The weekend saw the annual Cholmondeley Pageant of Power at Cholmondeley Castle in Cheshire.
Often referred to as the Goodwood of the North, this year’s pageant took on an Italian theme with the stars of the show being a brace of Maserati’s including a Maserati 250F.
The big crowd pleasers are the pre-war aero-engine cars such as the fire breathing 42 litre Packard Bentley and the bright red Napier Bentley driven by Chris Williams which in its first practise run ploughed straight through the chicane neatly destroying a number of straw bales.
Following the pre-war cars in the popularity stakes come the Supercars and Trackday cars which Is where the main battle for the fastest time around the 1.2 mile track takes place. Robbie Kerr holds the record in a Radical SR8 RX and he was back to defend his crown and maybe sneak in a sub 55 second lap. The lap time eluded him but he retained the record ahead of rivals such as the Aerial Atom and BAC Mono.
At last year’s event Bentley gave the public their first real chance to get up close to the Continental GT3 that would be joining GT race grids in 2014. The car formed part of a static display however this year it was let loose on the track with the Generation Bentley customer team taking their car around the track with owner/driver James Appleby finding the narrow, hay bale lined track a somewhat different proposition to the wide open spaces of Silverstone and Oulton Park. Fellow British GT competitors Rick Parfitt junior and Tom Oliphant were also in attendance gingerly taking their Ginetta G55 GT4 around the lap.
The largest entry came from the motorcycles with a huge field of classic and modern machines including Norton, Ducati and Moto Guzzi whilst the Super Moto boys thrilled the crowd with wheelies and stoppies as they warmed their tyres up before bursting through the speed trap at over 100mph.
Amongst the rally cars Elfyn Evans took the Ford Fiesta S2000 for a lap whilst more classic machinery included a Lancia Stratos, Audi Quattro S1 and a Ferrari 308 GTB. By Jurek Biegus.
