Race- Sport for all

There are those who regard sprinting and hillclimbing as non-spectator sports. Fair enough, their choice. There are also those who don’t think football is a spectator sport, and that is understandable too, but yesterday proved to be a grand motor sporting day out for any petrolhead.

There was much to see and hear at Scottish Sporting Car Club’s sprint at East Ayrshire Car Club’s track at Kames in Muirkirk. In-line fours and flat sixes, mixed with the whoosh of turbos and the high revving wail of motor cycle engined specials. A treat for the mechanically minded as much as the aurally addicted. Even just a walk round the paddock is enough to sate the appetite as much as a ‘full Scottish’ at Cairn Lodge on the way there!

And then there is the on-track action, with its mixture of exotica and the ordinary and with just one car on the track (sometimes two) at any one time, the watching is enhanced by the listening.  There was quite a bit of heeling and toeing going on yesterday even amongst the road cars and even though the track is narrow, there is a variety of ‘racing lines’ through the corners not to mention braking points! There were around a dozen MX5s in action and every one of them seemed to have a different approach to and exit from corners! Great fun.

And given the very tricky, damp conditions yesterday there were a few bumps and thumps with adrenalin pumps working as hard as fuel pumps. Fortunately no serious crashes, and apart from some additional nights in the garage required, only bruises and injured pride to show for them. Motor sport can be dangerous.

As a warm up for next week’s Kames Spring Stages Rally on Sunday 12^th May, it was ideal. The organisers have received a full entry plus reserves for Sunday’s event including a full house of Junior 1000 drivers and their cars. In fact the only thing missing yesterday was Rhona’s tablet tin of sumptiousness, thank goodness for the traybakes in the Kames Caff!