What an amazing day out - simply wonderful!
The list of names driving was like a roll call of all the stars of the sport in the past 40 years! Star of the show had to be John Surtees who went up in pretty much every category - whether on two or four wheels - with a HUGE grin on his face.
Arse of the day was definately Mike Gascoigne who proceeded to stuff the Jordan into the straw bales after plonking his right foot down a bit hard at the start line! Oooops! This was almost equalled by Johnny Dumfries in a wonderful 1988 Jaguar XJR9-LM who very narrowly missed a head on with a tree and took several huge bales of straw with him into the local countryside.
Who else did we have ? As I say John Surtees, but also Barry Sheene, Alan Jones, Damon Hill, Johnny Herbert (HUGE wheelspins and doughnuts...), Jenson Button, Martin Brundle (nutter!), Emmerson Fittipaldi, Jean Alesi, John Watson (oaf!), Rene Arnoux, David Brabham, Richard Burns, Armin Schwarz, Henri Pescarolo, Derek and Justin Bell, Jacky Ickx, Dan Gurney, Danny Sullivan, and LOADS more. Oh, and the red arrows too
I have no doubt that the festival will continue in the future - it must. If they allow rallying, then this is nothing. What happened to John Dawson-Damer, and the two marshalls, is a huge tragedy, but this must be allowed to continue.
Talking of the two marshalls, we were told by the guy behind the bar that he had heard both had died overnight - but we've been unable to confirm this - does anyone know ? It really put a damper on an otherwise amazing weekend.