Sunday 23rd September 2001 saw four Volvo Performance cars and their owners’ head up to Castle Donnington Circuit for the penultimate round of the British Touring Car Championship.

It was cold and wet, but that didn’t stop a (fool) hardy few coming along, they were:

Leigh Davenport with his 850 T5
Simon Linton with his 850R
Sentley Wilson with his V70R
Myself with my 850 T5R

Several brought partners / friends / children or a mixture of all three, which made for a fair size group to sit and watch the racing as well as enjoy the other entertainment on offer.

The feature event of the day was the BTCCs class, which took two formats. A 15 lap sprint race and a 30 minute timed session. These high power racers were really battling for places, as the season is so near to completion. It was really busy on the track and made for very exciting racing and good entertainment.

There was also formula Renault single seater racing as well as Renault Clio production cars. Other track events included a children’s “wacky races” style session, with some of the silliest racing cars you are ever likely to see, including a mini fire engine, some bumper cars (inc. mower engines), and a drivable bed!

Off the track there was also plenty to do, with a pit-lane walk through, where you could meet the drivers, see the cars at close quarters and collect as many stickers and posters as you could carry!

The paddock was also open to the public, so it was possible to walk among all of the other cars that would be out on the track and see their preparation. The centre of the in-field had lots of displays by manufacturers, including the new MG high performance cars and also Vauxhall Motors. Lots of stands sold all kinds of merchandise from car stickers to jackets & baseball caps. There was a simulator where you could ride in a high speed racing car, as well as a fairground for the children (well mostly the children….)

All in all we had a really good day - it only rained really heavily during the last laps of the last race, and so we didn’t mind retiring to the safety and dryness of our Volvos for the trip home, listening to the results on the PA system as we walked.