Classic and Modern Motorsport Races

Parklife - Part Two – Postcard from Cadwell Park

Photos by DEEGEE Motorsport and RPW Photography

The government and media keep going on about the new normal, referring to the way we have to conduct ourselves during the Covid 19 pandemic, social distancing, wearing masks and the like.

Well looking around the crowd who had turned up for the Classic and Modern Motorsport Races at Cadwell Park last weekend, the new normal for automotive enthusiasts seems to be getting to the track more often and enjoying the racing more than they did pre-pandemic!

MSV who run Cadwell and most of the larger tracks in the UK have said they are restricting sales of tickets to events to allow for social distancing. This may be true bit with no disrespect to this race meeting, there were a lot more people out to watch than I would have expected to see.

Don't get me wrong this is not a bad thing, larger crowds will generate more revenue which will keep the track going during these difficult times.

Also the people who had turned up just so they could get out of the house or do something slightly different on a Sunday might have seen something that they enjoyed and will come back to watch that type of racing again hopefully.

However, as we have seen this week with the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) it's not going all to plan for MSV. I've noticed that we the paying public are now described as visitors not spectators on MSV online media pages, visitors are allowed to visit open spaces, spectators I'm not so sure are, so have MSV been bending the rules?.

Regarding the BTCC visitors / spectators were told they could not attend the first round at Donington Park this weekend as the BTCC was classed as an elite sport by the Government, and events of this nature are not allowed to be held at this time.

This is where I'm confused, MSV have stated that only a limited number of tickets will go on sale for all events, so what's the difference between x number of people turning up for the Historic Masters two weeks ago at Donington and the same x number of people turning up for the BTCC at Donington?

It’s the same number of people, the same track just some different cars going round.

Having attended the Historic Masters two weeks ago the social distancing at Donington was excellent, with a hell of a lot of space around me.

It was a much more pleasant, less stressful and risky experience than when I had to visit my high street recently. 

Back at Cadwell Park the race card was a little thin in a few areas and packed to the brim in others. The Historic F3 only had 10 cars on the race card, with only 6 making it out on track after a few mishaps during the qualifying.

However, these were great to watch even if there wasn’t much in the way of close racing. Number 1 Simon ARMER in a March 703 took the first race with 11 Ian BANKHURST in an Alexis Mk8 the second race.

The SuperKarts on the other hand were out in force with an entry list of 40 split down into 5 classes for three 12 minute races. And what races they were! The SuperKarts were the quickest vehicle round Cadwell this weekend with Lee Harpham in his number 8 kart getting round the track in a 1:24 to win all three races outright.

The other big entry was the Northern Saloons & Sportscar Championship. 33 cars entered in 6 classes ranging from a V8 Ford Falcon down to Mk1 Ford Fiestas.

The first of two races was a sight to behold, with the cars stretching from the start line all the way back to Barn corner.

However, not all the cars were to make it to the second race. Quite a few didn’t make it to the first corner! I was standing on the opposite side of the track for the start when it all began to go wrong.

A few cars got a good start and flew through the middle order of the pack only to find others were slowing down due to an incident near the front. There wasn’t anywhere to go but the grass, and mayhem ensued.

The subsequent clear up took some time so an early lunch was announced with an uneventful and somewhat reduced grid for the restart.



Jon Woolfitt in the Spire GTR would go onto win the restart.

In Race 7 Jon Woolfitt would retire on lap four with Paul Woolfitt in the great looking Lotus Exige taking the top spot.

Dave Cockrell in the fire breathing Cossie Escort had a great battle with Andy Robinson in the mighty V8 5L Ford Falcon in the Modern Challenge & Modified Fords races. 

Andy Robinson and the Ford Falcon didn't appear for race two this left Cockrell doing battle with David Matthias in a Ford Sapphire Cosworth with Cockrell coming out on top again for the second time.

The more sedate racing of the Classic Era Challenge and Classic Challenge had 15 entries, with Nick Strong taking the top podium in the blue number 32 Jaguar XJS. There was only one race for the classic racers and that lasted 30 minutes.



I must confess I didn’t stay for this race. It was the last day of the extended football season and I had been tasked with burning pork products on the BBQ at 4  o'clock for the family so had to cut away early. 

Photographic Post Script

So what have we learnt from our visit to Cadwell? First, it's as safe a place as anywhere can be these days. The crowds are well behaved and courteous, conducting themselves within the social distancing rules. Cadwell is well organised, segregating the visitors to the Park from the racers and support crew to reduce the spread of CV19.

From a photographic view point, Hall Bends is still a no go area as the only access to this part of the track is via the paddock which is out of bounds to day visitors. This is a shame as Halls is one of the best areas to view the on track action, although restricting access to this area is totally understandable in these difficult times.

This didn’t detract from the days' shooting as it forced me to find different locations than my usual pitches, which was a good thing. 

I wouldn’t have got the flaming Cossie picture if I hadn't walked all the way to the top of Charlies, which I wouldn’t have done if Halls was open. However, I'm sure he was flaming through Halls as well.

We will see next year when the Classic Modern Motorsport Club return to Cadwell and CV19 is nothing but an unpleasant distant memory, I hope.

Until then Stay Safe, Keep alert and Capture the action.