McLaren F1 at the Pageant of Power
The Goodwood Festival of Speed has been one of the highlights of the motor racing calendar for years, allowing thousands of fans to get up close to a dazzling selection of racing machines and supercars (see our pictures from this year’s Festival here).
But its Sussex location is hardly ideal for car fans in the north of the country. With that in mind the owners of Cholmondely Castle in Cheshire put on a similar event of their own for the first time this weekend, dubbed the Pageant of Power.
I went to the Festival and the Pageant of Power this year – so how did the two compare?
The Pageant organisers attracted a very diverse crowd of racing machines for their first event: from classic cars to sports cars, rally cars and even a couple of F1 Grand Prix racers, to motorbikes, racing boats and more.
Although much of the event was quite similar to the Goodwood Festival the boats were an unusual point of difference. I chatted to a few of the racers who were delighted to put their water-borne racers on display in front of a crowd that might not ordinarily get to see them.
The Pageant organisers did not get lucky with the weather, however – it poured almost without cease of Saturday morning, which can’t have helped crowd numbers.
The 1.2-mile course laid out in the grounds of the castle in many ways offered better viewing opportunities than the Goodwood course. The sight of cars bring thrown into the air by the bump at the Bailey Bridge after the start line was spectacular, and crowds had an excellent view of the Lozenger bend from a hill.
There is definitely an appetite among car fans to see great racing cars and super cars in action on a track, instead of on static displays in museums. Events like the Festival and the Pageant allow us to enjoy the sights, sounds and even smells of the kind of cars we rarely get to experience. I look forward to going to both again next year.
Auto Trader Blog RSS Feed
Very informative article. I’ve found your site via Yahoo and I’m really glad about the information you provide in your posts. Btw your blogs layout is really messed up on the Kmelon browser. Would be really great if you could fix that. Anyhow keep up the great work!
But…Goodwood is an absolute classic event. Although I have to agree with the point that it is very corporate, shame how succesful events loose something when this happens.
And yes…viva le marshalls!
Why worry the 917 was a replica – easily fixed Pity the organisers are accepting these type of cars – Lord March wouldn’t
Otherwise a great event that can only improve through time
Thanks to you for your concerns about the 917. A straightforward repair job luckily and more damaging to my thoughts than the car.
Any who saw the crash will wonder how and why it happened. Swopped ends quicker than you could flick your finger … and in a straight line !! The conditions were terrible and everyone pussy footed around after that wake up call.
See you next year at the greatest of events once they iron out a few problems.
GT.
My husband, Janes Baxter, was an entrant on two of the early bikes (1910 Singer and 1928 Scott). He felt that the track was eminently suitable for bikes and thoroughly enjoyed the layout.
We camped in the fabulous grounds of the Castle and were most impressed with the organisation, particularly as it is a new event.
Just a general comment about all these events – shouldn’t the hardworking marshals receive more recognition than they do?
I grew up only 6 miles from Cholmondeley so was anxious to support the new event. Fortunately I picked Sunday which was drier by all accounts. I really enjoyed the day. I’ve been to 15 Festivals of Speed and the event is very different. The course is slower and mistakes more harshly punished – as described by the poor owner of the 917. It will fix, however upsetting such a site is. I hope it retains its local and northern feel. Goodwood is great, but it’s so corporate and the crowd is not nearly as knowledgable or enthusiastic as in previous years.
Now we need to resurect Aintree for an Revival Meeting up there!
I went on the Saturday morning, and it was very wet. My main interest was in the bikes and it was disappointing that the commentators had absolutely zero knowledge of the machines that were performing. One of them even suggested the Brough Superior was so called because it was made in the Yorkshire town of that name! George Brough will be turning in his grave. The running order seemed a bit higgledy-piggledy – couple of cars, then one or two bikes, then a car, etc. so you weren’t completely sure who was running next, but there was a very friendly atmosphere, far more casual than Goodwood. Some very interesting (and valuable) machinery took part, and my sympathy goes out to the guy who trashed his priceless Gulf-Porsche 917 in the slippery conditions only 100 yards from the start.