Historic motorsport was celebrated at Race Retro 2016, held 26-28 February at Stoneleigh Park, Coventry, UK. The 13th annual motorsport show for classic cars and motorcycles featured a line-up of Group B and C Rally cars in action on the Live Rally Stage that took the spotlight. Rallying with Group B presented around 60 cars with a mix of rally legends and modern-day champions at the wheel.
With more cars on the stage at one time than ever before, drivers including triple British Rally Champions Russell Brookes and Dai Llewellin, as well as former Junior WRC Fiesta Trophy driver Tom Cave in a Peugeot 205GTi, four-times Cambrian Rally winner Nigel Worswick in a Ford Escort WRC, and Chris Ingram, who won the European Rally Championship Colin McRae Flat Out Award on the Circuit of Ireland Rally 2014 and Rallye Açores 2015, in the Opel.
Visitor numbers remained in-line with 2015, with around 29,000 attendees over the three show days.
In the halls, Sunday visitors were treated to interviews with Damon Hill and Jonathan Williams on the Williams stand featuring Damon’s World Championship winning F1 car. During the show, fans had also spotted Jaguar test driver Norman Dewis OBE, former Top Gear star Tony Mason, plus Race Retro favourites Rosemary Smith, Barrie Whizzo Williams and Willie Cave.
Event director Tom Siddall said, “Damon Hill was a great final act for Live Promotions as we come to the end of our tenure with Race Retro. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the exhibitors, motoring celebrities, vehicle owners, partners and visitors who have supported us over the years.”
The opening day of Race Retro saw the announcement of new owners to take the show forward in 2017. Clarion Events Ltd becomes the third owner after purchasing the event from Live Promotions Ltd, which also runs Motorsport at the Palace in May and Sywell Classic Pistons and Props in September.
Race Retro returns to Stoneleigh Park from 24-26 February 2017. For updates, visit RaceRetro.com.
Race Retro 2016 – Photo Gallery (click image for larger picture)
