Enjoyed a fantastic day’s motorsport at the DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft)  meeting, Brands Hatch.

DTM is a spectacular version of touring car racing, based in Germany, which features several European rounds in the Championship, including this year, at Brands Hatch. The DTM is essentially a silhouette formulae, featuring the three main German premier car manufacturers, Mercedes, Audi and BMW in heavily aerodynamically modified C63, A5 and M4 models. The body and chassis is carbon fibre and all run a regulated V8 engine and sequential transmission driving the rear wheels. Common with other racing formulae, 2018 changes in regulations reduced downforce to encourage overtaking.

The driver line up has consistently comprised ex-F1 drivers plus a host of younger talent, and unusually perhaps for a German series, three British drivers: Gary Paffett is the current championship leader, Paul DiResta (Ex-F1) has won the championship and Jamie Green is still seeking his first championship despite having won 16 races in previous campaigns. 

Hence the racing is a blend of aggressive looking cars, very loud rumbling engines, star pilots and close touring car style racing. To give some perspective, these are the fastest cars to race at Brands Hatch in 2018.

There are a couple of DTM innovations which other formulae would do well to note: All the cars carry an LED number which indicates their position in the race and the event is supported by a brilliant free smart phone app which streams commentary and timings as well as details of the schedule and event information. Another DTM feature is the principle of entertainment, so there are high quality support races (Audi R8’s and Mini’s this time), demonstration laps from old F1 cars, bikes and extensive manufacturers stands and free fan giveaways.

The main DTM feature of the day was a 55 minute race which was won by Daniel Juncadella in his Mercedes C63 in a maiden victory. There was an interesting strategic perspective in that six cars completed their mandatory pit stop in the first lap. This gave a slight time advantage, but also compromised their tyre performance late in the race although clearly degradation is not the issue it is in F1. There was one slow zone activated (a DTM means of dealing with a car needing recovery), but otherwise a continuous race, albeit with several cars going off, only to recover having lost time. There was lots of overtaking to enjoy with the hairpin at Druids and into Graham Hill bend being visible from where I was stood which was the glade inside of druids.

A great day’s racing – Brands Hatch has a good layout from which to enjoy the racing with far reaching views as well as the ability to get really close to the cars, and to feel the rumble in your chest!

My companion for the day was John H, an old friend with whom I have been watching motorsport for perhaps 15 or more years, it was great to catch up with him and I am grateful to him and his wife Linda for the overnight stay, for driving me to and from the event, for the packed lunch and dinner on Saturday. Utterly spoiled!

Tips for future events – take headphones to stream the commentary on your phone.

I will remember the summer of 2018 as one of the hottest in recent years. We’ve had some hot days, but it has surely been a couple of decades since we’ve had such a sustained spell of fair weather, bordering on sweltering. Consequently, the MG restoration has taken a back seat while I lay about and socialise in the sun (too hot for overalls anyway). Today, we went to the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Considered by many as the premier motoring event of the year, I haven’t been for several years because the crowds put me off, and its not exactly a cheap day out. However, with some other friends going, that was enough to tip us into going, and for once, Helen and I were going together.

Setting off from Brighton at 6:30am meant that queues were minor and by 8:00 we were sat by the start line eating bacon rolls. I’ll admit to feeling a bit emotional when I first climbed the grandstand only to look down on a Graham Hill Yardley F1 car catapult off the start line. The ear splitting howl of the Cosworth DFV V8, and the beautiful setting of the tree lined avenue as the next amazing car lined up was all a bit overwhelming. Many of the cars were doing burn-outs from the start line. Utterly pointless, but absolutely joyous.

We moved on from the start line, and took up seats in the Park grandstands which provide a view of the track with the house behind. A beautiful setting, we stayed here for a while watching the batches of exotic bikes and cars sprinting up the hill. Some cars are going for a fast time, others just cruise up and some perform stunts such as donuts and burn-outs. Its all fabulously variable and there is a great sense of both occasion and of people wanting to put on a good show for the benefit of the crowds. The F1 cars have a tradition of showing off – there was a mouth-watering selection this year, a handful of the old normally aspirated V8s and V10s from the noughties – these are absolute screamers, and there was a Red Bull which did a particularly spectacular donut and drift. Valtieri Bottas was there with a Turbo Hybrid Mercedes and he did some cracking donuts and looked to be having a great time. Jenson Button, a Goodwood regular, was on Honda ambassador duties, piloting an ex-John Surtees 1967 Honda F1 car respectfully up the hill, singing out its V12 song.

