BTCC Season Opens 31st March
It is now less than a month until the start of the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC).
The first round takes place at Brands Hatch over the weekend of the 31st March – 1st April and indications so far are that nine different makes of car will be on the grid, all of them using the new flame-spitting, turbocharged engines that form part of the Next Generation Touring Car specification.
The 2012 BTCC title race will take place at nine top race circuits located in eight different counties throughout the country: Brands Hatch, Kent (1 Apr & 21 Oct); Donington Park, Derbys-Leics border (15 Apr); Thruxton, Hants (29 Apr), Oulton Park, Cheshire (10 June); Croft, North Yorks (24 June); Snetterton, Norfolk (12 Aug); Knockhill, Fife (26 Aug); Rockingham, Northants (23 Sept) and Silverstone, Northants (7 Oct).
Another of the BTCC’s massive appeals, notably among families, is that admission to all ten of its race weekends is FREE for accompanied children (age limits vary). This includes access to specially organised pit lane autograph sessions with the star drivers plus, at most events, the race teams’ central paddock.
Brands Hatch’s big BTCC weekend (31 March-1 April) will also include the first races of 2012 for the hotly-contested Ginetta Junior, Ginetta GT Supercup, Porsche Carrera Cup GB, Formula Renault and Renault Clio Cup championships that represent the very best in single-seater, sports and saloon car action. Nicolas Hamilton and Josh Hill – respectively the younger brother and son of Formula 1 champions Lewis Hamilton and Damon Hill – will be among those on the Clio Cup and Formula Renault starting grids.
Tickets for the event are still available at discounted prices including £25 per adult for Sunday’s main race day. For all ticketing options for the event visit www.brandshatch.co.uk. Admission is FREE for children aged 12 and under all weekend.
For a full list of the BTCC’s 2012 race dates and circuits, visit www.btcc.net.
Four Aero-Engined Cars At 2012 Pageant Of Power
The 500bhp, 46-litre BMW Brutus - see it at the Pageant of Power 2012
Did you watch Top Gear on the 4th March (last Sunday)? If so, you will have seen ‘Brutus’ in action – the fabulous 46-litre, 500bhp aero-engined BMW that was built after WWII using a surplus aeroplane engine!
There will be no fewer than four aero-engined cars at the Cholmondeley Pageant of Power in June, boasting a total of 135 litres of displacement and 2,800bhp. Although it’s still early, I thought I would share this with you while last week’s Top Gear might still be fresh in your mind (and ringing in your ears…).
Other aero-engined cars at the 2012 Pageant of Power will include a 23-litre Maybach Zeppelin (affectionately known as ‘Chitty Bang Bang 1’, one of four celebrated 1920s English race cars believed to have inspired the creation of the fictional Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), the 24-litre Napier-Bentley and the fearsome 42-litre Packard-Bentley. Including Brutus, the combined power output for these four cars totals more than 2,800bhp.
James Hall, Event Director for the Cholmondeley Pageant of Power, said: “Aero-engined cars are a rare breed, but these are some of the most fascinating and exhilarating machines people are likely to ever encounter. We can’t wait to see what the crowds make of these unique cars, as there is simply nothing else on the road that can match them for sheer drama.”
Now in its fifth year, the Cholmondeley Pageant of Power will take place on the Cholmondeley Estate in Cheshire from 15 to 17 June. (It’s just off the A534, midway between Wrexham and Crewe.)
A full event schedule and list of participants will be announced over the coming weeks, with Pageant organisers set to reveal some exciting new additions and features for 2012.
To buy tickets or find further information, visit www.cpop.co.uk.
If you are travelling in a large group to one of these events, why not consider hiring a self-drive minibus to cut down on fuel costs and enable you all to travel together with one driver? Click here to compare minibus hire prices.