled 150 miles today; got here early this morning and washed, dried and polished the car already (4hrs), in preparation for the Show ‘n’ Shine competition later today.”
Another Ford enthusiast commented:
“We drove up from Oxford (450 miles) last night, spent the night sampling some Scottish beer and headed along early this morning. Now we’ll spend the next few hours cleaning and polishing the car ahead of the judging at 12. Driving the car and having fun, that’s what it’s all about.”
Knockhill Events Director, Stuart Gray reiterated the staggering amount of time and dedication these people devote to their cars.
“It’s staggering the amount of detailing that these guys do. There is no other word for it, they are immaculately presented.”
Gray continued:
“We (Knockhill) are delighted with the turn out today, it’s the fourth time we’ve ran this event and this has to be the biggest yet. A big thanks to Ron Walker and the RSOC clubs for pulling much of today together.
“A huge thanks to all those who brought along the feature cars; the Jimmy McRae Sierra, Graham Wait’s BTCC Sierra and everyone else, we are very grateful to each and every one of them. Equally so, all those club members and individuals who participated today.”
On track we also witnessed a host of current SMRC racers show case their own Ford models, as well as a lunch time Autotest session courtesy of the Border Ecosse Club.
Focus for us (no pun intended), now shifts to the Modified Live event next weekend (Sunday 25th May); where we will welcome the Time Attack series back to Knockhill. We’ll also see the 2nd and 3rd rounds of the Super Lap Scotland Championship, Northern Sports and Saloons car racing and a highly-anticipated live Formula One demonstration on track. Tickets and further information can be found on our Events website and remember, if you retain the leaflet distributed today, you can get access next Sunday for just £10 – saving £5 off the on-the-day price.
See you again, soon!