 |
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
BMW SHOW 2011 - REPORT
Sunday 10th July at Santa Pod Raceway
with RWYB Saturday 9th July
Read the BMW Show Report below and view more photos on the 2011 Gallery page.
The 2011 BMW Show took place at Santa Pod Raceway on July 10th, and it was another great day at the Pod for BMW fans, who packed the site with Bavaria’s best on what was (mostly) a warm and sunny summer’s day.
As ever, the day focused on the dragstrip, and the Run What Ya Brung competition to find the UK’s fastest BMWs ran throughout the day. The action was briefly interrupted by a heavy rain-shower at lunchtime, but the sun soon came out again and the racing resumed. Some VERY impressive times were set by the class winners, proving what a big punch BMW road cars can produce on the dragstrip.
The winners were as follows:
 |
|
 |
|
Class A – 4 Cylinders Dave Gamble - BMW 1602 |
|
|
 |
|
Class B – 6 Cylinders Barry Barber - BMW 135i |
 |
|
 |
|
Class C – 8 Cylinders Paul Bareham - BMW 340i |
 |
|
 |
|
Class D – Diesels Steven Walters - BMW 225d Coupe |
 |
|
 |
|
Class E – BMW Bikes Rick Cuthbert - BMW F800R |
 |
|
 |
|
Class F – New Mini Russell Tomkins - Mini Cooper S 1600 |
 |
|
 |
|
Class X – Non Road Legal Paul Webster - Mini One 1600 |
Away from the dragstrip, the Live Action arena hosted stunt shows from Jon Moore of the Terry Grant Stunt School, and top BMW stunt rider Mattie Griffin, who displayed an inhuman level of skill and balance to put on a great show.
The Live Action Arena was also the home of the handling track, which ran in two sessions to give cone-dodgers a chance to test their skill in a challenging and tight test of steering and handbrake. The track was harder than it looked, proving to be a real handful for many drivers, but top time of the day was set by Mark Webb driving his 328i who recorded a full lap in just 21.77 seconds. View full table of times on the Handling page.
 |
|
 |
|
Handling Track Mark Webb |
Next door, the drift track was given a beating by a mixture of Jap and BMW drift cars, with a Drift What Ya Brung session to start the day off. It was possible to experience the almost-constant tyre frying from the passenger seat too, where drift passenger riders were on offer to anyone who fancied feeling the g-forces first-hand.
Things went at a more sedate pace in the Autoglym Show Car Paddock, where owners buffed their BMWs to a high-shine to compete for trophies. The paddock was full and the competition was tough, with several worthy owners going home without trophies, but the following were victorious:
 |
|
 |
|
Best of Show – Ian Clements – E46 M3 A few subtle mods gave this an air of individuality without shouting too loudly, but the standard of everything was first class. The detailed cleaning job that had been performed on this car highlighted the perfect attention to detail. |
 |
|
 |
|
Best Original – Julian Bennett – BMW 328i |
 |
|
 |
|
Best Modified – Orlando Carlo – BMW 320i E36 Cabrio All the way from Belgium, this slammed cabrio had stunning red paint, and loads of choice mods that were executed to perfection. |
 |
|
 |
|
Best Mini – Carl Champion – Mini Cooper S GP Fairly new, and fairly standard, but clean to perfection and the best Mini in the paddock by far. |
 |
|
 |
|
Best Bike – Phil Appleyard – BMW R80/7 Ok, so it was the ONLY bike, but it still looked great for its age, and it was a pleasure to see it on show. |
There was also plenty more to see in the static displays laid on by the club cars in attendance. Over 1,000 were booked in, and a huge thanks go out to all of the clubs for supporting the show. The same thanks is due to all the individuals who did the same thing, we hope you had a great day at the Pod and we look forward to welcoming you back next year.
View more photos on the 2011 Gallery page.
|
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
|