MK Jaguar trying hard

Dolomite Sprint Kicking up the dust

Burning out a £60,000 bike

Billy Munger received a warm reception

There were many manufacturers and trade stands, too many to see in one day really. Helen won a key ring on the Mini stand and we both queued up for Michelin straw hats. We had hog roast rolls for lunch sat on a picnic table in the sweltering sunshine yards away from at least £20m worth of supercars which were displayed with typical Goodwood informality around the in-field.

You have to pinch yourself at Goodwood because almost wherever you look there are amazing cars and bikes, it really is quite exceptional. Its hard to convey just how relaxed and convivial the atmosphere is  – what the organisers have pulled off is the knack of putting on a beautifully well organised and presented event, while making it look incredibly easy.

The Porsche stand was worthy of mention – a blend of classic cars, contemporary cars and racing cars, it was presented with a light touch and surprisingly, a coffee shop with the best coffee of the day, served with panache by young staff who really had no business being that cheerful when we met them later in the day.

A fantastic day, we enjoyed catching up with our friends and becoming reacquainted with the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

(I’m going to have to get on with that restoration at some point, but Cornwall beckons…)

MK Jaguar trying hard

Dolomite Sprint Kicking up the dust

Billy Munger received a warm reception

Burning out a £60,000 bike

I thought it would be a good idea to stay local to the Goodwood Festival of Speed (FoS), tomorrow’s adventure, so we can get in early. With local hotels booked, I looked further afield and happened on Brighton as a viable pre-FoS day out. I booked a seafront Hotel and we looked forward to a lovely stay.

We had an easy drive into Brighton, observing as we got the town that it’s a bit shabby in places and not in the shabby-chic way. We abandoned the first car park which was extremely tight and gloomy looking in favour of a car park under a Hotel, expensive, but looks safe.

We headed to the fashionable ‘Lanes’ where we had coffee at a trendy independent coffee shop.

After perusing a few shops we headed for the beach where we ate last night’s Risotto leftovers, a lot nicer than that sounds.

A beautiful sunny day with virtually no cloud, just endless blue sky and a shimmering sea, dotted with bathers and boats. It was all lovely and I dozed lightly on the pebbles and life was good.

A bit more browsing of the shops was followed by drinks and a snack in All-bar-one.

As check in was now open, we headed to our Hotel, the not-so-salubrious Royal Albion on the seafront. A rather run down establishment, we were disappointed with our room, a roomy first floor space with windows overlooking adjacent air conditioning which was rattling away cheerfully. We called up reception to see if any alternative was available, but only the windowless basement was offered. A fan was however provided and this was put to use, pushing the hot air around with little cooling effect [sigh]. We paid £182 for this one night privilege (no breakfast included) so we will later reflect on whether there is an lesson in this for us, or are quite a few seaside Hotels a bit crap and expensive. It’s all relative of course, and our night will be more comfortable than the homeless people we saw on the pavement earlier.

Another day of not making any progress on the MG. Instead went for a long walk (13 miles) with friend Chris. We are planning a long walk next year so need build up the miles.

It was a blisteringly hot day (probably 30 deg) but we had some shade en-route to Calne on the old railway track. Good chat and saw some nature – hare and hawks.

Not getting much done on the MG this weekend as Helen and decided to go to the beach.

However in a quirky shop in Swanage was a second hand Jerry Can for £5. This looked to be good value and will allow me to drain the tank of petrol and dispose of it (it is dented and the gauge is u/s.

Helen and I had a yummy coffee and cake in a cafe.

Also bought a reflective shade for the Honda.

Also today, England beat Sweden to go through to the Quarterfinals of the football World Cup. I’m not really into football, buts it’s kind of exciting. We were at the beach during the match but caught the last few mins on the radio and before that over our phones.

Attended the Bowood Classic Car Show with Helen in the Cappuccino. Had some good conversations with MGB owners. One chap recommended a restoration book (insert here) and showed us around his restoration. He had fitted electronic ignition (see photo) and recommended this. Most owners had supplementary cooling so this is a definite for the re-build. Another owner fired up his ‘B’ to demonstrate the TT manifold and exhaust which was nice and loud, but does change the distinctive MGB burble. The manifold is key to the sound, so truthfully would prefer mine to stay sounding authentic as to me that is part of the appeal. Lots of owners had stainless steel oil cooler hoses some of which did not foul the distributer as much so worth considering. The engine bays were a mixture, with quite a lot of scruffy ones. It was common to see polished dashpots and pancake filters, some retaining the original and nice new decals everywhere. Where brake lines had been done, there was a weird mixture of shapes so that makes that job a bit more daunting, but worthwhile overall I reckon. The interiors also varied with horrible wooden dashboards in some cases. Overall it was encouraging to see the finished article and seeing a couple of white ones was good as it gave a good impression. None had the autumn leaf interior, so ours will be uncommon I think.